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The Marine Forensics Panel of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) grew out of analyses of the shipwrecks of the German battleship Bismarck and the passenger ships Titanic and Lusitania. It is now co-sponsored by five other professional societies on both sides of the Atlantic. A number of ship losses have been investigated, and lessons have been learned relevant both to marine technology and history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black and Hispanic children are hospitalized with complications of asthma at much higher rates than white children. The Boston Children's Hospital Community Asthma Initiative (CAI) provides asthma case management and home visits for children from low-income neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts, to address racial/ethnic health disparities in pediatric asthma outcomes. CAI objectives were to evaluate 1) case management data by parent/guardian report for health outcomes and 2) hospital administrative data for comparison between intervention and comparison groups. Data from parent/guardian reports indicate that CAI decreased the number of children with any (one or more) asthma-related hospitalizations (decrease of 79% at 12 months) and any asthma-related emergency department visits (decrease of 56% at 12 months) among children served, most of whom were non-Hispanic black or Hispanic. Hospital administrative data also indicate that the number of asthma-related hospitalizations per child significantly decreased among CAI participants compared with a comparison group. The CAI model has been replicated in other cities and states with adaptations to local cultural and systems variations. Health outcome and cost data have been used to contribute to a business case to educate legislators and insurers about outcomes and costs for this enhanced approach to care. Strong partnerships with public health, community, and housing agencies have allowed CAI to leverage its outcomes to expand systemic changes locally and statewide to reduce asthma morbidity.

Background: Compared with the general population in the United States (U.S.), Hispanics with hypertension are less likely to be aware of their condition, to take antihypertensive medication, and to adopt healthy lifestyles to control high blood pressure. We examined whether a multi-community intervention successfully increased the prevalence of actions to control hypertension among Hispanics., Methods: Annual survey from 2009-2012 was conducted in six Hispanic communities in the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Across the U.S., Project: The survey used address based sampling design that matched the geographies of intervention program., Results: Age- and sex-standardized prevalences of taking hypertensive medication, changing eating habits, cutting down on salt, and reducing alcohol use significantly increased among Hispanics with self-reported hypertension in REACH communities. The 3-year relative percent increases were 5.8, 6.8, 7.9, and 35.2% for the four indicators, respectively. These favorable (healthier) trends occurred in both foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanics., Conclusion: This large community-based participatory intervention resulted in more Hispanic residents in the communities taking actions to control high blood pressure., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: The majority of breast cancer patients in Mexico are treated through the public health system and >80% receive adjuvant chemotherapy. The aim of this prospective study was to characterize the impact of the Oncotype DX assay on adjuvant therapy decision making and the confidence in those decisions amongst public sector physicians in Mexico., Methods: Ninety-eight consecutive patients with ER+, HER2-, stage I-IIIa, N0/N1-3 node-positive breast cancer from the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología were eligible for the study. The primary endpoint was the overall change in treatment recommendations after receiving the assay results., Results: Of 96 patients, 48% received a chemohormonal therapy recommendation prior to testing. Following receipt of results, treatment decisions changed for 31/96 (32%) patients, including 17/62 (27%) node-negative patients and 14/34 (41%) node-positive patients. The proportion of patients with a chemotherapy-based recommendation decreased from 48% pre- to 34% post-assay (P=0.024). 92% of physicians agreed that they were more confident in their treatment recommendation after ordering the assay., Conclusions: These results suggest that use of the 21-gene assay in the Mexican public health system has a meaningful impact on adjuvant treatment recommendations that may reduce the overall use of chemotherapy., (© 2014 The Authors. Journal of Surgical Oncology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: We examined the impact of diabetes and hyperglycemia on cancer-specific survival of patients with metastatic or recurrent breast cancer (BC)., Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 265 patients with advanced BC receiving palliative chemotherapy. BC-specific mortality was compared for diabetic and nondiabetic patients as well as for patients that presented hyperglycemia during treatment., Results: No difference was observed between the diabetic and nondiabetic patients in terms of overall survival (OS). A difference in OS was observed between nondiabetic patients and diabetic patients who had hyperglycemia. The OS was greater in diabetic patients with proper metabolic control than diabetic patients with hyperglycemia. The risk of death was higher in patients with mean glucose levels >130 mg/dL during treatment. Several factors were associated with poor OS: tumor stage, hormone-receptor-negative tumors, HER2 negative disease, multiple metastatic sites, presence of visceral metastases, and mean glucose >130 mg/dL., Conclusion: Elevated glucose levels are associated with a poor outcome in diabetic and nondiabetic patients in contrast to patients with normoglycemic levels, conferring an elevated risk of death. According to these results, clinicians should monitor glucose levels during treatment for advanced breast cancer disease and take action to maintain normal glucose levels.

