Kent County Research Articles

First Report of QoI Insensitive Cercospora beticola on Sugar Beet in Ontario, Canada.

Cercospora beticola Sacc. causes Cercospora leaf spot (CLS) of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) and is the most destructive foliar disease of sugar beet worldwide (1). The QoI fungicide pyraclostrobin has been an important management tool for CLS in Canada since 2003. Beginning in 2010, some growers reported poor disease control after applying pyraclostrobin. Leaf disk samples with CLS lesions were collected in September 2012 from 16 commercial fields located in Kent and Lambton Counties, Ontario, Canada. These counties (ca. 300,000 ha) encompass the major commercial sugar beet production area in Ontario (ca. 3,925 ha). CLS severity ranged from low to severe among the sampling sites. Leaf discs with a single leaf spot were cut from leaves using a hole punch. Spots were up to 5 mm in diameter with tan, light brown, or sometimes gray centers. DNA was extracted from leaf discs using a Qiagen DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Germantown, MD) according to the manufacturer's instructions. PCR was used to amplify a fragment of the C. beticola cytochrome b (CYTB) gene (4). Pure cultures were obtained by placing plant tissue in a moist chamber and transferring single spores to V8 juice agar. PCR products were sequenced for 32 samples at the Genomics Technology Support Facility (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI) and 25 were confirmed to have 100% identity with the sequence of QoI-resistant C. beticola from Michigan (2) and to QoI-resistant isolates from GenBank (Accession Nos. JQ619933 and JQ360628). The remaining seven had 100% identity with a sensitive isolate (EF176921.1). Each resistant isolate contained a change in codon 143 that is predicted to lead to a substitution of G143A in the cytochrome b gene. This G143A mutation has been associated with QoI resistance in a number of fungi (3). To confirm the result, a conidium germination bioassay was carried out using nine isolates with the G143A mutation on sugar beet leaf agar covered with water agar amended with pyraclostrobin at concentrations ranging from 0 to 54.3 μg/ml and distributed on a spiral gradient using an Eddyjet II spiral plater. The medium was supplemented with salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM) to block the alternate oxidation pathway. Following incubation at 25°C for 2 days, the distance between the center of the plate at which conidial germination was 50% of the maximum observed growth (EC) and the point at which conidial germination terminated were measured (TEC). The EC50 values were determined from the SGE software for each isolate by entering the EC and TEC values, respectively. The estimated EC50 for a representative wild type (sensitive) isolate was 0.03 μg/ml, while the value for the resistant isolate could not be calculated because it was greater than the highest concentration tested (54.3 μg/ml). Additionally, in the controls with no SHAM or fungicide, the resistant isolate showed a consistent reduced germination rate compared to the sensitive isolate (30.0% and 93.5% germination, respectively). Confirmation of fungicide insensitivity will require a re-evaluation of current management practices in Ontario to minimize economic losses due to CLS.

A combined geochemical and hydrological approach for understanding macronutrient sources

This study employed complementary geochemical techniques and distributed hydrological modelling to investigate multiple sources of catchment macronutrients and characterise their changes in contrasting storm and baseflow conditions. This approach was demonstrated for the Beult catchment in the county of Kent (England), a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) indentified as failing to meet water quality standards for key nutrients under the Water Framework Directive. Significant changes in nutrient stoichiometry and bioavailability are observed for surface waters under contrasting flow regimes. Soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations are approximately twice as high during baseflow compared to high flow, while the inverse is true for particulate, colloidal and dissolved hydrolysable phosphorus, dissolved organic carbon and nitrate. Nitrogen (N):phosphorus (P) ratios are lower during baseflow for most surface waters impacted by diffuse sources of pollution. Fluorescence indices of dissolved organic matter (DOM) show that waste water inputs may be locally important sources of more complex low molecular weight DOM, particularly during baseflow. Nitrate N and O isotope signatures, combined with other dissolved chemical tracers, confirm the dominance of wastewater N inputs at sites downsteam of sewerage treatment works during baseflow, with a shift towards the soil N pool in surface waters across the catchment during high flow. Distributed hydrological modelling using the Grid-to-Grid model reveal areas with the greatest runoff also export higher N and P concentrations, and hence deliver a greater flux of macronutrients, while forested areas with low nutrient concentrations reduce runoff and nutrient fluxes. During periods of high runoff, nested sampling indicates that nutrient fluxes scale with catchment area. This combined approach enables a more thorough assessment of the macronutrient sources and dynamics, better informing management options in nutrient impacted catchments.

