Na 1 Nachlass Max Horkheimer, 529 - Korrespondenzen mit u.a. Henryk Grossmann (p. VI 10, 1 - 200)

24 Briefe und Abrechnugen von New York State Income Tax Resident Return (New York) an Henryk Grossmann, 1938 - 1948; 3 Briefe von Henryk Grossmann an das Department of Taxation and Finance, 1946; 5 Briefe zwischen C. Hartwig Inc. und der Social Studies Association (New York), 1949; 1 Brief an F. Pollock von A. P. Bersohn, 14.12.1948; 2 Briefe von Max Horkheimer an Henryk Grossmann, 1945/1947; 2 Briefe zwischen Henryk Grossmann und F. Pollock, 1948 - 1949; 1 Brief von American Scantic Line/Moore-McCormack Lines Inc (New York) an C. Hartwig Inc., 18.02.1949; 1 Brief an Collector of Internal Revenue (New York) von Max Horkheimer, 25.01.1949; 1 Brief von Frederick Wild an Herrn Edelman, 17.09.1946; 80 Briefe zwischen Julian und Lotte Gumperz und Max Horkheimer, 1934 - 1942; 4 Briefe zwischen dem Institut für Sozialforschung (Frankfurt a. M.) und Helen Mack, 1974 - 1975; 3 Briefe zwischen der Columbia University (New York) und Julian Gumperz, Juli 1934; 4 Briefe von Max Horkheimer an die Columbia University (New York), 1934/1938; 1 Brief von Julian Gumperz an A. E. Burns, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief an Louis H. Bean von Julian Gumperz, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief von Julian Gumperz an E. A. Goldenweiser, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief an F. H. Thomson von Julian Gumperz, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief von Julian Gumperz an Gardiner Means, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief an Hildegard Kneeland von Julian Gumperz, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief von Julian Gumperz an Mordecai Execiel, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief an Isador Lubin von Julian Gumperz, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief von Julian Gumperz an Boris Stern, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief an Lauchlin Currie von Julian Gumperz, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief von Julian Gumperz an B. H. Beckhart, 24.02.1938; 1 Brief von der Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung (New York) an Julian Gumperz, 08.10.1937;

Na 1 Nachlass Max Horkheimer, 658 - Berichte über die Arbeit des Instituts für Sozialforschung u.a. (p. IX 59.3-IX 63)

Grossmann, Henrik: "The Nature of Economic Crisis". Typoskript, 4 Blatt; Über die Tätigkeiten des Institutes für Sozialforschung. Verschiedene Berichte. 1940- 1941; "Report to the Trustees of the Kurt Gerlach Memorial Foundation". 25.01.1940, Typoskript, 5 Blatt; "Manuskript under preparation". Januar 1940, handschriftliche Liste, 1 Blatt; Horkheimer, Max: "Über die allgemeine Lage des Instituts". Bericht für das Advisory Bord (New York members) Meeting, 22.04.1940; sowie ein Protokoll des Treffens, Typoskript, 5 Blatt; "Annual Report on the Activities of the Société International de Recherces Sociales, Presented to the Eight General Meeting in New York City on April 27, 1940"; sowie "Report on the Activities of the International Institute of Social Research for the Year 1939". Typoskript, 13 Blatt; "Report to the Trustees of the Kurt Gerlach Memorial Foundation". 23.02.1941, Typoskript mit eigenhändigen Ergänzungen von Max Horkheimer und handschriftlichen Ergänzungen und Korrekturen von Leo Löwenthal, 7 Blatt; Liste der Veröffentlichungen und der Forschungsgebiete des Instituts für Sozialforschung; "Content of Periodicals. List of Articles and Selected Major Book Reviews Arranged According to Contibutors. List of Articles and Selected Major Book Reviews Arranged According Topics. 1934-1941". a) Typoskript, 14 Blatt; b) Typoskript , 15 Blatt; "Literatur über features". 03.02.1941, Veröffentlichungsliste, 1 Blatt; Veröffentlichungsliste zu den Gebieten Nationalsozialismus, Massenkultur, Sozialgeschichte des späteren Mittelalters; 19.12.1941, Typoskript, 1 Blatt; Ankündigung und Übersicht über die ersten Nummern der "Studies in Philosophy and Social Science". 1941; Typoskripte und Drucksachen, 3 Blatt; "Supplementary Memorandum on the Activities of the Institute from 1939 to 1941. (supplemented to December, 1942)". 1942, als Typoskript vervielfältigt, 5 Blatt; Über Organisation und Mitarbeiter des Institutes für Sozialforschung. 1943; a) Typoskript, 6 Blatt; b) Typoskript, 7 Blatt; c) Teilstück, Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 2 Blatt; d) Teilstück, Typoskript, 3 Blatt; e) Entwurf, Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 8 Blatt; "Annual Report on the Activities of the Social Studies Association, Inc.". 15.05.1943, Typoskript, 6 Blatt; "Statement of Prof. Dr. Max Horkheimer, Director of the Institut of Social Research on June 9, 1943. Reponse: Certain Charges made against the Institut of Social Research (Columbia University)". 1943; a) Typoskript, 6 Blatt; b) Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Randbemerkungen, 6 Blatt; c) deutsche Rückübersetzung, 1969, Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 4 Blatt;