Problem: Substantial racial/ethnic health disparities exist in the United States. Although the populations of racial and ethnic minorities are growing at a rapid pace, large-scale community-based surveys and surveillance systems designed to monitor the health status of minority populations are limited. CDC conducts the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health across the U.S. (REACH U.S.) Risk Factor Survey annually in minority communities. The survey focuses on black, Hispanic, Asian (including Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander), and American Indian (AI) populations., Reporting Period Covered: 2009., Description of System: An address-based sampling design was used in the survey in 28 communities located in 17 states (Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington). Self-reported data were collected through telephone, questionnaire mailing, and in-person interviews from an average of 900 residents aged ≥ 18 years in each community. Data from the community were compared with data derived from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for the metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area (MMSA), county, or state in which the community was located and also compared with national estimates., Results: Reported education level and household income were markedly lower in black, Hispanic, and AI communities than that among the general population living in the comparison MMSA, county, or state. More residents in these minority populations did not have health-care coverage and did not see a doctor because of the cost. Substantial variations were identified in self-perceived health status and prevalence of selected chronic conditions among minority populations and among communities within the same racial/ethnic population. In 2009, the median percentage of men who reported fair or poor health was 15.8% (range: 8.3%-29.3%) among A/PI communities and 26.3% (range: 22.3%-30.8%) among AI communities. The median percentage of women who reported fair or poor health was 20.1% (range: 13.3%-37.2%) among A/PI communities, whereas it was 31.3% (range: 19.4%-44.2%) among Hispanic communities. AI and black communities had a high prevalence of self-reported hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. For most communities, prevalence was much higher than that in the corresponding MMSA, county, or state in which the community was located. The median percentages of persons who knew the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and stroke were consistently lower in all four minority communities than the national median. Variations were identified among racial/ethnic populations in the use of preventive services. Hispanics had the lowest percentages of persons who had their cholesterol checked, of those with high blood pressure who were taking antihypertensive medication, and of those with diabetes who had a glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) test in the past year. AIs had the lowest mammography screening rate within 2 years among women aged ≥40 years (median: 72.7%; range: 69.4%-76.2%). A/PIs had the lowest Pap smear screening rate within 3 years (median: 74.4%; range: 60.3%-80.8%). The median influenza vaccination rates in adults aged ≥65 years were much lower among black (57.3%) and Hispanic communities (63.3%) than the national median (70.1%) among the 50 states and DC. Pneumococcal vaccination rates also were lower in black (60.5%), Hispanic (58.5%), and A/PI (59.7%) communities than the national median (68.5%)., Interpretations: Data from the REACH U.S. Risk Factor Survey demonstrate that residents in most of the minority communities continue to have lower socioeconomic status, greater barriers to health-care access, and greater risks for and burden of disease compared with the general populations living in the same MMSA, county, or state. Substantial variations in prevalence of risk factors, chronic conditions, and use of preventive services among different minority populations and different communities within the same racial/ethnic population provide opportunities for public health intervention. These variations also indicate that different priorities are needed to eliminate health disparities for different communities., Public Health Action: These community-level survey data are being used by CDC and community coalitions to implement, monitor, and evaluate intervention programs in each community. Continuous surveillance of health status in minority communities is necessary so that community-specific, culturally sensitive strategies that include system, environmental, and individual-level changes can be tailored to these communities.