Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Photovoice as a Participatory Evaluation Tool in Kaiser Permanente’s Community Health Initiative

Photovoice is a community-based participatory research method that provides participants who traditionally have little voice in community policy decisions, with training in photography, ethics, critical dialogue, photo captioning, and policy advocacy. Photovoice has been used primarily as a needs assessment and advocacy tool and only rarely as a pre-/postintervention evaluation method. This article describes the use of Photovoice as a participatory evaluation method in the Community Health Initiative, a 6-year, multisite community-based obesity prevention initiative, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente. Fifty community participants (including six youth) from six Community Health Initiative communities used photos and captions to identify, from their perspective, the most significant accomplishments from the initiative at both baseline and follow-up. Accomplishments identified included increased access to fresh/healthy food in local neighborhoods; policy changes supporting a “healthy eating, active living” community; increased access to physical activity; changes to the built environment creating increased neighborhood walkability/safety; and leadership development.
Intelligent Highway Traffic Surveillance With Self-Diagnosis Abilities

In this paper, we propose a self-diagnosing intelligent highway surveillance system and design effective solutions for both daytime and nighttime traffic surveillance. For daytime surveillance, vehicles are detected via background modeling. For nighttime videos, headlights of vehicles need to be located and paired for vehicle detection. An algorithm based on likelihood computation is developed to pair the headlights of vehicles at night. Moreover, to balance between the robustness and abundance of acquired information, the proposed system adapts different strategies under different traffic conditions. Performing tracking would be preferred when traffic is smooth. However, under congestion conditions, it is better to obtain traffic parameters by estimation. We utilize a time-varying adaptive system state transition matrix in Kalman filter for better prediction in a traffic surveillance scene when performing tracking. We also propose a mechanism for estimating the traffic flow parameter via regression analysis. The experimental results have shown that the self-diagnosis ability and the modules designed for the system make the proposed system robust and reliable.
An Application of a Diabetes Knowledge Scale for Low-Literate Hispanic/Latinos

Purpose. The threefold purpose of this study is to assess diabetes knowledge among Hispanic/Latinos attending a culturally sensitive, empowerment-based, diabetes self-management education program; second, to examine the utility of the Spoken Knowledge in Low Literacy in Diabetes (SKILLD) scale as an assessment tool for this population; and third, to assess the relationship between hemoglobin A1C and knowledge improvement in the intervention group. Method. A prospective, quasi-experimental, repeated-measure design tested pre- and post-A1C and diabetes knowledge using the SKILLD scale. The sample consisted of 71 in the intervention group and 64 controls. Results. Most participants were female, marginally acculturated, and, on average, 60 years of age. Both groups were similar in baseline diabetes knowledge score (median 6 out of 10), and higher literacy was significantly related to increased baseline knowledge. The intervention group significantly improved at follow-up compared with the controls: Participants in the intervention with low baseline knowledge scores had a mean follow-up score of 5.6; those with a high baseline score had a mean score of 7.6. The intervention cohort scored significantly better in knowing why to see an eye doctor, what are normal fasting blood glucose and A1C, and understanding long-term diabetes complications. Increased knowledge of a normal fasting blood glucose level had a significant effect on follow-up A1C in the intervention group. Conclusion. The intervention favorably affects diabetes knowledge, and the SKILLD scale has utility with low-literate Hispanic/Latinos. The significant impact on A1C by diabetes knowledge gain shows that the empowerment-based diabetes self-management education was successful for this ethnic population.
Comparison of an Intensive Pharmacist-Managed Telephone Clinic With Standard of Care for Tobacco Cessation in a Veteran Population

