bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Federal Funding for Reporting Cases of HIV Infection in the United States, 2006
Authors: Page Matthew J. , Harrison Kathleen McDavid , Wei Xiangming , Hall H. Irene
Published: January 2017

Objective.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides funding for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) surveillance in 65 areas (states, cities, and U.S. dependent areas). We determined the amount of CDC funding per reported case of HIV infection and examined factors associated with differences in funding per reported case across areas.

Methods.

We derived HIV data from the HIV/AIDS Reporting System (HARS) database. Budget numbers were based on award letters to health departments. We performed multivariate linear regression for all areas and for areas of low, moderate, and moderate-to-high morbidity.

Results.

Mean funding per case reported was $1,520, $441, and $411 in areas of low, moderate, and moderate-to-high morbidity, respectively. In low morbidity areas, funding per case decreased as log total cases increased ( p<0.001). For moderate and moderate-to-high morbidity areas, funding per case fell as log total cases increased ( p<0.001), but increased in accordance with an area's population ( p<0.05) and the proportion of that population residing in an urban setting ( p<0.05). The models for low, moderate, and moderate-to-high morbidity predicted funding per case as $1,490, $423, and $390, respectively.

Conclusions.

Economies of scale were evident. The amount of CDC core surveillance funding per case reported was significantly associated with the total number of cases in an area and, depending on morbidity, with total population and percentage of that population residing in an urban setting.
Pertussis in Florida, 2000–2006: Trends in a Historically Low-Incidence State
Authors: Schulte Joann M. , Kay Robyn , Hamilton Janet J. , Mellinger Cathy , Yambor Phyllis , Luce Christie , Ginzl Dawn , Gill Julia , Hopkins Richard S.
Published: January 2017

Objective.

Florida, the fourth most populous state in the nation, has had historically low incidence rates of pertussis, the only vaccine-preventable disease with increasing numbers of reported cases. We compared the epidemiology and incidence rates of pertussis in Florida with other states and the United States.

Methods.

We used Florida and federal surveillance data from 2000 through 2006.

Results.

Reported incidence of pertussis in Florida, numbers of cases, and proportions of adolescents and adults all increased during the seven-year study period. Florida incidence rates increased from 0.44 to 1.28, but the state's incidence was always ranked 45th or lower among the states. Reported pertussis cases and those among adolescents and adults in Florida increased during the study period. Ten counties, containing 60% of Florida's population, reported two-thirds of the state's cases.

Conclusions.

Pertussis reported from Florida mirrored national trends with increasing incidence, numbers of cases, and proportions of adolescent and adult cases. Despite the increases, Florida maintained its historic pattern of pertussis incidence rates that are consistently lower than national figu es. Limited laboratory diagnostics and a focus on the pediatric population likely contributed to the lower rates of pertussis in Florida. More emphasis on surveillance of adolescent and adult cases is needed.
Barriers to Evidence-Based Decision Making in Public Health: A National Survey of Chronic Disease Practitioners
Authors: Jacobs Julie A. , Dodson Elizabeth A. , Baker Elizabeth A. , Deshpande Anjali D. , Brownson Ross C.
Published: January 2017

Objective.

Existing knowledge of evidence-based chronic disease prevention is not systematically disseminated or applied. This study investigated state and territorial chronic disease practitioners' self-reported barriers to evidence-based decision making (EBDM).

Methods.

In a nationwide survey, participants indicated the extent to which they agreed with statements reflecting four personal and five organizational barriers to EBDM. Responses were measured on a Likert scale from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating a larger barrier to EBDM. We analyzed mean levels of barriers and calculated adjusted odds ratios for barriers that were considered modifiable through interventions.

Results.

Overall, survey participants ( n=447) reported higher scores for organizational barriers than for personal barriers. The largest reported barriers to EBDM were lack of incentives/rewards, inadequate funding, a perception of state legislators not supporting evidence-based interventions and policies, and feeling the need to be an expert on many issues. In adjusted models, women were more likely to report a lack of skills in developing evidence-based programs and in communicating with policy makers. Participants with a bachelor's degree as their highest degree were more likely than those with public health master's degrees to report lacking skills in developing evidence-based programs. Men, specialists, and individuals with doctoral degrees were all more likely to feel the need to be an expert on many issues to effectively make evidence-based decisions.

Conclusions.

