Epidemiology calls for papers / publications

Call for Submissions: American Public Health Association Occupational Health and Safety Section and the Health Informatics Information Technology Section Digital Technology Award Contest

The APHA Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Section and the Health Informatics Information Technology (HIIT) Section seeks submissions of digital mixed or multimedia video presentations that represent the communication, delivery or recognition of occupational safety and health topics or products for the OHS/HIIT Digital Technology Award at the 140th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association. The deadline for submissions is August 1, 2012.

The purpose of the contest is to challenge designers, engineers, and information technology professional to develop a short presentation with the best or most attractive use of technology and digital video media that communicates, describes, delivers, trains, raises awareness, connects or collects - occupational safety and health, OHS issues or products. The presentations should be attuned to OHS information and utilize digital technology, social media, video, promotional and communication techniques. The best presentations will be able to reach OHS/Public Health audience and beyond.

The presentations should cover one or more of the following topic areas:

Ergonomics; Industrial Hygiene/Exposure Assessment or Hazard Control; Worker Training/ Education; Occupational Health Policy; Occupational/Industrial Safety; Cleaner Production/Pollution Prevention; Occupational/Industrial Psychology; Work Organization; Control/Hazard Banding; Prevention through Design; Occupational Medicine/Nursing; Occupational Epidemiology; or Other Occupational Safety and Health Related (e.g. economics, sociology, information technology).

The presentations should be between 2 - 15 minutes and designed for display on a LCD display monitor with or without sound. The presentations will be reviewed by the OHS/HIIT Award Committee and selected winners will be announced in September 2012. The criteria for selection are: 1) quality of design and use of technology; 2) ability to reach beyond OHS audiences; and 3) potential contribution to the field.

The first place winner will be awarded Admission to the APHA 2012 Conference. Depending on the number of submissions, there will also be awards for second place and most creative presentation. An LCD monitor will be dedicated to showcasing the presentations at the OHS booth in the Exhibition Hall of the APHA Section and SPIG Pavilion throughout the conference.

Please forward presentations to:

Walter Jones, MSc, CIH
Chair OHS Section
wjones@lhsfna.org

LHSFNA
905 16th Street, NW
WDC, 20009
202/383-2829

Call for Papers on the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) for the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging

One of the issues of the JNHA in 2012 will be dedicated to publications on the MNA. Juergen M Bauer, MD, PhD, Oldenburg, Germany, will serve as guest editor of the MNA issue.

In this context the following research areas will be of special interest:

Epidemiology (i.e. prevalence of malnutrition, geographical and ethnic variations, focus on specific populations – community-living, institutional)

Methodology (i.e. the MNA as a monitoring tool, adaptations of the BMI/CC-cut offs due to ethnicity)

MNA and functionality (i.e. cognitive status, frailty, disability)

MNA based interventions

Please submit your papers by June 30, 2012 to http://jnha.edmgr.com

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Eurosurveillance: the Molecular Epidemiology of Human Pathogens

Eurosurveillance invites authors to submit papers for a special issue on the molecular epidemiology of human pathogens.

As exemplified in the 2011 outbreak of the Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O104:H4 strain in Germany, advanced sequencing technologies are being introduced for application in microbiological investigations supporting surveillance and outbreak investigations. In the STEC outbreak, the traditional microbiological methods were used to characterise the outbreak strain for epidemiological investigations, but for the first time, parallel application of advanced technologies enabled the whole genome sequence of multiple isolates of the outbreak strain to be determined just a few days after the outbreak had been detected. While such scientific and technological advances have great potential to increase the resolution and accuracy of microbiological investigations and deepen our understanding of human pathogens and the diseases they cause, various operational issues need to be resolved in order for such advanced techniques to be incorporated into public health practice.

The aim of this special issue is to provide a comprehensive picture of the current thinking on the role and possible opportunities of applying modern molecular microbiology for informing public health action. It follows from the recent consultation organised by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which initiated discussion on how public health can benefit from the recent advances in molecular microbiology. We invite interested scientists and public health experts to share their findings and views and submit original papers for peer review and possible publication.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

proof-of-principle examples of the use of advanced molecular methods, e.g. for the detection and characterisation of humans pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa) and for understanding infectious disease dynamics;
issues related to the use of advanced molecular data on human pathogens for surveillance and outbreak investigation: future directions, potential limitations, needs and implications for public health.

Deadline for special issue on the molecular epidemiology of human pathogens extended to 30 June 2012

If you would like to submit a paper or ask for more information, please see our instructions for authors regarding article formats http://www.eurosurveillance.org/Public/ForAuthors/ForAuthors.aspx#article and contact the editorial team at eurosurveillance@ecdc.europa.eu.

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: Urogynaecology and Female Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery

In January 2013 BJOG will be publishing a special theme issue on Urogynaecology and female pelvic reconstructive surgery. This issue will be edited by Douglas Tincello, Rufus Cartwright, Stergios Doumouchtsis together with guest editors Matthew Barber, Jan Deprest and Anna Rosamilia.

We are interested in receiving original research articles and systematic reviews on all aspects of urogynaecology, ranging from articles on basic science, classical and genetic epidemiology, emerging clinical challenges, as well as interventional trials.

Please go to http://bjog.allentrack.net to login and submit your manuscript, including your interest in the special theme issue in your covering letter and in the online submission form. Manuscripts should be submitted by 31 May 2012.

Instructions for authors are available here: http://www.bjog.org/view/0/authorInformation.html

If you have any queries, please contact the BJOG Editorial Office.
Tel: +44 (0) 207 772 6236, Email: bjog@rcog.org.uk

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Substance Use and Misuse: Drugs, Wars, Soldiers and Veterans

The international journal Substance Use and Misuse is soliciting submissions for a special issue about Drugs, Wars, Soldiers and Veterans.

Guest Editors are: Andrew Golub, Ph.D. and Alexander Bennett, Ph.D.

This special issue will broadly explore issues related to drugs, substance use, and military conflicts which may or may not be officially identified as war. Substances considered can include licit and illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and the use of prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. Papers may address the following broad areas of interest:

Drug use during conflicts. For many, the experiences of war can involve substance use for recreation, coping, and performance enhancement. This usage may be an individual choice, part of a prevailing culture, or even expected and/or facilitated by some level of the military command.

Returning veterans. Returning veterans may continue substance using behaviors rooted in their military experience or develop new behaviors perhaps in response to military experiences and possibly related mental health concerns. We are interested in all aspects of veterans substance use including use/abuse, markets, contexts of consumption, related consequences, and treatment experiences, globally as well as historically.

Other roles of drugs in war and conflict. Members of military and paramilitary organizations as well as the organizations themselves have often engaged in trafficking. Some organizations have used the revenue to support their military efforts. In this regard drugs can be intimately involved with the functioning and purpose of a military conflict.

The importance of this topic has again been highlighted as more is learned about the experiences of U.S. military personnel and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. However, the relationship between drugs and military conflict is complex and not unique to these recent experiences. For this special issue we are interested in these and other conflicts both current and historical. Submissions may take any of a range of disciplinary approaches including but not limited to public health, public policy, institutional, historical, sociological, epidemiological, and anthropological perspectives.

Authors should be sure to emphasize the relevance of their work for an international audience of scholars with differing academic backgrounds as well as intervention and policy implications. Articles should seek to raise important new questions, documenting dilemmas and paradoxes which merit concern and that advance our thinking about complex multi-dimensional processes and situations.

Abstracts are due by July 1, 2012. Papers will be due October 31, 2012. All submissions will be peer reviewed. For further information contact Dr. Andrew Golub.