Sun protection behaviors of state park workers in the southeastern USA

© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society. Background: Due to the nature of their work, state park workers receive substantial exposure to sunlight, putting them at an increased risk of developing skin cancer. Increased use of sun protection behaviors can reduce this risk. Objectives: Using the health belief model (HBM) as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to assess factors associated with sun protection behaviors among state-park workers. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of participants were recruited from 23 state parks in the Southeastern USA to complete a self-administered questionnaire based on the constructs of the HBM. Results: The sample comprised 310 state park workers. The majority of participants were non-Hispanic White (61.6%), male (63.5%), and were aged 39.56 (±13.97) years on average.The average duration of sun exposure during the workday was reported as 3.51 h (±1.88). Nearly 12% of the participants reported that their workplace had a sun-safety policy and ~10% reported receiving sun-safety training at their workplace.The majority of participants reported that they did not sufficiently use sun protection methods. Factors associated with sun protection behaviors included the HBM constructs of perceived benefits outweighing perceived barriers (standardized coefficient = 0.210, P = 0.001), self-efficacy (standardized coefficient = 0.333, P \u3c 0.001), and cues to action (standardized coefficient = 0.179, P = 0.004). Conclusion: Future research should explore the barriers to adopting and enforcing sun-safety policies in the workplace. HBM appears to be efficacious in explaining sun protection behaviors among state park workers. HBM constructs should be considered in future interventions aimed at increasing sun protection behaviors in this population

Progress of Farm Mechanization

Excerpt from the report: Farm mechanization has made striking progress, and this progress, more than any other single thing, enabled American farmers to produce the large volume of agricultural products that helped so much to win World War II. Some of the future potentialities of mechanization cannot be fully measured at this time. Others seem almost assured for the next farming generation. This publication keynotes the place of farm mechanization in the greatest of all farm production jobs, and analyzes the influences of mechanization on farm employment, on efficiencies in production, and on production costs and returns of agriculture

The ethical foundation for honesty and the focused use of deception in dermatology

Physicians have a fiduciary duty to be honest and to act in the patients' best interest. There are times when these two duties conflict. Honesty is paramount in supporting the physician-patient relationship and loss of patient trust is devastating. Furthermore, even minor deception can suggest a return to the physician authoritarianism of the past century that has been decried by modern ethicists. Nonetheless, circumstances can arise in which good judgement may require less than complete honesty to avoid harm to the patient. If the benefit for the patient is large and the risk from deception is small, thoughtful application of minor deception could be designed to benefit patients. Of course, research is required to fully assess this strategy

The ethical foundation for honesty and the focused use of deception in dermatology

Physicians have a fiduciary duty to be honest and to act in the patients' best interest. There are times when these two duties conflict. Honesty is paramount in supporting the physician-patient relationship and loss of patient trust is devastating. Furthermore, even minor deception can suggest a return to the physician authoritarianism of the past century that has been decried by modern ethicists. Nonetheless, circumstances can arise in which good judgement may require less than complete honesty to avoid harm to the patient. If the benefit for the patient is large and the risk from deception is small, thoughtful application of minor deception could be designed to benefit patients. Of course, research is required to fully assess this strategy

Therapeutic strategies and potential implications of silver nanoparticles in the management of skin cancer

Skin cancer (SC) is the most common carcinoma affecting 3 million people annually in the United States and millions of people worldwide. It is classified as melanoma SC (MSC) and non-melanoma SC (NMSC). NMSC represents approximately 80% of SC and includes squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma. MSC, however, has a higher mortality rate than SC because of its ability to metastasize. SC is a major health problem in the United States with significant morbidity and mortality in the Caucasian population. Treatment options for SC include cryotherapy, excisional surgery, Mohs surgery, curettage and electrodessication, radiation therapy, photodynamic therapy, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy. Treatment is chosen based on the type of SC and the potential for side effects. Novel targeted therapies are being used with increased frequency for large tumors and for metastatic disease. A scoping literature search on PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cancer Registry websites revealed that traditional chemotherapeutic drugs have little effect against SC after the cancer has metastasized. Following an overview of SC biology, epidemiology, and treatment options, this review focuses on the mechanisms of advanced technologies that use silver nanoparticles in SC treatment regimens