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Agriculture is vital to Sumbawa Regency's economy, with key activities such as rice cultivation, corn production, onion farming, and cattle rearing. This study applies artificial neural networks (ANN) to predict land cover changes, focusing on agricultural land expansion. Using land cover datasets from ESRI, digital elevation model, and topographical maps, we analyzed land cover changes from 2017 to 2023 and generated future projections for 2050 with the MOLUSCE plugin in qGIS. The predictive model achieved an 85% accuracy rate when comparing 2023 actual data with predictions. Results indicate a significant increase in agricultural land cover by 2050. The key finding is that over a long-term period, the simulation of land use and land cover (LULC) change in Sumbawa reveals an increase of crop areas in the Lunyuk and Labangka Districts. This study highlights the effectiveness of ANN in land cover prediction and emphasizes the need for sustainable practices to balance agricultural expansion. AI-driven insights can aid policymakers in opti-mizing resource allocation and ensuring long-term environmental and economic stability in Sumbawa Regency. Future research should refine models and incorporate additional factors for improved accuracy.

Biological systems exhibit strong dynamic variations; for example, a system may have a tendency towards either a steady state, periodic behaviour or chaotic oscillations. These findings, explained by dynamic systems theory, have allowed researchers to formally relate a wide variety of systems, such as the theory of rumour propagation, glucose metabolism or the activity of a neuronal circuit. Interestingly, among all of the dynamic characteristics mentioned, qualitative aspects frequently observed in highly complex systems can be obtained through the recursive application of a very simple parabolic function known as the logistic equation. Currently, the importance of these dynamic phenomena for biomedicine is recognized, but simple models such as the logistic equation have not been sufficiently exploited in the training of biologists and health professionals. We briefly review some properties of the dynamics governed by the logistic equation, with a direct application to the theory of cancer based on the dynamics of aneuploidy. We believe that this already known mathematical application is an opportunity for integrated teaching of mathematics and biology. For this purpose we finally provide an appendix with some activities, all of them related to this article, which can be practiced in a simple spreadsheet that we have shared.

Change is something that is bound to happen. Employees in service industries such as hospitality business must have innovative work behavior to help companies grow and thrive in a constantly changing environment. One way to get employee work integrity in the face of change is to set work goals. The involvement of employees in setting work goals is inseparable from the role of superiors to provide feedback. This study aims to describe the relationship between goal-setting participation and employees' innovative work behavior and their relationship with feedback as a moderating variable. The research methodology uses a quantitative descriptive approach, whereas 101 of four-star hotel employees in Belitung Regency and employed convenience sampling. The results revealed that goal-setting variable has a positive and meaningful relationship with the feedback variable. Moreover, the feedback variable has a role both as an independent and a moderator variable in the relationship between goal-setting variable and innovative work behavior. The implications of the research results provide input to hotel business actors the importance of encouraging goal-setting participation and employing the goals as the positive feedback for the employees.

An educational activity is proposed that uses software for proteomic analysis and databases available for free on the Internet to estimate the structure and function of a hypothetical protein from its coding nucleotide sequence. This bioinformatics activity is recommended for integrated introductory courses that address the structure function relationship in proteins.

Background An epidemiological model (susceptible, un-quarantined infected, quarantined infected, confirmed infected (SUQC)) was previously developed and applied to incorporate quarantine measures and calculate COVID-19 contagion dynamics and pandemic control in some Chinese regions. Here, we generalized this model to incorporate the disease recovery rate and applied our model to records of the total number of confirmed cases of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in some Chilean communes. Methods In each commune, two consecutive stages were considered: a stage without quarantine and an immediately subsequent quarantine stage imposed by the Ministry of Health. To adjust the model, typical epidemiological parameters were determined, such as the confirmation rate and the quarantine rate. The latter allowed us to calculate the reproduction number. Results The mathematical model adequately reproduced the data, indicating a higher quarantine rate when quarantine was imposed by the health authority, with a corresponding decrease in the reproduction number of the virus down to values that prevent or decrease its exponential spread. In general, during this second stage, the communes with the lowest social priority indices had the highest quarantine rates, and therefore, the lowest effective viral reproduction numbers. This study provides useful evidence to address the health inequity of pandemics. The mathematical model applied here can be used in other regions or easily modified for other cases of infectious disease control by quarantine.

