Using Intervention Mapping to Develop an Efficacious Multicomponent Systems-Based Intervention to Increase Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination in a Large Urban Pediatric Clinic Network

Background: The CDC recommends HPV vaccine for all adolescents to prevent cervical, anal, oropharyngeal, vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers, and genital warts. HPV vaccine rates currently fall short of national vaccination goals. Despite evidence-based strategies with demonstrated efficacy to increase HPV vaccination rates, adoption and implementation of these strategies within clinics is lacking. The Adolescent Vaccination Program (AVP) is a multicomponent systems-based intervention designed to implement five evidence-based strategies within primary care pediatric practices. The AVP has demonstrated efficacy in increasing HPV vaccine initiation and completion among adolescents 10-17 years of age. The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of Intervention Mapping (IM) toward the development, implementation, and formative evaluation of the clinic-based AVP prototype. Methods: Intervention Mapping (IM) guided the development of the Adolescent Vaccination Program (AVP). Deliverables comprised: a logic model of the problem (IM Step 1); matrices of behavior change objectives (IM Step 2); a program planning document comprising scope, sequence, theory-based methods, and practical strategies (IM Step 3); functional AVP component prototypes (IM Step 4); and plans for implementation (IM Step 5) and evaluation (IM Step 6). Results: The AVP consists of six evidence-based strategies implemented in a successful sequenced roll-out that (1) established immunization champions in each clinic, (2) disseminated provider assessment and feedback reports with data-informed vaccination goals, (3) provided continued medical and nursing education (with ethics credit) on HPV, HPV vaccination, message bundling, and responding to parent hesitancy, (4) electronic health record cues to providers on patient eligibility, and (5) patient reminders for HPV vaccine initiation and completion. Conclusions: IM provided a logical and systematic approach to developing and evaluating a multicomponent systems-based intervention to increase HPV vaccination rates among adolescents in pediatric clinics

How Effective are Toll Roads in Improving Operational Performance?

The main focus of this research is to develop a systematic analytical framework and evaluate the effect of a toll road on region’s traffic using travel time and travel time reliability measures. The travel time data for the Triangle Expressway in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States was employed for the assessment process. The spatial and temporal variations in the travel time distributions on the toll road, parallel alternate route, and near-vicinity cross-streets were analyzed using various travel time reliability measures. The results indicate that the Triangle Expressway showed a positive trend in reliability over the years of its operation. The parallel route reliability decreased significantly during the analysis period, whereas the travel time reliability of cross-streets showed a consistent trend. The stabilization of travel time distributions and the reliability measures over different years of toll road operation are good indicators, suggesting that further reduction in performance measures may not be seen on the near vicinity corridors. The findings from link-level and corridor-level analysis may help with transportation system management, assessing the influence of travel demand patterns, and evaluating the effect of planned implementation of similar projects

A Module for Media Intervention: Content Regulation in Post-Conflict Zones

During the past decade a number of bloody conflicts have focused international attention on the strategic role of the media in promoting war and perpetuating chaos. The challenges posed by systematic manipulation of the media have been particularly acute in Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, East Timor - wherever the international community intervened to prevent atrocities, or stop them, or help rebuild society in their aftermath. Written against this backdrop, Forging Peace brings together case studies and legal analysis of the steps that the United Nations, NATO and other organisations, both governmental and non-governmental, have taken to build pluralist and independent media in the wake of massive human rights violations. Forging Peace maps an important aspect of contemporary peacemaking. It examines current thinking on the legality of unilateral humanitarian intervention, then analyses in graphic detail the pioneering use of information intervention techniques in conflict zones, ranging from full-scale bombardment and confiscation of transmitters to the establishment of new laws and regulatory regimes. As the social and economic role of the media expands and information technology spreads, driving governments in the world\u27s trouble spots to seek more sophisticated ways of controlling public opinion, Forging Peace looks set to influence policy and debate for years to come

Minimizing Movement for Target Coverage and Network Connectivity in Mobile Sensor Networks

