'I had a bigger cancer risk than I thought ': The experience of receiving personalized risk information as part of a skin cancer prevention intervention in the college setting.

BACKGROUND: Diagnoses of both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers are becoming increasingly common among young adults. Interventions in this population are a priority because they do not consistently follow skin cancer prevention recommendations. OBJECTIVES: The goal of the current study was to examine college students' perspectives on and experience with receiving a skin cancer prevention intervention that provided personalized skin cancer risk feedback in the form of an ultraviolet (UV) photograph, the results of genetic testing for common skin cancer risk variants, and/or general skin cancer prevention education. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 38 college students who received a skin cancer prevention intervention. The interview covered students' feelings about their personal skin cancer risk information, the impact of the intervention on their skin cancer risk perceptions, actions or intentions to act with regard to their sun protection practices and feedback for improvement of the intervention content or delivery. RESULTS: Participants reported that different intervention components contributed to increased awareness of their sun protection behaviours, shifts in cognitions about and motivation to implement sun protection strategies and reported changes to their skin cancer prevention strategies. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that college students are interested in and responsive to these types of multicomponent skin cancer preventive interventions. Further, students demonstrate some motivation and intentionality toward changing their skin cancer risk behaviour in the short term. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Participants involved in this study were members of the public (undergraduate students) who were involved in a skin cancer prevention intervention, then participated in semistructured interviews, which provided the data analysed for this study.

Measuring HIV Risk Perception and Behavior: Results from Round 1 of the Cognitive Interviewing Project with young women and men who have sex with men in South Africa.

Self-reported HIV risk perception and behaviors are used in a variety of settings for diverse purposes, such as HIV prevention program planning and screening. Careful consideration of how youth in high HIV prevalence areas interpret these kinds of questions warrants attention. The Cognitive Interviewing Project (CIP) conducted cognitive interviews on common risk survey items with 30 cis-female and 20 MSM youth (18 to 24), who had recent sex with a male partner, in Cape Town and Vulindlela, South Africa. Results identified a number of potential issues including (1) confusing text; (2) mismatches of terms with local usage; (3) confusion with items requiring self-tailoring; (4) presentation concerns limiting selection of full range of answers; and (5) challenges reporting on information dependent on partner (eg., HIV risk, HIV status of partner). Self-report Items used to identify those at elevated risk for HIV should be evaluated with local populations to optimize shared understanding.

Ureolytic Biomineralization Reduces Proteus mirabilis Biofilm Susceptibility to Ciprofloxacin.

Ureolytic biomineralization induced by urease-producing bacteria, particularly Proteus mirabilis, is responsible for the formation of urinary tract calculi and the encrustation of indwelling urinary catheters. Such microbial biofilms are challenging to eradicate and contribute to the persistence of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, but the mechanisms responsible for this recalcitrance remain obscure. In this study, we characterized the susceptibility of wild-type (ure+) and urease-negative (ure-) P. mirabilis biofilms to killing by ciprofloxacin. Ure+ biofilms produced fine biomineral precipitates that were homogeneously distributed within the biofilm biomass in artificial urine, while ure- biofilms did not produce biomineral deposits under identical growth conditions. Following exposure to ciprofloxacin, ure+ biofilms showed greater survival (less killing) than ure- biofilms, indicating that biomineralization protected biofilm-resident cells against the antimicrobial. To evaluate the mechanism responsible for this recalcitrance, we observed and quantified the transport of Cy5-conjugated ciprofloxacin into the biofilm by video confocal microscopy. These observations revealed that the reduced susceptibility of ure+ biofilms resulted from hindered delivery of ciprofloxacin into biomineralized regions of the biofilm. Further, biomineralization enhanced retention of viable cells on the surface following antimicrobial exposure. These findings together show that ureolytic biomineralization induced by P. mirabilis metabolism strongly regulates antimicrobial susceptibility by reducing internal solute transport and increasing biofilm stability.

Preliminary effects of a rural skin cancer prevention intervention for youths.

OBJECTIVES: To pilot and assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of the Rural Adult and Youth Sun (RAYS) protection program, a multilevel skin cancer preventive intervention for young children living in rural U.S. communities, delivered through community-organized team sports. METHOD: Three rural counties in Utah participated with two receiving the intervention and the third serving as a control. Youth sports leagues were recruited through recreation departments and the study took place from May through October 2021. Intervention leagues received sun protection supplies for players and coaches, educational materials for parents, and coaches were offered training on skin cancer and sun protection behaviors. RESULTS: The RAYS program is both feasible to deliver and acceptable to coaches, parents, and players. The intervention also demonstrates beneficial preliminary effects on components of observed child sun-protective behaviors, coach sun protection behaviors, knowledge of skin cancer prevention recommendations, and self-efficacy in skin cancer prevention. CONCLUSIONS: Multilevel interventions for skin cancer prevention among young children can be successfully delivered through community organizations and their settings. A priority moving forward is the identification of ways to optimize delivery of such programs to positively influence skin cancer preventive behaviors among children living in diverse rural areas. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Family Lifestyles, Actions and Risk Education (FLARE) study: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of a sun protection intervention for children of melanoma survivors.

