Homelessness Counts

A movement to end homelessness is underway. Thousands of stakeholders -- policymakers, advocates, researchers, practitioners, former and current homeless people, community leaders, and concerned citizens -- from across the country are involved in efforts to end homelessness at the local and national level. Today, hundreds of communities are re-tooling their homeless assistance systems and have committed to ending homelessness through local plans. At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) homelessness assistance programs are targeting resources to permanent housing, and the Congress and the Bush Administration have committed to ending chronic homelessness by developing 150,000 units of permanent supportive housing for people who have been homeless for long periods. The private sector, through major philanthropic organizations, is engaging and funding efforts that focus on permanent solutions for homeless people. And new research and imaginative policies at the state and local level are paving the way. Taken together, these efforts represent a nationwide effort to end homelessness. How will we know if these efforts are successful? This report lays the groundwork for measuring efforts to end homelessness by establishing a baseline number of homeless people from which to monitor trends in homelessness. We use local point-in-time counts of homeless people to create an estimate of the number of homeless people nationwide. As with all data, the counts included in this report are not perfect and have numerous limitations, but they are the best data available at this time. In January 2005, an estimated 744,313 people experienced homelessness. 56 percent of homeless people counted were living in shelters and transitional housing and, shockingly, 44 percent were unsheltered. 59 percent of homeless people counted were single adults and 41 percent were persons living in families. In total, 98,452 homeless families were counted. 23 percent of homeless people were reported as chronically homeless, which, according to HUD's definition, means that they are homeless for long periods or repeatedly and have a disability. A number of states had high rates of homelessness, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington State. In addition, Washington, DC had a high rate of homeless people. These statistics show that far too many people are homeless. There is, however, reason for optimism. During the past five years, community approaches to homelessness have changed and thousands of people are working toward the shared goal of ending homelessness. Measuring their success or failure will depend on collecting and analyzing outcome data, monitoring changes in homelessness populations, and understanding which interventions lead to different outcomes. Yet, up until now, we had no recent data on how many people are homeless in the United States. The data in this report represent the first effort to count homeless people nationwide in 10 years. We hope to make this report an annual report, tracking progress on the efforts to end homelessness nationwide. It is our belief that what gets measured, gets done

Homelessness Counts: Changes in Homelessness from 2005 to 2007

In 2007, the National Alliance to End Homelessness released Homelessness Counts, establishing a 2005 baseline for measuring progress in the fight to end homelessness. This report is a follow up to that report. Here, we analyze the changes from 2005 to 2007, looking more closely at changes at the state level and among subpopulations

Vital Mission: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans

Far too many veterans are homeless in America. Homeless veterans can be found in every state across the country and live in rural, suburban, and urban communities. Many have lived on the streets for years, while others live on the edge of homelessness, struggling to pay their rent. We analyzed data from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau to examine homelessness and severe housing cost burden among veterans. This report includes the following findings: In 2006, approximately 195,827 veterans were homeless on a given night -- an increase of 0.8 percent from 194,254 in 2005. More veterans experience homeless over the course of the year. We estimate that 336,627 were homeless in 2006. Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people. They represent roughly 26 percent of homeless people, but only 11 percent of the civilian population 18 years and older. This is true despite the fact that veterans are better educated, more likely to be employed, and have a lower poverty rate than the general population. A number of states, including Louisiana and California, had high rates of homeless veterans. In addition, the District of Columbia had a high rate of homelessness among veterans with approximately 7.5 percent of veterans experiencing homelessness. We estimate that in 2005 approximately 44,000 to 64,000 veterans were chronically homeless (i.e., homeless for long periods or repeatedly and with a disability). Lack of affordable housing is the primary driver of homelessness. The 23.4 million U.S. veterans generally do not have trouble affording housing costs; veterans have high rates of home ownership and appear generally well housed. However, there is a subset of veterans who have severe housing cost burden. We estimate that nearly half a million (467,877) veterans were severely rent burdened and were paying more than 50 percent of their income for rent. More than half (55 percent) of veterans with severe housing cost burden fell below the poverty level and 43 percent were receiving foods stamps. Rhode Island, California, Nevada, and Hawaii were the states with the highest percentage of veterans with severe housing cost burden. The District of Columbia had the highest rate, with 6.4 percent of veterans paying more than 50 percent of their income toward rent. Female veterans, those with a disability, and unmarried or separated veterans were more likely to experience severe housing cost burden. There are also differences by period of service, with those serving during the Korean War and WWII more likely to have severe housing cost burden. We estimate that approximately 89,553 to 467,877 veterans were at risk of homelessness. At risk is defined as being below the poverty level and paying more than 50 percent of household income on rent. It also includes households with a member who has a disability, a person living alone, and those who are not in the labor force. These findings highlight the need to expand homeless prevention and affordable housing programs targeted at veterans. Further the findings demonstrate that ending homelessness among veterans is a vital mission that requires the immediate attention of policymakers

Geography of Homelessness Report

In 2007, there were 671,859 people experiencing homelessness on any given night. These people were counted in big cities and small towns across the country. Previously, little has been known (outside of anecdotal evidence) about how many people experience homelessness in urban, rural and suburban areas. For the first time, the Alliance examines the distribution of homelessness by geographic type in this report. This report is a culmination of a multi-part series examining the geography of homelessness. This examines the following major topics: Defining the Spectrum of HomelessnessHomelessness by Geographic CategoryPrevalence of HomelessnessUrban HomelessnessHomeless Assistance System - Bed Inventor

China neemt (Volvo) over

De gebeurtenissen sinds de overname van Volvo Cars door het Chinese Geely in 2010 tarten soms de verbeelding, alleszins voor de gemiddelde leek. In dit artikel zal worden aangetoond dat de Chinezen echter een zeer doordachte strategie gebruiken om hun geopolitieke en –economische doelen te verwezenlijken

