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Objective To assess the frequency and risk factors for return to the primary acute care service among patients with lymphoma undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. Design Retrospective study. Setting Tertiary referral-based cancer center. Patients All patients with a history of lymphoma admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation between October 1, 2003, and January 30, 2013. Main Outcome Measures Items analyzed from patient records included return to the primary acute care service with demographic information, lymphoma characteristics, medications, hospital admission characteristics, and laboratory values. Results A total of 143 unique patient admissions were analyzed, and 54 of these 143 lymphoma inpatient rehabilitation admissions (38%) returned to the primary acute care service. However, 16 of 54 (30%) returned because they needed additional chemotherapy. Excluding patients who returned to the primary acute care service for chemotherapy, statistically significant or approaching statistically significant factors ( P P = .0002), male gender ( P = .001), history of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ( P = .0355), and presence of an intravenous antifungal agent ( P = .0717). Of the patients transferred back to the primary acute care service, 13 of 38 (34%) were discharged directly home, 10 of 38 (26%) died in the hospital, 7 of 38 (18%) were transferred to a subacute rehabilitation facility, and 4 of 38 (11%) were transferred to inpatient rehabilitation. Conclusions When excluding patients who returned for chemotherapy, patients with lymphoma who were male, had undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and had a creatinine level ≥1.3 mg/dL demonstrated increased risk for return to the primary acute care service.

Several distinctive factors support the argument for developmentally appropriate youth tobacco cessation programs, including the science of adolescents’ evolving brains, as well as the incidence and risks of adolescent tobacco use, and its endemic nature in adolescent milieus and culture. This paper utilizes these factors and insights from the Youth Tobacco Awareness Program (YTAP), a cognitive-behavioral adolescent tobacco cessation program, to support 5 opportunities for developmentally and ecological-based tobacco cessation programs for youth. These opportunities include the continuing need for tobacco cessation, adolescents’ desire to quit tobacco, the need for effective youth tobacco cessation strategies amid broader-based community efforts, and the support of scientific research for program effectiveness. In our experience, the conundrum of youth tobacco use has presented these opportunities for debate, research, and development of enhanced, appropriate, and more effective models of cessation delivery.

Objective To assess the frequency and reasons for return to the primary acute care service among leukemia patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention designed to reduce traumatic brain injury (TBI)–related misconceptions among blacks and Latinos with complicated mild to severe TBI. Design Randomized controlled trial with masked 1-month follow-up. Setting Community. Participants Persons (N=52) with complicated mild to severe TBI (mean best day 1 Glasgow Coma Scale score, 11.27±3.89) were randomly recruited from 141 eligible participants (mean age, 37.71±13.88y; age range, 19–66y; mean months postinjury, 24.69±11.50); 25 participants (48.1%) of participants were black and 27 (51.9%) were Hispanic/Latino. Of the Hispanic/Latino participants, 18 (66.7%) were non-U.S. born and 12 (44.4%) spoke Spanish as their primary language. Twenty-seven individuals were randomized to the educational intervention group and 25 were randomized to the wait-list control group. Interventions Single-session educational intervention with written materials provided in English or Spanish. Main Outcome Measures Forty-item Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire administered at baseline and 1-month follow-up. Results After controlling for ethnic and language differences, a significant between-group main effect ( P =.010) and a significant time-group interaction for the Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire were noted (Wilks Λ =.89; F 1,46 =6.00; P =.02). The intervention group showed a decrease in TBI misconception percentages, whereas the wait-list control group maintained similar percentages. At 1-month follow-up, the wait-list control group reported more misconceptions than did the intervention group ( P =.019). Conclusions An educational intervention developed to address the recovery process, common symptoms, and ways to handle the symptoms provides promise as a tool to decrease TBI misconceptions among persons from ethnically and educationally diverse backgrounds. The effects of therapist characteristics and the client-therapist relation on outcomes should be further explored.

Background Pancytopenia, immunosuppression, and other factors may place patients with multiple myeloma at risk for medical complications. These patients often require inpatient rehabilitation. No previous studies have looked at risk factors for return to the primary acute care service of this patient population. Objective To determine the percentage of and factors associated with return to the primary acute care service of multiple myeloma rehabilitation inpatients. Design Retrospective review. Setting Acute inpatient rehabilitation unit within a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center. Participants All patients with multiple myeloma admitted to the inpatient rehabilitation unit between March 1, 2004, and February 28, 2015. Main outcome measures Return to the primary acute care service was analyzed with demographic information, multiple myeloma characteristics, medications, laboratory values, and hospital admission characteristics. Results One hundred forty-three inpatient rehabilitation admissions were found during the study period. After we removed multiple admissions of the same patients and planned transfers to the primary acute care service, 122 admissions were analyzed. Thirty-two (26%) patients transferred back to the primary acute care service for unplanned reasons. Multivariate analysis revealed male gender and thrombocytopenia as significantly associated with return to the primary acute care service. The median survival of patients who transferred back to the inpatient primary acute care service was 180 days versus 550 days for those who did not (P Conclusion Because of their medical fragility, clinicians caring for rehabilitation inpatients with multiple myeloma should maintain close contact with the primary oncology service. Factors associated with an increased risk of transfer back to the primary acute care service include male gender and thrombocytopenia. Level of evidence IV.

