Sunday, January 26, 2020

Bill Langstons Research into Parkinsons Disease

Bill Langstons Research into Parkinsons Disease The Case of the Frozen Addicts Is Parkinsons disease a genetic disease like Huntingtons disease, or is it caused by something in the environment? By the 1980s, scientists had concluded that the disease does not seem to be genetic with their concordance studies on identical and fraternal twins. But they had searched in vain for a credible environmental cause. Then in 1985, a bizarre drug tragedy tilted the odds in favor of an environment cause and gave scientists a powerful new weapon to fight against the disease. In the summer of 1985, Jon Palfreman, the author of the book Brain Storms, was investigating reports of some drug addicts who had mysteriously been afflicted with Parkinsons. The saga had started in July 1982 at the San Jose Country Jail, where a 42-year-old drug addict woke up and found himself to be frozen, not able to walk or talk. He was transferred to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and examined by Bill Langston, the 39-year-old head of neurology. Langston determined that his disease was neurological ant put him in the hospitals neurobehavior unit. For several days, George lay there, immobile. Then one day, one doctor in the unit noticed that George moved his fingers as if trying to write something. So they gave him a pencil and a notepad. After several hours, George had written five to six sentences. Through the process of questions and answers, Langston found out that George was taking heroin, and that he had a girlfriend with him before he got sick. When they tracked down this woman, they found she was also rigid, like a wax doll. Over the next few days, Langston heard about four other mysterious frozen cases in the surrounding area. Langston could think of only one factor connecting all six young people drugs. They all had a history of drug abuse. The police had found heroin in their apartments. Thinking drugs might be the answer, Langston procured some of the heroin powder from the police and sent it off for analysis. It turned out that the heroin was a designer drug synthesized from chemicals in an underground lab. Langston was struck by the similarity of their symptoms to advanced Parkinsons disease. He treated them with large doses of carbidopa-levodopa. The effect was dramatic they could move and talk. But within days, they all developed severe drug-induced motor complications. While the procedure helped, it didnt reverse their neurological damage. They grew old before their time. By 2015, all but two had passed away. Langston realized that some toxin in the heroin had passed into the addicts brains and destroyed the area of the substantia nigra which makes dopamine. Identifying this toxic might lead to the discovery of the environmental cause for Parkinsons disease. A vital clue came from a report of a similar case in the 1976. A college student named Barry Kidston was trying to make a compound called 1-methyl-4-propionoxy-piperidine, or MPPP. When injected intravenously, the chemical would give a heroin-like-high. For months, Barry successfully made MPPP and used it intravenously. One day, however, he hurried a batch, and soon after injecting it into his arm, he knew something had gone wrong. Within three days, he froze up, became immobile, and could not talk. He was referred to the NIH, where it was determined that he had produced a compound call 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, or MPTP. Armed with this information, Langston and his colleagues could prove that MPTP was the toxin in the heroin taken by the six addicts. This compound MPTP was a powerful new research tool. It could cause Parkinsons in monkeys and in humans. For the first time, Parkinsons researchers had an effective animal model of the disease. Rather than working on humans, they could study Parkinsons experimentally on monkeys, explaining disease mechanisms and testing new treatments. *** In the 1980s, many scientists were hard at work trying to figure out how the brains neuron networks work. The best known of these researchers was Mahlon DeLong based at Emory University in Atlanta. Working with healthy monkeys and monkeys with Parkinsons disease induced by the neurotoxin MPTP, DeLong found out two key nodes in the neuron network the globas pallidus and the substhalamic nucleus were much more active in parkinsonian monkeys. DeLongs hypothesis was that a loss of dopamine from the substantia nigra had caused downstream nodes in the circuit to become overexcited. The resulting output signal over-inhibits the thalamus which under-excites the motor cortex, producing the classic parkinsonian inhibition of movement. To test the hypothesis, DeLong removed the subthalamic nucleus, the presumed source of the abnormal activity, to see if that would change the moneyss Parkinsons. The effect was dramatic there was an immediate reversal of slowness, rigidity, and tremor.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

BCG Matrix