Nrk2b-mediated NAD+ production regulates cell adhesion and is required for muscle morphogenesis in vivo Nrk2b and NAD+ in muscle morphogenesis

AbstractCell–matrix adhesion complexes (CMACs) play fundamental roles during morphogenesis. Given the ubiquitous nature of CMACs and their roles in many cellular processes, one question is how specificity of CMAC function is modulated. The clearly defined cell behaviors that generate segmentally reiterated axial skeletal muscle during zebrafish development comprise an ideal system with which to investigate CMAC function during morphogenesis. We found that Nicotinamide riboside kinase 2b (Nrk2b) cell autonomously modulates the molecular composition of CMACs in vivo. Nrk2b is required for normal Laminin polymerization at the myotendinous junction (MTJ). In Nrk2b-deficient embryos, at MTJ loci where Laminin is not properly polymerized, muscle fibers elongate into adjacent myotomes and are abnormally long. In yeast and human cells, Nrk2 phosphorylates Nicotinamide Riboside and generates NAD+ through an alternative salvage pathway. Exogenous NAD+ treatment rescues MTJ development in Nrk2b-deficient embryos, but not in laminin mutant embryos. Both Nrk2b and Laminin are required for localization of Paxillin, but not β-Dystroglycan, to CMACs at the MTJ. Overexpression of Paxillin in Nrk2b-deficient embryos is sufficient to rescue MTJ integrity. Taken together, these data show that Nrk2b plays a specific role in modulating subcellular localization of discrete CMAC components that in turn plays roles in musculoskeletal development. Furthermore, these data suggest that Nrk2b-mediated synthesis of NAD+ is functionally upstream of Laminin adhesion and Paxillin subcellular localization during MTJ development. These results indicate a previously unrecognized complexity to CMAC assembly in vivo and also elucidate a novel role for NAD+ during morphogenesis

Nanopore sequencing of clonal IGH rearrangements in cell-free DNA as a biomarker for acute lymphoblastic leukemia

BackgroundAcute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric cancer, and patients with relapsed ALL have a poor prognosis. Detection of ALL blasts remaining at the end of treatment, or minimal residual disease (MRD), and spread of ALL into the central nervous system (CNS) have prognostic importance in ALL. Current methods to detect MRD and CNS disease in ALL rely on the presence of ALL blasts in patient samples. Cell-free DNA, or small fragments of DNA released by cancer cells into patient biofluids, has emerged as a robust and sensitive biomarker to assess cancer burden, although cfDNA analysis has not previously been applied to ALL.MethodsWe present a simple and rapid workflow based on NanoporeMinION sequencing of PCR amplified B cell-specific rearrangement of the (IGH) locus in cfDNA from B-ALL patient samples. A cohort of 5 pediatric B-ALL patient samples was chosen for the study based on the MRD and CNS disease status.ResultsQuantitation of IGH-variable sequences in cfDNA allowed us to detect clonal heterogeneity and track the response of individual B-ALL clones throughout treatment. cfDNA was detected in patient biofluids with clinical diagnoses of MRD and CNS disease, and leukemic clones could be detected even when diagnostic cell-count thresholds for MRD were not met. These data suggest that cfDNA assays may be useful in detecting the presence of ALL in the patient, even when blasts are not physically present in the biofluid sample.ConclusionsThe Nanopore IGH detection workflow to monitor cell-free DNA is a simple, rapid, and inexpensive assay that may ultimately serve as a valuable complement to traditional clinical diagnostic approaches for ALL

Isolation of SARS-CoV-2 in viral cell culture in immunocompromised patients with persistently positive RT-PCR results

Immunocompromised adults can have prolonged acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positive RT-PCR results, long after the initial diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to determine if SARS-CoV-2 virus can be recovered in viral cell culture from immunocompromised adults with persistently positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests. We obtained 20 remnant SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive nasopharyngeal swabs from 20 immunocompromised adults with a positive RT-PCR test ≥14 days after the initial positive test. The patients\u27

A Crowdsourcing Open Contest to Design Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Promotion Messages: Protocol for an Exploratory Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: In the United States, black men who have sex with men (BMSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can reduce HIV incidence. However, real-world implementation of PrEP outside of clinical trials has identified racial disparities in PrEP awareness, uptake, and adherence. In the context of a long history of medical mistrust and power imbalances between scientists and community members, strategies to increase uptake of PrEP among BMSM should consider ways to ensure messages address the needs and priorities of the community. Crowdsourcing contests shift traditional individual tasks to a large group and may enhance community engagement. OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the research protocol of a contest approach to soliciting PrEP promotion messages among BMSM in Baltimore. METHODS: Open-contest implementation and evaluation will proceed as follows: (1) organize a community steering group; (2) develop platforms to solicit crowd input; (3) engage the community to contribute ideas through a Web-based forum and in-person events; (4) evaluate contest entries using both community panel judge assessment and crowd voting; (5) utilize mixed methods to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and community engagement; and (6) disseminate contest results. RESULTS: This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Mental Health: R34MH116725) in May 2018 and was approved by the institutional review board in April 2018. The open contest started in February 2019, and data analyses for the mixed method evaluation are expected to complete in December 2019. CONCLUSIONS: The contest will potentially bring new ideas in developing more impactful and locally defined PrEP promotion campaigns. We will determine whether an open-contest approach is acceptable among BMSM in Baltimore. If successful, this study can inform future projects using a similar approach on how to identify and implement programs and policies that are more responsive to community needs and that build up community assets. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/15590