Mrs. Robinson's Revenge: Pete Seeger, Earl Robinson, and the Medicare Protest Song.

In 1962, Pete Seeger recorded "The Ballad of Doctor Dearjohn" about Canadian Medicare and the Saskatchewan doctors' strike of the same year. How had this New Yorker, recently relieved of a jail sentence, learned of Medicare in the distant prairie province? And why was his song never released? This paper traces the ballad's fortunes through the papers of composer Earl Robinson (University of Washington) and the archives of the American Medical Association. It is situated in the historiography of folk revival and the expatriate adventures of artistic Americans persecuted in the McCarthy era.

En 1962, Pete Seeger a enregistré « La ballade du docteur Dearjohn ¼ à propos de l'assurance-maladie canadienne et de la grève des médecins en Saskatchewan la même année. Comment ce New-Yorkais, récemment libéré de prison, a-t-il eu connaissance des événements survenant dans une province éloignée ? Et pourquoi sa chanson n'a-t-elle jamais été commercialisée ? Cet article retrace le parcours de la ballade à travers les archives du compositeur Earl Robinson (Université de Washington) et les archives de l'American Medical Association (Chicago). Il se situe dans l'historiographie du renouveau folk et des aventures d'artistes américains expatriés suite aux persécutions vécues à l'époque du maccarthysme.

Mrs. Robinson's Revenge: Pete Seeger, Earl Robinson, and the Medicare Protest Song.

In 1962, Pete Seeger recorded "The Ballad of Doctor Dearjohn" about Canadian Medicare and the Saskatchewan doctors' strike of the same year. How had this New Yorker, recently relieved of a jail sentence, learned of Medicare in the distant prairie province? And why was his song never released? This article traces the ballad's fortunes through the papers of composer Earl Robinson (University of Washington) and the archives of the American Medical Association. It is situated in the historiography of folk revival and the expatriate adventures of artistic Americans persecuted in the McCarthy era.

Treating chronic arsenic toxicity with high selenium lentil diets.

Arsenic (As) toxicity causes serious health problems in humans, especially in the Indo-Gangetic plains and mountainous areas of China. Selenium (Se), an essential micronutrient is a potential mitigator of As toxicity due to its antioxidant and antagonistic properties. Selenium is seriously deficient in soils world-wide but is present at high, yet non-toxic levels in the great plains of North America. We evaluate the potential of dietary Se in counteracting chronic As toxicity in rats through serum biochemistry, blood glutathione levels, immunotoxicity (antibody response), liver peroxidative stress, thyroid response and As levels in tissues and excreta. To achieve this, we compare diets based on high-Se Saskatchewan (SK) lentils versus low-Se lentils from United States. Rats drank control (0ppm As) or As (40ppm As) water while consuming SK lentils (0.3ppm Se) or northwestern USA lentils (<0.01ppm Se) diets for 14weeks. Rats on high Se diets had higher glutathione levels regardless of As exposure, recovered antibody responses in As-exposed group, higher fecal and urinary As excretion and lower renal As residues. Selenium deficiency caused greater hepatic peroxidative damage in the As exposed animals. Thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), were not different. After 14weeks of As exposure, health indicators in rats improved in response to the high Se lentil diets. Our results indicate that high Se lentils have a potential to mitigate As toxicity in laboratory mammals, which we hope will translate into benefits for As exposed humans.

Outcome measures and their everyday use in chiropractic practice.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the extent to which chiropractors utilize standardized outcome and various clinical measures to systematically document patients' baseline health status and responses to treatment, with particular consideration being given towards quantifiable outcome instruments. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional mailed survey. PARTICIPANTS: Registered chiropractors in the province of Saskatchewan. METHODS: A survey was mailed to all registrants of the Chiropractors' Association of Saskatchewan. Respondents graded their frequency of using various standardized pencil-and-paper instruments and functional chiropractic, orthopaedic and neurological tests in the contexts of both the initial intake assessment ('always,' 'commonly,' 'occasionally,' or 'never') and the course of subsequent treatment (after 'each visit,' after '9-12 visits,' 'annually,' when patient 'not responding,' on 'dismissal/discharge,' 'never' or for some 'other' reason). Data were tabulated for all item and response category combinations as frequencies and percentages using the total sample size as the denominator. RESULTS: Of 164 registered chiropractors, 62 (38%) returned a completed questionnaire. A pain diagram was the most commonly used subjective outcome measure and was administered routinely (either "always" or "commonly") by 75% of respondents, at either the initial consultation or during a subsequent visit. Numerical rating and visual analogue scales were less popular (routinely used by 59% and 42% respectively). The majority of respondents (80%) seldom ("occasionally" or "never") used spine pain-specific disability indices such as the Low Back Revised Oswestry, Neck Disability Index or the Roland-Morris Questionnaire. As well, they did not use standardized psychosocial instruments such as the Beck Depression Index, or general health assessment measures such as the SF-36 or SF-12 questionnaire. Neurological testing was the most commonly used objective outcome measure. Most respondents (84% to 95%) indicated that they continually monitored neurological status through dermatomal, manual muscle strength and deep tendon reflex testing. Ranges of motion were routinely measured by 95% of respondents, usually visually (96%) rather than goniometrically or by some other specialized device (7%). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the majority of chiropractors do not use psychosocial questionnaires or condition-specific disability indices to document baseline or subsequent changes in health status. Chiropractors are more likely to rely on medical history taking and pain drawings during an initial intake assessment, as well as neurological and visually estimated range of motion testing during both initial intake and subsequent treatment visits.