47 research outputs found
Adolescents' Responses to Pictorial Warnings on Their Parents' Cigarette Packs
Pictorial cigarette pack warnings are a promising policy solution to increase smoking cessation among adults. However, little is known regarding adolescents' responses to pictorial warnings, particularly in real-world settings
Testing warning messages on smokersâ cigarette packages: a standardised protocol
Lab experiments on cigarette warnings typically use a brief one-time exposure that is not paired with the cigarette packs smokers use every day, leaving open the question of how repeated warning exposure over several weeks may affect smokers. This proof of principle study sought to develop a new protocol for testing cigarette warnings that better reflects real-world exposure by presenting them on cigarette smokersâ own packs
Scrupulosity and Hoarding
Objective: Recent evidence suggests that avoiding waste may be a prominent motive to save in hoarding disorder. Such beliefs are reminiscent of scrupulosity obsessions in OCD. This paper reports on three studies examining scrupulosity-like beliefs in hoarding and the development and validation of a measure of material scrupulosity.
Methods: Study one examined the reliability and validity of a measure of material scrupulosity (MOMS) and its relationship to hoarding in a college student sample, as well as the relationship between hoarding and OCD-base scrupulosity. Study 2 examined the psychometric properties of the MOMS in a replication of study 1 with a sample of people with hoarding problems. Study 3 examined the reliability and validity of the MOMS in a large nonclinical/community sample.
Results: Findings across the studies provided evidence for the reliability and validity of the MOMS. It was highly correlated with hoarding symptoms, especially difficulty discarding, and hoarding related beliefs, especially responsibility beliefs. It accounted for significant variance in hoarding symptoms independent of other correlates, including other hoarding beliefs. OCD-based scrupulosity was correlated with hoarding in sample 1, but not in the hoarding sample in study 2.
Conclusions: Material Scrupulosity refers to an exaggerated sense of duty or moral/ethical responsibility for the care and disposition of possessions to prevent their being harmed or wasted. It appears to be distinct from other hoarding-related beliefs and a significant predictor of hoarding symptoms. The MOMS appears to possess good reliability and validity in both clinical and nonclinical samples
Social Interactions Sparked by Pictorial Warnings on Cigarette Packs
The Message Impact Framework suggests that social interactions may offer smokers the opportunity to process pictorial warnings on cigarette packs more deeply. We aimed to describe adult smokersâ social interactions about pictorial cigarette pack warnings in two longitudinal pilot studies. In Pilot Study 1, 30 smokers used cigarette packs with one of nine pictorial warnings for two weeks. In Pilot Study 2, 46 smokers used cigarette packs with one of five pictorial warnings for four weeks. Nearly all smokers (97%/96% in Pilot Study 1/2) talked about the warnings with other people, with the most common people being friends (67%/87%) and spouses/significant others (34%/42%). Pilot Study 2 found that 26% of smokers talked about the warnings with strangers. Discussions about the health effects of smoking and quitting smoking were more frequent during the first week of exposure to pictorial warnings than in the week prior to beginning the study (both p < 0.05). Pictorial warnings sparked social interactions about the warnings, the health effects of smoking, and quitting smoking, indicating that pictorial warnings may act as a social intervention reaching beyond the individual. Future research should examine social interactions as a potential mediator of the impact of pictorial warnings on smoking behavior
Simulated void galaxies in the standard cold dark matter model
We analyze a (120 h^{-1} Mpc)^3 adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynamic
simulation that contains a higher-resolution 31 x 31 x 35 h^{-3} Mpc subvolume
centered on a ~30 Mpc diameter void. Our detailed ~1 kpc resolution allows us
to identify 1300 galaxies within this void to a limiting halo mass of ~10^{10}
M_sun. Nearly 1000 galaxies are found to be in underdense regions, with 300
galaxies residing in regions less than half the mean density of the simulation
volume. We construct mock observations of the stellar and gas properties of
these systems, and reproduce the range of colors and luminosities observed in
the SDSS for nearby (z < 0.03) galaxies. We find no trends with density for the
most luminous (M_r
-16), though they are less reliably resolved, typically appear bluer, with
higher rates of star formation and specific star formation and lower mean
stellar ages than galaxies in average density environments. We find a
significant population of low luminosity (M_r ~ -14) dwarf galaxies that is
preferentially located in low density regions and specifically in the void
center. This population may help to reduce, but not remove, the discrepancy
between the predicted and observed number of void galaxies.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Ap
Pediatric HIVâHBV Coinfection in Lusaka, Zambia: Prevalence and Short-Term Treatment Outcomes: Table 1.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is endemic in Africa, where it may occur as an HIV coinfection. Data remain limited on HIVâHBV epidemiology in Africa, particularly in children. Using programmatic data from pediatric HIV clinics in Lusaka, Zambia during 2011â2014, we analyzed the prevalence of chronic HBV coinfection (defined as a single positive hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] test) and its impact on immune recovery and liver enzyme elevation (LEE) during the first year of antiretroviral therapy. Among 411 children and adolescents, 10.4% (95% confidence interval, 7.6â14.1) had HIVâHBV. Coinfected patients were more likely to have World Health Organization stage 3/4, LEE and CD4 <14% at care entry (all p < 0.05). During treatment, CD4 increases and LEE incidence were similar by HBsAg status. HBsAg positivity decreased (11.8% vs. 6.6%; p = 0.24) following HBV vaccine introduction. These findings support screening pediatric HIV patients in Africa for HBV coinfection. Dedicated cohorts are needed to assess long-term outcomes of coinfection
âThatâs probably what my mamaâs lungs look likeâ: how adolescent children react to pictorial warnings on their parentsâ cigarette packs
Abstract
Background
Pictorial cigarette pack warnings discourage smoking, but most evidence comes from studies of adults. Our qualitative study explored adolescentsâ reactions to pictorial warnings on their parentsâ cigarette packs.
