The sexually transmitted infections (STIs) gonorrhea and chlamydia are known to disproportionately affect impoverished communities and communities of color, especially in urban areas. Moreover, socioeconomic and demog...The sexually transmitted infections (STIs) gonorrhea and chlamydia are known to disproportionately affect impoverished communities and communities of color, especially in urban areas. Moreover, socioeconomic and demographic factors such as poverty and race/ethnicity may contribute to a difference in treatment setting choice as well as a delay in care seeking. In an urban metropolitan area such as Boston, the overall gonorrhea and chlamydia rates are higher than national rates, and such differences are even more marked in certain neighborhoods with greater proportions of individuals who are impoverished, young, and of color. Using a retrospective analysis of city wide data, we highlight the effects of socioeconomic and demographic variables on urban STI prevalence. High poverty rates, race/ethnicity and younger adult populations are linked to disproportionately high STI rates. Interestingly, STI rates do not appear to be influenced by the universal health care coverage offered to the whole Massachusetts’ resident populations. We examine the effects of these variables in Boston neighborhoods in conjunction to STI rates and hypothesize that the observed rates are underestimates of the true prevalence of infection. Future studies will investigate how these same socioeconomic and demographic factors influence which treatment settings are chosen and subsequently lead to a delay in treatment.展开更多
AIM To characterize the understanding of hepatitis B virus(HBV)and determine if outreach improves HBV understanding among Greater Boston Area immigrants.METHODS Six outreach sessions were held in various community ven...AIM To characterize the understanding of hepatitis B virus(HBV)and determine if outreach improves HBV understanding among Greater Boston Area immigrants.METHODS Six outreach sessions were held in various community venues in the Greater Boston Area.Verbal consent was obtained from participants prior to starting each session.Each session included a pre-session questionnaire,followed by a teaching session,and then a post-session questionnaire.In person interpreters were present for translation during the teaching session and assistance for questionnaire completion when needed.The questions were developed based on the HBV clinical experience of physicians who serve largely immigrant populations.Questionnaires included Likerttype scale,open-ended,and true-false questions.All results were anonymous.RESULTS One hundred and one people participated in this study.Participants were 30%male with ages ranging from 19 to 87 years.The study population included immigrants from 21 countries,as well as seven United States-born participants.The greatest numbers of participants were from Somalia(44%),Morocco(10%),and Cameroon(8%).Pre session questionnaires revealed that 42%of participants were unaware that HBV can cause cancer,and 50%were unaware that therapies for HBV exist.Our brief teaching intervention led to improved scores on post session questionnaires.For example,at baseline,58%of participants responded correctly to the question"HBV infection can cause scarring of the liver and liver cancer",whereas 79%of participants responded correctly after the teaching session(P=0.01).Furthermore,the mean of total correct answers in the true or false portion of the questionnaire increased from 5.5 to 7.6(P<0.001).CONCLUSION A teaching session targeting Boston Immigrants atrisk for HBV helped improve scores on HBV knowledge questionnaires.Outreach may empower at-risk patients to pro-actively seek HBV care.展开更多
