Characteristics of Participants Enrolled in a Brief Motivational Enhancement for Smokers

Daily smoking is associated with elevated blood pressure, CO toxicity, and impaired pulmonary lung functioning. The benefits of successful smoking cessation are readily apparent, given the health improvements associated with cessation, as well as the reduction of secondhand smoke to which nonsmoking coworkers and family members are exposed. Previous literature indicates that providing personalized information to smokers (versus general base rates) without engaging in confrontational pressure to quit smoking, leads to increased interest in quitting smoking and willingness to enter smoking cessation programs. The goal of this study was to examine the pre-treatment characteristics of the smokers entering a brief motivational enhancement intervention based on personally tailored health feedback. Participants (N = 28) were 88.2% Caucasian, 59% male, and were an average of 23.0 years of age. On average, they smoked 20.08 cigarettes per day (CPD), for a mean of 6.6 years, a mean Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) score of 4.7, and obtained a mean breath carbon monoxide (CO) reading of 19.1 ppm. Smoking related adverse health outcomes were predictive of stages of change (SOC) motivation to quit smoking. Implication for cessation programs are discussed

Potential Impacts of Energy Development on Shrublands in Western North America

Impending rapid development of the abundant energy resources found in western North America may have dramatic consequences for its terrestrial ecosystems. We used lease and license data to provide an approximate estimate of direct and indirect potential impacts from renewable and non-renewable energy development on each of five major terrestrial ecosystems and completed more detailed analyses for shrubland ecosystems. We found that energy development could impact up to 21 percent (96 million ha) of the five major ecosystems in western North America. The highest overall predicted impacts as a percent of the ecosystem type are to boreal forest (23-32 percent), shrublands (6-24 percent), and grasslands (9-21 percent). In absolute terms, the largest potential impacts are to shrublands (9.9 to 41.1 million ha). Oil, gas, wind, solar, and geothermal development each have their greatest potential impacts on shrublands. The impacts to shrublands occur in all ecological regions across western North America, but potential impacts are greatest in the North American Deserts (up to 27 percent or 25.8 million ha), Great Plains (up to 24 percent or 8.9 million ha), and Northern Forests (up to 47 percent or 4.3 million ha). Conventional oil and gas development accounts for the largest proportion of the potential impact in all three of these regions. Some states or provinces may experience particularly large impacts to shrublands, including Alberta and Wyoming, where potential for oil and gas development is especially high, and New Mexico, where solar development could potentially affect large areas of shrubland. Understanding the scale of anticipated impacts to these ecosystems through this type of coarse-scale analysis may help to catalyze policy makers to engage in proactive planning

Randomized Controlled Trial of BASICS for Heavy Drinking Mandated and Volunteer Undergraduates: 12-Month Outcomes

This is the first randomized trial testing whether heavy drinking undergraduates mandated to the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) program following a campus alcohol violation would benefit as much as heavy drinking volunteers up to one year post-intervention using high-risk control groups to model disciplinary-related and naturalistic changes in drinking. Participants (61% male; 51% mandated; 84% Caucasian; Mage = 20.14 years) were screened for heavy drinking and randomized to BASICS (n = 115) or control (n = 110). Outcome measures collected at baseline, 4 weeks, 3, 6, and 12 months post-intervention included the Daily Drinking Questionnaire and Rutgers Alcohol Problem Inventory. At 4 weeks post-intervention, intent-to-treat multilevel longitudinal models showed that regardless of referral group (mandated or volunteer) BASICS significantly decreased weekly drinking, typical drinks, and peak drinks relative to controls (ds = .41-.92). Decreases in alcohol problems were of large effect size (d = .87). At 12 months post-intervention, BASICS participants (regardless of referral group) reported significantly fewer alcohol problems (d = .56) compared to controls. Significant intervention gains for peak drinks and typical drinks were sustained in both referral groups relative to controls (ds = .42; .11). Referral group had no significant main effect and did not interact with intervention condition to predict outcomes. BASICS was associated with less drinking and fewer alcohol problems, even among heavier drinking mandated students up to one year post-intervention. Provision of BASICS-style programs within disciplinary settings may help reduce heavy drinking and alcohol problems among at-risk students

Normal sex differences in prenatal growth and abnormal prenatal growth retardation associated with 46,XY disorders of sex development are absent in newborns with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is the most common presentation of a disorder of sex development (DSD) in genetic females. A report of prenatal growth retardation in cases of 46,XY DSD, coupled with observations of below-optimal final height in both males and females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, prompted us to investigate prenatal growth in the latter group. Additionally, because girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia are exposed to increased levels of androgens in the absence of a male sex-chromosome complement, the presence or absence of typical sex differences in growth of newborns would support or refute a hormonal explanation for these differences.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In total, 105 newborns with congenital adrenal hyperplasia were identified in our database. Gestational age (weeks), birth weight (kg), birth length (cm) and parental heights (cm) were obtained. Mid-parental height was considered in the analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean birth weight percentile for congenital adrenal hyperplasia was 49.26%, indicating no evidence of a difference in birth weight from the expected standard population median of 50th percentile (<it>P </it>> 0.05). The expected sex difference in favor of heavier males was not seen (<it>P </it>> 0.05). Of the 105 subjects, 44 (27%; 34 females, 10 males) had birth length and gestational age recorded in their medical chart. Mean birth length for this subgroup was 50.90 cm (63rd percentile), which differed from the expected standard population median of 50th percentile (<it>P </it>= 0.0082). The expected sex difference in favor of longer males was also not seen (<it>P </it>> 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prenatal growth retardation patterns reported in cases of 46,XY disorders of sex development do not generalize to people with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Sex differences in body weight and length typically seen in young infants were not seen in the subjects who participated in this study. We speculate that these differences were ameliorated in this study because of increased levels of prenatal androgens experienced by the females infants.</p