Approaches must be developed to address organizational barriers to EBDM. Focused skills development is needed to address personal barriers, particularly for chronic disease practitioners without graduate-level training.
“Spanish Flu, or Whatever it Is….”: The Paradox of Public Health in a Time of Crisis
Authors: Rosner David
Published: January 2017

Without the modern tools of surveillance, or the ability to develop a national vaccination campaign, local health departments were often on their own in preparing and combating the spread of the disease during the influenza epidemic of 1918. This article reviews the state of public health before the epidemic, seeking to place the reaction to the disease in the context of the evolution of public health. The epidemic struck at a critical time in the history of the nation and of public health, and we must explore not only the tools and technologies that were available to practitioners at the time, but also the authority provided by local and state public health practitioners to apply these tools. Much of public health was rooted in the experiences and practices developed over the previous century in responding to often dramatic outbreaks of cholera, yellow fever, typhoid, and a host of other infectious diseases.
“Destroyer and Teacher”: Managing the Masses during the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic
Authors: Tomes Nancy
Published: January 2017

The Spanish influenza arrived in the United States at a time when new forms of mass transportation, mass media, mass consumption, and mass warfare had vastly expanded the public places in which communicable diseases could spread. Faced with a deadly “crowd” disease, public health authorities tried to implement social-distancing measures at an unprecedented level of intensity. Recent historical work suggests that the early and sustained imposition of gathering bans, school closures, and other social-distancing measures significantly reduced mortality rates during the 1918–1919 epidemics. This finding makes it all the more important to understand the sources of resistance to such measures, especially since social-distancing measures remain a vital tool in managing the current H1N1 influenza pandemic. To that end, this historical analysis revisits the public health lessons learned during the 1918–1919 pandemic and reflects on their relevance for the present.
“Better off in School”: School Medical Inspection as a Public Health Strategy during the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic in the United States
Authors: Stern Alexandra Minna , Reilly Mary Beth , Cetron Martin S. , Markel Howard
Published: January 2017

During the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic in the United States, most cities responded by implementing community mitigation strategies, such as school closure. However, three cities—New York City, Chicago, and New Haven, Connecticut—diverged from the dominant pattern by keeping their public schools open while the pandemic raged. This article situates the experiences of these three cities in the broader context of the Progressive era, when officials and experts put great faith in expanding public programs in health and education. It adds an important dimension to the historical understanding of the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic and offers lessons for public health practitioners and policymakers today who might face difficult decisions about how to respond to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
“Alert to the Necessities of the Emergency”: U.S. Nursing during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Authors: Keeling Arlene W.
Published: January 2017

In 1918, excellent nursing care was the primary treatment for influenza. The disease was not well understood, and there were no antiviral medications to inhibit its progression or antibiotics to treat the complicating pneumonia that often followed. The social, cultural, and scientific context of the times shaped the profession's response. The Great War created a severe civilian nursing shortage: 9,000 trained white nurses were sent overseas and thousands more were assigned to U.S. military camps. The shortage was intensified because the nursing profession failed to fully utilize African American nurses in the war effort, and refused to use nurses' aides in the European theater. Counterbalancing these problems, excellent nurse leaders, advanced preparations for a domestic emergency, infrastructure provided by the National Organization for Public Health Nurses and the Red Cross Town and Country Nurses, and a nationwide spirit of volunteerism enhanced the profession's ability to respond effectively to the emergency on the home front.
Immigration, Ethnicity, and the Pandemic
Authors: Kraut Alan M.
Published: January 2017

The influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 coincided with a major wave of immigration to the United States. More than 23.5 million newcomers arrived between 1880 and the 1920s, mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Canada, and Mexico. During earlier epidemics, the foreign-born were often stigmatized as disease carriers whose very presence endangered their hosts. Because this influenza struck individuals of all groups and classes throughout the country, no single immigrant group was blamed, although there were many local cases of medicalized prejudice. The foreign-born needed information and assistance in coping with influenza. Among the two largest immigrant groups, Southern Italians and Eastern European Jews, immigrant physicians, community spokes-people, newspapers, and religious and fraternal groups shouldered the burden. They disseminated public health information to their respective communities in culturally sensitive manners and in the languages the newcomers understood, offering crucial services to immigrants and American public health officials.
Summary of CDC Consultation to Address Social Determinants of Health for Prevention of Disparities in HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Tuberculosis
Authors: Sharpe Tanya Telfair , Harrison Kathleen McDavid , Dean Hazel D.
Published: January 2017

In December 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) convened a meeting of national public health partners to identify priorities for addressing social determinants of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and tuberculosis (TB). The consultants were divided into four working groups: (7) public health policy, (2) data systems, (3) agency partnerships and prevention capacity building, and (4) prevention research and evaluation. Groups focused on identifying top priorities; describing activities, methods, and metrics to implement priorities; and identifying partnerships and resources required to implement priorities. The meeting resulted in priorities for public health policy, improving data collection methods, enhancing existing and expanding future partnerships, and improving selection criteria and evaluation of evidence-based interventions. CDC is developing a national communications plan to guide and inspire action for keeping social determinants of HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, STDs, and TB in the forefront of public health activities.
Prisons as Social Determinants of Hepatitis C Virus and Tuberculosis Infections
Authors: Awofeso Niyi
Published: January 2017

