Creating effective messages about environmental health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supported research coordinated by the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP) for the purpose of developing effective messages about environmental health. The purpose of these messages would be to increase the visibility of the environmental health profession and improve the public's awareness and understanding of the role played by the profession in protecting the public's health. To accomplish this task, AEHAP first collaborated with a marketing team to develop initial test messages. The core message revolved around five major themes: effects of pollution, susceptible populations, economics and prevention, homeland security, and specific environmental health issues. The draft messages were tested in three focus group settings: 1) policy makers, 2) environmental health professionals, and 3) the general public. This paper reports a finding that there is a perceptual gap among environmental health professionals, policy makers, and the public. This gap is part of why there is a compelling need for the environmental health community to develop and disseminate more effective messages about the profession.     

Fostering youth leadership to address workplace and community environmental health issues: a university-school-community partnership

Many communities of color are disproportionately exposed to workplace and community environmental hazards. This article presents the results of a pilot project designed by a university-school-community partnership to develop youth leadership to confront these exposures. Using a popular empowerment education approach, students applied peer education, research, and organizing skills learned in the classroom to community-based internships in a service-learning model. Evaluation results from pretests and posttests, focus groups, and in-depth interviews demonstrated that students shared what they learned about young workers' rights and environmental justice with family and friends. They developed a critical analysis of environmental inequities, created a citywide youth coalition that advocates around legal, educational, and environmental issues affecting youth, and implemented campaigns to enforce child labor laws and to prevent school construction on contaminated land. This multifaceted model can serve as an important foundation to develop youth leaders to influence environmental policies in a variety of communities.     

Synthesis, spectroscopic and biological properties of bis(3-arylimidazolidinyl-1)methanes. A novel family of antimicrobial agents

Synthesis, spectroscopic and biological properties of new bis(3-arylimidazolidinyl-1)methanes are described. These compounds were synthesized by condensation reaction between N-arylethylenediamines and formaldehyde. Chemical structures were confirmed by means of their (1)H- and (13)C-NMR and mass spectroscopic data. Investigation of in vitro antimicrobial activity was performed using Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria as well as antifungal studies against Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. Minimal inhibitory concentrations of active compounds were determined.     

Variación espacial de la exposición a contaminación atmosférica en la ciudad de Valencia y su relación con un índice de privación

Objective

To evaluate spatial variation in exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) air pollution in the city of Valencia, Spain, and its association with socioeconomic deprivation and age.

Methods

Census tract population data were obtained from the National Statistics Institute of Spain. Outdoor NO₂ was monitored in 100 sites in the study area, through the use of passive samplers, in three campaigns between 2002 and April 2004. Land use regression (LUR) was used to obtain a map of NO₂ levels. The LUR predictions were compared with the NO₂ level obtained by: a) the nearest sampler of the monitoring network, b) the nearest passive sampler, c) the mean distance-weighted levels of the samplers in the neighborhood, and d) the NO₂ level obtained by using Kriging. For each census tract, the NO₂ levels were obtained. The association of NO₂ air pollution exposure with population age (≥65 years) and the 5-category deprivation index was analyzed.

Results

The LUR models showed less error than the other prediction methods. The safety levels proposed by the World Health Organization were exceeded in more than 99% of the population. An inverse relationship was found between NO₂ levels and the deprivation index (β = –2.01 μg/m³ in the most deprived quintile compared with lower deprivation, 95%CI: –3.07; –0.95) and a direct relationship was found with age (β = 0.12 μg/m³ per unit increase in percentage of the population ≥ 65 years, 95%CI: 0.08; 0.16).

Conclusions

The method allowed pollution maps to be obtained and the association between NO₂ levels and sociodemographic characteristics to be described.     

Desigualdades socioeconómicas en el proceso de discapacidad en una cohorte de adultos mayores de Santiago de Chile

Objective

To describe and compare socioeconomic inequalities in the onset and progression of disability in a cohort of Chilean community-dwelling older people that provides unprecedented information about this process in Chile.