The idea of carrying your favorite music wherever you go has always been fascinating for people all over the world for the longest time. It started with carrying of stereo systems, then came the portable cassette players followed by the portable CD players and then finally the digital music players. In 2001 the portable music players industry was revolutionized by the advent of an Apple’s product called the iPod; this came as a breath of fresh air for music lovers all over the world and was an instant hit.The success of it can be determined by the fact that it has become a household name a brand known all over the world in such a short time; it is one of the highest revenue generating products for the Apple and is now the market leader in products of its genre. iPod – Target Market iPod’s target market has been the youth primarily who listen to music of all kinds and are always on the go, but with time the target market expanded tremendously.Now it caters to almo st everyone with accessories available it has made the music available for people where ever they are all the time. It has become part of everyday life of any professional who listens to music where ever he is working, although through campaigns it still targets the young energetic segment of the consumer market but benefits of the product are enjoyed by everyone (Apple Investor, 2008). Organizations have now employed iPod in training of their new recruits; this shows the diversity of the market that the product is now catering to.The product has grown over the years but has kept its integrity and maintained its status; as the market grew and competitors came in Apple as always tried to stay ahead of the competition by bringing variety in the product while keeping the originality. The iPod now ranges from iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle and iPod touch; each caters to a different segment of the society and has its own niche. Factors influencing consumer behavior Factors that ha ve the most impact on the behavior of a consumer are †¢ Psychological †¢ Personal †¢ Social †¢ Cultural (Robbins & Judge, 2004)A manger while making any decision about a product needs to keep in mind anything that falls under the lines defined by the above mentioned factors. iPod on the other hand catered to each of these factors in its own way. Psychological If we analyze the add campaigns for the iPod it would tell us that it shows people that iPod is a product that has been designed for people who are energetic who are young or at least feel young, the colorful pattern adopted in the ads as well as in the product depicts that it is a product that doesn’t cater to a specific class but is for everyone (BCG Expertise, 2009).Being a technological product it also appeals to the techno side of a human mind, the desire to stay ahead of others and own an object that would be a statement for them. iPod over the years achieved this status of being a self statemen t for people and it is a major success of the product indeed. A lot of people associate their choice of music with their personalities, and are very possessive about the songs they own and they listen to, the iPod enable them to keep this possession close to them and take it wherever they go and enjoy them whenever they feel like, hence gives them this sense of completion as well.Personal The appeal of the product is created towards the younger generation primarily the students and the freshly hired professionals. The product is a little high priced that is why it has always been a status symbol as well in many societies, it is also for the people who have some know-how of technology and are inclined to learn more (Apple Investor, 2008). For people of young age life is always on the move, it is very important for them to have things that are portable and are easy to carry.Music is by far the favorite pass time as well as a motivator in a way that it complements their work habits, he nce having a device that can be easily carried and taken to places and can carry your favorite things is a great attraction. Social The social aspect of an iPod is on the greatest factor influencing consumer behavior. iPod from its introduction in 2001 became an instant hit and the culture of iPod started, it became a second name for music for a lot of people (Apple iPod Touch, 2009).Apple had a lot to do in bringing and enabling this culture to flourish as they kept on bringing in new features and accessories for the iPod music for example the iTunes and its advancements, this kept the customers involved in the product while on the other hand gave reasons to people to talk about the product hence iPod became a topic of discussion as well as the time progressed.A lot of the success of iPod has to do with peer pressure and reference groups as well, people adopt things that they see in their surroundings, or with people who they are close to. This creates a desire among them to have t he same object as well, with iPod being a state of the art product the word of mouth was tremendous people couldn’t stop talking about their iPods and its features; this created hype in the market about the product and more and more people bought them. CulturalWith the advancement in technology the people wanted convenience in everything and hence the involvement of technology increased day by day in a common man’s life, this culture of technology also progressed with time. With this culture flourishing iPod came as a perfect fit, people were willing to adopt changes and try out new products, people were better educated