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Successful Efforts (successful + effort)
Selected AbstractsAn Assessment of the Dental Public Health Infrastructure in the United StatesJOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 1 2006Scott L. Tomar DMD Abstract Objectives: The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research commissioned an assessment of the dental public health infrastructure in the United States as a first step toward ensuring its adequacy. This study examined several elements of the US dental public health infrastructure in government, education, workforce, and regulatory issues, focused primarily at the state level. Methods: Data were drawn from a wide range of sources, including original surveys, analysis of existing databases, and compilation of publicly available information. Results: In 2002, 72.5% of states had a full-time dental director and 65% of state dental programs had total budgets of $1 million or less. Among U.S. dental schools, 68% had a dental public health academic unit. Twelve and a half percent of dental schools and 64.3% of dental hygiene programs had no faculty member with a public health degree. Among schools of public health, 15% offered a graduate degree in a dental public health concentration area, and 60% had no faculty member with a dental or dental hygiene degree. There were 141 active diplomates of the American Board of Dental Public Health as of February 2001; 15% worked for state, county, or local governments. In May 2003, there were 640 US members of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry with few members in most states. In 2002, 544 American Dental Association members reported their specialty as Dental Public Health, which ranged from 0 in five states to 41 in California. Just two states had a public health dentist on their dental licensing boards. Conclusions: Findings suggest the US dental public health workforce is small, most state programs have scant funding, the field has minimal presence in academia, and dental public health has little role in the regulation of dentistry and dental hygiene. Successful efforts to enhance the many aspects of the US dental public health infrastructure will require substantial collaboration among many diverse partners. [source] The effects of cigarette costs on BMI and obesityHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2009Article first published online: 4 FEB 200, Charles L. Baum Abstract About 30% of Americans are currently obese, which is roughly a 100% increase from 25 years ago. Public health officials have consequently become alarmed because recent research indicates that societal costs of obesity now exceed those of cigarette smoking and alcoholism. Cigarette taxes may have exacerbated the prevalence of obesity. In 1964, the US Surgeon General issued its first report relating smoking and health, and since that time, federal and state governments have increased cigarette taxes in a successful effort to reduce cigarette smoking. However, because cigarette smoking and obesity seem inversely related, cigarette taxes may have simultaneously increased obesity. This paper examines the effects of cigarette costs on BMI and obesity and finds that they have significant positive effects. This paper attempts to reconcile conflicting evidence in the literature by controlling more carefully for correlation with state-specific time trends using panel data. Results indicate that the net benefit to society of increasing cigarette taxes may not be as large as previously thought, though this research in no way concludes that they should be decreased to prompt weight loss. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Avirulence proteins from haustoria-forming pathogensFEMS MICROBIOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 2 2007Ann-Maree Catanzariti Abstract A major insight that has emerged in the study of haustoria-forming plant pathogens over the last few years is that these eukaryotic biotrophs deliver suites of secreted proteins into host cells during infection. This insight has largely derived from successful efforts to identify avirulence (Avr) genes and their products from these pathogens. These Avr genes, identified from a rust and a powdery mildew fungus and three oomycete species, encode small proteins that are recognized by resistance proteins in the host plant cytoplasm, suggesting that they are transported inside plant cells during infection. These Avr proteins probably represent examples of fungal and oomycete effector proteins with important roles in subverting host cell biology during infection. In this respect, they represent a new opportunity to understand the basis of disease caused by these biotrophic pathogens. Elucidating how these pathogen proteins gain entry into plant cells and their biological function will be key questions for future research. [source] Save the Children's approach to emergency evaluation and learning: Evolution in policy and practiceNEW DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION, Issue 126 2010Megan Steinke-Chase The humanitarian assistance sector has developed globally from a state of spontaneous and disjointed approaches, and is striving to be more deliberate, coordinated, and accountable. Save the Children's experience has paralleled that evolution. This chapter explores advances in emergency evaluation approaches, utilization, and learning that have driven systematic improvements in Save the Children's policy and practice as it responds to major emergencies. It discusses challenges and successful efforts to internalize sector standards, ensure participation of affected populations, strengthen coordination across the sector, and increase impact measurement of emergency response. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association [source] Structurally Minimized ,-Conotoxin Analogues as Sodium Channel Blockers: Implications for Designing Conopeptide-Based TherapeuticsCHEMMEDCHEM, Issue 3 2009Tiffany Abstract Transforming the neuroactive toxins of cone snails into small-size compounds poses a challenge due to the presence of multiple disulfide bridges. Herein we describe our successful efforts in minimizing the size of ,-conotoxin while retaining its biological activity. Disulfide bridges that stabilize the native conformation of conotoxins pose a challenge in the synthesis of smaller conotoxin analogues. Herein we describe the synthesis of a minimized analogue of the analgesic ,-conotoxin KIIIA that blocks two sodium channel subtypes, the neuronal NaV1.2 and skeletal muscle NaV1.4. Three disulfide-deficient analogues of KIIIA were initially synthesized in which the native disulfide bridge formed between either C1C9, C2C15, or C4C16 was removed. Deletion of the first bridge only slightly affected the peptide's bioactivity. To further minimize this analogue, the N-terminal residue was removed and two nonessential serine residues were replaced by a single 5-amino-3-oxapentanoic acid residue. The resulting "polytide" analogue retained the ability to block sodium channels and to produce analgesia. Until now, the peptidomimetic approach applied to conotoxins has progressed only modestly at best; thus, the disulfide-deficient analogues containing backbone spacers provide an alternative advance toward the development of conopeptide-based therapeutics. [source] | ||||||||||