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Firearm violence is a major public health concern in the USA with firearm suicide and homicide accounting for the majority of gun deaths. The present work seeks to explore the role of firearm legislation in reducing suicide and homicide rates. Using the State Firearm Law Database (www.statefirearmlaws.org), suicide and homicide rates were compared across the 50 US states from 1991 to 2017. A firearm regulations index was computed to represent the total number of state firearm laws. Generalized estimating equations were used to explore population-level increases or decreases in firearm regulations and their association with state suicide and homicide rates after controlling for several state-level covariates. Even after accounting for several key covariates (US region; time; gun ownership; percent of the state population that was White, Black, below the poverty line and 25 years or older with a bachelor's degree; incarceration rate, unemployment rate and divorce rate), we found that firearm laws significantly predicted state firearm suicide and homicide rates. States with greater numbers of laws had reduced suicide and homicide rates compared with those with fewer laws. The present findings point to the role of firearm legislation in curbing rates of gun violence across the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2020 US Presidential election was historic in that it featured the first woman of color, Kamala Harris, on a major‐party ticket. Although Harris identifies as Black, her racial identity was widely scrutinized throughout the election, due to her mixed‐race ancestry. Moreover, media coverage of Harris's racial identity appeared to vary based on that news outlet's political leaning and sometimes had prejudicial undertones. The current research investigated racial categorization of Harris and the role that political orientation and anti‐Black prejudice might play in shaping these categorizations. Studies 1 and 2 tested the possibility that conservatives and liberals might mentally represent Harris differently, which we hypothesized would lead the two groups to differ in how they categorized her race. Contrary to our prediction, conservatives, and liberals mentally represented Harris similarly. Also surprising were the explicit racial categorization data. Conservatives labeled Harris as White more than liberals, who tended to categorize Harris as multiracial. This pattern was explained by anti‐Black prejudice. Study 3 examined a potential political motivation that might explain this finding. We found that conservatives, more than liberals, judge having a non‐White candidate on a Democratic ballot as an asset, which may lead conservatives to deny non‐White candidates these identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States and abroad, with far-reaching consequences for individuals and communities. Interventions that address environmental and social contexts have the potential for greater populationwide effects, yet research has been slow to identify and rigorously evaluate these types of interventions to reduce violence. Several urban communities across the US are conducting experimental and quasi-experimental community-based research to examine the effect of place-based interventions on violence. Using examples from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Flint, Michigan; Youngstown, Ohio; and New Orleans, Louisiana, we describe how place-based interventions that remediate vacant land and abandoned buildings work to reduce violence. These examples support the potential for place-based interventions to create far-reaching and sustainable improvements in the health and safety of communities that experience significant disadvantage. These interventions warrant the attention of community stakeholders, funders, and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allergic rhinitis (hay fever) resulting from seasonal pollen affects 15–30% of the population in the United States, and can exacerbate several related conditions, including asthma, atopic eczema, and allergic conjunctivitis. Timely monitoring, accurate prediction, and visualization of pollen levels are critical for public health prevention purposes, such as limiting outdoor exposure or physical activity. The low density of pollen detecting stations and complex movement of pollen represent a challenge for accurate prediction and modeling. In this paper, we reconstruct the dynamics of pollen variation across the Eastern United States for 2016 using space–time interpolation. Pollen levels were extracted according to a stratified spatial sampling design, augmented by additional samples in densely populated areas. These measurements were then used to estimate the space–time cross-correlation, inferring optimal spatial and temporal ranges to calibrate the space–time interpolation. Given the computational requirements of the interpolation algorithm, we implement a spatiotemporal domain decomposition algorithm, and use parallel computing to reduce the computational burden. We visualize our results in a 3D environment to identify the seasonal dynamics of pollen levels. Our approach is also portable to analyze other large space–time explicit datasets, such as air pollution, ash clouds, and precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Funding bodies in the USA and abroad are increasingly investing in transdisciplinary research, i.e. research conducted by investigators from different disciplines who work to create novel theoretical, methodological, and translational innovations to address a common problem. Transdisciplinary research presents additional logistical and administrative burdens, yet few models of successful coordination have been proposed or substantiated, nor have performance outcomes or indicators been established for transdisciplinary coordination. This work uses the NIH-funded Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Centers Initiative as a case study to put forward a working framework of transdisciplinary research coordination center (CC) responsibilities and performance indicators. We developed the framework using a sequential mixed methods study design. TREC CC functions and performance indicators were identified through key-informant interviews with CC personnel and then refined through a survey of TREC research center and funding agency investigators and staff. The framework included 23 TREC CC responsibilities that comprised five functional areas: leadership and administration, data and bioinformatics, developmental projects, education and training, and integration and self-evaluation, 10 performance outcomes and 26 corresponding performance indicators for transdisciplinary CCs. Findings revealed high levels of agreement about CC responsibilities and performance metrics across CC members and constituents. The success of multi-site, transdisciplinary research depends on effective research coordination. The functions identified in this study help clarify essential responsibilities of transdisciplinary research CCs and indicators of success of those transdisciplinary CCs. Our framework adds new dimensions to the notion of identifying and assessing CC activities that may