Effects of place or neighborhood—locations where individuals reside, shop, recreate, and work—have been widely studied as sources of environmental influences on individual behaviors, exposures, and physiology, as well as reference points for public health interventions. However, despite modern prisons' strong influence on the transmission and clinical outcomes of infectious diseases, custodial authorities and public health officials in many countries have yet to implement credible interventions to minimize the adverse impacts prison settings exert on the epidemiology of communicable diseases—particularly with respect to inmates. Among many vulnerable populations, prisons are evolving as one of the social institutions that determine their health status and health outcomes. This article highlights the effects of prisons in mediating the risk of hepatitis C virus and tuberculosis infections, as well as feasible interventions and policy approaches for limiting the deleterious consequences prisons exert on the transmission and clinical courses of these diseases.
Risk Factors for HIV Disease Progression in a Rural Southwest American Indian Population
Authors: Iralu Jonathan , Duran Bonnie , Pearson Cynthia R. , Jiang Yizhou , Foley Kevin , Harrison Melvin
Published: January 2017

Objectives.

Risk factors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression among American Indians (AIs) have been poorly characterized. We assessed the impact of socioeconomic factors and use of traditional healing on HIV disease progression in a rural AI community.

Methods.

From January 2004 through December 2006, we interviewed 36 HIV-positive AIs regarding their socioeconomic status, incarceration, and use of traditional healing. We also collected chart-abstracted adherence and substance-abuse data. Through bivariate analysis, we compared these factors with the CD4–cell counts and log HIV-1 viral loads (VLs). Using a simple regression model, we assessed interactions between the significant associations and the outcome.

Results.

Participant characteristics included being male (58.3%), being trans-gender (13.9%), having ever been incarcerated (63.9%), having a household income of <$1,000/month (41.7%), being unemployed (61.1%), being diagnosed with alcohol abuse (50.0%), and using traditional medicine (27.8%) in the last 12 months. Higher VLs were associated with recent incarceration ( p<0.05), household income of <$1,000/month ( p<0.05), and provider-assessed alcohol abuse ( p<0.05). We found an interaction between incarceration and alcohol abuse, and alcohol abuse was the factor more strongly associated with higher VLs. A lower CD4 count was associated with recent incarceration ( p<0.05) and use of traditional medicine ( p<0.05).

Conclusions.

Alcohol abuse is an important contributor to HIV disease progression, and participants with lower CD4 counts were more likely to use traditional medicine. HIV care among this rural AI population should focus on addressing alcohol abuse and other socioeconomic risk factors and promote collaboration between Western medical and Navajo traditional practitioners.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases among American Indians in Arizona: An Important Public Health Disparity
Authors: Winscott Michelle , Taylor Melanie , Kenney Kerry
Published: January 2017

Objective.

We conducted an analysis of rates, geographic distribution, and time to treatment of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and early syphilis (ES) among Arizona American Indians (AIs) to address racial disparities affecting this group.

Methods.

We used the Arizona Department of Health Services' sexually transmitted disease (STD) surveillance database to identify STD cases and calculate rates among AIs in Arizona from 2003 to 2007. We mapped AI ES cases reported during that time frame by reported resident ZIP code, calculated days elapsed from specimen collection to initial treatment, and compared rates and time to treatment for AIs with those of non-Hispanic white (NHW) individuals.

Results.

Annual Arizona AI STD rates for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and ES from 2003 to 2007 ranged from 2.7 to 7.8 times those of NHW people. During the same time period, the annual rates for all three STDs among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years were also higher among AIs and ranged from 2.0 to 14.8 times those of NHW individuals. The majority of cases for ES reported ZIP codes located in the northeastern and southern central portions of the state. The median time to treatment in AI populations was significantly longer than in NHW populations for chlamydia and gonorrhea, but not for ES.

Conclusions.

High rates of STDs have been identified among AIs in certain regions of Arizona. Additionally, there are significant delays in treatment for gonorrhea and chlamydia. STD prevention and education programs that prioritize this health disparity and promote expeditious screening, diagnosis, and treatment are needed.
Economically Motivated Relationships and Transactional Sex among Unmarried African American and White Women: Results from a U.S. National Telephone Survey
Authors: Dunkle Kristin L. , Wingood Gina M. , Camp Christina M. , DiClemente Ralph J.
Published: January 2017

Objective.

We explored links among economically motivated relationships, transactional sex, and risk behavior for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among unmarried African American and white women.

Methods.

We drew on data from 1,371 unmarried African American and white women aged 20 to 45 years that we collected via a random-digit-dial telephone survey in the U.S.

Results.

