Implementation of a youth and young adult e-cigarette cessation program within a dental clinic setting : A SToHN feasibility study

Introduction

While significant progress has been made to decrease tobacco smoking among youth and young adults, e-cigarettes threaten to reverse the progress. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of the ReACH Assessment of Knowledge for E-Cigarettes (RAKE) e-cigarette cessation program targeting youth and young adults in Texas.

Methods

Seven dental practitioners and 12 patients participated in this pilot study. Patients aged 15 to 29 who reported current e-cigarette use were recruited by their dental practitioner. All participants completed pre-and post-assessments-practitioners receiving the RAKE training and patients the RAKE cessation intervention. Descriptive statistics were calculated.

Results

After RAKE training, all practitioners reported the RAKE cessation program as useful and an important part of patient care. In addition, after completing the program (5A's), 67% (n=9) patients reported that the program was helpful, and 100% (n=12) would recommend the program to other ENDS users.

Conclusions

Practitioners and patients enhanced their knowledge of e-cigarettes and their harm to health. In addition, practitioners demonstrated their ability to implement the RAKE cessation program within the practice, and patients approved of the use of the program. This study illustrated the feasibility and acceptability of conducting an e-cigarette cessation study in dental practices and a critical need to develop and disseminate the program to young patients.

Representing older and disabled people in virtual user trials: data collection methods

A database was developed to support the creation of a computer-based tool which will support design teams in evaluating the usability of a design during early prototyping and indicate which individuals are effectively excluded or designed out. Methods are described for the collection of multivariate data on 100 real individuals covering a range of physical characteristics and capabilities. These data were tested to ensure a breadth of representation of individuals (particularly older and disabled people) in terms of anthropometry, joint constraints, postural capabilities and task behaviours. The concept of the design tool itself is explored by conducting virtual user trials in the computer-aided design environment. The novel approach of the research encourages empathy with individual users and allows generic abilities, such as bending, reaching and lifting to be assessed.

Characterization of La Crosse virus RNA in autopsied central nervous system tissues

A reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) technique was used to detect La Crosse (LAC) virus RNA in the central nervous system (CNS) tissues of two patients who died of LAC encephalitis in 1960 and 1978. Viral RNA was readily detected by RT-PCR although the tissues had been stored frozen for up to 37 years. LAC virus was detected in the cerebral cortex but not in other CNS tissues. RT-PCR allowed detection of replicative forms of the virus, indicating that the virus was actively replicating in the specific CNS tissues. The small (S) RNA segments of the viruses from the CNS samples were demonstrated to be genetically similar by single-strand conformation polymorphism analyses. These S RNA segments were then sequenced; only two base changes were demonstrated between the 1960 and the 1978 samples, suggesting that LAC virus is genetically stable in areas of endemicity. The RT-PCR analyses of analyte directly from CNS tissues allows study of the virus without passage in cell culture.

Babesiosis in Wisconsin: a potentially fatal disease

Babesiosis is emerging as an important tick-borne zoonosis in the United States. Most reported cases of this parasitic disease have been acquired in the Northeast. To date, only two clinical cases of Babesia microti infection acquired in the upper Midwest have been described. We report eight more cases. Most if not all of the 10 total cases probably were acquired in northwestern Wisconsin. Three cases (30% of 10) we now report were fatal and occurred in elderly patients (65-75 years old) who died after complicated hospital courses. One patient probably had had a latent Babesia infection that activated because of immunosuppression attributable to high-dose corticosteroid therapy and to splenic infarctions caused by cholesterol emboli. All three fatal cases were diagnosed incidentally and highlight the importance of considering the diagnosis of babesiosis in febrile patients who have been in babesiosis-endemic areas; examining their blood smears carefully; and treating promptly with clindamycin and quinine, and, if indicated, exchange transfusion. Medical personnel should be knowledgeable about this zoonosis, which is not limited to the northeastern United States, and is potentially serious, sometimes fatal.

