The use or threatened use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of criminal laws for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or ransom, in support of political or social objectives.

A republic in the Greater Antilles in the West Indies. Its capital is Santo Domingo. With Haiti, it forms the island of Hispaniola - the Dominican Republic occupying the eastern two thirds, and Haiti, the western third. It was created in 1844 after a revolt against the rule of President Boyer over the entire island of Hispaniola, itself visited by Columbus in 1492 and settled the next year. Except for a brief period of annexation to Spain (1861-65), it has been independent, though closely associated with the United States. Its name comes from the Spanish Santo Domingo, Holy Sunday, with reference to its discovery on a Sunday. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p338, 506 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p151)

Terrorism on September 11, 2001 against targets in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia, and an aborted attack that ended in Pennsylvania.

The inhabitants of a city or town, including metropolitan areas and suburban areas.

The status of health in urban populations.

Hospitals controlled by the city government.

Persons living in the United States of Mexican (MEXICAN AMERICANS), Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin. The concept does not include Brazilian Americans or Portuguese Americans.

Hospitals located in metropolitan areas.

Activities devoted to freeing persons or animals from danger to life or well-being in accidents, fires, bombings, floods, earthquakes, other disasters and life-threatening conditions. While usually performed by team efforts, rescue work is not restricted to organized services.

Ongoing scrutiny of a population (general population, study population, target population, etc.), generally using methods distinguished by their practicability, uniformity, and frequently their rapidity, rather than by complete accuracy.

Housing subsidized by tax funds, usually intended for low income persons or families.

Elements of residence that characterize a population. They are applicable in determining need for and utilization of health services.

Abuse, overuse, or misuse of a substance by its injection into a vein.

The use of biological agents in TERRORISM. This includes the malevolent use of BACTERIA; VIRUSES; or other BIOLOGICAL TOXINS against people, ANIMALS; or PLANTS.

Comprehensive planning for the physical development of the city.

Permanent roads having a line of rails fixed to ties and laid to gage, usually on a leveled or graded ballasted roadbed and providing a track for freight cars, passenger cars, and other rolling stock. Cars are designed to be drawn by locomotives or sometimes propelled by self-contained motors. (From Webster's 3d) The concept includes the organizational and administrative aspects of railroads as well.

Persons who have no permanent residence. The concept excludes nomadic peoples.

Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.

Health services, public or private, in urban areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.

Private, not-for-profit hospitals that are autonomous, self-established, and self-supported.

Sexual attraction or relationship between males.

A weight-carrying structure for navigation of the air that is supported either by its own buoyancy or by the dynamic action of the air against its surfaces. (Webster, 1973)

Persons living in the United States having origins in any of the black groups of Africa.

A group of people with a common cultural heritage that sets them apart from others in a variety of social relationships.

Living facilities for humans.

An island in the Greater Antilles in the West Indies. Its capital is San Juan. It is a self-governing commonwealth in union with the United States. It was discovered by Columbus in 1493 but no colonization was attempted until 1508. It belonged to Spain until ceded to the United States in 1898. It became a commonwealth with autonomy in internal affairs in 1952. Columbus named the island San Juan for St. John's Day, the Monday he arrived, and the bay Puerto Rico, rich harbor. The island became Puerto Rico officially in 1932. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p987 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p436)

Termination of pregnancy under conditions allowed under local laws. (POPLINE Thesaurus, 1991)

A mosquito-borne viral illness caused by the WEST NILE VIRUS, a FLAVIVIRUS and endemic to regions of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Common clinical features include HEADACHE; FEVER; maculopapular rash; gastrointestinal symptoms; and lymphadenopathy. MENINGITIS; ENCEPHALITIS; and MYELITIS may also occur. The disease may occasionally be fatal or leave survivors with residual neurologic deficits. (From Joynt, Clinical Neurology, 1996, Ch26, p13; Lancet 1998 Sep 5;352(9130):767-71)

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

Includes the spectrum of human immunodeficiency virus infections that range from asymptomatic seropositivity, thru AIDS-related complex (ARC), to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

The sexual attraction or relationship between members of both the same and the opposite SEX.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

People who leave their place of residence in one country and settle in a different country.

Undertaking a task involving a challenge for achievement or a desirable goal in which there is a lack of certainty or a fear of failure. It may also include the exhibiting of certain behaviors whose outcomes may present a risk to the individual or to those associated with him or her.

Disorders related to substance abuse.

Studies of the number of cases where human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is present in a specific population at a designated time. The presence in a given individual is determined by the finding of HIV antibodies in the serum (HIV SEROPOSITIVITY).

Instruments used for injecting or withdrawing fluids. (Stedman, 25th ed)

Financial assistance to impoverished persons for the essentials of living through federal, state or local government programs.

Any substance in the air which could, if present in high enough concentration, harm humans, animals, vegetation or material. Substances include GASES; PARTICULATE MATTER; and volatile ORGANIC CHEMICALS.

The reduction or regulation of the population of noxious, destructive, or dangerous plants, insects, or other animals. This includes control of plants that serve as habitats or food sources for animal pests.

