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Engaging diverse partners in each phase of the research process is the gold standard of community-engaged research and adds value to the impact of implementation science. However, partner engagement in dissemination, particularly meaningful involvement in developing peer-reviewed manuscripts, is lacking. The Implementation Science Centers in Cancer Control are using the Translational Science Benefits Model to demonstrate the impact of our work beyond traditional metrics, including building capacity and promoting community engagement. This paper presents a case example of one center that has developed a policy for including community partners as coauthors. Standard practices are used to foster clear communications and bidirectional collaboration. Of published papers focused on center infrastructure and implementation research pilots, 92% have community partner coauthors. This includes 21 individuals in roles ranging from physician assistant to medical director to quality manager. Through this intentional experience of co-creation, community partners have strengthened implementation science expertise. Community coauthors have also ensured that data interpretation and dissemination reflect real-world practice environments and offer sustainable strategies for rapid translation to practice improvements. Funders, academic journals, and researchers all have important roles to play in supporting community coauthors as critical thought partners who can help to narrow the gap between research and practice., Competing Interests: The authors declare none., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Background: More than half of cancers could be prevented by employing evidence-based interventions (EBIs), including prevention interventions targeting nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco. Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are the primary source of patient care for over 30 million Americans - making them an optimal setting for ensuring evidence-based prevention that advances health equity. The aims of this study are to (1) determine the degree to which primary cancer prevention EBIs are being implemented within Massachusetts FQHCs and (2) describe how these EBIs are implemented internally and via community partnerships., Methods: We used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to assess the implementation of cancer prevention EBIs. First, we collected 34 quantitative surveys from staff at 16 FQHCs across Massachusetts to determine the frequency of EBI implementation. We followed up with 12 qualitative one-on-one interviews among a sample of staff to understand how the EBIs selected on the survey were implemented. Exploration of contextual influences on implementation and use of partnerships was guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Quantitative data were summarized descriptively, and qualitative analyses used reflexive, thematic approaches, beginning deductively with codes from CFIR, then inductively coding additional categories., Results: All FQHCs indicated they offered clinic-based tobacco interventions, such as clinician-delivered screening practices and prescription of tobacco cessation medications. Quitline interventions and some diet/physical activity EBIs were available at all FQHCs, but staff perceptions of penetration were low. Only 38% of FQHCs offered group tobacco cessation counseling and 63% referred patients to mobile phone-based cessation interventions. We found multilevel factors influenced implementation across intervention types - including the complexity of intervention trainings, available time and staffing, motivation of clinicians, funding, and external policies and incentives. While partnerships were described as valuable, only one FQHC reported using clinical-community linkages for primary cancer prevention EBIs., Conclusions: Adoption of primary prevention EBIs in Massachusetts FQHCs is relatively high, but stable staffing and funding are required to successfully reach all eligible patients. FQHC staff are enthusiastic about the potential of community partnerships to foster improved implementation-providing training and support to build these relationships will be key to fulfilling that promise., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd.)

Gaps in the implementation of effective interventions impact nearly all cancer prevention and control strategies in the US including Massachusetts. To close these implementation gaps, evidence-based interventions must be rapidly and equitably implemented in settings serving racially, ethnically, socioeconomically, and geographically diverse populations. This paper provides a brief overview of The Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control Equity (ISCCCE) and describes how we have operationalized our commitment to a robust community-engaged center that aims to close these gaps. We describe how ISCCCE is organized and how the principles of community-engaged research are embedded across the center. Principles of community engagement have been operationalized across all components of ISCCCE. We have intentionally integrated these principles throughout all structures and processes and have developed evaluation strategies to assess whether the quality of our partnerships reflects the principles. ISCCCE is a comprehensive community-engaged infrastructure for studying efficient, pragmatic, and equity-focused implementation and adaptation strategies for cancer prevention in historically and currently disadvantaged communities with built-in methods to evaluate the quality of community engagement. This engaged research center is designed to maximize the impact and relevance of implementation research on cancer control in community health centers., Competing Interests: GK has a family financial interest in a digital health company, Dimagi, Inc. All other authors report no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Considerable science links diets lower in sodium and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption with better health outcomes. This study describes the evaluation process and outcomes of intervention strategies to reduce sodium in foods and sugar in beverages as part of a collaborative partnership between state public health, academic, community, and healthcare partners in Massachusetts, US. This quasi-experimental, pre-post study used nutrient data linked to observations of foods and beverages available in cafeterias and vending machines in four community healthcare settings to inform intervention strategies and evaluate changes. At post-assessment, beverages with no or very low sugar were significantly more prevalent in vending machines (OR = 1.93, p < 0.001) and cafeterias (OR = 1.83, p = 0.01) and low-sodium packaged foods were significantly more prevalent in cafeterias (OR = 2.45, p < 0.001), but not vending machines. These types of partnerships and tailored feedback and technical assistance strategies may support healthier food and beverage options within healthcare settings that serve patients, their families, and employees each day., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Ensuring students' access to safe drinking water at school is essential. However, many schools struggle with aging infrastructure and subsequent water safety problems and have turned to bottled water delivery systems. Little is known about whether such systems are feasible and effective in providing adequate student water access. This study was a mixed-methods investigation among six schools in an urban district in the U.S. with two types of water delivery systems: (1) tap water infrastructure, with updated water fountains and bottle fillers, and (2) bottled water coolers. We measured students' water consumption and collected qualitative data from students and teachers about their perceptions of school drinking water. Student water consumption was low-between 2.0 (SD: 1.4) ounces per student and 2.4 (SD: 1.1) ounces per student during lunch. Students and teachers reported substantial operational hurdles for relying on bottled water as a school's primary source of drinking water, including difficulties in stocking, cleaning, and maintaining the units. While students and teachers perceived newer bottle filler units positively, they also reported a distrust of tap water. Bottled water delivery systems may not be effective long-term solutions for providing adequate school drinking water access and robust efforts are needed to restore trust in tap water.

