Calculations of molecular properties in hybrid coupled-cluster and molecular mechanics approach.

We report benchmark calculations obtained with our new coupled-cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) code for calculating the first- and second-order molecular properties. This code can be easily incorporated into combined [Valiev, M.; Kowalski, K. J. Chem. Phys. 2006, 125, 211101] classical molecular mechanics (MM) and ab initio coupled-cluster (CC) calculations using NWChem, enabling us to study molecular properties in a realistic environment. To test this methodology, we discuss the results of calculations of dipole moments and static polarizabilities for the Cl2O system in the CCl4 solution using the CCSD (CC with singles and doubles) linear response approach. We also discuss the application of the asymptotic extrapolation scheme (AES) [Kowalski, K.; Valiev, M. J. Phys. Chem. A 2006, 110, 13106] in reducing the numerical cost of CCSD calculations.

Knowledge of and attitudes about Alzheimer disease genetics: report of a pilot survey and two focus groups.

OBJECTIVES: In preparation for the development of an educational intervention on Alzheimer disease (AD) genetics, we undertook a pilot survey of knowledge in this area and attitudes toward genetic testing for AD among individuals with a family history of AD. METHODS: For the pilot study, we administered a 30-min questionnaire to 57 unaffected individuals from a genetic linkage study. For the focus groups, we interviewed two groups of subjects, ages 44-70 years, with a family history of AD, one of 10 Caucasians and the other of 6 African-Americans. RESULTS: The pilot study showed that there was limited knowledge of genetics overall and AD genetics in particular, considerable concern about personal risk, and little knowledge of or interest in genetic testing for the disease. The focus groups reinforced and fleshed out these impressions and highlighted the importance of caregiving experience in the attitudes toward personal risk for AD. CONCLUSIONS: These results underscore the value of genetics education for this and other complex diseases and suggest specific foci for educational interventions.

Effects on alcohol related fatal crashes of a community based initiative to increase substance abuse treatment and reduce alcohol availability.

OBJECTIVE: This analysis tested whether comprehensive community interventions that focus on reducing alcohol availability and increasing substance abuse treatment can reduce alcohol related fatal traffic crashes. INTERVENTION: Five of 14 communities awarded Fighting Back grants by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to reduce substance abuse and related problems attempted to reduce availability of alcohol and expand substance abuse treatment programs (FBAT communities). Program implementation began on 1 January 1992. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental design matched each program community to two or three other communities of similar demographic composition in the same state. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The ratio of fatal crashes involving a driver or pedestrian with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.01% or higher, 0.08% or higher, or 0.15% or higher were examined relative to fatal crashes where no alcohol was involved for 10 years preceding and 10 years following program initiation. RESULTS: Relative to their comparison communities, the five FBAT communities experienced significant declines of 22% in alcohol related fatal crashes at 0.01% BAC or higher, 20% at 0.08% or higher, and 17% at 0.15% or higher relative to fatal crashes not involving alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Community interventions to reduce alcohol availability and increase substance abuse treatment can reduce alcohol related fatal traffic crashes.

U.S. federally funded television public service announcements (PSAs) to prevent HIV/AIDS: a content analysis.

This article reports a content analysis of 56 English-language public service announcements (PSAs) for HIV/AIDS prevention produced since 1987 by the U.S. federal government for television broadcast. These PSAs do not lead target audiences through a logical sequence from awareness to motivation, skill building, and maintenance. The PSAs underutilize a strategy of "strategic ambiguity" to craft individual PSAs that can address the needs of and appeal to multiple target audiences, thereby directing information not only to heterosexuals, the primary target of these PSAs, but also to homosexuals and bisexuals. The PSAs largely ignore issues related to injection drug use and needle sharing. What drug-related portrayals there are focus on African American street junkies, which perpetuates racial stereotypes and fails to address occasional injection drug use. The PSAs exploit fear of HIV/AIDS to discourage drug use but do not offer drug treatment or counseling information. PSAs produced by the Clinton administration to promote condom use do not fully address key reasons why people fail to use condoms: concern about sexual pleasure, embarrassment about obtaining condoms, and lack of skills to negotiate condom use with sexual partners. Implications of these conclusions for the future of U.S. HIV/AIDS prevention are discussed.

Preventing alcohol-related problems at the University of Arizona's homecoming: an environmental management case study.

