Asset mapping score analysis: a novel public health research methodology applied to maternal and child health resources in New Orleans.

Background: Asset mapping is a commonly used method in public health to identify and describe the resources within a community. However, there is currently a lack of standardization in the methods used for asset mapping, which can make it difficult for users to apply the method and compare results between different studies. In this article, we present a new approach called Asset Mapping Score Analysis (AMSA), which is a framework for collecting and organizing data on community assets.

Internet-Delivered Sexually Transmitted Infection and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program: A Randomized Trial.

Background: Black older-teenaged women have disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and unintended pregnancy (UTP). Internet-based interventions can be delivered to large groups of people in a relatively inexpensive manner. In this randomized trial, we examine the efficacy of an evidence-based STI/UTP prevention intervention adapted for older teens and for Internet delivery.

The importance of antimicrobial resistance in medical mycology.

Prior to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, antibiotic resistance was listed as the major global health care priority. Some analyses, including the O'Neill report, have predicted that deaths due to drug-resistant bacterial infections may eclipse the total number of cancer deaths by 2050. Although fungal infections remain in the shadow of public awareness, total attributable annual deaths are similar to, or exceeds, global mortalities due to malaria, tuberculosis or HIV.

Diet Quality Is Lower for Those Who Skip Lunch Among a Sample of Predominantly Black Adolescents.

Purpose: To compare the dietary quality among adolescents who skip lunch and those who do not and explore associations between school-level variables, demographic variables and lunch skipping.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Public schools in New Orleans, Louisiana (n = 21).

Patterns and correlates of substance use among young adult African American women.

Patterns and correlates of substance use among urban African American young women (ages 18-19,  = 459) were examined. Four patterns were identified: no/infrequent alcohol and marijuana use (64.9%); recent alcohol only use (18.

The Relationships between Park Quality, Park Usage, and Levels of Physical Activity in Low-Income, African American Neighborhoods.

Parks can be an important, low-cost neighborhood resource to increase physical activity and reduce overweight and obesity. The quality of parks, however, may impact use. This study used observational data to examine the relationships between park quality, park usage and levels of physical activity among users in 31 parks within low-income, African American neighborhoods.

Neurocognitive Development of Motivated Behavior: Dynamic Changes across Childhood and Adolescence.

The ability to anticipate and respond appropriately to the challenges and opportunities present in our environments is critical for adaptive behavior. Recent methodological innovations have led to substantial advances in our understanding of the neurocircuitry supporting such motivated behavior in adulthood. However, the neural circuits and cognitive processes that enable threat- and reward-motivated behavior undergo substantive changes over the course of development, and these changes are less well understood.

Evaluation of Training Program for the Maternal and Child Health Workforce at Tulane University.

Objectives Despite significant investments in Maternal and Child Health (MCH), the United States still lags behind other countries in key MCH indicators. A well-trained workforce is needed to improve MCH. The Division of MCH Workforce Development of HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau provides funding to schools of Public Health to support Centers of Excellence in MCH, which is focused on preparing the next generation of MCH leaders through specialized training and mentorship.

Perceptions of School-Based Kitchen Garden Programs in Low-Income, African American Communities.

While school-based kitchen garden programs are shown to improve fruit and vegetable consumption and knowledge among children, there has been little research on participant perceptions of these programs, specifically among minority populations that are disproportionately affected by and at high risk for overweight and obesity. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of and values associated with participation in school-based kitchen garden programs implemented through Edible Schoolyard New Orleans in low-income, predominantly African American schools in New Orleans, Louisiana. Qualitative data were collected through semistructured focus group discussions with key stakeholder groups at schools offering Edible Schoolyard New Orleans.

Environmental Influences on Maternal and Child Health.

This Special Issue of IJERPH focuses on maternal and child health (MCH), with research that highlights the role of environmental influences on MCH across a range of settings.[..

Measuring Audience Engagement for Public Health Twitter Chats: Insights From #LiveFitNOLA.

Background: Little empirical evidence exists on the effectiveness of using Twitter as a two-way communication tool for public health practice, such as Twitter chats.

Objective: We analyzed whether Twitter chats facilitate engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. We also describe how to measure two-way communications, incoming and outgoing mentions, between users in a protocol using free and publicly available tools (Symplur, OpenRefine, and Gephi).

Lunch Salad Bars in New Orleans' Middle and High Schools: Student Intake of Fruit and Vegetables.

The school lunch salad bar (SB) is a recommended food environmental strategy to increase access to, and consumption of fruit and vegetables (F/V). In a study to examine use of school lunch SBs, middle and high school students provided data via the Automated Self-Administered 24-h dietary recall (24HDR) tool for kids (ASA24-Kids-2012), a web-based data collection platform. Kilocalories were computed, food groups were assigned and F/V sources were obtained.

