Assessing Homeless Population Size Through the Use of Emergency and Transitional Shelter Services in 1998: Results from the Analysis of Administrative Data from Nine US Jurisdictions

Objectives. This study reports findings from the first-ever systematic enumeration of homeless population size using data previously collected from administrative records of homeless services providers in nine US jurisdictions over a one year period. As such, it provides the basis for establishing an ongoing measure of the parameters of the homeless population and for tracking related trends on the use of homeless services over time. Methods. Each participating jurisdiction collected data through its homeless services management information systems for persons and families who use emergency shelter and transitional housing. The jurisdictions organized the data by a standardized reporting format. These data form the basis for reporting homeless population size, both in raw numbers and as adjusted for each jurisdiction’s overall population size, as well as the rate of turnover and average annual length of stay in emergency shelters and transitional housing. Results. Individual jurisdictions had annual rates of sheltered homelessness ranging from 0.1% to 2.1% of their overall population, and 1.3% to 10.2% of their poverty population. Annual population size was 2.5 to 10.2 times greater than the point-prevalent population size. Results are broken down for adults and families. Conclusions. The prevalence of homelessness varies greatly among the jurisdictions included in this study, and possible factors for this diversity are discussed. Future reports of this nature will furnish similar series of homeless enumerations across a growing number of jurisdictions, thereby providing a basis for exploring the effects of different contextual factors on local prevalence rates of homelessness

J.M.G. Le Clézio et Édouard Glissant: pour une poétique de la trace

En utilisant les textes que J.M.G Le Clézio et Edouard Glissant ont écrits pour la collection Peuples de l’eau aux éditions du Seuil, cet article analyse la façon dont les deux auteurs repensent la notion d’interculturalité à partir du concept de trace. Ces traces ce sont tout d’abord les signes et les voix qu’ils découvrent lors de leur découverte des îles de la Pentecôte et de Pacques, îlots isolées dans l’immensité de l’océan Pacifique. Suivre ces traces devient pour eux une manière de mettre en avant la dette de l’Occident envers la mémoire de ces peuples mais aussi une invitation à l’imaginaire et au récit pour restaurer un sens caché et perdu. En somme, il s’agira de voir comment une poétique de la trace leur permet de repenser notre rapport aux autres tout en suivant ce que Glissant appelle ‘L’imaginaire des peuples'

Access to housing subsidies, housing status, drug use and HIV risk among low-income U.S. urban residents

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Much research has shown an association between homelessness and unstable housing and HIV risk but most has relied on relatively narrow definitions of housing status that preclude a deeper understanding of this relationship. Fewer studies have examined access to housing subsidies and supportive housing programs among low-income populations with different personal characteristics. This paper explores personal characteristics associated with access to housing subsidies and supportive housing, the relationship between personal characteristics and housing status, and the relationship between housing status and sexual risk behaviors among low-income urban residents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Surveys were conducted with 392 low-income residents from Hartford and East Harford, Connecticut through a targeted sampling plan. We measured personal characteristics (income, education, use of crack, heroin, or cocaine in the last 6 months, receipt of welfare benefits, mental illness diagnosis, arrest, criminal conviction, longest prison term served, and self-reported HIV diagnosis); access to housing subsidies or supportive housing programs; current housing status; and sexual risk behaviors. To answer the aims above, we performed univariate analyses using Chi-square or 2-sided ANOVA's. Those with significance levels above (0.10) were included in multivariate analyses. We performed 2 separate multiple regressions to determine the effects of personal characteristics on access to housing subsidies and access to supportive housing respectively. We used multinomial main effects logistic regression to determine the effects of housing status on sexual risk behavior.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Being HIV positive or having a mental illness predicted access to housing subsidies and supportive housing, while having a criminal conviction was not related to access to either housing subsidies or supportive housing. Drug use was associated with poorer housing statuses such as living on the street or in a shelter, or temporarily doubling up with friends, acquaintances or sex partners. Living with friends, acquaintances or sex partners was associated with greater sexual risk than those living on the street or in other stable housing situations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Results suggest that providing low-income and supportive housing may be an effective structural HIV prevention intervention, but that the availability and accessibility of these programs must be increased.</p

Impact of Prison Status on HIV-Related Risk Behaviors

Baseline data were collected to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions on completion of the hepatitis A and B vaccine series among 664 sheltered and street-based homeless adults who were: (a) homeless; (b) recently (<1 year) discharged from prison; (c) discharged 1 year or more; and (d) never incarcerated. Group differences at baseline were assessed for socio–demographic characteristics, drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, mental health and public assistance. More than one-third of homeless persons (38%) reported prison time and 16% of the sample had been recently discharged from prison. Almost half of persons who were discharged from prison at least 1 year ago reported daily use of drugs and alcohol over the past 6 months compared to about 1 in 5 among those who were recently released from prison. As risk for HCV and HIV co-infection continues among homeless ex-offenders, HIV/HCV prevention efforts are needed for this population

Dufulin Activates HrBP1 to Produce Antiviral Responses in Tobacco

BACKGROUND: Dufulin is a new antiviral agent that is highly effective against plant viruses and acts by activating systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in plants. In recent years, it has been used widely to prevent and control tobacco and rice viral diseases in China. However, its targets and mechanism of action are still poorly understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, differential in-gel electrophoresis (DIGE) and classical two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) techniques were combined with mass spectrometry (MS) to identify the target of Dufulin. More than 40 proteins were found to be differentially expressed (≥1.5 fold or ≤1.5 fold) upon Dufulin treatment in Nicotiana tabacum K(326). Based on annotations in the Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases, these proteins were found to be related to disease resistance. Directed acyclic graph (DAG) analysis of the various pathways demonstrated harpin binding protein-1 (HrBP1) as the target of action of Dufulin. Additionally, western blotting, semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and real time PCR analyses were also conducted to identify the specific mechanism of action of Dufulin. Our results show that activation of HrBP1 triggers the salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway and thereby produces antiviral responses in the plant host. A protective assay based on lesion counting further confirmed the antiviral activity of Dufulin. CONCLUSION: This study identified HrBP1 as a target protein of Dufulin and that Dufulin can activate the SA signaling pathway to induce host plants to generate antiviral responses