Increased Foreign Revenue Shares in the United States Film Industry: 2000 – 2014

The American film industry, which has historically been driven by the domestic market, now receives an increasing proportion of its revenue from abroad (foreign share). To determine the factors influencing this trend, this paper analyzed data from 11 countries of 2,337 American films released during 2000 – 2014. Both film and country attributes were analyzed to determine each attribute’s effect on foreign share, whether its effect size has changed over time and whether each attribute has changed in frequency amongst films released. The results identified six attributes, star actors, sequels, releases in top markets, release time lag, GDP growth and a match in language, that contributed to the increase in foreign share over this period.

Health Programming for Clergy: An Overview of Protestant Programs in the United States

The health of clergy is important, and clergy may find health programming tailored to them more effective. Little is known about existing clergy health programs. We contacted Protestant denominational headquarters and searched academic databases and the Internet. We identified 56 clergy health programs and categorized them into prevention and personal enrichment; counseling; marriage and family enrichment; peer support; congregational health; congregational effectiveness; denominational enrichment; insurance/strategic pension plans; and referral-based programs. Only 13 of the programs engaged in outcomes evaluation. Using the Socioecological Framework, we found that many programs support individual-level and institutional-level changes, but few programs support congregational-level changes. Outcome evaluation strategies and a central repository for information on clergy health programs are needed. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Variation in Inpatient Rehabilitation Utilization After Hospitalization for Burn Injury in the United States.

Approximately 45,000 individuals are hospitalized annually for burn treatment. Rehabilitation after hospitalization can offer a significant improvement in functional outcomes. Very little is known nationally about rehabilitation for burns, and practices may vary substantially depending on the region based on observed Medicare post-hospitalization spending amounts. This study was designed to measure variation in rehabilitation utilization by state of hospitalization for patients hospitalized with burn injury. This retrospective cohort study used nationally collected data over a 10-year period (2001 to 2010), from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases (SIDs). Patients hospitalized for burn injury (n = 57,968) were identified by ICD-9-CM codes and were examined to see specifically if they were discharged immediately to inpatient rehabilitation after hospitalization (primary endpoint). Both unadjusted and adjusted likelihoods were calculated for each state taking into account the effects of age, insurance status, hospitalization at a burn center, and extent of burn injury by TBSA. The relative risk of discharge to inpatient rehabilitation varied by as much as 6-fold among different states. Higher TBSA, having health insurance, higher age, and burn center hospitalization all increased the likelihood of discharge to inpatient rehabilitation following acute care hospitalization. There was significant variation between states in inpatient rehabilitation utilization after adjusting for variables known to affect each outcome. Future efforts should be focused on identifying the cause of this state-to-state variation, its relationship to patient outcome, and standardizing treatment across the United States.

Variation in pediatric traumatic brain injury outcomes in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the degree of variation, by state of hospitalization, in outcomes associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a pediatric population. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients admitted to a hospital with a TBI. SETTING: Hospitals from states in the United States that voluntarily participate in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. PARTICIPANTS: Pediatric (age ≤ 19 y) patients hospitalized for TBI (N=71,476) in the United States during 2001, 2004, 2007, and 2010. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was proportion of patients discharged to rehabilitation after an acute care hospitalization among alive discharges. The secondary outcome was inpatient mortality. RESULTS: The relative risk of discharge to inpatient rehabilitation varied by as much as 3-fold among the states, and the relative risk of inpatient mortality varied by as much as nearly 2-fold. In the United States, approximately 1981 patients could be discharged to inpatient rehabilitation care if the observed variation in outcomes was eliminated. CONCLUSIONS: There was significant variation between states in both rehabilitation discharge and inpatient mortality after adjusting for variables known to affect each outcome. Future efforts should be focused on identifying the cause of this state-to-state variation, its relationship to patient outcome, and standardizing treatment across the United States.

Perceived cannabis use norms and cannabis use among adolescents in the United States.