Personal characteristics, cooking at home and shopping frequency influence consumption.

This study examines how the consumption of fruits and vegetables is affected by home cooking habits and shopping patterns, including distance to patronized stores and frequency of shopping, in two low-income predominantly African American urban neighborhoods in New Orleans, Louisiana. In-person interviews were conducted in 2013 with 901 adult residents who identified themselves as the primary household shopper. Respondents were asked where and how often they shopped and answered a food frequency questionnaire.

Individual- and School-Level Factors Related to School-Based Salad Bar Use Among Children and Adolescents.

Background: Consumption levels of fruits and vegetables (F/V) among children/adolescents are low. Programs like school-based salad bars (SB) provide children/adolescents increased F/V access.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between SB use and individual and school-level factors among elementary and secondary school students in New Orleans public schools.

Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex?

Postnatal brain development is studded with sensitive periods during which experience dependent plasticity is enhanced. This enables rapid learning from environmental inputs and reorganization of cortical circuits that matches behavior with environmental contingencies. Significant headway has been achieved in characterizing and understanding sensitive period biology in primary sensory cortices, but relatively little is known about sensitive period biology in associative neocortex.

Rule learning enhances structural plasticity of long-range axons in frontal cortex.

Rules encompass cue-action-outcome associations used to guide decisions and strategies in a specific context. Subregions of the frontal cortex including the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) are implicated in rule learning, although changes in structural connectivity underlying rule learning are poorly understood. We imaged OFC axonal projections to dmPFC during training in a multiple choice foraging task and used a reinforcement learning model to quantify explore-exploit strategy use and prediction error magnitude.

Long-range orbitofrontal and amygdala axons show divergent patterns of maturation in the frontal cortex across adolescence.

The adolescent transition from juvenile to adult is marked by anatomical and functional remodeling of brain networks. Currently, the cellular and synaptic level changes underlying the adolescent transition are only coarsely understood. Here, we use two-photon imaging to make time-lapse observations of long-range axons that innervate the frontal cortex in the living brain.

Fresh produce consumption and the association between frequency of food shopping, car access, and distance to supermarkets.

Background: Fresh fruit and vegetables are important components of a healthy diet. Distance to a supermarket has been associated with the ability to access fresh produce.

Methods: A randomly sampled telephone survey was conducted with the main shopper for 3000 households in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2011.

A Multifaceted Strategy to Implement Brief Smoking Cessation Counseling During Antenatal Care in Argentina and Uruguay: A Cluster Randomized Trial.

Introduction: Argentina and Uruguay have a high prevalence of smoking during pregnancy. However, and despite national recommendations, pregnant women are not routinely receiving cessation counseling during antenatal care (ANC). We evaluated a multifaceted strategy designed to increase the frequency of pregnant women who received a brief smoking cessation counseling based on the 5As (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange).

Intercultural Competency in Public Health: A Call for Action to Incorporate Training into Public Health Education.

Due to increasing national diversity, programs addressing cultural competence have multiplied in U.S. medical training institutions.

Adolescent Student Use of School-Based Salad Bars.

Background: Childhood obesity continues to be a public health problem in the United States. Increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables (F/V) is one strategy for decreasing high consumption of energy-dense, high-fat foods, thereby improving weight status. Many Orleans Parish public schools were provided with salad bars (SBs) to augment school lunch with increased access to F/V.

Smoking Patterns and Receipt of Cessation Services Among Pregnant Women in Argentina and Uruguay.

Introduction: The 5A's (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange) strategy, a best-practice approach for cessation counseling, has been widely implemented in high-income countries for pregnant women; however, no studies have evaluated implementation in middle-income countries. The study objectives were to assess smoking patterns and receipt of 5A's among pregnant women in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay.

Methods: Data were collected through administered questionnaires to women at delivery hospitalizations during October 2011-May 2012.

Secondhand smoke exposure is associated with increased carotid artery intima-media thickness: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Background: Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure increases cardiovascular disease risk. The objective of this study was to examine the association of SHS exposure in childhood and adulthood with adult arterial thickness.

Methods: The study cohort consisted of 415 nonsmoking adults (301 whites and 114 blacks; ages 26.

Pregnant women's secondhand smoke exposure and receipt of screening and brief advice by prenatal care providers in Argentina and Uruguay.

Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure has negative effects on maternal and infant health. SHS exposure among pregnant women in Argentina and Uruguay has not been previously described, nor has the proportion of those who have received screening and advice to avoid SHS during prenatal care. Women who attended one of 21 clusters of publicly-funded prenatal care clinics were interviewed regarding SHS exposure during pregnancy at their delivery hospitalization during 2011-2012.