In 1995, the University of Arizona installed and publicized new policies to provide better alcohol control during its annual homecoming event. Systematic observation at pregame tents revealed that, compared to 1994, these policies led to a lower percentage of tents selling alcohol, elimination of beer kegs, greater availability of food and nonalcoholic beverages, the presence of hired bartenders to serve alcohol, and systems for identification checks. These changes were still in evidence through 1998. In 1995, campus police also saw a downward shift in the number of neighborhood calls for complaints related to homecoming activities, which was maintained through 1998. Statistics on law enforcement actions were inconsistent. There was a sharp drop in 1995, but 1996 and 1998 saw enforcement levels similar to what was seen prior to the new policies. This case study underscores the importance of environmental management strategies for campus-based alcohol and other drug prevention.

Evaluation of a social norms marketing campaign to reduce high-risk drinking at The University of Mississippi.

A social marketing campaign to change perceptions of peer drinking norms was conducted by the National Golden Key Honor Society at the University of Mississippi during the 1995-1996 school year. To assess the campaign's impact on perceptions of student drinking norms and alcohol consumption, Golden Key's national office administered a survey three times during the school year to all students enrolled in a random sample of required freshmen English courses. Regression analyses suggest that exposure to the marketing campaign may be associated with lower (and more accurate) estimates of student drinking norms. While offering promising results, this study was limited due to shortcomings in the research design. Future evaluations of social norms marketing campaigns should adhere to basic evaluation principles, such as using comparison groups, collecting contextual data, using a valid and reliable survey instrument, and ensuring proper survey administration techniques.

Finding common ground for effective campus-based prevention.

This commentary reviews the controversy over use of the term binge drinking to describe college student alcohol consumption, argues for abandoning the term, and explains how doing so will help unify and reinvigorate campus-based prevention work. Binge drinking has been defined for men as 5 or more drinks in a row at least once in the previous 2 weeks and as 4 or more drinks for women. There is no scientific basis for focusing on this measure to the exclusion of other consumption measures; neither is there justification for labeling such consumption binge drinking, which reinforces an exaggerated view of student drinking. To build support for environmental management strategies to reduce alcohol-related problems, campus officials should avoid terminology that demonizes students and instead embrace the responsible majority of college students as an essential part of the solution.

Estimated blood alcohol levels reached by "binge" and "nonbinge" drinkers: a survey of young adults in Montana.

The authors examined estimated blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) reached by so-called "binge drinkers" and "nonbinge drinkers" using a survey of young adults (age 18-24 years) in Montana. One third of drinkers were classified as "binge drinkers" the last time they consumed alcohol, using a gender-specific definition commonly applied to young adults: for men, having 5 or more drinks in a row, and for women, having 4 or more drinks. BAC levels were estimated on the basis of length of drinking episode, gender, weight, and typical alcohol consumption level. Among "binge drinkers," 63% did not reach .10% BAC or higher, 48% did not reach .08% BAC or higher, and 30% did not reach .06% BAC or higher. Of the "nonbinge drinkers," 7% reached .06% BAC or higher and 4% reached .08% BAC or higher. These findings underscore the potential problem of using binge drinking as a description and shorthand measure of drinking to intoxication.

International tobacco control: a focus group study of U.S. anti-tobacco activists.

Massachusetts tobacco control activists participated in focus groups to explore their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding international tobacco control. Initially, each of three focus groups ranked this issue at or near the bottom of important tobacco control issues. Participants ranked ten message concepts for their ability to motivate politically active Americans to contact a government representative about international tobacco issues. The top four message concepts dealt with deliberate marketing of cigarettes to children, dramatic increases in global mortality due to smoking, American hypocrisy in being the world's largest tobacco exporter, and use of overseas profits to finance youth-oriented marketing in the U.S. The rankings revealed little initial concern about U.S. diplomatic pressure to force foreign nations to open up their markets to American tobacco products. Yet during the subsequent discussion this was among the message concepts the generated the most outrage. This suggests that international tobacco control issues would resonate among U.S. opinion leaders once the facts were presented to them through a media advocacy campaign.

The drug Czar's anti-drug media campaign: continuing concerns.

In reviewing the anti-drug media campaign organized by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), we expressed concern about both its strategic direction and execution (Journal of Health Communication, 1999, 4:2 155-160). The response from ONDCP's director, General Barry R. McCaffrey, still leaves us concerned about the campaign's chances for success. We review ONDCP's strong opposition to including alcohol in the campaign, its continued reliance on fear appeals, and its relative inattention to building support for environmental prevention strategies. We voice again our concerns about ONDCP's underutilization of an expert review committee of behavioral scientists.