and well aware of what the product was all about hence less effort was required in making the people understand the product also it enabled people to better receive the product (iPhone 3G, 2009).The today’s world has become really fast paced, time is the most expensive resource and everybody seems to be short of it; in such times it was hard for people to relax at their work places or enjoy a few minutes of good music, even if they were able to they didn’t feel comfortable with it. In such time iPod came as blessing as it was handy yet could carry loads of music files now people were able to enjoy their music while being at work or being busy with whatever they want to do (Bulik, 2008). Consumer Behavior ModelBlack Box Model The Black Box model is divided into three basic parts: †¢ Environmental Factors †¢ Black Box †¢ Buyer’s Response (Daft, 2001) Environmental Factors The Environmental Factors is the basic scenario in which a consumer is placed and has to make a decision these are his surroundings and how the product is presented to him and also how he perceives the product, how important is it for him and does he even feel the need for the product or not. The environmental factors are further divided into two categories 1.Environment: These are the conditions that the customer lives in and hi s surroundings, the aspects involved are the political situation of the country and its stability, this also involves the economical standing of the country the buying power of the consumer, the cultural aspect is also included in order to analyze the fact and understand how the customer will perceive the product and also the technical issues are also discussed for the reason that whether the society is able to adopt and understand and support the technology or not.In iPods case as the product was launched predominantly in the western markets, the environment was favorable although some problems were faced in countries else where, the financial and political support was there, the product was a perfect fit for the fast paced on the go culture and also the technology was very well received by the audience (Robbins & Judge, 2004). 2. Marketing Strategy: The marketing aspect of the environmental factor is more company related this is more about how the company designs its product, pric es it, promotes it and defines distribution channels based on the environment discussed above (Martin, 2008).The success of iPod is an indication of its great marketing strategy; the product was a very well thought device which catered to the consumer needs perfectly, secondly the promotion was such that it appealed to everyone and distribution channels were effective enough that it was available everywhere. The pricing although was a little question mark the big profit margin that the company enjoyed restricted some of the potential customers from using the product but then again it was good enough to make it an extremely profitable product. Black BoxBuyers’ Characteristics: This is the part where the buyer’s personality is involved, the attributes that give him his identity influence his decision making process. The way the buyer perceives a product, the attitude with which he receives the product, his personal likes and dislikes and also his background and his lifes tyle all combined influence the decision that he takes. The characteristics of the target market were thoroughly analyzed and were responded with a great product and a marketing strategy, the habits and interests of the young generation were very well responded.The buyer’s response is considered as a rational decision based on the factors above while in reality it might not be the case, a buyer can be influenced by other factors as well, his decision doesn’t have to be rational in the defined lines of the black box, he can be bias and unreasonable as well but even in that way he is satisfying his own need to optimum utility (BCG Expertise, 2009). The positive response to iPod from the consumers is not necessarily due to the fact that it caters their needs but it can also be due to the fact that the buyer wants to fit into a certain circle of people and needs iPod as a support for his status.Decision Making: The second part of the black box is the buyer’s decisio n making process, it starts off with the identification of a problem that is the buyer’s realization of a need or a desire, second part is the research where the buyer looks out to find how can he fulfill his need, when he finds out ways how he can fulfill his needs then he evaluates all the options available to him, after the evaluation he finally comes to a conclusion and buys a product. The last part of the process is the behavior of the buyer after the purchase whether he comes back the second time or not, does he have complains, is he satisfied etc.