Dramatic Plays as a Tool to Educate Young African-American Females about HIV/AIDS

Rates of HIV/AIDS transmission have increased substantially, particularly among young African American women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIV/AIDS is the number one killer for African American women aged 25 to 34. Given that many of these young women are contracting the disease in their late teens and early twenties, there is a need to develop interventions that directly address the needs of this group. The current study sought to assess the effectiveness of theater in increasing knowledge of HIV/AIDS and the likelihood of healthier sexual behavior and choices among 219 young African American women 18 to 39 years of age. Paired sample t-tests revealed that there were significant mean differences in knowledge and intended safe sex behavior after viewing the play. Young women who viewed the play reported increased knowledge of HIV and reported a higher likelihood of engaging in safer sex. Given the high rates of HIV/AIDS among young African American women, more innovative educational and prevention techniques are needed

Correlating activity and defects in (photo)electrocatalysts using in-situ transient optical microscopy

(Photo)electrocatalysts capture sunlight and use it to drive chemical reactions such as water splitting to produce H2. A major factor limiting photocatalyst development is their large heterogeneity which spatially modulates reactivity and precludes establishing robust structure-function relationships. To make such links requires simultaneously probing of the electrochemical environment at microscopic length scales (nm to um) and broad timescales (ns to s). Here, we address this challenge by developing and applying in-situ steady-state and transient optical microscopies to directly map and correlate local electrochemical activity with hole lifetimes, oxygen vacancy concentration and the photoelectrodes crystal structure. Using this combined approach alongside spatially resolved X-Ray absorption measurements, we study microstructural and point defects in prototypical hematite (Fe2O3) photoanodes. We demonstrate that regions of Fe2O3, adjacent to microstructural cracks have a better photoelectrochemical response and reduced back electron recombination due to an optimal oxide vacancy concentration, with the film thickness and carbon impurities also dramatically influencing activity in a complex manner. Our work highlights the importance of microscopic mapping to understand activity and the impact of defects in even, seemingly, homogeneous solid-state metal oxide photoelectrodes

Study protocol title: a prospective cohort study of low back pain

BACKGROUND: Few prospective cohort studies of workplace low back pain (LBP) with quantified job physical exposure have been performed. There are few prospective epidemiological studies for LBP occupational risk factors and reported data generally have few adjustments for many personal and psychosocial factors. METHODS/DESIGN: A multi-center prospective cohort study has been incepted to quantify risk factors for LBP and potentially develop improved methods for designing and analyzing jobs. Due to the subjectivity of LBP, six measures of LBP are captured: 1) any LBP, 2) LBP ≥ 5/10 pain rating, 3) LBP with medication use, 4) LBP with healthcare provider visits, 5) LBP necessitating modified work duties and 6) LBP with lost work time. Workers have thus far been enrolled from 30 different employment settings in 4 diverse US states and performed widely varying work. At baseline, workers undergo laptop-administered questionnaires, structured interviews, and two standardized physical examinations to ascertain demographics, medical history, psychosocial factors, hobbies and physical activities, and current musculoskeletal disorders. All workers’ jobs are individually measured for physical factors and are videotaped. Workers are followed monthly for the development of low back pain. Changes in jobs necessitate re-measure and re-videotaping of job physical factors. The lifetime cumulative incidence of low back pain will also include those with a past history of low back pain. Incident cases will exclude prevalent cases at baseline. Statistical methods planned include survival analyses and logistic regression. DISCUSSION: Data analysis of a prospective cohort study of low back pain is underway and has successfully enrolled over 800 workers to date

Effect of Native American ancestry on iron-related phenotypes of Alabama hemochromatosis probands with HFE C282Y homozygosity

BACKGROUND: In age-matched cohorts of screening study participants recruited from primary care clinics, mean serum transferrin saturation values were significantly lower and mean serum ferritin concentrations were significantly higher in Native Americans than in whites. Twenty-eight percent of 80 Alabama white hemochromatosis probands with HFE C282Y homozygosity previously reported having Native American ancestry, but the possible effect of this ancestry on hemochromatosis phenotypes was unknown. METHODS: We compiled observations in these 80 probands and used univariate and multivariate methods to analyze associations of age, sex, Native American ancestry (as a dichotomous variable), report of ethanol consumption (as a dichotomous variable), percentage transferrin saturation and log(e )serum ferritin concentration at diagnosis, quantities of iron removed by phlebotomy to achieve iron depletion, and quantities of excess iron removed by phlebotomy. RESULTS: In a univariate analysis in which probands were grouped by sex, there were no significant differences in reports of ethanol consumption, transferrin saturation, log(e )serum ferritin concentration, quantities of iron removed to achieve iron depletion, and quantities of excess iron removed by phlebotomy in probands who reported Native American ancestry than in those who did not. In multivariate analyses, transferrin saturation (as a dependent variable) was not significantly associated with any of the available variables, including reports of Native American ancestry and ethanol consumption. The independent variable quantities of excess iron removed by phlebotomy was significantly associated with log(e )serum ferritin used as a dependent variable (p < 0.0001), but not with reports of Native American ancestry or reports of ethanol consumption. Log(e )serum ferritin was the only independent variable significantly associated with quantities of excess iron removed by phlebotomy used as a dependent variable (p < 0.0001) (p < 0.0001; ANOVA of regression). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the iron-related phenotypes of hemochromatosis probands with HFE C282Y homozygosity are similar in those with and without Native American ancestry reports

