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S.A. Pergam, C.W. Forsberg, M.J. Boeckh, C. Maynard, A.P. Limaye, A. Wald, N.L. Smith, B.A. Young. Herpes zoster incidence in a multicenter cohort of solid organ transplant recipients. Transpl Infect Dis 2011: 15-23. All rights reserved Immunosuppressed patients are at increased risk for herpes zoster (HZ), but incidence in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients has varied in multiple studies. To assess incidence of HZ, we examined patients who underwent SOT and received follow-up care within the large multicenter US Department of Veteran's Affairs healthcare system. Incident cases of HZ were determined using ICD-9 coding from administrative databases. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, adjusted for a priori risk factors, was used to assess demographic factors associated with development of HZ. Among the 1077 eligible SOT recipients, the cohort-specific incidence rate of HZ was 22.2 per 1000 patient-years (95% confidence interval [CI], 18.1-27.4). African Americans (37.6 per 1000 [95% CI, 25.0-56.6]) and heart transplants recipients (40.0 per 1000 [95% CI, 23.2-68.9]) had the highest incidence of HZ. Patients transplanted between 2005 and 2007 had the lowest incidence (15.3 per 1000 [95% CI, 8.2-28.3]). In a multivariable model, African Americans (hazard ratio [HR] 1.88; 95% CI: 1.12, 3.17) and older transplant recipients (HR 1.13; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.27 [per 5-year increment]) had increased relative hazards of HZ. These data demonstrate that HZ is a common infectious complication following SOT. Future studies focused on HZ prevention are needed in this high-risk population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Prostate cancer remains the most frequent cause of cancer morbidity, the second most frequent cause of cancer mortality in men in the developed world and is an exemplar of a heterogeneous disease. Stemness phenotypes and lineage plasticity have been highlighted as key drivers of heterogeneity observed both across patients and within the same patient. However, markers that indicate the presence or absence of these events remain to be identified. Next-generation sequencing has proven to be a beneficial approach to distinguish predictive and prognostic biomarkers in various diseases, including prostate cancer. This review explores measurable metrics that can reliably reflect lineage plasticity at the genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic levels, as well as bioinformatic tools that can be used to identify measures of lineage-plasticity in prostate cancer, in order to inform preclinical and clinical research. Prostate cancer (PCa), the most frequent and second most lethal cancer type in men in developed countries, is a highly heterogeneous disease. PCa heterogeneity, therapy resistance, stemness, and lethal progression have been attributed to lineage plasticity, which refers to the ability of neoplastic cells to undergo phenotypic changes under microenvironmental pressures by switching between developmental cell states. What remains to be elucidated is how to identify measurements of lineage plasticity, how to implement them to inform preclinical and clinical research, and, further, how to classify patients and inform therapeutic strategies in the clinic. Recent research has highlighted the crucial role of next-generation sequencing technologies in identifying potential biomarkers associated with lineage plasticity. Here, we review the genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic events that have been described in PCa and highlight those with significance for lineage plasticity. We further focus on their relevance in PCa research and their benefits in PCa patient classification. Finally, we explore ways in which bioinformatic analyses can be used to determine lineage plasticity based on large omics analyses and algorithms that can shed light on upstream and downstream events. Most importantly, an integrated multiomics approach may soon allow for the identification of a lineage plasticity signature, which would revolutionize the molecular classification of PCa patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related mortality and morbidity in the United States and worldwide. The advent of Immunotherapy has significantly improved lung cancer prognosis. However, there is a huge unmet need for novel agents, as a significant number of patients do not have durable responses to immunotherapy. This review article highlights two such novel techniques—Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy. Both these techniques utilize a patient's own immune cells to fight against tumors. While CAR T-cell therapy requires genetic modification of a patient's T cells to express receptors that can recognize and attack tumor cells rapidly, TILs involves extraction of immune cells from tumors and their proliferation in a laboratory before being infused back to the patient. Both these techniques are currently used in a clinical trial setting only. In this review, we discuss the limitations and future directions and potential for both these treatment strategies. Lung cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and worldwide. The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors has led to a marked improvement in the outcomes of lung cancer patients. Despite these advances, there is a huge unmet need for therapeutic options in patients who are not candidates for targeted or immunotherapy or those who progress after first-line treatment. With its high mutational burden, lung cancer appears to be an attractive target for novel personalized treatment approaches. In this review, we provide an overview of two adoptive cell therapy approaches–chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) T-cell therapy and Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in lung cancer with an emphasis on current challenges and future perspectives. While both these therapies are still in the early phases of development in lung cancer and need more refinement, they harbor the potential to be effective treatment options for this group of patients with otherwise poor prognoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The standard of care therapy for early prostate cancer (PCa) includes external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), brachytherapy, radical prostatectomy, active surveillance, or a combination approach. For advanced disease, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and other neoadjuvant therapies are considered. Nevertheless, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) develops in many patients. This instigated the development of novel therapeutic approaches using targeted therapies, including prostate cancer stem cell (PCSC)-targeted therapies. Here, we summarize the mechanisms of action of PCSC-targeted therapies and discuss avenues of future development. Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second-most commonly diagnosed cancer in men around the world. It is treated using a risk stratification approach in accordance with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) in the United States. The main treatment options for early PCa include external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), brachytherapy, radical prostatectomy, active surveillance, or a combination approach. In those with advanced disease, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is considered as a first-line therapy. However, the majority of cases eventually progress while receiving ADT, leading to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The near inevitable progression to CRPC has spurred the recent development of many novel medical treatments using targeted therapies. In this review, we outline the current landscape of stem-cell-targeted therapies for PCa, summarize their mechanisms of action, and discuss avenues of future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the inter-relationships among stream water quality indicators, hydroclimatic variables (e.g., precipitation, river discharge), and land characteristics (e.g., soil type, land use), which is crucial to developing effective methods for water quality protection. The potential of using statistical tools, such as Principal Component (PC) and Granger causality analyses, for this purpose is assessed across 10 watersheds in the Eastern United States. The PC analysis shows consistency across the ten locations, with most of the variation explained by the first two PCs, except for the least developed watershed that presents three PCs. Results show that stronger Granger causality relationships and correlation coefficients are identified when considering a lag of one day, compared to longer lags. This is mainly due to the watersheds' limited size and, thus, their fast hydrological response. The strongest Granger causalities are observed when water temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration are considered as the effect of the other variables, which corroborates the importance of these two water properties. This work also demonstrates how watershed size and land use can impact causalities between hydrometeorological variables and water quality, thus, highlighting how complex these relationships are even in a region characterized by overall similar climatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this exploratory paper, we investigate whether there are links between institutional context and the development of markets in home equity conversion that are based on financial instruments facilitating mortgage equity withdrawal (MEW). Using secondary data and literature sources from six countries (Australia, UK, USA, Netherlands, Finland and Germany), the paper addresses two research questions. First, to what extent are there differences in the range and use of MEW financial instruments across these six countries? Second, how might the institutional context governing a nation's housing and capital markets support or hinder MEW in these countries? The paper concludes by drawing some implications for debates sparked by housing's changing welfare role as a means of smoothing consumption over the life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent financial crisis, with its origins in the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage boom and house price bubble in the USA, is a shown to have been a striking example of ‘glocalisation’, with distinctly locally varying origins and global consequences and feedbacks. The shift from a ‘locally originate and locally-hold’ model of mortgage provision to a securitised ‘locally originate and globally distribute’ model meant that when local subprime mortgage markets collapsed in the USA, the repercussions were felt globally. At the same time, the global credit crunch and the deep recession the global financial crisis precipitated have had locally varying impacts and consequences. Not only does a geographical perspective throw important light on the nature and dynamics of the recent financial meltdown, the latter in turn should give impetus for a more general research effort into the economic geography of bubbles and crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , supporters of campaign finance reform argued that American politics would soon be awash in corporate cash and that public policy outcomes would reflect the desires of big business. Using event study methodology to isolate the effect of Citizens United on firms’ stock prices, this article finds that the financial markets did not share this view. Rather, key events in the case did not significantly affect the share prices of those large firms heavily engaged in and sensitive to politics, suggesting that investors expected the decision to have no effect on political and policy outcomes of concern to corporate America. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Depression among minority older adults is a prevalent underrecognized medical illness. Changes in cultural norms and social conditions because of immigration have a significant influence on mental health. The purpose of this study was to assess the interrelationships between acculturation, geographical location, gender, and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling elderly Korean immigrants and elderly Koreans. In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 88 elderly Korean immigrants and 295 elderly Koreans was recruited separately from senior centers and senior apartments. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Korean Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form and acculturation with years of living in the United States. Acculturation had no significant relationship with depressive symptoms (r = 0.01, p = 0.94). Depressive symptoms were highly present in both elderly Korean immigrants and elderly Koreans. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher in women. This study provides baseline data for development of culturally specific, community-based intervention programs for better management of mental health of elderly Korean immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To characterize the activities of projects funded in Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)'s patient safety portfolio and assess their aggregate potential to contribute to knowledge development. Data Sources. Information abstracted from proposals for projects funded in AHRQ's patient safety portfolio, information on safety practices from the AHRQ Evidence Report on Patient Safety Practices, and products produced by the projects. Study Design. This represented one part of the process evaluation conducted as part of a longitudinal evaluation based on the Context–Input–Process–Product model. Principal Findings. The 234 projects funded through AHRQ's patient safety portfolio examined a wide variety of patient safety issues and extended their work beyond the hospital setting to less studied parts of the health care system. Many of the projects implemented and tested practices for which the patient safety evidence report identified a need for additional evidence. The funded projects also generated a substantial body of new patient safety knowledge through a growing number of journal articles and other products. Conclusions. The projects funded in AHRQ's patient safety portfolio have the potential to make substantial contributions to the knowledge base on patient safety. The full value of this new knowledge remains to be confirmed through the synthesis of results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on home value diminution attributable to environmental degradation and its possible reversal typically ignores indirect effects upon neighborhood characteristics that can exacerbate the overall change in property values, resulting in underestimates of diminution and overestimates of recovery. Furthermore, to the extent that direct price effects and neighborhood transition effects respond differently to remediation efforts, the relatively new postremediation literature misses an important part of the recovery process. This study examines both direct and indirect effects and finds in the case of Houston Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites that, while the direct value impacts of proximity to toxic waste sites was significantly reduced after remediation, the indirect effects associated with induced demographic changes were much slower to reverse, producing a housing market inertia that stifled full home value recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on several papers which are to be presented in scheduled sessions from 6:30pm to 8:00pm on March 22, 2007 in the U.S. including one which presents a twin study on the patterns of cognitive deficits in older adult long-term cancer survivors, one which examines the sedentary behavior clusters in adolescents in a 24-month period, and one which investigates the social disparities and cancer-related stress.

Examines how Sunday newspapers interpret how religion is actually lived in nineteenth century in the U.S. Tensions in the published debate about secular newspapers on Sundays; Sunday laws and social behavior; Perils of the Sunday press.

The rise of eugenic restrictions in early twentieth century America reshaped the relationship between intellectual disability, citizenship, and the exercise of rights. To explain the rise of rights restrictions, scholarship has largely turned to the medicalisation of 'feeblemindedness', while overlooking mainstream concepts within citizenship studies. By drawing upon an institutional and relational approach to citizenship, I argue that factors including the dominant legal narratives and infrastructure, as well as the broader relational context can be used to enhance our understanding of the development of eugenic restrictions. More broadly, an institutional and relational approach to citizenship can provide a theoretical framework by which to meaningfully include people with intellectual disabilities within citizenship studies, while recognising their unique historical experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines several cases that arose in West Virginia Jehovah's Witnesses which expanded legal protection for religious liberty in a different area of law. Discussion on Jehovah's Witnesses' style of evangelism in communities across the United States; Function of State Constitution to safeguard religious practice; Expansion of religious liberty protection using the bill of rights.