The Michaelis–Menten mechanism, which describes the binding of a substrate to an enzyme, is a simplification of the process on a molecular scale. A more detailed model should include the binding of the substrate to precatalytic binding sites (PCBSs) prior to the transition to the catalytic site. Our work shows that the incorporation of PCBSs, in steady-state conditions, generates a Michaelis–Menten-type expression, in which the kinetic parameters KM and Vmax adopt more complex expressions than in the model without PCBSs. The equations governing reaction kinetics can be seen as generalized symmetries, relative to time translation actions over the state space of the underlying chemical system. The study of their structure and defining parameters can be interpreted as looking for invariants associated with these time evolution actions. The expression of K M decreases as the number of PCBSs increases, while V m a x reaches a minimum when the first PCBSs are incorporated into the model. To evaluate the trend of the dynamic behavior of the system, numerical simulations were performed based on schemes with different numbers of PCBSs and six conditions of kinetic constants. From these simulations, with equal kinetic constants for the formation of the Substrate/PCBS complex, it is observed that K M and V m a x are lower than those obtained with the Michaelis–Menten model. For the model with PCBSs, the V m a x reaches a minimum at one PCBS and that value is maintained for all of the systems evaluated. Since K M decreases with the number of PCBSs, the catalytic efficiency increases for enzymes fitting this model. All of these observations are consistent with the general equation obtained. This study allows us to explain, on the basis of the PCBS to K M and V m a x ratios, the effect on enzyme parameters due to mutations far from the catalytic site, at sites involved in the first enzyme/substrate interaction. In addition, it incorporates a new mechanism of enzyme activity regulation that could be fundamental to search for new activity-modulating sites or for the design of mutants with modified enzyme parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe an activity they have created in which students can visualize a theoretical neural network whose states evolve according to a well-known simple law. This activity provided an uncomplicated approach to a paradigm commonly represented through complex mathematical formulation. From their observations, students learned many basic principles and concepts of the dynamic systems, all necessary to understand the structure-dynamic relationship. This last relation is one of the main paradigms in the integrated curriculum of many health sciences professionals. In the activity, the authors proposed to students a theoretical "human" neural network, with each student representing a neuron. In this article, they describe some essential aspects used to obtain the dynamics of the neural network. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

Qualitative questions are proposed to assess the understanding of solubility and some of its applications. To improve those results, a simple quantitative problem on the precipitation of proteins is proposed.