Due to changes in cannabis policies, concerns about cannabis use (CU) in adolescents have increased. The population of nonwhite groups is growing quickly in the United States. We examined perceived CU norms and their association with CU and CU disorder (CUD) for White, Black, Hispanic, Native-American, Asian-American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI), and mixed-race adolescents. Data were from adolescents (12-17 years) in the 2004-2012 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (N = 163,837). Substance use and CUD were assessed by computer-assisted, self-interviewing methods. Blacks, Hispanics, Native-Americans, and mixed-race adolescents had greater odds of past-year CU and CUD than Whites. Among past-year cannabis users (CUs), Hispanics and Native-Americans had greater odds of having a CUD than Whites. Asian-Americans had the highest prevalence of perceived parental or close friends' CU disapproval. Native-Americans and mixed-race adolescents had lower odds than Whites of perceiving CU disapproval from parents or close friends. In adjusted analyses, adolescent's disapproval of CU, as well as perceived disapproval by parents or close friends, were associated with a decreased odds of CU in each racial/ethnic group, except for NHs/PIs. Adolescent's disapproval of CU was associated with a decreased odds of CUD among CUs for Whites (personal, parental, and close friends' disapproval), Hispanics (personal, parental, and close friends' disapproval), and mixed-race adolescents (personal, close friends' disapproval). Racial/ethnic differences in adolescent CU prevalence were somewhat consistent with adolescents' reports of CU norm patterns. Longitudinal research on CU health effects should oversample nonwhite adolescents to assure an adequate sample for analysis and reporting.

Selectivity of physiotherapist programs in the United States does not differ by institutional funding source or research activity level.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare selectivity characteristics among institution characteristics to determine differences by institutional funding source (public vs. private) or research activity level (research vs. non-research). METHODS: This study included information provided by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) and the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. Data were extracted from all students who graduated in 2011 from accredited physical therapy programs in the United States. The public and private designations of the institutions were extracted directly from the classifications from the 'CAPTE annual accreditation report,' and high and low research activity was determined based on Carnegie classifications. The institutions were classified into four groups: public/research intensive, public/non-research intensive, private/research intensive, and private/non-research intensive. Descriptive and comparison analyses with post hoc testing were performed to determine whether there were statistically significant differences among the four groups. RESULTS: Although there were statistically significant baseline grade point average differences among the four categorized groups, there were no significant differences in licensure pass rates or for any of the selectivity variables of interest. CONCLUSION: Selectivity characteristics did not differ by institutional funding source (public vs. private) or research activity level (research vs. non-research). This suggests that the concerns about reduced selectivity among physiotherapy programs, specifically the types that are experiencing the largest proliferation, appear less warranted.

We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting for: Pan-African Consciousness Raising and Organizing in the United States and Venezuela

We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting for: Pan-African Consciousness Raising and Organizing in the United States and Venezuela, draws on fifteen months of field research accompanying organizers, participating in protests, planning/strategy meetings, state-run programs, academic conferences and everyday life in these two countries. Through comparative examination of the processes by which African Diaspora youth become radically politicized, this work deconstructs tendencies to deify political s/heroes of eras past by historicizing their ascent to political acclaim and centering the narratives of present youth leading movements for Black/African liberation across the Diaspora. I employ Manuel Callahan’s description of “encuentros”, “the disruption of despotic democracy and related white middle-class hegemony through the reconstruction of the collective subject”; “dialogue, insurgent learning, and convivial research that allows for a collective analysis and vision to emerge while affirming local struggles” to theorize the moments of encounter, specifically, the moments (in which) Black/African youth find themselves becoming politically radicalized and by what. I examine the ways in which Black/African youth organizing differs when responding to their perpetual victimization by neoliberal, genocidal state-politics in the US, and a Venezuelan state that has charged itself with the responsibility of radically improving the quality of life of all its citizens. Through comparative analysis, I suggest the vertical structures of “representative democracy” dominating the U.S. political climate remain unyielding to critical analyses of social stratification based on race, gender, and class as articulated by Black youth. Conversely, I contend that present Venezuelan attempts to construct and fortify more horizontal structures of “popular democracy” under what Hugo Chavez termed 21st Century Socialism, have resulted in social fissures, allowing for a more dynamic and hopeful negation between Afro-Venezuelan youth and the state.

