A review of the health impact of smoking control at the workplace

Purpose. To summarize and provide a critical review of worksite health promotion program evaluations published between 1968 and 1994 that addressed the health impact of worksite smoking cessation programs and smoking policies. Methods. A comprehensive literature search conducted under the auspices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified 53 smoking cessation program evaluation reports, of which 41 covered worksite single-topic cessation programs. Nine additional reports were located through manual search of citations from published reports and reviews. These 50 reports covered 52 original data-based studies of cessation programs. The search produced 19 reports for tobacco policy evaluations, of which 12 addressed health impact. An additional 17 reports were located by the authors. These 29 reports covered 29 studies of policy impact. Summary of Important Findings. Smoking cessation group programs were found to be more effective than minimal treatment programs, although less intensive treatment, when combined with high participation rates, can influence the total population. Tobacco policies were found to reduce cigarette consumption at work and worksite environmental tobacco smoke (RTS) exposure. Conclusions. The literature is rated suggestive for group and incentive interventions; indicative for minimal interventions, competitions, and medical interventions; and acceptable for the testing of incremental effects. Because of the lack of experimental control, the smoking policy literature is rated as weak, although there is strong consistency in results for reduced cigarette consumption and decreased exposure to ETS at work. (Am J Health Promot 1998;13[2]:83-104.

ADOPTION OF VETERINARY SURGEON SERVICES BY SHEEP AND GOAT FARMERS IN QWAQWA

A number of technology transfer (diffusion) programmes involving amongst others veterinary surgeon services subsidised by the government, were launched in the former homelands of South Africa between 1980 and 1993. Many of these programmes were discontinued after the general election of 1994. In order to evaluate the adoption of technology in Qwaqwa, a former Sotho speaking homeland, two Logit models were fit using the conventional definition of an adopter and an adapted definition, which included potential adopters with the adopters. Where the conventional definition of adoption was estimated, livestock income per LSU, ram technology, roads and suppliers of livestock inputs are significant variables contributing to adoption. The results of the adapted model reveal that farming efficiency (weaning percentage), type of farmer (sheep as percentage of the total small ruminant herd) and ram technology, prove to be significant variables predicting adoption. It was also found that the characteristics of potential adopters gravitate more to adopters than to non-adopters. These results indicated that the adapted definition presented a more accurate prediction than the conventional definition. The results of this study indicate the policy necessary to further accelerate the diffusion of veterinary surgeon services by means of the development of a better infrastructure, the reintroduction of subsidised veterinary surgeon services at the sheering sheds as well as a better flow of information to farmers in Qwaqwa.Livestock Production/Industries,

Transitioning Health Educators to Clinical Settings

Objective: A support model consisting of a local health educators’ network, a technical assistance team with academic and practice experts, and an evolving sequence of professional continuing education activities supported health educators transitioning from community or school health education sites to health care sites as part of the Clinic Health Education and Life Style Promotion Project (Clinic HELP) designed to increase health education options for individuals within the Paso del Norte Region of the United States-Mexico Border. Methods: Focus groups, interviews and surveys were used to evaluate intervention activities designed to assist in the transition. Results/Conclusions: Lack of familiarity with health care settings and role delineation were identified as barriers while “expert” sounding boards, professional development activities, and advanced education assisted in the transition. Use of the professional network was less than anticipated. Practice Implications: Based on the Clinic HELP experience, recommendations are provided for professional education and support for health educators within clinical practice settings

Integrating Health Education into Clinical Settings

In the United States, health concerns such as food insecurity and obesity continue to rise among American households (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003). Poor dietary intake can result in poor health outcomes as well as negatively impact student academic performance (Sigman-Grant, 2003). Despite the growing health concerns among the youth, limited studies have examined the dietary patterns of the Mexican-American adolescent population. This study aims to fill that void by describing the dietary intake of predominantly Mexican-American adolescents 13-18 years of age (n=532). The study design was cross-sectional and randomly selected high school participants based on their enrollment in physical education classes. Results of a one day 24-hour dietary recall showed both males and females in this study were below the national recommendations for total calories per day and reported poor eating behaviors. Further research is needed to investigate food insufficiency in this population who has high prevalence of overweight

Make Research Data Public? -- Not Always so Simple: A Dialogue for Statisticians and Science Editors

Putting data into the public domain is not the same thing as making those data accessible for intelligent analysis. A distinguished group of editors and experts who were already engaged in one way or another with the issues inherent in making research data public came together with statisticians to initiate a dialogue about policies and practicalities of requiring published research to be accompanied by publication of the research data. This dialogue carried beyond the broad issues of the advisability, the intellectual integrity, the scientific exigencies to the relevance of these issues to statistics as a discipline and the relevance of statistics, from inference to modeling to data exploration, to science and social science policies on these issues.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-STS320 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Die Bedeutung einer Ausfallbedrohtheit von Versicherungskontrakten - ein Beitrag zur Behavioral Insurance

