Delivery of transplant care among Hmong kidney transplant recipients: Outcomes from a single institution.

Kidney transplantation entails well-coordinated complex care delivery. Patient-provider cultural and linguistic discordance can lead to healthcare disparities. We analyzed kidney transplantation outcomes among our institution's Hmong recipients using a retrospective cohort study.

Clinical utility of postoperative phosphate recovery profiles to predict liver insufficiency after living donor hepatectomy.

Background: Living donor hepatectomy (LDH) is associated with significant postoperative hypophosphatemia.

Methods: From January 1997 through July 2017, we performed 176 LDH and compared donors who developed liver insufficiency (LI) to those that did not within 30 days of LDH. Using smoothing splines, we constructed a mixed-effects model and assessed receiver operating characteristic curves.

Complications after Living Donor Hepatectomy: Analysis of 176 Cases at a Single Center.

Background: Living liver donation is one of the most selfless and humane acts a person can perform. Few single-center reports have been published specifically evaluating complications and quality of life post-donation.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective analysis of outcomes of 176 living liver donors at our center to determine the incidence, type, and Clavien grade of complications, as well as long-term quality of life.

Standardized morbidity ratios of four chronic health conditions among World Trade Center responders: Comparison to the National Health Interview Survey.

Purpose: We conducted external comparisons for the prevalence of asthma, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer among World Trade Center (WTC) general responders using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) as the reference, along with internal comparisons for the incidence of asthma.

Methods: Standardized Morbidity Ratios (SMRs) were calculated for the prevalence of the health conditions, and risk ratios (RRs) for asthma incidence.

Results: Relative to the NHIS, asthma prevalence was in excess in responders over the study years (age-adjusted SMRs = 1.

Measuring the Impact of Disasters Using Publicly Available Data: Application to Hurricane Sandy (2012).

The unexpected nature of disasters leaves little time or resources for organized health surveillance of the affected population, and even less for those who are unaffected. An ideal epidemiologic study would monitor both groups equally well, but would typically be decided against as infeasible or costly. Exposure and health outcome data at the level of the individual can be difficult to obtain.

Case-control study of student-perpetrated physical violence against educators.

Purpose: Although prior research focused primarily on student-on-student school violence, educators are also at risk. This study was designed to identify risk factors for assaults against educators.

Methods: Kindergarten-grade 12 educators (n = 26,000), randomly selected from a state license database, were screened for eligibility (6,469, eligible) by mailed questionnaire.

Long-term mortality after screening for colorectal cancer.

Background: In randomized trials, fecal occult-blood testing reduces mortality from colorectal cancer. However, the duration of the benefit is unknown, as are the effects specific to age and sex.

Methods: In the Minnesota Colon Cancer Control Study, 46,551 participants, 50 to 80 years of age, were randomly assigned to usual care (control) or to annual or biennial screening with fecal occult-blood testing.

Prospective evaluation of methylated SEPT9 in plasma for detection of asymptomatic colorectal cancer.

Background: As screening methods for colorectal cancer (CRC) are limited by uptake and adherence, further options are sought. A blood test might increase both, but none has yet been tested in a screening setting.

Objective: We prospectively assessed the accuracy of circulating methylated SEPT9 DNA (mSEPT9) for detecting CRC in a screening population.

Risk of physical assault against school educators with histories of occupational and other violence: a case-control study.

A case-control study design was used to investigate risks of work-related physical assault (PA) associated with a history of violent victimization among educators. A total of 6,469 state-licensed educators (Kindergarten - Grade 12) worked in the previous 12~months and were eligible to participate. Exposure data were collected from cases (reporting a PA event in previous 12 months, n=290) for the month before PA, and from controls (no work-related PA in previous 12 months; n=867) for a randomly selected working month.

Pancreatic cancer risk: associations with meat-derived carcinogen intake in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) cohort.

Background: Epidemiological studies report positive associations between high-temperature cooked meat intake and pancreatic cancer. We assessed associations between dietary intake of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP)-mutagens formed in meat cooked at high temperatures-and incident exocrine pancreatic cancer in a prospective cohort.

Methods: The 62 581 subjects randomized to screening in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Screening Trial (PLCO) who completed an initial dietary survey that assessed meat intake, cooking methods, and doneness preferences defined the cohort.

Violence against educators: a population-based study.

Objective: Identify the magnitude and risk factors for occupational physical assault (PA) and nonphysical violence (NPV) against Minnesota educators.

Methods: Among 26,000 randomly selected licensed kindergarten to grade 12 educators, 6469 eligible educators reported whether they experienced PA or NPV during the prior year. Multiple logistic regression models were based on directed acyclic graphs.

School resources, resource allocation, and risk of physical assault against Minnesota educators.

To investigate the relation between schools' resource levels (i.e., annual per student expenditures), school resource allocations, and physical assault (PA) against Minnesota's educators, a study was conducted from the two-phase Minnesota Educators' Study (MES) that incorporated school-level fiscal and demographic data from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).

Validity of four self-reported colorectal cancer screening modalities in a general population: differences over time and by intervention assignment.

Little is known about the validity of self-reported colorectal cancer screening. To date, few published studies have validated all four screening modalities per recommended guidelines or included a general population-based sample, and none has assessed validity over time and by intervention condition. To estimate the validity of self-reported screening, a random sample of 200 adults, ages > or =50 years, was selected from those completing annual surveys on screening behavior as part of an intervention study.

