160 research outputs found
Hiding in Plain Sight: The Baldock Restoration Project
No full textAuthors Andrée Tremoulet, Ellen Bassett, and Allison Moe tell a story about balancing public concerns about encountering the homeless in highway rest areas with the need to connect them with resources to address the complex social, political, and economic circumstances underlying their lack of housing
Surgical treatment of scaphocephaly in 40 consecutive patients .endoscopy or open surgery?
No full textTransportation Meets Social Welfare
No full textOTREC researchers helped state transportation department staff members face a problem that isn’t strictly part of their job description: how best to deal with homeless individuals and households living in DOT rights of way and rest areas.
OTREC researchers examine the human relations impact of transportation and land management decisions involving homeless encampments
Seasonlity of Kawasaki Disease: A global perspective
No full textBACKGROUND: Understanding global seasonal patterns of Kawasaki disease (KD) may provide insight into the etiology of this vasculitis that is now the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children in developed countries worldwide. METHODS: Data from 1970-2012 from 25 countries distributed over the globe were analyzed for seasonality. The number of KD cases from each location was normalized to minimize the influence of greater numbers from certain locations. The presence of seasonal variation of KD at the individual locations was evaluated using three different tests: time series modeling, spectral analysis, and a Monte Carlo technique. RESULTS: A defined seasonal structure emerged demonstrating broad coherence in fluctuations in KD cases across the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropical latitudes. In the extra-tropical latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, KD case numbers were highest in January through March and approximately 40% higher than in the months of lowest case numbers from August through October. Datasets were much sparser in the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere extra-tropics and statistical significance of the seasonality tests was weak, but suggested a maximum in May through June, with approximately 30% higher number of cases than in the least active months of February, March and October. The seasonal pattern in the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropics was consistent across the first and second halves of the sample period. CONCLUSION: Using the first global KD time series, analysis of sites located in the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropics revealed statistically significant and consistent seasonal fluctuations in KD case numbers with high numbers in winter and low numbers in late summer and fall. Neither the tropics nor the Southern Hemisphere extra-tropics registered a statistically significant aggregate seasonal cycle. These data suggest a seasonal exposure to a KD agent that operates over large geographic regions and is concentrated during winter months in the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropics.published_or_final_versio
Relocation of Homeless People from ODOT Rights-of-Way
No full textThis research project consists of an investigation of responses to homeless encampments on rights-of-way owned by Departments of Transportation (DOTs). While DOTs are not housing or social service agencies, their role as major public landowners involves them in dealing with the consequences of homelessness. The research goals included analyzing the prevalence of the problem, documenting how DOTs are responding, and culling from this data information that could be used as a basis for creating a best practices guide. The research included a single mixed-methods, in-depth case study, electronic surveys of practitioners and follow-up interviews. Products consist of two reports (included as appendices to this document): A Case Study of the Baldock Rest Area and Homeless Encampments on Public Right-of-Way: A Planning and Best Practices Guide
Homeless Encampments on Public Right-of-Way: A Planning and Best Practices Guide
No full textHomelessness is a societal problem. Its causes are complex, and its effects have implications for many public agencies, including those not directly responsible for providing assistance to homeless individuals. Because homeless people constantly seek safe shelter and refuges, agencies that own public land and buildings sometimes find themselves in contact with this population. Nationally, the impact of homelessness appears to represent a substantial operational challenge for state transportation agencies and Departments of Transportation (DOTs). Two online surveys?one of state DOT managers and supervisors and the other of public sector managers of highway rest areas (DOT and other state agency staff)?conducted in 2012 found that 76% of the 24 states and one Canadian province with staff that responded reported issues with homeless encampments or individuals on rights-of-way or rest areas. This guide presents a problem-solving approach to addressing the impacts of homeless populations public on right-of-way based in part on the principles of problem-oriented policing. It involves enlisting the support and help of partners, each with different areas of expertise. It also involves framing the problem in a different way. It is based on the premise that the most effective way to deal with the impacts of homelessness on right-of-way in the long term is by combining the push provided by law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system with the pull provided by social service and housing providers who can help homeless individuals reassess their options and move on with their lives. It involves forming long-term working relationships and building trust among collaborators, who can thus be called upon to coordinate and innovate as incidents and issues surface
