Trends in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake Among Persons Living With HIV in Washington, DC.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected older people, people with underlying health conditions, racial and ethnic minorities, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and people living with HIV (PWH). We sought to describe vaccine hesitancy and associated factors, reasons for vaccine hesitancy, and vaccine uptake over time in PWH in Washington, DC.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey between October 2020 and December 2021 among PWH enrolled in a prospective longitudinal cohort in DC.

Using EEG in Resource-Limited Areas: Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative Interpretation Methods in Cerebral Malaria.

Background: Our goal was to compare the strength of association and predictive ability of qualitative and quantitative electroencephalographic (EEG) factors with the outcomes of death and neurological disability in pediatric cerebral malaria (CM).

Methods: We enrolled children with a clinical diagnosis of CM admitted to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (Blantyre, Malawi) between 2012 and 2017. A routine-length EEG was performed within four hours of admission.

Theta-Alpha Variability on Admission EEG Is Associated With Outcome in Pediatric Cerebral Malaria.

Purpose: Pediatric cerebral malaria has high rates of mortality and neurologic morbidity. Although several biomarkers, including EEG, are associated with survival or morbidity, many are resource intensive or require skilled interpretation for clinical use. Automation of quantitative interpretation of EEG may be preferable in resource-limited settings, where trained interpreters are rare.

Plasmodium falciparum clearance time in Malawian children with cerebral malaria: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Standard treatment for both uncomplicated and severe malaria is artemisinin derivatives. Delayed parasite clearance times preceded the appearance of artemisinin treatment failures in Southeast Asia. Most worldwide malaria cases are in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where clinically significant artemisinin resistance or treatment failure has not yet been detected.

Post-Malaria Anemia Is Rare in Malawian Children with Cerebral Malaria.

Artesunate therapy for severe malaria syndromes has been associated with post-treatment hemolysis and anemia. We defined post-malaria anemia as any decrease in hematocrit between the index hospitalization for severe malaria and 1 month after. We determined the incidence and severity of post-malaria anemia in Malawian children surviving cerebral malaria (CM) by analyzing hospital and follow-up data from a long-standing study of CM pathogenesis.

Spiritual Considerations.

Spiritual issues play a prominent role for patients with cancer. Studies have demonstrated a positive connection between a patient's spirituality and health outcomes, including quality of life, depression and anxiety, hopefulness, and the ability to cope with illness. Spiritual or existential distress is prominent in patients with cancer.

The Cost of Cost-Sharing: The Impact of Medicaid Benefit Design on Influenza Vaccination Uptake.

Prior research indicates that cost-sharing and lack of insurance coverage reduce preventive services use among low-income persons. State Medicaid policy may affect the uptake of recommended adult vaccinations. We examined the impact of three aspects of Medicaid benefit design (coverage for vaccines, prohibiting cost-sharing, and copayment amounts) on vaccine uptake in the fee-for-service Medicaid population 19-64 years old.

Racial and ethnic differences in patient navigation: Results from the Patient Navigation Research Program.

Background: Patient navigation was developed to address barriers to timely care and reduce cancer disparities. The current study explored navigation and racial and ethnic differences in time to the diagnostic resolution of a cancer screening abnormality.

Methods: The authors conducted an analysis of the multisite Patient Navigation Research Program.

Challenges in Intervention Research for Lesbian and Bisexual Women.

Purpose: More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese, the highest prevalence occurring among women age 60 and older (42.

Serum Antioxidants Are Associated with Serum Reproductive Hormones and Ovulation among Healthy Women.

Background: Evidence is growing that the equilibrium between reactive oxygen species and antioxidants plays a vital role in women's reproductive health.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate variations in serum antioxidant concentrations across the menstrual cycle and associations between antioxidants and reproductive hormones and anovulation among healthy women.

Methods: The BioCycle Study, a prospective cohort, followed 259 women aged 18-44 y for up to 2 menstrual cycles.

Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence for impaired executive function in "cognitively normal" older HIV-infected adults.

The increased prevalence of HIV among adults >50 years underscores the importance of improving our understanding of mechanisms causing HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Identifying novel and noninvasive diagnostic predictors of HAND prior to clinical manifestation is critical to ultimately identifying means of preventing progression to symptomatic HAND. Here, using a task-switching paradigm, in which subjects were cued (unpredictably) to perform a face-gender or a word-semantic task on superimposed face and word images, we examined the behavioral and neural profile of impaired cognitive control in older HIV + adults (N = 14, 9 HIV+).

