A work in progress: William Bateson's vibratory theory of repetition of parts.

In 1891 Cambridge biologist William Bateson (1861-1926) announced his idea that the symmetrical segmentation in living organisms resulted from energy peaks of some vibratory force acting on tissues during morphogenesis. He also demonstrated topographically how folding a radially symmetric organism could produce another with bilateral symmetry. Bateson attended many lectures at the Cambridge Philosophical Society and viewed mechanical models prepared by eminent physicists that illustrated how vibrations affected materials.

Cambridge geneticists and the chromosome theory of inheritance: William Bateson, Leonard Doncaster and Reginald Punnett 1879-1940.

Early in the 20th century Bateson, Doncaster and Punnett formed a cooperative collective to share research findings on the chromosome theory of heredity (CTH). They cross-bred plants and animals to correlate behaviour of chromosomes and heredity of individual traits. Doncaster was the most enthusiastic proponent of the new theory and worked for years to convince Bateson and Punnett on its relevance to their own research.

The Tyranny of Distance: The Treatment and Prevention of Diphtheria in Middle Canada, 1894-1920.

Before 1900, diphtheria was a deadly infection in Canadian children. Clinical trials in Europe demonstrated that "antitoxin" decreased mortality of the disease. Canadian physicians first utilized the new medication in 1894 and found it most efficacious when administered early in the illness.

Counting human chromosomes before 1960: preconceptions, perceptions and predilections.

In 1956 the biomedical world was surprised to hear a report that human cells each contained forty six chromosomes, rather than the forty eight count that had been documented since the 1920s. Application of available techniques to culture human cells , halt their division at metaphase, and disperse chromosomes in an optical plane permitted perception of visual images not seen before. Researchers continued to obtain the preconceived forty eight counts until reeducation with these novel epistemic 'chromosomes' convinced them that they could confidently report forty six chromosomes per cell.

"Whatever Works": Innovations in the Treatment of Hemophilia in the United States 1783-1950.

Treatment of the bleeding disorder hemophilia in the nineteenth century was empirical, based on clinical experience. Medications, transfusions of human or animal blood, and injections of blood sera were utilized in an attempt to halt life-threatening hemorrhages. After 1900, the application of clinical laboratory science facilitated the utilization of anti-coagulated blood and donor blood compatibility tests for safer emergency transfusions.

Infant domestic adoption: outcomes at mid-life.

Background: Adoption studies can cast light on environmental influences on development, but heterogeneity in preplacement experiences often complicates interpretation of findings.

Methods: We studied infant-adopted samples drawn from the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts and examined mental health, well-being, physical health and externalizing outcomes at mid-life. Outcomes for adopted cohort members were compared with those of (a) individuals raised in two biological parent families ('general population' comparisons) and (b) birth comparison groups of other nonadopted children from similar circumstances at birth.

Is Early Experience Destiny? Review of Research on Long-Term Outcomes following International Adoption with Special Reference to the British Chinese Adoption Study.

The pathway from adverse early experience to adulthood for internationally adopted children is complex in identifying key influences, impacts, and outcomes. This review arose from the authors' involvement in the British Chinese Adoption Study, a recent outcomes study that explored the links between early orphanage care, adoptive experiences, and midadulthood. It differs from previous reviews in focusing on a greater length of time since adoption.

[The outcomes of Adoption in the Case of the "British Chinese Adoption Study"].

Practitioners can over-estimate the incidence of problems in adopted children and adults because they do not see those who make good psychological and social adjustments. Research into adoption outcomes can be hard to interpret without information about differing pre-adoption histories. Examples are given of research into three types of adoption: domestic infant adoption, adoptions from public care of maltreated children and international adoption of ex-orphanage children.

The British Chinese Adoption Study: orphanage care, adoption and mid-life outcomes.

Background: While studies of ex-orphanage care show adverse effects on development, the longer-term impact on mid-life psychosocial functioning and physical health has not been established.

Methods: Orphanage records provided baseline data on a sample of 100 Hong Kong Chinese girls who were subsequently adopted into the UK. A mid-life follow-up using standardised questionnaires and face-to-face interviews assessed current circumstances, life satisfaction and mental and physical health outcomes.

Leopold: the "bleeder prince" and public knowledge about hemophilia in Victorian Britain.

Hemophilia is a rare bleeding disorder inherited by males born of unaffected female carriers of the trait. British physicians became knowledgeable about this hereditary disease early in the nineteenth century as they investigated families transmitting the character through several generations. Prince Leopold (b.

Enhancing Adoptive Parenting: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

Background:   Children adopted from care often exhibit behavioural difficulties. There is however limited cost-effectiveness evidence regarding different interventions to address this. This paper reports a cost-effectiveness analysis of parenting programmes for these children.

Enhancing adoptive parenting: a randomized controlled trial.

The aim was to conduct a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate two parenting programmes designed for adopters of children late placed from care. Adoptive parents, with children between 3 and 8 years who were screened to have serious behavioural problems early in the placement, participated in home-based, manualized, parenting programmes delivered by trained and supervised family social workers. The adopters who agreed to join the study were randomly allocated to one of two parenting interventions or to a "services as usual" group.

The adoption of children from public care: a prospective study of outcome in adolescence.

Objective: To discover the outcomes for children placed late for adoption (between 5 and 11 years old) from public care and to establish which factors predict poorer outcome.

Method: Data were collected prospectively (1993-2003) from a representative sample of domestic U.K.

Enhancing Adoptive Parenting: Devising Promising Interventions.

After describing the common problems of children placed for adoption from local authority care and the views and concerns of adopters as recipients of services, the article describes two contrasting interventions designed to enhance new adopters' parenting skills and understanding. Aspects covered are the empirical and theoretical justifications for the interventions, the process of manualisation and the plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions in a randomised controlled trial.

Cost-Effectiveness of Individual versus Group Psychotherapy for Sexually Abused Girls.

Background:   Children who have been sexually abused may suffer from emotional and behavioural difficulties. Recent research found that individual and group psychotherapy have similar outcomes. In this study we compare the costs and cost-effectiveness of the two therapies and support for carers.

Quality Protects: A Commentary on the Government's Agenda and the Evidence Base.

Quality Protects was introduced in 1998 as the government's main initiative to improve children's social services. This review considers the aims, origins and intended effects of the policy. While applauding the attempt to improve services, attention is drawn to four areas on which progress will depend: better performance indicators; the extent and quality of research based evidence; the expansion of professional social work training and user feedback and involvement.

Emotional abuse in early childhood: relationships with progress in subsequent family placement.

Background: Several studies of family placements have indicated poorer outcomes for singly placed children. Two of our own studies have additionally shown that late placements of children who were actively singled out from siblings and alone in the care system were at increased risk of poor progress in the first year.

Method: This paper draws on the data available for singly placed children from both studies to explore this phenomenon in more detail.