Of all respondents, 33.3% (95% confidence interval 28.8, 38.0) reported staying in a relationship longer than they wanted to because of economic considerations. African American women were more likely than white women to report starting a relationship due to economic considerations (21.6% vs. 10.5%) and having transactional sex with someone who was not a regular partner (13.1% vs. 2.9%). These behaviors were all associated with lack of education, experience of economic hardship, need to care for dependents, and increased levels of HIV/STI risk. All three behaviors were associated with having more sexual partners. Staying in a sexual relationship because of economic considerations was also associated with anal sex, reduced condom use, and concurrent sexual partnerships. Transactional sex with non-regular partners was associated with concurrent sexual partnerships, binge drinking, drug use, perceived concurrency by main partner, and having high-risk sexual partners.

Conclusion.

HIV/STI risk-reduction policies and programs in the U.S. need to explicitly address overall economic disempowerment among women, as well as racial disparities in poverty. These economic disparities likely contribute both to increasing rates of HIV among women in the U.S. and to the extraordinary racial disparities in HIV/STI risk among American women.
Trends in Prostate-Specific Antigen Test Use, 2000–2005
Authors: Ross Louie E. , Taylor Yhenneko J. , Howard Daniel L.
Published: January 2017

Objective.

This study examined prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test use among men and identified sociodemographic and health-related characteristics associated with its use over time.

Methods.

The National Health Interview Survey collected information on PSA test use among 16,058 men ≥40 years of age in 2000 and 2005. We examined two outcomes: (7) having had a recent (within two years) screening PSA test and (2) having had three or more PSA tests in the past five years (to indicate frequent use).

Results.

Marital status, family history of prostate cancer, and having seen a doctor in the past year differed overtime in the unadjusted model. In the adjusted model, recent PSA screening decreased from 2000 to 2005 for single, never-married men, but increased for men with chronic diseases. Frequent PSA test use increased for men with a family history of prostate cancer, men with chronic diseases, and men who had seen a physician in the past year. Significant correlates of higher recent PSA test use included being older, married, and of black race/ethnicity; having higher levels of education and income, health-care coverage, and a usual place of health care; and increased comorbidity.

Conclusion.

Major organizations are not in agreement about the efficacy of prostate cancer screening; however, men ≥40 years of age continue to use the PSA test. Both recent screening and frequent testing showed variability during the study period and may have implications for the ongoing randomized clinical trials that are expected to clarify whether early detection of prostate cancer with PSA testing increases survival.
Enhanced Surveillance of Norovirus Outbreaks of Gastroenteritis in Georgia
Authors: Widdowson Marc-Alain , Bulens Sandra N. , Beard R. Suzanne , Lane Kimberley M. , Monroe Stephen S. , Lance Susan , Bresee Joseph S. , Glass Roger I.
Published: January 2017

Objectives.

The role of noroviruses in both foodborne and person-to-person outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) has been difficult to determine in the U.S. because of lack of routine norovirus testing and of national reporting of person-to-person outbreaks. We conducted a prospective study in one state in which enhanced testing for noroviruses was performed to better understand the relative contribution of all gastroenteric pathogens.

Methods.

During the two-year period, 2000–2001, we took all fecal specimens from AGE outbreaks reported in Georgia that were negative for bacteria and tested these for norovirus.

Results.

We investigated 78 AGE outbreaks, from which suitable fecal samples were collected from 57 of them. Norovirus was identified in 25 (44%) outbreaks, bacteria in 20 (35%) outbreaks, and parasites in one (2%) outbreak. Forty-three (75%) of the outbreaks tested were foodborne, of which 17 (40%) were attributable to norovirus and 18 (42%) were attributable to bacteria. Adjusting for incomplete testing, we estimated that 53% of all AGE outbreaks were attributable to norovirus. A total of 2,674 people were reported ill in the 57 outbreaks, and norovirus infections accounted for 1,735 (65%) of these cases. Norovirus outbreaks tended to be larger than bacterial outbreaks, with a median number of 30 vs. 16 cases per outbreak, respectively ( p=0.057).

Conclusions.

