E-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid in cancer patients: Health professionals knowledge, attitude and current practice

Background. The adverse effects of smoking continue after a diagnosis of cancer, increasing risk of treatment-related complications, recurrence, development of second primary cancer, and mortality. E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular, and there is growing evidence of a significant reduction in harm compared to tobacco smoking, providing an alternative approach for smoking cessation in cancer patients. However, while Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians support the use of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, their use remains controversial. Method. This study was a national online survey to investigate UK health professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and current practice of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation intervention in cancer patients. 506 health professionals (HPs) completed the survey including GPs (n=103), oncologists (n=102), cancer surgeons (n=100), practice nurses (n=102), cancer nurse specialists (n=99). The sample was stratified by NHS regions. Results. Twenty nine percent of HPs would not recommend e-cigarettes to cancer patients who smoke, with cancer surgeons and cancer nurse specialists significantly less likely to recommend e-cigarettes. 38% believed colleagues would feel uncomfortable about recommending e-cigarettes to cancer patients. The majority of respondents reported that e-cigarettes were either banned or only allowed in designated tobacco smoking areas in both primary and secondary care. 46% of HPs reported their organisation did not have guidance on e-cigarettes, with 45% of HPs saying they were unsure. Over half of HPs believed their knowledge was not sufficient to recommend e-cigarettes to cancer patients, and 25% did not know whether e-cigarettes were less harmful than smoking tobacco cigarettes. Conclusion. While UK health policy promotes e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid, this has not yet been adopted by local health organisations, causing barriers to and uncertainty around promoting use of e-cigarettes in cancer patients that smoke. Training of health professionals and local adoption of e-cigarette advice are needed

Conventional Wisdoms of Woody Biomass Utilization

60 p.Despite efforts to increase biomass utilization, uncertainty exists regarding the characteristics necessary to stimulate biomass utilization, effectiveness of agency and local efforts, and the role of partnerships in building the types of capacity necessary to expedite biomass removal. The purpose of this study is to identify and assess utilization challenges in different parts of the United States. The information collected through case studies is used to address persistent conventional wisdoms to biomass utilization that may help land managers better accomplish project objectives through informed planning and implementation. It may also be used to illuminate particular barriers to biomass utilization that can be addressed through policy development at the local, state, or national level.In addition to the Joint Fire Science Program who funded this project, we thank the Ford Foundation, University of Oregon, and USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station for their generous contributions

Characterizing Lessons Learned from Federal Biomass Removal Projects

The idea of offsetting the costs of wildfire hazardous fuels reduction treatments by selling the biomass removed is appealing. There are however challenges to biomass utilization that impedes progress. For instance, the lack of biomass processing capacity may impede progress in some regions, while in other regions an inconsistent supply of biomass available for wood products markets limits private investment. Despite efforts to increase biomass utilization, uncertainty exists of regarding the characteristics necessary to stimulate biomass utilization, effectiveness of agency and local efforts, and the role of partnerships in building the types of capacity necessary to expedite biomass removal. The purpose of this study is to identify and assess utilization challenges in different parts of the United States. The information collected through case studies is used to address persistent conventional wisdoms to biomass utilization that may help land managers better accomplish project objectives through informed planning and implementation. It may also be used to illuminate particular barriers to biomass utilization that can be addressed through policy development at the local, state, or national level. The specific project objectives were to: · Examine the local social and physical context in which biomass utilization strategies have developed in regions of the country with varied resources and wildfire risks; · Identify the types of utilization activities accomplished in each case, focusing on agency, industry, and community factors contributing to project accomplishment; · Characterize key challenges to biomass utilization experienced in each case and the strategies employed to overcome them and achieve local objectives; · Assess the roles of collaborative partnerships in facilitating hazardous fuel reduction planning, implementation, and capacity building for biomass utilization; and · Capture and share lessons about the approaches used to implement biomass remova

Conventional Wisdoms of Woody Biomass Utilization on Federal Public Lands

The appeal of biomass utilization grows as the need for wildfire risk reduction, economic development, and renewable energy generation becomes more pressing. However, uncertainty exists regarding the factors necessary to stimulate use. We draw on in-depth interviews with local industry, agency, community, and tribal representatives from 10 study sites on federal public lands across the United States to examine persistent conventional wisdoms about what hinders biomass use. Findings indicate that the conventional wisdoms were reasonably accurate although the degree to which each impeded progress varied. Their interconnectedness also varied depending on local conditions. Supply guarantees, industry presence, transportation, and the value of the biomass were limiting factors to use, whereas agency budgets and staffing, environmental concerns, and partnerships more aggravated the problem than impeded progress. Understanding the scope and consistency of these accepted truths is important for ensuring that management efforts and ensuing policy effectively targets local use challenges