Aim: To determine whether symptom burden at the time of admission to inpatient rehabilitation is predictive of functional improvement in cancer rehabilitation inpatients. Methods: Retrospective review of medical records at a tertiary referral-based cancer centre of all patients admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation unit between 1 March 2013 and 20 May 2013. The medical records for 71 unique cancer rehabilitation inpatients were analysed. Outcome measures included the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System and Functional Independence Measure. Results: Statistical analysis of total admission Edmonton Symptom Assessment System scores and total change in Functional Independence Measure scores found no significant relationships. The symptom burden of patients was mild. Patients demonstrated statistically significant improvements in symptoms and function during inpatient rehabilitation. The mean change in total Edmonton Symptom Assessment System and total Functional Independence Measure scores was a decrease of 7.41 and an increase of 19.20, respectively. Statistically significant changes occurred in fatigue, sleep, pain and anxiety. Conclusions: Both symptom and functional scores improved significantly during inpatient rehabilitation. However, no significant relationships were found between symptoms at admission and improvements in Functional Independence Measure score.

OBJECTIVES To compare inpatient rehabilitation outcomes between patients with low- and high-grade astrocytoma. DESIGN A retrospective review of medical records for patients admitted from September 1, 1996, to June 30, 2008, to the inpatient rehabilitation unit at a tertiary care cancer center. A high-grade (21 of 443 patients) and low-grade astrocytoma (21 of 24 patients) group were matched on three of five criteria in the order of importance: area of brain involvement (divided into left cerebral, right cerebral, midline and/or bilateral cerebral, and infratentorial), single vs. multiple intracranial neurosurgical procedures, age (within 10 yrs), period of rehabilitation admission (within 3 yrs), and sex. Descriptive statistics were used to compare demographic data and scores in four categories (total, activities of daily living, mobility, and cognition) from the patients' functional independence measure assessment. RESULTS No significant (P > 0.05) differences were found in demographics or efficiency between the two groups. The high-grade group had significantly (P < 0.05) higher total gain and longer stay in inpatient rehabilitation (mean +/- standard deviation, 21.7 +/- 10.1 vs. 13.0 +/- 9.3 and 13 +/- 7.1 day vs. 9 +/- 6.2 days, respectively) than did the low-grade astrocytoma group. CONCLUSIONS Compared with patients with low-grade astrocytoma, patients with high-grade astrocytoma had higher total functional independence measure gain but also longer lengths of stay. Functional independence measure efficiencies were comparable between the two groups. Our results parallel those of previous rehabilitation outcome studies comparing patients with brain tumors with patients with brain injuries of other etiologies. Larger matched studies are needed for this patient population.

Using air-trench bends, an ultracompact 8 times 8 arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) demultiplexer (200-GHz channel spacing) for wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) has been designed and fabricated with perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) core and clad co-polymers on a polyimide substrate. Compared to a conventional AWG in the same material system, the air-trench bend AWG shrinks the required chip area by a factor of 20. The decreased size is a factor in reducing the measured thermal shift to -0.012 nm/degC and decreasing the polarization-dependent wavelength shift to 1.3 nm.

This paper demonstrates the application of property-tailorable perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) polymers to the fabrication of arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) devices for use in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks. This novel series of PFCB polymers exhibits low optical attenuation, high thermal stability, and tailorable refractive index, facilitating the design of high-performance photonic devices. The design, fabrication, and characterization of AWGs are reported in this paper. The fabricated devices show high thermal stability and low on-chip losses. Optimization of devices through the tailoring of material properties and fabrication process parameters is discussed. The successful fabrication of AWG highlights the potential of this material for other devices in photonic applications

This study examined contextual factors associated with physical activity of urban African American preschoolers (N = 59). Qualitative research methodologies utilized data from home visits, caregiver and child interviews, field notes, and document collection. The primary finding suggested, "In underserved communities fundamental barriers exist that obstruct young children's ability to be physically active." Four themes were developed revealing that outside environments limited opportunities for physical activity, home environments resulted in sedentary behaviors, and communities had limited physical activity role models. Despite this, young children enjoyed being physically active.