Background. An epidemiological model (susceptible, un-quarantined infected, quarantined infected, confirmed infected (SUQC)) was previously developed and applied to incorporate quarantine measures and calculate COVID-19 contagion dynamics and pandemic control in some Chinese regions. Here, we generalized this model to incorporate the disease recovery rate and applied our model to records of the total number of confirmed cases of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in some Chilean communes. Methods. In each commune, two consecutive stages were considered: a stage without quarantine and an immediately subsequent quarantine stage imposed by the Ministry of Health. To adjust the model, typical epidemiological parameters were determined, such as the confirmation rate and the quarantine rate. The latter allowed us to calculate the reproduction number. Results. The mathematical model adequately reproduced the data, indicating a higher quarantine rate when quarantine was imposed by the health authority, with a corresponding decrease in the reproduction number of the virus down to values that prevent or decrease its exponential spread. In general, during this second stage, the communes with the lowest social priority indices had the highest quarantine rates, and therefore, the lowest effective viral reproduction numbers. This study provides useful evidence to address the health inequity of pandemics. The mathematical model applied here can be used in other regions or easily modified for other cases of infectious disease control by quarantine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural health disparities have attracted increased national attention, compelling an expanded focus on rural health research. In this article, we deconstruct the definitions and narratives of "rural" communities and suggest that a paradigm shift is needed that centers the complexity and strength of rural places. We discuss the relevance of health equity frameworks, implementation science, and community-engaged approaches to promote rural well-being. Focusing on rural in its own right will lead to intervention innovations and reinvention with implications beyond rural areas. We conclude with suggestions for research and practice to inspire renewed interest in partnering with rural communities to promote health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquakes in mountainous areas can trigger thousands of co-seismic landslides, causing significant damage, hampering relief efforts, and rapidly redistributing sediment across the landscape. Efforts to understand the controls on these landslides rely heavily on manually mapped landslide inventories, but these are costly and time-consuming to collect, and their reproducibility is not typically well constrained. Here we develop a new automated landslide detection index (ALDI) algorithm based on pixel-wise normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) differencing of Landsat time series within Google Earth Engine accounting for seasonality. We compare classified inventories to manually mapped inventories from five recent earthquakes: Kashmir in 2005, Aysén in 2007, Wenchuan in 2008, Haiti in 2010, and Gorkha in 2015. We test the ability of ALDI to recover landslide locations (using receiver operating characteristic – ROC – curves) and landslide sizes (in terms of landslide area–frequency statistics). We find that ALDI more skilfully identifies landslide locations than published inventories in 10 of 14 cases when ALDI is locally optimised and in 8 of 14 cases both when ALDI is globally optimised and in holdback testing. These results reflect not only good performance of the automated approach but also surprisingly poor performance of manual mapping, which has implications both for how future classifiers are tested and for the interpretations that are based on these inventories. We find that manual mapping, which typically uses finer-resolution imagery, more skilfully captures the landslide area–frequency statistics, likely due to reductions in both the censoring of individual small landslides and amalgamation of landslide clusters relative to ALDI. We conclude that ALDI is a viable alternative to manual mapping in terms of its ability to identify landslide-affected locations but is less suitable for detecting small isolated landslides or precise landslide geometry. Its fast run time, cost-free image requirements, and near-global coverage suggest the potential to significantly improve the coverage and quantity of landslide inventories. Furthermore, its simplicity (pixel-wise analysis only) and parsimony of inputs (optical imagery only) mean that considerable further improvement should be possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquakes in mountainous areas can trigger thousands of co-seismic landslides, causing significant damage, hampering relief efforts, and rapidly redistributing sediment across the landscape. Efforts to understand the controls on these landslides rely heavily on manually mapped landslide inventories, but these are costly and time-consuming to collect, and their reproducibility is not typically well constrained. Here we develop a new automated landslide detection algorithm (ALDI) based on pixel-wise NDVI differencing of Landsat time series within Google Earth Engine accounting for seasonality. We compare classified inventories to manually mapped inventories from five recent earthquakes: 2005 Kashmir, 2007 Aisen, 2008 Wenchuan, 2010 Haiti, and 2015 Gorkha. We test the ability of ALDI to recover landslide locations (using ROC curves) and landslide sizes (in terms of landslide area-frequency statistics). We find that ALDI more skilfully identifies landslides than published inventories in 10 of 14 cases when ALDI is locally optimised, and in 8 of 14 cases both when ALDI is globally optimised and in holdback testing. These results reflect both good performance of the automated approach but also surprisingly poor performance of manual mapping, which has implications not only for how future classifiers are tested but also for the interpretations that are based on these inventories. We conclude that ALDI already represents a viable alternative to manual mapping in terms of its ability to identify landslide-affected image pixels. Its fast run-time, cost-free image requirements and near-global coverage make it an attractive alternative with the potential to significantly improve the coverage and quantity of landslide inventories. Its simplicity (pixel-wise analysis only) and parsimony of inputs (optical imagery only) suggests that considerable further improvement should be possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparedness of community facilities offering exercise programs to older adults is unknown. On-site evaluations were conducted by trained professionals to assess compliance of community older adult exercise programs with fitness-industry standards. Fourteen facilities were evaluated whose clientele (N = 2,172) were predominantly White (98%) women (87%) over 75 years of age (66%). Few of the 14 facilities required exercise participants to complete preactivity health questionnaires (n = 5), 3 administered informed consents, and none adhered to a medical-clearance policy. Only 2 facilities had defined emergency policies, and none conducted emergency drills. One site conducted exercise programs with instructors trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Professionally certified exercise instructors leading all exercise programs were observed in 1 facility. Most facilities evaluated were noncompliant with existing professional health and fitness standards. The practicality of imposing such standards on community exercise programs for older adult requires further examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

São relatadas as investigações que levaram a efeito o encontro de foco natural da Tripanossomose Americana, na área ocupada pelo bairro denominado Chácara Flora, na cidade de São Paulo. Esse foco conta com o concurso do triatomíneo Panstrongylus megistus, de gambás Didelphis marsupialis e de ratos domésticos da espécie Rattus norvegicus. A presença destes últimos permite admitir maior aproximação da infecção no sentido do ambiente humano. O encontro de um espécimen adulto fêmea de P. megistus sugando ativamente o homem dentro da habitação, aliado à revisão da literatura, permite supor que não se trata de subespécie ecológica. A presença de diferenças essenciais de comportamento no norte e sul do Brasil, no estado atual dos conhecimentos, seria resultante, preponderantemente, da ação de fatôres ambientais, entre os quais, as condições climáticas.A natural focus of American Trypanosomiasis was found in the city of S. Paulo. It was localized in a forest area preserved for residential purposes. In this focus the participation of triatomids bugs Panstrongylus megistus, marsupials of Diaelphis marsupialis species and domestics rats Rattus norvegicus was observed. Natural infection of all of them was observed. The ecotopes were found mainly in the pinus trees Cryptomeria japonica. Beside this, an adult female of P. megistus was found suckling actively humans inside the house. Some considerations are made in this paper concerning the distribution area of that species of triatomid. The sylvatic population found currently in South Brazil, represents probably the action of environmental factors limiting the bugs to its natural ecotopes. Nevertheless, these findings suggest that, from the epidemiological point of view, some approximation of the infection to the human environment was performed, at least, in urban areas.

