Twelve-Month Outcomes of a Group-Randomized Community Health Advocate-Led Smoking Cessation Intervention in Public Housing.

Background: Lower rates of smoking cessation are a major reason for the higher prevalence of smoking among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults. Because barriers to quitting are both more numerous and severe, socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers may benefit from more intensive intervention. We sought to determine whether a smoking cessation intervention delivered by public housing residents trained as Tobacco Treatment Advocates (TTAs) could increase utilization of cessation resources and increase abstinence. Methods: We conducted a group-randomized trial among Boston public housing residents who were interested in quitting smoking. Participants at control sites received standard cessation materials and a one-time visit from a TTA who provided basic counseling and information about cessation resources. Participants at intervention sites were eligible for multiple visits by a TTA who employed motivational interviewing, cessation counseling, and navigation to encourage smokers to utilize cessation treatment (Smokers' Quitline and clinic-based programs). Utilization and 7-day and 30-day point prevalence abstinence were assessed at 12 months. Self-reported abstinence was biochemically verified. Results: Intervention participants (n = 121) were more likely than control participants (n = 129) to both utilize treatment programs (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93-4.91) and 7-day and 30-day point prevalence abstinence (aOR: 2.60 (1.72-3.94); 2.98 (1.56-5.68), respectively). Mediation analysis indicated that the higher level of utilization did not explain the intervention effect. Conclusions: An intervention delivered by peer health advocates was able to increase utilization of treatment programs and smoking abstinence among public housing residents. Future studies of similar types of interventions should identify the key mechanisms responsible for success. Implications: In order to narrow the large and growing socioeconomic disparity in smoking rates, more effective cessation interventions are needed for low-income smokers. Individual culturally-relevant coaching provided in smokers' residences may help overcome the heightened barriers to cessation experienced by this group of smokers. In this study among smokers residing in public housing, an intervention delivered by peer health advocates trained in motivational interviewing, basic smoking cessation skills, and client navigation significantly increased abstinence at 12 months. Future research should address whether these findings are replicable in other settings both within and outside of public housing.

Comparing activated sludge fungal community population diversity using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism.

We compared the relative values of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) for profiling fungal communities in wastewater treatment plants using both ITS and 18S rRNA gene fragments as phylogenetic markers. A similar number of fungal ribotypes was obtained with both methods for the same treatment plant when the ITS primer set was used, while a greater number of ribotypes was obtained with T-RFLP compared to DGGE with the 18S rRNA primer set. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling of presence/absence data and analysis of similarity showed that both methods could distinguish between the different plant communities at a statistically significant level (p < 0.05), regardless of which phylogenetic marker was used. The data suggest that both methods can be used preferably together to profile activated sludge fungal communities. A comparison of profiles generated with both these phylogenetic markers based on the number of ribotypes/bands, suggests that the 18S rRNA region is more discriminatory than the ITS region. Detected differences in fungal community compositions between plants probably reflect differences in their influent compositions and operational parameters.

Preventing cancer: a community-based program for youths in public housing.

PURPOSE: This article describes a feasibility study of a program that mentors boys aged 14-18 living in inner city public housing, engages them in a basketball league, and provides educational sessions on life skills and ways to resolve conflicts without violence. Such programs have the potential to engage adolescent males living in public housing in activities that reduce cancer-related behaviors and increase protective behaviors. METHODS: We conducted a feasibility evaluation of the program, which included a survey of participants, interviews with coaches, and observations of games and practices. RESULTS: Lifetime and previous-30-day substance use was common among participants, and many were exposed to and had experienced various forms of violence. Keeping youths active helps prevent their joining gangs and using drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Youths from disadvantaged backgrounds are at a high risk for cancer because they are at greater risk for obesity and other adverse health-related conditions than are more affluent youths. Implementing and sustaining community programs for youths in public housing can reduce the effects of exposure to factors that put them at risk for cancer during adulthood: chronic poverty, lack of safe areas for recreation, easy access to alcohol and drugs, and exposure to violence. In addition, workshops to prevent substance use and violence and to teach leadership, sportsmanship, conflict resolution, and healthy youth development are needed for youths, coaches, and parents or guardians.

Estimating biodiversity of fungi in activated sludge communities using culture-independent methods.

