Lung cancer deaths among American Indians and Alaska Natives, 1990-2009.

Objectives: We examined regional differences in lung cancer among American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) using linked data sets to minimize racial misclassification.

Methods: On the basis of federal lung cancer incidence data for 1999 to 2009 and deaths for 1990 to 2009 linked with Indian Health Service (IHS) registration records, we calculated age-adjusted incidence and death rates for non-Hispanic AI/AN and White persons by IHS region, focusing on Contract Health Service Delivery Area (CHSDA) counties. We correlated death rates with cigarette smoking prevalence and calculated mortality-to-incidence ratios.

The Social Health Intervention Project (SHIP): protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial assessing the effectiveness of a brief motivational intervention for problem drinking and intimate partner violence in an urban emergency department.

Background: There is a strong reciprocal association between two highly prevalent public health problems: intimate partner violence and heavy drinking, both of which remain major sources of morbidity and mortality. Brief interventions in the Emergency Department setting have been found to be effective in reducing alcohol-related injury but neither classic intimate partner violence nor substance abuse interventions have adequately integrated assessment and treatment for these co-occurring conditions. The overall goal of this study is to determine whether a motivational intervention delivered at the time of an Emergency Department visit will reduce heavy drinking and improve the safety of women experiencing intimate partner violence.

Synapto-depressive effects of amyloid beta require PICK1.

Amyloid beta (Aβ), a key component in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease, is thought to target excitatory synapses early in the disease. However, the mechanism by which Aβ weakens synapses is not well understood. Here we showed that the PDZ domain protein, protein interacting with C kinase 1 (PICK1), was required for Aβ to weaken synapses.

Primary care access for new patients on the eve of health care reform.

Importance: Current measures of access to care have intrinsic limitations and may not accurately reflect the capacity of the primary care system to absorb new patients.

Objective: To assess primary care appointment availability by state and insurance status.

Design, Setting, And Participants: We conducted a simulated patient study.

"No other choice": reasons for emergency department utilization among urban adults with acute asthma.

Objectives: Asthma is considered "ambulatory care-sensitive," yet emergency department (ED) visits remain common. Few studies have examined how ED asthma patients choose their sites of urgent care. The authors explored reasons for asthma-related ED use among adults.

De-escalation treatment protocols for human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas are a distinct subgroup of tumours that may have a better prognosis than traditional tobacco/alcohol-related disease. Iatrogenic complications, associated with conventional practice, are estimated to cause mortality of approximately 2% and high morbidity. As a result, clinicians are actively investigating the de-escalation of treatment protocols for disease with a proven viral aetiology.

The anatomy of a community health center system-level intervention for intimate partner violence.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now recommends screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) as part of routine preventive services for women. However, there is a lack of clarity as to the most effective methods of screening and referral. We conducted a 3-year community-based mixed-method participatory research project involving four community health centers that serve as safety net medical providers for a predominately indigent urban population.

Designing and evaluating culturally specific smoking cessation interventions for American Indian communities.

Introduction: American Indians have the highest smoking rates in the United States, yet few randomized controlled trials of culturally specific interventions exist. This study assessed American Indians' opinions about evidence-based treatment and attitudes toward participating in clinical trials.

Methods: Six focus groups were conducted based on smoking status (current/former smoker), sex, and elder status (55 years and older or younger).

Ruptured cryptogenic mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm by Salmonella enteritidis.

Background: The aim of this study is to describe a case of ruptured cryptogenic mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm by Salmonella enteritidis (SE) and present a comprehensive review of the literature.

Methods: A 66-year-old man with a past medical history of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and polymylagia rheumatica (PMR) presented with a 2-day history of right-flank-to-groin pain and fever. He was found to have tenderness on the right of the umbilical region and laboratory data showed leukocytosis, raised C-reactive protein, and a significant drop in hemoglobin level as compared with his first visit 17 days earlier, with no hemodynamic instability.

Reproductive biology of squaretail coralgrouper Plectropomus areolatus using age-based techniques.

The squaretail coralgrouper Plectropomus areolatus was identified as a fast-growing, early maturing and relatively short-lived aggregation-spawning epinephelid. Examinations of sectioned otoliths found females and males first maturing at 2 and 3 years, respectively, suggesting protogynous hermaphroditism; however, no transitionals were observed in samples. Age distribution for the two sexes was similar and both were represented in the oldest age class; however, significant sex-specific differences in size-at-age were identified.

