Buddhists' religious and health practices.

A web survey of Buddhists' religious practices and beliefs, and health history and practices was conducted with 886 Buddhist respondents. Eighty-two percent were residents of the USA. Ninety-nine percent practiced Buddhist meditation and 70% had attended a formal retreat for intensive meditation practice. Eighty-six percent were converts to Buddhism and had been a Buddhist for a median of 9 years. Sixty-eight percent of respondents rated their health as very good or excellent. A one-point increase on a Buddhist Devoutness Index was associated with a 15% increase in the odds of being a non-smoker and an 11% increase in the odds of being in good to excellent health.

Perceived risk of fighting and actual fighting behavior among middle school students.

This study evaluated the association between perceived risk of fighting and actual fighting behavior among middle school students and determined if that relationship was modified by race, gender, or grade level. Survey data were obtained from a stratified random sample of 517 Black and White students in a county school district in Maryland. Most students (72%) perceived fighting to be high-risk, but 20% reported fighting on a regular basis. The effect of risk perception (RP) on fighting behavior varied by race. Independent of grade and gender effects, students who believed fighting to be low-risk were more likely to fight on a regular basis than those with high RP (odds ratio for Blacks = 3.1; odds ratio for Whites = 5.4). School violence prevention education must include an emphasis on the health risks of fighting and attention to cultural differences in risk perception.

Recruitment of minority students to U.S. epidemiology degree programs. The American College of Epidemiology Committee on Minority Affairs.

PURPOSE: African-, Hispanic-, and Native Americans are underrepresented in the field of epidemiology including degree programs. As part of the assessment component of its mandate, the American College of Epidemiology Committee on Minority Affairs conducted a survey of minority recruitment activities of U.S. epidemiology degree programs. METHODS: The survey, containing questions related to marketing activities, institution infrastructure, financial support, academic offerings, and receptive/supportive environment, was mailed to all programs identified in Episource as offering epidemiology degrees. Separate responses were requested concerning activities at the department and school levels. RESULTS: Fifty-two completed questionnaires were received (response rate of 79%). All but two institutions had at least one activity conducted by either the department or the school. However, all activities were more common at the school- than at the department-level. Indeed, some activities [a written minority student recruitment plan (6% of departments and 52% of schools), personnel with minority recruitment responsibilities (4% of departments and 73% of schools)] were almost exclusively school-sponsored. Although marketing-type activities were the most common minority recruitment tool used by departments, only 21% made visits to minority schools, 17% visited other colleges specifically to recruit minorities, and 12% produced materials targeted to ethnic/racial minorities. Six percent of the departments and 19% of the schools offered financial support (grants, fellowships, scholarships) to almost all underrepresented minority students. CONCLUSIONS: Even though individual epidemiology degree programs may not see a need for general recruitment activities in order to maintain the size of their applicant pool, minority-specific recruitment activities should be undertaken to enhance and diversify that pool. We recommend that epidemiology departments develop, adopt, and implement comprehensive written plans for the recruitment of underrepresented minority students into their programs.

Evaluation of cefamandole susceptibility testing of Enterobacteriacea by the autobac 1 system.

A total of 509 clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae were tested for susceptibility to cefamandole by Autobac 1 and Bauer-Kirby disk diffusion methods, using commercially available 30-micrograms cefamandole disks. Minimal inhibitory concentrations were determined for all organisms showing major or very major discrepancies. Overall agreement between Autobac 1 and disk diffusion was 89.8%, with 5.1% major or very major and 5.1% minor discrepancies. When considering only the genera for which 20 or more isolates were tested, overall agreement was 90.8%. Discrepancies for Escherichia coli showed a trend toward resistance by Autobac 1, with minimal inhibitory concentrations generally in agreement with disk diffusion results. No trends were detected for other genera. The rate of agreement was lower for Enterobacter species (75.4%), but minimal inhibitory concentrations, determined for all discrepancies in this genus, agreed with Autobafc 1 as often a with disk diffusion results.