While rates of tobacco use on university campuses rose over the past decade, little is known about what institutions are doing to address this rising concern. Health center directors at public institutions of higher education across the state of Texas were surveyed ( n = 42) regarding the perceived importance of smoking cessation, prevalence of interventions on their campuses, and perceived success of intervening efforts. While most health center directors regarded smoking cessation as important, over half of the directors indicated that their sites did not offer tobacco cessation services of any kind. Furthermore, of those offering smoking cessation, most believed that their smoking cessation programs were only somewhat or not at all effective. Findings revealed that there is a noticeable gap between perceived importance and actual implementation of smoking cessation programs within universitybased health centers. Recommendations include implementing innovative cessation methods, such as those that are Web-based and highly accessible to students.

The copolymerization of aryl bis- and tris-trifluorovinyl other monomers aromatic perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) polymers, via thermally initiated stepgrowth cycloaddition chemistry. PFCB polymers and their copolymers enjoya unique combination of attributes well suited for applications in photonic technologies, such as broad tailorability of refractive indices and thermo-optic coefficients, low transmission losses as 1300 and 1550 nm, high thermal, mechanical, and optical stability, and excellent melt and solution processability. Planar PFCB structures lif can be processed by direct micro-transfer molding, which is a first step towards rapid soft-lithographic fabrication of polymer planar lightwave circuits. Copolymerization chemistry and processing parameters and characterization, including thermal (T g ≃120-350°C) and optical properties trefractive indices from 1.443 to 1.308 at 1550 nm, thermooptic coefficients dn/dT-7×10 - 5 K - 1 to -1.5×10 - 6 K - 1 ), birefringence (< 0.003), and temporal stability of refractive index, are described.

Objetivo. Determinar el impacto de dos programas de ejercicio en la reducción de los índices de adiposidad en niñas de grupos minoritarios. Material y métodos. Sesenta y dos niñas latinas y africano-americanas participaron en una de dos 0intervenciones intensivas durante el verano: la intervención A (exposición a aproximadamente 40 horas de actividad física) o la intervención B (exposición a 60 horas de actividad física) en Houston, TX. Los indicadores de adiposidad (índice de masa corporal, porcentaje de grasa corporal y grasa abdominal) se midieron antes y después de cada intervención. Resultados. La intervención B tuvo una disminución más significativa en el nivel de adiposidad (p=0.006) comparado con la intervención A. La circunferencia abdominal fue la que más disminuyó (p=0.001). Ambas intervenciones aumentaron significativamente la actividad física moderada a intensa (p=0.020). Conclusiones. Las intervenciones cortas e intensas pueden ser efectivas en la reducción de la grasa 0abdominal en niñas de grupos minoritarios.

considerable attention has been focused ondeveloping these materials into a form which is suitablefor use in photonic related applications. Unfortunately,the general exploitation of optical photonic crystals asdevices has been hindered by the difficulties in creatingperiodic dielectric structures with a feature size compa-rable to the wavelength of visible light. One approach toaddress this challenge has focused on systems whichundergo self-organization at a nanometer length scale,suchascolloidalcrystals.Systemsexhibitingself-assemblycharacteristics hold promise as a practical route togenerating optical photonic crystals, possibly with acomplete photonic band gap.

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of Mexican-American (MA) parents of children toward school health education programs in South Texas. The Parent Attitude Scale (PAS) was developed and validated by American Cancer Society (ACS) staff and volunteer health educators. The validated survey was used to question randomly selected parents in the McAllen, Texas, school district regarding their attitudes toward school health education. Of 253 parents contacted, 235 (92.9%) parents were interviewed. Mann-Whitney U-Tests indicated that Mexican-American (MA) parents consider school health education to be more important than non-Mexican-American parents do. MA parents, overall, felt that it was more important that their child has good health habits and more important that their child's teacher provide support to them by teaching good health habits than non-MA parents. MA parents also felt that health was more important relative to other subjects at school than non-MA parents. The data indicate strong support for school health education efforts among MA parents in southern Texas. Such support may grow stronger with appropriate parent-recruitment efforts, including those by the ACS. Mexican-American parents may also represent an untapped resource for social and political support for school health programming.

