Support for smoke-free multi-unit housing policies among racially and ethnically diverse, low-income seniors in south florida

Open access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10823-014-9247-4/fulltext.html Previous studies have gauged support for implementing smoke-free MUH policies in the United States, but none have specifically examined attitudes among racially and ethnically diverse seniors living in low-income MUH. As part of an evaluation of a Community Transformation Grant funded program, we surveyed senior residents 62 years of age and older (n = 807) in 24 low-income housing properties in Broward County, Florida, to assess residents’ smoking behaviors, exposure to SHS, and support for smoke-free MUH policies. The study sample was ethnically and racially diverse with Hispanics comprising more than 61% of the population, and 22% of the population identified as Black or other races. Although close to 22% of the sample were former smokers, only 9% of residents reported being current smokers. The majority of residents surveyed supported no-smoking policies: 75% support no-smoking policies for individual units; 77% supported no-smoking policies in common areas; and, 68% supported no-smoking policies in outdoor areas. Over 29% of residents surveyed reported being exposed to secondhand smoke entering their units from elsewhere in their building. In sub-group analysis, Hispanic residents were significantly more likely to support both indoor (84.3 vs. 76.5, p\u3c.05) and outdoor (80.0 vs. 67.4, p\u3c.01) policies compared to non-Hispanic residents. Support for smoke-free policies did not vary significantly by race. This study demonstrates that senior residents living in low-income MUH properties overwhelmingly supported the implementation of smoke-free policies

Program evaluation of an adapted PEERS® social skills program in young adults with autism spectrum disorder and/or mild intellectual impairment and social skills difficulties

Rationale, Aims and Objectives: Social challenges are common for young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or mild intellectual impairment, yet few evidence-based interventions exist to address these challenges. PEERS®, the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills, has been shown to be effective in improving the social skills of young adults with ASD; however, it requires a significant time commitment for parents of young adults. As such, this mixed-methods study aimed to investigate the experiences of young adults, parents and PEERS® social coaches participating in an adapted PEERS® program, and to evaluate its acceptability and efficacy. Method: Young adults with ASD and/or mild intellectual impairment participated in a 16-week PEERS® program. Parents and PEERS® social coaches attended fewer, condensed sessions, where they learnt program content to support the young adults' social skill development at home and in the community. Focus groups were conducted post intervention. Quantitative pre−post assessment using the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, the Test of Young Adult Social Skills Knowledge, and Quality of Socialization Questionnaire-Young Adults was completed by young adults. The Social Responsiveness Scale Second Edition was completed by young adults and their parents. Result: Qualitative results revealed that, taken together, young adults, parents and PEERS® social coaches all felt that the adapted PEERS® program was ‘challenging, but worth it’. The program was acceptable with a 93% attendance rate across all sessions. Whilst young adults' perceptions of their own social functioning did not change post-intervention, their knowledge of social skills content improved significantly (p < 0.05). Parent perceptions of young adults' social responsiveness also improved (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Social skill knowledge, social responsiveness, and social engagement improved significantly following the completion of the adapted PEERS® program. It was deemed acceptable and worthwhile by young adults, their parents and PEERS® social coaches

The Cost of Economic and Racial Injustice in Postsecondary Education

In partnership with the Postsecondary Value Commission, we conducted a thought experiment on the costs of inequality in the US education system. Our simulation found that the US economy misses out on $956 billion per year, along with numerous nonmonetary benefits, as a result of postsecondary attainment gaps by economic status and race/ethnicity. The Cost of Economic and Racial Injustice in Postsecondary Education finds that closing these gaps would require an initial public investment of at least$3.97 trillion, but the benefits would outweigh the costs over time. Equalizing educational attainment without increasing student debt for low-income adults could also boost GDP by a total of $764 billion annually

Modelling cross-reactivity and memory in the cellular adaptive immune response to influenza infection in the host

The cellular adaptive immune response plays a key role in resolving influenza infection. Experiments where individuals are successively infected with different strains within a short timeframe provide insight into the underlying viral dynamics and the role of a cross-reactive immune response in resolving an acute infection. We construct a mathematical model of within-host influenza viral dynamics including three possible factors which determine the strength of the cross-reactive cellular adaptive immune response: the initial naive T cell number, the avidity of the interaction between T cells and the epitopes presented by infected cells, and the epitope abundance per infected cell. Our model explains the experimentally observed shortening of a second infection when cross-reactivity is present, and shows that memory in the cellular adaptive immune response is necessary to protect against a second infection.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figure