Kahneman/Tversky 1979 haben das theoretische Konstrukt der Probabilistic Insurance Kontrakte in die Literatur eingeführt. Hiermit werden Versicherungsverträge bezeichnet, deren Erfüllung im Leistungsfalle aufgrund einer möglichen Insolvenz des Versicherungsunternehmens nicht gewährleistet ist. In Ausweitung einer Studie von Wakker/Thaler/Tversky 1997 wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit eine experimentelle Untersuchung durchgeführt, wobei die Zahlungsbereitschaft potentieller Versicherungsnehmer in Abhängigkeit des Ratings des den Versicherungskontrakt anbietenden Unternehmens festgestellt wird. Dabei zeigt sich, daß diese ausfallbedrohte Versicherungsprodukte relativ zu ausfallfreien Verträgen mit erheblichen Prämienabschlägen sanktionieren. Der Preisabschlag nimmt dabei mit sinkender Unternehmensbonität (erhöhter Ausfallgefahr) zu. Die Befragungsergebnisse zeigen zudem das neuartige Phänomen, daß mit zunehmender Ausfallbedrohtheit immer weniger Personen bereit sind, ausfallbedrohte Versicherungsprodukte überhaupt zu akzeptieren. Schließlich werden Schlußfolgerungen für die Steuerung von Versicherungsunternehmen diskutiert

Targeting triple-negative breast cancer cells with the histone deacetylase inhibitor panobinostat

INTRODUCTION: Of the more than one million global cases of breast cancer diagnosed each year, approximately fifteen percent are characterized as triple-negative, lacking the estrogen, progesterone, and Her2/neu receptors. Lack of effective therapies, younger age at onset, and early metastatic spread have contributed to the poor prognoses and outcomes associated with these malignancies. Here, we investigate the ability of the histone deacetylase inhibitor panobinostat (LBH589) to selectively target triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell proliferation and survival in vitro and tumorigenesis in vivo. METHODS: TNBC cell lines MDA-MB-157, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, and BT-549 were treated with nanomolar (nM) quantities of panobinostat. Relevant histone acetylation was verified by flow cytometry and immunofluorescent imaging. Assays for trypan blue viability, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) proliferation, and DNA fragmentation were used to evaluate overall cellular toxicity. Changes in cell cycle progression were assessed with propidium iodide flow cytometry. Additionally, qPCR arrays were used to probe MDA-MB-231 cells for panobinostat-induced changes in cancer biomarkers and signaling pathways. Orthotopic MDA-MB-231 and BT-549 mouse xenograft models were used to assess the effects of panobinostat on tumorigenesis. Lastly, flow cytometry, ELISA, and immunohistochemical staining were applied to detect changes in cadherin-1, E-cadherin (CDH1) protein expression and the results paired with confocal microscopy in order to examine changes in cell morphology. RESULTS: Panobinostat treatment increased histone acetylation, decreased cell proliferation and survival, and blocked cell cycle progression at G2/M with a concurrent decrease in S phase in all TNBC cell lines. Treatment also resulted in apoptosis induction at 24 hours in all lines except the MDA-MB-468 cell line. MDA-MB-231 and BT-549 tumor formation was significantly inhibited by panobinostat (10 mg/kg/day) in mice. Additionally, panobinostat up-regulated CDH1 protein in vitro and in vivo and induced cell morphology changes in MDA-MB-231 cells consistent with reversal of the mesenchymal phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that panobinostat is overtly toxic to TNBC cells in vitro and decreases tumorigenesis in vivo. Additionally, treatment up-regulated anti-proliferative, tumor suppressor, and epithelial marker genes in MDA-MB-231 cells and initiated a partial reversal of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Our results demonstrate a potential therapeutic role of panobinostat in targeting aggressive triple-negative breast cancer cell types

Primary extrahepatic alveolar echinococcosis of the lumbar spine and the psoas muscle

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) of human being caused by Echinococcus multilocularis is a rare but important zoonosis especially in tempered zones of middle Europe and Northern America with endemic character in many countries. Due to the long incubation period, various clinical manifestations, critical prognosis, and outcome AE presents a serious and severe disease. The primary focus of infection is usually the liver. Although secondary affection of visceral organs is possible extrahepatic AE is highly uncommon. Moreover, the involvement of bone and muscle presents with an even lower incidence. In the literature numerous cases on hepatic AE have been reported. However, extrahepatic AE involving bones and/or muscles was described very rarely. We report a case of an 80-year-old man with primary extrahepatic alveolar Echinococcosis of the lumbar spine and the psoas muscle. The etiology, diagnosis, differential diagnoses, treatment options and outcome of this rare disease are discussed in context with the current literature