Impact of a child care educational intervention on parent knowledge about appropriate antibiotic use.

Background: Parent education is an integral component to promoting judicious antibiotic use. Opportunities to educate parents directly are limited. Child care providers are in a position to relay information to parents.

Agricultural employers' hiring and safety practices for adolescent workers.

The goal of the "Safety Training for Employers and Supervisors of Adolescent Farmworkers" initiative is to improve the occupational health and safety knowledge and practices of agricultural employers and supervisors responsible for employees, ages 14 to 17 years. Surveys were sent to members of the National Council of Agricultural Employers and the Washington Growers League to measure attitudes regarding adolescent employees, current hiring and training practices, and future intentions. More than half of the respondents hire adolescents.

Initial licking responses of mice to sweeteners: effects of tas1r3 polymorphisms.

Recent studies have established that the T1R3 receptor plays a central role in the taste-mediated ingestive response to sweeteners by mice. First, transgenic mice lacking the gene for T1R3, Tas1r3, show dramatically reduced lick responsiveness to most sweeteners. Second, strains with the taster allele of Tas1r3 (T strains) are more sensitive to low sweetener concentrations than strains with the nontaster allele (NT strains) and consume greater quantities of low- to midrange concentrations of sweeteners during 24-h tests.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

We evaluated the outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in 43 patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Patients were classified according to the French-American-British and World Health Organization classifications, as well as the International Prognostic Scoring System and the M.D.

Appropriateness of Lyme disease serologic testing.

Background: Although rapid diagnosis of Lyme disease is essential for effective treatment, there is concern about inappropriate testing. We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional survey of clinicians to assess the use and appropriateness of Lyme disease serologic tests (LDSTs).

Methods: LDSTs performed at 2 large Wisconsin reference laboratories were systematically sampled for 12 consecutive months.

Differences in preventive screening rates in Wisconsin farm and non-farm resident women.

Purpose: To determine the proportion of rural women who met screening recommendations for Pap smears, mammograms, blood cholesterol, and blood pressure measurements.

Methods: Women aged 25-75 were recruited for a population-based study of chronic diseases in rural residents. In addition to a self-administered health questionnaire and a brief examination, the most recent Pap smear, mammogram, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol measurements were documented from electronic medical records.

Risk factors for female infertility in an agricultural region.

Background: Recent studies have suggested that agricultural occupations or exposure to pesticides may impair female fertility.

Methods: The Fertility Risk Factor Study retrospectively examined agricultural and residential exposures and the risk of female infertility. Cases and controls (N = 322 each) came from women who sought treatment at a large group medical clinic in Wisconsin.

A comparison of cardiovascular disease risk factors in farm and non-farm residents: the Wisconsin Rural Women's Health Study.

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to describe the baseline difference in cardiovascular disease risk factors between farm and non-farm women in the Rural Women's Health Study.

Methods: Women aged 25 to 75 years were recruited from the Central Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area, a geographically defined area surrounding Marshfield, Wis. (population 19,000), where more than 95% of residents seek their health care from the Marshfield Clinic.

A community intervention trial to promote judicious antibiotic use and reduce penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage in children.

Objective: Inappropriate use of antibiotics is common in primary care, and effective interventions are needed to promote judicious antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of parent and clinician education on pediatric antibiotic prescribing and carriage of penicillin-nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae in child care facilities.

Methods: A nonrandomized, controlled, community intervention trial was conducted in northern Wisconsin Clinicians.

The effect of a community intervention trial on parental knowledge and awareness of antibiotic resistance and appropriate antibiotic use in children.

Background: Overuse of antibiotics for children's upper respiratory infections is widespread and contributes to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Objective: To assess changes in knowledge and awareness regarding antibiotic resistance and appropriate antibiotic use after community-wide educational interventions to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use.

Design: Baseline survey conducted during June through July 1997 and postintervention survey of baseline participants during June through August 1998.

Antibiotic susceptibility of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae in Wisconsin, 1999.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of community acquired infections in the United States, and rates of antibiotic resistance have increased dramatically in the past decade. Statewide rates of pneumococcal resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics have not been previously reported in Wisconsin. To determine these rates, we assessed invasive pneumococcal isolates for reduced susceptibility to nine different antibiotics.

Clinical and epidemiological features of early Lyme disease and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis in Wisconsin.

To compare clinical features and assess risk factors for human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) and early Lyme disease, we enrolled patients in a case-control study during the 1996 and 1997 tick seasons. Clinical and demographic characteristics were assessed for patients with laboratory-confirmed cases of HGE or Lyme disease, and risk factors were compared with those of matched control subjects. We identified 83 persons with Lyme disease, 27 with HGE, and 11 with apparent coinfection.

Plasma fibrinogen and its correlates in elderly Japanese men living in Japan and Hawaii.