This special issue of Current Zoology concerning the behavior, ecology, and evolution of fishes is comprised of the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the 2008 Ecological and Evolutionary Ecology of Fishes Biennial Conferen...This special issue of Current Zoology concerning the behavior, ecology, and evolution of fishes is comprised of the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the 2008 Ecological and Evolutionary Ecology of Fishes Biennial Conference that was held June 29 - July 3 at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The conference and its four symposia were organized by a local organization committee and scientific program committee which included Maria Abate, host at Boston University; Sigal Balshine, McMaster University; Michael Clancy, Boston University; Ronald Coleman, California State University, Sacramento; John Godwin, North Carolina State University; Les Kaufinan, Boston University;展开更多
Within the last few decades, increases in computational resources have contributed enormously to the progress of science and engineering (S & E). To continue making rapid advancements, the S & E community must...Within the last few decades, increases in computational resources have contributed enormously to the progress of science and engineering (S & E). To continue making rapid advancements, the S & E community must be able to access computing resources. One way to provide such resources is through High-Performance Computing (HPC) centers. Many academic research institutions offer their own HPC Centers but struggle to make the computing resources easily accessible and user-friendly. Here we present SHABU, a RESTful Web API framework that enables S & E communities to access resources from Boston University’s Shared Computing Center (SCC). The SHABU requirements are derived from the use cases described in this work.展开更多
目的探究中国中老年男性慢性病与前列腺增生(benign prostatic hyperplasia,BPH)风险的相关性。方法本研究使用了2013年中国健康与养老追踪调查(China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study,CHARLS)数据库统计数据,共纳入了4509名4...目的探究中国中老年男性慢性病与前列腺增生(benign prostatic hyperplasia,BPH)风险的相关性。方法本研究使用了2013年中国健康与养老追踪调查(China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study,CHARLS)数据库统计数据,共纳入了4509名45岁以上的男性参与者。慢性病以及BPH诊断通过问卷调查获得。Logistic回归分析筛选BPH患病的独立危险因素,限制性立方样条(restricted cubic splines,RCS)分析计量资料与BPH患病的非线性关系,分层分析评估慢性病对不同亚组人群BPH患病的影响差异。结果2013年CHARLS数据库中BPH的总体患病率约为9.8%。与非BPH患者相比,BPH患者合并慢性病的比例显著增加,包括高血压、糖尿病、慢性呼吸系统疾病、慢性心脏病、卒中、慢性肾脏病、慢性消化系统疾病、关节炎或风湿病、抑郁、记忆相关疾病等。多因素Logistic回归分析提示,10项流行病学研究中心抑郁量表(10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale,CESD-10)评分(OR=1.043,95%CI:1.022~1.063,P<0.001)、慢性呼吸系统疾病(OR=1.518,95%CI:1.143~1.998,P=0.003)、慢性心脏病(OR=1.515,95%CI:1.143~1.998,P=0.003)、慢性肾脏病(OR=2.384,95%CI:1.799~3.137,P<0.001)和慢性消化系统疾病(OR=1.427,95%CI:1.129~1.796,P=0.003)是BPH患病风险的独立危险因素。RCS分析表明,年龄、体质量指数(body mass index,BMI)、CESD-10评分与BPH不存在非线性关联,分层分析表明这些慢性病对不同分层人群BPH患病的影响效果基本稳定。结论BPH常与多种慢性病并存,未来BPH的治疗应考虑与慢性病之间的共同病理机制,针对共享靶点进行综合干预。展开更多
文摘The sexually transmitted infections (STIs) gonorrhea and chlamydia are known to disproportionately affect impoverished communities and communities of color, especially in urban areas. Moreover, socioeconomic and demographic factors such as poverty and race/ethnicity may contribute to a difference in treatment setting choice as well as a delay in care seeking. In an urban metropolitan area such as Boston, the overall gonorrhea and chlamydia rates are higher than national rates, and such differences are even more marked in certain neighborhoods with greater proportions of individuals who are impoverished, young, and of color. Using a retrospective analysis of city wide data, we highlight the effects of socioeconomic and demographic variables on urban STI prevalence. High poverty rates, race/ethnicity and younger adult populations are linked to disproportionately high STI rates. Interestingly, STI rates do not appear to be influenced by the universal health care coverage offered to the whole Massachusetts’ resident populations. We examine the effects of these variables in Boston neighborhoods in conjunction to STI rates and hypothesize that the observed rates are underestimates of the true prevalence of infection. Future studies will investigate how these same socioeconomic and demographic factors influence which treatment settings are chosen and subsequently lead to a delay in treatment.
