Friendship patterns in four MIT fraternities.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis. 1972. B.S.Lacking leaf 88.Bibliography: leaves 94-95.B.S

The Impact of National Smoking Prevention Campaigns on Tobacco-Related Beliefs, Intentions to Smoke and Smoking Initiation: Results from a Longitudinal Survey of Youth in the United States

The national truth© campaign has exposed U.S. youth to antismoking messages since 2000. Tobacco industry–sponsored campaigns, such as “Think. Don’t Smoke” (TDS), have also aired nationally. We examine the effects of recall of the truth© and TDS campaigns on changes in tobacco-related beliefs, intentions, and smoking initiation in a longitudinal survey of U.S. youth. Recall of truth© was associated with increased agreement with antismoking beliefs, decreased smoking intentions, and lower rates of smoking initiation. Recall of TDS was associated with increased intentions to smoke soon but was not significantly associated with tobacco beliefs or smoking initiation among youth overall

A Community-Based Intervention Designed to Increase Preventive Health Care Seeking Among Adolescents: The Gonorrhea Community Action Project

Objectives. We evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase preventive health care seeking among adolescents. Methods. Adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 21 years, recruited from community-based organizations in 2 different communities, were randomized into either a 3-session intervention or a control condition. We estimated outcomes from 3-month follow-up data using logistic and ordinary least squares regression. Results. Female intervention participants were significantly more likely than female control participants to have scheduled a health care appointment (odds ratio [OR]=3.04), undergone a checkup (OR=2.87), and discussed with friends or family members the importance of undergoing a checkup (OR=4.5). There were no differences between male intervention and male control participants in terms of outcomes. Conclusions. This theory-driven, community-based group intervention significantly increased preventive health care seeking among female adolescents. Further research is needed, however, to identify interventions that will produce successful outcomes among male adolescents

Multicentre performance evaluation of the E170 Module for MODULAR ANALYTICS

The E170 module was evaluated at 13 sites in an international multicentre study. The objective of the study was to assess the analytical performance of 49 analytes, and to collect feedback on the system's reliability and practicability. The typical, within-run coefficients of variation (CVs) for most of the quantitative assays ranged between 1 and 2% while a range of 2-4% was achieved with the infectious disease methods. Total precision CVs were found to be within the manufacturer's expected performance ranges, demonstrating good concordance of the system's measuring channels and a high reproducibility during the 2-4-week trial period. The functional sensitivity of 11 selected assays met the clinical requirements (e.g., thyreotroponin (TSH) 0.008 mU/l, troponin T 0.02 µg/l, total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) 0.03 µg/l). The E170 showed no drift during an 8-hour period and no relevant reagent carryover. Accuracy was confirmed by ring trial experiments and method comparisons vs. Elecsys® 2010. The reliability and practicability of the system's hardware and software met with, or even exceeded, the evaluator's requirements. Workflow studies showed that E170 can cover the combined workload of various routine analysers in a variety of laboratory environment. Throughput and sample processing time requirements were achieved while personnel ‘hands-on-time' could be reduce

Rituximab plus bendamustine or chlorambucil for chronic lymphocytic leukemia: primary analysis of the randomized, open-label MABLE study

MABLE investigated the efficacy and safety of rituximab plus bendamustine or rituximab plus chlorambucil in fludarabine-ineligible patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Patients received rituximab plus bendamustine or rituximab plus chlorambucil every four weeks for six cycles. Rituximab plus chlorambucil-treated patients without a complete response after Cycle 6 received chlorambucil monotherapy for at least six additional cycles or until complete response. The primary endpoint was complete response rate (confirmed by bone marrow biopsy) after Cycle 6 in first-line patients. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival, overall survival, minimal residual disease, and safety. Overall, 357 patients were randomized (rituximab plus bendamustine, n=178;rituximab plus chlorambucil, n=179;intent-to-treat population), including 241 first-line patients (n=121 and n=120, respectively);355 patients received treatment (n=177 and n=178, respectively;safety population). In first-line patients, complete response rate after Cycle 6 (rituximab plus bendamustine, 24%;rituximab plus chlorambucil, 9%;P=0.002) and median progression-free survival (rituximab plus bendamustine, 40 months;rituximab plus chlorambucil, 30 months;P=0.003) were higher with rituximab plus bendamustine than rituximab plus chlorambucil. Overall response rate and overall survival were not different. In first-line patients with a complete response, minimal residual disease-negativity was higher with rituximab plus bendamustine than rituximab plus chlorambucil (66% vs. 36%). Overall adverse event incidence was similar (rituximab plus bendamustine, 98%;rituximab plus chlorambucil, 97%). Rituximab plus bendamustine may be a valuable first-line option for fludarabine-ineligible patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. clinicaltrials.gov identifier: 0105651

Computer Access and Internet Use Among Urban Youths

This report presents data on computer access, Internet use, and factors associated with health information seeking on the Internet among a sample of youths aged 15 to 30 years in New York City. Findings from street intercept surveys indicate substantial computer access at home (62%) and frequent (everyday or a few times a week) Internet use (66%). Fifty-five percent of the sample reported seeking health information on the Internet, which was associated with positive beliefs about getting a health checkup and frequent Internet use

Examining differences in cigarette smoking prevalence among young adults across national surveillance surveys.

Accurate smoking prevalence data is critical for monitoring, surveillance, and evaluation. However, estimates of prevalence vary across surveys due to various factors. This study examines smoking prevalence estimates for 18-21 year olds across six U.S. national telephone, online and in-person surveys for the years 2013 and 2014. Estimates of ever smoking ranged from 35% to 55%. Current smoking ranged from 16% to 30%. Across the three modalities, household surveys were found to yield the highest estimates of smoking prevalence among 18 to 21 year olds while online surveys yielded the lowest estimates, and this was consistent when stratifying by gender and race/ethnicity. Assessments of the joint effect of gender, race/ethnicity, educational attainment and survey mode indicated that the relative differences in the likelihood of smoking were consistent across modes for gender and education groups. However, the relative likelihood of smoking among minority groups compared with non-Hispanic Whites varied across modes. Gender and racial/ethnic distributions for most surveys significantly differed from the U.S. Census. Over and underrepresentation of certain demographic subpopulations, variations in survey question wording, and social desirability effects may explain modality differences in smoking estimates observed in this study. Further research is needed to evaluate the effect of survey mode on variation in smoking prevalence estimates across national surveys, particularly for young adult populations