The uneven geographies of community food initiatives in southwestern Ontario

Data collected in 14 southwestern Ontario counties and regional municipalities demonstrated that the development of community food initiatives is not happening uniformly across the region. Rather, some areas (notably Wellington and Norfolk counties and Waterloo Region) are home to a wide variety of projects that, in many cases, are woven together into networks and enjoy relatively broad-based support from local communities. In contrast, in other places (for example, Dufferin, Elgin, and Kent counties), efforts to foster the development of alternative food systems are fewer and farther between, more fledgling in nature, and appear subject to more constraints than their counterparts in neighbouring parts of the region. This paper will explore the uneven geography of community food projects in southwestern Ontario, and discuss how the presence of social capital structured around an alternative food system vision can help expand the realm of possibility for such initiatives.

Distribution of glyphosate and cloransulam-methyl resistant giant ragweed (<i>Ambrosia trifida</i> L.) populations in southern Ontario

Giant ragweed is a very competitive weed in row crop production and has been found to drastically reduce soybean yield. In 2008, giant ragweed was the first weed species with confirmed resistance to glyphosate in Canada. As of 2010 there were 48 locations with confirmed glyphosate resistant giant ragweed in Essex, Kent and Lambton counties. In addition, there was suspected resistance to cloransulam-methyl. The objectives of this research were 1) to conduct an expanded field survey on the distribution of glyphosate resistant giant ragweed in Ontario, 2) to determine the distribution of cloransulam-methyl resistant giant ragweed in Ontario, and 3) to determine the distribution of multiple resistant (glyphosate and cloransulam-methyl) giant ragweed in Ontario. In 2011 and 2012 giant ragweed seed was collected from 85 field sites in Essex (16), Kent (34), Lambton (23), Elgin (3), Middlesex (6), Lennox & Addington (1), Huron (1) and Brant (1) counties. In total there are 34 additional locations confirmed with glyphosate resistant giant ragweed in Ontario. There are 11 locations confirmed with cloransulam-methyl resistant giant ragweed and 5 locations with multiple resistance to both glyphosate and cloransulam-methyl. Glyphosate resistant giant ragweed has been found in 4 additional counties.

Lessons From <i>Patchwork Nation</i>: A New Framework for Building Community Indicators

Keywords: Community indicators, principal components analysis, data democratization, community health needs assessment, data visualizationIntroductionMeasuring impact has become increasingly important in philanthropy as foundations seek to learn more about the impact of their investments by measuring the achievements of the programs and projects they support. In an era where demand seems only to increase and resources will always be limited, identifying needs and priorities must be the foundation of any philanthropic endeavor. As the nonprofit sector has grown in size and scale over the past 30 years, so has the pressure on nonprofits that deliver health and human services to operate efficiently. To reduce administrative costs and put more dollars into services, community indicators are increasingly becoming part of assessing need.This article attempts to provide an approach that enhances the usefulness of community-indicator projects. We build upon the work of previous community-indicator scholars while employing a methodological approach - principal components analysis (PCA) - used in the work Our Patchwork Nation: The Surprising Truth About the Real America (Chinni & Gimple, 2010) The result is a more informative approach to assessing community needs that is easily understandable, visually appealing, and more applicable to a broad audience. We believe the lessons learned from our approach to community-indicator projects can help other grantmakers increase the effectiveness of data-intensive, large-scale community-indicator work.First, we provide an overview of the rationale that drove our approach. This is followed by a brief overview of the literature related to recent critiques of community-indicator work; the critique of the current practice in community indicators is highlighted in the context of nascent data-democratization efforts. We then apply PCA to the multitude of community indicators developed as part of a community health needs assessment for Kent County, Michigan.False DichotomyPundits often point to the near ubiquitous Republican and Democratic map of America's counties as way of highlighting our nation's political leanings. Closer inspection, however, is warranted. Chinni and Gimple (2010) expose the problems associated with this false dichotomy.Raised in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Chinni writes of being particularly vexed by the blue labeling of Michigan's Wayne and Washtenaw counties - counties with striking differences. Wayne County is home to Detroit. In 2010 Wayne's median income was $40,590 and per capita income was $21,405; the overall poverty rate was 22.5 percent and the child poverty rate was 32.6 percent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 - 2010e). The proportion of the population with a bachelor's degree was just 20.4 percent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 - 2010f ). Washtenaw County, home to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, is about 40 miles west of Detroit. The median income in Washtenaw was $56,708 in 2010, per capita income was $30,594, and the overall poverty and child poverty rates were just 13.7 percent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 - 2010c). The proportion of Washtenaw's population with a bachelor's degree or greater was 50.6 percent, more than twice that of Wayne (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 - 2010d).How could Wayne County and Detroit, synonymous with urban decay, and Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor, often listed among the top places in to live in the U.S., be thought of as similar because they are blue? This question prompted a move beyond the broad generalization of red and blue designations toward a new paradigm - a more nuanced approach that more accurately characterizes the diversity of the United States by classifying each of America's 3,141 counties into one of 12 community types.1Community Indicators: A Brief HistoryCommunity indicators are a system of measures designed, developed, and analyzed by community members to provide neighborhood-level information for community-building and policymaking (National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, 2012; Smolko, Strange, & Venetoulis, 2006). …