Fungal diversity of communities in several activated sludge plants treating different influent wastes was determined by comparative sequence analyses of their 18S rRNA genes. Methods for DNA extraction and choice of primers for PCR amplification were both optimised using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profile patterns. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the levels of fungal biodiversity in some communities, like those treating paper pulp wastes, were low, and most of the fungi detected in all communities examined were novel uncultured representatives of the major fungal subdivisions, in particular, the newly described clade Cryptomycota. The fungal populations in activated sludge revealed by these culture-independent methods were markedly different to those based on culture-dependent data. Members of the genera Penicillium, Cladosporium, Aspergillus and Mucor, which have been commonly identified in mixed liquor, were not identified in any of these plant communities. Non-fungal eukaryotic 18S rRNA genes were also amplified with the primer sets used. This is the first report where culture-independent methods have been applied to flocculated activated sludge biomass samples to estimate fungal community composition and, as expected, the data obtained gave a markedly different view of their population biodiversity compared to that based on culture-dependent methods.

The effect of ionizing gamma radiation on natural and synthetic fibers and its implications for the forensic examination of fiber evidence.

Circumstances of criminal activities involving radioactive materials may mean fiber evidence recovered from a crime scene could have been exposed to materials emitting ionizing radiation. The consequences of radiation exposed fibers on the result of the forensic analysis and interpretation is explored. The effect of exposure to 1-1000 kGy radiation doses in natural and synthetic fibers was noticeable using comparative forensic examination methods, such as optical microscopy, microspectrophotometry, and thin-layer chromatography. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed no signs of radiation-induced chemical changes in any of the fiber structures. The outcome of the comparative methods highlights the risk of "false negatives" associated in comparing colors of recovered fibers that may have been exposed to unknown radiation doses. Consideration of such results supports the requirement to know the context, including the environmental conditions, as much as possible before undertaking a forensic fiber examination.

Using resident health advocates to improve public health screening and follow-up among public housing residents, Boston, 2007-2008.

INTRODUCTION: Promoting screening for hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and dental disease, particularly among residents of public housing, is a key strategy for achieving the objectives of Healthy People 2010. This community-based participatory research study tested a resident health advocate (RHA) intervention in public housing to increase use of mobile screening and to assess postscreening follow-up care for people with positive screening results. METHODS: During the summers of 2007 and 2008, a mobile health unit screened residents at 4 housing developments for hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes risk, and dental disease. In the first summer, at 2 intervention sites, RHAs used personal contacts and repeated flyers to recruit residents; 2 control sites received standard recruitment, which was to leave flyers with the development manager. In the second summer, the 2 control sites from the previous year became intervention sites. For both summers combined, we calculated the number of people at intervention and control sites who used the van and we examined rates of appointments made and kept for residents who had positive screening test results. RESULTS: Screening rates were higher in the intervention condition compared with the control condition (relative risk [RR], 1.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-2.15). Approximately 65% of participants screened positive for at least 1 condition. The proportion of participants with screen-positive findings who had follow-up appointments increased from 15% in 2007 to 55% in 2008. CONCLUSION: The use of RHAs increased participation in health screening among public housing residents and rates of follow-up medical visits for people with positive screening results.

The development and evaluation of radiological decontamination procedures for documents, document inks, and latent fingermarks on porous surfaces.

Criminal acts such as an attack utilizing a radiological dispersal device (RDD or dirty bomb), the manufacture of such a device, or the illicit trafficking of radioactive materials would warrant a criminal investigation. This could involve the collection, transportation, and analysis of radiologically contaminated trace evidence. But are law enforcement agencies and forensic scientists capable of dealing with this? This research investigates the decontamination efficacy of two decontamination techniques (chemical and physical) designed for the removal of radiological material from documents of forensic importance. The impact that these procedures have on the development of latent fingermarks and the forensic analysis of the inks on these documents is also studied. It was found that slight changes in the color and chemical composition of a variety of document inks and a destruction of fingermark ridges occurred after chemical decontamination. Physical decontamination had no impact on these parameters.

The recovery of latent fingermarks from evidence exposed to ionizing radiation*.

Continual reports of illicit trafficking incidents involving radioactive materials have prompted authorities to consider the likelihood of forensic evidence being exposed to radiation. In this study, we investigated the ability to recover latent fingermark evidence from a variety of substrates that were exposed to ionizing radiation. Fingermarks deposited on common surfaces, including aluminum, glass, office paper, and plastic, were exposed to doses ranging from 1 to 1000 kGy, in an effort to simulate realistic situations where evidence is exposed to significant doses of radiation from sources used in a criminal act. The fingermarks were processed using routine fingermark detection techniques. With the exception of glass and aluminum substrates, radiolysis had a considerable effect on the quality of the developed fingermarks. The damage to ridge characteristics can, in part, be attributed to chemical interactions between the substrate and the components of the fingermark secretions that react with the detection reagents.