Public health and preventive medicine Books

Book SynopsisThe health care reform debate in the United States, raises many complex issues including those of coverage, accessibility, cost, accountability, and quality of health care. Underlying these policy considerations are issues regarding the status of health care as a constitutional or legal right. This book series analyses the constitutional and legal issues pertaining to the right of health care and the power of Congress to enact and fund health care programs. Other topics discussed in this volume include the constitutionality of the individual mandate; health insurance exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA); health care flexible spending accounts; tax-advantaged accounts for health care expenses; medical loss ratio requirements under the ACA; and an overview of health savings account rules.

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Book SynopsisQuality gaps in the care delivered by the U.S. health care system result in preventable mortality and morbidity and contribute costs to the system, with multiple indicators showing that quality of care could be improved. Although no single definition of high-quality health care has been agreed upon, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provided a framework for considering the quality of care, based on six domains: (1) effective, (2) efficient, (3) equitable, (4) patient-centred, (5) safe, and (6) timely. Ongoing congressional interest in enhancing the quality of health care is likely given the federal role in the delivery and financing of health care through, for example, the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This book begins with a discussion of the role of quality measurement in policies to enhance provider accountability and presents selected policies addressing quality measurement in this context. It then provides an overview of payment incentives and public reporting of performance data to improve quality, along with selected policy examples for each approach.

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Book SynopsisSince 1975, a growing number of states have implemented high risk pools (HRPs), which offer non-profit health insurance to individuals who are unable to purchase affordable coverage in the private market because of pre-existing conditions. State HRPs often contract with a private health insurance carrier to administer the pool, and plan options can vary significantly both within pools and from state to state. This book examines the temporary federal high risk pool (HRP) program, also known as the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP); with a focus on enrolment, benefits and funding.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides an overview of The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) which established a national Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC) under the joint direction of the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Inspector General, and designed to co-ordinate Federal, state and local law enforcement activities with respect to health care fraud and abuse. In its fifteenth year of operation, the HCFAC''s continued success again confirms the soundness of a collaborative approach to identify and prosecute the most egregious instances of health care fraud, to prevent future fraud or abuse, and to protect program beneficiaries.

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Book SynopsisThe leishmaniases are vector-borne diseases due to infection caused by parasitic protozoans belonging to the Leishmania genus, which find hosts in various wild and domestic animals and can be occasionally transmitted to humans by insect vectors. In this book, the authors discuss the symptoms, treatment and potential complications of leishmaniasis. Topics include immunity against leishmaniasis; the clinical haematology, epidemiology and aetiology of leishmaniasis; the role of neutrophils in visceral leishmaniasis; atypical manifestations of canine visceral leishmaniasis; and the parasitological and serological diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis.

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Book SynopsisThe VA/DoD published the first Clinical Practice Guideline for management of opioid therapy for chronic pain in 2003. This original publication was intended to improve pain management, quality of life, and quality of care for veterans. The focus of the guideline has been to provide education and guidance to primary care clinicians, researchers and other health professionals as they encounter patients with persistent pain and its complications. This book aims to update the evidence base of the 2003 Guideline. It is focused, as was the original CPG, on chronic opioid therapy (opioid therapy for more than one month). It is directed to the clinician who is interested in knowing more about this approach to the management of chronic pain.

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Book SynopsisThis book on constipation in children contains a complete update of this common problem in the world. It has been written by authors from 9 countries, who are experts in this field. In most cases, constipation is functional in origin, but one mustn''t forget the organic causes such as Hirschsprung''s disease, endocrine-metabolic disorders (Hypotiroidism, hypokalemia) or digestive diseases such as celiac disease or cystic fibrosis. Over the course of 18 chapters, this book describes the epidemiology and genetics of constipation, the anatomophysiology of defecation, ætiology, physiopathology, anterior ectopic anus, clinical evaluation, diagnostic testing of defecation disorders, colonic dysmotility, differential diagnosis (functional vs. organic), and several treatment options (medical and surgical). The book ends with long-term results in children with chronic constipation, and with the latest advances in future cellular therapies (Stem Cells) for defecation disorders.

