From compost to culver: genome sequence and annotation of a cluster CQ1 phage.

Phage Culver, with a siphovirus morphology, was isolated using CAG3. Culver is assigned to phage cluster CQ1 based on gene content similarity to actinobacteriophages. Notably, Culver is predicted to encode eight tRNAs, lysin A by two adjacent genes, and, unlike other CQ1 phages, two putative integrase genes.

Disparities in readiness of health facilities to provide long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) and permanent methods (PMs) in Bangladesh.

The considerable success of Bangladesh's family planning programs Slowed in recent years due to the low utilization of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) and permanent methods (PMs). The low uptake persists despite the fact that these methods are proven to be highly effective in preventing unplanned pregnancies and lowering maternal deaths. This situation causes a daunting challenge for the country to attain sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Chronic fibrosing osteomyelitis: a position statement.

Chronic Fibrosing Osteomyletis (CFO) is a commonly found condition which is often undiagnosed because of its co-morbidities with other systemic conditions. Clinicians should consider CFO in their differential diagnosis when confronted with complex head, neck and facial pain patients who present with multi-symptom/systems overlay. A multi-disciplinary approach is often required for proper patient diagnosis and treatment.

Comprehensive environmental assessment: a meta-assessment approach.

With growing calls for changes in the field of risk assessment, improved systematic approaches for addressing environmental issues with greater transparency and stakeholder engagement are needed to ensure sustainable trade-offs. Here we describe the comprehensive environmental assessment (CEA) approach as a holistic way to manage complex information and to structure input from diverse stakeholder perspectives to support environmental decision-making for the near- and long-term. We further note how CEA builds upon and incorporates other available tools and approaches, describe its current application at the U.

Integrating diverse scientific and practitioner knowledge in ecological risk analysis: a case study of biodiversity risk assessment in South Africa.

Ecological risk analysis (ERA) is a structured evaluation of threats to species, natural communities, and ecosystem processes from pollutants and toxicants and more complicated living stressors such as invasive species, genetically modified organisms, and biological control agents. Such analyses are typically conducted by a narrowly-focused group of scientific experts using technical information. We evaluate whether the inclusion of more diverse experts and practitioners in ERA improved the ecological knowledge base about South African biodiversity and the potential impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops.

Weather factor impacts on commuting to work by bicycle.

Objective: Quantify the impact of weather conditions on individual decisions to commute to work by bicycle among a diverse panel of adults who commute ≥2 miles each way.

Method: Working adults (n=163) in a northern U.S.

Primary care physicians' use of family history for cancer risk assessment.

Background: Family history (FH) assessment is useful in identifying and managing patients at increased risk for cancer. This study assessed reported FH quality and associations with physician perceptions.

Methods: Primary care physicians practicing in two northeastern U.

Increasing patient/physician communications about colorectal cancer screening in rural primary care practices.

Background: Rural populations as well as less educated people in the United States are less likely to receive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening than people living in urban areas and more educated people.

Methods: We tested a computer tablet, Patient/Provider Communication Assistant (PPCA), which collected data, educated patients, and printed personalized notes to patients and providers encouraging conversation about CRC screening. Mixed model analyses using a prepost quasi-experimental design compared patient results during the comparison and intervention periods in 5 rural primary care practices on provider discussion about CRC screening, provider recommendation, and patient intention to be screened.

Performance of lactating dairy cows fed silage and grain from a maize hybrid with the cry1F trait versus its nonbiotech counterpart.

Effects of feeding grain and maize silage from a non-Bt maize and a variety of Bt maize that contains cry1F (event TC1507, event DAS-Ø15Ø7-1), a gene that provides maize with insect resistance, on the health and performance of dairy cows were evaluated. In a crossover trial, 20 lactating Holstein cows were assigned to each of 2 dietary treatment groups and fed diets containing whole-plant maize silage plus maize grain from TC1507 or its near-isoline counterpart (control). Each period of the crossover trial lasted 28 d and was preceded by a 7-d adjustment period.

Mass media and community interventions to reduce alcohol use by early adolescents.

Objective: Although early use of alcohol is an immediate and long-term risk for young people, proven prevention strategies are limited. Mass media interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing use of other substances by adolescents. This study tested the impact of a 4-year media campaign designed to reduce alcohol use by early adolescents.

Sensitive PCR analysis of animal tissue samples for fragments of endogenous and transgenic plant DNA.