Exile Vol. XXXII No. 2

ARTWORK Manhole by Linda Gates (cover) Escape by Linda Gates 3 Spring by Aimee Creelman 11 Children on Bridge by Holland Behrens 19 Homestead Instead by Allison Lange 29 Infrared Exploration by Allison Lange 37 Seasons I by Aimee Creelman 47 FICTION My Mother Wears Yellow on Tuesdays by Joan R. DeWitt 5-10 Tilly by Theresa Copeland 21-28 The Rights of Spring by Leigh Walton 40-46 POETRY Learning to Knock by Amy Becker 1 Syndrome by Jeff Masten 2 Beauty and the Beasts by Leigh Walton 13 The Sound and the Silence by Teresa Woodward 14-18 The Dark by Amy Becker 31 By the Toussaint River by Debra Benko 32-33 Wish Dolls by Carrie Jordan 34-35 Bob\u27s Mind Wanders in Class by Amy Becker 36 The Woman I Call Mother by Karen J. Hall 39 CONTRIBUTOR NOTES 49 Editors share equally all editorial decisions In honor of Mr. Paul Bennett, poet and founder of the writing program at Denison, of which EXILE is an expression

Do Positive Alcohol Expectancies Have a Critical Developmental Period in Pre-Adolescents?

Objective: Positive outcome expectancies have been shown to predict initiation of alcohol use in children and to mediate and moderate the relationship between dispositional variables and drinking behavior. Negative outcome expectancies for alcohol appear to weaken as children progress to middle adolescence, but positive expectancies tend to increase during this time. Positive alcohol expectancies have been found to increase in children in third and fourth grades, indicating what some investigators have termed a possible critical period for the development of positive expectancies. Method: In the present study, we assessed alcohol expectancies at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months in 277 secondthrough sixth-grade students. Children completed the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire–Adolescent. Univariate analyses of covariance were conducted. Results: There were signifi cant main effects for grade on positive alcohol-expectancy change for Global Positive Transformations at 12 and 18 months, Social Behavior Enhancement or Impediment at 6 and 12 months, and Relaxation/Tension Reduction at 6 and 18 months, whereby a consistent pattern emerged in that lower grades did not differ from each other, but they differed signifi cantly from the higher grades. Conclusions: Data support a critical developmental period for positive alcohol expectancies, with the greatest change observed between third and fourth grade and between fourth and fi fth grade, and only in those expectancies clearly describing positive outcomes (e.g., Relaxation/ Tension Reduction) via positive or negative reinforcement versus those with either combined or ambiguous outcomes (e.g., Social Behavior Enhancement or Impediment). (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 75, 000–000, 2014

The Iowa Homemaker vol.35, no.12

The Family Gives Thanks, Dr. E. W. Remley, page 5 Better Planning For Better Living, Margot Copeland, page 6 To Win, Decorate Your Room!, page 8 “Sweater Dress-Up”, Sue Mullins, page 10 Introducing: Rose Liu From Formosa, Margot Copeland, page 11 Dr. P. Mabel Nelson, Amy Millen, page 12 Extra Dollars For You, Marilyn Ogland, page 14 Connaisseur De La Cuisine, Martha Burleigh and Martha Elder, page 15 Trends To A New Figure, Anne Beem, page 16 Glasses… For Modern Lasses, Donna Schneider, page 17 What’s New, Pat McBride, page 1

The impact of pollen consumption on honey bee (Apis mellifera) digestive physiology and carbohydrate metabolism

Carbohydrate-active enzymes play an important role in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) due to its dietary specialization on plant-based nutrition. Secretory glycoside hydrolases (GHs) produced in worker head glands aid in the processing of floral nectar into honey and are expressed in accordance with the age-based division of labor. Pollen utilization by the honey bee has been investigated in considerable detail, but little is known about the metabolic fate of indigestible carbohydrates and glycosides in pollen biomass. Here, we demonstrate that pollen consumption stimulates the hydrolysis of sugars that are toxic to the bee (xylose, arabinose, mannose). GHs produced in the head accumulate in the midgut and persist in the hindgut that harbors a core microbial community composed of approximately 108 bacterial cells. Pollen consumption significantly impacted total and specific bacterial abundance in the digestive tract. Bacterial isolates representing major fermentative gut phylotypes exhibited primarily membrane-bound GH activities that may function in tandem with soluble host enzymes retained in the hindgut. Additionally, we found that plant-originating -galactosidase activity in pollen may be sufficient, in some cases, for probable physiological activity in the gut. These findings emphasize the potential relative contributions of host, bacteria, and pollen enzyme activities to carbohydrate break- down, which may be tied to gut microbiome dynamics and associated host nutrition