Purpose. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Pharmacist-Managed Telephone Tobacco Cessation Clinic (PMTTCC) compared to the standard of care (SOC) at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. Method. A retrospective cohort study was performed investigating the proportion of veterans who quit smoking at 6 months while enrolled in the PMTTCC. Chart review was performed using the Veterans Affairs Computerized Patient Record System. The PMTTCC group included patients who had received medication and counseling from the tobacco cessation pharmacists. The cohort was compared to a matched SOC group who did not receive counseling, only tobacco cessation medication therapy through a primary care provider. The primary outcome for this study was patient-reported tobacco cessation at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were abstinence at 1 and 3 months. Results. A total of 1,006 patients were included in the analysis, 503 patients from the PMTTCC and 503 patients from SOC. The overall study population was 54 years old on average, 92.5% male, 70.0% Caucasian, 45.5% with history of psychiatric conditions, and had an average smoking history of 33-pack years. Patients in the PMTTCC group had statistically significant improvements in abstinence at 6 months versus the SOC group (81/503, 16.1% vs. 48/503, 9.5%; p < .0001). Quitters were older on average versus non-quitters (56.03 vs. 53.65 years; p = .01). Conclusion. Patients enrolled in the PMTTCC had improved tobacco abstinence rates at 6 months compared to SOC. Although the study was not designed to test for causality, the results lend support for using intensive tobacco cessation management in veteran population.
Thrombocytopenia in HIV‐infected and uninfected hemophiliacs

To determine the incidence and prognostic significance of thrombocytopenia among hemophiliacs, we analyzed clinical and hematologic data from the Multicenter Hemophilia Cohort study. Nineteen percent of HIV‐infected subjects had thrombocytopenia (platelet count of <100,000/mm3) noted at least once, compared to 3% of HIV‐uninfected subjects. For HIV‐infected subjects, the prevalence of thrombocytopenia rose in the first 5 years after seroconversion and was twice as common in subjects age >35 years compared to younger subjects. The risk increased after an AIDS‐defining illness, particularly among older subjects, nearly one‐half of whom had thrombocytopenia within 1 year after AIDS. When adjusted for age and CD4‐positive lymphocyte counts, thrombocytopenia was associated with an increased risk of death [relative risk (RR) 1.7, 95%Cl = 1.2–2.3] but with little change in the risk of progression to AIDS (RR = 1.2, 95%Cl = 0.8–1.7). Treatment with zidovudine was associated with a decreased risk of thrombocytopenia (RR = 0.5, 95%Cl = 0.3–0.7). Although 59 HIV‐infected subjects died of hemorrhage, only 11 (19%) of the 59 had a reported platelet count of <50,000/mm3, and only 2 (3%) of the deaths were temporally associated with thrombocytopenia. Thus, the risk of death was increased for thrombocytopenia HIV‐infected hemophiliacs but this was not explained by an increased risk of developing AIDS and was rarely associated with death from bleeding. Am. J. Hematol. 54:296–300, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Single Dose of a DNA Vaccine Encoding Apa Coencapsulated with 6,6′-Trehalose Dimycolate in Microspheres Confers Long-Term Protection against Tuberculosis in Mycobacterium bovis BCG-Primed Mice

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium bovis BCG prime DNA (Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes)-booster vaccinations have been shown to induce greater protection against tuberculosis (TB) than BCG alone. This heterologous prime-boost strategy is perhaps the most realistic vaccination for the future of TB infection control, especially in countries where TB is endemic. Moreover, a prime-boost regimen using biodegradable microspheres seems to be a promising immunization to stimulate a long-lasting immune response. The alanine proline antigen (Apa) is a highly immunogenic glycoprotein secreted by M. tuberculosis. This study investigated the immune protection of Apa DNA vaccine against intratracheal M. tuberculosis challenge in mice on the basis of a heterologous prime-boost regimen. BALB/c mice were subcutaneously primed with BCG and intramuscularly boosted with a single dose of plasmid carrying apa and 6,6′-trehalose dimycolate (TDM) adjuvant, coencapsulated in microspheres (BCG-APA), and were evaluated 30 and 70 days after challenge. This prime-boost strategy (BCG-APA) resulted in a significant reduction in the bacterial load in the lungs, thus leading to better preservation of the lung parenchyma, 70 days postinfection compared to BCG vaccinated mice. The profound effect of this heterologous prime-boost regimen in the experimental model supports its development as a feasible strategy for prevention of TB.
The importance of Health Research in Horizon 2020: Diabetes as a model of a chronic disease and the need for sustainable funding

