Application of a rating system to state clean indoor air laws (USA).

OBJECTIVE: To develop and implement a system for rating state clean indoor air laws. DESIGN: The public health interest of state clean indoor air laws is to limit non-smoker exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Current estimates of health risks and methods available for controlling ETS provided a framework for devising a ratings scale. An advisory committee applied this scale to each of seven site specific smoking restrictions and two enforcement related items. For each item, a target score of +4 was identified. The nine items were then combined to produce a summary score for each state. A state that achieved the target across all nine items would receive a summary score of 36 points and be eligible to receive an additional 6 points for exceeding the target on six of the nine items, resulting in a maximum summary score of 42 points. Individual scores were also adjusted to reflect state level preemption measures. Each state's law was evaluated annually from 1993 through 1999. SETTING: USA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A summary score measuring the extensiveness of the state's clean indoor air law. RESULTS: State laws restricting smoking in the seven individual locations of interest were relatively weak. The overall mean score across the location restrictions ranged from 0.72 in 1993 to 0.98 in 1999. Mean scores were higher for the enforcement items than for the location restrictions. Summary scores ranged from 0 to 20 in 1993 and 0 to 31 in 1994 through 1999. Average summary scores ranged from 8.71 in 1993 to 10.98 in 1999. By the end of 1999, scores increased for 22 states; however, between 1995 and 1997 there were no changes in the summary scores. Three states scored zero points across all years. From 1993 through 1999, there was a 41% increase in the number of states that had in place state level preemption measures. CONCLUSION: The number of newly enacted state clean indoor air laws has remained relatively stagnant since 1995. With a few exceptions, as of the end of 1999, progress in enacting state laws to meet specified public health targets for reducing exposure to ETS was relatively low. Thus, state laws in the USA provide, on average, only minimal protection in specified areas and, given the increase in preemption, are increasingly undermining those passed in localities.

Notch1 inhibits neurite outgrowth in postmitotic primary neurons.

Notch plays an important role in cell fate decisions in uncommitted proliferative cells, including neurogenesis, but is believed to not have a role in postmitotic cells. We have shown previously that Notch1 is highly expressed in embryonal mouse and human brain, but surprisingly it continues to be expressed at low levels in the adult brain. The function of Notch1 in postmitotic neurons in mammals is unknown. To better understand the potential role of Notch1 in mature central nervous system neurons we studied the effect of Notch1 transfection on neurite outgrowth in primary neocortex hippocampal neurons. Transfection at two days in vitro with full length Notch1 inhibited neurite outgrowth. Transfection at five to six days in vitro, after neurite outgrowth was established, led to apparent regression of neurites. These effects were enhanced when truncated constitutively active forms of Notch1 were introduced. Co-transfection with Numb, a physiological inhibitor of Notch, blocked Notch's effect on neurite outgrowth. We also examined whether Notch1 could activate C-promoter binding factor (CBF1) transcription factor using C-promoter binding factor-luciferase constructs, and demonstrated that this signal transduction pathway is present and can be activated in postmitotic neurons. Our results show that in postmitotic neurons Notch1 influences neurite morphology, and can activate its native signal transduction pathway. These data strongly suggest that Notch1 may play a physiologically important role in the central nervous system beyond neurogenesis.

State laws on youth access to tobacco in the United States: measuring their extensiveness with a new rating system.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and implement a rating system evaluating the extensiveness of state laws restricting youth access to tobacco. DESIGN: State laws on youth access to tobacco were analysed and assigned ratings on nine items. Six items addressed specific tobacco-control provisions, and three related to enforcement provisions. For each item, a target was specified reflecting public health objectives. Achieving the target resulted in a rating of +4 points; for three items, a rating of +5 was possible if the target was exceeded. Criteria for lower ratings were established for situations when the target was not met. SETTING: United States. RESULTS: State scores (sum of the ratings across all nine items) ranged from 0-18 in 1993, 2-21 in 1994, and 1-21 in 1995 and 1996, out of a possible total of 39. The average score across states was 7.2 in 1993, 7.9 in 1994, 8.2 in 1995, and 9.0 in 1996. The overall mean rating (per item) was 0.80 in 1993, 0.88 in 1994, 0.91 in 1995, and 1.00 in 1996, on a scale where 4.0 indicates that the target goals (per item) were met. From 1993 to 1996, scores increased for 20 states, decreased for one state, and remained unchanged for the others. The number of states for which state preemption of local tobacco regulation was a factor doubled from 10 states in 1993 to 20 states in 1996. CONCLUSIONS: Although all states have laws addressing youth access to tobacco, this analysis reveals that, as of the end of 1996, the progress towards meeting health policy targets is slow, and state legislation that preempts local tobacco regulation is becoming more common.