Energy intake and dietary patterns in childhood and throughout adulthood and mammographic density: results from a British prospective cohort.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the role of energy intake and dietary patterns in childhood and throughout adulthood on subsequent mammographic density. METHODS: Prospective data were available from a cohort of 1161 British women followed up since their birth in 1946. Dietary intakes at age 4 years were determined by 24-hour recalls and during adulthood, average food consumed at ages 36 and 43 years by 5-day food records. Dietary patterns were determined by factor analysis. Associations between energy intake, dietary patterns, and percent breast density were investigated using regression analysis. RESULTS: During adulthood, energy intake was positively associated with percent breast density (adjusted regression coefficient [per SD) (95% CI): 0.12 (0.01, 0.23)]. The effect of the high fat and sugar dietary pattern remained similar when adjusted for total energy intake [0.06 (-0.01, 0.13)]. There was no evidence of an associations for the patterns low fat, high fiber pattern 0.03 (-0.04, 0.11); the alcohol and fish -0.02 (-0.13, 0.17); meat, potatoes, and vegetables -0.03 (-0.10, 0.04). No association was found for dietary pattern at age 4 and percent breast density. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the hypothesis that overall energy intake during middle life is a determinant of subsequent mammographic breast density measured 15 years later

Multi-scale habitat assessment of pronghorn migration routes.

We studied the habitat selection of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) during seasonal migration; an important period in an animal's annual cycle associated with broad-scale movements. We further decompose our understanding of migration habitat itself as the product of both broad- and fine-scale behavioral decisions and take a multi-scale approach to assess pronghorn spring and fall migration across the transboundary Northern Sagebrush Steppe region. We used a hierarchical habitat selection framework to assess a suite of natural and anthropogenic features that have been shown to influence selection patterns of pronghorn at both broad (migratory neighborhood) and fine (migratory pathway) scales. We then combined single-scale predictions into a scale-integrated step selection function (ISSF) map to assess its effectiveness in predicting migration route habitat. During spring, pronghorn selected for native grasslands, areas of high forage productivity (NDVI), and avoided human activity (i.e., roads and oil and natural gas wells). During fall, pronghorn selected for native grasslands, larger streams and rivers, and avoided roads. We detected avoidance of paved roads, unpaved roads, and wells at broad spatial scales, but no response to these features at fine scales. In other words, migratory pronghorn responded more strongly to anthropogenic features when selecting a broad neighborhood through which to migrate than when selecting individual steps along their migratory pathway. Our results demonstrate that scales of migratory route selection are hierarchically nested within each other from broader (second-order) to finer scales (third-order). In addition, we found other variables during particular migratory periods (i.e., native grasslands in spring) were selected for across scales indicating their importance for pronghorn. The mapping of ungulate migration habitat is a topic of high conservation relevance. In some applications, corridors are mapped according to telemetry location data from a sample of animals, with the assumption that the sample adequately represents habitat for the entire population. Our use of multi-scale modelling to predict resource selection during migration shows promise and may offer another relevant alternative for use in future conservation planning and land management decisions where telemetry-based sampling is unavailable or incomplete

Cross-sectional associations of objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time with sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in older men

This study investigated associations between objectively measured physical activity (PA) with sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in older British men. Participants were men aged 70-92 years (n= 1286) recruited from UK Primary Care Centres. Outcomes included (i) sarcopenia, defined as low muscle mass (lowest two fifths of the mid-upper arm muscle circumference distribution) accompanied by low muscular strength (hand grip strength 102cm. Independent variables included time spent in PA intensities measured by GT3x accelerometers, worn during one week in 2010-12. Multinomial regression models were used for cross-sectional analyses relating PA and sarcopenia. In total, 14.2% (n=183) of men had sarcopenia and a further 5.4% (n=70) had severe sarcopenia. 25.3% of sarcopenic or severely sarcopenic men were obese. Each extra 30 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) was associated with a reduced risk of severe sarcopenia (relative risk [RR] 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.30, 0.93) and sarcopenic obesity (RR 0.47 [95% CI 0.27, 0.84]). Light PA (LPA) and sedentary breaks were marginally associated with a reduced risk of sarcopenic obesity. Sedentary time was marginally associated with an increased risk of sarcopenic obesity independent of MVPA (RR 1.18 [95% CI 0.99, 1.40]). MVPA may reduce the risk of severe sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity among older men. Reducing sedentary time and increasing LPA and sedentary breaks may also protect against sarcopenic obesity