Social distance, perceived drinking by peers, and alcohol use by college students

Many colleges in the United States are employing social norms marketing campaigns with the goal of reducing college students' alcohol use by correcting misperceptions about their peers' alcohol use. Although the typical message used in these campaigns describes the quantity and frequency of alcohol use by the average student on campus, many students may find such a vague comparison to others to be socially irrelevant. This study compares the relative weight of perceptions about alcohol use by distant versus proximate peers in the prediction of college students' personal drinking behavior. The results of analyzing data collected from a sample of college students at a large public northeastern university (N=276) show that, as hypothesized, perceived alcohol use by proximate peers (best friends and friends) was a stronger predictor of students' personal alcohol use than perceived alcohol use by more distant peers (such as students in general), controlling for other strong predictors of alcohol use by college students (age, gender, race, off-campus residency, and sensation-seeking tendencies). The implications of these findings for the design of more effective social norms messages are discussed.     

Oligoarthritis Caused by Borrelia bavariensis,Austria, 2014

A case of Lyme oligoarthritis occurred in an 11-year-old boy in Vienna, Austria. DNA of Borrelia bavariensis was detected by PCR in 2 aspirates obtained from different joints. Complete recovery was achieved after a 4-week course with amoxicillin. Lyme arthritis must be considered in patients from Europe who have persisting joint effusions.     

Diazinon uptake,metabolism, and elimination by nematodes

There was appreciable uptake of radio-carbon byPanagrellus redivivus, a free-living soil nematode, andBursaphelenchus xylophilus, a plant parasitic nematode, when exposed to a solution of diazinon¹⁴C. Both nematode species metabolized diazinon withP. redivivus being more active. Metabolites fromB. xylophilus included0,0-diethyl0-(2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-pyrimidinyl) phosphate or diazoxon and 2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-hydroxy-pyrimidine or pyrimidinol. Radioactivity accumulated to a greater extent inB. xylophilus than inP. redivivus. Elimination of radiocarbon was more rapid withP. redivivus than withB. xylophilus, and this resulted in the presence of high levels of the polar pyrimidinol metabolite in the incubation medium ofP. redivivus.     

Lead,Chromium, and Molybdenum by Atomic Absorption

Disinfection of air in lower part of a room by ultraviolet irradiation of upper air has been studied after artificial dissemination of test organisms (Serratia marcescens). On basis of disinfection rates in lower air with different intensities of UV in upper air, the rates at which organisms are killed in upper air and at which air mixes between upper and lower parts of the room were calculated. By performing studies under different conditions of air motion, it was possible to analyze factors affecting air mixing and upper-air disinfection. With no fans to increase air motion, a single 30-w UV tube increased the rate of disappearance of organisms from lower part of room by the equivalent of 61 air changes per hour (median value). With a large-bladed ceiling fan, the same UV tube almost doubled the rate of disappearance of organisms.     

Dobrava hantavirus infection complicated by panhypopituitarism, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010

We identified Dobrava-Belgrade virus infection in Turkey (from a strain related to hantavirus strains from nearby countries) in a patient who had severe symptoms leading to panhypopituitarism, but no known risk for hantavirus. Our findings emphasize the need for increased awareness of hantaviruses in the region and assessment of symptomatic persons without known risk factors for infection.