Assessing the feasibility of GS FLX Pyrosequencing for sequencing the Atlantic salmon genome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With a whole genome duplication event and wealth of biological data, salmonids are excellent model organisms for studying evolutionary processes, fates of duplicated genes and genetic and physiological processes associated with complex behavioral phenotypes. It is surprising therefore, that no salmonid genome has been sequenced. Atlantic salmon (<it>Salmo salar</it>) is a good representative salmonid for sequencing given its importance in aquaculture and the genomic resources available. However, the size and complexity of the genome combined with the lack of a sequenced reference genome from a closely related fish makes assembly challenging. Given the cost and time limitations of Sanger sequencing as well as recent improvements to next generation sequencing technologies, we examined the feasibility of using the Genome Sequencer (GS) FLX pyrosequencing system to obtain the sequence of a salmonid genome. Eight pooled BACs belonging to a minimum tiling path covering ~1 Mb of the Atlantic salmon genome were sequenced by GS FLX shotgun and Long Paired End sequencing and compared with a ninth BAC sequenced by Sanger sequencing of a shotgun library.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An initial assembly using only GS FLX shotgun sequences (average read length 248.5 bp) with ~30× coverage allowed gene identification, but was incomplete even when 126 Sanger-generated BAC-end sequences (~0.09× coverage) were incorporated. The addition of paired end sequencing reads (additional ~26× coverage) produced a final assembly comprising 175 contigs assembled into four scaffolds with 171 gaps. Sanger sequencing of the ninth BAC (~10.5× coverage) produced nine contigs and two scaffolds. The number of scaffolds produced by the GS FLX assembly was comparable to Sanger-generated sequencing; however, the number of gaps was much higher in the GS FLX assembly.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results represent the first use of GS FLX paired end reads for <it>de novo </it>sequence assembly. Our data demonstrated that this improved the GS FLX assemblies; however, with respect to <it>de novo </it>sequencing of complex genomes, the GS FLX technology is limited to gene mining and establishing a set of ordered sequence contigs. Currently, for a salmonid reference sequence, it appears that a substantial portion of sequencing should be done using Sanger technology.</p

Attitudes toward Precision Treatment of Smoking in the Southern Community Cohort Study

Background: Precision interventions using biological data may enhance smoking treatment, yet are understudied among smokers who are disproportionately burdened by smoking-related disease. Methods: We surveyed smokers in the NCI-sponsored Southern Community Cohort Study, consisting primarily of African-American, low-income adults. Seven items assessed attitudes toward aspects of precision smoking treatment, from undergoing tests to acting on results. Items were dichotomized as favorable (5 = strongly agree/4 = agree) versus less favorable (1 = strongly disagree/2 = disagree/3 = neutral); a summary score reflecting generalized attitudes was also computed. Multivariable logistic regression tested independent associations of motivation (precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation) and confidence in quitting (low, medium, and high) with generalized attitudes, controlling for sociodemographic factors and nicotine dependence. Results: More than 70% of respondents endorsed favorable generalized attitudes toward precision medicine, with individual item favorability ranging from 64% to 83%. Smokers holding favorable generalized attitudes reported higher income and education (P \u3c 0.05). Predicted probabilities of favorable generalized attitudes ranged from 63% to 75% across motivation levels [contemplation vs. precontemplation: adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.36–3.25, P = 0.001; preparation vs. precontemplation: AOR = 1.83, 95% CI, 1.20–2.78, P = 0.005; contemplation vs. preparation: AOR = 1.15, 95% CI, 0.75–1.77, P = 0.52] and from 59% to 78% across confidence (medium vs. low: AOR = 1.91, 95% CI, 1.19–3.07, P = 0.007; high vs. low: AOR = 2.62, 95% CI, 1.68–4.10, P \u3c 0.001; medium vs. high: AOR = 0.73, 95% CI, 0.48–1.11, P = 0.14). Conclusions: Among disproportionately burdened community smokers, most hold favorable attitudes toward precision smoking treatment. Individuals with lower motivation and confidence to quit may benefit from additional intervention to engage with precision smoking treatment. Impact: Predominantly favorable attitudes toward precision smoking treatment suggest promise for future research testing their effectiveness and implementation