Genetic variation in the SLC8A1 calcium signaling pathway is associated with susceptibility to Kawasaki disease and coronary artery abnormalities
No full textBACKGROUND: -Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute pediatric vasculitis in which host genetics influence both susceptibility to KD and the formation of coronary artery aneurysms. Variants discovered by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and linkage studies only partially explain the influence of genetics on KD susceptibility. METHODS AND RESULTS: -To search for additional functional genetic variation, we performed pathway and gene stability analysis on a GWAS dataset. Pathway analysis using European GWAS data identified 100 significantly associated pathways (p< 5 ×10(-4)). Gene stability selection identified 116 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 26 genes that were responsible for driving the pathway associations and gene ontology analysis demonstrated enrichment for calcium transport (p=1.05 ×10(-4)). Three SNPs in solute carrier family 8 member 1 (SLC8A1), a sodium/calcium exchanger encoding NCX1, were validated in an independent Japanese GWAS dataset (metaanalysis p=0.0001). Patients homozygous for the A (risk) allele of rs13017968 had higher rates of coronary artery abnormalities (p=0.029). NCX1, the protein encoded by SLC8A1, was expressed in spindle-shaped and inflammatory cells in the aneurysm wall. Increased intracellular calcium mobilization was observed in B cell lines from healthy controls carrying the risk allele. CONCLUSIONS: -Pathway-based association analysis followed by gene stability selection proved to be a valuable tool for identifying risk alleles in a rare disease with complex genetics. The role of SLC8A1 polymorphisms in altering calcium flux in cells that mediate coronary artery damage in KD suggests that this pathway may be a therapeutic target and supports the study of calcineurin inhibitors in acute KD
A Case Study of the Baldock Restoration Project
No full textSince the 1980s, homelessness has become an increasingly visible and seemingly intransigent part of American society. It affects not only those who experience it directly, as a condition in their own lives, but also a broad spectrum of interests that deal with its effects. One such interest is owners and managers of public land, where homeless individuals commonly seek refuge, sometimes forming communities. Although their business may be transportation, natural resources management, recreation or some other public service, managers of public land are called upon to deal with this complex environmental, legal and human problem. This is a case study of the Baldock Restoration Project, in which a team of people from the travel, transportation, law enforcement and social services professions came together to help homeless individuals leave their long-standing community located in an Oregon highway rest area, thus restoring the rest area to its original function. This case study is part of a larger project to analyze ways in which transportation agencies address the challenge of homeless encampments on public rights of way. A best practices guide of potential strategies and interventions for a variety of contexts will also be prepared. The case study was prepared over a six-month period that began approximately one year after the conclusion of the project. Primary sources included semi-structured interviews with eleven key informants who were part of the team working on the project and three former members of the homeless community. Documentary sources included media accounts, meeting minutes and reports written by key informants. Sources were triangulated to promote accuracy
Temporal clustering of Kawasaki disease cases around the world
No full textIn a single-site study (San Diego, CA, USA), we previously showed that Kawasaki Disease (KD) cases cluster temporally in bursts of approximately 7 days. These clusters occurred more often than would be expected at random even after accounting for long-term trends and seasonality. This finding raised the question of whether other locations around the world experience similar temporal clusters of KD that might offer clues to disease etiology. Here we combine data from San Diego and nine additional sites around the world with hospitals that care for large numbers of KD patients, as well as two multi-hospital catchment regions. We found that across these sites, KD cases clustered at short time scales and there were anomalously long quiet periods with no cases. Both of these phenomena occurred more often than would be expected given local trends and seasonality. Additionally, we found unusually frequent temporal overlaps of KD clusters and quiet periods between pairs of sites. These findings suggest that regional and planetary range environmental influences create periods of higher or lower exposure to KD triggers that may offer clues to the etiology of KD
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