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases and is estimated to affect more than 32 million European Union (EU) citizens, which is nearly 10% of the total EU population. An additional 32 million EU citizens are not yet diagnosed or have pre-diabetes, and rates of diabetes are expected to further rise as the population ages. Annual costs of diabetes in 2010 were approximately €300 billion, and the European Parliament now considers diabetes an epidemic. Horizon 2020, the upcoming European Commission Research Framework Programme, will dictate how much funding is available for scientific research in Europe. EURADIA, the Alliance for European Diabetes Research, is working to ensure that Horizon 2020 will allocate sufficient funding to health research in light of the increasing economic consequences of chronic diseases such as diabetes.
Nonlinear approximation with redundant dictionaries

In this paper we study nonlinear approximation and data representation with redundant function dictionaries. In particular, approximation with redundant wavelet bi-frame systems is studied in detail. Several results for orthonormal wavelets are generalized to the redundant case. In general, for a wavelet bi-frame system the approximation properties are limited by the number of vanishing moments of the system. In some cases this can be overcome by oversampling, but at a price of replacing the canonical expansion by another linear expansion. Moreover, for special non-oversampled wavelet bi-frames we can obtain good approximation properties not restricted by the number of vanishing moments, but again without using the canonical expansion.
Latino Sexual and Gender Identity Minorities Promoting Sexual Health Within Their Social Networks

The HOLA intervention was a lay health advisor intervention designed to reduce the disproportionate HIV burden borne by Latino sexual and gender identity minorities (gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, and transgender persons) living in the United States. Process evaluation data were collected for over a year of intervention implementation from 11 trained Latino male and transgender lay health advisors (Navegantes) to document the activities each Navegante conducted to promote condom use and HIV testing among his or her eight social network members enrolled in the study. Over 13 months, the Navegantes reported conducting 1,820 activities. The most common activity was condom distribution. Navegantes had extensive reach beyond their enrolled social network members, and they engaged in health promotion activities beyond social network members enrolled in the study. There were significant differences between the types of activities conducted by Navegantes depending on who was present. Results suggest that lay health advisor interventions reach large number of at-risk community members and may benefit populations disproportionately affected by HIV.
Influence of the Tissue Microenvironment on Toll-Like Receptor Expression by CD11c+ Antigen-Presenting Cells Isolated from Mucosal Tissues

ABSTRACT It is recognized that functional activities of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in mucosal tissue sites differ from those of systemic APCs; however, it is unknown whether there are further differences between APC populations residing in different mucosal sites. In this study, we directly compared murine CD11c+ APCs isolated from colon, lung, and spleen and found that APCs isolated from these tissues differ considerably in Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression and responses to in vitro TLR ligand stimulation. We also provide evidence that tissue microenvironments dictate distinct patterns of TLR expression by CD11c+ APCs in different mucosal tissues. Moreover, CD11c+ cells isolated from different tissues have varied capacities to induce the development of T helper 1 (Th1), Th2, or regulatory CD4+ T cells. Thus, unique tissue microenvironments have a significant influence on determining TLR expression by CD11c+ cells that migrate to and reside in each mucosal tissue and are likely to modulate their functional activities.
Participation in Health Education, Health Promotion, and Health Research by African Americans: Effects of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