(Martin, 2008) In the decision making process the problem was that people weren’t able to find a high quality digital music player that was reliable yet looked good, they did their research and iPod being the first of its kind was the only option available to them, after evaluating it and finding it best against the rest they bought the product. After the sales most of the customer were genuinely satisfied the evidence for which is the number of iPods sold and number of tunes downloaded from iTunes (Graham, 2008). RecommendationsPricing Strategy The iPod has always been a premium product by apple, relatively high priced but high quality; the high price is primarily due to the high profit margin that is kept on each device. The survey that was conducted that was conducted was based on 4 major points: 1. It was asked that which in their perspective is the best digital music player, the response was clear as more than 70 percent of the responses replied iPod; this shows that iPod is positioned as the best product in the market among the consumers (Bulik, 2008). 2.On the question whether respondents owned an iPod or not around 55 percent of the respondents replied positively. 3. When asked if they would want to own an iPod of their more than 90 percent replied positively; this showed the great potential the product had in the market. 4. When those who didn’t own an iPod already that why they di dn’t have an iPod the majority replied that they were not able to afford it. Hence it can be concluded that the product has great potential and still can capture a bigger share in an already self dominated market, but the only barrier is the high price.The price needs to be lowered a bit so that affordability of the product increases. This is not just in the western nations but one of the major reasons that iPod has not been able to flourish as greatly in rest of the world is the fact that an already high priced product becomes extremely unaffordable for people of poor economies when they are caught currency exchange rates. Even these markets have tremendous potential but they fall pray to cheap Chinese copies or other portable devices when the desire to own an iPod is great.The profit margin can be reduced and the recovery can be made on other products such as the accessories and music. Music Diversity Music form different genres must be added to the iTunes feature in order to attract a worldwide audience. This is the biggest internet music seller portal, recently iTunes celebrated its billionth download in just 9 months, this shows that how great the operations related to iPod have become and can become even bigger if a little diversity is added (Graham, 2008). Music SharingSharing the music between two iPod users is still an issue as there is no convenient way of transferring a file from one iPod to another, although there have been attempts such as the miShare but still it is a hassle. What needs to be done is that a wireless system of transferring files between the devices must be made so that two users are able to share their songs and enjoy the music together. FM Radio iPod doesn’t have an FM Radio feature; the FM industry has become huge over the years and has a great fan base and listenership.Not giving such a feature is just missing on to opportunities that are quite simple to catch on, hence an FM feature needs to be added in the produ ct. Advertisements While the high spirit energetic young look for advertisement must be maintained but also different campaigns must be introduced in order to attract audiences who may not like to be associated with this perception. References Apple Investor. (2008). Retrieved April 24, 2009, from http://www. apple. com/investor Apple iPod Touch. (Apple Inc.). Retrieved April 19, 2009, from http://www. apple. com/ipodtouch/ BCG Expertise. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 21, 2009, from Boston Consulting Group: http://www. bcg. com/impact_expertise/publications/files/Summary_Shop_org. pdf Bulik, B. S. (June 2008). Apple's iPhone steals marketing thunder from iPod. Advertising Age , 4-55. Daft, R. (2001). Organization Theory and Design, 9th ed. Chicago: South-Western. Graham, J. (2008). Apple iPhone hasn't gotten on Flash bandwagon yet. USA Today . iPhone 3G.(2008). Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://images. apple. com/br/accessibility/pdf/iPhone_3G_vpat. pdf Martin, R. (2008). Apple Goes After Business With Phone Apps And SDK. Informationweek , 23-24. Robbins, S. P. , & Judge, T. A. (2004). Organizational Behavior. New York: Pearsons. Survey: High Awareness, Strong Demand for Apple iPhone. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 22, 2009, from Marketing Charts: http://www. marketingcharts. com/interactive/survey-high-awareness-strong-demand-for-apple-iphone-694/

Friday, January 10, 2020

Current patterns of ill health Essay

Describe the current patterns of ill health and how they are monitored In the UK patterns of ill health are identified and monitored through the use of statistics which may be viewed on the National Statistics website. Responsible for producing statistics to be put together by our UK National Statistics organisation to illustrate patterns of ill health in the UK are government statistical departments. Government statistical departments that are major contributors to identifying and monitoring patterns of ill health in the UK include: the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive and the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care. Although statistics do provide a clear picture, they are not totally accurate for what they represent because there will always be information on illness that is not reported so statistics can only give us an idea of what ill health in England is really