This study provides further evidence that noroviruses are, overall, the most common cause of AGE outbreaks in the U.S. Improved specimen collection, reporting person-to-person outbreaks, and access to molecular assays are needed to further understand the role of these viruses and methods for their prevention.
Teaching Home Environmental Health to Resident Physicians
Authors: Zickafoose Joseph S. , Greenberg Stuart , Dearborn Dorr G.
Published: January 2017

Healthy Homes programs seek to integrate the evaluation and management of a multitude of health and safety risks in households. The education of physicians in the identification, evaluation, and management of these home health and safety issues continues to be deficient. Healthy Homes programs represent a unique opportunity to educate physicians in the home environment and stimulate ongoing, specific patient-physician discussions and more general learning about home environmental health. The Case Healthy Homes and Patients Program addresses these deficiencies in physician training while providing direct services to high-risk households. Pediatric and family practice resident physicians participate in healthy home inspections and interventions for their primary care patients and follow up on identified risks during health maintenance and acute illness visits.
Making Child Care Centers SAFER: A Non-Regulatory Approach to Improving Child Care Center Siting
Authors: Somers Tarah S. , Harvey Margaret L. , Rusnak Sharee Major
Published: January 2017

Licensed child care centers are generally considered to be safe because they are required to meet state licensing regulations. As part of their licensing requirements, many states inspect child care centers and include an assessment of the health and safety of the facility to look for hazardous conditions or practices that may harm children. However, most states do not require an environmental assessment of the child care center building or land to prevent a center from being placed on, next to, or inside contaminated buildings. Having worked on several sites where child care centers were affected by environmental contaminants, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) endeavor to raise awareness of this issue. One of ATSDR's partner states, Connecticut, took a proactive, non-regulatory approach to the issue with the development its Child Day Care Screening Assessment for Environmental Risk Program.
Promoting Active Transportation as a Partnership between Urban Planning and Public Health: The Columbus Healthy Places Program
Authors: Green Christine Godward , Klein Elizabeth G.
Published: January 2017

Active transportation has been considered as one method to address the American obesity epidemic. To address obesity prevention through builtenvironment change, the local public health department in Columbus, Ohio, established the Columbus Healthy Places (CHP) program to formally promote active transportation in numerous aspects of community design for the city.

In this article, we present a case study of the CHP program and discuss the review of city development rezoning applications as a successful strategy to link public health to urban planning. Prior to the CHP review, 7% of development applications in Columbus included active transportation components; in 2009, 64% of development applications adopted active transportation components specifically recommended by the CHP review. Active transportation recommendations generally included adding bike racks, widening or adding sidewalks, and providing sidewalk connectivity. Recommendations and lessons learned from CHP are provided.
Animal Sentinels for Environmental and Public Health
Authors: Reif John S.
Published: January 2017

Studies of the effects of environmental exposures on domestic and wild animals can corroborate or inform epidemiologic studies in humans. Animals may be sensitive indicators of environmental hazards and provide an early warning system for public health intervention, as exemplified by the iconic canary in the coal mine. This article illustrates the application of animal sentinel research to elucidate the effects of exposure to traditional and emerging contaminants on human health. Focusing on environmental issues at the forefront of current public health research, the article describes exposures to community air pollution, environmental tobacco smoke, and pesticides and associations with cancer, reproductive outcomes, and infectious diseases. Finally, it covers the role of marine mammals in monitoring the health of the oceans and humans.
From Newborn Screening to Population Health Research: Implementation of the Michigan BioTrust for Health
Authors: Langbo Carrie , Bach Janice , Kleyn Mary , Downes Frances Pouch
Published: January 2017

In June 2009, the Michigan Department of Community Health launched the Michigan BioTrust for Health to improve preservation and utility of residual dried blood spots from newborn screening (NBS) for biomedical research while maintaining public support and integrity of NBS. In this article, we chronicle implementation of the BioTrust and document its impact on NBS. Overall, the percentage of new parents who consent to possible future research use of their children's dried blood spots through the BioTrust has remained consistent with previous public opinion surveys. No significant increase in refusal of NBS has been observed despite increased publicity. There was, however, a slight increase in requests to destroy samples following completion of NBS, indicating readily accessible opt-out information. Given adequate training and cooperation of birthing hospital staff, as well as outreach education for parents and health-care providers, we conclude it is possible to implement a biobanking initiative without adversely impacting NBS.
Serotype 10A in Case Patients with Invasive Pneumococcal Disease: A Pilot Study of PCR-Based Serotyping in New Jersey
Authors: Pitts Samantha I. , Apostolou Andria , DasGupta Sarmila , Delgado Nelson , Kirn Thomas J. , Montana Barbara , Tan Christina , McHugh Lisa A.
Published: January 2017

