Vegetable output and cost savings of community gardens in San Jose, California.

Urban dwellers across the United States increasingly access a variety of fresh vegetables through participation in neighborhood-level community gardens. Here we document vegetable output and cost savings of community gardens in the city of San Jose, CA, to better understand the capacity of community gardens to affect food affordability in an urban setting. A convenience sample of 83 community gardeners in San Jose completed a background survey during spring and summer 2012.

CrowdED: crowding metrics and data visualization in the emergency department.

Objectives: Emergency department (ED) crowding metrics were validated in our facility and a new technique of data visualization is proposed.

Design: A sequential cross-sectional study was conducted in our ED during October 2007. Data were collected every 2 hours by a research assistant and included patient arrivals and acuity levels, available inpatient and ED beds, ambulance diversion status, staff present, and patient reneging.

2007 San Diego wildfires and asthmatics.

Context: This case series reports the changes in the respiratory health of eight asthmatic subjects and the relationship with air quality associated with the October 2007 firestorm in San Diego County of California.

Case Presentation: Participants were eight subjects with asthma enrolled in Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN) (NIH# U10-HL074218) studies at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), School of Medicine, who had study data collected immediately prior, during and 1 month after the 5-day firestorm in San Diego County. Air quality deteriorated to an extreme average of 71.

Predictors of body mass index in patients with moderate to severe emphysema.

People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease are at risk for low body weight and the subsequent sequelae of cachexia. The goal of this study was to define the relationship between of degree of emphysema as measured by high resolution chest computerized tomography, body mass index and caloric intake. Subjects from San Diego County were recruited to participate in a multi-center randomized clinical trial to test the Feasibility of Retinoids in the Treatment of Emphysema (FORTE).

Barriers to participation in the food stamp program among food pantry clients in Los Angeles.

Substantial numbers of food pantry clients are eligible for food stamps but do not receive them. Background characteristics of 14317 food pantry users in Los Angeles were analyzed to provide information helpful in food stamp outreach programs. Ninety percent of food pantry users were living well below poverty level, 59% were Hispanic, and 44% were homeless.

Comparison of clinic-based home assessment to a home visit in demented elderly patients.

Home visits assessing demented elderly patients yield important information but are perceived to be expensive. We investigated the utility of a home assessment during a clinic visit. A total of 200 demented subjects attending an outpatient geriatric assessment program were enrolled in a prospective, repeated-measures design study comparing the yield of a structured clinic-based home assessment with the yield of a home visit (the criterion standard).