An optimized DNA extraction protocol for animal tissues coupled with sensitive PCR methods was used to determine whether trace levels of feed-derived DNA fragments, plant and/or transgenic, are detectable in animal tissue samples including dairy milk and samples of muscle (meat) from chickens, swine, and beef steers. Assays were developed to detect DNA fragments of both the high copy number chloroplast-encoded maize rubisco gene (rbcL) and single copy nuclear-encoded transgenic elements (p35S and a MON 810-specific gene fragment). The specificities of the two rbcL PCR assays and two transgenic DNA PCR assays were established by testing against a range of conventional plant species and genetically modified maize crops.

State legislators' beliefs about legislation that restricts youth access to tobacco products.

Better understanding of the cognitive framework for decision making among legislators is important for advocacy of health-promoting legislation. In 1994, the authors surveyed state legislators from North Carolina, Texas, and Vermont concerning their beliefs and intentions related to voting for a hypothetical measure to enforce legislation preventing the sale of tobacco to minors, using scales based on the theory of planned behavior. Attitude (importance), subjective norm (whether most people important to you would say you should or should not vote for the law), perceived behavioral control (ability to cast one's vote for the law), and home state were independently and significantly related to intention to vote for the law's enforcement.

The role of health professionals in a community-based program to help women quit smoking.

Background: Health professionals are credible sources of smoking cessation advice. This study describes changes in health professionals' reported provision of smoking cessation counseling activities for women during a community health education project that took place in two intervention counties (I) and compares these to reports from health professionals in two similar comparison counties (C).

Methods: Specific smoking cessation activities reported by physicians (I n = 73, C n = 73), dentists (I n = 51, C n = 46), dental hygienists (I n = 38, C n = 44), family planning and WIC (Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children) counselors (I n = 14 C n = 16), and community mental health counselors (I n = 57, C n = 23) were assessed by mailed surveys at baseline, after 4 years of countywide interventions, and 2 years later.

Predictors of state legislators' intentions to vote for cigarette tax increases.

Background: This study analyzed influences on state legislators' decisions about cigarette tax increase votes using a research strategy based on political science and social-psychological models.

Methods: Legislators from three states representing a spectrum of tobacco interests participated in personal interviews concerned with tobacco control legislation (n = 444). Measures of potential predictors of voting intention were based on the consensus model of legislative decision-making and the theory of planned behavior.

State legislators' attitudes and voting intentions toward tobacco control legislation.

Objectives: This study describes state legislators' knowledge, attitudes, and voting intentions with regard to tobacco-related issues.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of state legislators was conducted in North Carolina, Texas, and Vermont in 1994.

Results: Most legislators agreed that secondhand smoke can cause lung cancer in nonsmokers, and a majority believed that smokers are addicted to nicotine.

State legislators' intentions to vote and subsequent votes on tobacco control legislation.

The predictive validity of state legislators' behavioral intentions in relation to their votes on tobacco control legislation was assessed by using the theory of planned behavior (I. Ajzen, 1991). Intentions to vote for cigarette tax increases were measured through interviews in the summer of 1994.

State legislators' perceptions of lobbyists and lobbying on tobacco control issues.

Objective: To determine state legislators' perceptions about health and tobacco lobbyists, their frequency of contact with these lobbyists, and the amount of campaign contributions from health professional organisations and the tobacco industry.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Subjects: State legislators from North Carolina, Texas, and Vermont (USA), serving in 1994.

Comparisons of the smoking cessation counseling activities of six types of health professionals.

Background: This study was designed to assess and compare the smoking cessation counseling activities of primary care physicians, dentists, dental hygienists, family planning counselors, WIC counselors, and community mental health counselors in four counties in the northeastern United States for planning appropriate education programs.

Methods: Lists of the health professionals in each of these groups in the four study counties were obtained from state licensing boards, clinic directors, and telephone directories. Surveys were conducted by mail, using a 19-item instrument which could be completed in 2-4 min.

Effects of increasing salinity on anArtemia population from Mono Lake, California.

Salinity increased from 48 to 93 g/l total dissolved solids (TDS) in Mono Lake, California between 1941 and 1982, and is expected to fluctuate between 169 and 248 g/l at equilibrium by the middle of the next century. In order to predict the consequences of this trend on the Mono Lake ecosystem, we determined effects of salinity on survival, growth, reproduction and hatching ofArtemia monica, Mono Lake's only macrozooplankton species. Seven salainities ranging from 76 to 179 g/l were tested in a long-term experiment to determine both lethal and sublethal responses.