This study assessed the relationship between broadcasting and the attendance of minor league hockey games in terms of 5 media forms: cable television broadcasting, commercial television broadcasting, radio broadcasting, broadcasters, and overall broadcasting media. A random sample of spectators (N = 2,225) responded to a survey on attendance level and media use conducted in the arena during the intermissions of games from 6 second-half 1994-1995 season home games of an International Hockey League (ML) team. CM-square, f-test, and regression analyses revealed that viewing home games on cable television and away games on commercial television, listening to games on radio, and the quality of television and cable broadcasters were all positively associated with attendance, with approximately 6-11% game attendance variance explained. It is concluded that the current broadcasting arrangement is positively related to game attendance in providing information for and increasing the interests of spectators.

Health education can be an important factor in the development of appropriate health behaviors in children. Community agencies that have not traditionally supported school health education can be of significant influence in improving school health education. This study examined the relationships between the involvement of the American Cancer Society (ACS) in schools and the degree of implementation of cancer prevention curricula. School health specialists from 41 metropolitan school districts in Texas were surveyed regarding the coverage of topical areas related to cancer prevention, health instructional patterns in districts, and collaborative efforts with the ACS. Tobacco use was widely covered in all levels of schools (elementary, middle, and high school), as was nutrition. Cancer detection and the concepts of cancer as a disease received most extensive coverage in high schools, and there were no significant grade level differences regarding coverage of the risks of sun exposure. School personnel had little training and felt little district support for school health education. Most respondents felt that teachers saw the ACS primarily as a resource for cancer information and resources than as a collaborative partner in health education efforts. Community organizations can play three roles in supporting school health education. First, the organizations must certainly provide diseasespecific information (in this case, cancer). They must also promote comprehensive school health education in general. Lastly, the study illustrates that community organizations must act as advocates for broader change in schools by supporting the development of organizational capacity within schools and districts to implement quality school health education, enlisting community support for quality school health education, and supporting policy initiatives that strengthen school health education activities.

Compact wavelength-division multiplexers based on arrayed waveguide grating structures have been designed and fabricated for short-haul communication network applications using low-loss perfluorocyclobutane-containing polymers. The devices exhibit high thermal stability and low on-chip losses. The average on-chip loss was

A common approach to promoting improvements in school health instruction involves development and dissemination of new curricula and teaching materials. Ironically, potential effects of innovative materials on student outcomes and actual teacher instructional practices rarely are considered important in decisions concerning use of new material. This study examined the impact of a new curricular innovation, the Giant Texas SmokeScream (GTSS), on 512 middle grade students' knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intent about smoking. The data provided a basis for discussion of what Rogers labeled “pro-innovation bias.” Data indicated the program had no effect on students. The GTSS program itself, although popular with schools, was questioned as being atheoretical in its approach to health education and ineffective in its outcomes. These data illustrate the need for programs to be based on sound theory and evaluated rigorously prior to general adoption. Additionally, program evaluations focused solely on student effects are insufficient in their assessment of adoption and implementation practices.

To assess rehabilitation inpatient risk of return to primary (RTP) service in patients with bone marrow transplant (BMT).Retrospective review.Inpatient rehabilitation unit within a tertiary referral-based cancer center.All patients with BMT (131) who were admitted a total of 147 times to inpatient rehabilitation between January 1, 2002, and April 30, 2010.None.We analyzed RTP service and demographic information, cancer characteristics, medications, hospital admission characteristics, and laboratory values.A total of 61 (41%) of 147 of BMT admissions were transferred from the inpatient rehabilitation unit back to the primary service. Of those transferred back, 23 (38%) of 61 died after being transferred back to the primary service. Significant or near-significant relationships were found for a platelet count of43,000 per microliter (P.01); a creatinine level of0.9 milligrams/deciliter (P.01); the presence of an antiviral agent (P=.0501); the presence of an antibacterial agent (P=.0519); the presence of an antifungal agent (P.05); and leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma diagnosis (P.05). Using 5 of these factors, the RTP-BMT index was formulated to determine the likelihood of return to the primary team.Patients with BMT have a high rate of transfer from the inpatient rehabilitation unit back to the primary service. The RTP-BMT index score can be a useful tool to help clinicians predict the likelihood of return to the primary acute care service.

