Characterizing Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) Compliance in New Jersey: 2008-2017.

Context: The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) became a law in 1986, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) was mandated to promulgate rules to regulate the inspection, management, and abatement of asbestos-containing building materials (ACBM) in schools. This study describes 10 years (2008-2017) of AHERA compliance site inspection data conducted by the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH).

Objectives: To establish the level to which inspected NJ schools comply with AHERA regulations, to characterize compliance deficiencies including those that may lead to increased asbestos exposure risk to students and school employees, and to determine whether age, type, and geographic location of school impacted the likelihood of noncompliance.

Emergency department security programs, community crime, and employee assaults.

Background: Violence against health care workers is a serious occupational health hazard, especially for emergency department (ED) employees. A significant degree of variability in security programs among hospital EDs is present in part due to the absence of federal legislation requiring baseline security features. Nationally, only voluntary guidelines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for the protection of health care workers exist.

Using median regression to obtain adjusted estimates of central tendency for skewed laboratory and epidemiologic data.

Background: Laboratory studies often involve analyses of highly skewed data for which means are not an adequate measure of central tendency because they are sensitive to outliers. Attempts to transform skewed data to symmetry are not always successful, and medians are better measures of central tendency for such skewed distributions. When medians are compared across groups, confounding can be an issue, so there is a need for adjusted medians.

Work-related asthma in the educational services industry: California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey, 1993-2000.

Objectives: To characterize work-related asthma (WRA) cases working in the educational services industry identified by state-based occupational disease surveillance systems.

Methods: We examined 2,995 WRA cases reported from 1993 to 2000 to four states: California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey.

Results: A total of 265 (9%) WRA cases were employed in the educational services industry; 69% of cases were classified as new-onset asthma and 31% as work-aggravated asthma.

Impact of nutrients on insulin-like growth factor-I, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 and their ratio in African American and white males.

Objective: Higher levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and lower levels of IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) have been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Nutrition is known to partially regulate IGF levels and it is possible that nutritional factors mediate the impact of IGF levels on prostate cancer risk.

Design: A cross-sectional analysis of the impact of nutritional factors measured by a dietary questionnaire on plasma levels of IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and their molar ratio.

Impact of race and baseline PSA on longitudinal PSA.

There is an increasing debate regarding the frequency of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and the current primary screening modality used to detect prostate cancer. The purpose of this study is to determine whether PSA screening intervals should be based on initial PSA. Our study explores longitudinal changes of PSA levels in black and white males separately.

Racial and anthropometric differences in plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3.

Objectives: To analyze the differences in the plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), and their ratio between black and white men while controlling for factors that could confound the relationship between IGF levels and race. Furthermore, we analyzed the association between age, height, prostate-specific antigen level, digital rectal examination status, and current smoking status on IGF levels separately in black and white men. Greater levels of IGF-I and lower levels of IGFBP-3 have been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in many studies.

Clinical breast examination practices among women undergoing screening mammography.

Purpose: To determine the proportion of women who underwent clinical breast examination (CBE) within 12 months before undergoing screening mammography and to examine which factors, if any, were associated with having undergone CBE within 12 months before screening mammography.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study of 1,135 women presenting for screening mammography was conducted with a self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected regarding sociodemographic information, health care provider information, breast self-examination practices, and CBE history.