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Over the last decade, there have been widespread efforts to reduce non-evidence-based therapies for viral bronchiolitis. We question whether this change in practice has inadvertently impacted the diagnosis and management of other pediatric lower-respiratory-tract illnesses. We used the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) and logistic regression to describe trends in relative diagnosis frequency of bronchiolitis, viral pneumonia, and reactive airway disease (RAD)/asthma as well as systemic corticosteroid use among children of the age range 1 to 4 years over a 10-year period. Among 169,207 children, the relative frequency of asthma/RAD diagnoses declined over a 10-year period, while bronchiolitis and viral pneumonia diagnoses increased among children of the age range 1 to 3 years and 2 to 4 years, respectively. Frequency of systemic corticosteroid use declined. We question whether the observed shift in diagnosis from asthma/RAD to bronchiolitis or viral pneumonia is reflective of true disease pathophysiology or if it represents an unintended consequence of campaigns surrounding bronchiolitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper employs the panel smooth transition autoregressive model to evaluate the threshold effect of unemployment rate on lottery sales and their persistence. To perform the empirical estimation, we use the panel data of lottery sales in 42 US states during the period of January 2003-December 2011. Thus, we have 4536 observations. The empirical results find that the effect of unemployment on lottery sales is nonlinear, heterogeneous, and time-varying, depending on the unemployment rates in different regimes. A rise (decrease) in unemployment will lead to a higher (lower) persistence effect of lottery sales. However, reducing unemployment rate is not a practical instrument for state governments to stabilize lottery markets. For the sellers of lottery tickets, designing new lottery products is a more efficient method for stimulating current lottery sales than anticipating the improvement in the unemployment rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses health communication and information technologies, focusing on the impact of the U.S. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act on U.S. health care systems. It comments on the introduction of electronic medical records and explores the possible impact of digitization on self-monitoring and self-care. The author particularly reflects on the ability of electronic and Internet technologies to address health care disparities and disadvantages faced by ethnic and racial minorities.

The author index of the Handbook of Social Psychology (Gilbert, Fiske & Lindzey, 1998) and of Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Processes (Higgins & Kruglanski, 1996) served as the basis for identifying and describing some of the people constructing social psychology in the 1990s. Over 10,000 names are mentioned, but relatively few are mentioned several times. The 106 contributors who were mentioned most frequently are identified and described. They are mostly men about 20 years beyond the PhD. The select set of institutions at which they work and from which they obtained their degrees are also identified. Similarities among contributors were calculated on the basis of the proximity of their mentions in the handbooks. An analysis of those similarities yielded eight "contributor factors": social cognition, attitudes, motivated attribution, self, interpersonal influence, intergroup relations and stereotypes, culture and evolution, and interpersonal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A national survey was conducted to (a) ascertain the status of HIV prevention among community-based organizations targeting APIs in the United States, (b) define technical assistance needs among these organizations, and (c) determine their involvement in the HIV community planning process. Of the 80 surveys sent out, 49 (61%) completed responses were received. Filipinos, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, and multiracials were the subpopulations targeted the most often, and, not surprising, Tagalog, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean and Japanese were the Asian languages most widely in use. Gay men, bisexual men, and youth were targeted most frequently by HIV prevention efforts. Of all the largest ethnic subpopulations, Asian Indian is the only group with no community-based organization that exclusively targets them for HIV prevention. More than 95% of respondents reported conducting some type of evaluation; the size of the budget and organization often determined the evaluation strategies used. Program development, staff development, and program evaluation were the most frequently reported areas of technical assistance requested. A majority of the respondents (79%) reported being involved with the HIV prevention community planning process where APIs were represented on state/local community planning groups, they did not rate the performance of the community planning process highly. We recommend providing technical assistance in fund-raising, program evaluation, and participation in the HIV community planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrates the experiences of children who were abused and neglected by parents in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Influence of child abuse on the mental health of a child abused by his father; Details of the incident that caused the bone fracture of a four-month old boy; Prognosis of the child's shaken baby syndrome.

The Agricultural Act of 2014 is critical to the economic safety net for U.S. producers. This act represented a major change in philosophy, requiring producers to make key decisions about their options on the basis of risk management. To add to the complexity of the issue, the time period for delivering applicable education to landowners before sign-up deadlines was relatively short. This article highlights a unique multiorganizational statewide approach to delivering the applicable education. It involved University of Minnesota Extension, the Center for Farm Financial Management, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and banks and resulted in substantive evaluative outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of nurses in providing culturally competent care. The significance of understanding clear and effective communication among nurses is addressed. Moreover, the possible effects of demographic changes on nurses and other health care providers in the U.S. are mentioned. An overview of the current theory and practice of integrating cultural competency in nursing education and training is also cited.

The recent outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in the Americas and its devastating impact on fetal development have prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the ZIKV pandemic as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Rapid and reliable diagnostics for ZIKV are vital because ZIKV-infected individuals display no symptoms or nonspecific symptoms similar to other viral infections. Because immunoassays lack adequate sensitivity and selectivity and are unable to identify active state of infection, molecular diagnostics are an effective means to detect ZIKV soon after infection and throughout pregnancy. We report on a highly sensitive reverse-transcription loop-mediated, isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for rapid detection of ZIKV and its implementation in a simple, easy-to-use, inexpensive, point-of-care (POC) disposable cassette that carries out all the unit operations from sample introduction to detection. For thermal control of the cassette, we use a chemically heated cup without a need for electrical power. Amplification products are detected with leuco crystal violet (LCV) dye by eye without a need for instrumentation. We demonstrated the utility of our POC diagnostic system by detecting ZIKV in oral samples with sensitivity of 5 plaque-forming units (PFU) in less than 40 min. Our system is particularly suitable for resource-poor settings, where centralized laboratory facilities, funds, and trained personnel are in short supply, and for use in doctors' offices, clinics, and at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To scrutinize the male ancestry of extant Native American populations, we examined eight biallelic and six microsatellite polymorphisms from the nonrecombining portion of the Y chromosome, in 438 individuals from 24 Native American populations (1 Na Dené and 23 South Amerinds) and in 404 Mongolians. One of the biallelic markers typed is a recently identified mutation (M242) characterizing a novel founder Native American haplogroup. The distribution, relatedness, and diversity of Y lineages in Native Americans indicate a differentiated male ancestry for populations from North and South America, strongly supporting a diverse demographic history for populations from these areas. These data are consistent with the occurrence of two major male migrations from southern/central Siberia to the Americas (with the second migration being restricted to North America) and a shared ancestry in central Asia for some of the initial migrants to Europe and the Americas. The microsatellite diversity and distribution of a Y lineage specific to South America (Q-M19) indicates that certain Amerind populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region, suggesting an early onset for tribalization of Native Americans. Age estimates based on Y-chromosome microsatellite diversity place the initial settlement of the American continent at ∼14,000 years ago, in relative agreement with the age of well-established archaeological evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]