Sex, Scandal and Super-Injunctions – The Controversies Surrounding the Protection of Privacy

Lionel Leonard Cohen – The Rt Hon Lord Cohen of Walmer in the County of Kent – was a distinguished British lawyer. In 1951, he was appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. Given the fact that he was a committed Jew, this was a remarkable achievement in its time. He chaired the Committee which produced the 1945 Cohen Report, whose recommendations were adopted and in due course enacted in the Companies Act 1948.

Local Government Paradiplomacy in the UK: The Case of the Kent-Virginia Project

This article investigates the Kent-Virginia Project, a recent partnership between Kent County Council (KCC) and the US state of Virginia, as a case study of local government paradiplomacy in the UK. It sets the project in the context of the growing international involvement of local government, which has so far largely been neglected in the literature. It seeks to explain why KCC embarked on this initiative and to identify what opportunities and constraints shaped the latter's development. The evidence shows that KCC was primarily motivated by personal and institutional ambition, that decision-making was rather opaque and that communication was highly selective. As a result of its seizing a series of unforeseen opportunities that changed the nature of the project, KCC found itself performing roles traditionally reserved for central government. It also faced, however, severe constraints in terms of maintaining multiple institutional relations as well as managing media and public attitudes to the project. These findings show that UK local government can successfully engage in ambitious paradiplomacy but that such activities take place within an uncertain legal framework and raise both positive and normative questions. The article concludes by suggesting several avenues for further research and by calling for a redefinition of the legal and institutional framework governing the international activities of UK local government.

First Report of Colletotrichum acutatum sensu lato Causing Leaf Curling and Petiole Anthracnose on Celery (Apium graveolens) in Michigan.

In September 2010, celery plants with leaf cupping and petiole twisting were observed in commercial production fields located in Barry, Kent, Newago, and Van Buren Counties in Michigan. Long, elliptical lesions were observed on petioles but signs (mycelia, conidia, or acervuli) were not readily observed. Celery petioles were incubated in humid chambers (acrylic boxes with wet paper towels). After 24 h, conidia corresponding to the genus Colletotrichum were observed. Isolations were performed by excising pieces of celery tissue from the lesion margin and placing them on potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with 30 ppm of rifampicin and 100 ppm of ampicillin. Plates were incubated at 21 ± 2°C under fluorescent light for 5 days. Fungal colony morphology was gray with salmon-colored masses of spores when viewed from above, and carmine when viewed from below. Isolates were single-spored and placed on 30% glycerol in -20°C, and cryoconservation media (20% glycerol, 0.04% yeast extract, 0.1% malt extract, 0.04% glucose, 0.02% K2HPO4) at -80°C. Conidia were 8.5 to 12.0 × 2.8 to 4.0 μm and straight fusiform in shape. Three isolates were confirmed as C. acutatum sensu lato based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA and the 1-kb intron of the glutamine synthase gene (3), both with 100% similarity with Glomerella acutata sequences. Sequences were submitted to GenBank (Accession Nos. JQ951599 and JQ951600 for ITS and GS, respectively). Additionally, C. acutatum specific primer CaIntg was used in combination with the primer ITS4 on 54 isolates from symptomatic celery plants, obtaining the expected 490-pb fragment (1). Koch's postulates were completed by inoculating 4-week-old celery seedlings of cultivars Sabroso, Green Bay, and Dutchess using three plants per cultivar. Prior to inoculation, seedlings were incubated for 16 h in high relative humidity (≥95%) by enclosing the plants in humid chambers. Seven-day-old C. acutatum s. l. colonies were used to prepare the inoculum. Seedlings were spray-inoculated with a C. acutatum s. l. conidial suspension of 1 × 106 conidia/ml in double-distilled water plus Tween 0.01%. Two control seedlings per cultivar were sprayed with sterile, double-distilled water plus 0.01% Tween. Plants were enclosed in bags for 96 h post inoculation and incubated in a greenhouse at 27°C by day/20°C by night with a 16-h photoperiod. Leaf curling was observed on all inoculated plants of the three cultivars 4 days after inoculation (DAI). Petiole lesions were observed 14 to 21 DAI. Conidia were observed in lesions after incubation in high humidity at 21 ± 2°C for 24 to 72 h. Symptomatic tissue was excised and cultured onto PDA and resulted in C. acutatum colonies. Control plants remained symptomless. C. acutatum (4) and C. orbiculare (2) were reported to cause celery leaf curl in Australia in 1966 (2,4). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. acutatum s. l. infecting celery in Michigan.