BACKGROUND Few studies have investigated changes in adiposity and fitness during the academic year (AY) and summer season (SS) in minority children. This study aimed to assess if adiposity indicators and fitness change during the school AY and SS in Hispanic children. METHODS One hundred nineteen low-income Hispanic children (9.2 ± 0.8) participated in the study. Demographic, body weight and height, percent body fat (% BF), and aerobic endurance were assessed at 3 time points: measurement 1 (M1), beginning of AY; M2, end of AY; and M3, end of SS. Using weight and height, body mass index (BMI) was calculated and normalized (BMI z-scores). Mixed effects between-within-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) design was used to examine changes in selected variables. RESULTS A significant decrease of BMI z-scores in overweight children (p = .024) was observed during the AY only, but not during the SS. Percent BF increased significantly over the AY and SS (p

This quasi-experimental study assessed impact of factors associated with classroom implementation of health curricula by North Carolina teachers. School representatives selected and implemented one of three tobacco prevention curricula — Project SMART, Growing Healthy, or the Teenage Health Teaching Modules — in either sixth or seventh grades. Prior to implementation, experimental teachers and administrators received extensive curricula training. Implementation data were collected through teacher completed checksheets and classroom observations for two time periods — initial implementation (n = 69) and maintained implementation (n = 136). While training was associated significantly with whether teachers implemented a curriculum (p < .05), other factors also were important. Variables outside of teachers' direct control, such as supportive administrators, context in which health instruction is taught, and turbulence, affected quantity and quality of curricular implementation.

OBJECTIVE:: To investigate common TBI misconceptions among ethnic minorities with TBI. DESIGN:: Cross-sectional study. SETTING:: Level I trauma center. PARTICIPANTS:: Fifty-eight persons with TBI (28 black and 30 Hispanic) discharged from the neurosurgery unit and living in the community. MAIN MEASURE:: Forty-item Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire (CM-TBI). RESULTS:: Participants displayed misconceptions about approximately one-third of the 40 items, most regarding amnesia and recovery. Fewer misconceptions were found in the brain damage/injury and sequelae categories. A greater percentage of TBI misconceptions was associated with having lower education, actively practicing religion, being Spanish-speaking and non-US born. After controlling for education and actively practicing religion, Spanish-speaking Hispanics reported a greater percentage of misconceptions than English-speaking Hispanics and blacks. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS:: Understanding common TBI misconceptions can assist rehabilitation staff in tailoring education programs for racial/ethnic minorities including those who are Spanish-speaking. Educational attainment and cultural factors should be considered when developing educational interventions for persons with TBI from diverse backgrounds. Inaccurate information regarding TBI, especially the recovery process, may hinder treatment planning by rehabilitation professionals and may result in disappointment and the setting of unrealistic goals for persons with injury and their families. Language: en

A qualitative study is presented of the adoption process in six North Carolina school districts that were given the opportunity to adopt one of three curricula: Project SMART, Growing Healthy, and the Teenage Health Teaching Modules. Adoption represents a first major commitment by an organization toward using an innovation. Three themes are presented that characterize the curriculum adoption process in the six districts: (1) district decision making for curriculum adoption consisted of a three stage process, and at each stage, different decision makers played key roles; (2) the decision making process was influenced by the degree of engagedness of a “linking agent” within the district; and (3) a central office administrator facilitated the role played by the linking agent. Recommendations are provided that may increase adoption of innovative health curricula.

The status of the Growing Healthy curriculm (School Health Curriculum Project [SHCP]) was examined in the eight sites selected in 1969 by the National Clearinghouse on Smoking and Health to receive funded training and implementation support. A contact person from each site completed and returned a questionnaire pertaining to the district's continued implementation (institutionalization) of the SHCP. Most districts had not continued to implement the program. Reasons for discontinuation included loss of the “program champion” and insufficient administrative leadership. Districts continuing to implement the program generally were smaller in size, and employed a part-time coordinator for the SHCP. Recommendations for institutionalizing future instruction programs include identifying replacement program coordinators and other administrators to ensure continuity and support for the program over time, and conducting process and impact evaluations on program effects. (J Sch Health. 1992;62(3):83–87)

Optically diffractive line gratings with 0.58-/spl mu/m feature sizes have been generated in 100-/spl mu/m perfluorocyclobutane (PFCB) polymer films by direct micromolding using only a silicon master. Strong reflectivities from the green to red portions of the visible spectrum, depending on incident beam angle, were observed with 3 dB bandwidths of approximately 30 nm. This "negative mold-free" technique permits, for the first time to our knowledge, feature reproduction at submicrometer size scales, eliminates several steps from conventional soft lithographic methods, and marks itself as a practical means for rapidly generating planar photonic structures that operate spectrally in the visible and the near IR telecommunication bands.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy of the BOUNCE parent-daughter intervention in promoting selected physical fitness measures and activity. METHODS: Thirty-seven Latino and African American parent-daughter pairs participated. The intervention entailed physical activities, nutrition classes, and self-esteem activities. Child's height, weight, waist circumference, body fat %, blood pressure, physical fitness, and activity were assessed pre- and postintervention. RESULTS: A repeated-measures ANOVA yielded significant results [F(4,26) = 793.003, P < 0.001]. Post hoc analyses demonstrated significant (P < 0.05) changes in BMI, waist circumference, physical fitness, and activity. CONCLUSIONS: The BOUNCE intervention was effective in promoting fitness and activity in minority girls.