Understanding Suicidal Behavior Among Latin Adolescent Girls Living in the United States

Suicide in adolescents between the age of 10 and 24 years old is the second cause of death in the United States. This rate differentiates by ethnic and racial groups within the same country; Latino/Hispanic adolescent girls have the highest rate of suicide behavior. Considering that Latino/Hispanic is the fastest growing minority group in the nation, with an expected population of 30% by 2060, this issue should be a public health priority. This paper answers the following question: what are the conditions operating among Latin adolescent girls living in the United States that cause significantly higher suicidal behavior rates in the U.S. and compared with their peers in Latin American countries? And, how adequate are treatments such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and prevention programs in tackling the specific risk factors affecting this population? The paper is divided into five chapters; the first four are based on a comprehensive literature review of statistics of suicide, risk and protective factors, treatment, and prevention programs. The last chapter offers an analysis of the sociological phenomenon of suicidal behavior in this population and three brief narratives of attempters and non-attempters. Studies show that subjective distress, familism and immigration issues are the key risk factors of suicidal behavior in Latina adolescent girls. Understanding the risk factors is key in order to design promotion and prevention programs that are culturally relevant and that can have a positive impact in the reduction of this alarming phenomenon.

The Evolution of Chimpanzee Sanctuaries in the United States

Chimpanzees are native only to the jungles of equatorial Africa, but for the last hundred years, they have also lived in captivity in the United States, most commonly in biomedical research laboratories, but also at Air Force bases for experiments for the space program, at accredited and unaccredited zoos, at circuses, as performers in Hollywood and even in private homes and backyards as pets. But that has been gradually evolving over the last few decades, as more and more chimpanzees move to newly-established chimpanzee sanctuaries. That transition was already underway even before the announcement by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) last year that it will retire all of its remaining chimpanzees from labs to sanctuaries. By thoroughly examining the evolution of these sanctuaries leading up to that seminal decision, along with the many challenges they face, including money, medical care, conflicting philosophies on the treatment of animals and the pitfalls that have led other sanctuaries to the brink of ruin, we can take away a better understanding of why chimpanzee sanctuaries are needed and why caretakers of other animal species are now looking to the chimpanzee sanctuary movement as a model to show how animals can be cared for in retirement.

Variation in use of surveillance colonoscopy among colorectal cancer survivors in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines recommend colonoscopies at regular intervals for colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors. Using data from a large, multi-regional, population-based cohort, we describe the rate of surveillance colonoscopy and its association with geographic, sociodemographic, clinical, and health services characteristics. METHODS: We studied CRC survivors enrolled in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance (CanCORS) study. Eligible survivors were diagnosed between 2003 and 2005, had curative surgery for CRC, and were alive without recurrences 14 months after surgery with curative intent. Data came from patient interviews and medical record abstraction. We used a multivariate logit model to identify predictors of colonoscopy use. RESULTS: Despite guidelines recommending surveillance, only 49% of the 1423 eligible survivors received a colonoscopy within 14 months after surgery. We observed large regional differences (38% to 57%) across regions. Survivors who received screening colonoscopy were more likely to: have colon cancer than rectal cancer (OR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.05-1.90); have visited a primary care physician (OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.14-1.82); and received adjuvant chemotherapy (OR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.27-2.41). Compared to survivors with no comorbidities, survivors with moderate or severe comorbidities were less likely to receive surveillance colonoscopy (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.49-0.98 and OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.29-0.66, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Despite guidelines, more than half of CRC survivors did not receive surveillance colonoscopy within 14 months of surgery, with substantial variation by site of care. The association of primary care visits and adjuvant chemotherapy use suggests that access to care following surgery affects cancer surveillance.

CMIP5 climate model analyses: Climate extremes in the United States

Given the increases in spatial resolution and other improvements in climate modeling capabilities over the last decade since the CMIP3 simulations were completed, CMIP5 provides a unique opportunity to assess scientific understanding of climate variability and change over a range of historical and future conditions. With participation from over 20 modeling groups and more than 40 global models, CMIP5 represents the latest and most ambitious coordinated international climate model intercomparison exercise to date. Observations dating back to 1900 show that the temperatures in the twenty-first century have the largest spatial extent of record breaking and much above normal mean monthly maximum and minimum temperatures. The 20-yr return value of the annual maximum or minimum daily temperature is one measure of changes in rare temperature extremes.

The Impact of Worsening Heart Failure in the United States.

In-hospital worsening heart failure represents a clinical scenario wherein a patient hospitalized for acute heart failure experiences a worsening of their condition, requiring escalation of therapy. Worsening heart failure is associated with worse in-hospital and postdischarge outcomes. Worsening heart failure is increasingly being used as an endpoint or combined endpoint in clinical trials, as it is unique to episodes of acute heart failure and captures an important event during the inpatient course. While prediction models have been developed to identify worsening heart failure, there are no known FDA-approved medications associated with decreased worsening heart failure. Continued study is warranted.