A Comparison of Strategies to Increase Household Survey Response Rates in a Predominantly Indigenous Community Population.

The present study describes 4 strategies for increasing response rates to a community-based survey on youth violence in an ethnically diverse population in Hawai'i. A total of 350 households were mailed a Safe Community Survey using 4 different randomly assigned incentive strategies. The strategies varied by length of survey and timing of incentive for completion (given before completion, after completion, or both).

Physical activity modulates mononuclear phagocytes in mammary tissue and inhibits tumor growth in mice.

The risk for breast cancer is significantly reduced in persons who engage in greater amounts of physical activity, and greater physical activity before or after diagnosis associates with reduced disease-specific mortality. Previous mechanistic studies indicate that components of innate immunity can mediate an inhibitory effect of physical activity on several types of tumor. However, in breast cancer specifically, the myeloid compartment of innate immunity is thought to exhibit high propensity for an immunosuppressive role that obstructs anti-tumor immunity.

Do demographic disparities exist in the diagnosis and surgical management of otitis media?

Objective: Determine if demographic disparities exist between the diagnosis of otitis media (OM) and the provision of myringotomy and tubes in children.

Study Design: Cross-sectional analysis of a national database.

Methods: The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey 2010 and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey-Ambulatory Surgery 2010 were abstracted for cases with a diagnosis of OM and myringotomy and tube (MT) procedures in children, respectively.

Electro-tactile stimulation (ETS) enhances cochlear-implant Mandarin tone recognition.

Objective: Electro-acoustic stimulation (EAS) is an effective method to enhance cochlear-implant performance in individuals who have residual low-frequency acoustic hearing. To help the majority of cochlear implant users who do not have any functional residual acoustic hearing, electro-tactile stimulation (ETS) may be used because tactile sensation has a frequency range and perceptual capabilities similar to that produced by acoustic stimulation in the EAS users.

Methods: Following up the first ETS study showing enhanced English sentence recognition in noise, the present study evaluated the effect of ETS on Mandarin tone recognition in noise in two groups of adult Mandarin-speaking individuals.

Interpersonal youth violence perpetration and victimization in a diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander adolescent sample.

This study was the first to examine ethnic, sex, and ethnicity-by-sex differences for under-researched, Asian American and Pacific Islander, adolescent groups on youth violence outcomes other than cyberbullying. This effort included the less researched, emotional violence, and included socioeconomic status (SES) measures as covariates. The sample size from 2 high schools in spring 2007 was 881, using an epidemiologic survey design.

Developing a comprehensive school connectedness scale for program evaluation.

Background: Evidence show that school connectedness is important to youth wellness. However, considerable inconsistency in the concepts and measures of school connectedness exists across studies. In addition, many measures do not capture the multifaceted dimensions of the school connectedness construct.

Systematic assessment of noise amplitude generated by toys intended for young children.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the noise generated by toys targeted for children and to compare the results over the course of 4 consecutive holiday shopping seasons.

Study Design: Experimental study.

Setting: Academic medical center.

Prevalence of youth violence in the U.S., 1999-2009: ethnic comparisons and disaggregating Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

This study examined ethnic and gender differences in youth violence in the U.S. across time, especially when disaggregating Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and examining adolescents with mixed ancestry.

Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve.

Electric stimulation of the auditory nerve via a cochlear implant (CI) has been observed to suppress tinnitus, but parameters of an effective electric stimulus remain unexplored. Here we used CI research processors to systematically vary pulse rate, electrode place, and current amplitude of electric stimuli, and measure their effects on tinnitus loudness and stimulus loudness as a function of stimulus duration. Thirteen tinnitus subjects who used CIs were tested, with nine (70%) being "Responders" who achieved greater than 30% tinnitus loudness reduction in response to at least one stimulation condition and the remaining four (30%) being "Non-Responders" who had less than 30% tinnitus loudness reduction in response to any stimulus condition tested.

Epidemiology of mixed martial arts and youth violence in an ethnically diverse sample.

Mixed martial arts' (MMAs) growing international popularity has rekindled the discussion on the advantages (e.g., exercise) and disadvantages (e.

Perception of Mandarin Chinese with cochlear implants using enhanced temporal pitch cues.

