Methane (CH(4)) contributes to the growing global background concentration of tropospheric ozone (O(3)), an air pollutant associated with premature mortality. Methane and ozone are also important greenhouse gases. Reducing methane emissions therefore decreases surface ozone everywhere while slowing climate warming, but although methane mitigation has been considered to address climate change, i...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To estimate the relative health effects of the income and health insurance provisions of the Los Angeles City living wage ordinance. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS About 10 000 employees of city contractors are subject to the Los Angeles City living wage ordinance, which establishes an annually adjusted minimum wage (7.99 US dollars per hour in July 2002) and requires employers to c...

BACKGROUND The major objective of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Nigeria is to protect families from the financial hardship of large medical bills. Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) is rampart in Nigeria despite the take-off of the NHIS. This study aimed to determine if households enrolled in the NHIS were protected from having CHE. METHODS The study took place among 714 h...

BACKGROUND Parallels between the biological effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on nonsmokers and the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease (SCD) suggest that complications of SCD could be exacerbated by ETS exposure. OBJECTIVE To determine whether children with SCD who are exposed to ETS at home have more sickle cell crises than do those who live in nonsmoking household...

OBJECTIVE We sought to compare total outpatient costs of 4 common treatments for low-back pain (LBP) at 18-months follow-up. METHODS Our work reports on findings from a randomized controlled trial within a large medical group practice treating HMO patients. Patients (n = 681) were assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups, ie, medical care only (MD), medical care with physical therapy (MDPt), chiro...

To determine US consumer acceptance and value of beef from various countries, 24 taste panels of consumers (n = 273 consumers) were conducted in Denver and Chicago. Two pairs of strip steaks were evaluated for flavor, juiciness, tenderness, and overall acceptability on eight-point hedonic scales. One pair consisted of an Australian grass-fed strip steak and a domestic strip steak, whereas the o...

Urban-based randomized clinical trials of integrated supported employment (SE) and mental health services in the United States on average have doubled the employment rates of adults with severe mental illness (SMI) compared to traditional vocational rehabilitation. However, studies have not yet explored if the service integrative functions of SE will be effective in coordinating rural-based ser...

OBJECTIVE We evaluated various strategies to identify individuals aged 45-74 years with pre-diabetes (either impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted a cost analysis to evaluate the effectiveness (proportion of cases identified), total costs, and efficiency (cost per case identified) of five detection strategies: an oral glucose toleran...

BACKGROUND Despite increasing incidence and morbidity, little evidence exists to inform the best management approach in childhood empyema. AIM To compare chest drain with intrapleural urokinase and primary video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for the treatment of childhood empyema. METHODS Children were prospectively randomized to receive either percutaneous chest drain with intraple...