The purpose of this study is to report on the extent of, and organization for, tobacco prevention education in North Carolina Public Schools. Moreover, issues for the diffusion of tobacco prevention curricula are discussed. A questionnaire examining tobacco education practices and curriculum within school districts was mailed to health education representatives in each of the North Carolina public school districts. One-hundred twenty-five usable questionnaires were returned for analysis (125/140 = 89.3%). Of the school districts responding to the survey, 101 (80.8%) reported having adopted a system-wide curriculum which includes tobacco-related instruction. Additionally, a large percentage of the school districts with an adopted curriculum were using commercially published materials (85.2%). Large tobacco producing counties in North Carolina were not significantly different than other counties in the adoption or public acceptance of school programs with a tobacco prevention component. However, school systems with an adopted, general tobacco use policy for the district were more likely to have adopted a district-wide tobacco education curriculum. Individual schools were also involved with multiple tobacco prevention curriculum and learning programs. In the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, the sample reported using a total of twelve different programs. Many of these learning programs lacked necessary elements of effective programs. Key diffusion issues included the impact of multi-tobacco curricula use to the introduction of new and effective material, as well as the association between district-wide tobacco use policies and the adoption of curriculum.

This evaluation examined the diffusion of an innovation entitled the Coalition Index: A Guide to School Health Education Materials. After distributing the Index to a sample of school district health coordinators (n = 39), interviews were completed with 92% of coordinators about their perceptions of the Index and their concern for organizing health resources within their professional role. A one-year follow-up interview was conducted to determine levels of implementation and diffusion. Coordinators responded favorably to the Index as an innovation. Concern scores were limited to those relating to self-management and task-management. Moreover, concern scores demonstrated significant, positive associations (p less than .01) with current use of the Index, and 49% of coordinators were users of the innovation one year after introduction. Results are discussed as they relate to diffusion of innovation stages.

Perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) polymers exhibit a superior combination of optical and structural properties including: low transmission loss, unprecedented processability, tailorable refractive index and thermoptic coefficients compared to other fluoropolymers. An overview of PFCB synthesis, fabrication, properties, and commercial opportunities will be presented.

Background Negative affect is related to initiation and maintenance of smoking among youth and understanding its role is important when developing effective prevention and cessation programs. This study investigates the relationship between adolescent negative affect and smoking dependence, behaviors, attitudes, and self-efficacy in order to shed light on differences in adolescent smoking maintenance and cessation. Methods 721 smoking youth participated in a cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation program. Reasons for smoking were categorized ( α = 0.87) and youth were placed into one of two groups based on presence or absence of negative affect. One-way repeated measures ANOVA determined if differences existed between the groups on smoking behaviors, attitudes, and self-efficacy. One-way ANOVA determined if differences existed on Fagerstrom Nicotine Tolerance Dependence (FTND) scores. Results Adolescents indicating negative affect for smoking were significantly more likely to have future smoking intentions and had significantly less self-efficacy to quit smoking than adolescent reporting other reasons. Conclusions This study supports the need to address negative affect among adolescents participating in prevention and cessation programs. An examination of negative affect will provide program developers and facilitators with information to improve their interventions, assist with cessation, and provide an avenue to access other needed health services.

cited By 0; International audience; Polymer nomenclature applies to idealized representations where minor structural irregularities are ignored. A polymer can be named in one of two ways, such as source-based nomenclature can be used when the monomer can be identified. More explicit structure-based nomenclature can be used when the polymer structure is proven. A homopolymer is named using the name of the real or assumed monomer from which it is derived, such as poly(methyl methacrylate). Monomers can be named using IUPAC recommendations or well-established traditional names. Structure-based nomenclature uses that of the preferred constitutional repeating unit (CRU) in place of the monomer name used in source-based nomenclature. It is determined when a large enough part of the polymer chain is drawn to show the structural repetition, while the next step involves identifying the subunits that make up each of these structures.

Fluoropolymers are viable material options for short haul fiber and planar waveguide photonic applications. This work provides the refractive index, extinction coefficient, Sellmeier coefficients, and infrared absorption for two perfluorocyclobutyl-based (PFCB) polymers. These PFCB fluoropolymers have marked themselves as alternatives to the more well known fluoropolymers based on their solution processability and broad tailorability of optical, thermal, and mechanical properties.