foster transdisciplinarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racial/ethnic minorities, rural populations, and those with low socioeconomic status income are underrepresented in research in the United States (U.S.). Assessing preferences for recruitment, participation, and the role of beliefs about biomedical research in specific and unique underserved communities represents a potentially critical step in reducing barriers to biomedical research participation. We developed a culturally informed survey to measure factors related to participation, knowledge, expectations, and barriers to biomedical research participation among Latinos living in a U.S. border community. We employed a multidisciplinary team approach to a sequential, three-phase qualitative study that included interviews (n = 35), focus groups (n =24), and "think-aloud" cognitive interviews (n = 5). Our study demonstrates the value of applying multiple qualitative approaches to inform a culturally relevant quantitative survey incorporating words and constructs relevant to the population of interest. The study contributes to qualitative method research paradigms by developing a research protocol that integrates the expertise and perspectives of researchers and community members from multiple disciplines and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Middle-aged and older adults requiring skilled home healthcare ('home health') services following hospital discharge are at high risk of experiencing suboptimal outcomes. Information management (IM) needed to organise and communicate care plans is critical to ensure safety. Little is known about IM during this transition. Objectives (1) Describe the current IM process (activity goals, subactivities, information required, information sources/targets and modes of communication) from home health providers' perspectives and (2) Identify IMrelated process failures. Methods Multisite qualitative study. We performed semistructured interviews and direct observations with 33 home health administrative staff, 46 home health providers, 60 middle-aged and older adults, and 40 informal caregivers during the preadmission process and initial home visit. Data were analysed to generate themes and information flow diagrams. Results We identified four IM goals during the preadmission process: prepare referral document and inform agency; verify insurance; contact adult and review case to schedule visit. We identified four IM goals during the initial home visit: assess appropriateness and obtain consent; manage expectations; ensure safety and develop contingency plans. We identified IM-related process failures associated with each goal: home health providers and adults with too much information (information overload); home health providers without complete information (information underload); home health coordinators needing information from many places (information scatter); adults' and informal caregivers' mismatched expectations regarding home health services (information conflict) and home health providers encountering inaccurate information (erroneous information). Conclusions IM for hospital-to-home health transitions is complex, yet key for patient safety. Organisational infrastructure is needed to support IM. Future clinical workflows and health information technology should be designed to mitigate IM-related process failures to facilitate safer hospital-to-home health transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To better understand satisfaction with care among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons with cancer, we explored dimensions of the provider relationship that contributed to satisfaction among caregivers and survivors who received cancer treatment in Oregon and Washington State.Methods: Between November 2011 and April 2013, the project team interviewed 11 caregivers and 71 AI/AN cancer survivors residing in Oregon and Washington State. Interview questions aimed to elicit participant experiences with care providers and factors associated with cancer care satisfaction. Interviews were analyzed using an inductive content analysis approach in which concepts were identified and themes derived from interview data.Results: Three overarching themes, each with two sub-themes, emerged from the data: (1) universal factors: bolstering understanding, involvement, and empathy in care; (2) minority-specific factors: incorporating culture and community into care; and (3) AI/AN-unique factors: interacting with Indian health clinics and Indian Health Service (IHS).Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that satisfaction with care among survivors and their caregivers must be examined within the context of culture and community, particularly among minority patients. Our study demonstrates providers' critical role in ensuring AI/AN patients emerge satisfied with cancer treatment by honoring their AI/AN-specific needs, such as respect for integration of traditional healing modalities and navigation of specialty care coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We elicited the perspectives of Somali women in Seattle, Washington, about breast cancer. We conducted a focus group of 14 Somali immigrant women at a community center in Seattle, Washington. Participants reported barriers to seeking cancer screening, including fear of pain, difficulty with transport, and lack of knowledge. Participants explained that Somali women tended not to discuss breast cancer or breast cancer screening, and said religion played a central role in their care and treatment decisions and coping mechanisms. If such barriers are addressed, fewer women may present with late-stage breast cancer, resulting in greater chances for long-term breast cancer survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latinos are under-represented in biomedical research conducted in the United States, impeding disease prevention and treatment efforts for this growing demographic group. We gathered perceptions of biomedical research and gauged willingness to participate through elicitation interviews and focus groups with Latinos living on the U.S.–Mexico border. Themes that emerged included a strong willingness to participate in biomedical studies and suggested that Latinos may be under-represented due to limited formal education and access to health information, not distrust. The conflation of research and clinical care was common and motivated participation. Outreach efforts and educational interventions to inform Latinos of participation opportunities and clarify harms and benefits associated with biomedical research participation will be essential to maintain trust within Latino communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author discusses recent developments in the translational research in the U.S. He states that failure of clinical translation of pharmacological discoveries into product development indicates insufficient efficacy of research programs. He discusses about the goals of National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), the recently established by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). In his opinion, NCATS would maximize the medicinal discovery-translation continuum.

