Higher pricing of fresh produce is more likely in SNAP-Ed eligible neighborhoods when adjacent non-program eligible neighborhoods are mixed income.

This analysis describes the socioeconomic attributes of neighborhoods adjacent to low-income neighborhoods with ≥50% of households that are Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) eligible. It compares the pricing, availability, and quality of fresh produce between these neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health utilized 2013-2014 community-level data from the (CX3) Project to examine the geographic patterns of fresh produce purchases and accessibility in SNAP-Ed eligible census tracts.

Depression in Nonclassical Hypogonadism in Young Men.

The specific objective of this study was to test the clinically derived hypothesis associating a high prevalence of depression in young men with nonclassical hypogonadism. We studied the entire population of men aged 18 to 40 years who had an outpatient visit at an academic health system in the years 2013 to 2015. The study group comprised 186 patients with a diagnosis of eugonadotropic hypogonadism and a testosterone value below 10.

Ultrasound Assessment of the Change in Carotid Corrected Flow Time in Fluid Responsiveness in Undifferentiated Shock.

Objectives: Adequate assessment of fluid responsiveness in shock necessitates correct interpretation of hemodynamic changes induced by preload challenge. This study evaluates the accuracy of point-of-care Doppler ultrasound assessment of the change in carotid corrected flow time induced by a passive leg raise maneuver as a predictor of fluid responsiveness. Noninvasive cardiac output monitoring (NICOM, Cheetah Medical, Newton Center, MA) system based on a bioreactance method was used.

A participatory approach to evaluating a national training and institutional change initiative: the BUILD longitudinal evaluation.

Background And Purpose: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds training programs to increase the numbers and skills of scientists who obtain NIH research grants, but few programs have been rigorously evaluated. The sizeable recent NIH investment in developing programs to increase the diversity of the NIH-funded workforce, implemented through the Diversity Program Consortium (DPC), is unusual in that it also funds a Consortium-wide evaluation plan, which spans the activities of the 10 BUilding Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) awardees and the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN). The purpose of this article is to describe the evaluation design and innovations of the BUILD Program on students, faculty, and institutions of the 10 primarily undergraduate BUILD sites.

46-Year Trends in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Mortality in the United States, 1968 to 2013: A Nationwide Population-Based Study.

Background: No large population-based studies have been done on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) mortality trends in the United States.

Objective: To identify secular trends and population characteristics associated with SLE mortality.

Design: Population-based study using a national mortality database and census data.

Association between quality of life and anxiety, depression, physical activity and physical performance in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Objective: Maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients often have impaired quality of life (QOL), anxiety, depression, and reduced daily physical activity (DPA) and physical performance. The contributions of these latter factors to reduced QOL in MHD are poorly understood. We examined the association of QOL with anxiety, depression, DPA, and physical performance.

A Community-Partnered, Participatory, Cluster-Randomized Study of Depression Care Quality Improvement: Three-Year Outcomes.

Objective: Community Partners in Care, a community-partnered, cluster-randomized trial with depressed clients from 93 Los Angeles health and community programs, examined the added value of a community coalition approach (Community Engagement and Planning [CEP]) versus individual program technical assistance (Resources for Services [RS]) for implementing depression quality improvement in underserved communities. CEP was more effective than RS in improving mental health-related quality of life, reducing behavioral health hospitalizations, and shifting services toward community-based programs at six months. At 12 months, continued evidence of improvement was found.

Feasibility of common bibliometrics in evaluating translational science.

Introduction: A pilot study by 6 Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) explored how bibliometrics can be used to assess research influence.

Methods: Evaluators from 6 institutions shared data on publications (4202 total) they supported, and conducted a combined analysis with state-of-the-art tools. This paper presents selected results based on the tools from 2 widely used vendors for bibliometrics: Thomson Reuters and Elsevier.

Dihydrotestosterone: Biochemistry, Physiology, and Clinical Implications of Elevated Blood Levels.

Benefits associated with lowered serum DHT levels after 5α-reductase inhibitor (5AR-I) therapy in men have contributed to a misconception that circulating DHT levels are an important stimulus for androgenic action in target tissues (e.g., prostate).

Structural homologies between phenformin, lipitor and gleevec aim the same metabolic oncotarget in leukemia and melanoma.

Phenformin's recently demonstrated efficacy in melanoma and Gleevec's demonstrated anti-proliferative action in chronic myeloid leukemia may lie within these drugs' significant pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and structural homologies, which are reviewed herein. Gleevec's success in turning a fatal leukemia into a manageable chronic disease has been trumpeted in medical, economic, political and social circles because it is considered the first successful targeted therapy. Investments have been immense in omics analyses and while in some cases they greatly helped the management of patients, in others targeted therapies failed to achieve clinically stable recurrence-free disease course or to substantially extend survival.

The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in the Depression Care of African Americans and Hispanics in Los Angeles.

Objective: This study examined use of depression care provided by faith-based organizations (FBOs) by African Americans and Hispanics and factors associated with the receipt of such care, including mental illness severity and use of traditional mental health services.