PublishedJournal Article© 2014 IEEE. Coverage of interest points and network connectivity are two main challenging and practically important issues of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Although many studies have exploited the mobility of sensors to improve the quality of coverage andconnectivity, little attention has been paid to the minimization of sensors' movement, which often consumes the majority of the limited energy of sensors and thus shortens the network lifetime significantly. To fill in this gap, this paper addresses the challenges of the Mobile Sensor Deployment (MSD) problem and investigates how to deploy mobile sensors with minimum movement to form a WSN that provides both target coverage and network connectivity. To this end, the MSD problem is decomposed into two sub-problems: the Target COVerage (TCOV) problem and the Network CONnectivity (NCON) problem. We then solve TCOV and NCON one by one and combine their solutions to address the MSD problem. The NP-hardness of TCOV is proved. For a special case of TCOV where targets disperse from each other farther than double of the coverage radius, an exact algorithm based on the Hungarian method is proposed to find the optimal solution. For general cases of TCOV, two heuristic algorithms, i.e., the Basic algorithm based on clique partition and the TV-Greedy algorithm based on Voronoi partition of the deployment region, are proposed to reduce the total movement distance ofsensors. For NCON, an efficient solution based on the Steiner minimum tree with constrained edge length is proposed. Thecombination of the solutions to TCOV and NCON, as demonstrated by extensive simulation experiments, offers a promising solutionto the original MSD problem that balances the load of different sensors and prolongs the network lifetime consequently.This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61232001, 61103203, 61173169, and 61173051), the Major Science & Technology Research Program for Strategic Emerging Industry of Hunan (Grant No. 2012GK4054), and the Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (Grant No. 14C0030)

How Life During a Pandemic May Have Contributed to Homicide in Houston, Texas

This study offers an examination of a sample of 150 homicides in Houston, Texas in 2020 as described by local news sources. The purpose was to understand dynamics that may explain what appears to be an increase in domestic disputes that led to increases in homicides. This mixed method study utilized content analysis that included quantifying the patterns of concepts in the news reports to isolate racial, gender and location factors. Data are displayed in tables and figures to illustrate patterns and regression analyses indicate predictive relations. The study is important given the recent homicide increases during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the substantial impact on families and communities. The data reveal that domestic disputes and access to firearms are evident in the increases. The study offers implications for micro and macro responses involving media coverage, interpersonal communication, community programming and messaging, law enforcement engagement, and justice system reforms

Model Interventions: The Evolution of Media Development Strategies in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia from 2000 to 2007

The United States, in cooperation with European governments and international aid organizations, has sponsored the development of independent media as a major component of both conflict interventions and democratization programs, and more recently as part of nation building efforts. This study explores the evolution and export of those dominant democratic media models and their impact on recipient communities in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia from 2000 to 2007. International donors came to see media development as a silver bullet for democratization efforts to foster freedom of speech, civil society, good governance, as well as an engaged citizenry. Donors and practitioners initially believed that institutions, once established, would function in a specific way, and coupled with assistance to professionalize and commercialize the media sector, would create or at least jump start systems similar to those in the US and Europe. Over the years, policy makers have identified the vital parts of a democratic media system, but what they have failed to fully understand is the dynamic interaction among them. Now, more than fifteen years after the end of the Bosnian war and twelve after the end of the war in Kosovo, numerous assessments by government sponsors and independent evaluators have reported success in achieving fundamental media freedoms in these countries, yet these media sectors have not demonstrated their anticipated transformative power – leaving struggling or dysfunctional organizations in the wake of donor financial retreat. This study argues that media organizations and institutions are trapped between pressures to commercialize and professionalize, which have become conflicting rather than enabling forces when combined with weak economic environments. In each of the countries in this study, a lack of synchronization among reforms, political divisions, and poor economic growth have contributed to a web of interrelated challenges. Despite significant economic reforms, growth and stability have never reached a threshold for systemic change