The article reports on digital imaging systems as biomarkers for the treatment of cancer. The treatment of cancer using imaging methods is supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) through establishing the Lung Image database Consortium (LIDC), Reference Image Database to Evaluate Response to Therapy (RIDER), Image Response Assessment Teams (IRATS) and Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG), and introduction of radiation therapy and image-guided interventions.

The introduction of a prospective payment system (PPS) into the home care industry has prompted agencies to explore new means of managing care. This article demonstrates the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Maryland's approach to PPS through the creation of the Medicare Authorization Manager (MAM) model. The MAM's focus is on helping the clinical staff think through the care processes and anticipate the end point. The development, implementation, and key outcomes are discussed, as well as lessons learned and next steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the evolution of the United States Policy related to the Indochinese refugee. In the weeks prior to the collapse of the South Vietnam government on April 30, 1975, elaborate plans was made whereby large numbers of Vietnamese would be evacuated when the United States withdrew its personnel from that country. Unfortunately, due to a variety of circumstances including the sudden demise of that government, very few of those selected were able to get out during the air-sea evacuation. The United States was under heavy pressure to admit additional refugees. Refugees, as well as those already residing in the U.S. are classified as Section 2l2(d)(5) parolees, having been admitted by the Attorney General without visas due to the emergency situation. Technically, these refugees are eligible for adjustment of status under Sec. 203(a)(7) after they have resided in the United States for a period of two years. One new ground on inadmissibility has been written into this law which bars from adjustment an alien ordered, assisted or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person because of race, religion, or political opinion.

The article focuses on the U.S. immigration legislation. Under the Immigration Act of 1965 seventy-four per cent of the visas for the Eastern Hemisphere is allocated for purposes of family reunification. Confronted with a lengthy separation from the immediate family, many aliens either enter the country illegally or violate their nonimmigrant status after admission to keep the family unity intact. The problems created by the presence in the United States of untold numbers of illegal aliens are many and varied ranging from the economic and the moral to the impact on our international relations. There is a general agreement that the numbers of illegals are increasing and that the Immigration and Naturalization Service is incapable of stemming the flow even with increased manpower and resources. Church leaders point out that no relief whatsoever is provided for the legal alien who is residing with his citizen or lawful resident alien family members and that the imposition of a sanction law without corresponding relief for such families should be opposed.

The article presents information on the proposed revisions of U.S. Western Hemisphere immigration policies. The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and International Law on March 28, 1973, opened hearings on revision of the Western Hemisphere immigration system. The emphasis was to create a preference system to regulate the flow of the 120,000 ceiling immigrants who are admitted from this hemisphere each year. The maximum per country limitation is retained at 20,000 annually. No special treatment is accorded Canada and Mexico as recommended by the Department of State, a provision which was contained in the original version of H.R. 981. This subject received the greatest attention of the subcommittee and created the most controversy. The present maximum per country limitation of 20,000 visas annually is contained in 5. 2643 except that Canada and Mexico are granted up to 35,000 each but within the hemispheric ceiling. Should the Senate approve this pro- vision, there is a good possibility due to the close vote in the House that the Senate version may be accepted in conference.

Examines the environmental liability disclosures in business enterprises in the United States. Efforts to maintain and improve the environment; Reference to the federal securities laws; Anticipations in environmental liability costs.