Cost effectiveness of a mail-delivered individually tailored physical activity intervention for Latinas vs. a mailed contact control.

Background: Physical inactivity is high in Latinas, as are chronic health conditions. There is a need for physical activity (PA) interventions that are not only effective but have potential for cost-effective widespread dissemination. The purpose of this paper was to assess the costs and cost effectiveness of a Spanish-language print-based mail-delivered PA intervention that was linguistically and culturally adapted for Latinas.

Profiling miRNAs in nasopharyngeal carcinoma FFPE tissue by microarray and Next Generation Sequencing.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a non-lymphomatous, squamous-cell carcinoma that occurs in the epithelial lining of the nasopharynx. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma has a geographically well-defined distribution worldwide, with the highest prevalence in China, Southeast Asia, and Northern Africa. Symptoms of nascent NPC may be unapparent or trivial, with diagnosis based on the histopathology of biopsied tissue following endoscopy of the nasopharynx.

Sexual Networks and HIV Risk among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in 6 U.S. Cities.

Background: Sexual networks may place U.S. Black men who have sex with men (MSM) at increased HIV risk.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Messaging Program for Smoking Cessation in Israel.

Text messaging programs on mobile phones have been shown to promote smoking cessation. This study investigated whether a text-messaging program for smoking cessation, adapted from QuitNowTXT, is feasible in Israel and acceptable to Israeli smokers. Participants (N = 38) were given a baseline assessment, enrolled in the adapted text messaging program, and followed-up with at 2 weeks and 4 weeks after their quit date.

Translational toxicology in setting occupational exposure limits for dusts and hazard classification - a critical evaluation of a recent approach to translate dust overload findings from rats to humans.

Background: We analyze the scientific basis and methodology used by the German MAK Commission in their recommendations for exposure limits and carcinogen classification of "granular biopersistent particles without known specific toxicity" (GBS). These recommendations are under review at the European Union level. We examine the scientific assumptions in an attempt to reproduce the results.

Characterizing occupational heat-related mortality in the United States, 2000-2010: an analysis using the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries database.

Background: Occupational heat-related mortality is not well studied and risk factors remain largely unknown. This paper describes the epidemiological characteristics of heat-related deaths among workers in the US 2000-2010.

Methods: Fatality data were obtained at the Bureau of Labor Statistics from the confidential on-site Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries database.

Infrequent HIV testing and late HIV diagnosis are common among a cohort of black men who have sex with men in 6 US cities.

Objective: US guidelines recommend at least annual HIV testing for those at risk. This analysis assessed frequency and correlates of infrequent HIV testing and late diagnosis among black men who have sex with men (BMSM).

Methods: HIV testing history was collected at enrollment from participants in HPTN 061, an HIV prevention trial for at-risk US BMSM.

Inflammatory breast cancer clusters: A hypothesis.

Cancer clusters have long been a focus of interest because of the possibility of identifying etiologic agents. Only on rare occasions, however, have such cluster investigations been successful. One major difficulty in cluster investigations, particularly in the area of breast cancer, is the long latent period.

Association between district-level perceived safety and self-rated health: a multilevel study in Seoul, South Korea.

Objectives: Several studies have reported the relationship between residents' perceived neighbourhood safety and their health outcomes. However, those studies suffered from unreliability of neighbourhood safety measure and potential residual confounding related to crime rates. In this study, using multilevel analysis to account for the hierarchical structure of the data, we examined associations between district-level perceived safety and self-rated health after adjusting for potential confounders including the district-level crime rate.

Use of geosocial networking (GSN) mobile phone applications to find men for sex by men who have sex with men (MSM) in Washington, DC.

Current advances have added geosocial networking (GSN) mobile phone applications as an option for men who have sex with men (MSM) to meet other men. This is the first study to assess GSN application use and sex-seeking behaviors of MSM recruited using venue-based sampling. Among the 379 MSM in this study, 63.

National ED crowding and hospital quality: results from the 2013 Hospital Compare data.

Objectives: We explored Hospital Compare data on emergency department (ED) crowding metrics to assess characteristics of reporting vs nonreporting hospitals, whether hospitals ranked as the US News Best Hospitals (2012-2013) vs unranked hospitals differed in ED performance and relationships between ED crowding and other reported hospital quality measures.

Methods: An ecological study was conducted using data from Hospital Compare data sets released March 2013 and from a popular press publication, US News Best Hospitals 2012 to 2013. We compared hospitals on 5 ED crowding measures: left-without-being-seen rates, waiting times, boarding times, and length of stay for admitted and discharged patients.