Starting Up After Pfizer

Torren Peakman’s 13 years at Pfizer’s flagship European R&D campus in Sandwich, England, came to an end when he was laid off in the second half of 2011. “It was hard. There’s nothing else in the area,” says Peakman, an analytical chemist with a doctorate. Peakman was among 2,400 full-time staff and hundreds of contractors in Sandwich who were told in February 2011 that they would lose their jobs and that the site—which boasts a foundation stone laid in 1954 by penicillin discoverer Alexander Fleming—would close. Staffers at the Kent County site, many of whom discovered important new medicines themselves, were told the cuts were part of a multi-billion-dollar cost-reduction exercise. After weighing his options, on Dec. 1, 2011, Peakman started his own one-man company, NMR Peak, specializing in small-molecule nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy data analysis. Peakman is one of fewer than 100 former Pfizer Sandwich staff to have made ...

Race on Trial: Black Defendants in Ontario's Criminal Courts, 1858-1958 (review)

Reviewed by: Race on Trial: Black Defendants in Ontario's Criminal Courts, 1858-1958 Carla Marano Race on Trial: Black Defendants in Ontario's Criminal Courts, 1858-1958. Barrington Walker. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. Pp. 268, $55.00 In Race on Trial, a recent publication by the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, Barrington Walker examines the ways in which Ontario's Black population engaged with the law over the course of a century. What began as Walker's doctoral thesis is now a welcome addition to the growing literature on race and the law in Canada. While his predecessors have used a case study approach, like James W. St. G. Walker (1997) and Constance Backhouse (1999), or a sociological perspective like Clayton Mosher (1998), Barrington Walker's is a thematic study that centres on nationalism, patriarchy, and sexuality. Walker bases his analysis in post-colonial theory, arguing that 'Black Canadians' experiences in the criminal courts resonated with the unequal power relations that emerged within colonial practices throughout the world' (11). In this way, Walker differentiates himself from his predecessors who he claims focus too closely on the discrimination paradigm. Certainly, he is concerned with how the law discriminated against Blacks but also how racial stereotypes could sometimes work in favour of the Black defendants to lessen their sentences. [End Page 330] Walker's main argument is that when Blacks appeared in Ontario's criminal courts, 'race' was also on trial. He contends that 'the criminal law was an integral part of how race was produced, managed, and expressed in the racial liberal order that framed the Black experience in Canada' (20). Conversely, he sheds light on how the racialized discourses of the period informed the White Canadian experience. Therefore, his most important argument, and indeed the book's largest contribution to the field of legal history, is that White Canadians often used racialized discourse to help shape and affirm their own national identity. For example, Walker explains that Black men accused of raping White women were seen as corruptors of Canadian society and were thus excluded from the definition of the nation. On the other hand, cases involving Black defendants could be used to bolster the nation's British-Canadian identity. While the United States adhered to a system of 'mob justice and lynching' for Black defendants, Canadians viewed this type of legal structure as decidedly unjust, and thus 'unBritish' (21). In reference to his main argument, Walker frequently alludes to the development of a 'racial liberal order' in Canada. However, he does not adequately explain the meaning of the phrase. Is it a response to Ian McKay's 'Liberal Order Framework' (2000), in which the author describes the formation of a British-Canadian nation between 1840 and 1940? If it is, Walker should have made this clear. The book is generally well-written with clear and concise prose. However, its thematic organization - one of its unique characteristics - required the author to describe multiple examples within a single chapter, which sometimes made his argument less clear. Moreover, further explanation should have been given for Walker's choice of periodization. Why did the author choose the century between 1858 and 1958, especially when one considers some important and related dates, such as the Act for the Abolition of Slavery of 1833, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, and the enactment of the Canadian Criminal Code in 1892? Upon closer inspection, the periodization is even more problematic because the vast majority of the trials under study took place in the late nineteenth century. In addition, most of the cases (and the primary evidence for the book) are drawn from the counties of Essex and Kent in southwestern Ontario. Perhaps, then, evidence from other parts of Ontario would have strengthened Walker's argument. At times the author draws unconvincing conclusions from the case reports. In chapter 5, for instance, Walker presents the case of Harry Lee, a Black man accused of murdering a White (Jewish) woman named Mary Rosenblatt with whom he was having an affair. In the [End Page 331] post-mortem photographs of Rosenblatt's body, her skin appeared dark, thus throwing her race into question. Walker then...