A content analysis of television advertising for the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program media campaign, 1993-1996.

Television advertising for the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP) was launched in 1993. The campaign's first three years were examined against an analytical framework based in behavioral change and communications theory. The most common focus in the 49 advertisements was tobacco industry practices, followed by health consequences for smokers and smoking prevention. Only one smoking prevention advertisement was targeted to children younger that age 13. Only four advertisements mentioned policy actions to reduce youth access or curtail exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Only two advertisements listed the telephone number for the MTCP's smoking cessation program. The television campaign was uncoordinated with the MTCP's community-level programs.

A campus-community coalition to control alcohol-related problems off campus: an environmental management case study.

The authors report on the effects of a university and community coalition in preventing problems related to college students' off-campus drinking. The Albany, New York, Committee on University and Community Relations used strategies based on an environmental-management approach that focuses on changing the environment in which individuals make decisions about alcohol consumption and related behaviors. Committee initiatives included improving enforcement of local laws and ordinances, creating a safety-awareness campaign for off-campus students, and developing a comprehensive advertising and beverage-service agreement with local tavern owners. The initiatives were associated with a decline in the number of alcohol-related problems in the community, as indicated by decreases in the number of off-campus noise ordinance reports filed by police and the number of calls to a university-maintained hotline for reporting off-campus problems. An environmental management approach, the authors suggest, has promise as an effective means of preventing alcohol-related problems among college students.

News coverage of alcohol and other drugs in U.S. college newspapers.

This study investigated the substance use-related content of a sample of student-run college newspapers. Two independent coders examined 157 news stories, features, editorials, commentaries, letters, photographs, and cartoons. Items about alcohol appeared in one out of every two issues, while items about other drugs appeared in one out of every five issues. Basic information about alcohol and other drug (AOD) use was reported in about one-fifth of the items, while three-fourths dealt with social, legal, safety, or health problems associated with AOD use, especially alcohol consumption. Just over half referred to some type of control policy, most often an enforcement action. Around one-fourth mentioned educational efforts to promote AOD prevention. Very few dealt with detection, intervention, or treatment. Most college newspapers are missing good opportunities for more extensive coverage of AOD issues that would better inform their readers, especially about factors contributing to campus AOD problems and specific program and policy options.

Rape and physical attractiveness: judgments concerning likelihood of victimization.

Subjects in two studies were shown portraits of 32 young women who varied widely in physical attractiveness. Subjects were told that half of these women had been victims of a crime and half had not. Their job was to sort the portraits correctly into those two categories. In both studies, attractive women were more often categorized as victims of rape. In Study 2, attractive women were not more likely to be categorized as having been beaten and robbed. Correlation analyses showed that the association between physical attractiveness and presumed criminal victimization was significantly higher for rape than for being beaten and robbed.

The public's willingness to discuss their preference for organ donation with family members.

We sought to assess the public's willingness to discuss their preference for organ donation with family members and to identify factors associated with willingness to discuss donation. We categorized individuals (N = 4365) with a preference for donation according to their willingness to discuss donation and used ordinal logistic regression analysis to identify factors related to their level of willingness. About half of those who want to donate have discussed this with a family member. Others were at various stages with respect to their commitment to discuss donation. Those in the more committed stages were more likely than others to have signed an organ donor card, to have seen information about organ donation, to be male, to be white or Hispanic, to know about donation issues, and to be comfortable with the idea of their own death. The decision to donate is ultimately made by family members of a suitable candidate for donation, yet nearly half of those who wish to donate have not made their wishes known. Interventions targeted to individuals at different stages of commitment are needed so that more family members can respond in accordance with their loved one's wishes.

The use of designated drivers by US college students: a national study.

A representative national sample of students attending 4-year colleges in the United States reported whether they had served as or had ridden with a designated driver in the past 30 days and how much alcohol they had consumed the last time they used this prevention strategy. Among drinkers (those who had consumed alcohol in the past year), 36% said they had served as a designated driver in the past 30 days; of these, 40% said they usually binged when they drank but had not done so the last time they served as the designated driver, with the vast majority either abstaining or having 1 drink. Among drinkers, 37% reported riding with a designated driver in the past 30 days; of these, 22% said they did not usually binge but did so the last time they had a designated driver because they had had 1 or more extra drinks. Among college students, using designated drivers is now a well-established strategy for avoiding impaired driving.