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Book SynopsisThe authors of this book present current research in the study of the performance, impact on life quality and assistance in the activities of daily living. Topics discussed include health status and acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; daily mobility of the elderly in Spain; functional upper limb evaluation of activities of daily living in people with neurological disorders; influences of activities of daily living dependency on family caregiver burden and the strategies of adaptation; intervention with modified constraint induced movement therapy in occupational therapy and influence on activities of daily living; impact of mobility equipment on performance and quality of life; severity of unilateral spatial neglect and activities of daily living at discharge; rehabilitation strategies for people with cognitive impairments; flow experience in daily living and health-related quality of life.

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Book SynopsisThis book discusses health care, which has gone through profound changes in the preceding decades. Most of this change has been in what is possible, clinically speaking. These changes have transgressed international boundaries by virtue of the international nature of and ease of access to the literature and the internationality of health care conferences and the use of the internet. Many different actors deserve credit for these developments, from individual doctors, nurses, therapists and innovators to local, regional, national and international health care organisations. Much change has also come about due to the migration of quality assurance thinking from industrial realms to health care. This has not been anywhere near as uniformly distributed as state of the art care, however. Even across centres of excellence for treatment of specific diseases, large differences in quality assurance can be found, and one can also easily identify even more glaring deficiencies in quality of care in areas, where there is insufficient funding to make quality care available for all.

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Book SynopsisResearch has indicated that breastfeeding benefits children, mothers, and society as a whole. The U.S. government has established policies that promote breastfeeding. There is a clear need for theory-based programs that increase breastfeeding in order to reach the government''s goals. The studies represented in this book expand psychological theory and make suggestions for the design and implementation of such programs. This book is a first-step at promoting a healthier, more productive society through breastfeeding in accordance with the government''s Healthy People program goals.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, the authors discuss the challenges, practices and cultural influences of caregiving. Topics include caregiving for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities; family caregivers for patients with cancer; elder caregiving in South Asian families in the U.S. and India; study of caregiver''s resilience; caregiver burden in a Hong Kong Chinese population; managing compassion fatigue among professional cancer caregivers; community-based education for palliative care for the elderly in Japan; caregiver perception and oral health in cerebral palsy children; and the role of assistive technologies for person-centred dementia care in Japan.

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Book SynopsisThe health care reform debate in the United States raises many complex issues including those of coverage, accessibility, cost, accountability, and quality of health care. Underlying these policy considerations are issues regarding the status of health care as a constitutional or legal right. This book series analyses the constitutional and legal issues pertaining to the right of health care and the power of Congress to enact and fund health care programs. Other topics discussed in this volume include health care price transparency; private health insurance and estimates of individuals with pre-existing conditions which range from 36 million to 122 million; expiration of the health coverage tax credit and how it will affect participants'' costs and coverage choices as health reform provisions are implemented; trends, vulnerabilities and recommendations in personal care services; and traditional versus benchmark benefits under medicaid.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, the authors discuss women''s attitudes, the health implications and psychological challenges of weight gain. Topics include whether exercise training can reduce the prevalence of obesity with a high-fat diet; women''s body image and weight gain in pregnancy; maternal weight gain and perinatal outcomes; and women''s perceptions of post-partum weight retention and their body image in relation to breastfeeding outcomes in Japan.

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Book SynopsisIn this book the authors examine the contribution of social scientists to the topics of health and environment. They present diverse perspectives on classical and contemporary debates by focusing on social scientific framing of environment and health, as well as on the potential contribution of social science to problem solving strategies in these fields. They trace environment and health debates to the classical scholars and examine the evolution of contemporary academic disciplines concerned with health and environment. Finally, they address current complex relationships between human health and environmental problems, and between human and non-human interests.

