Characteristics of Tobacco Users in the Lumber Industry

Cessation interventions for adult smokeless tobacco users may benefit from an improved understanding of the demographic, psychosocial, and tobacco-dependence characteristics of this group. In the current study, 143 employees of the Pacific Lumber Company were interviewed and completed questionnaires about their tobacco use product preference (smokeless tobacco only, cigarettes only, both, and former user), demographic, psychosocial, and tobacco-dependence characteristics. Results of a multivariate discriminant analysis revealed that smokeless-tobacco-only users were younger and reported in engaging in more exercise than did the other three groups; however, they also reported greater dependence on tobacco than did smokers. Formal cessation clinics similar to those that are being used effectively with smokers, and which are age appropriate, may be an effective treatment for adult smokeless tobacco users

Identification of Adolescents at Risk for Smoking Initiation: Validation of a Measure of Susceptibility

Primary prevention of smoking in adolescents requires effective screening instruments for identifying those adolescents who are most likely to experiment with cigarettes. This study investigated the predictive value of a measure of susceptibility to smoking (the lack of a firm commitment not to smoke) for predicting smoking initiation 1 and 2 years later among 687 seventh-grade nonsmokers. Results showed that susceptible adolescents were approximately two to three times more likely to experiment with cigarettes during the ensuing 2 years than were nonsusceptible adolescents. At the lower levels of smoking, these relationships persisted even after controlling for psychosocial variables. Measures of susceptibility to smoking could be an effective tool for identifying adolescents at increased risk of experimenting with cigarettes or assessing their readiness for smoking-prevention programs

Health Behavior, Quality of Work Life, and Organizational Effectiveness in the Lumber Industry

A major incentive for work-site health promotion activities has been the promise of increased company profitability. Some critics have challenged the economic argument based on distal outcomes such as increased employee longevity and less morbidity later in life. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between employee health behavior, quality of work life, and proximal organizationally valued outcomes. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of employees working at Pacific Lumber Company (N = 146), the largest single-site lumber mill in California. Although employee sleep patterns predicted health care utilization and psychological well-being, for the most part employee health behaviors were not strong predictors of proximal organizational effectiveness factors. However, quality-of-work-life factors significantly predicted organizational commitment, absenteeism, and tardiness frequency. The findings suggest the value of improving the system of work in which employees are embedded as part of comprehensive work-site health promotion efforts

The Organizational Implications of Smokeless Tobacco Use in the Lumber Mill Industry

Although much is known about the characteristics of employees who smoke cigarettes, very little is known about workers who use smokeless tobacco. The current study was designed to understand the characteristics of smokeless tobacco users in relation to their performance at work and compare them with smokers and former tobacco users. Data were collected via interviews and questionnaires from a random sample of employees working at Pacific Lumber Company (N = 146), the largest single-site lumber mill in California. A total of 63 smokeless tobacco users (21 of whom also smoked cigarettes), 43 cigarette smokers, and 40 employees who had successfully quit using tobacco (34 of whom previously used cigarettes only) provided information about their health behavior, quality of work life, and performance at work. Analyses revealed that smokeless tobacco users reported less healthful sleep patterns, drank alcohol more often, were intoxicated more often, reported less job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and reported that both chewers and smokers do not work as hard and take more breaks than do tobacco-free employees (quitters). Specific differences among chewers-only, smokers-only, smokers- and-chewers, and quitters are presented. Results suggest the organizational value of developing worksite cessation programs for smokeless tobacco users

Bardet-Biedl Syndrome in rhesus macaques: A nonhuman primate model of retinitis pigmentosa

The development of therapies for retinal disorders is hampered by a lack of appropriate animal models. Higher nonhuman primates are the only animals with retinal structure similar to humans, including the presence of a macula and fovea. However, few nonhuman primate models of genetic retinal disease are known. We identified a lineage of rhesus macaques with a frameshift mutation in exon 3 of the BBS7 gene c.160delG (p.Ala54fs) that is predicted to produce a non-functional protein. In humans, mutations in this and other BBS genes cause Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a ciliopathy and a syndromic form of retinitis pigmentosa generally occurring in conjunction with kidney dysfunction, polydactyly, obesity, and/or hypogonadism. Three full- or half-sibling monkeys homozygous for the BBS7 c.160delG variant, at ages 3.5, 4 and 6 years old, displayed a combination of severe photoreceptor degeneration and progressive kidney disease. In vivo retinal imaging revealed features of severe macular degeneration, including absence of photoreceptor layers, degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium, and retinal vasculature atrophy. Electroretinography in the 3.5-year-old case demonstrated loss of scotopic and photopic a-waves and markedly reduced and delayed b-waves. Histological assessments in the 4- and 6-year-old cases confirmed profound loss of photoreceptors and inner retinal neurons across the posterior retina, with dramatic thinning and disorganization of all cell layers, abundant microglia, absent or displaced RPE cells, and significant gliosis in the subretinal space. Retinal structure, including presence of photoreceptors, was preserved only in the far periphery. Ultrasound imaging of the kidneys revealed deranged architecture, and renal histopathology identified distorted contours with depressed, fibrotic foci and firmly adhered renal capsules; renal failure occurred in the 6-year-old case. Magnetic resonance imaging obtained in one case revealed abnormally low total brain volume and unilateral ventricular enlargement. The one male had abnormally small testes at 4 years of age, but polydactyly and obesity were not observed. Thus, monkeys homozygous for the BBS7 c.160delG variant closely mirrored several key features of the human BBS syndrome. This finding represents the first identification of a naturally-occurring nonhuman primate model of BBS, and more broadly the first such model of retinitis pigmentosa and a ciliopathy with an associated genetic mutation. This important new preclinical model will provide the basis for better understanding of disease progression and for the testing of new therapeutic options, including gene and cell-based therapies, not only for BBS but also for multiple forms of photoreceptor degeneration