like. Here are some of the descriptions of the current patterns of ill health in the UK Lung cancer: Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that start off in one or both lungs but is usually in the cells that line the air passages. The abnormal cells do not develop into healthy lung tissue, they divide rapidly and form tumours. It is health concern as â€Å"Doctors in Britain are ‘missing opportunities’ to spot lung cancer at an early stage,† BBC News reports. A study found around a third of people with the condition die within 90 days of their initial diagnosis. http://www.nhs.uk and because there are usually no signs or symptoms in the early stages of lung cancer it is hard to diagnose so more people are dying from this cancer. Lung cancer is on the increase especially in women because of the sharp decrease in the incidence of male lung cancer over the past two decades reflects the decline in smoking prevalence among men. ‘Female smokers are also twice as likely to develop lung cancer as male smokers’ http://www.nhs.uk it is on the increase becuase Women aged between 25 and 34 are more stressed than anyone else in Britain, a new study has found. At that age, women are typicall y climbing the career ladder at work, caring for demanding young children at home and paying a mortgage meaning they are smoking more because of the stress.http://www.dailymail.co.uk Diabetes type 2: A person with type 2 diabetes has insulin resistance, meaning their pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin or the body doesn’t react properly to insulin. Insulin is used by the body to manage glucose, or sugar, levels in the blood and to  convert glucose into energy. ‘Type 2 diabetes occurs mainly in people aged over 40. 5 million people have diabetes but is more common in older people The rapid rise in the number of adults developing type 2 diabetes is due to, increasing levels of obesity, a lack of exercise, increase in unhealthy diets and an ageing population. The first-line treatment is diet, weight control and physical activity.’ http://www.patient.co.uk/ it becomes a concern as that person is causing it themselves because of their diet , or lack of exercise ect and can only help themselves Cystic fibrosis- Cystic fibrosis affects over 7500 people in the UK and over 2 million people in the UK carry the gene that causes it. It affects the internal organs, especially the lungs and the digestive system, by clogging them with thick sticky mucus. This makes it hard to breathe and digest food. It is a progressive disorder and currently there is no cure, an average life expectancy is 31 years, although improvements in treatment mean a baby born today could expect to live for longer. Cystic fibrosis is increasingly being diagnosed through screening but some babies and older children (and even adults) are diagnosed following unexplained illness. Treatments available include eating a healthy diet, exercising, physiotherapy treatment and medicine treatment. Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive disorder. This means that in order to develop cystic fibrosis you need to inherit two cystic fibrosis genes, one from your mother and one from your father, and this is why it is on the increase as people who have the gene are having children. Coronary heart disease – (CHD) is a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart muscle. When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis. It’s responsible for around 74,000 deaths in the UK each year. About 1 in 5 men and 1 in 8 women die from CHD. CHD generally affects more men than women, but from the age of 50 the chances of developing CHD are similar for men and women. â€Å"That number of people get CHD looks likely to rise if we allow complacency and inactivity to ruin our lives.† Professor Sir Charles George blamed people’s increasingly unhealthy lifestyles to cause this. Std- sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infectious diseases that spread  from person to person through intimate contact. these diseases can cause serious harm such as getting HIV is a virus most commonly caught by having sex without a condom.The virus attacks the immune system, and weakens your ability to fight infections and disease.At the end of 2012, there were an estimated 98,400 people in the UK living with HIV. The majority were infected through sex (41,000 gay and bisexual men and 53,000 heterosexuals).Although there is no cure for HIV, treatments are now very effective, enabling people with HIV to live long and healthy lives.You will be encouraged to take regular exercise, eat a healthy diet, stop smoking. the reason why it is on the increase is because of sexual activity at a young age, having lots of sexual paretners are more at risk and having unprotected sex, many young adults are not using condoms meaning that diseases like chylamida are increasing and more sexua l diseases are being spread around as there are also not really any symptoms to suggest you have a std. liver disease. There are over 100 types of liver disease, which together affect at least 2 million people in the UK. the most common are alcohol-related liver disease, where the liver is damaged after years of alcohol misuse, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, usually seen in people