Mediating effects of group cohesion on physical activity and diet in women of color: health is power.

Purpose: To determine the effects and mediating factors of a physical activity (PA) or vegetable and fruit (VF) group cohesion intervention.

Design: Longitudinal design.

Setting: Harris County and Travis County, Texas.

Health is Power: an ecological, theory-based health intervention for women of color.

Objective: Physical inactivity and poor dietary habits plague Americans as health challenges, with women of color most vulnerable to their detrimental effects. Individually focused interventions have not demonstrated lasting success, possibly due to the lack of focus on sustainable social and physical environment factors. This manuscript describes the rationale, design and methodology of Health Is Power (HIP), a transcultural, community based, randomized controlled trial that investigated the effectiveness of a group cohesion intervention to increase physical activity and improve dietary habits in African American and Hispanic or Latina women in Houston and Austin, Texas.

Neighborhood sampling: how many streets must an auditor walk?

This study tested the representativeness of four street segment sampling protocols using the Pedestrian Environment Data Scan (PEDS) in eleven neighborhoods surrounding public housing developments in Houston, TX. The following four street segment sampling protocols were used (1) all segments, both residential and arterial, contained within the 400 meter radius buffer from the center point of the housing development (the core) were compared with all segments contained between the 400 meter radius buffer and the 800 meter radius buffer (the ring); all residential segments in the core were compared with (2) 75% (3) 50% and (4) 25% samples of randomly selected residential street segments in the core. Analyses were conducted on five key variables: sidewalk presence; ratings of attractiveness and safety for walking; connectivity; and number of traffic lanes.

A model curriculum for a course on the built environment and public health: training for an interdisciplinary workforce.

Despite growing evidence of the direct and indirect effects of the built environment on public health, planners, who shape the built environment, and public health professionals, who protect the public's health, rarely interact. Most public health professionals have little experience with urban planners, zoning boards, city councils, and others who make decisions about the built environment. Likewise, few planners understand the health implications of design, land use, or transportation decisions.

Paradoxical role of alveolar macrophage-derived granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in pulmonary host defense post-bone marrow transplantation.

Impaired host defense post-bone marrow transplant (BMT) is related to overproduction of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) by alveolar macrophages (AMs). We show AMs post-BMT overproduce granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), whereas GM-CSF in lung homogenates is impaired both at baseline and in response to infection post-BMT. Homeostatic regulation of GM-CSF may occur by hematopoietic/structural cell cross talk.

Exacerbation of established pulmonary fibrosis in a murine model by gammaherpesvirus.

Rationale: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive disease with high mortality. Although most patients have a slow, progressive course, some patients will have an acute deterioration in function or acute exacerbation, which carries a poor prognosis. In some cases, acute deterioration is associated with infection.

Cysteinyl leukotrienes are autocrine and paracrine regulators of fibrocyte function.

Pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by the accumulation of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts. These cells may accumulate from three potential sources: the expansion of resident lung fibroblasts, the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, or the recruitment and differentiation of circulating mesenchymal precursors known as fibrocytes. We have previously demonstrated that fibrocytes participate in lung fibrogenesis following administration of FITC to mice.

TLR9 is required for protective innate immunity in Gram-negative bacterial pneumonia: role of dendritic cells.

In this study, experiments were performed to determine the contribution of TLR9 to the generation of protective innate immunity against virulent bacterial pathogens of the lung. In initial studies, we found that the intratracheal administration of Klebsiella pneumoniae in wild-type (WT) BALB/c mice resulted in the rapid accumulation of dendritic cells (DC) expressing TLR9. As compared with WT mice, animals deficient in TLR9 (TLR9-/-) displayed significantly increased mortality that was associated with a >50-fold increase in lung CFU and a >400-fold increase in K.

Bringing quality improvement into the intensive care unit.

Background: During the last several years, many governmental and nongovernmental organizations have championed the application of the principles of quality improvement to the practice of medicine, particularly in the area of critical care.

Objective: To review the breadth of approaches to quality improvement in the intensive care unit, including measures such as mortality and length of stay, and the use of protocols, bundles, and the role of large, multiple-hospital collaboratives.

Results: Several agencies have participated in the application of the quality movement to medicine, culminating in the development of standards such as the intensive care unit core measures of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Eicosanoid regulation of pulmonary innate immunity post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a therapeutic option for a number of malignant and inherited disorders. However, the efficacy of this therapy is limited by a number of serious infectious and noninfectious complications. Pulmonary infections represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality post-HSCT and can occur both pre- and post-hematopoietic reconstitution.

Critical role of prostaglandin E2 overproduction in impaired pulmonary host response following bone marrow transplantation.

The success of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) as a therapy for malignant and inherited disorders is limited by infectious complications. We previously demonstrated syngeneic BMT mice are more susceptible to Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia due to defects in the ability of donor-derived alveolar macrophages (AMs), but not polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), to phagocytose bacteria. We now demonstrate that both donor-derived AMs and PMNs display bacterial killing defects post-BMT.

Evaluation of the California Safe Routes to School legislation: urban form changes and children's active transportation to school.

Background: Walking or bicycling to school could contribute to children's daily physical activity, but physical environment changes are often needed to improve the safety and convenience of walking and cycling routes. The California Safe Routes to School (SR2S) legislation provided competitive funds for construction projects such as sidewalks, traffic lights, pedestrian crossing improvements, and bicycle paths.

Methods: A cross-sectional evaluation examined the relationship between urban form changes and walking and bicycle travel to school.