First Report of Colletotrichum coccodes Causing Leaf and Neck Anthracnose on Onions (Allium cepa) in Michigan and the United States.

In July of 2010, dry, oval lesions, each with a salmon-colored center and bleached overall appearance, were observed on the leaves and neck of onions plants growing in production fields of Newaygo, Ottawa, Kent, and Ionia counties, Michigan. Acervuli and setae that are characteristic of Colletotrichum spp. were observed with a dissecting microscope, and elliptical conidia (8 to 23 × 3 to 12 μm) with attenuated ends were observed with a compound microscope. Symptomatic tissues were excised and cultured onto potato dextrose agar amended with 30 and 100 ppm of rifampicin and ampicillin, respectively. The cultures produced pale salmon-colored sporulation after growing for 5 days at 22 ± 2°C and black microsclerotia after 2 weeks. Six isolates were confirmed as C. coccodes based on sequence analysis of the internal transcribed (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA and a 1-kb intron of the glutamine synthase gene (GS) (2). Sequences were submitted to GenBank (Accession Nos. JQ682644 and JQ682645 for ITS and GS, respectively). Pathogenicity tests were conducted on two- to three-leaved 'Stanley' and 'Cortland' onion seedlings. Prior to inoculation, seedlings were enclosed in clear plastic bags overnight to provide high relative humidity. The bags were removed, and seedlings were sprayed inoculated with a C. coccodes conidial suspension (5 × 105 conidia/ml and 25 ml/plant) in sterile double-distilled water. Control seedlings were sprayed with sterile double-distilled water. Tween (0.01%) was added to the conidial suspension and the water. Plants were enclosed in bags for 72 h postinoculation and incubated in growth chambers at 28°C day/23°C night with a 12-h photoperiod. Sunken, oval lesions were observed on the foliage of the onion seedlings inoculated with C. coccodes 4 days postinoculation. Lesions coalesced and foliage collapsed 7 days postinoculation. Control plants remained asymptomatic. When five leaf samples per replication were detached and incubated in a moist chamber for 3 days at 21 ± 2°C, abundant acervuli and setae were observed on the symptomatic tissue but not on control tissue. C. coccodes was consistently recovered from the onion seedling lesions. Six different Colletotrichum spp. have been reported to cause diseases on onions worldwide (1,4). C. circinans, which causes smudge, is an occasional onion pathogen in Michigan, while C. gloeosporioides has only been reported to be infecting onions in Georgia (3). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. coccodes infecting and causing disease in onions plants.

