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Objective: To examine whether pregnancy-specific coping predicts changes in emotional distress from mid- to late pregnancy.Background: There is a need to identify ways of coping that reduce...

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to investigate the association of health literacy with skin cancer risk and protective behaviors among young adults at moderate to high risk of skin cancer, the most common cancer. METHOD: A US national sample of 958 adults, 18–25 years old, at moderate to high risk of developing skin cancer, completed a survey online. Behavioral outcomes were ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure (e.g., indoor and outdoor tanning, sunburn) and protective (e.g., sunscreen use, sunless tanning) behaviors. Multivariable regression analyses were conducted to determine whether health literacy (a four-item self-report measure assessing health-related reading, understanding, and writing) was associated with behavioral outcomes while controlling for demographic factors. RESULTS: Higher health literacy was independently associated with less sunbathing, odds ratio (OR) = 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.60–0.98; less indoor tanning, OR = 0.38, CI = 0.31–0.48; and less use of tanning oils, OR = 0.54, CI = 0.43–0.69. However, health literacy was also associated with a lower likelihood of wearing long pants, OR = 0.76, CI = 0.58–0.99, or a hat, OR = 0.68, CI = 0.53–0.87, when outdoors. On the other hand, higher health literacy was associated with higher incidental UV exposure, OR = 1.69, CI = 1.34–2.14, and a greater likelihood of ever having engaged in sunless tanning, OR = 1.50, CI = 1.17–1.92. CONCLUSION: Interestingly, higher health literacy was associated with lower levels of intentional tanning yet also higher incidental UV exposure and lower skin protection among US young adults. These findings suggest that interventions may be needed for young adults at varying levels of health literacy as well as populations (e.g., outdoor workers, outdoor athletes/exercisers) who may be receiving large amounts of unprotected incidental UV.

We aimed to further the understanding of the low rates of sun protection in young women at risk for skin cancer. Six-hundred-sixty-one daily diary entries were received via text message over 14 days from 56 young women at moderate to high risk of developing skin cancer. Women reported whether or not they used sun protection and also listed what their reasons were for using protection or not using sun protection each day. Multi-level modeling was used to examine the influence of study variables when predicting daily sun protection or lack of protection. The number of days in which sun protection was reported was positively associated with “habit” and “prevention” as reasons for protection and negatively associated with “not-needed” and “unprepared” as reasons for non-protection. Self-reported sun protection increased over the 14-day study period. Results of this study suggest the potential value of interventions aimed at motives for sun-protection behaviors.

Objective To examine contributors to perceived risk in pregnancy and its utility in predicting lower birth weight and earlier delivery in conjunction with health care providers' assessment of obstetric risk. Methods 165 pregnant women at high ( n = 34) or low ( n = 131) obstetric risk completed assessments of perceived risk, stress, optimism, and health behaviors using well-validated instruments and measures designed for this study. Medical charts were abstracted for gestational age at delivery and birth weight. Results 40% of the sample perceived their risk status differently than their health care provider. Stress, poor reproductive history, provider assigned risk, and unhealthful behaviors were significant, independent predictors of perceived risk ( R 2 = .37). The greatest difference in birth weight ( p = .003) and gestational age ( p = .05) was between women considered at low risk by both self and provider and women considered at high risk by both. Perceived risk improved prediction of adverse birth outcomes, especially lower birth weight, in women considered by providers to be at low risk. Conclusion Women's perceptions of risk are an important contributor to prediction of birth outcomes, but the combination of information from both a woman and her health care provider is superior. Incorporating women's perceptions into obstetric risk determination may help to reduce the number of women identified as high risk who subsequently have a normal birth outcome (false positives), and more importantly, the number of women considered to be at low risk who ultimately experience an adverse outcome (false negatives).