São apresentados os resultados obtidos nas investigações levadas a efeito no Bairro João Pedro, município de Guíra e na Fazenda Vila Maria, município de Sertãozinho, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Os resultados das provas de precipitina indicam várias fontes alimentares para Triatoma sordida e, mais restritas, para Rhodnius neglectus, se bem que revelem mais a influência das oportunidades do que de preferências propriamente ditas. O exame minucioso dos ecótopos artificiais, representados por casas e anexos, mostram nítida invasão por parte do T. sordida. O transporte passivo dêste triatomíneo foi sugerido pelo encontro de ninfas e adultos em montes de lenha, obtidos a custa de árvores sêcas. Evidenciou-se também o transporte de ninfas de primeiros estádios do mesmo hemíptero, entre as penas de pardais (Passer domesticus) em cujos ninhos, situados no fôrro das casas, ocorre a colonização do inseto. A atração do ambiente domiciliar sôbre o hemíptero deve-se principalmente aos anexos que se destinam aos animais domésticos, onde o triatomíneo se coloniza facilmente. Tais ambientes agem, pois, como locais de concentração, a partir de focos naturais a certa distância. À semelhança do que se verificou para outras espécies, admite-se, pelas evidências, a movimentação ativa desses insetos, à procura de ecótopos mais estáveis. Em conseqüência, é de se esperar incremento da invasão domiciliar pelo T. sordida.Investigations on triatomids behaviour in the counties Guaira and Sertãozinho of São Paulo State, Brazil, are presented. Precipitin tests showed differents blood meals in Triatoma sordida, and mainly from avian source in Rhodnius neglectus. Nevertheless it was probably due to opportunities and not to any hematofagous preference on birds or mammals. Investigation at artificial ecotopes, represented by houses and outbuildings, showed common invasion of these dwellings by Triatoma sordida and, in a very scarce manner, by Rhodnius neglectus. This leads at the conclusion that the first bug are moving to search more stable ecotopes, represented by human dwellings, because the dry trees and fences are instable ones, where the blood sources are much more scarce. Beside this, passive transportation was demonstrated by founding nymphs and adults of T. sordida in dry woods piles, and first nymphs, between feathers of sparrows (Passer domesticus). Instalations of artificial chickenhouses were made, and only a positive result was obtained with Rhodnius neglectus. The conclusion was that distance play an important role concerning this bug. Nevertheless, the atraction of the human dwellings it seems to be more efficient for T. sordida and so, the domestic animal shelters will become concentration places for this bug. So a following increase of indoor density of T. sordida is expected.

Na região do Bairro da Ilha, município de Salto de Pirapora, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, procurou-se observar a utilidade do método de Gómez-Núñez, no selecionamento das casas a serem submetidas ao expurgo seletivo pela aplicação de BHC. Dos edifícios considerados como negativos à inspeção rotineira, foram selecionados 21 nos quais foram instaladas as caixas-abrigo. O resultado revelou a presença de Triatoma infestans em 4 casas e 2 anexos. Além disso, concluiu-se a observação do ecótopo artificial para atração de triatomíneo, e o seu exame, após demolição completa, revelou a presença de 2 adultos e 198 ninfas daquela espécie. Conclui-se pela deficiência da inspeção manual, com ou sem a utilização de substância desalojante, na seleção dos edifícios para o rociado. O método de Gómez-Núñez poderá trazer valiosa contribuição para a melhoria do critério de seleção. Chama-se ainda a atenção do possível poder de dispersão ativa do T. infestans que poderá atingir valores ponderáveis.The Gómez-Núñez method was used for testing houses considered free of the Triatoma infestans infestation at the routine inspection made before the selective insecticide spraying (BHC). The test was made in the Bairro da Ilha area, County of Salto de Pirapora, São Paulo State, Brazil, and includes fifteen human houses and six domestic animals dwellings. After nine weeks, the results showed that four houses and two animal dwellings were infested by triatomids bugs. Besides this, the observation of an artificial ecotope (chicken house) constructed for atractting triatomids, was concluded after one and a half years. This last inspection was made by its complete destruction and two hundred bugs (two adults and one hundred ninety eight nymphs) were collected. So the defficiency of the house routine inspection for the selective insecticide spraying is concluded. Nevertheless, the Triatoma infestans seems to have an active dispersion power which must not be overlooked.