BACKGROUND: Children of parents who had melanoma are more likely to develop skin cancer themselves owing to shared familial risks. The prevention of sunburns and promotion of sun-protective behaviors are essential to control cancer among these children. The Family Lifestyles, Actions and Risk Education (FLARE) intervention will be delivered as part of a randomized controlled trial to support parent-child collaboration to improve sun safety outcomes among children of melanoma survivors. METHODS: FLARE is a two-arm randomized controlled trial design that will recruit dyads comprised of a parent who is a melanoma survivor and their child (aged 8-17 years). Dyads will be randomized to receive FLARE or standard skin cancer prevention education, which both entail 3 telehealth sessions with an interventionist. FLARE is guided by Social-Cognitive and Protection Motivation theories to target child sun protection behaviors through parent and child perceived risk for melanoma, problem-solving skills, and development of a family skin protection action plan to promote positive modeling of sun protection behaviors. At multiple assessments through one-year post-baseline, parents and children complete surveys to assess frequency of reported child sunburns, child sun protection behaviors and melanin-induced surface skin color change, and potential mediators of intervention effects (e.g., parent-child modeling). CONCLUSION: The FLARE trial addresses the need for melanoma preventive interventions for children with familial risk for the disease. If efficacious, FLARE could help to mitigate familial risk for melanoma among these children by teaching practices which, if enacted, decrease sunburn occurrence and improve children's use of well-established sun protection strategies.

Outdoor activities and sunburn among urban and rural families in a Western region of the US: Implications for skin cancer prevention.

Prevention of skin cancer involves decreasing exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and avoiding sunburn, especially early in life. Individuals living in urban versus rural areas, as defined by the Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) code classification, have different risks for skin cancer, likely due to differing patterns of outdoor activities and preventive behaviors employed when outdoors. However, few studies have examined differences in outdoor activities between rural and urban individuals and examined this among both adults and children. This study compared the outdoor activities, sun protection strategies, tanning behaviors, and sunburn occurrence of adults and children (n = 97 dyads) in rural versus urban settings in a Western region of the United States. The relationships between outdoor activities and sunburn occurrence were examined in both groups. Analyses employed Barnard's Exact Test and logistic generalized estimating equations models. Individuals in rural and urban areas reported differences in sun protection strategies used, tanning behaviors, and outdoor activities. Individuals in urban areas more commonly reported use of certain forms of sun protection, such as sunscreen and shade, whereas long pants and skirt wearing were more common for children in rural areas. Individuals in rural areas were more likely than those in urban areas to engage in farm work, yard work, and youth sports. Gender differences in these outcomes were also identified. Skin cancer preventive interventions could be tailored for rural and urban families to target sun protection strategies to outdoor activities and to situations in which sunburns are likely to occur.

Biomineralization strongly modulates the formation of Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa dual-species biofilms.

Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are common pathogens that often form biofilms together in catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). However, the interactions between these two species in biofilms are largely unknown. P. mirabilis induces ureolytic biomineralization that substantially modifies key biofilm properties including morphology, persistence, and recalcitrance to antimicrobial therapy. These processes are well known to complicate CAUTI, but the consequences for colonization and persistence of P. mirabilis in polymicrobial biofilms have not been explored. Here we characterized the role of biomineralization in regulating the development of P. mirabilis and P. aeruginosa dual-species biofilms. Time-series observations revealed that the dominance of P. mirabilis was synchronized with mineral formation in the biofilm. After 24 hours of development, the dual-species biofilm was dominated by P. mirabilis, and the distribution of P. mirabilis biomass was strongly correlated with the mineral fraction of the biofilm. Conversely, dual-species growth without biomineralization yielded strikingly different patterns in the biofilm, with P. aeruginosa dominating the biofilm biomass. These results show that biomineralization is responsible for the increased success of P. mirabilis in the polymicrobial biofilm. Since biofilm biomineralization commonly occurs in diverse clinical, natural and engineered systems, these findings imply that biomineralization could broadly influence the microbial ecology of multispecies biofilms.