Attitudes of pregnant women towards collection of biological specimens during pregnancy and at birth

Epidemiological investigations of maternal and child health may involve the collection of biological specimens, including cord blood and the placenta; however, the attitudes of pregnant women towards participation in the collection of biological specimens have been studied rarely. We evaluated attitudes towards collection and storage of biological specimens, and determined whether attitudes differed by maternal characteristics, in a cross-sectional study of pregnant women residing in Kent County, Michigan. Women were interviewed at their first visit for prenatal care between April and October 2006 (n = 311). Willingness to participate was highest for maternal blood collection (72%), followed by storage of biological specimens (68%), placenta collection (64%), and cord blood collection (63%). About one-quarter of women (25-28% by procedure) would not participate even if compensated. Hispanic ethnicity was associated with unwillingness to participate in maternal blood collection (OR = 2.16 [95% CI 1.15, 4.04]). Primiparity was associated with unwillingness to participate in cord blood collection (OR = 1.72 [95% CI 1.23, 2.42]). Among women willing to participate, Hispanic women were less likely to require compensation; while higher educated, married and primiparous women were more likely to require compensation. In conclusion, while many pregnant women were willing to participate in biological specimen collection, some women were more resistant, in particular Hispanic and primiparous women. Targeting these groups of women for enhanced recruitment efforts may improve overall participation rates and the representativeness of participants in future studies of maternal and child health.

Bat Activity at Woodland/Farmland Interfaces in Central Delaware

Abstract Bats vary their activity with different features of habitat, resource availability, predation risk, and other factors. Agricultural fields may provide an abundance of insect prey, but are also risky habitats due to their exposure. How bats use mixed landscapes is important information for biologists, as increasing development affects the amount of suitable habitat and impacts bat populations in the region. Using acoustic recording, we monitored relative bat activity in open areas and edges of the woodland/farmland interface of agricultural fields in Kent County, DE. We examined bat activity among different sites, in openings versus edges, among crop types, relative to nearby forest fragment size and shape, and under different weather conditions. Bat activity was significantly higher along edges than in the open in the agricultural fields for passes/night, but we found no differences among crop types or sites and no interaction effects. We also found no effect of size or amount of edge of a fragme...

Infant health effects of a nurse–community health worker home visitation programme: a randomized controlled trial

Home visiting is supported as a way to improve child health and development. Home visiting has been usually provided by nurses or community health workers (CHWs). Few studies compared the child health advantages of a nurse-CHW team approach over nurse prenatal and postnatal home visiting. A randomized trial was conducted with Medicaid-insured pregnant women in Kent County, Michigan. Pregnant women were assigned to a team intervention including nurse-CHW home visitation, or standard community care (CC) including nurse home visitation. Morbidity was assessed in 530 infants over their first 12 months of life from medical claims and reported by the mother. There were no differences in overall child health between the nurse-CHW intervention and the CC arm over the first year of life. There were fewer mother-reported asthma/wheezing/croup diagnostics in the team intervention group among infants whose mothers have low psychosocial resources (13% vs. 27%, P = 0.01; adjusted OR = 0.4, P = 0.01). There were no differences in diagnosed asthma/wheezing/croup documented by medical claims. There were no differences in immunizations, hospitalizations and ear infections. There was no strong evidence that infant health was improved by the addition of CHWs to a programme of CC that included nurse home visitation. Targeting such interventions at common health problems of infancy and childhood or at diagnosed chronic conditions may prove more successful.

Early Modern Migration from the Mid-Wales County of Radnorshire to Southeastern Pennsylvania, with Special Reference to Three Meredith Families

In 1971 the Honorable Thomas M. Rees of California observed that "very little has been written of what the Welsh have contributed in all walks of life to the shaping of American history." In 1979 historian David Galenson maintained that "the issue of the composition of America's early immigrants is an impor-tant one and will continue to receive considerable attention from historians who seek to understand the social and economic history of colonial America." However, Douglas Greenburg's examination of the historiography of the middle colonies revealed that Pennsylvania, which witnessed the immigration of many early modern Welsh Quaker migrants, has not attracted as much attention from researchers as has its neighboring states.

Local Health Department 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccination Clinics—CDC Staffing Model Comparison and Other Best Practices

Mass vaccination clinic staffing models, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Large-Scale Vaccination Clinic Output and Staff Estimates: An Example, provide guidance on appropriate roles and number of staff for successful mass vaccination clinics within local and state health departments. The Kent County Health Department used this model as a starting point for mass vaccination clinics in response to 2009 H1N1 influenza. In addition to discussion of successful modification of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention model to maximize local health department mass vaccination clinic efficiency, additional best practices including use of the Incident Command System and a reservation system are provided. Use of the provided modified staffing model and additional best practices will increase the success of health department mass vaccination clinics, and should be considered not only for future public health emergencies, but also for seasonal influenza vaccination campaigns.

