Information and communication technologies for approaching smokers: a descriptive study in primary healthcare.

BACKGROUND: Common interventions for smoking cessation are based on medical advice and pharmacological aid. Information and communication technologies may be helpful as interventions by themselves or as complementary tools to quit smoking. The objective of the study was to determine the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the smoking population attended in primary care, and describe the major factors associated with its use. METHODS: Descriptive observational study in 84 health centres in Cataluña, Aragon and Salamanca. We included by simple random sampling 1725 primary healthcare smokers (any amount of tobacco) aged 18-85. Through personal interview professionals collected Socio-demographic data and variables related with tobacco consumption and ICTs use were collected through face to face interviews Factors associated with the use of ICTs were analyzed by logistic regression. RESULTS: Users of at least one ICT were predominantly male, young (18-45 years), from most favoured social classes and of higher education. Compared with non-ICTs users, users declared lower consumption of tobacco, younger onset age, and lower nicotine dependence. The percentages of use of email, text messages and web pages were 65.3%, 74.0% and 71.5%, respectively. Factors associated with the use of ICTs were age, social class, educational level and nicotine dependence level. The factor most closely associated with the use of all three ICTs was age; mainly individuals aged 18-24. CONCLUSIONS: The use of ICTs to quit smoking is promising, with the technology of mobile phones having a broader potential. Younger and more educated subjects are good targets for ICTs interventions on smoking cessation.

Salt drying: a low-cost, simple and efficient method for storing plants in the field and preserving biological repositories for DNA diversity research.

Although a variety of methods have been optimized for the collection and storage of plant specimens, most of these are not suited for field expeditions for a variety of logistic reasons. Drying specimens with silica gel in polyethylene bags is currently the standard for field-sampling methods that are suitable for subsequent DNA extraction. However, silica-gel repositories are not readily available in remote areas, and its use is not very cost-effective for the long-term storage of collections or in developing countries with limited research budgets. Salting is an ancient and traditional drying process that preserves food samples by dehydrating tissues and inhibiting water-dependent cellular metabolism. We compared salt and silica-gel drying methods with respect to dehydration rates overtime, DNA quality and polymerase chain reaction(PCR) success to assess whether dry salting can be used as an effective plant preservation method for DNA analysis. Specimens from eleven plant species covering a variety of leaf structures, leaf thicknesses and water contents were analysed. Experimental work indicated that (i) levels of dehydration in sodium chloride were usually comparable to those obtained when silica gel was used, (ii) no spoilage, fungal or bacterial growth was observed for any of the species with all drying treatments and (iii) good yields of quality genomic DNA suitable for PCR applications were obtained in the salt-drying treatments. The preservation of plant tissues in commercial table salt appears to be a satisfactory, and versatile method that may be suitable in remote areas where cryogenic resources and silica repositories are not available.

The role of a mixed mating system in the reproduction of a Mediterranean subshrub (Fumana hispidula, Cistaceae).

Knowledge about mixed mating systems can improve our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of reproductive systems. Here we report a study of the pollination system (floral and reproductive biology, pollen limitation and stigmatic pollen load, floral visitors and inbreeding depression) of Fumana hispidula, a Mediterranean subshrub belonging to a species group with a strong selfing tendency. Autonomous self-pollination, hand self- and hand cross-pollination, open pollination and controls yielded fruits (0.28, 0.65, 0.68, 0.38, and 0.67, respectively); however, autonomous self-pollination resulted in the lowest fruit set. All individuals were fully self-compatible but we found great inter-individual variation in autonomous self-pollination ability, which was probably related to a variable expression of herkogamy degree. Inbreeding depression was low (0.040 for fruit set, 0.015 for seed set and -0.026 for seed mass). The pollen supplementation experiment did not reveal pollen limitation and pollinators were seen visiting the flowers during the observation periods. These results support the idea that F. hispidula has a mixed mating strategy, which represents a successful reproduction mode in their patchy habitats.