Psychometrically sound self-report measures are important tools to advance research on health behaviors in pregnancy. The Prenatal Health Behavior Scale (PHBS) has been used in prior studies to quantify health behaviors and examine their associations with relevant variables, but its psychometric properties have not been carefully investigated.In a sample of low-risk women, we examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the PHBS at mid- (N = 138) and late (N = 102) pregnancy.In confirmatory factor analysis, items on the PHBS loaded onto a single reliable factor, but separating health-promoting and health-impairing behavior into two factors had better model fit. The scales defined by these two factors had good internal consistency in mid- and late pregnancy, were only moderately correlated, and were predicted by somewhat different sets of sociodemographic and psychological variables. Pregnancy-specific stress was a robust predictor of health-promoting and health-impairing behavior across time.Results bolster confidence in the reliability and validity of the PHBS and its appropriateness as a self-report tool for investigation of health behaviors among pregnant women. This study is one of the first investigations to examine patterns and predictors of health behavior practices at two time periods of pregnancy.

Rationale Favorable relationships with health care providers predict greater patient satisfaction and adherence to provider recommendations. However, the specific components of patient-provider relationships that account for these benefits have not been identified. The potential benefits of strong patient-provider relationships in pregnancy may be especially important, as care providers have frequent, intimate interactions with pregnant women that can affect their emotions and behaviors. In turn, prenatal emotions and health behaviors have potent effects on birth outcomes. Objective This study investigated whether pregnant women's relationships with their midwives predicted better self-care. Specific components of the patient-provider relationship (communication, integration, collaboration, and empowerment) were examined. We also investigated a mechanism through which these relationship components may be associated with salutary health behaviors: by alleviating women's anxiety. Methods In total, 139 low-risk patients of a university-affiliated midwifery practice in the northeastern United States completed well-validated measures assessing their relationship with midwives, state anxiety, and prenatal health behaviors in late pregnancy; state anxiety was also assessed in mid-pregnancy. Results Women's perceptions of better communication, collaboration, and empowerment from their midwives were associated with more frequent salutary health behavior practices in late pregnancy. Controlling for mid-pregnancy anxiety, lower anxiety in late pregnancy mediated associations of communication and collaboration with health behavior practices, indicating that these associations were attributable to reductions in anxiety from mid- to late pregnancy. Conclusion Results substantiate that benefits of patient-provider relationships in pregnancy may extend beyond providing medical expertise. Some aspects of patient-provider relationships may offer direct benefits to pregnant women in promoting better health practices; other aspects of these relationships may indirectly contribute to better health practices by alleviating negative emotions. The benefits of strong midwife relationships may derive from the reassurance, comfort, and warmth these relationships offer, as well as the information and education that midwives provide to their patients.