A cochlear implant (CI) signal processing strategy named F0 modulation (F0mod) was compared with the advanced combination encoder (ACE) strategy in a group of four post-lingually deafened Mandarin Chinese speaking CI listeners. F0 provides an enhanced temporal pitch cue by amplitude modulating the multichannel electrical stimulation pattern at the fundamental frequency (F0) of the incoming speech signal. Word and sentence recognition tests were carried out in quiet and in noise.

Potential causal relationship between depressive symptoms and academic achievement in the Hawaiian high schools health survey using contemporary longitudinal latent variable change models.

There is a relatively consistent negative relationship between adolescent depressive symptoms and educational achievement (e.g., grade point average [GPA]).

Monitoring the multi-faceted problem of youth violence: the Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center's surveillance system.

Youth violence (YV) is a complex public health issue that spans geographic, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines. The Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center conducts qualitative and quantitative research on YV in Hawai'i. A critical element in YV prevention involves measuring YV and its risk-protective factors to determine the scope of the problem and to monitor changes across time.

Community perceptions of safety in relation to perceived youth violence-delinquency in a primarily native Hawaiian and Asian American community in Hawai'i.

Perception of safety is an important component to the well-being of community members in their own neighborhood. The present study was the first of its kind to model community perception of safety utilizing a primarily Native Hawaiian and Asian American community sample (N = 101) and with perceived youth violence and delinquency as prominent potential influences. The study found that the majority of participants felt that several types of youth violence and delinquency were problems in the community.

The impact of cyberbullying on substance use and mental health in a multiethnic sample.

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between cyberbullying and mental health problems among a multiethnic sample of high school students in Hawai'i. A University-Community partnership was established to direct the research. Using a mixed-methods approach, we explored violence among Asian and Pacific Islander youth.

Low cultural identification, low parental involvement and adverse peer influences as risk factors for delinquent behaviour among Filipino youth in Hawai'i.

Background: Among Filipino youth in Hawai'i, low Filipino cultural identification and low family support may be important risk factors for delinquency.

Aims: To examine, in a sample of Filipino youth in Hawai'i, correlations between delinquent behaviour and the aforementioned - as well as other, potentially mediating - variables.

Methods: A youth risk survey and Filipino Culture Scale were administered to Filipino students (N = 150) in Hawai'i.

The relationship among exposure to stressful life events, drug use, and violence perpetration in a sample of native Hawaiian, Samoan, and Filipino adolescents.

This study examined the relationship between stressful life events, drug use, and self-reported violence perpetration among 293 Native Hawaiian, Samoan, and Filipino adolescents. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with students in three high schools in Hawai'i. Stressful life events were delineated into three categories: transitions, discrete events, and victimization.

Optical coherence tomography of the cochlea in the porcine model.

Objectives/hypothesis: To demonstrate the feasibility of optical coherence tomography in microstructural imaging of the porcine cochlea.

Study Design: Ex vivo, porcine model.

Methods: Optical coherence tomographic images of the porcine cochlea were obtained by thinning the bone from the basal turn of the cochlea leaving the endosteum intact.

Factors Influencing Condom Use among Sexually Transmitted Infection Clinic Patients in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The use of condoms can reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We conducted this study to determine factors that impact condom use among patients attending an STI clinic in Montego Bay, Jamaica. A questionnaire containing sections on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of STIs and HIV, preventive measures for STI/HIV transmission and sexual practices including condom use was administered to 212 participants.

Effects of cochlear implant processing and fundamental frequency on the intelligibility of competing sentences.

Speech perception in the presence of another competing voice is one of the most challenging tasks for cochlear implant users. Several studies have shown that (1) the fundamental frequency (F0) is a useful cue for segregating competing speech sounds and (2) the F0 is better represented by the temporal fine structure than by the temporal envelope. However, current cochlear implant speech processing algorithms emphasize temporal envelope information and discard the temporal fine structure.

Unintelligible low-frequency sound enhances simulated cochlear-implant speech recognition in noise.

Speech can be recognized by multiple acoustic cues in both frequency and time domains. These acoustic cues are often thought to be redundant. One example is the low-frequency sound component below 300 Hz, which is not even transmitted by the majority of communication devices including telephones.