Relata-se o encontro de Lutzomyia longipalpis na localidade denominada Bairro do Arado, município de Salto de Pirapora, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Trata-se do primeiro registro concreto da presença dessa espécie em território paulista. Sugere-se a necessidade de investigar o significado epidemiológico dêsse achado.Lutzomyia longipalpis was found at the rural area named "Bairro do Arado", Salto de Pirapora County, São Paulo State, Brazil. This vector of visceral leihmaniasis is by the first time, surely recorded in the São Paulo State. The specimens were found in a chicken house built on rocks for observing the possibility of Triatoma arthurneivai colonization in artificial ecotopes. This suggests that the sandfly breeding places will possibly be found between or under the stones harbouring that triatomid bug. The necessity of epidemiological studies related to this found is emphasized.

The Montorfano and Baveno granite ore bodies are located in the Lake District (VCO-NE Piedmont). They were and are still quarried as dimension stones, with a consequent production of a huge volume of "waste." In 1995, an Italian company (GMM S.p.A) decided to invest in the valorisation of granite quarry waste as a secondary raw material. An in situ geological prospecting was carried out in order to evaluate the characteristics of the material and the thickness and volume of the useful disposal sites that could be used (by means of geophysical surveys). As a consequence of the field work, the amount of quarry waste was estimated as nearly 2Mm3. Chemical analysis was carried out on 75 granite samples, in order to individuate the Fe2O3 grade: from 1.321- 2.593% of the original waste to 0.160-0.228% after the "dry process" treatment. Three different detailed maps that show the typology, the locations, and the quality distribution of the material in the dumping areas have been drawn up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Traditional efficacy research alone is insufficient to move interventions from research to practice. Motivational interviewing has been adapted for brief encounters in a variety of health care settings for numerous problem behaviors among adolescents and adults. Some experts suggest that motivational interviewing can support a population health approach to reach large numbers of teen smokers without the resource demands of multi-session interventions. OBJECTIVES: To determine the reach, implementation fidelity, and acceptability of a brief motivational tobacco intervention for teens who had treatment in a hospital emergency department. METHODS: Among 74 teens 14 to 19 years old, 40 received a brief motivational tobacco intervention and 34 received brief advice/care as usual at baseline. Follow-up data were collected from the interventional group at 1, 3, and 6 months and from the control group at 6 months. For the interventional group, data also were collected from the teens' parents, the health care personnel who provided the intervention, and emergency department personnel. RESULTS: Findings indicated low levels of reach, high levels of implementation fidelity, and high levels of acceptability for teen patients, their parents, and emergency department personnel. Data suggest that practitioners can operationalize motivational interventions as planned in a clinical setting and that patients and others with an interest in the outcomes may find the interventions acceptable. However, issues of reach may hinder use of the intervention among teens in clinical settings. CONCLUSIONS: Further investigation is needed on mechanisms to reduce barriers to participation, especially barriers related to patient acuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health researchers and practitioners emphasize the need for effective, adoptable, and available youth smoking cessation interventions. Scarce resources demand that such interventions also be cost effective. This study describes a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of the American Lung Association's Not On Tobacco (N-O-T) national and international teen smoking cessation program. N-O-T has been rigorously evaluated as an effective and adoptable program, and was recently found to be the most frequently-used teen smoking cessation program in the nation. N-O-T studies show intent-to-treat quit rates between 15% and 19%, among the highest reported in the literature. The current CEA resulted from a 2-year state-wide demonstration study in Florida, comparing the effectiveness of N-O-T with a 20-min brief intervention (BI). The CEA utilized a Markov transition model of decision analysis to explain stage progression of smoking cessation among participants from the age of 17 to 25 years. The Markov simulation predicted that out of a cohort of 100 N-O-T students, 10 will quit smoking and remain smoke-free at the age of 25 years and 14 will reduce smoking, resulting in 102.22 life years saved and a total of 20.11 years discounted life years (DLY) saved. Among BI youth, six will quit smoking and nine will reduce, indicating 64.31 life years saved and a total 12.65 DLY saved. The incremental DLY saved is 7.46 years. Results indicate that N-O-T is a very cost-effective option school-based smoking cessation, as cost effective as school-based primary tobacco prevention, and potentially more cost effective than adult tobacco use cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based participatory research provides communities and researchers with opportunities to develop interventions that are