Abstract This study investigates the effect of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (TSE) on participation in health promotion activities and research studies by African Americans. Random-digit dialing was used to interview 421 adults with telephones living in households in Jefferson County, Alabama in the summer of 1994. Respondents were asked if they had ever heard of the TSE and, if yes, because they knew about the experiment, were they less interested in participating in health promotion or research activities. The primary results were that African Americans, in general, reported less interest in participating in health promotion and research because of their knowledge of the TSE. African American males in particular reported a high degree of resistance because of knowledge of the TSE. These results may have implications for practitioners and researchers recruiting African American subjects for research studies and participation in health promotion and health education programs. It may be necessary to dis.
Current Progress in Developing Subunit Vaccines against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli-Associated Diarrhea

ABSTRACT Diarrhea continues to be a leading cause of death in children <5 years of age, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is the most common bacterial cause of children's diarrhea. Currently, there are no available vaccines against ETEC-associated diarrhea. Whole-cell vaccine candidates have been under development but require further improvements because they provide inadequate protection and produce unwanted adverse effects. Meanwhile, a newer approach using polypeptide or subunit vaccine candidates focusing on ETEC colonization factor antigens (CFAs) and enterotoxins, the major virulence determinants of ETEC diarrhea, shows substantial promise. A conservative CFA/I adhesin tip antigen and a CFA MEFA (multiepitope fusion antigen) were shown to induce cross-reactive antiadhesin antibodies that protected against adherence by multiple important CFAs. Genetic fusion of toxoids derived from ETEC heat-labile toxin (LT) and heat-stable toxin (STa) induced antibodies neutralizing both enterotoxins. Moreover, CFA-toxoid MEFA polypeptides, generated by fusing CFA MEFA to an STa-LT toxoid fusion, induced antiadhesin antibodies that broadly inhibited adherence of the seven most important ETEC CFAs associated with about 80% of the diarrhea cases caused by ETEC strains with known CFAs. This same antigen preparation also induced antitoxin antibodies that neutralized both toxins that are associated with all cases of ETEC diarrhea. Results from these studies suggest that polypeptide or subunit vaccines have the potential to effectively protect against ETEC diarrhea. In addition, novel adhesins and mucin proteases have been investigated as potential alternatives or, more likely, additional antigens for ETEC subunit vaccine development.
Providers’ Views on a Community-Wide Patient Navigation Program

The DuPage Patient Navigation Collaborative (DPNC) adapted and scaled the Patient Navigation Research Program’s intervention model to navigate uninsured suburban DuPage County women with an abnormal breast or cervical cancer screening result. Recent findings reveal the effectiveness of the DPNC in addressing patient risk factors for delayed follow-up, but gaps remain as patient measures may not adequately capture navigator impact. Using semistructured interviews with 19 DPNC providers (representing the county health department, clinics, advocacy organizations, and academic partners), this study explores the critical roles of the DPNC in strengthening community partnerships and enhancing clinical services. Findings from these provider interviews revealed that a wide range of resources existed within DuPage but were often underused. Providers indicated that the DPNC was instrumental in fostering community partnerships and that navigators enhanced the referral processes, communications, and service delivery among clinical teams. Providers also recommended expanding navigation to mental health, women’s health, and for a variety of chronic conditions. Considering that many in the United States have recently gained access to the health care system, clinical teams might benefit by incorporating navigators who serve a dual working purpose embedded in the community and clinics to enhance the service delivery for vulnerable populations.
Promoting Health Through Policy and Systems Change: Public Health Students and Mentors on the Value of Policy Advocacy Experience in Academic Internships

Emerging professionals and new Certified Health Education Specialists often lack academic training in and actual experience in National Commission for Health Education Credentialing Area of Responsibility VII: Communicate, Promote, and Advocate for Health, Health Education/Promotion, and the Profession. For undergraduate and graduate students who have an opportunity to complete an internship or practicum experience, gaining experience in Competencies 7.2: Engage in advocacy for health and health education/promotion and 7.3: Influence policy and/or systems change to promote health and health education can have a profound impact on their career development and their ability to advocate for policies that promote health and health equity. Compelling evidence suggests that interventions that address social determinants of health such as poverty and education and those that change the context through improved policy or healthier environments have the greatest impact on public health, making it vital for emerging public health professionals to gain experience in policy advocacy and systems change. In this commentary, students and faculty from two large universities in the U.S.–Mexico border region reflect on the value of policy advocacy in academic internship/fieldwork experiences. Based on their experiences, they highly recommend that students seek out internship opportunities where they can participate in policy advocacy, and they encourage university faculty and practicum preceptors to provide more opportunities for policy advocacy in both classroom and fieldwork settings.
Universal switching portfolios under transaction costs