Na 1 Nachlass Max Horkheimer, 659 - Berichte über die Arbeit des Instituts für Sozialforschung u.a. (p. IX 64-IX 65b)

"The International Institute of Social Research. Its History, Program and Needs" (1943?), als Typoskript vervielfältigt, 18 Blatt, mit 6 Photographien und einem Anhang: Rezensionen von "Autorität und Familie" und "Abstracts" von Aufsätzen aus der Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung, Photokopien, 12 Blatt; "Über Geschichte, Organisation und Tätigkeiten des Instituts für Sozialforschung. Aus einem Bericht" (1943), Teilstück, Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 10 Blatt; "Annual Report on the Activities of the Social Studies Association, Inc." (6.5.1944), Typoskript, 6 Blatt; "Ten Years on Morningside Hights. A Report on the Institute's History 1934 to 1944 (Dezember 1944): 1. Report, a) als Typoskript vervielfältigt, 36 Blatt, b) Typoskript, 48 Blatt, c) Entwurf des Teils "Philosophical Studies", Typoskript, 4 Blatt; 2. "Letters Regarding Ten Years Report", 1 Blatt; 3. Liste der Empfänger des Reports. 1 Blatt; 4. Max Horkheimer: 1 Brief an Nicholas Murray Butler, New York, 17.4.1945 , 1 Blatt; 5. Briefentwürfe zur Versendung des Reports, 2 Blatt; Theodore Abel: "Evaluation of the Institute's Work" (1944?): 1. Würdigung, Typoskript, englisch, 4 Blatt; 2. Theodore Abel: 1 Brief mit Unterschrift an Leo Löwenthal, New York, 6.3.1946; 3. Abschrift von 1. und 2., Typoskript, 5 Blatt; Über Organisation und Tätigkeiten des Instituts für Sozialforschung (Mai 1945), Typoskript, 3 Blatt;

Na 1 Nachlass Max Horkheimer, 562 - Korrespondenzen u.a. mit Alice H. Maier und Leo Löwenthal (p. VI 26, 170-409)