Methods

The data were drawn from a 10-year longitudinal study (2000-2010) that followed a probabilistic and representative sample of the SABE (Health, Welfare and Aging) cohort. The present study was based on 78% (1019) of the baseline sample of adults aged 60 years or more living in Santiago, Chile. Functional limitation was defined on the basis of a combination of six basic activities of daily living, seven instrumental activities, and seven mobility activities (limited, no limited). Socioeconomic position (high, medium and low) was assessed by combining measures of household equipment, wealth, and education.

Results

The initial prevalence of functional limitation was 47.3% (95%CI: 44.2-50.4) with a clear socioeconomic gradient (60.1% low, 47.5% medium, and 28.7% high; p < 0.001). At the end of the follow-up, older adults with low socioeconomic status remained functionally limited while those with high socioeconomic status remained non-limited. The incidence density of functional limitation also followed a socioeconomic gradient (5.33, 6.59 and 7.73 per 100 years-person for low, medium and high socioeconomic status). Social inequalities were also observed for mortality.

Conclusion

This study corroborates the social stratification of functional status and mortality, suggesting that aging is not a leveler of inequalities. In Latin-American countries, policies should aim to reduce inequalities by attempting to limit exposure to risk factors and to compensate for deficiencies (especially among the poorest older people) in order to prevent the progression of functional impairment to disability.     

Immunogenicity and safety of a 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine compared to a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in pneumococcal vaccine-naive adults

Background

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among adults 50 years of age and older in the United States. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines are efficacious against pneumococcal disease in children and may also offer advantages in adults.

Methods

We performed a randomized, modified double-blind trial that compared a single dose of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) in 831 pneumococcal vaccine naive adults 60–64 years of age. An additional group of 403 adults 50–59 years of age received open-label PCV13. Anti-pneumococcal opsonophagocytic activity (OPA) titers were measured at baseline, and at 1 month and 1 year after vaccination.

Results

In the randomized trial, the month 1 post-vaccination OPA geometric mean titers in the PCV13 group were statistically significantly higher than in the PPSV23 group for 8 of the 12 serotypes common to both vaccines and for serotype 6A, a serotype unique to PCV13, and were comparable for the other 4 common serotypes. The immune response to PCV13 was generally greater in adults 50–59 years of age compared to adults 60–64 years of age. OPA titers declined from 1 month to 1 year after PCV13 administration but remained higher than pre-vaccination baseline titers.

Conclusions

PCV13 induces a greater functional immune response than PPSV23 for the majority of serotypes covered by PCV13, suggesting that PCV13 could offer immunological advantages over PPSV23 for prevention of vaccine-type pneumococcal infection.     

Hypertensive Retinopathy as the First Manifestation of Advanced Renal Disease in a Young Patient: Report of a Case

The purpose of this paper was to report the case of a 23-year-old patient suffering from bilateral acute visual loss who received the diagnosis of hypertensive retinopathy. After systemic evaluation, he was diagnosed with bilateral renal disease and chronic renal failure, requiring a kidney transplantation to manage the systemic illness, followed by gradual improvement of his visual acuity.Key Words: Hypertensive retinopathy, Chronic renal failure, Renal disease, Hypertension     

Nance–Horan syndrome in females due to a balanced X;1 translocation that disrupts the NHS gene: Familial case report and review of the literature

The Nance–Horan syndrome is an X-linked disorder characterized by congenital cataract, facial features, microcornea, microphthalmia, and dental anomalies; most of the cases are due to NHS gene mutations on Xp22.13. Heterozygous carrier females generally present less severe features, and up to 30% of the affected males have intellectual disability. We describe two patients, mother and daughter, manifesting Nance–Horan syndrome. The cytogenetic and molecular analyses demonstrated a 46,X,t(X;1)(p22.13;q22) karyotype in each of them. No copy-number genomic imbalances were detected by high-density microarray analysis. The mother had a preferential inactivation of the normal X chromosome; expression analysis did not detect any mRNA isoform of NHS. This is the first report of Nance–Horan syndrome due to a skewed X chromosome inactivation resulting from a balanced translocation t(X;1) that disrupts the NHS gene expression, with important implications for clinical presentation and genetic counseling.