Business policy practices that predict sales of tobacco.

This pilot study with tobacco merchants asked how policy practices may influence sales of tobacco to youth. This study compared tobacco merchant new employee training and business policies and practices to business compliance data. Licensed tobacco merchants in a rural Minnesota county were mailed surveys regarding their new employee training and business policies practices.

Alcohol-related incident guardianship and undergraduate college parties: enhancing the social norms marketing approach.

This randomized experiment examines the effects of contextual information on undergraduate college student's levels of alcohol-related incident guardianship at college parties. The research is conceptualized using routine activities theory and the theory of planned behavior. The experiment examines attitudinal variations about heavy drinking differentiated by sex, athletic status, and location of the drinking event.

Revisiting case study as a nursing research design.

Case study research provides nurses with a form of inquiry that is holistic and appropriate for a variety of populations. Jeanine Gangeness and Eleanor Yurkovich discuss components of case study research, including its theoretical base, design methods, multiple data sources and analysis. The information presented is expanded on by using a planned population-based, multiple-case explanatory study.

Students' anti-intellectual attitudes and adjustment to college.

Correlations between scores on the Student Anti-intellectualism Scale and scores on the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire were examined for a sample of 84 college students. Significant negative correlations were found between students' anti-intellectual attitudes and their Full Scale, Academic Adjustment, and Institutional Attachment scores but no correlation between anti-intellectual attitudes and the Social Adjustment and Personal-emotional Adjustment scores.

Identification of four genes expressed by feeding female Ixodes scapularis, including three with sequence similarity to previously recognized genes.

We created a cDNA library from feeding, female Ixodes scapularis ticks and screened the library with a subtracted probe to eliminate most genes common to feeding female and mating male I. scapularis ticks. Four unique genes were identified in this screen.

Urban American Indian family caregivers' perceptions of barriers to management of childhood asthma.

American Indian family caregivers of children with asthma face numerous barriers to effective management of the illness. The purpose of this qualitative, community-based study is to identify those barriers as perceived by family caregivers in a large Midwestern city. An ecological perspective and principles of family-centered care provided the theoretical orientation for the study.

Assessing technician effects when extracting quantities from microscope images.

Consider an experiment where the response is based on an image; e.g., an image captured to a computer file by a digital camera mounted on a microscope.

Mating, male Ixodes scapularis express several genes including those with sequence similarity to immunoglobulin-binding proteins and metalloproteases.

We created a cDNA library from mating, male Ixodes scapularis ticks and screened the library with a subtracted probe to eliminate genes common to feeding female and mating male I. scapularis ticks. A total of seven unique cDNAs were identified in this screen.

Sapling growth and survivorship as a function of light in a mesic forest of southeast Texas, USA.

For seven species in a mature mesic forest in southeast Texas, we estimated species-specific parameters representing radial growth in high light and low light for tree saplings. Shade-intolerant species had higher asymptotic growth rates and lower low-light growth than tolerant species. Inspection of species positions on graphs of low-light growth versus high-light growth suggested that there was a trade-off between these two processes across species.

The prevalence of Borrelia burgdorfieri (Spirochaetales: spirochaetaceae) and the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (Rickettsiaceae: Ehrlichieae) in Ixodes scapularis (Acari:Ixodidae) collected during 1998 and 1999 from Minnesota.

We tested 103 adult Ixodes scapularis Say from 12 counties in Minnesota for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi and the causative agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE), using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 17 ticks (16.5%) was positive for B.

Sex offender treatment: therapists' experiences and perceptions.

The literature portrays work with sex offenders as mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. However, the therapists working in the outpatient Sexual Abuse Treatment (SAT) program at a regional mental health center, while not denying the challenges of this work, describe their experiences as generally positive and rewarding. Because these therapists' experiences seemed to contrast with the literature, a qualitative descriptive study was conducted to examine the SAT therapists' experiences and perceptions.

Direct visualization of the calmodulin subunit of phosphorylase kinase via electron microscopy following subunit exchange.