Briefwechsel zwischen Alice H. Maier und Max Horkheimer; 3 Briefe zwischen Adolf Sturmthal und Alice H. Maier, 1951; 1 Brief von Alice H. Maier an Hattie Ross, 25.09.1951; 1 Brief an Franz Neumann von Alice H. Maier, 20.08.1951; 1 Brief von Alice H. Maier an Friede Fromm-Reichmann, 20.08.1951; 1 Brief an Leo Löwenthal von M. von Medelssohn, 13.08.1951; 1 Brief an The New York Academy of Science von Alice H. Maier, 20.03.1951; 1 Brief von dem Lee Travel Service (New York) an Max Horkheimer, 09.08.1948; 1 Brief an Max Horkheimer von Walter Hallstein, 02.07.1948; 1 Brief von E. Stein an Max Horkheimer, 26.06.1948; 2 Briefe zwischen Alice H. Maier und Gaby Onderwijzer, 1947; 1 Brief an Alfred Haas von Emmy Henne, 01.04.1955; 11 Briefe zwischen Emmy Henne und Alice H. Maier, 1954 - 1955; 2 Briefe zwischen Max Horkheimer und Morris L. Ernst, Oktober 1955; 1 Brief an Alfred Haas und Fritz Moses von Emmy Henne, 01.04.1955; 1 Brief an Alice H. Maier von Alfred Haas und Fritz Moses, 25.10.1954; 1 Brief an das Barbison Plaza Hotel (New York) von Alice H. Maier, 10.02.1955; 4 Briefe von dem Institut für Sozialforshung (Fankfurt am Main) an die Social Studies Association (New York), 1952 - 1954; 2 Briefe und 8 Briefentwürfe von Max Horkheimer an Nicholas Jory, September 1954; 1 Brief und 2 Briefentwürfe an Stroock von Alice H. Maier, [1954]; 1 Brief an Max Horkheimer von L. A. Chamberlin, 16.08.1954; 1 Brief von A. P. Bersohn an Max Horkheimer, 17.08.1954; 1 Brief von Max Horkheimer an Jacob K. Javits, 07.08.1954; 1 Brief an The Ideal Book Shop (New York) von Alice H. Maier, 07.08.1954; 1 Brief von Lothar Wendt (Internist) an Max Horkheimer, 30.07.1954; 1 Brief von Max Horkheimer an Young, 16.07.1954; 1 Brief an R. B. Shipley von Chauncy D. Harris, 16.07.1954; 1 Brief von Chauncy D. Harris an Max Horkheimer, 28.05.1954; 3 Briefe zwischen Max Horkheimer und John J. McCloy, 1954; 1 Brief von John J. McCloy an Ruth Shipley, 12.07.1954; 4 Briefe zwischen Alice H. Maier und Volker von Hagen, 1954; 1 Brief an York Lucci von Alice H. Maier, 13.04.1954; 3 Briefe von Alice H. Maier an H. P. Edelman, 1954; 3 Briefe zwischen Diedrich Osmer und Alice H. Maier, 1953; 1 Brief an die Indiana University (South Bend) von Diedrich Osmer, 26.02.1953; 3 Briefe zwischen Alice H. Maier und Elizabeth C. Krueger, 1953; 2 Briefe zwischen David Melvin Raul und Alice H. Maier, 1952; 1 Brief von Frederick Wild an The American Quaterly (Mineapolis), 25.06.1952; 1 Brief an Alice H. Maier von David Riesman, 19.05.1952; 1 Brief und 1 Briefentwurf an Felix Weil von Alice H. Maier, 23.04.1952;

A survey of the implementation status of environmental management systems in U.S. colleges and universities, and, An environmental management system implementation model for U.S. colleges and universities

A census of 925 U.S. colleges and universities offering masters and doctorate degrees was conducted in order to study the number of elements of an environmental management system as defined by ISO 14001 possessed by small, medium and large institutions. A 30% response rate was received with 273 responses included in the final data analysis. Overall, the number of ISO 14001 elements implemented among the 273 institutions ranged from 0 to 16, with a median of 12. There was no significant association between the number of elements implemented among institutions and the size of the institution (p = 0.18; Kruskal-Wallis test) or among USEPA regions (p = 0.12; Kruskal-Wallis test). The proportion of U.S. colleges and universities that reported having implemented a structured, comprehensive environmental management system, defined by answering yes to all 16 elements, was 10% (95% C.I. 6.6%–14.1%); however 38% (95% C.I. 32.0%–43.8%) reported that they had implemented a structured, comprehensive environmental management system, while 30.0% (95% C.I. 24.7%–35.9%) are planning to implement a comprehensive environmental management system within the next five years. Stratified analyses were performed by institution size, Carnegie Classification and job title. ^ The Osnabruck model, and another under development by the South Carolina Sustainable Universities Initiative, are the only two environmental management system models that have been proposed specifically for colleges and universities, although several guides are now available. The Environmental Management System Implementation Model for U.S. Colleges and Universities developed is an adaptation of the ISO 14001 standard and USEPA recommendations and has been tailored to U.S. colleges and universities for use in streamlining the implementation process. In using this implementation model created for the U.S. research and academic setting, it is hoped that these highly specialized institutions will be provided with a clearer and more cost-effective path towards the implementation of an EMS and greater compliance with local, state and federal environmental legislation. ^