In 2008, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) identified a 21.1% increase in reported invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). In 2009, NJDOH piloted nucleic acid-based serotyping to characterize serotypes causing IPD. From April through September, NJDOH received specimens from 149 of 302 (49%) case patients meeting our case definition. An uncommon serotype, 10A, accounted for 25.2% of IPD overall and was identified in 12 counties, but it was associated with one county (rate ratio = 5.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1, 11.8). NJDOH subsequently conducted a case-control study to assess the presentation of and clinical risk factors for 10A IPD. Case patients with 10A IPD were more likely to have had immunosuppression, asthma, and multiple chronic medical conditions than control subjects had (odds ratio [OR] = 2.6, 95% CI 1.1, 6.3; OR=4.7, 95% CI 1.7, 13.2; and OR=2.3, 95% CI 1.0, 5.2, respectively). State-based pneumococcal serotype testing identified an uncommon serotype in New Jersey. Continued pneumococcal serotype surveillance might help the NJDOH identify and respond to future serotype-specific increases.
Screening and Monitoring in Men Prescribed Testosterone Therapy in the U.S., 2001–2010
Authors: Baillargeon Jacques , Urban Randall J. , Kuo Yong-Fang , Holmes Holly M. , Raji Mukaila A. , Morgentaler Abraham , Howrey Bret T. , Lin Yu-Li , Ottenbacher Kenneth J.
Published: January 2017

Objectives.

The Endocrine Society recommends testosterone therapy only in men with low serum testosterone levels, consistent symptoms of hypogonadism, and no signs of prostate cancer. We assessed screening and monitoring patterns in men receiving testosterone therapy in the U.S.

Methods.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 61,474 men aged ⩾40 years, and with data available in one of the nation's largest commercial insurance databases, who received at least one prescription for testosterone therapy from 2001 to 2010.

Results.

In the 12 months before initiating treatment, 73.4% of male testosterone users received a serum testosterone test and 60.7% received a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. Among men who were tested, 19.5% did not meet Endocrine Society guidelines for low testosterone. In the 12 months after initiating treatment, 52.4% received a serum testosterone test and 43.3% received a PSA test. Multivariable analyses showed that those seen by either an endocrinologist or urologist were more likely to receive appropriate tests.

Conclusions.

A substantial number of men prescribed testosterone therapy did not receive testosterone or PSA testing before or after initiating treatment. In addition, almost one out of five treated men had baseline serum testosterone values above the threshold defined as normal by the Endocrine Society. Men treated by endocrinologists and urologists were more likely to have been treated according to guideline recommendations than men treated by other specialties, including primary care.
Parenting agendas: An empirical study of intensive mothering and infant cognitive development
Authors: Budds Kirsty , Hogg Margaret K , Banister Emma N , Dixon Mandy
Published: January 2017

Intensive parenting debates reflect the critical importance of a child’s early years, and parents’ roles in determining later developmental outcomes. Mothers are usually assigned primary responsibility for facilitating their infants’ cognitive development through adequate and appropriate sensory stimulation. Drawing on Foucault’s technologies of the self, this article explores how new mothers shape their mothering practices in order to provide appropriately stimulating interactions. Using findings from 64 interviews (31 women were interviewed twice, 2 women were interviewed only once) three main positions are identified of how mothers function in relation to their infants’ development: mother as committed facilitator, creative provider and careful/caring monitor. The study considers the perceived normative nature of these positions and the impact they can have on middle-class women’s subjectivities as new mothers. This analysis of parental agendas and infant cognitive development suggests that a continued focus on the mother’s role within early infant development reflects and upholds ideologies of child-centred, intensive mothering, which risks precluding ‘alternative’ maternal subjectivities and promotes conservative feminine identities.
Forms of knowledge and the love of necessity in Bourdieu’s clinical sociology
Authors: Mead Geoffrey
Published: January 2017

The potential for sociological knowledge to assist in counteracting deleterious social forces remains a live problem. The present article approaches this from the perspective of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, and offers an explication of what can be called Bourdieu’s ‘clinical sociology’. This approach presents specifically personal modes of ‘counteracting’ those social forces that entrench themselves in the body. The article begins by examining the central position, within Bourdieu’s philosophical anthropology, of knowing the world as the primordial mode of engaging with it. The clinical task begins with people coming, reflexively, to know what they know. Once they appropriate this knowledge, it becomes possible either to labor on overcoming this knowledge, by a form of bodily re-learning, or to relent to the necessity of a world that they lucidly know extends beyond their capacity to amend.
Paris, Wall Street: Reflections on the political crowd and labelling World Historical Events
Authors: Rojek Chris
Published: January 2017

This article examines the political crowd as a World Historical Event (WHE). Historians define the latter as an episode, incident or emergency that transforms the course of history. The article analyses Hayden White’s discussion of the WHE and the grounds he submits for separating it from pseudo-events: namely, the identification of collective trauma and the attribution of the episode as the fulfilment or ‘filling out’ of an historical sequence. The article offers a preliminary taxonomy and concentrates on the non-violent political crowd protest. It examines Occupy (2011) as a World Historical Event. It draws comparisons between Occupy, the Paris Commune (1871) and the May Spring in Paris (1968). The aim is to set the evidence for Occupy as a World Historical Event against claims made on its behalf by the media of the day and leading political and social commentators, notably David Harvey, Todd Gitlin, Cornell West and Noam Chomsky. The concept of ‘Event inflation’ is introduced and the claim that World Historical Events can only be determined by retrospective (historical) wisdom is advanced.
‘We can’t live without beliefs’: Self and society in therapeutic engagements
Authors: Salmenniemi Suvi
Published: January 2017

