Resetting the Course for Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) During COVID-19.

Context: Underfunding of the governmental public health system in the United States has been a problem for many years, and the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the significant gaps in public health infrastructure that have resulted from this inadequate funding.

Program: The states of Ohio, Oregon, and Washington received funding in 2016 to define, measure, and advocate for the foundational public health services (FPHS) delivered by the governmental public health system. They have taken unique but related approaches to strengthening work in the areas of categorical public health programs and the underlying infrastructure and capabilities that support the programmatic work.

State-level immigration and immigrant-focused policies as drivers of Latino health disparities in the United States.

There has been a great deal of state-level legislative activity focused on immigration and immigrants over the past decade in the United States. Some policies aim to improve access to education, transportation, benefits, and additional services while others constrain such access. From a social determinants of health perspective, social and economic policies are intrinsically health policies, but research on the relationship between state-level immigration-related policies and Latino health remains scarce.

Immigration policies and mental health morbidity among Latinos: A state-level analysis.

Rationale: Despite abundant state-level policy activity in the U.S. related to immigration, no research has examined the mental health impact of the overall policy climate for Latinos, taking into account both inclusionary and exclusionary legislation.

Exposure of the lysine in the gamma chain dodecapeptide of human fibrinogen is not enhanced by adsorption to poly(ethylene terephthalate) as measured by biotinylation and mass spectrometry.

Conformational changes in adsorbed fibrinogen may enhance the exposure of platelet adhesive sites that are inaccessible in solution. To test this hypothesis, mass spectrometric methods were developed to quantify chemical modification of lysine residues following adsorption of fibrinogen to biomaterials. The quantitative method used an internal standard consisting of isotope-labeled fibrinogen secreted by human HepG2 cells in culture.

Poly(ethylene glycol) microparticles produced by precipitation polymerization in aqueous solution.

Methods were developed to perform precipitation photopolymerization of PEG-diacrylate. Previously, comonomers have been added to PEG when precipitation polymerization was desired. In the present method, the LCST of the PEG itself was lowered by the addition of the kosmotropic salt sodium sulfate to an aqueous solution.

Neutron detection via bubble chambers.

Research investigating the application of pressure-cycled bubble chambers to fast neutron detection is described. Experiments with a Halon-filled chamber showed clear sensitivity to an AmBe neutron source and insensitivity to a (137)Cs gamma source. Bubble formation was documented using high-speed photography, and a ceramic piezo-electric transducer element registered the acoustic signature of bubble formation.

Emergency nurses' utilization of ultrasound guidance for placement of peripheral intravenous lines in difficult-access patients.

Objectives: Emergency nurses (ENs) typically place peripheral intravenous (IV) lines, but if repeated attempts fail, emergency physicians have to obtain peripheral or central access. The authors describe the patient population for which ultrasound (US)-guided peripheral IVs are used and evaluate the success rates for such lines by ENs.

Methods: This was a prospective observational study of ENs in a Level I trauma center with a census of 75,000, performing US-guided IV line placement on difficult-to-stick patients (repeated blind IV placement failure or established history).

Guidelines for the practice of public health.

Guidelines based on the best science and expert opinion, widely disseminated to our state and local public health departments, private health care providers, and policy makers, will enhance our public health efforts. Communities will finally have information to guide them in developing population-based programs that have proven to be effective, both from the standpoints of health status and cost. The effort described in this article is to test the feasibility of public health practice guidelines.