Adolescent and Community Adult Perceptions of Adolescent Tobacco Use

In 1964, the Surgeon General issued the first report that linked smoking cigarettes as a direct cause of emphysema, heart disease, and lung cancer. Despite this landmark publication, the primary cause of preventable deaths each year in the United States continues to be related to the use of tobacco. Regardless of decades of health education and resources available to inform society that the use of tobacco products can have deleterious effects on health, adolescents continue to experiment with them. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the influences of adolescent tobacco use. Based on the social cognitive theory, this qualitative study involved adolescent individual interviews and community adult focus groups to compare the perceptions of what influences adolescents to use tobacco. Responses of both the adolescents and community adults were coded, categorized into themes, and ranked based on their similarities and differences. The most notable findings in the adolescent group was their indifference to smoking, whereas the community adults had strong negative perceptions of smoking. Moreover, the media was not felt to be a strong influence; however; adolescents thought it was somewhat of an influence. Tobacco use of peers was not determined to be a strong influence in the perceptions of either groups. The impact for positive social change is a better understanding among both adolescents and adults of the perceptions of adolescent smoking. This enhanced understanding indicates a need to denormalize smoking behavior to subsequently decrease the number of adult smokers and tobacco-related deaths

Photochemical degradation of digoxin tested by Na,K-ATPase activity

The photochemical degradation of digoxin aqueous solution was obtained by Xelamp irradiation. The concentrations of digoxin in irradiated solutions were detected by measurements of Na,K-ATPase activity and by HPLC analysis. The excellent agreement using two independent methods for determination of digoxin concentration in the irradiated samples was achieved.Physical chemistry 2004 : 7th international conference on fundamental and applied aspects of physical chemistry; Belgrade (Serbia); 21-23 September 200

Creating A Model For Graduate Student Inclusion And Success

Mentoring and advising are critical aspects of the graduate student experience, and can have a significant impact on the professional lives of future postsecondary faculty and staff and a rippling effect throughout higher education and the global economy. This paper describes the process a new department undertook to create a graduate program that puts the inclusion and success of students first

A phenomenological approach to the simulation of metabolism and proliferation dynamics of large tumour cell populations

A major goal of modern computational biology is to simulate the collective behaviour of large cell populations starting from the intricate web of molecular interactions occurring at the microscopic level. In this paper we describe a simplified model of cell metabolism, growth and proliferation, suitable for inclusion in a multicell simulator, now under development (Chignola R and Milotti E 2004 Physica A 338 261-6). Nutrients regulate the proliferation dynamics of tumor cells which adapt their behaviour to respond to changes in the biochemical composition of the environment. This modeling of nutrient metabolism and cell cycle at a mesoscopic scale level leads to a continuous flow of information between the two disparate spatiotemporal scales of molecular and cellular dynamics that can be simulated with modern computers and tested experimentally.Comment: 58 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, pdf onl

Comparison of governance approaches for the control of antimicrobial resistance: Analysis of three European countries

Policy makers and governments are calling for coordination to address the crisis emerging from the ineffectiveness of current antibiotics and stagnated pipe-line of new ones – antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Wider contextual drivers and mechanisms are contributing to shifts in governance strategies in health care, but are national health system approaches aligned with strategies required to tackle antimicrobial resistance? This article provides an analysis of governance approaches within healthcare systems including: priority setting, performance monitoring and accountability for AMR prevention in three European countries: England, France and Germany. Advantages and unresolved issues from these different experiences are reported, concluding that mechanisms are needed to support partnerships between healthcare professionals and patients with democratized decision-making and accountability via collaboration. But along with this multi-stakeholder approach to governance, a balance between regulation and persuasion is needed