Sheila Sweetinburgh, ed., Later Medieval Kent, 1220–1540. (Kent History Project, 9.) [Maidstone, Eng.]: Kent County Council; Woodbridge, Eng., and Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell and Brewer, 2010. Pp. xiv, 306 plus 12 black-and-white plates; 6 black-and-white figures, tables, and 2 maps. $95.

Sheila Sweetinburgh, ed., Later Medieval Kent, 1220–1540. (Kent History Project, 9.) [Maidstone, Eng.]: Kent County Council; Woodbridge, Eng., and Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell and Brewer, 2010. Pp. xiv, 306 plus 12 black-and-white plates; 6 black-and-white figures, tables, and 2 maps. $95.

A new Canterbury tale: the eighth International Meeting on Yeast Apoptosis in Canterbury, UK, 2-6 May 2011.

This spring, more than a hundred scientists from around the world gathered in Canterbury, the historic city in the county of Kent in South East England, to attend the eighth International Meeting on Yeast Apoptosis (IMYA). As with every IMYA conference since its inception in 2002, the feeling of being part of a community that is almost a family was evident. In addition, this year's meeting has shown that the field of yeast programmed cell death (PCD) is growing, not only in numbers, but also in its thematic scope.

A 20-year retrospective study of tonsil cancer incidence and survival trends in South East England: 1987-2006

There has been an increasing incidence of tonsil cancer worldwide. Documenting these changes is crucial to cancer prevention and control measures, resource allocation and understanding disease aetiology. To analyse the changing epidemiology of tonsil cancer in South East England over a 20-year period between 1987 and 2006. A retrospective, quantitative study using secondary anonymised data obtained from the Thames Cancer Registry, London. Data were analysed using spss v.17 and survival analyses with Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression. This study was conducted in South East of England comprising London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex counties with an average population of 12 million. This population increased from 10.7 to 11.8 million (a 10% increase) between 1987 and 2006. All patients with tonsil cancer in South East England registered with the Thames Cancer Registry (ICD-10 code C09) between 1987 and 2006. A total of 1794 patients' data were analysed. Ethical Considerations: Ethical approval was granted by the Kent Research Ethics Committee. Data were analysed for demographic trends including gender, age at diagnosis, yearly incidence and survival. Tonsil cancer incidence has increased significantly from 0.60 to 1.45 per 100,000 in the 20 years (P < 0.001). This increase is mainly amongst men and age groups 40-59 years with a significant reduction in age at diagnosis by 2 years from 61.6 years in the first decade to 59.6 years in the second decade (P < 0.001). Survival was worse in men, older age groups and in the presence of synchronous tumours (P < 0.001). There has been a statistically significant increase in median survival times from tonsil cancer by about 3 years from 2.7 years in the first decade to 5.7 years in the second decade of this study (P < 0.001). Tonsil cancer incidence has increased in the 20 years of this study in South East England, especially amongst men and age groups 40-59 years. There has also been significant reduction in the mean age at diagnosis and an increase in median survival times for tonsil cancer. Further studies are needed to explain these trends.

A Single-Centre Chart Review Exploring the Adjusted Association between Breast Cancer Phenotype and Prognosis

Using a retrospective chart review, we investigated the differences in survival and prognostic factors between patients with triple-negative breast cancer (tnbc) and those with non-tnbc. The review included 1018 breast cancer patients who were diagnosed between 2000 and 2005 in Essex, Kent, and Lambton counties in Ontario, Canada. Our findings indicate that, although the unadjusted results suggested that patients with tnbc were more likely than patients with non-tnbc to die [hazard ratio (hr): 2.29; 95% confidence interval (ci): 1.33 to 2.93], an adjusted survival analysis revealed no significant difference in overall survival between the groups (hr: 1.22; 95% ci: 0.63 to 2.39). The significant predictors of survival in the adjusted analysis were age, stage of cancer, and size of cancer. Our findings support those of earlier reports, which suggest that presenting tumour size is the most important prognostic factor in tnbc. Investigations into unique screening methods to identify these tumours at an earlier stage and to prevent advanced-stage cancer in this patient subpopulation are necessary.