Polymeric materials, in both fiber and planar form, are finding increasing application in commercial optical communication systems. This paper compares and discusses the intrinsic optical properties of common organic materials used in polymer waveguides as relates to their expected performance in optical fibers and rare earth amplifiers. Specifically considered and compared are polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), Teflon-AF, Cytop, and perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) polymers.

Applied Technology Associates' ARS-12 series sensor is the most sensitive inertial angular vibration sensor currently available. The sensing mechanism is based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) principles. This sensor series has a nominal bandwidth from 1 - 1000 Hz and a noise-equivalent angle of less than 50 nanoradians from 2 - 1000 Hz. The ARS- 12 can measure inertial angular motions of less than 10 nanoradians at discrete frequencies. Their solid-state design makes these sensors small and extremely rugged. In addition, the ARS-12 is essentially impervious to linear acceleration and angular cross-axis sensitivity is limited to incorrect physical alignment. The ARS-12 has recently undergone several design changes in order to perform in the space environment and improve performance. The most recent sensor package, the AADS-002, contains three orthogonal ARS- 12 sensors that produce a signal voltage proportional to displacement directly instead of the inherent velocity domain. The AADS-002 design, testing, and performance will be reviewed in this paper.

Organic polymers are increasingly attractive alternatives to inorganic materials in telecommunication devices. Polymers offer flexibility, low cost fabrication and connection, high transparency in the visible and near-infrared spectra, and versatility in structure, properties, and grades for task specific integration such as local-area-network applications. Halogenated polymers in particular show negligible transmission losses in the range desired and fluoropolymers represent the lowest loss examples of organic polymers to date. However, commercial perfluoropolymers in general are limited by poor processability, non-trivial refractive index matching, and they typically do not exhibit the thermal and thermomechanical stability required for some commercial processes and extreme environment in-use applications. Our strategy has focused on the thermal cyclopolymerization of trifunctional and bifunctional aryl trifluorovinyl ether monomers to perfluorocyclobutane (PFCB) copolymers. PFCB polymers and copolymers enjoy a unique combination of properties well suited for optical applications such as high temperature stability, precisely controlled refractive index, low moisture absorption, excellent melt and solution processability, a high thermooptic coefficient, and low transmission loss at 1300 and 1550 nm. Copolymerization reactions offer tailored thermal and optical properties by simple choice of comonomer. PFCB polymers can be solution or melt microfabricated via standard methods and can also be processed by soft-lithography techniques. Polymerization and processing parameters and characterization including thermal properties (Tg = 120-350 degree(s)C), optical loss (< 0.2 db/cm at 1550 nm), refractive index tunability (1.449-1.508 at 1550 nm), low birefringence, and optical stability is presented.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Applied Technology Associates' ARS-12 is the most sensitive inertial angular vibration sensor available in the market today. The sensing mechanism is based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) principles. This sensor has a bandwidth from 1-1000 Hz and a noise-equivalent angle of less than 35 nanoradians from 2-1000 Hz. The ARS-12 can measure inertial angular motions of less than 10 nanoradians at discrete frequencies. Their solid state design makes these sensors smaller and more rugged than any previous angular vibration sensor. In addition, the ARS-12 is essentially impervious to linear acceleration and angular cross-axis sensitivity is limited to incorrect physical alignment. The ARS-12 has recently undergone several design changes in order to survive the space environment. This new model, the ARS-12G, also has increased reliability and tighter performance specifications. The ARS-12G design, testing, and performance will be reviewed in this paper. Several ARS-12G sensor packages are currently being tested and space-qualified for Boeing(HSC) and Japan's space agency, NASDA.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

The school years represent a time span of tremendous growth and development for children. These early years are an important formative stage for health behaviors. Children are constantly ex-posed to new situations, ideas, and concepts, and the habits they develop during this period have a lifelong influence on their health. Given that youngsters are malleable and face extreme contemporary pressures, it is not surprising that the leading causes of death for school children are linked to high-risk behaviors. Kann et al noted that 72% of all deaths among school-age individuals are the result of four causes: motor-vehicle accidents, homicides, suicides, and other unintentional injuries. Some of the major risk factors for youth morbidity (eg, alcohol use and early sexual experience) also reflect behavioral patterns that increase risks for future chronic diseases, including cancer. Furthermore, despite significant progress in recent years in education on cancer prevention and control issues, the American Cancer Society predicts that in the United States, men have a 1 in 2 lifetime risk of developing cancer, and the risk for women is 1 in 3.2