who are overweight or obese and hepatitis, which is inflammation (swelling) of the liver caused by a viral infection or exposure to harmful substances such as alcohol. the deaths becuase of liver disease has increased by 40% in the last 12 years due to alcohol. www.thegurdian.com Regional study shows significant variations in mortality across country, and men twice as likely to be diagnosed as women, studies have shown that this is becuase young men are more likely to drink more on a night out also when they are stressed and angry they turn to alcohol. â€Å"men and women have different types of stress-related psychological disorders. Women have greater rates of depression and some types of anxiety disorders than men, while men have greater rates of alcohol-use disorders than women† breast cancer- Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts in the cells of the breast. A malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that can grow into (invade) surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK. In 2011, just under 50,000 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Most  women who get it (8 out of 10) are over 50, but younger women, and in rare cases, men, can also get breast cancer. there are many factors as to why breast cancer is increasing some are, alcohol can cause breast cancer, and even drinking small amounts can increase the risk of this disease. After the menopause, women who are overweight or obese have a higher breast cancer risk than those who have a healthy weight. The Million Women Study also looked at body weight, and calculated that obesity accounts for 7 per cent of the UK’s breast cancer cases. women who work night shifts are also at a higher risk.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Mitchell Surname Meaning and Family History

The Mitchell surname is a common form or corruption of the given name Michael, meaning big or one who is like God. Mitchell is the 44th most popular surname in the United States and the 15th most common surname in Scotland. Mitchell is also popular in England, coming in as the 51st most common surname. Surname Origin:  Scottish, English, Irish Alternate Surname Spellings:  MICHELL, MICHILL, MACMICHAEL, MACMICHELL, MECHEL, MEITCHEL, MICHISON, MICHIE, MITCHAL, MITCHEL, MICHELSON, MITCHELLSON, MITCHISON, MITCHOL, MITSCHAEL, MITSSCHAL, MITTCHEL, MYCHELL, MYTCHELL, MCMICHAEL, MICHEL Famous People with the MITCHELL  Surname Margaret Mitchell  -  American author, best known for her novel Gone With the WindArthur Mitchell  - first African American Democrat elected to Congress  Maria Mitchell  - first professional female astronomer in the United States; the comet she discovered in 1847 became known as Miss Mitchells CometWilliam Billy Mitchell  - American military aviation pioneer Where Is the MITCHELL Surname Most Common? Mitchell  is the 808th most common surname in the world, according to surname distribution data from  Forebears. It is most prevalent in the United States, where it ranks as the 46th most common last name, and is also common in countries such as England (51st), Australia (37th), Canada (49th), Scotland (23rd) and New Zealand (27th). WorldNames PublicProfiler  indicates the Mitchell surname is especially common in Scotland, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United States. Within Scotland, Mitchell is found in the greatest numbers in northern Scotland, including Moray, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perth and Kinross, and Fife. There is also a greater percentage of Mitchells in East Ayrshire.   Genealogy Resources for the Surname MITCHELL Mitchell  Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Mitchell family crest or coat of arms for the Mitchell surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? MITCHELL  DNA ProjectMore than  250 members with Mitchell roots in Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, France, Germany, Poland, Canada, and the United States,  have joined this project for the Mitchell surname to  work together to find their common heritage through DNA testing and sharing of information. MITCHELL Family Genealogy ForumThis free message board is focused on descendants of Mitchell  ancestors around the world. Search the forum for posts about your Mitchell ancestors, or join the forum and post your own queries.   FamilySearch - MITCHELL GenealogyExplore over 7.2 million  results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Mitchell surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. MITCHELL Surname Mailing ListFree mailing list for researchers of the Mitchell surname and its variations includes subscription details and a searchable archives of past messages. GeneaNet - Mitchell RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Mitchell surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Mitchell  Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Mitchell surname from the website of Genealogy Today. Ancestry.com: Mitchell SurnameExplore over 15  million digitized records and database entries, including census records, passenger lists, military records, land deeds, probates, wills and other records for the Mitchell surname on the subscription-based website, Ancestry.com. Source Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.