A species of FLAVIVIRUS, one of the Japanese encephalitis virus group (ENCEPHALITIS VIRUSES, JAPANESE). It can infect birds and mammals. In humans, it is seen most frequently in Africa, Asia, and Europe presenting as a silent infection or undifferentiated fever (WEST NILE FEVER). The virus appeared in North America for the first time in 1999. It is transmitted mainly by CULEX spp mosquitoes which feed primarily on birds, but it can also be carried by the Asian Tiger mosquito, AEDES albopictus, which feeds mainly on mammals.

A soft, loose-fitting polyurethane sheath, closed at one end, with flexible rings at both ends. The device is inserted into the vagina by compressing the inner ring and pushing it in. Properly positioned, the ring at the closed end covers the cervix, and the sheath lines the walls of the vagina. The outer ring remains outside the vagina, covering the labia. (Med Lett Drugs Ther 1993 Dec 24;35(12):123)

Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.

The systematic application of information and computer sciences to public health practice, research, and learning.

Management of public health organizations or agencies.

Facilities for the preparation and dispensing of drugs.

The interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale, between different countries or between populations within the same country. It includes trade (the buying, selling, or exchanging of commodities, whether wholesale or retail) and business (the purchase and sale of goods to make a profit). (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, p411, p2005 & p283)

The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

Official records of individual deaths including the cause of death certified by a physician, and any other required identifying information.

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XIX, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, administered by the states, that provides health care benefits to indigent and medically indigent persons.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals.

An infant during the first month after birth.

A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

Drugs obtained and often manufactured illegally for the subjective effects they are said to produce. They are often distributed in urban areas, but are also available in suburban and rural areas, and tend to be grossly impure and may cause unexpected toxicity.

The killing of one person by another.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

A superfamily of parasitic nematodes which requires one or two intermediate arthropod hosts before finally being eaten by the final host. Its organisms occur rarely in man.

An area of recreation or hygiene for use by the public.

The teaching ascribed to Gautama Buddha (ca. 483 B.C.) holding that suffering is inherent in life and that one can escape it into nirvana by mental and moral self-purification. (Webster, 3d ed)

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

City, urban, rural, or suburban areas which are characterized by severe economic deprivation and by accompanying physical and social decay.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

Sexual activities of humans.

Usage of a single needle among two or more people for injecting drugs. Needle sharing is a high-risk behavior for contracting infectious disease.

Individuals whose ancestral origins are in the continent of Europe.

Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor.

Prepared food that is ready to eat or partially prepared food that has a final preparation time of a few minutes or less.

People who take drugs for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. The drugs may be legal or illegal, but their use often results in adverse medical, legal, or social consequences for the users.

The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.

Procedures outlined for the care of casualties and the maintenance of services in disasters.

Official certifications by a physician recording the individual's birth date, place of birth, parentage and other required identifying data which are filed with the local registrar of vital statistics.

Enumerations of populations usually recording identities of all persons in every place of residence with age or date of birth, sex, occupation, national origin, language, marital status, income, relation to head of household, information on the dwelling place, education, literacy, health-related data (e.g., permanent disability), etc. The census or "numbering of the people" is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. Among the Romans, censuses were intimately connected with the enumeration of troops before and after battle and probably a military necessity. (From Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 3d ed; Garrison, An Introduction to the History of Medicine, 4th ed, p66, p119)

Smallest political subdivisions within a country at which general governmental functions are carried-out.

Organized services for exchange of sterile needles and syringes used for injections as a potential means of reducing the transmission of infectious diseases.

Insects of the order Dictyoptera comprising several families including Blaberidae, BLATTELLIDAE, Blattidae (containing the American cockroach PERIPLANETA americana), Cryptocercidae, and Polyphagidae.

Calamities producing great damage, loss of life, and distress. They include results of natural phenomena and man-made phenomena. Normal conditions of existence are disrupted and the level of impact exceeds the capacity of the hazard-affected community.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

The process of leaving one's country to establish residence in a foreign country.

An acquired defect of cellular immunity associated with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a CD4-positive T-lymphocyte count under 200 cells/microliter or less than 14% of total lymphocytes, and increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and malignant neoplasms. Clinical manifestations also include emaciation (wasting) and dementia. These elements reflect criteria for AIDS as defined by the CDC in 1993.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

State plans prepared by the State Health Planning and Development Agencies which are made up from plans submitted by the Health Systems Agencies and subject to review and revision by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council.

Diseases of birds not considered poultry, therefore usually found in zoos, parks, and the wild. The concept is differentiated from POULTRY DISEASES which is for birds raised as a source of meat or eggs for human consumption, and usually found in barnyards, hatcheries, etc.

Earth or other matter in fine, dry particles. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

A geographical area of the United States comprising the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

The contamination of indoor air.

Strong dependence, both physiological and emotional, upon heroin.

Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

Persons living in the United States having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.

Food or financial assistance for food given to those in need.

Factors which produce cessation of all vital bodily functions. They can be analyzed from an epidemiologic viewpoint.

The number of new cases of a given disease during a given period in a specified population. It also is used for the rate at which new events occur in a defined population. It is differentiated from PREVALENCE, which refers to all cases, new or old, in the population at a given time.