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Book SynopsisSinging is a great vehicle for communal activity, but it has disappeared as a part of adulthood in many communities. Children still sing in kindergarten, but when do we as adults sing together? Singing has a wide range of personal benefits besides learning about music and how to create it. Developing and improving healthy singing techniques has been shown to have multiple physiological and social benefits for the participants, while also being a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Working with the voice has many physical benefits, such as improved posture and respiratory strength, increased energy levels and also stimulation for the mind. There are also many social and personal benefits, such as boosted self-esteem and confidence, improved communication and listening skills, raised self-awareness and awareness of others and developed team working skills. One area of communal activity that has received increasing attention is participative community singing, because it entails aerobic exercise, social interaction and promotion of a sense of connectedness. We believe it may be a good avenue to increase sense of connectedness and to promote participation in exercise activities. In this book we provide persuasive evidence from research to demonstrate the power of community singing in promoting social and emotional wellbeing, preventing depression, promoting healthy behaviours and promoting access to health services in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. In addition, the health effects of Tai Chi as another form of the arts is also explored. Academics have collaborated with practitioners to produce the study results, all of which are quantitative and report on the effects of community singing practices for a marginalised population in Australia.

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Book SynopsisThe Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means has reviewed the implementation of the tax and tax-related revenue provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Affordable Care Act has made broad-based changes to the law with respect to health insurance coverage in the individual and group markets and the law with respect to group health plans as well as laws that apply to Medicare and Medicaid. The ACA also includes a significant number of changes to the Code, including the addition of new Code sections and the amendment of previously existing Code sections. The ACA also includes off-Code revenue provisions that impose certain industry fees. This book provides a summary of health insurance changes made by the ACA and a description of the present law rules with respect to ACA revenue provisions and their implementation.

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Book SynopsisThis Yearbook touches upon several public health topics like burns, infant mortality, maltreatment, tropical paediatrics, building community capacity, and HIV research. Tropical paediatrics is a branch of tropical medicine focusing on children in these areas. The current process of global warming and the widespread issue of international travel are bringing these conditions to many places of the globe. Advances in science, innovations in business, and technological development in the last century and the continued rapid pace of change in these areas have created an environment, where the world today in the twenty-first century knows few boundaries. Health care is a field that has been enhanced and able to expand as a result of progress in these diverse yet integrated areas. However, for all of the improvement that new drugs, health care re-organisation and focused delivery, and accessible electronic medical records, for example, can afford many of the "haves" in society, there still remains a significant segment of the population in the industrialised world, and certainly in developing countries, who comprise the "have nots" and do not benefit from this progress. This disparity in health among populations across the globe has existed for decades despite our advances in health care and will be discussed in this yearbook and in the last section a small cross-section of some of the types of approaches that contemporary social scientists are taking in their efforts to minimise the harms resulting from HIV and AIDS.

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Book SynopsisIn 2013, the U.S. President''s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will mark nearly ten years of success with an extraordinary year of achievements. None of this would have been possible without the vision and leadership of President Bush, President Obama, and the bipartisan support of Congress. A decade ago AIDS was wiping out an entire generation in Africa; today, PEPFAR''s efforts and those of its many partners have brought the world to a new era -- a time when new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are on the steep decline, and an AIDS-free generation is both U.S. policy and a goal within our reach. Building off recent breakthroughs, which demonstrated the power of key evidence-based interventions to drive down the rate of new infections and save more lives, this book reflects lessons learned from almost ten years of experience in supporting countries to rapidly scale-up HIV prevention, treatment, and care services. It demonstrates the opportunity for the world to help move more countries toward and beyond the tipping point in their epidemics and put them on a path to achieving an AIDS-free generation. The U.S. commitment to the global AIDS response will remain strong, comprehensive, and driven by science -- and clearly outlines what PEPFAR is doing and will continue to do to help make an AIDS-free generation a reality.