The association of area socioeconomic status and cancer screening: A systematic review and multilevel study

Background. The gap between actual and ideal rates of routine cancer screening in the U.S., particularly for colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) (1;2), is responsible for an unnecessary burden of morbidity and mortality, particularly for disadvantaged groups. Knowledge about the effects of individual and area influences is being advanced by a growing body of research that has examined the association of area socioeconomic status (SES) and cancer screening after controlling for individual SES. The findings from this emerging and heterogeneous research in the cancer screening literature have been mixed. Moreover, multilevel studies in this area have not yet adequately explored the possibility of differential associations by population subgroup, despite some evidence suggesting gender-specific effects. ^ Objectives and methods. This dissertation reports on a systematic review of studies on the association of area SES and cancer screening and a multilevel study of the association between area SES and CRCS. The specific aims of the systematic review are to: (1) describe the study designs, constructs, methods, and measures; (2) describe the association of area SES and cancer screening; and (3) identify neglected areas of research. ^ The empiric study linked a pooled sample of respondents aged ≥50 years without a personal history of colorectal cancer from the 2003 and 2005 California Health Interview Surveys with a comprehensive set of census-tract level area SES measures from the 2000 U.S. Census. Two-level random intercept models were used to test 2 hypotheses: (1) area SES will be associated with adherence to two modalities of CRCS after controlling for individual SES; and (2) gender will moderate the relationship between area socioeconomic status and adherence to both modalities of CRCS. ^ Results. The systematic review identified 19 eligible studies that demonstrated variability in study designs, methods, constructs, and measures. The majority of tested associations were either not statistically significant or significant and in the positive direction, indicating that as area SES increased, the odds of CRCS increased. The multilevel study demonstrated that while multiple aspects of area SES were associated with CRCS after controlling for individual SES, associations differed by screening modality and in the case of endoscopy, they also differed by gender. ^ Conclusions. Conceptual and methodologic heterogeneity and weaknesses in the literature to date limit definitive conclusions about the underlying relationships between area SES and cancer screening. The multilevel study provided partial support for both hypotheses. Future research should continue to explore the role of gender as a moderating influence with the aim of identifying the mechanisms linking area SES and cancer prevention behaviors. ^