Vital fluorescent staining of human endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and monocytes: assessment of surface morphology

Vital fluorescent staining of human endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and monocytes seeded on a variety of surfaces has been carried out to develop a method for studying cell growth and interactions on viable cells. Using special fluorochrome markers and monoclonal antibodies, it was possible to differentiate different cell types as they grew on polymer surfaces similar to ones that are presently used on artificial heart valves and vascular grafts.

D-penicillamine withdrawal in rheumatoid arthritis

Thirty-eight patients with rheumatoid arthritis in remission on penicillamine were entered into a prospective, randomised, placebo controlled study to determine the effects of gradual penicillamine withdrawal, to find a serological marker capable of predicting relapse, and to assess the effects of reintroduction of penicillamine. 80% of patients attempting gradual penicillamine withdrawal flared. There was no single serological marker capable of predicting outcome consistently. Decreasing SH levels were highly specific for recurrence of active synovitis but were insensitive. Reintroduction of penicillamine was successful. The implications of these findings, particularly concerning duration of therapy with disease modifying drugs, are discussed.

Computer aids for floodlighting design

The lighting engineer is faced with many problems when specifying floodlighting schemes, not least the large amount of computation required to evaluate each potential solution in terms of illuminance grids and isolux contours across the area of interest. Traditionally these kinds of evaluations have been carried out on (programmable) calculators with a design time days for anything other than trivial schemes. Mainframe computers are used in batch mode to ease this problem, but there is a need for an interactive system directly available in the design office. Interactive desk-top microcomputers with graphics facilities make this kind of system both technically and economically viable for the small design office. This paper describes the recently implemented system at Abacus Municipal Ltd, a company involved in the design, supply, and installation of a wide range of floodlighting systems. The primary objective is to provide the lighting engineer with a simple interactive computer system for specifying the details of a floodlighting scheme, leaving the computer to perform the relatively simple but tedious calculations to determine the illumination over the area of interest. User interaction in terms familiar to the lighting engineer is considered to be important so that the engineer's skills, knowledge and experience are enhanced rather than replaced. The design time using the system is typically reduced to a matter of hours rather than days, and improved and more precise results can be presented to the potential client.

A computer aid for man machine modelling

Computer aids for design ignore, in general, one of the critical areas in present day society. This is the workplace, where men and machines interact to produce goods or generate services with a mixture of social, economic and industrial objectives.

This paper describes the SAMMIE (System for Aiding Man Machine Interaction Evaluation) Computer Aided Design System, which provides the designer with a wide range of aids including ones specifically for the evaluation of ergonomic criteria. A three-dimensional workplace model may be displayed on the screen of a graphics terminal linked to a minicomputer. To this workplace model, a Man Model of variable anthropometry can be added, enabling the workplace to be evaluated against criteria such as those relating to the operator's reach, vision, and fit capabilities.

The system has been used in a wide range of applications including vehicles and aircraft, materials handling equipment, large assembly jigs, commercial and industrial interiors. Examples from some of these are shown illustrating the facilities of the system.

Design of mirror systems for commercial vehicles

This paper describes a computer aided design project for the evaluation of alternative mirror systems for a range of commercial vehicles. Computer modelling of mirror systems introduces the ergonomics parameters into the design programme at an early stage. The flexibility of computer modelling allows a far greater range of designs to be evaluated. The problems can be studied and resolved before producing a series of mirror designs to be evaluated by more conventional techniques on prototype vehicles. Mirrors designed in this way are less likely to require major redesign. Compliance with the legislative requirements of mirror design was a major consideration. Attempts were also made to optimise mirror systems for a range of cabs basing the evaluations on ergonomic as well as legislative criteria. Additionally, consideration was given to the use of mirrors for viewing trailer swing, passenger exit surveillance (for public service vehicles) and the viewing of objects close to high cabs. SAMMIE (System for Aiding Man-Machine Interaction Evaluation), a computer-aided workplace and work task design system, was used to model the vehicles and to produce the required mirror views on a computer graphics terminal.