Food safety practices among pregnant women and mothers in the women, infants, and children program, Miami, Florida.

Pregnant women and infants are two groups at the highest risk of severe outcomes from foodborne illnesses. We surveyed adult clients of a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic serving predominately African Americans in inner-city Miami, Florida, to assess food safety practices. Eligible and consenting women completed a 23-item self-administered survey with questions concerning food handling practices around the Partnership for Food Safety Education's Fight BAC! campaign constructs of "clean", "separate" (not cross-contaminated), "cook", and "chill".

Benefits and adverse effects of hepatitis C screening: early results of a screening program.

Objective: Early benefits and adverse effects of hepatitis C screening among people who screened anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive were investigated.

Methods: Hepatitis screening program records were abstracted to identify the target population and obtain information about hepatitis A and B vaccination (recommended vaccines if anti-HCV positive). Telephone interviews were conducted using a standardized questionnaire with items regarding clients' medical evaluation, behaviors to prevent liver damage and prevent HCV transmission, and adverse effects experienced.

Hospital financial performance in the United States of America: a follow-up study.

To clarify and validate the factors that influence hospital profitability in the United States of America, we used a cross-sectional design to examine data for 1998. Several changes and government regulations introduced in the early 1990s influenced hospital performance. We included those variables to give a better understanding of the hospital payment system.

Eat better & move more: a community-based program designed to improve diets and increase physical activity among older Americans.

Objectives: We assessed outcomes of an integrated nutrition and exercise program designed for Older Americans Act Nutrition Program participants as part of the Administration on Aging's You Can! campaign.

Methods: A 10-site intervention study was conducted. Preintervention and postintervention assessments focused on nutrition and physical activity stages of change, self-reported health status, dietary intakes, physical activity, and program satisfaction.

Triple jeopardy for HIV: substance using Severely Mentally Ill Adults.

Severely Mentally Ill (SMI) adults have disproportionately high HIV seroprevalence rates. Abuse of alcohol and other substances (AOD) and lifetime exposure to trauma by others are particularly potent risk factors, which, in combination with psychiatric disabilities, create triple jeopardy for HIV infection. This study examined the predictive utility of demographic characteristics; history of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; extent of drug and alcohol abuse; knowledge about HIV/AIDS; sexual self-efficacy; and condom attitudes toward explaining the variance in a composite of HIV high-risk behavior among 188 SMI women and 158 SMI men.

Psychosocial risk factors for eating disorders in Hispanic females of diverse ethnic background and non-Hispanic females.

This study investigated differences in psychosocial risk factors for eating disorders among university females (n=406) of diverse Hispanic background (Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American/Mexican, Dominican, Venezuelan) and among White non-Hispanic (n=102) female students. Risk factors were assessed using the Psychosocial Risk Factor Questionnaire (PRFQ) which includes four subscales: Social Pressure for Thinness, Media Pressure for Thinness, Concern for Physical Appearance, and Perception of Physical Appearance. There were significant differences among the groups in total PRFQ score, F(7,499)=2.

Food safety beliefs and barriers to safe food handling among WIC program clients, Miami, Florida.

Objective: To determine beliefs about and barriers to good food safety practices among clients of a Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program).

Design: Five audiotaped focus groups.

Setting: A large WIC Program clinic in Miami, Florida.

Signature of mitochondria of steroidal hormones-dependent normal and cancer cells: potential molecular targets for cancer therapy.

The cross-talk between the cell nucleus and mitochondria appears to control hormone-induced signaling involved in the apoptosis, proliferation, and differentiation of both normal and malignant cells. Evaluation of the defects in genetics and physiology of human endocrine diseases, such as cancer, may manifest as a result of mitochondrial physiologic and metabolic compensation of genetic defects. Steroidal agents control biogenesis and maintenance of mitochondria through the crosstalk between nuclear and mitochondrial genomes.

Alcohol use severity and HIV sexual risk among juvenile offenders.

Guided by the Information Motivation Behavioral Skills (IMB) model, we examine the alcohol severity/sexual risk relationship for juvenile offenders who are at extreme risk for HIV/AIDS due to situational vulnerabilities, substance abuse,1 and personality factors. Sexual risk behavior was analyzed by levels of alcohol use among 634 ethnically diverse adolescents in Miami between 1998 and 2002. Adolescents with the highest levels of alcohol use reported significantly higher levels of total and unprotected sexual activity and sex acts proximate to drinking.

Differences in arterial stiffness and its correlates in tri-ethnic young men and women.

Objectives: Arterial stiffness is an important measure of pathologic changes in the arterial system and is associated with cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Early identification of an increase in arterial stiffness in young persons may improve cardiovascular health outcomes. The objectives were to evaluate the sex and ethnic differences in arterial stiffness levels among young adults.

Blood lead levels in children and environmental lead contamination in Miami inner city, Florida.

Studies have shown that the environmental conditions of the home are important predictors of health, especially in low-income communities. Understanding the relationship between the environment and health is crucial in the management of certain diseases. One health outcome related to the home environment among urban, minority, and low-income children is childhood lead poisoning.

Risk factors associated with the transition from heroin sniffing to heroin injection: a street addict role perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to identify characteristics of heroin sniffers likely to shift to injection by evaluating the street addict role theory as an informing theoretical framework to explain transition from heroin sniffing to injection. A nested case-control research design was used to identify 142 heroin sniffers who never had injected a drug (controls) and 146 recently transitioned injection drug users (cases) from a larger study of 600 African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white men and women who were street recruited from multiple communities known for high drug use. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses derived from the street addict role theory.