Dispersal of grouper larvae drives local resource sharing in a coral reef fishery.

In many tropical nations, fisheries management requires a community-based approach because small customary marine tenure areas define the spatial scale of management [1]. However, the fate of larvae originating from a community's tenure is unknown, and thus the degree to which a community can expect their management actions to replenish the fisheries within their tenure is unclear [2, 3]. Furthermore, whether and how much larval dispersal links tenure areas can provide a strong basis for cooperative management [4, 5].

Substituted thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines as adenosine A2A receptor antagonists.

A novel series of benzyl substituted thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines were identified as potent A2A receptor antagonists. Several five- and six-membered heterocyclic replacements for the optimized methylfuran were explored. Select compounds effectively reverse catalepsy in mice when dosed orally.

The relationship between patients' perceptions of team effectiveness and their care experience in the emergency department.

Background: Effective teamwork is important in the fast-paced Emergency Department (ED) setting. Most of the teamwork literature addresses the provider's perspective of teamwork rather than the patient's perspective.

Objective: Examine the relationship between patients' perceptions of teamwork and care experience in the ED.

"Patients who can't get an appointment go to the ER": access to specialty care for publicly insured children.

Study Objective: Emergency departments (EDs) frequently refer patients for needed outpatient specialty care, but little is known about the dynamics of these referrals when patients are publicly insured. Hence, we explored factors, including the role of ED referrals, associated with specialists' willingness to accept patients covered by Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Methods: We conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of 26 specialists and 14 primary care physicians in Cook County, Illinois, from April to September 2009, until theme saturation was reached.

Combining highly multiplexed PCR with semiconductor-based sequencing for rapid cancer genotyping.

There is growing demand for routine identification of actionable mutations in clinical cancer specimens. Genotyping platforms must provide rapid turnaround times and work effectively with limited amounts of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens that often yield poor quality DNA. We describe semiconductor-based sequencing of DNA from FFPE specimens using a single-tube, multiplexed panel of 190 amplicons targeting 46 cancer genes.

Simulated patient studies: an ethical analysis.

Context: In connection with health care reform, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services commissioned a "mystery shopper," or simulated patient study, to measure access to primary care.

Circles of Tobacco Wisdom: learning about traditional and commercial tobacco with Native elders.

Background: Circles of Tobacco Wisdom (CTW) was an elder-led, community-based project that aimed to enhance tobacco control in the American Indian community. Its goal was to provide elders with the knowledge, opportunities, and support to enable them to assume leadership of a tobacco control movement that was grounded in the ceremonial traditions of tobacco use.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the effects of the pilot intervention on participants.

Visualizing the chemistry and structure dynamics in lithium-ion batteries by in-situ neutron diffraction.

We report an in-situ neutron diffraction study of a large format pouch battery cell. The succession of Li-Graphite intercalation phases was fully captured under an 1C charge-discharge condition (i.e.

Assessing Danger: What Judges Need To Know.

Every day, judges are faced with decisions regarding intimate partner violence (IPV) victims' requests for protection orders, custody arrangements, and visitation schedules. To make informed decisions, judges must understand victims' risk for future violence. This mixed method study explores the extent to which protection order petitions (n=169) communicate victims' current danger and future risk of violence.

Comparison of size and geography of airborne tungsten particles in Fallon, Nevada, and Sweet Home, Oregon, with implications for public health.

To improve understanding of possible connections between airborne tungsten and public health, size and geography of airborne tungsten particles collected in Fallon, Nevada, and Sweet Home, Oregon, were compared. Both towns have industrial tungsten facilities, but only Fallon has experienced a cluster of childhood leukemia. Fallon and Sweet Home are similar to one another by their particles of airborne tungsten being generally small in size.

Protection orders protect against assault and injury: a longitudinal study of police-involved women victims of intimate partner violence.

The objective of this study was to measure the efficacy of protection orders (POs) in reducing assault and injury-related outcomes using a matched comparison group and tracking outcomes over time. This study was a retrospective review of police, emergency department, family court, and prosecutor administrative records for a cohort of police-involved female IPV victims; all events over a 4-year study period were abstracted. Victims who obtained POs were compared with a propensity-score-based match group without POs over three time periods: Before, During, and After the issuance of a PO.