Relationships between personal, indoor, and outdoor exposures to trace elements in PM(2.5).

Twenty-four hour average fine particle concentrations of 23 trace elements (TEs) were measured concurrently in (a) ambient air in three urban neighborhoods (Battle Creek-BCK; East St. Paul-ESP; and Phillips-PHI), (b) air inside residences of participants, and (c) personal air near the breathing zone of healthy, non-smoking adults. The outdoor (O), indoor (I), and personal (P) samples were collected in the Minneapolis/St.

Estimating volatile organic compound concentrations in selected microenvironments using time-activity and personal exposure data.

Repeated measures of personal exposure to 14 volatile organic compounds (VOC) were obtained over 3 seasons for 70 healthy, nonsmoking adults living in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Matched data were also available for participants' time-activity patterns, and measured VOC concentrations outdoors in the community and indoors in residences.

The association between parents' past agricultural injuries and their children's risk of injury: analyses from the Regional Rural Injury Study-II.

Objective: To examine associations between parents' and children's agricultural injuries in a cohort of farming and ranching households.

Design: Analyses from a population-based, nested case-control study.

Setting: The 1999 Regional Rural Injury Study-II, involving a cohort of 3765 agricultural households.

Thyroid cancer and employment as a radiologic technologist.

The association between chronic occupational ionizing radiation exposure in the medical field and thyroid cancer is not well characterized. Thyroid cancer incidence was ascertained for 2 periods in a cohort of radiologic technologists certified for a minimum 2 years and enumerated in 1983: (i) cases identified prospectively in 73,080 radiologic technologists who were free of thyroid cancer at the baseline survey and completed a second questionnaire a decade later (N = 121), and (ii) cases occurring prior to cohort enumeration among 90,245 technologists who completed the baseline survey and were thyroid cancer free 2 years after certification (N = 148). Survival analyses estimated risks associated with employment as a radiologic technologist, including duration of employment, period of employment, types of procedures and work practices.

Risk factors for work-related assaults on nurses.

Background: Work-related homicides have been the subject of considerable study, but little is known about nonfatal violence and relevant risk factors.

Methods: We surveyed 6300 Minnesota nurses who were selected randomly from the 1998 licensing database and determined their employment and occupational violence experience. In a nested case-control study, we examined environmental exposures and physical assault.

A field comparison of volatile organic compound measurements using passive organic vapor monitors and stainless steel canisters.

Concurrent field measurements of 10 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were made using passive diffusion-based organic vapor monitors (OVMs) and the U.S. Federal Reference Method, which comprises active monitoring with stainless steel canisters (CANs).

Tractor-related injuries: a population-based study of a five-state region in the Midwest.

Background: Tractor-related injuries are among the most severe of agricultural injuries. This study identifies the incidence, consequences, and potential risk factors for tractor injuries among 3,765 agricultural households in a five-state region.

Methods: Demographic, injury, and exposure data were collected for two 6-month recall periods in 1999 using computer assisted telephone interviews.

Evaluating differences between measured personal exposures to volatile organic compounds and concentrations in outdoor and indoor air.

Accurate estimation of human exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a key element of strategies designed to protect public health from the adverse effects of hazardous air pollutants. The focus here is on examining the capability of three different exposure metrics (outdoor community concentrations, indoor residential concentrations, and a simple time-weighted model) to estimate observed personal exposures to 14 VOCs. The analysis is based on 2-day average concentrations of individual VOCs measured concurrently in outdoor (O) air in three urban neighborhoods, indoor (I) air in participant's residences, and personal (P) air near the breathing zone of 71 healthy, nonsmoking adults.

A randomized trial of direct mailing of fecal occult blood tests to increase colorectal cancer screening.

Background: Although colorectal cancer screening by using a fecal occult blood test (FOBT), flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or barium enema x-ray reduces the incidence of and death from colorectal cancer, the rate of colorectal cancer screening in the general population is low. We conducted a randomized trial consisting of direct mailing of FOBT kits to increase colorectal cancer screening among residents of Wright County, Minnesota, a community in which colorectal cancer screening was promoted.

Methods: At baseline, we mailed a questionnaire about colorectal cancer screening to a random sample of Wright County residents aged 50 years or older who were randomly selected from the Minnesota State Driver's License and Identification Card database (estimated N = 1451).

Colorectal cancer screening adherence in a general population.

Background: This article describes the self-reported colorectal cancer (CRC) screening adherence rates of adults, aged 50 years and older, living in five nonurban Minnesota counties.

Methods: During the year 2000, 1693 eligible respondents, aged 50 years and older, from a randomly selected sample completed a survey assessing CRC screening adherence (approximately 86.3% response).

Comparison of personal, indoor, and outdoor exposures to hazardous air pollutants in three urban communities.

Two-day average concentrations of 15 individual volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured concurrently in (a) ambient air in three urban neighborhoods, (b) air inside residences of participants, and (c) personal air near the breathing zone of 71 healthy, nonsmoking adults. The outdoor (O), indoor (I), and personal (P) samples were collected in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area over three seasons (spring, summer, and fall) in 1999 using charcoal-based passive air samplers (3M model 3500 organic vapor monitors).