The information bottleneck method for genome-wide association studies

In population studies, most current methods focus on identifying one outcome-related SNP at a time by testing for differences of genotype frequencies between disease and healthy groups or among different population groups. However, testing a great number of SNPs simultaneously has a problem of multiple testing and will give false-positive results. Although, this problem can be effectively dealt with through several approaches such as Bonferroni correction, permutation testing and false discovery rates, patterns of the joint effects by several genes, each with weak effect, might not be able to be determined. With the availability of high-throughput genotyping technology, searching for multiple scattered SNPs over the whole genome and modeling their joint effect on the target variable has become possible. Exhaustive search of all SNP subsets is computationally infeasible for millions of SNPs in a genome-wide study. Several effective feature selection methods combined with classification functions have been proposed to search for an optimal SNP subset among big data sets where the number of feature SNPs far exceeds the number of observations. ^ In this study, we take two steps to achieve the goal. First we selected 1000 SNPs through an effective filter method and then we performed a feature selection wrapped around a classifier to identify an optimal SNP subset for predicting disease. And also we developed a novel classification method-sequential information bottleneck method wrapped inside different search algorithms to identify an optimal subset of SNPs for classifying the outcome variable. This new method was compared with the classical linear discriminant analysis in terms of classification performance. Finally, we performed chi-square test to look at the relationship between each SNP and disease from another point of view. ^ In general, our results show that filtering features using harmononic mean of sensitivity and specificity(HMSS) through linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is better than using LDA training accuracy or mutual information in our study. Our results also demonstrate that exhaustive search of a small subset with one SNP, two SNPs or 3 SNP subset based on best 100 composite 2-SNPs can find an optimal subset and further inclusion of more SNPs through heuristic algorithm doesn't always increase the performance of SNP subsets. Although sequential forward floating selection can be applied to prevent from the nesting effect of forward selection, it does not always out-perform the latter due to overfitting from observing more complex subset states. ^ Our results also indicate that HMSS as a criterion to evaluate the classification ability of a function can be used in imbalanced data without modifying the original dataset as against classification accuracy. Our four studies suggest that Sequential Information Bottleneck(sIB), a new unsupervised technique, can be adopted to predict the outcome and its ability to detect the target status is superior to the traditional LDA in the study. ^ From our results we can see that the best test probability-HMSS for predicting CVD, stroke,CAD and psoriasis through sIB is 0.59406, 0.641815, 0.645315 and 0.678658, respectively. In terms of group prediction accuracy, the highest test accuracy of sIB for diagnosing a normal status among controls can reach 0.708999, 0.863216, 0.639918 and 0.850275 respectively in the four studies if the test accuracy among cases is required to be not less than 0.4. On the other hand, the highest test accuracy of sIB for diagnosing a disease among cases can reach 0.748644, 0.789916, 0.705701 and 0.749436 respectively in the four studies if the test accuracy among controls is required to be at least 0.4. ^ A further genome-wide association study through Chi square test shows that there are no significant SNPs detected at the cut-off level 9.09451E-08 in the Framingham heart study of CVD. Study results in WTCCC can only detect two significant SNPs that are associated with CAD. In the genome-wide study of psoriasis most of top 20 SNP markers with impressive classification accuracy are also significantly associated with the disease through chi-square test at the cut-off value 1.11E-07. ^ Although our classification methods can achieve high accuracy in the study, complete descriptions of those classification results(95% confidence interval or statistical test of differences) require more cost-effective methods or efficient computing system, both of which can't be accomplished currently in our genome-wide study. We should also note that the purpose of this study is to identify subsets of SNPs with high prediction ability and those SNPs with good discriminant power are not necessary to be causal markers for the disease.^

A formative evaluation of the American Diabetes Association's Choosing Health and Sensible Exercise childhood obesity intervention

Background. The increasing prevalence of overweight among youth in the United States, and the parallel rise in related medical comorbidities has led to a growing need for efficient weight-management interventions. Purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Choosing Health and Sensible Exercise (C.H.A.S.E.) childhood obesity prevention program on Body Mass Index (BMI), physical activity and dietary behaviors. Methods. This study utilized de-identified data collected during the fall 2006 session of the C.H.A.S.E. program. A total of 65 students at Woodview Elementary School and Deepwater Elementary School participated in this intervention. The C.H.A.S.E. program is a 10-week obesity prevention program that focuses on nutrition and physical activity education. Collection of height and weight data, and a health behavior survey was conducted during the first and last week of the intervention. Paired t-tests were used to determine statistically significant differences between pre- and post-intervention measurements. One-way analysis of variance was used to adjust for potential confounders, such as gender, age, BMI category ("normal weight", "at risk overweight", or "overweight"), and self-reported weight loss goals. Data were analyzed using STATA, v. 9.2. Results. A significant decrease in mean BMI (p< 0.05) was found after the 10-week intervention. While the results were statistically significant for the group as a whole, changes in BMI were not significant when stratified by age, sex, or ethnicity. The mean overall scores for the behavior survey did not change significantly pre- and post-intervention; however, significant differences were found in the dietary intention scale, indicating that students were more likely to intend to make healthier food choices (p<0.05). No statistically significant decreases in BMI were found when stratified for baseline BMI-for-age percentiles or baseline weight loss efforts (p>0.05). Conclusion. The results of this evaluation provide information that will be useful in planning and implementing an effective childhood obesity intervention in the future. Changes in the self-reported dietary intentions and BMI show that the C.H.A.S.E. program is capable of modifying food choice selection and decreasing BMI. Results from the behavior questionnaire indicate that students in the intervention program were making changes in a positive direction. Future implementation of the C.H.A.S.E. program, as well as other childhood obesity interventions, may want to consider incorporating additional strategies to increase knowledge and other behavioral constructs associated with decreased BMI. In addition, obesity prevention programs may want to increase parental involvement and increase the dose or intensity of the intervention. ^