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Book SynopsisHuman death is a mystery. Although scientists have identified the criteria, states, and signs of biological death, undoubtedly the issues of dying and death have a wider meaning. In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the ethical issues, practices and challenges of end-of-life care. Topics discussed include a spiritual perspective of end-of-life experiences; a veterinary oncologist''s interprofessional crossover perspective of euthanasia for terminal patients; diabetes and end-of-life care; helping families to cope after the death of a loved one; multidimensional aspects of nursing care for dying patients; spirituality at the end-of-life; challenges of promoting end-of-life care in residential care homes in Hong Kong; and the current situation and challenges of home end-of-life care for the elderly in Japan.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents national estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics on sexual behaviour, sexual attraction, and sexual identity in the United States; prevalence and timing of oral sex with opposite-sex partners among females and males aged 15-24 years; contraceptive methods women have used in the United States from 1982-2010; current contraceptive use in the United States (2006-2010); and use of emergency contraception among women aged 15-44. These behaviours and characteristics are relevant to birth and pregnancy rates, as well as to the incidence of sexually transmitted infections.

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Book SynopsisA central provision of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires the establishment of exchanges in each state, on-line marketplaces through which eligible individuals and small business employers can compare and select health insurance coverage from participating health plans. Exchanges are to begin enrolment by 1 October 2013, with coverage to commence 1 January 2014. States have some flexibility with respect to exchanges by choosing to establish and operate an exchange themselves (ie: state-based), or by ceding this authority to HHS (ie: federally facilitated). States may also choose to enter into a partnership with HHS whereby HHS establishes the exchange and the state assists with operating various functions. According to HHS, 18 states will establish a state-based exchange, while 25 will have a federally facilitated exchange. Seven states will partner with HHS. This book examines the states'' responsibilities for establishing exchanges, the actions selected states have taken, and the challenges they have encountered.

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Book SynopsisThe pursuit of quality has been a human endeavor since ancient times, which accelerated in the 20th Century in the industry through the vision and contributions of Shewart, Juran and Deming, who created the basis of disruptive innovations in science and technology, and contributed to the advance of industrial leadership in Japan. Quality became an essential component of industry, and has evolved with the emergence of new leaders like Feigenbaum, Crosby and Oakland. Garvin described that quality is measured from multiple perspectives, including manufacturers, payers and consumers. Albeit the practice of medicine has been considered an art beyond the scope of measurement or improvement, efforts to improve the quality of health care have also occurred. In the last three decades, a vibrant movement to improve the quality of health care has sprung up, under the leadership of the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. This book delivers a comprehensive view, and an inviting approach to integrate its components and the challenges of measurement and innovative strategies of implementation, individual and social support.

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Book SynopsisThe United States continues to face a range of serious threats to its national health security from the deliberate use or accidental release of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents, as well as from naturally occurring and emerging infectious diseases, including pandemic influenza. A failure to anticipate these threats -- or the lack of a capacity to effectively respond to them could leave an untold number of Americans dead or permanently disabled. The United States must therefore have the nimble, flexible capability to produce and effectively utilise medical countermeasures in the face of any attack or threat whether known or unknown -- novel or re-emerging -- natural or intentional. In addition, these capabilities must be communicated to the American public both before and during an emergency. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) leads all Federal public health and medical response to public health and medical emergencies covered by the National Response Framework. Effectively fulfilling this responsibility and accomplishing these goals necessitates co-ordination of medical countermeasure-related activities occurring across multiple Federal departments. To provide this co-ordination, HHS established the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) in July 2006 to co-ordinate Federal efforts to enhance civilian preparedness from a medical countermeasure perspective. The PHEMCE is charged with addressing the needs to produce and make medical countermeasures available to limit potential adverse health impacts on the large and diverse U.S. civilian population. The PHEMCE is working to meet the public health emergency needs of the entire civilian population, including groups that require special medical considerations, such as children and the elderly, as well as for first responders, health personnel, and other critical infrastructure personnel, by taking a "whole of community" approach in planning, response, and recovery efforts.