The United States has dominated the global commercial class aircraft industry for decades. The sector has been considered strategic because of its contribution to both the economic base and the military needs of a country. Government intervention has been a hallmark of the industry almost since its inception. Changes in industry dynamics triggered, in part, by foreign and domestic public policies-both directly and indirectly aimed at this sector-have lead to the proliferation of internationalized production structures, replacing the traditional domestic structures of the past. Global outsourcing, transnational joint ventures, and foreign investment have contributed to the globalization of the industry, while blurring the boundaries of "who is us" (Reich, 1990). This article examines the constant and very visible hand of the US government in helping to create a competitive domestic commercial class aircraft industry. In so doing, it notes the limitations as well as the opportunities for public policy to influence the shape of the market. The analysis reveals the reciprocity between "states and markets" (Strange, 1988) by observing corporate adjustments to government intervention tactics and strategies intended to induce changes in the market. It concludes with a discussion of lessons learned about what government policies can and cannot do to effect modifications in the private sector and offers some policy recommendations for the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a review of literature concerning the orientation and mobility services to visually impaired children. Need for services; Mobility devices; Levels of orientation and mobility training; Suggested directions for future research.

Recent educational policy reports in the U.S. have called for significant changes in teachers' work to increase their effectiveness. The paper examines the relationship between the restructuring strategies in two comprehensive high schools and teachers' engagement, which is defined as a multi-dimensional construct. In one school, the restructuring strategies focused on creating a supportive climate for students, and in empowering students and teachers; in the other, emphasis was on developing professional skills of the faculty and strengthening group cohesiveness. The implications of the strategies for teacher engagement are illustrated with case study data. The discussion points to several conclusions: (1) the effects of restructuring are more bounded than is often assumed; (2) a quality of work life framework drawn from the social scientific literatures is useful for analyzing the effects of reform policies on teachers' work; (3) teachers make trade-offs between different types of engagement in order to increase their work satisfaction; and (4) restructuring has potential for increasing teachers' engagement in schools with mixed socio-economic and racial populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A list of doctoral dissertations in political economy either in progress or completed and accepted by various universities in the U.S. as of September 1937. Students with a period of non-residence exceeding three years are omitted from the list. The first list of this kind was dated January 1, 1904 and subsequent lists have appeared in various publications. This list specifies doctoral dissertations accepted by universities. Titles not marked completed are assumed to be still in progress. Some thesis titles in the field of sociology are omitted and are published in the periodical "American Journal of Sociology."

The article presents the 60th list of doctoral dissertations in political economy in universities and colleges in the U.S. The list specifies doctoral degrees conferred during the academic year terminating June 1963, and theses undertaken in the same period. Thesis in preparation related to general economics are The Economics of Privilege by Robert E. Cole. Pragmatic Philosophy and the Value Problem in Economics James F. Hofheinz. Degrees have been conferred on theses related to research on price and allocation theory and income and employment theory. The Pigou Effect and Consumption: A Statistical Inquiry by John J. Arena. Stimulating Investment, Technological Change and Growth by Eitan Berglas. The Wage-Price-Productivity Nexus. The Wage-Price-Productivity Nexus Ronald G. Bodkin. Individual Choice Under Uncertainty -- An Experimental Study by Frank T. Dolbear. Stock-Flow Analysis Applied to Consumer Behavior by Josef Hadar. The Demand for Physical Capital: Application of a Wealth Model by Frederick S. Hammer. The Development of the Subjective Theory of Value Through the Eighteenth Century with Special Emphasis Upon Condillac by Andrew Jackson.

Poultry is one of the largest sources of animal-based protein in the United States. Poultry processing has grown from a small local network of plants to nearly 500 plants nationwide. Two of the most persistent bacteria in poultry processing are Salmonella and Campylobacter. It was not until the introduction of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point systems in 1996 that major efforts to reduce bacterial contamination were developed. Traditionally, chlorine has been the industry standard for decontaminating chicken meat. However, antimicrobials such as peracetic acid, cetylpyridinium chloride, and acidified sodium chlorite have replaced chlorine as primary antimicrobials. Despite current interventions, the emergence of stress-tolerant and biofilm-forming Salmonella and Campylobacter is of primary concern. In an effort to offset growing tolerance from microbes, novel techniques such as cold plasma treatment, electrostatic spraying, and bacteriophage-based applications have been investigated as alternatives to conventional treatments, while new chemical antimicrobials such as Amplon and sodium ferrate are investigated as well. This review provides an overview of poultry processing in the United States, major microbes in poultry processing, current interventions, emerging issues, and emerging technologies in antimicrobial treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Final Program, Thirty-Sixth Annual Meeting International Neuropsychological Society, February 6-9, 2008, Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]