Association of self-reported physical activity and performance in the physical fitness assessment among Airmen

The U.S. Air Force, as with the other branches of military services, has physical fitness standards imposed on their personnel. These standards ensure a healthy and fit combat force. To meet these standards, Airmen have to maintain a certain level of physical activity in their lifestyle. Objective. This was a cross sectional (prevalence) study to evaluate the association of Airmen's self-reported physical activity and their performance in the Air Force Physical Fitness Assessment in 2007. Methods. The self-reported physical activity data were obtained from the Air Force Web Health Assessment (AF WEB HA), a web-based health questionnaire completed by the Airmen during their annual Preventive Health Assessment. The physical activity levels were categorized as having met or not having met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) physical activity recommendations. Physical Fitness scores were collected from the Air Force Fitness Management System (AFFMS), a repository of physical fitness test data. Results. There were 49,029 Airmen who answered the AF WEB HA in 2007 and also took their physical fitness test. 94.4% (n = 46,304) of Airmen met the recommended physical activity guidelines and 79.9% (n = 39,178) passed the fitness test. Total Airmen who both met the physical activity recommendations and passed the fitness test was 75.6% (n = 37,088). Airmen who did not meet the activity recommendations and also failed the fitness test totaled 635 or 1.3% of the study group. The Mantel-Haenszel Chi-Square analysis of the data on the activity levels and the physical fitness test relationship was the following χ2 = 18.52, df 1, and p = <0.0001. The Odds Ratio (OR) was 1.22 (95% CI 1.12, 1.34). Conclusion. The study determined that there was a positive association between Airmen's self-reported physical activity and their performance in the physical fitness assessment.^

The association of peer victimization and/or bullying perpetration and body dissatisfaction in elementary students from the healthy passages baseline study

This is the first U.S. study to investigate the association between peer victimization and/or bullying perpetration and body image dissatisfaction in American elementary school students. The study used data collected from the Healthy Passages baseline cohort of 5152 ethnically diverse fifth grade students from Alabama, Texas, and California. The overall prevalence of body dissatisfaction in our fifth grade sample was 50%. Students who were dissatisfied with their bodies were 23% more likely to be involved in peer victimization than students who were satisfied with their bodies (OR = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.48). No significant associations were found between bullying status or bully-victim status and body dissatisfaction. Other factors that contributed significantly to a student's body image status were BMI, level of self-worth, level of household income, gender, pubertal timing and support received from adults (other than parents). It is noteworthy that those who were dissatisfied were heavier, came from lower income homes and were more likely to be male. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these associations, especially among large ethnically and socio-economically diverse samples. ^

Foodborne illness, food inspection policy and restaurants in the U.S.