A 2 R_⊕ Planet Orbiting the Bright Nearby K Dwarf Wolf 503

Since its launch in 2009, the Kepler telescope has found thousands of planets with radii between that of Earth and Neptune. Recent studies of the distribution of these planets have revealed a gap in the population near 1.5–2.0 R⊕, informally dividing these planets into "super-Earths" and "sub-Neptunes." The origin of this division is difficult to investigate directly because the majority of planets found by Kepler orbit distant, dim stars and are not amenable to radial velocity follow-up or transit spectroscopy, making bulk density and atmospheric measurements difficult. Here, we present the discovery and validation of a newly found 2.03^(+0.08)_(-0.07) R⊕ planet in direct proximity to the radius gap, orbiting the bright (J = 8.32 mag), nearby (D = 44.5 pc) high proper motion K3.5V star Wolf 503 (EPIC 212779563). We determine the possibility of a companion star and false positive detection to be extremely low using both archival images and high-contrast adaptive optics images from the Palomar observatory. The brightness of the host star makes Wolf 503b a prime target for prompt radial velocity follow-up, and with the small stellar radius (0.690 ± 0.025R⊙), it is also an excellent target for HST transit spectroscopy and detailed atmospheric characterization with JWST. With its measured radius near the gap in the planet radius and occurrence rate distribution, Wolf 503b offers a key opportunity to better understand the origin of this radius gap as well as the nature of the intriguing populations of "super-Earths" and "sub-Neptunes" as a whole

Comparing angular and curved shapes in terms of implicit associations and approach/avoidance responses.

Most people prefer smoothly curved shapes over more angular shapes. We investigated the origin of this effect using abstract shapes and implicit measures of semantic association and preference. In Experiment 1 we used a multidimensional Implicit Association Test (IAT) to verify the strength of the association of curved and angular polygons with danger (safe vs. danger words), valence (positive vs. negative words) and gender (female vs. male names). Results showed that curved polygons were associated with safe and positive concepts and with female names, whereas angular polygons were associated with danger and negative concepts and with male names. Experiment 2 used a different implicit measure, which avoided any need to categorise the stimuli. Using a revised version of the Stimulus Response Compatibility (SRC) task we tested with a stick figure (i.e., the manikin) approach and avoidance reactions to curved and angular polygons. We found that RTs for approaching vs. avoiding angular polygons did not differ, even in the condition where the angles were more pronounced. By contrast participants were faster and more accurate when moving the manikin towards curved shapes. Experiment 2 suggests that preference for curvature cannot derive entirely from an association of angles with threat. We conclude that smoothly curved contours make these abstract shapes more pleasant. Further studies are needed to clarify the nature of such a preference

A 2 Earth Radius Planet Orbiting the Bright Nearby K-Dwarf Wolf 503

Since its launch in 2009, the Kepler telescope has found thousands of planets with radii between that of Earth and Neptune. Recent studies of the distribution of these planets have revealed a rift in the population near 1.5-2.0$R_{\bigoplus}$, informally dividing these planets into "super-Earths" and "sub-Neptunes". The origin of this division is not well understood, largely because the majority of planets found by Kepler orbit distant, dim stars and are not amenable to radial velocity follow-up or transit spectroscopy, making bulk density and atmospheric measurements difficult. Here, we present the discovery and validation of a newly found $2.03^{+0.08}_{-0.07}~R_{\bigoplus}$ planet in direct proximity to the radius gap, orbiting the bright ($J=8.32$~mag), nearby ($D=44.5$~pc) high proper motion star Wolf 503 (EPIC 212779563). We classify Wolf 503 as a K3.5V star and member of the thick disc population. We determine the possibility of a companion star and false positive detection to be extremely low using both archival images and high-contrast adaptive optics images from the Palomar observatory. The brightness of the host star makes Wolf 503b a prime target for prompt radial velocity follow-up, HST transit spectroscopy, as well as detailed atmospheric characterization with JWST. With its measured radius near the gap in the planet radius and occurrence rate distribution, Wolf 503b offers a key opportunity to better understand the origin of this radius gap as well as the nature of the intriguing populations of "super-Earths" and "sub-Neptunes" as a whole