HIV risk reduction among young minority adults in Broward County.

We examined changes in perceptions of HIV risk, abstinence, condom use, and intentions to use condoms for disease protection among African American, Hispanic, Haitian, and Afro-Caribbean unmarried and married men and women living in Broward County, Florida. Data were collected through computer-assisted telephone interview surveys conducted during 2001, 2002, and 2003 with cross-sectional probability samples of 18-39 year old residents of 12 high AIDS incidence ZIP code areas. Perceptions of HIV risk increased over time for men, but not for women.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and substance use risk behaviors among tri-ethnic adolescents of Florida.

Previous research documents the co-occurrence of substance use and HIV risk behaviors, but most studies examined these behaviors among adults and White adolescents. The diversity of Florida's adolescents presents a unique setting for examining the variations in these risk behaviors. An in-depth analysis of HIV and substance use behaviors among White, African American, and Hispanic adolescents in Florida was conducted.

The prevention of HIV transmission in Hispanic adolescents.

This article reviews the state of the science in HIV prevention for Hispanic adolescents. The article discusses the importance of preventing HIV in Hispanic adolescents. Literature is reviewed in three broad areas: (1) the prevalence rates of drug and alcohol misuse, sexual practices, and HIV infection; (2) risk and protective factors for drug and alcohol misuse and unprotected sex (in general and specifically for Hispanics); and (3) the state of HIV prevention intervention development and evaluation targeting Hispanic youth.

CDE and non-CDE dietitians' knowledge of exercise and content of exercise programs for older adults with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To study differences between non-certified diabetes educator registered dietitians (non-CDE-RDs) and certified diabetes educator registered dietitians (CDE-RDs) in the design and content of programs to promote physical activity in older adults with type 2 diabetes.

Design: The Exercise Teaching Questionnaire was used to assess knowledge of and promotion of physical activity.

Setting And Participants: Surveys were sent to CDE-RDs and non-CDE-RDs in Florida, California, and Texas.

Estrogen-induced DNA synthesis in vascular endothelial cells is mediated by ROS signaling.

Background: Since estrogen is known to increase vascular endothelial cell growth, elevated estrogen exposure from hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptives has the potential to contribute in the development of abnormal proliferative vascular lesions and subsequent thickening of the vasculature. How estrogen may support or promote vascular lesions is not clear. We have examined in this study whether estrogen exposure to vascular endothelial cells increase the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and estrogen-induced ROS is involved in the growth of endothelial cells.

Associations of nationality and race with nutritional status during perimenopause: implications for public health practice.

Objective: To examine associations of nationality and race with anthropometry, self-reported nutrient intakes, health history, and socioeconomic status (SES) of perimenopausal (age 40-55 years) Floridians.

Design: Interviewer conducted cross-sectional survey.

Setting: South Florida, 2000-2001.

Behavioral risk profiles for coronary heart disease among apparently healthy individuals of African ancestry.

Objective: Mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) is lower in foreign-born Blacks compared to their US-born counterparts. The purpose of this study was to determine if behavioral risk factors for CHD are different between foreign-born Afro Caribbeans (FBAC) and their US-born counterparts (US-born Afro Caribbean Americans, USBAC and African Americans, AA).

Design And Participants: For a cross-sectional study, 66 FBAC (31 males; 35 females) living in the United States <10 years, 62 USBAC (30 males; 32 females), and 61 AA (30 males; 31 females) adults (18-40 years) were recruited.

Folate and vitamin B12 status of a multiethnic adult population.

Background: Folic acid and vitamin B12 are of particular interest for their diverse biological functions and preventive roles in many prevalent chronic diseases. However, ethnic differences on the status of these vitamins have not been investigated among multiethnic adult college students.

Methods: A cross-sectional study (n = 177) was conducted to determine the dietary intakes and levels of serum concentrations of folate and vitamin B12 among triethnic college students-non-Hispanic white, Hispanic and non-Hispanic black.

Estrogen exerts a spatial and temporal influence on reactive oxygen species generation that precedes calcium uptake in high-capacity mitochondria: implications for rapid nongenomic signaling of cell growth.

Novel findings that emerged from this study underscore the fact that the dynamic nature of mitochondria leads to functional heterogeneity of [Ca(2+)](mito) with respect to estrogen actions in MCF7 cells. We show that estrogen exposure to cells increased [Ca(2+)](mito) in a high-calcium capacity mitochondrial population but not in low-calcium capacity mitochondria. Physiological concentrations of 17beta-estradiol (E2) modulated Ca(2+)(mito) uptake within 90 s.

Changes needed in the healthcare system: perspectives of lay health workers.

Lay health workers can play a crucial role in connecting the community-in-need to the healthcare system. This article provides insights into how lay health workers, selected from underserved communities, view the issues faced in accessing the healthcare system. A sample of lay health workers responded to a questionnaire used to identify barriers they, themselves, experienced as well as get their perspectives on obstacles faced by their clients.

Validation of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire to assess energy and macronutrient intakes of Cuban Americans.

Objective: To assess the validity of a 131-item semiquantative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) by comparison with multiple food records in Cuban Americans.

Design: The Willet FFQ was administered and food consumptions of three random days (two weekdays and one weekend day) were collected.

Setting: Cuban Americans residing in Miami.