文摘AIM To characterize the understanding of hepatitis B virus(HBV)and determine if outreach improves HBV understanding among Greater Boston Area immigrants.METHODS Six outreach sessions were held in various community venues in the Greater Boston Area.Verbal consent was obtained from participants prior to starting each session.Each session included a pre-session questionnaire,followed by a teaching session,and then a post-session questionnaire.In person interpreters were present for translation during the teaching session and assistance for questionnaire completion when needed.The questions were developed based on the HBV clinical experience of physicians who serve largely immigrant populations.Questionnaires included Likerttype scale,open-ended,and true-false questions.All results were anonymous.RESULTS One hundred and one people participated in this study.Participants were 30%male with ages ranging from 19 to 87 years.The study population included immigrants from 21 countries,as well as seven United States-born participants.The greatest numbers of participants were from Somalia(44%),Morocco(10%),and Cameroon(8%).Pre session questionnaires revealed that 42%of participants were unaware that HBV can cause cancer,and 50%were unaware that therapies for HBV exist.Our brief teaching intervention led to improved scores on post session questionnaires.For example,at baseline,58%of participants responded correctly to the question"HBV infection can cause scarring of the liver and liver cancer",whereas 79%of participants responded correctly after the teaching session(P=0.01).Furthermore,the mean of total correct answers in the true or false portion of the questionnaire increased from 5.5 to 7.6(P<0.001).CONCLUSION A teaching session targeting Boston Immigrants atrisk for HBV helped improve scores on HBV knowledge questionnaires.Outreach may empower at-risk patients to pro-actively seek HBV care.
文摘This special issue of Current Zoology concerning the behavior, ecology, and evolution of fishes is comprised of the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the 2008 Ecological and Evolutionary Ecology of Fishes Biennial Conference that was held June 29 - July 3 at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The conference and its four symposia were organized by a local organization committee and scientific program committee which included Maria Abate, host at Boston University; Sigal Balshine, McMaster University; Michael Clancy, Boston University; Ronald Coleman, California State University, Sacramento; John Godwin, North Carolina State University; Les Kaufinan, Boston University;
文摘Within the last few decades, increases in computational resources have contributed enormously to the progress of science and engineering (S & E). To continue making rapid advancements, the S & E community must be able to access computing resources. One way to provide such resources is through High-Performance Computing (HPC) centers. Many academic research institutions offer their own HPC Centers but struggle to make the computing resources easily accessible and user-friendly. Here we present SHABU, a RESTful Web API framework that enables S & E communities to access resources from Boston University’s Shared Computing Center (SCC). The SHABU requirements are derived from the use cases described in this work.
文摘目的探究中国中老年男性慢性病与前列腺增生(benign prostatic hyperplasia,BPH)风险的相关性。方法本研究使用了2013年中国健康与养老追踪调查(China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study,CHARLS)数据库统计数据,共纳入了4509名45岁以上的男性参与者。慢性病以及BPH诊断通过问卷调查获得。Logistic回归分析筛选BPH患病的独立危险因素,限制性立方样条(restricted cubic splines,RCS)分析计量资料与BPH患病的非线性关系,分层分析评估慢性病对不同亚组人群BPH患病的影响差异。结果2013年CHARLS数据库中BPH的总体患病率约为9.8%。与非BPH患者相比,BPH患者合并慢性病的比例显著增加,包括高血压、糖尿病、慢性呼吸系统疾病、慢性心脏病、卒中、慢性肾脏病、慢性消化系统疾病、关节炎或风湿病、抑郁、记忆相关疾病等。多因素Logistic回归分析提示,10项流行病学研究中心抑郁量表(10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale,CESD-10)评分(OR=1.043,95%CI:1.022~1.063,P<0.001)、慢性呼吸系统疾病(OR=1.518,95%CI:1.143~1.998,P=0.003)、慢性心脏病(OR=1.515,95%CI:1.143~1.998,P=0.003)、慢性肾脏病(OR=2.384,95%CI:1.799~3.137,P<0.001)和慢性消化系统疾病(OR=1.427,95%CI:1.129~1.796,P=0.003)是BPH患病风险的独立危险因素。RCS分析表明,年龄、体质量指数(body mass index,BMI)、CESD-10评分与BPH不存在非线性关联,分层分析表明这些慢性病对不同分层人群BPH患病的影响效果基本稳定。结论BPH常与多种慢性病并存,未来BPH的治疗应考虑与慢性病之间的共同病理机制,针对共享靶点进行综合干预。