The article reports that the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality, under the new chairmanship of Representative Joshua Eilberg announced the priorities of its concern for the 93rd Congress as legislation to control the influx of illegal aliens into the United States, a preference system for the Western Hemisphere to regulate the flow of immigration and an examination into the functions and operations of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in line with the Subcommittee's oversight role in this area of governmental operations. As originally proposed the matter of removing the economic incentive for aliens to take up employment illegally was approached in two different manners. Sanctions would be imposed upon employers of such aliens and secondly while the privilege of adjusting from temporary to permanent status without leaving the United States would be extended to natives of the Western Hemisphere, that privilege would be denied to aliens who engaged in unauthorized employment prior to filing the application for adjustment.

As we have stated in our introduction, we hope that our brief analysis and comment will serve to stimulate new debate within this vital area of public concern. To this end, and in closing, we wish to make the concluding observations: - We would suggest that major emphasis in the current proposals be placed on the creation of a preference system for the Western Hemisphere. - Careful consideration, we feel, should be given to creating a ceiling for each hemisphere with a preference system operating independently of one another in each hemisphere at least for the next few years. - We place great emphasis on a new and broad definition of a "refugee" such as is contained in the Kennedy and Rodino Bills, with adequate parole provisions and procedures to provide maximum flexibility and timely response to emergency situations. - In the case of the parole procedure, we suggest that it may function solely through the discretionary authority of the Attorney General in consultation with the Secretary of State or, - and this is probably a more feasible approach -, the parole procedure would be anchored in legislation through the allocation of specific numbers to refugees while continuing emphasis is placed on the discretionary parole authority of the Attorney General in emergency situations where speedy assistance is clearly in our national interest. - There is a need for reinstatement of the privilege of adjustment of status to natives of the Western Hemisphere (other than from Canada and Mexico and adjacent islands - excepting immediate relatives). This privilege, however, should also be available to refugees, regardless of place of birth, and to those refugees who enter as crewman. - The labor certification requirements of the present law should be reviewed in depth, both in regard to its provisions and its philosophy. We suggest that a moderate step might be taken to return to the provisions in existence prior to the 1965 Act or the more pronounced measure of complete elimination of the certification requirement. - The extension of the second preference to the parents of adult resident aliens should also be given consideration, especially the parent who is unmarried and who might be left alone, separated from the sons or daughters for a long period of time. The extension of the preference to married parents may cause heavy demands on the preference numbers (no statistics in this category are available) competing with spouses and children. To meet the greatest need for family reunion and to adjust to the demands of the second preference, we suggest that at least for the present only the unmarried parent be included in the preference. - Finally, we take note and urge that special status should be retained for our closest neighbors Canada and Mexico, perhaps through a larger quota for each with a separate preference system which would be more reflective of the pattern of immigration from these two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approval of agents for the treatment of cancers by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was granted to only six new chemical entities in the three years spanning 2008 to 2010. By contrast, in the first nine months of 2011, six new chemical entities were approved for use in cancer. This approval rate is unprecedented and reflects the advances in science since the approval of the first monoclonal antibody (rituximab) in 1997 and the first targeted small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (imatinib) in 2001 for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic myelogenous leukemia, respectively. Here we briefly discuss the newly approved agents, a possible deletion from the therapeutic armamentarium, and the use of the FDA accelerated approval process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 is a pandemic with an estimated death rate between 1% and 5%; and an estimated R 0 between 2.2 and 6.7 according to various sources. As of March 28th, 2020, there were over 649,000 confirmed cases and 30,249 total deaths, globally. In the United States, there were over 115,500 cases and 1891 deaths and this number is likely to increase rapidly. It is critical to detect clusters of COVID-19 to better allocate resources and improve decision-making as the outbreaks continue to grow. Using daily case data at the county level provided by Johns Hopkins University, we conducted a prospective spatial-temporal analysis with SaTScan. We detect statistically significant space-time clusters of COVID-19 at the county level in the U.S. between January 22nd-March 9th, 2020, and January 22nd-March 27th, 2020. The space-time prospective scan statistic detected "active" and emerging clusters that are present at the end of our study periods – notably, 18 more clusters were detected when adding the updated case data. These timely results can inform public health officials and decision makers about where to improve the allocation of resources, testing sites; also, where to implement stricter quarantines and travel bans. As more data becomes available, the statistic can be rerun to support timely surveillance of COVID-19, demonstrated here. Our research is the first geographic study that utilizes space-time statistics to monitor COVID-19 in the U.S. • It is critical to detect emerging clusters of COVID-19 in the United States. • Prospective space-time scanning statistics can identify "active" clusters. • Results can improve allocation of resources and justify isolation measures. • New data can be added to the statistic daily for timely surveillance of COVID-19. • Geospatial health techniques can improve our knowledge of disease transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization has, for the first time since the enactment of the Immigration Act of 1965, commenced hearings on widespread immigration reform. On March 4, 1976, Senator James O. Eastland, Chairman of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization introduced a comprehensive bill dealing with the problem of the undocumented alien and the system of selecting immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. His bill parallels measures introduced in the House by Representative Peter W. Rodino, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Originally introduced as H.R. 982, H.R. 8713 was reported out by the full Judiciary Committee on September 24, 1975 but is stalled before the Rules Commit- tee. The principal thrust is to impose sanctions upon employers who hire illegal aliens. Hearings on H.R. 981, which deals with Western Hemisphere immigration reforms, are still in progress. There is little basic difference in the approach of the Senate bill from that of the House measures to the problems. For example, each would provide a preference system for selecting immigrants from the Western Hemisphere identical to that of the Eastern Hemisphere. Each would provide a maximum annual per country limitation of 20,000 numbers although Rodino grants 35,000 to Canada and Mexico.