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Book SynopsisIs positive thinking really so healthy that, as Martin Seligman (2000) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi passionately thus argued, "we believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving individuals, families, and communities"? This optimistic view on positive thinking for health can be contrasted with an opposing view by Barbara Ehrenreich (2009), who "extensively critiqued ''positive psychology''" and showed "how obsessive positive thinking impedes productive action, causes delusional assessments of situations, and people are then blamed for not visualising hard enough and thus ''attracting'' failure even in situations when ''masses of lives were lost''." (WK 2013; R Byrne 2006) Contrary to these opposing views (and other ones as will be discussed in the book), health care (in relation to mental health and physical health in the context of mind and body) are neither possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides) would like us to believe. Surely, this questioning of the opposing views on health care does not suggest that the study of health care is worthless, or that those fields (related to health care) like medicine, chiropractic, health system, dentistry, health info tech, nursing, psychiatrics, clinical psychology, occupational therapy, pharmacy, allied health, and so on are unimportant. Needless to say, neither of these extreme views is reasonable. Instead, this book offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of health care, especially in the dialectic relationships between mental health and physical health in the context of mind and body -- while learning from different approaches in the literature but without favouring any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily compatible with each other). More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that is, the interconnected theory of health care) to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way and is organised in four chapters.

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Book SynopsisThe "global village" has resulted in the need to tackle cross-cultural issues in the health field. Especially the southern region of Israel (the Negev), which provides a unique opportunity to study the interaction between medicine and culture. The Negev population is a multicultural society, with Bedouin Arabs comprising almost a fifth of its population. This imposes tremendous challenges to the health establishment in the region and serves as a "cross-cultural laboratory" for educating health professionals in global health issues. Both the traditional Israeli medical school track, as well as the Medical School for International Medicine at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, incorporate studies of cross-cultural issues in various forms and to different degrees. Studies suggest that the exposure of students to international medical experiences increases their cross-cultural sensitivity, knowledge and expertise. In this book, you will find research from this region concerned with various aspects of Bedouin health, which we hope will give you a picture of various health issues from the southern region of Israel.

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Book SynopsisMenthol is widely used in consumer and medicinal products and has long been used in cigarettes, often as a flavour-characterising additive. In medical products, menthol is regulated as a drug with restrictions on allowable doses and use. There are no product standards for menthol when used in cigarettes. In this report, The FDA has undertaken a thorough review of the available science concerning menthol cigarettes. To accomplish this task, FDA weighed the collective body of evidence for the impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on public health. In reviewing the science of menthol smoking, FDA divided the scientific evidence into the following broad categories: smoke chemistry and non-clinical toxicology; physiology; biomarkers; patterns of use; marketing and consumer perception of risk; initiation and progression to regular use; dependence; cessation and disease risk.

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Book SynopsisIndia or the Republic of India is a large country in South Asia, in fact the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. India is still struggling with malnutrition, high infant mortality rate, diseases such as dengue fever, hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria and pneumonia with diarrhoeal diseases the primary causes of early childhood mortality. Maternal mortality in rural areas are among the highest in the world. In this book, we have gathered research papers from India published over the past three years in several Nova Science journals and it is our hope that you will find this research of interest and give you a small picture of health issues in modern India.

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Book SynopsisThe Okavango Delta, a globally renowned wetland, is characterised by a mosaic of meandering watercourses, floodplains and islands, and is home to a variety of wildlife and vegetation species. It is a major source of livelihoods for the local communities and also an important attraction for tourism, the second most important economic activity in Botswana after diamonds, contributing 5% to the gross domestic product (GDP). As a globally renowned Ramsar Site and major tourist attraction, the Okavango Delta is a resource of national, regional and international importance. This book examines the results of empirical micro-level studies undertaken in the Okavango Delta and contributes to the formulation of relevant policies for sustainable development in the Okavango Delta.