In this paper, we consider online (sequential) portfolio selection in a competitive algorithm framework under transaction costs. We construct a sequential algorithm for portfolio selection that asymptotically achieves the wealth of the best piecewise constant rebalanced portfolio tuned to the underlying individual sequence of price relative vectors where we pay a fixed percent commission for each transaction. Without knowledge of the investment duration, the algorithm can perform as well as the best investment algorithm that can choose both the partitioning of the sequence of the price relative vectors as well as the best constant rebalanced portfolio within each segment based on knowledge of the sequence of price relative vectors in advance. We use a transition diagram similar to that in [1] to compete with an exponential number of switching investment strategies, using only linear complexity in the data length for combination.
An Unlicensed Taxi Identification Model Based on Big Data Analysis

Social networks and mobile networks are exposing human beings to a big data era. With the support of big data analytics, conventional intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are gradually changing into data-driven ITS (D2 ITS). Along with traffic growth, D2ITS need to solve more real-life problems, including the issue of unlicensed taxis and their identification, which potentially disrupts the taxi business sector and endangers society safety. As a remedy to this issue, a smart model is proposed in this paper to identify unlicensed taxis. The proposed model consists of two submodel components, namely, candidate selection model and candidate refined model. The former is used to screen out a coarse-grained suspected unlicensed taxi candidate list. The list is taken as an input for the candidate refined model, which is based on machine learning to get a fine-grained list of suspected unlicensed taxis. The proposed model is evaluated using real-life data, and the obtained results are encouraging, demonstrating its efficiency and accuracy in identifying unlicensed taxis, helping governments to better regulate the traffic operation and reduce associated costs.
New and Investigational Antimicrobials for the Treatment of Severe Skin Infections

With increasing antibiotic resistance reported worldwide, there is a great interest in the development of new an- tibacterial agents for the treatment of severe skin and skin structure infections (SSSIs). SSSIs mainly involve Gram- positive pathogens. Although many of older antibiotics remain effective, new drug development remains crucial owing to the increase in drug resistance among the major Gram-positive pathogens. Since 1999 new antibacterial agents have en- tered the market or are being evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of SSSIs. These agents have novel mechanism of action and sufficient improvements in potency to overcome resistance. Linezolid, quinupristin-dalfopristin, daptomycin and tigecycline have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of SSSIs. Other antimicrobials (dalbavancin, ori- tavancin, telavancin) are currently in clinical development for this indication. This review focuses on the chemistry, mi- crobiology, pharmacology, clinical efficacy and safety of several novel antibacterial agents for the treatment of SSSIs.
Qualitative Focus Groups: Perceived Influences on Decision Making About Diet and Physical Activity Among Hispanic/Latino Participants

Disparities in minority health are strongly associated with reduced access to culturally familiar food and physical activity opportunities. This qualitative study explores a Midwest, urban Hispanic/Latino community, the members’ experiences with their multidimensional environment and its influence on their nutrition and physical activity choices. Using the principles of community-based participatory research in collaboration with a trusted, local Hispanic/Latino community agency, we conducted five bilingual focus groups with a total of 46 self-selected participants (44 women and 2 men). We find that one’s perception of the environmental factors of access, convenience, affordability, and safety influence food and physical activity decision making. Findings can be used to inform interventions to enhance culturally appropriate outreach, increase food equity, and decrease health disparities.