SNOMED CT Concept Hierarchies for Sharing Definitions of Clinical Conditions Using Electronic Health Record Data.

Background: Defining clinical conditions from electronic health record (EHR) data underpins population health activities, clinical decision support, and analytics. In an EHR, defining a condition commonly employs a diagnosis value set or "grouper." For constructing value sets, Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) offers high clinical fidelity, a hierarchical ontology, and wide implementation in EHRs as the standard interoperability vocabulary for problems.

Rapid Development of Specialty Population Registries and Quality Measures from Electronic Health Record Data*. An Agile Framework.

Background: Creation of a new electronic health record (EHR)-based registry often can be a "one-off" complex endeavor: first developing new EHR data collection and clinical decision support tools, followed by developing registry-specific data extractions from the EHR for analysis. Each development phase typically has its own long development and testing time, leading to a prolonged overall cycle time for delivering one functioning registry with companion reporting into production. The next registry request then starts from scratch.

Possible influence of layer deformation and chiral segregation on dielectric modes in the dark conglomerate liquid crystal.

Dielectric spectroscopy is used to investigate the structure, molecular dynamics, and relaxation phenomena in electric-field-induced switchable dark conglomerate (DC) phases in a bent-core liquid crystal. The DC phases are obtained by applying a high-frequency ac electric field in the B1rev phase or by cooling under a dc or an ac field from the isotropic phase. Although the DC phases exhibit good electro-optic switching properties, the dielectric parameters are different from those observed in typical lamellar SmCP phases and similar to those obtained in a non-switchable DC phase.

Effectiveness of a barber-based intervention for improving hypertension control in black men: the BARBER-1 study: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: Barbershop-based hypertension (HTN) outreach programs for black men are becoming increasingly common, but whether they are an effective approach for improving HTN control remains uncertain.

Methods: To evaluate whether a continuous high blood pressure (BP) monitoring and referral program conducted by barbers motivates male patrons with elevated BP to pursue physician follow-up, leading to improved HTN control, a cluster randomized trial (BARBER-1) of HTN control was conducted among black male patrons of 17 black-owned barbershops in Dallas County, Texas (March 2006-December 2008). Participants underwent 10-week baseline BP screening, and then study sites were randomized to a comparison group that received standard BP pamphlets (8 shops, 77 hypertensive patrons per shop) or an intervention group in which barbers continually offered BP checks with haircuts and promoted physician follow-up with sex-specific peer-based health messaging (9 shops, 75 hypertensive patrons per shop).

A barber-based intervention for hypertension in African American men: design of a group randomized trial.

Background: Barbershops constitute potential sites for community health promotion programs targeting hypertension (HTN) in African American men but such programs previously have not been formally evaluated.

Methods: A randomized trial (ClinicalTrials.gov no.

Factors associated with hypertension awareness, treatment, and control in Dallas County, Texas.

Background: Hypertension (HTN) control rates in the United States remain lower in black than white persons, particularly before 65 years of age. Potential sociocultural factors have not been sufficiently addressed.

Methods: We analyzed data from structured interviews and blood pressure measurements in a population-based sample of 1514 hypertensive (1194 non-Hispanic black and 320 non-Hispanic white) subjects aged 18 to 64 years in Dallas County, Texas, from 2000 to 2002 to identify sociocultural factors associated with low rates of HTN control.