Therapeutic technologies of happiness, emotional wellbeing and self-improvement are a highly influential cultural phenomenon and a rapidly growing business worldwide; yet little is known of the motivations for engaging with these technologies. This article addresses this gap by investigating how therapeutic engagements are experienced and what participants hope to gain from them. Therapeutic technologies are conceived as psychologically informed regimes of knowledge and practice which aim to transform one’s relationship to oneself and shape the ways in which one makes sense of and acts upon oneself and the social world. Drawing on a set of interviews with consumers of therapeutic technologies in Russia, the article identifies three key motivations for engaging with such technologies: searching for new blueprints for ethical work on the self after a profound transformation of the ideological field; coming to terms with new mechanisms of inequality, particularly in the field of labour; and mobilizing therapeutic technologies as a response to inadequacies in the field of health. By unpacking these motivations and subjective experiences of therapeutic engagements, the article seeks to shed light on the growing popularity of therapeutic technologies under contemporary capitalism.
The material politics of stereotyping white trash: flexible class-making
Authors: Kolehmainen Marjo
Published: January 2017

This article provides a detailed analysis of novel forms of class-making in Finland, with special emphasis on emerging threads on ‘white trash’ in a popular discussion forum. The article is based on an empirical study, the data for which were gathered by making online observations and extracting discussion threads on white trash. There is no consensus in the data on the meaning of the term white trash. While the stereotypes concerning the alleged group of white trash have been linked with tastelessness, poverty or immorality in studies conducted in other countries, popularity and ordinariness are also associated with it, as are expensive and exclusive consumer choices. On the one hand, the term is used to reproduce class stigma, illustrating how class is made through racialisation. On the other, the phrase is used in new and flexible ways. However, the debate greatly focuses on taste and thus grounds itself in struggles over classification in consumer culture, which may further privilege middle-class definitions of class. The article concludes that the examination of taste offers a novel route for the study of privilege, as an investment in keeping one’s tastes unreadable to others may be an asset in the struggle over classifications.
A New Approach to the Objective Evaluation of Fabric Handle from Mechanical Properties
Authors: Pan N. , Yen K. C. , Zhao S. J. , Yang S. R.
Published: January 2017

Fabric handle evaluation can be reduced to a typical clustering problem, and fuzzy cluster analysis is applied to a practical example in this paper. For comparison, the same example is also tackled using hierarchical cluster methods of multivariate analysis. Both kinds of results have been found to be consistent. To determine the optimum group number g of clustering, Marriot's g2 | W| criterion is suggested and the result is demonstrated as satisfactory; consequently it will be possible to use discriminant analysis to evaluate fabric handle.
New Technique to Produce a Cotton/Polyester Blend Yarn with Improved Strength
Authors: Sawhney A. P. S. , Ruppenicker G. F. , Kimmel L. B. , Salaun H. L. , Robert K. Q.
Published: January 2017

This paper describes a newly developed, relatively simple but effective technique of producing a novel pseudo-composite cotton-rich staple blend yarn with improved tensile properties. The spacing between cotton and polyester rovings drafted simultaneously on a ring-spinning frame affects yarn structure, resulting in significantly stronger yarns than those produced by drafting the same two rovings together. The new composite or combination yarns may be useful in developing relatively stronger cotton-rich materials suitable for a variety of finishes and end uses.
The unmet need for contraception among adolescents in Bangladesh: Implications for Family Planning programmes
Authors: Siddiqua Yasmin , Kabir M.
Published: January 2017

Data from the 1999-2000 Bangladesh Demographic & Health Survey show that of the married female adolescents exposed to the risk of pregnancy and not using any family planning method, more than one-fourth had an unmet need for contraception. The demand for contraception at a young age, if catered to, can not only significantly reduce fertility and diminish the reproductive health burdens of mothers over their life span, it can also contribute to child health. Husband's approval, and desire for a large family were among the factors found to impede contraceptive use. Appropriate IEC strategies are needed to promote the value of the small family and dispel the religious misinterpretation of birth control, so as to enhance the adolescent's negotiating strength for asserting her reproductive rights. There is a need also to take cognisance of the considerable demand for spacing, which is believed to be neglected by the family planning programme. Another salient issue is that of the limited mobility of women outside the home which, in a traditional country like Bangladesh, makes it difficult for them to get planning information on their own initiative. Hence the need for a policy reorientation in favour of home-based services
Children toiling at a tender age : Determinants and consequences
Authors: Sekar Helen R. , Khurana Manju
Published: January 2017