effective as well as acceptable and culturally competent. The present project responds to the voices of the North Carolina American Indian (AI) community and the desire for their youth to recognize tobacco addiction and commercial cigarette smoking as debilitating to their health and future. Seven community-based participatory principles led to the AI adaptation of the Not On Tobacco teen-smoking-cessation program and fostered sound research and meaningful results among an historically exploited population. Success was attributed to values-driven, community-based principles that (a) assured recognition of a community-driven need, (b) built on strengths of the tribes, (c) nurtured partnerships in all project phases, (d) integrated the community's cultural knowledge, (e) produced mutually beneficial tools/products, (f) built capacity through co-learning and empowerment, (g) used an iterative process of development, and (h) shared findings/ knowledge with all partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To identify and compare the determinants of different types of tobacco use among rural youths and discuss the implication of these differences for youth tobacco use cessation.Methods: Ninth grade participants (n = 883) were 95% white, between 13 and 19 years old with a mean age of 14.6 years. Students were classified into four exclusive groups: non-tobacco use, smoking only, smokeless tobacco (ST) use only, and conjoint smoking and ST use. The influences of 14 specific risk factors on tobacco use were investigated for each group using separate multiple logistic regression analyses.Results: Among participants, 20% were smokers only, 6% were ST users only, and 10% were conjoint users. Students who had more friends (odds ratio [OR] =] 2.75) and siblings (OR = 1.96) who smoke, family problems (OR = 1.70), and favorable attitudes toward tobacco use (OR = 1.12) were more likely to smoke than were other students. Among students who used only ST, gender was a primary determinant (95% were male). Excluding gender, sibling ST use (OR = 4.28), friends' ST use (OR = 1.71), and favorable attitudes (OR = 1.11) were the most significant risk factors. Male students were also more likely to use both cigarettes and ST (OR = 8.62). In addition, among students who used both tobacco products, siblings' and friends' ST use were significant (OR = 3.09 and 2.13, respectively), as well as family problems (OR = 2.41) and attitude (OR = 1.15). Unlike smokers only or ST users only, lack of knowledge about tobacco was a significant determinant among conjoint users (OR = 1.39).Conclusions: Findings revealed that 7 of 14 factors were significant predictors of tobacco use. Some factors predicted smoking only, ST only, and conjoint use; however, the pattern of predictors varied for these three categories. Implications for these findings as they relate to tobacco use interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma affects the larynx internally through vocal misuse, chemical and thermal burns, and intralaryngeal instrumentation; externally through physical violence, industrial accidents and automobile collisions. Occupational laryngeal trauma is that seen in the larynges of professional voice users such as singers, preachers, lawyers, school teachers, politicians, telephone operators, sales people, credit managers and auctioneers. Particularly common are the nodules on the vocal cords of housewives with several small children! In industry, voice changes and laryngeal pathology are common in voice abusers such as foremen, women assembly line workers, men working near a steam jack and engineers and firemen in cabs of diesel locomotives.1 Bridging these two categories of white collars and blue shirts are representatives in management-labor relations who have additional reason to develop laryngeal trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information about the strategic plan for the American College of Sports Medicine's (ACSM) certification discussed at a meeting sponsored by the Committee on Certification and Registry Boards (CCRB) in 2008. Topics include the integration of CCRB credentials into ACSM's public health mission, advancement for exercise professional and expansion on ACSM's specialty certification. Moreover, the author acknowledges the CCRB members for the success of the committee.

The article discusses the role of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in guiding the exercise profession in the U.S. During the past 30 years, ACSM has contributed significantly to the profession by first releasing the Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription in 1975, Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing in 1988 and Prescription and Certification Review texts in 2001.

The article reports on the evolution of exercise professionals. The University Connection(UC) of the American College of Sports Medicine(ACSM) has endorsed approximately 10 graduate and 70 undergraduate programs. Incentives will be provided by the ACSM's Committee on Certification and Registry Boards(CCRB) for UC programs to accreditation.

The article focuses on the importance of credentials especially to exercise practitioners. Being appropriately credentialed is an advantage to an exercise practitioner because employers require professional certification of their exercise staff. Nowadays, there are several organizations that offer credentials yet, American College of Sports Medicine was considered the organization that offers the most rigorous credentialing examinations.