Understanding American Indian tribal college student knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors surrounding alternative tobacco products.

OBJECTIVES: To examine knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors about alternative tobacco products among American Indian tribal college students. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and five tribal college students. METHODS: Focus groups, one interview, and demographic surveys. RESULTS: Tobacco use varied across the sample with 35.2% of the participants being users of ENDS products and 29.5% were cigarette smokers. Overall, participants viewed electronic nicotine delivery systems and chewing tobacco as primary examples of alternative tobacco products and described a generational divide between alternative and conventional tobacco product use. Alternative tobacco products were not considered suitable for use in traditional contexts. CONCLUSIONS: Previously successful cessation programs in this population have relied on cultural tailoring related to traditional tobacco use in American Indian communities. Our findings suggest that this strategy may be less effective for addressing alternative tobacco use. Reliance on the importance of family relationships may prove more impactful in future programming.

Everyday discrimination for American Indian tribal college students enrolled in the Internet All Nations Breath of Life program.

OBJECTIVE: Identify factors associated with perceived discrimination, including depression, body image satisfaction, body mass index (BMI), social support, stress, and self-reported social status. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 249 American Indian tribal college students. METHODS: Students were recruited for an Internet-based smoking cessation program. A total of 249 students answered the Everyday Discrimination Scale questions to assess perceived discrimination. We conducted bivariate analyses to determine potential significant associations between perceived discrimination and health outcomes at baseline. RESULTS: We found 63% of the sample reported racial discrimination. Among those who reported moderate/severe depression, 87% reported discrimination. Among those who were not satisfied with their body image, 70% reported racial discrimination. CONCLUSION: Reports of racial discrimination are highly prevalent among our participants. We found reports of discrimination are significantly associated with depression and dissatisfaction with body image. Our study highlights a high priority population that perceives racial discrimination, potentially increasing their risk for adverse health outcomes.

Characterizing Posterior Neck Masses: A Single-Institution Retrospective and Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: Posterior neck masses are a relatively poorly characterized entity. The authors attempt to further characterize the anatomy and pathology of the posterior neck by way of a combined single-institution retrospective chart review and systematic review of the literature. METHODS: A single-institution retrospective chart review was undertaken for all patients undergoing excision of a posterior neck mass between January 1, 2012, and January 1, 2017. A systematic review of the Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane database was undertaken in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines in search of case reports and series describing posterior neck masses. RESULTS: A total of 28 patients who underwent excision of a posterior neck mass were encountered during the retrospective chart review. All pathologies were benign, the most prevalent of which was lipoma (22/28, 79%). A total of 19 articles describing a collective 36 posterior neck masses were encountered during the systematic review. Lipomas were the most common pathology (15/36, 42%). All but one of the masses reported were benign (35/36, 97%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients presenting with posterior neck masses can be reassured of a low risk of malignancy. The majority of posterior neck masses can be appropriately evaluated via physical examination and ultrasound.

Baseline characteristics of American Indian smokeless tobacco users participating in two pilot cessation studies.

American Indians have higher rates of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use than other racial/ethnic groups in the US, yet no efficacious cessation program exists for them. Because tobacco is a sacred plant to many American Indians, it is imperative that a program respect the scared nature of tobacco while encouraging quitting recreational use. All Nations Snuff Out Smokeless (ANSOS) was designed to help American Indian SLT users quit recreational tobacco use while still using it for traditional purposes. We pilot tested the ANSOS 6-month group-based counseling program (N = 48) and a shortened version consisting of a one-time education session (N = 80). Here, we discuss the tobacco characteristics of participants at baseline in both studies. Participants across studies were more likely to be male (74.2%) and have at least a college education (65%). Participants in the one-time education sessions were younger (age 35 vs age 39) and used SLT fewer days per week (4.9 vs 5.7). Two-thirds of those in the full program reported that they often substitute SLT in locations where smoking is not allowed compared to 26%. Participants in the education sessions were more likely to report daily use of traditional tobacco (20% versus 0%). Results suggest that dual use of SLT and cigarettes needs to be addressed, as does the use of SLT to circumvent public smoking rules. The role of traditional tobacco and its relationship to lower SLT use also warrants further investigation.

Successful development of methodology for detection of hapten-specific contact hypersensitivity (CHS) memory in swine.

Hapten contact hypersensitivity (CHS) elicits a well-documented inflammation response that can be used to illustrate training of immune cells through hapten-specific CHS memory. The education of hapten-specific memory T cells has been well-established, recent research in mice has expanded the "adaptive" characteristic of a memory response from solely a function of the adaptive immune system, to innate cells as well. To test whether similar responses are seen in a non-rodent model, we used hapten-specific CHS to measure the ear inflammation response of outbred pigs to dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), oxazolone (OXA), or vehicle controls. We adapted mouse innate memory literature protocols to the domestic pig model. Animals were challenged up to 32 days post initial sensitization exposure to the hapten, and specific ear swelling responses to this challenge were significant for 7, 21, and 32 days post-sensitization. We established hapten-specific CHS memory exists in a non-rodent model. We also developed a successful protocol for demonstrating these CHS responses in a porcine system.

Immunogenicity and safety of a natural rough mutant of Brucella suis as a vaccine for swine.

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and clearance of the natural rough mutant of Brucella suis strain 353-1 (353-1) as a vaccine in domestic swine. In three studies encompassing 105 animals, pigs were inoculated with 353-1 by conjunctival (5 × 10(7) CFU) or IM (1-2 × 10(10) CFU) routes. Clearance, tissue distribution, and pathology of the vaccine strain were determined by periodic blood culture, collection of tissues at periodic necropsy times after vaccination, and histologic evaluation of tissue samples. The B. suis 353-1 strain was nonpathogenic, cleared from most vaccinates by 10-12 weeks after vaccination, and did not induce significant histologic lesions in tissues examined. The vaccine strain appears to be phenotypically stable as all isolates recovered from vaccinates retained their rough phenotype. Vaccination induced significant humoral responses, peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation, and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) production after inoculation as compared to responses of control pigs. The vaccine strain did not appear to be shed from vaccinates as co-housed sentinel animals demonstrated no serologic or microbiologic evidence of lateral transmission. Our data demonstrates that B. suis 353-1 is a stable, rough mutant that does not induce adverse clinical effects or tissue localization, but does induce significant humoral and cellular immune responses after vaccination of swine.