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Book SynopsisDrug resistance continues to be a major problem in the effective treatment of many diseases. Resistance to chemotherapy, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, is the result of at least three well defined mechanisms: prevention of the interaction of drug with the target, decreased intracellular concentration of the drug due to an increased efflux or a decreased influx, and enzymatic modification or destruction of the drug. With the advancement in technology, the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance have been unravelling at a rapid rate. This book is a timely review of such advances in drug resistance research. The nine chapters of this book, written by a group of clinicians and scientists, elegantly summarises recent advances in our understanding of this important clinical problem with emphasis on cisplatin, fibroblasts, natural compounds, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, prostate cancer and kidney cancer. This book will be an important contribution to science, and an invaluable tool for researchers who are interested in drug resistance.

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Book SynopsisThe term, adolescence, can be traced to the 15th century and is based on Latin etymology; adolescere referring to "growing into maturity." The current term, adolescence, identifies a critical period of human life that allows sufficient maturity for the human being to leave childhood dependency and pass through a dramatic period of immense physiological, psychological, and sociological consequences. The adolescent must accept the failures and successes of childhood with the initiation of puberty and in the end, start his or her adult life as central nervous system maturity occurs. The tremendous peaks of growth and development are only exceeded by those seen in utero and in early childhood. This yearbook is focused on adolescence with a chapter on health aspects in this time period, health risks, bullying and the new issue of internet addiction in adolescence, which we hope you will find of interest.

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Book SynopsisIn this Public Health Yearbook 2013, we will touch upon several public health topics like community capacity building, global health and health promotion. If where we live impacts our health, then we need to start improving the health of communities at the local level. For sustainability purposes, we need to help these communities build their capacity to address the episodic, as well as the persistent, public health issues that affect their health. How do we do that? How do we learn the skills and principles necessary to establish partnerships with our communities? How do we then teach our community partners to continue to improve the health status of their neighbourhoods when the funding expires? How to we conduct health promotion and does it really help and increase health and quality of life? In this Public Health Yearbook 2013 we explore this in greater detail and hopefully will answer some of your questions.

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Book SynopsisThis book includes a collection of chapters which provide a comprehensive review of cutting edge research and offers new evidence on anti-smoking policies and their implications, the health and environmental effects of smoking and the socio-economic and behavioral determinants of smoking. In this edited volume, a number of renowned scholars contribute to this literature with specific emphasis on anti-smoking policies, smoking behaviour, socio-economic determinants and impacts on health. The first section of the book includes chapters on anti-smoking policies and their impacts on smoking prevalence. The second section consists of chapters focusing on the socio-economic and behavioral determinants of smoking with examples drawn from Canada and Japan. The last section includes chapters studying the health and environmental hazards of smoking. This section focuses on the specific health effects of smoking that are not widely examined elsewhere, the role of nicotine in cancer stem cells and the potential harmful effects of ignoring submicron particles in low-tar and nicotine cigarettes. This book has been primarily written for the general public and policy makers. However, it also serves as a reference book for researchers, advanced level undergraduate and graduate students studying the related aspects of smoking. With its focus on public policy, the book would help the policy makers in developing and designing health and public policies aimed at reducing smoking and its harmful effects.

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Book SynopsisObesity is now considered a global epidemic. Central obesity is the state of excess adiposity in the abdominal region. It is associated with increased, cardiovascular or cancer mortality. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has recommended the assessment of central obesity mandatory for diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. Hitherto, there is a huge gap in our understanding of the role of central obesity as a health risk across different populations around the world. There also exist a vast population variation in the relationship between generalized obesity as measured by body mass index and /or percent body fat and the central adiposity measures. For instance, Asian-Indians have a typical phenotype of higher body fat at lower BMI levels compared to their European counterparts. Development and use of region specific standards of measurement of central obesity is in need until a universal agreement is achieved. With this background, the present volume has been organized with some very informative articles from highly reputed scholars, researching on obesity in general and on central obesity, in particular. We have here articles based on empirical data as well some review articles critically examining some theoretical, epidemiological and clinical aspects pertaining to the theme of this volume. Through the 14 chapters of this volume, we have attempted to cover diverse aspects concerning the paradigm of central or abdominal adiposity / obesity within a broader framework of obesity.