HFE C282Y and H63D in adults with malignancies in a community medical oncology practice

BACKGROUND: We sought to compare frequencies of HFE C282Y and H63D alleles and associated odds ratios (OR) in 100 consecutive unrelated white adults with malignancy to those in 318 controls. METHODS: Data from patients with more than one malignancy were analyzed according to each primary malignancy. For the present study, OR ≥2.0 or ≤0.5 was defined to be increased or decreased, respectively. RESULTS: There were 110 primary malignancies (52 hematologic neoplasms, 58 carcinomas) in the 100 adult patients. Allele frequencies were similar in patients and controls (C282Y: 0.0850 vs. 0.0896, respectively (OR = 0.9); H63D: 0.1400 vs. 0.1447, respectively (OR = 0.9)). Two patients had hemochromatosis and C282Y homozygosity. With C282Y, increased OR occurred in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloproliferative disorders, and adenocarcinoma of prostate (2.0, 2.8, and 3.4, respectively); OR was decreased in myelodysplasia (0.4). With H63D, increased OR occurred in myeloproliferative disorders and adenocarcinomas of breast and prostate (2.4, 2.0, and 2.0, respectively); OR was decreased in non-Hodgkin lymphoma and B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (0.5 and 0.4, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In 100 consecutive adults with malignancy evaluated in a community medical oncology practice, frequencies of HFE C282Y or H63D were similar to those in the general population. This suggests that C282Y or H63D is not associated with an overall increase in cancer risk. However, odds ratios computed in the present study suggest that increased (or decreased) risk for developing specific types of malignancy may be associated with the inheritance of HFE C282Y or H63D. Study of more patients with these specific types of malignancies is needed to determine if trends described herein would remain and yield significant differences

Comparison of flame spread measurements using the ASTM E 1321 LIFT and a reduced scale adaptation of the cone calorimeter apparatus

A full-scale ASTM E 1321 Lateral ignition and Flame Transport (LIFT) apparatus was constructed and compared with a Reduced scale Ignition and Flame spread Test apparatus (RIFT) adaptation of the cone calorimeter in the vertical position. The objective was to find a low cost and simple alternative to the LIFT apparatus for measuring opposed flow flame spread. Ignition tests were conducted using the LIFT, RIFT and ISO 5657 ignitability apparatus and flame spread experiments were conducted in the LIFT and RIFT. Nine different types of timber based products were tested for ignition and flame spread, and Quintiere's flame spread model was applied to the results to obtain material properties, such as thermal inertia, flame spread parameter and the minimum heat flux required for flame spread. These materials included plywood, medium density fibreboard (MDF), hardboard, particle board flooring, Melamine (Melteca) covered MDF, New Zealand Rimu, and Beech and New Zealand grown Macrocarpa and Radiata (Monterey) Pine. Further limited tests were conducted on Melteca covered particle board, and a second brand of particle board. The materials in the RIFT were tried with and without preheating to equilibrium. In addition, a view factor for the RIFT was developed, based on earlier work for the cone calorimeter element. The view factor equation was experimentally tested against measured values, and the calculated value was consistently lower than the experimental values, with similar flux profile. The standard procedure is for the material to be preheated before ignition, so that the surface is at equilibrium. The spread of the flame front past points on the sample surface after ignition is recorded, and from the flame front velocity and the model by Quintiere, material specific properties can be derived. The lack of preheating was found to affect the final results, by reducing the flame spread velocity and increasing the scatter in the experimental results. The RIFT gives comparable results to the same materials tested in the LIFT and to the published literature. The results the flame spread parameter and the minimum flux for flame spread are usually higher for the RIFT against the same material in the LIFT. There proved to be an effective limit on suitable materials able to be successfully tested in the RIFT to those that have a minimum flux for flame spread of less than 7kW/m2, with this limitation is dictated by the flux profile along the sample, and the lower resolution dictated by the smaller size. It is approximately equivalent to a minimum ignition flux of 18kW/m2