Plasma fibrinogen levels were determined using comparable methods for 329 Japanese men in Hiroshima Japan, and 3571 Japanese-American men in Honolulu Hawaii, aged 71-93 years. The age-adjusted mean fibrinogen level in Japanese-American men (307 mg/dl) was significantly higher (p<0.0001) than in native Japanese men (270 mg/dl).

Factors associated with variations in pulmonary function among elderly Japanese-American men.

Objective: To identify lifestyle, anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical characteristics associated with pulmonary function in elderly men.

Design: Cross-sectional population-based study.

Participants: Japanese-American men (n=3,111) aged 71 to 93 years, who completed spirometry at the fourth examination of the Honolulu Heart Program (1991 to 1993).

Serum micronutrients and upper aerodigestive tract cancer.

Numerous dietary studies have found that vegetables and fruits protect against upper aerodigestive tract cancer. To evaluate the role of beta-carotene and other specific carotenoids, a nested case-control study using prediagnostic serum was conducted among 6832 American men of Japanese ancestry examined from 1971 to 1975. During a surveillance period of 20 years, the study identified 28 esophageal, 23 laryngeal, and 16 oral-pharyngeal cancer cases in this cohort.

Obesity, alcohol consumption, smoking, and mortality.

Purpose: The goals of this study were to assess prospectively the impact of obesity, alcohol use, and smoking on total mortality and to test the etiologic hypothesis that subjects with two or more of these risk factors may experience an elevated risk of overall mortality.

Methods: Information on body mass index (BMI), alcohol intake, cigarette smoking, and other life-style factors was obtained from a cohort of 8006 Japanese-American men living in Hawaii. They were between 45 and 68 years of age at the initial examination (1965-1968).

Cardiovascular risk factors and hyalinization of renal arterioles at autopsy. The Honolulu Heart Program.

Nephrosclerosis, commonly found in subjects with hypertension and diabetes, is marked by hyalinization of arterioles and fibroplasia of small arteries in the renal cortex. Cardiovascular risk factors that predicted subsequent hyalinization of renal arterioles at autopsy were identified, using data from the Honolulu Heart Program, a prospective epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Japanese-American men. Among 8006 participants at baseline, 1381 died between 1965 and 1982; 285 of these had a protocol autopsy, and 150 had assessments of arteriolar hyalinization from renal tissue.

Fish intake may limit the increase in risk of coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality among heavy smokers. The Honolulu Heart Program.

Background: Research has shown that fish consumption limits damage to the lungs caused by cigarette smoking, possibly by the effects of fish on arachidonic acid metabolism. We explored this fish-smoking interaction using coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence and mortality as the outcome.

Methods And Results: The Honolulu Heart Program began in 1965 to follow a cohort of 8006 Japanese-American men aged 45 to 65 years who lived on Oahu, Hawaii, in 1965.

Serum androgens and prostate cancer.

It is suspected that male hormones are associated with the risk of prostate cancer. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a nested case-control study in a cohort of 6860 Japanese-American men examined from 1971 to 1975. At the time of examination, a single blood specimen was obtained, and the serum was frozen.

A prospective study of colon and rectal cancer among Hawaii Japanese men.

The goals of this study were to assess the association of diet, alcohol, smoking, and other life-style factors with the risk of colon and rectal cancer and to examine the differences in the risk factors associated with each cancer site. Information on diet, alcohol, smoking, and other life-style factors was obtained from 7945 Japanese-American men who were living in Hawaii and examined from 1965 through 1968. After 174,514 person-years of observation, 330 incident cases of colon cancer and 123 incident cases of rectal cancer were diagnosed by histology.

Hepatitis B and C virus serologies among Japanese Americans with hepatocellular carcinoma.

A cohort of 5924 Japanese American men was examined between 1967 and 1970 for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). By 1992, 24 incident cases of HCC were histologically confirmed in the group. Frozen serum samples from the 24 men with HCC and 72 age-matched controls were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen, antibodies to HBsAg, and antibodies to hepatitis C virus.

Pulmonary function measures as predictors and correlates of cognitive functioning in later life.

The relation between pulmonary function and cognitive functioning was investigated in a cohort of 3,036 Japanese-American men living in Hawaii. Pulmonary function, as indicated by forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), was measured at the baseline examination from 1965 to 1968. Cognitive function was assessed by the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) test at least 23 years later (1991-1993).

Predictors of myocardial lesions in men with minimal coronary atherosclerosis at autopsy. The Honolulu heart program.

Some cardiovascular risk factors are associated with clinical coronary heart disease but not with autopsy evidence of coronary atherosclerosis. To determine whether these risk factors might operate through mechanisms other than atherosclerosis, we examined associations between cardiovascular risk factors and subsequent intramural myocardial lesions assessed by protocol autopsy between 1965 and 1984 in 120 Japanese-American men from the Honolulu Heart Program who had minimal coronary atherosclerosis (American Heart Association (AHA) panel score < 3 on scale of 1 to 7). Age-adjusted prevalence of myocardial lesions was related to smoking status (P < 0.