Methods: The study used baseline data from the Community Partners in Care study, a group-randomized trial comparing a community-partnered approach with a technical-assistance approach to improving depression care in underresourced communities in Los Angeles. A sample of 947 individuals (48% African American, 27% non-U.

A Novel Spirometric Measure Identifies Mild COPD Unidentified by Standard Criteria.

Background: In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, both smaller and larger airways are affected. FEV mainly reflects large airways obstruction, while the later fraction of forced exhalation reflects reduction in terminal expiratory flow. In this study, the objective was to evaluate the relationship between spirometric ratios, including the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 3 and 6 seconds (FEV/FEV), and small airways measures and gas trapping at quantitative chest CT scanning, and clinical outcomes in the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene) cohort.

Dietary energy requirements in relatively healthy maintenance hemodialysis patients estimated from long-term metabolic studies.

Background: Studies that examined dietary energy requirements (DERs) of patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) have shown mixed results. Many studies reported normal DERs, but some described increased energy needs. DERs in MHD patients have been estimated primarily from indirect calorimetry and from nitrogen balance studies.

The Healthy Community Neighborhood Initiative: Rationale and Design.

Objective: To describe the design and rationale of the Healthy Community Neighborhood Initiative (HCNI), a multi-component study to understand and document health risk and resources in a low-income and minority community.

Design: A community-partnered participatory research project.

Setting: A low-income, biethnic African American and Latino neighborhood in South Los Angeles.

Developing the Translational Research Workforce: A Pilot Study of Common Metrics for Evaluating the Clinical and Translational Award KL2 Program.

Purpose: This pilot study describes the career development programs (i.e., NIH KL2 awards) across five Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutions within the University of California (UC) system, and examines the feasibility of a set of common metrics for evaluating early outcomes.

Enhancing Dissemination, Implementation, and Improvement Science in CTSAs through Regional Partnerships.

Background And Importance: Challenges in healthcare policy and practice have stimulated interest in dissemination and implementation science. The Institute of Medicine Committee on the Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) program recommended expanding the CTSA program's investment and activity in this domain. Guidance is needed to facilitate successful growth of DII science infrastructure, activity and impacts.

The association of patient complexities with antibiotic ordering.

Background: Antibiotic treatment decisions for medically complex patients are complicated, as the risk of undertreatment may be severe, whereas overtreatment may be associated with adverse effects and the emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens.

Objective: To determine the influence of patient complexities on providers' decisions to prescribe antibiotics in 3 common hospital-based clinical vignettes.

Design: A physician survey.

Factors affecting daily physical activity and physical performance in maintenance dialysis patients.

Maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients display reduced daily physical activity (DPA) and physical performance (PP). Previous studies did not differentiate the effects of kidney failure and MHD treatments from comorbidities as causes for reduced DPA and PP. In relatively healthy MHD patients and normal adults, we evaluated DPA and PP and examined relationships between DPA and PP and possible associations between anxiety or depression and DPA and PP.

Self-Reported Interview-Assisted Diet Records Underreport Energy Intake in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients.

Objectives: Studies suggest that maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients report dietary energy intakes (EIs) that are lower than what is actually ingested. Data supporting this conclusion have several important limitations. The present study introduces a novel approach of assessing underreporting of EI in MHD patients.

Reengineering autologous bone grafts with the stem cell activator WNT3A.

Autologous bone grafting represents the standard of care for treating bone defects but this biomaterial is unreliable in older patients. The efficacy of an autograft can be traced back to multipotent stem cells residing within the bone graft. Aging attenuates the viability and function of these stem cells, leading to inconsistent rates of bony union.

Limitations of semen analysis as a test of male fertility and anticipated needs from newer tests.

Semen analysis is the first step to identify male factor infertility. Standardized methods of semen analysis are available allowing accurate assessment of sperm quality and comparison among laboratories. Population-based reference ranges are available for standard semen and sperm parameters.

Environmental exposure to di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate is associated with low interest in sexual activity in premenopausal women.

Phthalates, a ubiquitous class of environmental chemicals, may interfere with typical reproductive hormone production both in utero and in adulthood. Although they are best known as anti-androgens, increasingly, evidence suggests that phthalates, particularly di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), may also suppress estrogen production. Given that both androgens and estrogens are essential for sexual function, particularly sexual interest, it is plausible that adult exposure to phthalates alters sexual function.

Pre-synaptic C-terminal truncated tau is released from cortical synapses in Alzheimer's disease.

The microtubule-associated protein tau has primarily been associated with axonal location and function; however, recent work shows tau release from neurons and suggests an important role for tau in synaptic plasticity. In our study, we measured synaptic levels of total tau using synaptosomes prepared from cryopreserved human postmortem Alzheimer's disease (AD) and control samples. Flow cytometry data show that a majority of synaptic terminals are highly immunolabeled with the total tau antibody (HT7) in both AD and control samples.