Background: There is a great need to identify implementation strategies to successfully scale-up public health interventions in order to achieve their intended population impact. The Out-of-school Nutrition and Physical Activity group-randomized trial previously demonstrated improvements in children's vigorous physical activity and the healthfulness of foods and beverages consumed. This implementation study aimed to assess the effects and costs of two training models to scale-up this evidence-based intervention., Methods: A 3-arm group-randomized trial was conducted to compare effectiveness of in-person and online training models for scaling up the intervention compared to controls. One-third of sites were randomized to the in-person train-the-trainer model: local YMCA facilitators attended a training session and then conducted three learning collaborative meetings and technical assistance. One-third were assigned to the online model, consisting of self-paced monthly learning modules, videos, quizzes, and facilitated discussion boards. Remaining sites served as controls. Fifty-three afterschool sites from three YMCA Associations in different regions of the country completed baseline and follow-up observations using a validated tool of afterschool nutrition and physical activity practices. We used multivariable regression models, accounting for clustering of observations, to assess intervention effects on an aggregate afterschool practice primary outcome, and conducted secondary analyses of nine intervention goals (e.g. serving water). Cost data were collected to determine the resources to implement each training model., Results: Changes in the primary outcome indicate that, on average, sites in the in-person arm achieved 0.44 additional goals compared to controls (95%CI 0.02, 0.86, p = 0.04). Increases in the number of additional goals achieved in sites in the online arm were not significantly greater than control sites (+ 0.28, 95% CI -0.18, 0.73, p = 0.24). Goal-specific improvements were observed for increasing water offered in the in-person arm and fruits and vegetables offered in the online arm. The cost per person trained was $678 for the in-person training model and $336 for the on-line training model., Conclusions: This pilot trial presents promising findings on implementation strategies for scale-up. It validated the in-person training model as an effective approach. The less expensive online training may be a useful option for geographically disbursed sites where in-person training is challenging., Trial Registration: Although this study does not report the results of a health care intervention on human subjects, it is a randomized trial and was therefore retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on July 4, 2019 in accordance with the BMC guidelines to ensure the complete publication of all results (NCT04009304).

Two cases of severe community-acquired pneumococcal pneumonia (CAP) admitted to our hospital within 24 h are described, both in young males. These two cases illustrate the usefulness of the British Thoracic Society severity criteria and serve to emphasize the importance of early recognition of adverse physiology in critically ill patients. We should not lose sight of the continued impact of pneumonia in this climate of widespread fear about severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

In well-aerated broth cultures, good growth of Renibacterium salmoninarum was obtained in a serum-free medium consisting of 1% peptone, 1% yeast extract, and 0.1% l-cysteine (PYC broth). In contrast, serum or charcoal is required for growth on agar medium. Charcoal treatment of broth media, either before bacterial inoculation or during growth, increased the growth of R. salmoninarum, whereas the surfactants Tween 20 and Tween 80 inhibited growth. l-Cysteine was essential for optimal growth. Other organic sulfur compounds, such as d-cysteine, l-methionine, homocysteine, homocysteine thiolactone, and reduced glutathione, supported only lower levels of growth, while cystine and dithiothreitol did not allow growth.

Water-extracted proteins from nine geographically diverse strains of Renibacterium salmoninarum, all of which agglutinated rabbit erythrocytes and rainbow trout spermatozoa, were compared by SDS-PAGE. Extracts from eight strains, including the type strain, ATCC 33209, were similar, containing a major protein of 57 kDa and a minor protein of 58 kDa. The SDS-PAGE protein profile of the Char strain did not contain the 58 kDa protein. A non-agglutinating strain, MT-239, which was also non-hydrophobic, did not produce any water-extractable protein. Immunoblot reactions with rabbit antiserum prepared against whole cells of the type strain demonstrated that the water-extracted haemagglutinins from the various strains were antigenically related. When purified by polyacrylamide gel zone electrophoresis, the haemagglutinin from R. salmoninarum ATCC 33209 formed a doublet band with molecular masses of 57 and 58 kDa, similar to the previously described F antigen. The water-extracted haemagglutinin agglutinated salmonid spermatozoa, was degraded by protease K and trypsin, and was shown to self-assemble onto the cell surface.

Charcoal is an effective replacement for serum in media for the isolation and culture of Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of bacterial kidney disease in salmonid fish. The medium, KDM-C, contains 10 g of peptone, 0.5 g of yeast extract, 1 g of L-cysteine hydrochloride, 1 g of activated charcoal, and 15 g of agar per liter and is adjusted to pH 6.8 with NaOH before autoclaving. Eight strains of R. salmoninarum grew from dilute inocula as well on KDM-C as on a standard serum-containing medium (KDM-2). The medium was effective for both primary isolations from fish and repeated transfers and has potential value for antigen preparation and physiological studies.