Objectives. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a literature review of research relating to foodborne illness, food inspection policy, and restaurants in the United States. Aim 1: To convey the public health importance of studying restaurant food inspection policies and suggest that more research is needed in this field, Aim 2: To conduct a systematic literature review of recent literature pertaining to this subject such that future researchers can understand the: (1) Public perception and expectations of restaurant food inspection policies; (2) Arguments in favor of a grade card policy; and, conversely; (3) Reasons why inspection policies may not work. ^ Data/methods. This paper utilizes a systematic review format to review articles relating to food inspections and restaurants in the U.S. Eight articles were reviewed. ^ Results. The resulting data from the literature provides no conclusive answer as to how, when, and in what method inspection policies should be carried out. The authors do, however, put forward varying solutions as to how to fix the problem of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants. These solutions include the implementation of grade cards in restaurants and, conversely, a complete overhaul of the inspection policy system.^ Discussion. The literature on foodborne disease, food inspection policy, and restaurants in the U.S. is limited and varied. But, from the research that is available, we can see that two schools of thought exist. The first of these calls for the implementation of a grade card system, while the second proposes a reassessment and possible overhaul of the food inspection policy system. It is still unclear which of these methods would best slow the increase in foodborne disease transmission in the U.S.^ Conclusion. In order to arrive at solutions to the problem of foodborne disease transmission as it relates to restaurants in this country, we may need to look at literature from other countries and, subsequently, begin incremental changes in the way inspection policies are developed and enforced.^

Determining the association between nativity status and mammography utilization among women in the United States using 2000 and 2005 NHIS data

Objective. To determine the association between nativity status and mammography utilization among women in the U.S. and assess whether demographic variables, socioeconomic factors healthcare access, breast cancer risk factors and acculturation variables were predictors in the relationship between nativity status and mammography in the past two years. ^ Methods. The NHIS collects demographic and health information using face-to-face interviews among a representative sample of the U.S. population and a cancer control module assessing screening behaviors is included every five years. Descriptive statistics were used to report demographic characteristics of women aged 40 and older who have received a mammogram in the last 2 years from 2000 and 2005. We used chi square analyses to determine statistically significant differences by mammography screening for each covariate. Logistic regression was used to determine whether demographic characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, healthcare access, breast cancer risk factors and acculturation variables among foreign-born Hispanics affected the relationship between nativity status and mammography use in the past 2 years. ^ Results. In 2000, the crude model between nativity and mammography was significant but results were not significant after adjusting for health insurance, access and reported health status. Significant results were also reported for years in U.S. and mammography among foreign-born born women. In 2005, the crude model was also significant but results were not significant after adjusting for demographic factors. Furthermore, there was a significant finding between citizenship and mammography in the past 2 years. ^ Conclusions. Our study contributes to the literature as one of the first national-based studies assessing mammography in the past two years based on nativity status. Based on our findings, health insurance and access to care is an important predictor in mammography utilization among foreign-born women. For those with health care access, physician recommendation should further be assessed to determine whether women are made aware of mammography as a means to detect breast cancer at an early stage and further reduce the risk of mortality from the breast cancer.^

The association between maternal use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors during pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes

Maternal use of SSRIs for depression and anxiety during pregnancy has increased over the last decade. Recent studies have questioned the safety of these antidepressants when used in during pregnancy. The aim of this project is to assess the associations between maternal SSRI use and GH, SGA, and preterm birth using data from a U.S. population-based study with self-reported exposure information. ^ The study population is comprised of mothers of control infants from the NBDPS, an ongoing, multi-state, population-based case-control study. Mothers were asked about any use of medications during pregnancy, including the dates they started and stopped taking each medication. Maternal GH was self-reported, while gestational age and birth weight were calculated from information on birth certificates or medical records. ^ Our study found that women exposed to SSRIs in the first trimester and beyond had a higher odds of GH compared to unexposed women (aOR=1.96, 95% CI=1.02-3.74). Women who used SSRIs only in the first trimester had no increased odds of GH (aOR=0.77, 95% CI=0.24-2.50). Women who used SSRIs throughout their entire pregnancy had a two-fold increase in the odds of delivering an SGA infant compared to unexposed women (aOR=2.16, 95% CI=1.01-4.62), while women who reported SSRI use only in the first trimester had a decreased odds of delivering an SGA infant (aOR=0.56, 95% CI=0.14-2.34). Finally, both women who used SSRIs in the first trimester only (aOR=1.58, 95% CI=0.71-3.51) and women who used SSRIs in the first trimester and beyond (aOR=1.49, 95% CI=0.76-2.90) had an increased odds of delivering preterm compared to unexposed women. ^ Results from our study suggest that women who use SSRIs in the first trimester and beyond have an increased and significant odds of GH and SGA. An increase in the odds of preterm birth was also observed among women exposed in this period and is consistent with the results of previous studies which had much larger sample sizes. Women who use SSRIs only in the first trimester appear to have no increased odds of GH or SGA, but may have an increased odds of preterm birth. These findings are consistent with previous studies and highlight how exposure to SSRIs at different points in gestation may result in different risks for these outcomes. ^