Calmodulin is a tightly bound, intrinsic subunit (delta) of the hexadecameric phosphorylase-b kinase holoenzyme, (alphabetagammadelta)4. To introduce specifically labeled calmodulin into the phosphorylase-b kinase complex for its eventual visualization by electron microscopy, we have developed a method for rapidly exchanging exogenous calmodulin for the intrinsic delta subunit. This method exploits previous findings that low concentrations of urea in the absence of Ca(2+) ions cause the specific dissociation of only the delta subunit from the holoenzyme [Paudel, H.

New records of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in Minnesota.

The Minnesota distribution of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, was studied during 1998 and 1999. The majority of tick collecting was done by grouse hunters, who sent in specimens collected during the fall of 1998 and 1999. I.

TrExML: a maximum-likelihood approach for extensive tree-space exploration.

Motivation: Maximum-likelihood analysis of nucleotide and amino acid sequences is a powerful approach for inferring phylogenetic relationships and for comparing evolutionary hypotheses. Because it is a computationally demanding and time-consuming process, most algorithms explore only a minute portion of tree-space, with the emphasis on finding the most likely tree while ignoring the less likely, but not significantly worse, trees. However, when such trees exist, it is equally important to identify them to give due consideration to the phylogenetic uncertainty.

A nurse's experiences working with sex offenders.

Studying the families of the offenders showed that some victims and spouses, although they abhor the abuse, do not hate the offender and do not want others to condemn him. Working with such motivated, remorseful offenders and witnessing their tremendous remodeling has increased my faith in the ability of people to grow and change for the better.

The clinical nurse specialist's role in school health.

This article explores the role of the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) in school health. School nurse roles and responsibilities are expanding from their original emphasis on providing direct care and education to children and their parents to community-oriented care. CNS roles and practice areas have expanded to fill needs in a variety of settings, with a variety of clients.

Measuring the leadership styles and scholarly productivity of nursing department chairpersons.

Self-perceived leadership styles of nursing department chairpersons were correlated with their scholarly productivity. The sample consisted of the 106 nursing department chairpersons from National League for Nursing (NLN)-accredited baccalaureate and higher-degree programs in 10 midwestern states. Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Model was used as the conceptual framework.

Falling apart: a process integral to the remodeling of male incest offenders.

This article describes the falling apart component of a theoretical framework for incest offenders, the remodeling process. Methodology included 20 audiotaped interviews, 65 direct observations during group therapy, and record analysis of a theoretical sampling of adult male incest offenders currently in, graduates of, and dropouts from a community sexual abuse treatment program. Constant comparative analysis was used to collect and analyze data concurrently.

Composition and biological activity of chromium-pyridine carboxylate complexes.

Coordination complexes of chromium (Cr) and two pyridine carboxylate isomers, nicotinate (nic) and picolinate (pic) were synthesized and analyzed. Cr mono and dinicotinate complexes were formed with 1:1 and 1:2 ratios of Cr3+ and nic at pH 7.5.

Chromium picolinate increases membrane fluidity and rate of insulin internalization.

The effects of chromium chloride, chromium nicotinate, and chromium picolinate on insulin internalization in cultured rat skeletal muscle cells was examined. Insulin internalization was markedly increased in cells cultured in a medium that contained chromium picolinate and the increased internalization rate was accompanied by a marked increase in the uptake of both glucose and leucine. The effect was specific for chromium picolinate since neither zinc picolinate nor any of the other forms of chromium tested was effective.

Play and energy regulation in mammals.

Analysis of ecological constraints on juvenile mammals suggests that energy expended in play behavior does not reduce fitness, but actually increases it. When viewed as a promoter of adaptive energy loss, play can be considered an antipredator strategy. In addition, it may balance a low-protein diet in favor of growth, as well as increase resistance to pathogens and to cold exposure.

Effects of Some Environmental Factors on Growth Characteristics of Candida utilis on Peat Hydrolysates.

Samples of peat from Pine Island and Brookston bogs in Minnesota were hydrolyzed with various concentrations of HCl or H(2)SO(4) solutions, before or after debituminization (an extraction process used to remove waxy materials, bitumens, from peat), to produce peak hydrolysates as growth substrates for Candida utilis. Hydrolysates were neutralized with concentrated NaOH solution to pH 3.5, 4.