Child labourers are denied their rights to education, an adequate standard of living, and opportunities for developing their personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities. They are deprived of leisure and play, of survival and development, and do not have protection from abuse and neglect. Children are future assets of any society, and their arrested growth affects the country as a whole, in the long run. Societies with large number of working children will be producing more and more illiterate citizens, who are devoid of the skills needed for development.
Dairy cooperative societies-Perceptions of milk producer members
Authors: Chaudhary H. , Panwar J.S.
Published: January 2017

Data collected from milk producing members of 20 dairy cooperative societies in eastern Rajasthan reveal various bottlenecks in the functioning of these societies. Timings of supply of milk by the producers mainly affected women cooperative members, who ranked this as their main infrastructural concern; it meant they had to get up early in the morning on cold winter days to milk cows. The male members interviewed cited irregular and inadequate supply of cattle feed, non-availabiiity of emergency veterinary services, and infrequent visits of veterinary staff-tasks for which males took responsibility-as the prime infrastructural problems. Delay in payments and irregular bonus disbursement were the economic constraints ranked high by both male and female members, as was the poor conception rate in buffalo, which was cited as the top ranking technical constraint by both male and female respondents. On socio-psychological constraints, the prominent issues were perceived to be infrequent meetings of the society, and the perception that the cooperative was meant for influential people. Manipulation of testing of the fat content of milk and malpractices from the society to the chilling centre were the top ranking marketing constraints as encountered by male and female milk producer members.
Measuring women's empowerment : Indicators and measurement techniques
Authors: Biswas Tapash Kumar , Kabir M.
Published: January 2017

A set of indicators of women's empowerment and a composite index for measuring it is developed. Material, from journals, books and reports, were reviewed and eleven indicators of women's empowerment in the Bangladesh setting identified : mobility, decision making power, autonomy, ownership of household assets, freedom from domination, awareness, participation in public protests and political campaigns, contribution to family income, reproductive rights, exposure to information, and participation in development programmes. Under each of these indicators, a number of subindicators was considered. Composite empowerment indices were then developed to measure the overall level of empowerment of women in the context of Bangladesh. The uniqueness of this empowerment index is that it considers a wide range of empowerment indicators with appropriate weights. Composite empowerment indices have also been developed for different categories of indicators.
Class, neoliberal global capital, education and resistance
Authors: Hill Dave
Published: January 2017

The paper bases itself in the tradition of transformative activism stressing the need to develop a just society. Outlining the contemporary context of neoliberal capitalism it seeks to understand the educational developments in the larger context of the labour-capital conflict with certain specific examples from Britain. It highlights the obscene and widening economic, social and educational inequalities both within states and globally; the detheorisation of education and the regulating of critical thought and activists through the ideological and repressive state apparatuses; and the limitation and regulation of democracy and democratic accountability at national and local educational levels. The author argues that there are possibilities of bringing about change in the education system and this can be undertaken by the critical educators and intellectuals. Education being a product of social relations and an instrument of reproduction therefore becomes an important site of struggle and change. As the conclusion Dave Hill outlines the ‘arenas’ located at diverse sites where the struggle to bring about change can be undertaken such as through a broader movement for economic and social justice, local action outside the classroom and within the education and media apparatuses.
Marketing education: Where are we heading?
Authors: Shrivastava Manish Kumar , Chowdhary Chandan
Published: January 2017

The following paper outlines some of the crucial aspects of education as well as changes in the institutional environment that are shaping with the rise of global capitalism. It is argued that the main purpose of education is to democratise the minds of students and help them become responsible and sensitive social beings. But the dominant market paradigm has subverted and co-opted education for its own benefits. The paper situates the education market in the political economy of capitalism and it is argued that the intensification of capitalism inevitably leads to such situations where education and consequently humanity becomes a commodity-a distinct and alienated form of capital. In the end the wider implications of such commodification for the democratic values and the future of the society are discussed.
Whither Medical Marijuana?
Authors: Grinspoon Lester
Published: January 2017

Given the very limited toxicity of cannabis and its increasingly acknowledged therapeutic value, it will undoubtedly find increasing application as a medicine in the coming years. But there is uncertainty about the forms in which it will be made available. Governments are unlikely to approve it because of concern about its use for nonmedical purposes and the difficulties of distributing as a medicine a substance that is already easily available. An alternative is the development of commercial cannabis pharmaceuticals that can be regulated and controlled, but pharmaceutical firms will be reluctant to invest the necessary money if they believe they cannot compete successfully with marijuana. Although some of these products may have advantages over whole smoked or ingested marijuana, most will not, and they will all be quite expensive. Ultimately, we can anticipate two medical distribution networks: a legal one for cannabinoid pharmaceuticals and an illegal one for street or homegrown marijuana.