Background: Patients requiring skilled home health care (HH) after hospitalization are at high risk of adverse events. Human factors engineering (HFE) approaches can be useful for measure development to optimize hospital-to-home transitions. Objective: To describe the development, initial psychometric validation, and feasibility of the Hospitalto-Home-Health-Transition Quality (H3TQ) Index to identify patient safety risks. Methods: Development: A multisite, mixed-methods study at 5 HH agencies in rural and urban sites across the United States. Testing: Prospective H3TQ implementation on older adults’ hospital-to-HH transitions. Populations Studied: Older adults and caregivers receiving HH services after hospital discharge, and their HH providers (nurses and rehabilitation therapists). Results: The H3TQ is a 12-item count of hospital-to-HH transitions best practices for safety that we developed through more than 180 hours of observations and more than 80 hours of interviews. The H3TQ demonstrated feasibility of use, stability, construct validity, and concurrent validity when tested on 75 transitions. The vast majority (70%) of hospital-to-HH transitions had at least one safety issue, and HH providers identified more patient safety threats than did patients/caregivers. The most frequently identified issues were unsafe home environments (32%), medication issues (29%), incomplete information (27%), and patients’ lack of general understanding of care plans (27%). Conclusions: The H3TQ is a novel measure to assess the quality of hospital-to-HH transitions and proactively identify transitions issues. Patients, caregivers, and HH providers offered valuable perspectives and should be included in safety reporting. Study findings can guide the design of interventions to optimize quality during the high-risk hospital-to-HH transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As vacant lot inventories expand in cities across the U.S., vacant land management organizations require strategies that optimize their functioning while ensuring community benefit. Resident engagement in programs to green vacant land may be one helpful strategy. While resident engagement is often required for vacant land management organizations, few researchers have examined how these organizations engage residents and the effect of these practices on their functioning. We hypothesized that more intensive engagement such as involving residents in planning and implementing greening would be more predictive of organizational functioning than lower level engagement. We analyzed data from a national survey of vacant land management organizations from 27 states (N = 68). We assessed three areas of organizational functioning including networking, programmatic, and resource capacity. We used hierarchical regression to test the additive effects of the resident engagement predictor variables including communication, input, involvement in planning, and involvement in implementation on organizational functioning. Less intensive engagement forms such as communicating and soliciting input were the most popular methods, but our final model indicated that the highest functioning organizations reported the most resident involvement in planning and implementing greening. Our results support policies and practices that expand resident involvement in greening. • Few vacant land management organizations involve residents in their greening work. • Higher organizational functioning was associated with more resident involvement. • The most popular resident engagement methods were communicating and obtaining input. • Vacant land management organizations may benefit by involving residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Most of the natural schweinfurthins are potent and selective inhibitors of cell growth as measured by the National Cancer Institute’s 60-cell line screen. Due to the limited supply of these natural products, we have initiated a program aimed at their synthesis. To date, this effort has led to the preparation of three natural schweinfurthins and more than 40 analogues, and assays on these compounds have afforded some understanding of structure–activity relationships in this family. Further development of schweinfurthins as chemotherapeutic agents would benefit from characterization of their mechanism(s) of action. This perspective led to development of a fluorescent schweinfurthin analogue that retains the differential activity of the natural products, and yet has properties that facilitate its visualization within cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]