The Wreck of Amtrak's Sunset Limited: News Coverage of a Mass Transport Disaster

Using the 1993 crash of Amtrak's Sunset Limited in Mobile, Alabama, this study examines the safety education provided by seven newspapers. A total of 117 news stories were analysed for five primary themes: overall story category, passenger safety theme, train personnel safety theme, train safety theme and rescue safety. Sixty-three per cent were found to contain at least one safety theme paragraph within the larger story. A total of 631 paragraphs were identified as safety theme paragraphs, 32 per cent of which were passenger safety themes, 8 per cent were train personnel safety, 31 per cent were train safety and 29 per cent were rescue safety themes. As in previous research, safety themes rarely appeared alone; more often than not, a story contained a mixture of all themes. Some safety themes appeared more frequently than others, but overall, the safety themes present a complete view of the safety issues surrounding the crash.
Safety themes are embedded within a story framework which reflects the three stages of disaster news work. Images of normalcy tragically disrupted by the crash abound as do images of passengers escaping and aiding others. Disaster relief personnel and aviation officials are shown working to restore order and solve the mystery of the crash. Within this framework we can learn what to expect when a train crashes and what we might have to do in a similar situation.     

A rapid and quantitative mass spectrometry method for determining the concentration of acylcarnitines and aminoacids in amniotic fluid

We describe a quantitative, rapid, sensitive and reproducible tandem mass spectrometry (MSMS) method for the one-step detection of aminoacid (AAs) and acylcarnitine (ACs) concentrations in amniotic fluid. This technology is quicker and more sensitive than other methods used to date since it is possible to determine very low AA and AC concentrations in samples simultaneously in a single run. The high degree of automation allows a large number of pregnancies to be screened for metabolic defects in a very short time. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Isolation and Genomic Sequence of Hepatitis A Virus from Mixed Frozen Berries in Italy

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) was detected in two samples of mixed frozen berries linked to Italian hepatitis A outbreak in April and September 2013. Both viruses were fully sequenced by next-generation sequencing and the genomes clustered with HAV complete genomes of sub-genotype IA with nucleotide identities of 95–97 %.