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Book SynopsisFrom prolonged duration of a disease, to permanent injury, to death, drug shortages have led to harmful outcomes for patients of all ages. Over the last decade, an increasing number of prescription drugs -- including life-saving and life-sustaining drugs -- have been in short supply, preventing health care providers and patients from accessing medications that are essential for treatment. During shortages, providers -- including hospitals, physicians, and pharmacists -- may have to use medications that could be less effective for treating conditions or carry unwanted side-effects, if alternatives are available at all. The immediate cause of drug shortages can generally be traced to a manufacturer halting or slowing production to address quality problems, triggering a supply disruption. Other manufacturers have a limited ability to respond to supply disruptions due to constrained manufacturing capacity. This book reviews the trends in recent drug shortages and describes what is known about their effect on patients and providers; examines the causes of drug shortages; and evaluates the progress FDA has made in addressing drug shortages.

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Book SynopsisAdolescent dating violence has surfaced as a significant public health issue. As teen dating violence (TDV) incidence has escalated substantially in recent years, a number of research, practice and policy efforts have been championed in response. One critical challenge in effectively addressing teen dating violence relates to the lack of research that directly considers how youth conceptualise teen dating in the first place, apart from specifically aggressive or violent relationships. This book discusses perspectives on relationship and violence in teen dating.

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Book SynopsisThe Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) became a law on June 22, 2009. It gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products to protect public health. This book highlights some of the provisions of the Tobacco Control Act and provides an assessment of FDA efforts to implement the Tobacco Control Act since it was signed into law.

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Book SynopsisIt is often stated that "it takes a village" to improve the health of a population. This proverb implies that it takes the work of many individuals, not necessarily from the same occupation or educational or social background, to achieve this goal. To improve the health of a population, a system comprised of educators, community leaders, public health and health care practitioners, researchers, faith-based leaders, municipal workers, and many others working, in diverse urban and/or rural communities, across the globe towards a common goal via evidence-based practice, policy development, education and health literacy initiatives, or a combination thereof, is required. Interprofessional collaborations can be fruitful endeavors with respect to improving health at a population and/or individual level. However, if we examine these interdisciplinary collaborations from a development standpoint, not every professional is trained to work with professionals from other disciplines. How do we prepare an interprofessional workforce capable of working collaboratively? You will find some of the answers in this book.

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Book SynopsisThe book was developed based on the expertise of four research groups, three of them linked to the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP): Studies on Hearing; Public Safety Observatory of UNESP; Research and Urban Management Organized Labor Group (GUTO); and Labor, Health and Society linked to the Tuiuti University. The groups mentioned above fit mainly into two major areas, Speech and Social Sciences, with a focus on the following research lines: hearing health and public safety. For this reason, the present work is multidisciplinary and includes current information, of scientific relevance, focused on the theme "firearms". This diversity has allowed the production of chapters that approach the audiological profile of militaries exposed to impact noise during their work activities, as well as the measurement of noise generated by firearms. Another situation that is worth mentioning is the recreational activity on private booth shots (as shooting clubs), where hearing protection is also required. It is also worth noting that the book discusses violence with firearms in contemporary Brazilian society.