Importance The US Food and Drug Administration recommends that indoor tanners (ITs) be screened regularly for skin cancer (SC). Objective To investigate the association between indoor tanning and SC screening. Design, Setting, and Participants The 2015 National Health Interview Survey was a multistage, clustered, cross-sectional design with 30 352 US adults participating. The response rate for the sample adult data used in this study was 55.20% after excluding 1099 individuals who reported a history of SC and 2221 individuals with unknown SC screening or indoor tanning history. To examine the independent correlates of screening, we conducted multiple logistic regressions separately for ITs and nontanners (NTs), simultaneously including all preselected variables of interest as potential predictors. Formal interaction analyses were also performed to determine if the covariate effects differed significantly between ITs and NTs. Exposures Indoor tanning as well as sociodemographic, health care, and SC risk and sun protection factors. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was self-reported full-body SC screening by a physician. Univariable and multivariable analyses were conducted to determine the secondary outcome, correlates of SC screening among ITs and NTs. Results A total of 15 777 participants (51.98%) were female, and 23 823 (78.49%) were white; 4987 (16.43%) of the sample had indoor tanned, and 1077 (21.59%) of these had tanned last year. A total of 1505 ITs (30.18%) and 4951 NTs (19.52%) had been screened for SC. Correlates of screening for ITs and NTs were older age (ITs: odds ratio [OR], 4.29 [95% CI, 2.72-6.76]; NTs, OR, 5.14 [95% CI, 4.01-6.58], age ≥65 years vs 18-29 years), higher income (ITs: OR, 2.08 [95% CI, 1.50-2.88]; NTs: OR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.51-2.12]; >$100 000 vs $0-34 999), seeking online health information (ITs, OR, 0.71 [95% CI. 0.56-0.91; NTs, OR, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.58-0.72], for not looking up health info online), family history of melanoma (ITs: OR, 1.92 [95% CI, 1.26-2.93]; NTs: OR, 1.58 [95% CI, 1.21-2.05]) or SC (ITs: OR, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.17-2.17; NTs: OR, 1.61 [95% CI, 1.33-1.94]), very high SPF sunscreen use (ITs: OR, 0.57 [95% CI, 0.42-0.78]; NTs: OR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.61-0.82], use of SPF of 1-14 vs SPF of >50), and receipt of a professional spray-on tan (ITs: OR, 0.60 [ 95% CI, 0.41-0.88]; NTs: OR, 0.51 [95% CI, 0.32-0.81], for not receiving a salon spray-on tan). Correlates for NTs only were white race (blacks: OR, 0.45 [95% CI, 0.37-0.54], others: OR, 0.40 [95% CI, 0.33-0.48]), non-Hispanic ethnicity (Hispanics: OR, 0.42 [95% CI, 0.36-0.50]), email use (no email: OR, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.56-0.80]), having a usual clinic/or physician’s office (no usual place: OR, 0.56 [95% CI, 0.40-0.78]), emergency department visits (OR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.06-1.35]), having had a previous cancer diagnosis (no cancer diagnosis: OR, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.57-0.79]), not being worried about medical bills (OR, 1.37 [95% CI, 1.15-1.63] vs very worried), sun protection (rarely/never: OR, 0.43 [95% CI, 0.34-0.56]), and sunless self-tanning (not using: OR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.47-0.83]). Conclusions and Relevance Few ITs have been screened for SC, although SC rates are higher than among NTs. It is not surprising that SC screening is associated with SC risk factors (eg, family history of SC and age) among ITs. However, some unscreened ITs may be putting themselves at even greater risk of SC by also being more likely to use low SPF sunscreen than ITs who have been screened for SC.

Kurzfassung Umwandlungshärten mit Laserstrahlung ist eine bekannte Härtemethode. Mit den klassischen Materialbearbeitungslasern CO2 und Nd:YAG blieb diese Oberflächenbearbeitung aus prozess-technischen und aus Kostengründen eher eine Nischenanwendung. Hochleistungs-Diodenlaser sind seit einiger Zeit auf dem Weg, den Einsatz des Laserhärtens für ein breiteres Anwendungsfeld zu ermöglichen. Durch ihren hohen Wirkungsgrad, die geringe Baugröße, einen rechteckigen Fokus und die für Oberflächenanwendungen gut geeignete Wellenlänge stellen sie eine ideale, kostengünstige Lichtquelle für ein berührungsloses, flexibles Härteverfahren dar. Diese Eigenschaften des Hochleistungs-Diodenlasers führen auch zu Vorteilen beim Einsatz zum laser-induzierten Beschichten von Oberflächen, auch wenn hier die Kombination mit Pulver- oder Drahtzuführung unter Umständen aufwändigere technische Lösungen erfordert als das Härten. In diesem Artikel möchten wir die Methode erläutern und das Potenzial anhand von ausgewählten Beispielen darstellen.

A digital method employing Fourier analysis is presented, which in the absence of any external synchronizing signals can, with certain restrictions, 1) reduce random noise from repetitive frames of sampled input data; and 2) average waveforms which may differ in shape and which may occur in the presence or absence of random noise. The restrictions refer to the ability to select a window width which will each time encompass all of the aperiodic waveforms or one period of a periodic waveform. There is no restriction as to where in the window any waveform may appear. The new method is called the phase-locked time (PLT) average and should prove useful in a variety of situations.