A critical perspective on the drug czar's antidrug media campaign.

The US government's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) launched its new antidrug media campaign in July 1998. The campaign is likely to increase awareness of the youth drug problem, but shortcomings in the campaign's early implementation raise questions about its potential for changing behavior. Shortcomings include: a) The first wave of ONDCP's television advertisements are focused on reinforcing problem awareness but do not model skills or provide other information necessary for behavior change; b) the campaign provides insufficient focus on promoting drug treatment and citizen involvement in local prevention activities, including political action; c) the campaign is being implemented without a major new investment in drug-treatment programs or community-based prevention programs; d) The campaign does not substantively address alcohol and tobacco, which pose a clear threat to health and serve as a "gateway" to illicit drug use; and e) the first wave of television advertisements use exaggerated fear appeals, a strategy shown by research rarely to be successful. Only time will tell whether the ONDCP media campaign will succeed or fail. Using past research as a guide, there is legitimate reason for concern that the campaign will not live up to expectations.

Strategies to reduce driving under the influence of alcohol.

The purpose of this review is to update research on the prevention of alcohol-related traffic deaths since the 1988 Surgeon General's Workshop on Drunk Driving. Four primary areas of research are reviewed here: (a) general deterrence policies, (b) alcohol control policies, (c) mass communications campaigns, including advertising restrictions, and (d) community traffic safety programs. Modern efforts to combat drunk driving in the United States began with specific deterrence strategies to punish convicted drunk drivers, and then evolved to include general deterrence strategies that were targeted to the population as a whole. Efforts next expanded to include the alcohol side of the problem, with measures installed to decrease underage drinking and excessive alcohol consumption. In the next several years, greater efforts are needed on all these fronts. Also needed, however, are programs that integrate drunk driving prevention with other traffic safety initiatives.

Requesting organ donation: an interview study of donor and nondonor families.

BACKGROUND: Approximately half of the families asked to consider donation of a relative's organs decline to give consent. Understanding the difference between stated public support of organ donation and actual behavior is key to decreasing the shortage of donor organs. OBJECTIVES: To gain insight into the experiences of potential donor families and to define features of the donation-request process and other factors that are associated with consent for organ donation. METHODS: A structured telephone interview was conducted with the immediate next of kin of 164 medically suitable potential organ donors. Interviews 30 to 60 minutes long were held with members of both donor and nondonor families 4 to 6 months after the death of the study participant's relative. RESULTS: Several factors were associated with consent for organ donation: characteristics of the patient and the patient's family, beliefs and attitudes about organ donation and transplantation, whether the family knew the deceased's wishes about donation, the family's satisfaction with the hospital care that their relative received, specific aspects of the donation-request process, and the family's understanding of brain death. CONCLUSIONS: Organ donation rates could be increased by enhancing the quality of hospital care and ensuring that the request for donation is handled in a way that meets the families' informational and emotional needs.

Does cigarette print advertising adhere to the Tobacco Institute's voluntary advertising and promotion code? An assessment.

OBJECTIVES: This investigation examined whether, despite the Tobacco Institute's Voluntary Cigarette Advertising and Promotion Code, current cigarette print advertising communicates culturally positive messages to youth about smoking. METHODS: Nine hundred thirteen students in grades 6-8 (ages 10-15) were shown a sample of four contemporary cigarette print ads (Camel, Marlboro, Newport, and Virginia Slims) and completed structured written assessments designed to capture their perceptions of each ad. RESULTS: Across the four ads, between 37% and 84% of the students reported that the ads communicated to them that smoking will make people popular, cool, successful in life, sexy, attractive, and healthy. Sizeable percentages of students reported that the ads show people using the product in an "exaggerated" way, and that what people in the ads are doing requires "exercise and physical energy." The median estimated age of the models in the ads was under age 25 for four out of the six models. CONCLUSIONS: As perceived by adolescents, current cigarette print advertising violates basic tenets of the Voluntary Code, thus bringing into question the tobacco industry's ability to self-regulate image advertising. These findings suggest that the FDA ruling to prohibit image advertising for tobacco in publications with significant youth readership deserves serious consideration.