Description: This presentation discusses research on poverty and HIV/AIDS in East Texas. The latest research from the CDC and the World Health Organization propose that poverty is the leading factor in the spread of HIV. The research particularly emphasized urban extreme poverty areas as having much higher risk of HIV transmission and mortality. HIV/AIDS is not uniformly distributed across Texas, but research shows that East Texas has the highest rates. This region of Texas is growing rapidly in demographic and economic sectors, but unfortunately these are not the only factors that are expanding. The virus is spreading more rapidly across East Texas than any other region. Nationally, high HIV/AIDS rates can be attributed to poverty, socioeconomic status, and mode of transmission, race/ethnicity, and level of education. This presentation discusses this research.

Description: This presentation discusses research into the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in Texas. Specifically, the authors examine relationships between HIV/AIDS outcomes in Texas and unemployment, education, income, and race/ethnic groups using data aggregated to the county level.

Description: This presentation accompanies a paper examining the geography of pediatric HIV, HIV in women, and age at diagnosis of women in the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex, Houston-Galveston Area, and the colonies of the Texas-Mexico border counties using the human ecology model. In addition, the research investigates the correlation of female HIV rates and female age at diagnosis with pediatric HIV. County-level morbidity data from the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) from 1980 to 2009 are analyzed. Pediatric HIV and HIV in women have a strong positive correlation. The border counties have lower rates of HIV than do the urban areas, and have the youngest age at diagnosis, but have a higher pediatric HIV rate than the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex. Interventions should target preventing HIV in females.

Description: This presentation discusses research on the rising boom of outdoor shopping centers in North Texas. In this presentation, the authors give a brief history of traditional malls, explore the transition to outdoor centers, and look at new horizons for Dallas/Fort-Worth (DFW) shopping including smart growth, going "green" and other marketing buzzwords, and what LEEDs are. The authors also look at the future of DFW retail and present their conclusions.

Description: This presentation discusses research examining the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) among foreign-born Asians living in Tarrant County, Texas. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), TB in native-born Americans is steadily decreasing, while remaining constant for the foreign-born. In 2007, the TB rate among the foreign-born was 9.7 times that of U.S.-born, but among Asians it was 22.9 times the rate among Whites (CDC 2008 September). Data for this study were taken from a tuberculosis screening program conducted in Tarrant County from 1993 to 2006. Using Geographic Information System and statistical analysis, the study explores the relative contribution of traditional epidemiological factors including crowdedness, poverty, and less common factors such as self-reported incarceration, drug use, and other risky behaviors. The results indicate that although Asians make up 4.2% of the population, they account for 18% of TB cases. Surprisingly, however, Asians with TB are less likely to participate in the traditional high-risk behaviors that are normally associated with tuberculosis, including drug use (X2 = 57.426, p = .000), alcoholism (X2 = 39.776, p = .000), homelessness (X2 = 37.029, p = .000), and previous incarceration (X2 = 27.359, p = .000). Traditional programs targeting such high-risk populations ...