Methods
We interviewed 24 adolescents whose parents received pictorial warnings on their cigarette packs as part of a randomized clinical trial. We conducted a thematic content analysis of the interview transcripts.
Results
Pictorial cigarette pack warnings led adolescents to imagine the depicted health effects happening to their parents, which elicited negative emotions. The warnings inspired adolescents to initiate conversations with their parents and others about quitting smoking. Adolescents believed the warnings would help smokers quit and prevent youth from starting smoking. Some current smokers said the warnings made them consider quitting.
Conclusions
Conversations about the pictorial warnings may amplify their effectiveness for smokers, their adolescent children, and friends of the adolescent children. Cigarette pack warnings may reach a broad audience that includes adolescent children of smokers
Taking the Measure of the Universe: Precision Astrometry with SIM PlanetQuest
Precision astrometry at microarcsecond accuracy has application to a wide
range of astrophysical problems. This paper is a study of the science questions
that can be addressed using an instrument that delivers parallaxes at about 4
microarcsec on targets as faint as V = 20, differential accuracy of 0.6
microarcsec on bright targets, and with flexible scheduling. The science topics
are drawn primarily from the Team Key Projects, selected in 2000, for the Space
Interferometry Mission PlanetQuest (SIM PlanetQuest). We use the capabilities
of this mission to illustrate the importance of the next level of astrometric
precision in modern astrophysics. SIM PlanetQuest is currently in the detailed
design phase, having completed all of the enabling technologies needed for the
flight instrument in 2005. It will be the first space-based long baseline
Michelson interferometer designed for precision astrometry. SIM will contribute
strongly to many astronomical fields including stellar and galactic
astrophysics, planetary systems around nearby stars, and the study of quasar
and AGN nuclei. SIM will search for planets with masses as small as an Earth
orbiting in the `habitable zone' around the nearest stars using differential
astrometry, and could discover many dozen if Earth-like planets are common. It
will be the most capable instrument for detecting planets around young stars,
thereby providing insights into how planetary systems are born and how they
evolve with time. SIM will observe significant numbers of very high- and
low-mass stars, providing stellar masses to 1%, the accuracy needed to
challenge physical models. Using precision proper motion measurements, SIM will
probe the galactic mass distribution and the formation and evolution of the
Galactic halo. (abridged)Comment: 54 pages, 28 figures, uses emulateapj. Submitted to PAS
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Spectral and spatial decomposition of lithospheric magnetic field models using spherical Slepian functions
Global magnetic field models are typically expressed as spherical-harmonic expansion coefficients. Slepian functions are linear combinations of spherical harmonics that produce new basis functions, which vanish approximately outside chosen geographical boundaries but also remain orthogonal within the spatial region of interest. Hence, they are suitable for decomposing
spherical-harmonic models into portions that have significant magnetic field strength only in selected areas. Slepian functions are spatio-spectrally concentrated, balancing spatial bias and spectral leakage. Here, we employ them as a basis to decompose the global lithospheric
magnetic field model MF7 up to degree and order 72, into two distinct regions. One of the resultant fields is concentrated within the ensemble of continental domains, and the other is localized over its complement, the oceans. Our procedure neatly divides the spectral power at each harmonic degree into two parts. The field over the continents dominates the overall crustal magnetic field, and each region has a distinct power-spectral signature. The oceanic power spectrum is approximately flat, while that of the continental region shows increasing power as the spherical-harmonic degree increases.We provide a further breakdown of the field into smaller, non-overlapping continental and oceanic regions, and speculate on the source of the variability in their spectral signatures
Acute LPS sensitization and continuous infusion exacerbates hypoxic brain injury in a piglet model of neonatal encephalopathy.
Co-existing infection/inflammation and birth asphyxia potentiate the risk of developing neonatal encephalopathy (NE) and adverse outcome. In a newborn piglet model we assessed the effect of E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion started 4âh prior to and continued for 48âh after hypoxia on brain cell death and systemic haematological changes compared to LPS and hypoxia alone. LPS sensitized hypoxia resulted in an increase in mortality and in brain cell death (TUNEL positive cells) throughout the whole brain, and in the internal capsule, periventricular white matter and sensorimotor cortex. LPS alone did not increase brain cell death at 48âh, despite evidence of neuroinflammation, including the greatest increases in microglial proliferation, reactive astrocytosis and cleavage of caspase-3. LPS exposure caused splenic hypertrophy and platelet count suppression. The combination of LPS and hypoxia resulted in the highest and most sustained systemic white cell count increase. These findings highlight the significant contribution of acute inflammation sensitization prior to an asphyxial insult on NE illness severity