Parents of elementary school children in rural east-central Texas were surveyed about their attitudes toward and knowledge of Comprehensive School Health Education. Data indicated widespread support for health education compared to other subject areas. Parents felt alcohol and other drugs, nutrition, and first aid were the most important topics to be covered in elementary school, while sexuality, cancer, and stress were the least important. Parents were most comfortable discussing alcohol and other drugs, family life, and growth and development with their children and least comfortable discussing exercise, cancer, and sexuality. Implications for school health programs are discussed.

e19509 Background: Inpatient rehabilitation bone marrow transplant patients can be challenging due to their medical fragility. Methods: One hundred forty-seven bone marrow transplant patients admitted to inpatient rehabilitation at a major national cancer hospital between January 1, 2002, and April 15, 2009, regardless of the patient’s primary cancer were retrospectively studied. Return to primary service and factors including age, gender, race, presence of graft-versus-host disease, type of hematopoietic stem cell transplant, type of primary cancer, white blood cell count upon rehabilitation admission, platelet count, albumin level, prealbumin level, creatinine level, and presence of antimicrobial agents were analyzed. Results: Forty-one percent (61/147) of bone marrow transplant patients were transferred from the inpatient rehabilitation unit back to the primary service. Of those transferred back, 38% died after being transferred back to the primary service; 53%, 36%, and 39% of leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma transplant patients were transferred back to the primary service, respectively. No breast, germinoma, renal, testicular, or Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia patients were transferred back to primary service. Significant relationships were found with a platelet count < 43 (p 0.9 (p

This study reports on the evaluation of the second North Carolina Healthful Living Institute (HLI), a statewide conference to promote comprehensive school health education. A comparison of year one and year two evaluation results is included. Based on a theoretical framework derived from the theory of diffusion of innovations within organizations, the impact of the HLI was assessed by studying characteristics of school districts sending representatives to the HLI and the composition of teams from each school district, and using pretest and posttest measures of participants' perceptions of the importance of health as a content area and participants' perceptions of the importance of the various components of comprehensive school health. Results indicate the effect of school health promotion conferences is linked to characteristics of school district teams, with the Institute needing to attract more varied teams, and teams from smaller, rural districts.

Low-attenuation waveguides based on the propagation of long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPPs) along thin Au stripes embedded in low absorption perfluorocyclobutane (PFCB) polymer are presented. A new low in propagation loss of2.0 dB/cm was achieved for a 4 microm wide waveguide by optimizing the cladding material and fabrication process. The coupling efficiency between the LRSPP waveguide and the optical fiber is studied theoretically and experimentally for different widths of Au stripes and various cladding thicknesses. Lower coupling loss is found when the cladding thickness is close to the mode diameter of the butt-coupled fiber. Based on the 2D distribution of SPP modes calculated by a finite-difference mode solver, a symmetric structure of multilayer claddings with different refractive indices is proposed to optimize device insertion loss.

The infrared fluorescence and optical gain characteristics of optically transparent nanocomposites consisting of (THF)14Er10S6Se12I6 (“Er10”) or (DME)2Er(SC6F5)3 (“Er1”) clusters dissolved in a transparent hexafluoroisopropyl (6F) variant of a perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB)-based fluoropolymer are reported. Under excitation at 980 nm, fluorescence was observed at 1540 nm from both Er10 and Er1 with a 3dB bandwidth of 96 and 60 nm, respectively. The maximum gain computed for Er10 and Er1 was 2.8 and 0.021dB∕cm, respectively. The corresponding threshold pump powers for Er10 and Er1 were calculated to be 1.7 and 0.2 mW, respectively. These computations are consistent with gain characteristics measured by the amplified spontaneous emission technique and suggest that these nanocomposites are promising materials for active optical devices.

We present a continuation of two previous studies [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B20, 1838 (2003) and J. Opt. Soc. Am. B21, 958 (2004)] on the optical characteristics of perfluorocyclobutyl-based polymers. Previously, the spectral dependences of the refractive index and the extinction coefficient have been calculated, and investigations were made into the theoretical and measured attenuation spectra of these polymers. Here, we report on the erbium-doped perfluorocyclobutyl aryl ether polymer 1,1,1-tris(4-trifluorovinyloxy)phenyl ethane. The absorption and fluorescence spectra are provided, including the Judd-Ofelt parameterization. The Judd-Ofelt parameters are found to be Omega_2 = 16.05×10^-20 cm², Omega_4 = 3.67×10^-20 cm², and Omega_6 = 3.59×10^-20 cm². These results are compared with those for a similar study on erbium-doped poly(methyl methacrylate), and conclusions are drawn concerning the effect of host properties in the 1550 nm region.