Association of folate metabolic pathway genes with human spina bifida meningomyelocele

Neural tube defects including spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBMM) are common malformations of the brain and spinal cord, and include all abnormalities resulting from lack of closure of the developing neural tube during embryological development.^ The specific aims of this study were to determine if single nucleotide polymorphic variants (SNPs) in the folate/homocysteine metabolic pathway genes confer a risk for NTD susceptibility within this SBMM population.^ In completion of the first specific aim, two novel SNPs were identified in the FOLR1 gene in Chromosome 11of patients including one in non-coding exon 1 with a C → T transition at nucleotide position 71578317 and another in non-coding exon 3 with a T → G transversion at nucleotide position 71579123. It will be important to determine if these variants are present in the respective parents of these individuals. If they are in fact de novo variants, then these SNPs may be more likely to contribute to the birth defect.^ The second project aim was to analyze genotypes associated with SBMM risk by transmission disequilibrium tests (TDT) and association was detected on several SNPs across the folate metabolic pathway genes in this population. SNPs with significant RC-TDT values were found within the DHFR gene (rs1650723), the MTRR gene (rs327592), the FOLR2 gene (rs13908), four tightly linked variants in the FOLR3 gene (rs7925545, rs7926875, rs7926987, rs7926360) and a variant in the SLC19A1 gene (rs1888530). The product of each of these genes performs a vital function in the folate metabolic pathway. It is conceivable, therefore, that if the individual SNP or SNPs can be proven to perturb the function in some way that they may be involved in the disruption of folate metabolism and in the resulting birth defect. Validating the results of this study in other independent populations will further strengthen the evidence that dysfunction of folate enzymes and receptors may confer SBMM risk in humans. ^

Association between ethnicity and treatment status in opioid dependence therapy using methadone and suboxone drugs

Opioids are drugs with opium-like qualities that are either derived from opiates (drugs created from opium, such as morphine or codeine) or chemically produced. In the U.S. opiate abuse and related deaths have been increasing and traditional maintenance treatment has been Methadone with variable success. However, since 2003 synthetic Buprenorphine has been used since it is prescribed daily by physicians in pill form and should improve outcomes. Comparative studies are limited and the effect of ethnicity on treatment outcome is unknown. ^ Data collected at one clinic from December 2005 through May 2009 were used to compare the association between ethnicity and other socioeconomic variables with treatment status, and to identify factors associated with the dropout among participants. Descriptive tables and multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the data on 1,295 total participants. Of the total, 875 participants (68%) were from the Methadone subsample and 420 participants (32%) from the Buprenorphine subsample; only about 15% stayed in treatment. ^ This study showed that with either Methadone or Buprenorphine maintenance therapy, only about 15% participants stay active over 3.5 years. Methadone treated patients that stayed active in treatment were associated with Caucasian ethnicity and were more likely to be employed. With Buprenorphine maintenance treatment only age over 40 years was associated with continuing activity in the program. Further studies that examine the reasons for the high dropout status and the implication of the socioeconomic and ethnic associations found in this data may help to improve treatment outcomes.^