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Book SynopsisOne of the most provocative recent findings in modern medicine is that perinatal stress may have a subtle or drastic impact on tissue/organ ontogeny, structure, and function, altering the vulnerability or resiliency to challenges and diseases later in life. A wealth of evidence indicates that stress and adverse environmental milieu during early development is closely associated with increased risks of the genesis of hypertension, coronary artery disease, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, central obesity, hyperlipidemia, and other neurobehavioral, neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric disorders in adulthood. The concept of "Developmental Programming of Health and Disease" or "Foetal Origins of Adult Disease" has been developed to elucidate the links between stress, early development, and risks of disease later in life. Stress is an internal response to stimuli or pressures that challenge or disrupt an organism''s homeostasis in a changing environment. Adverse environmental signals that influence the development cause foetal stress. Such adverse signals can be transmitted from the mother to the foetus, impacting specific vulnerable tissues in their sensitive developmental stage, modulating normal development trajectory, remodelling their structure and function and reprogramming the resiliency or susceptibility to diseases in postnatal life. Such programming may be determined by multiple factors including gestational age, duration and mode of exposure and nature of the stressor, and these processes are tissue/organ specific. Genetic traits, epigenetic modifications and central stress mediators such as dopamine, glucocorticoids, and other transmitters may underpin such phenotypic plasticity. This volume provides broad and up-to-date information in the recent advancement of our knowledge in the basic science of Developmental Programming of Health and Disease. Each Chapter is written by leading experts in the field, providing the highest academic level for readers including basic, clinical, and translational scientists, paediatricians, maternal-foetal medicine specialists, physiologists, environmental biologists, biostatisticians, sociologists, behavioural scientists, health economists, health informatics experts, geneticists, microbiologists, epidemiologists, medical students, university undergraduate students, and graduate students.

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Book SynopsisResearch findings has shown that there are developmental issues and concerns regarding the development of university students in Hong Kong. First, there were behavioural and lifestyle problems of university students, including alcohol consumption, internet addiction, cyber-pornography, irregular sleep patterns, and interpersonal violence. Second, phenomena of mental health problems of university students, such as suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety problems were observed. Third, some university students showed problems in setting personal goals, low self-confidence and preoccupation with materialistic values. Finally, egocentrism and lack of civic engagement was not uncommon amongst university students. How should we nurture university students? Against this background, a subject entitled "Tomorrow''s Leaders" was developed at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, China. The term "tomorrow''s leaders" was used because we believe that every student is (and can be) a leader and development of positive youth development attributes is an important step. In this book you will find chapters describing this pilot project to nurture positive development and leadership among Chinese university students in Hong Kong.

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Book SynopsisTeen childbearing is associated with adverse health and social outcomes for teen mothers and their children, although these outcomes often reflect pre-existing social deficits. Compared with women who delay childbearing until their 20s, teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school and have low educational attainment; to face unemployment, poverty, and welfare dependency; to experience more rapid repeat pregnancy; to become single mothers; and to experience divorce, if they marry. Infants of teen mothers are more likely to be premature and experience infant mortality. The children of teenage mothers do less well on indicators of health and social wellbeing than do children of older mothers. This book briefly examines some of the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics on teenage childbearing, offers potential reasons for high teen pregnancy and birth rates, and provides basic information on federal programs whose purpose is primarily to delay sexual activity among teenagers and to reduce teen pregnancy. It also discusses the decline is state teen birth rates by race and Hispanic origin; birth rates for Unites States'' teenagers; and the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP).

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Book SynopsisThis book identifies a comprehensive set of actions for enhancing health care across the Nation through greater use of systems-engineering principles. Systems engineering, widely used in manufacturing and aviation, is an interdisciplinary approach to analyze, design, manage, and measure a complex system in order to improve its efficiency, reliability, productivity, quality, and safety. It has often produced dramatically positive results in the small number of health-care organizations that have incorporated it into their processes. The book proposes a strategy that involves reforming payment systems; building the Nation''s health-data infrastructure; providing technical assistance to providers; increasing community collaboration; sharing best practices; and training health professionals in systems engineering approaches.

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