The NCHS has released new data and updates for the NHANES dataset. These files have been updated on PopNet Unix as well as SodaPop.

New Data for the 2003-2004 Wave (SodaPop): PopNet Unix
Lab 13AM – Triglycerides and LDL Cholesterol
Family Smoking (Questionnaire)
Housing Characteristics (Questionnaire)
Smoking and Tobacco Use (Questionnaire)
Smoking and Tobacco Use (MEC) (Questionnaire)

Updated Documentation:
1999-2000 Lab 13AM PopNet Unix
2001-2002 Lab 13AM PopNet Unix
2001-2002 Lab 35 PopNet Unix
2001-2002 Lab 40 PopNet Unix
2001-2002 Questionnaire Variable List
2003-2004 Questionnaire Variable List

According to the Census Bureau’s population clock, the US population reached 300 million earlier today, and population is in the news:

• The Population Reference Bureau Web site today features several articles about the US population.
• The Brookings Institution features analysis, editorials, and a compilation of demographic information.
• CNN.com presents “the day in numbers”—a rundown of statistics for today, 1967 (when the population hit 200 million), and projections for the next 100 million people.
• In a weekly series beginning on September 12, the Christian Science Monitor looks at the impact of population growth at 300 million and beyond.
• Other media coverage: Reuters, BBC News, Boston Globe editorial, Boston Globe news story (October 8), and NPR (including an interview with William Frey of the Population Reference Bureau).

The following grant announcements are new this week on the Population Research Institute Funding Announcements web page.

Funding for Faculty Investigators

Developing Integrated Economic Models of Health and Retirement (R01) – National Institute on Aging (NIA)

AIR/NCES/NSF/NPEC Research Grant Program – Association for Institutional Research (AIR)

Community-Based Participatory Research at NIMH (R21) – National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Family and Dyadic Focused Interventions to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence (U49) – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Field-Deployable Tools for Quantifying Exposures to Psychosocial Stress and to Addictive Substances for Studies of Health and Disease (U01) – National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

NIH DirectorÂ’s Pioneer Award Program (DP1) – National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Paul B. Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging (K08 & K23) – National Institute on Aging (NIA) – Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS)

Structural Interventions, Alcohol Use, and Risk of HIV/AIDS (R03) – National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Structural Interventions, Alcohol Use, and Risk of HIV/AIDS (R21) – National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Funding for Students (Pre-Doctoral Or Dissertation)

Dissertation Grant Awards for Doctoral Candidates for Violence-Related Injury Prevention Research in Minority Communities (K01) – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

2007 AAFCS Fellowships Program – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

AIR/NCES/NSF/NPEC Dissertation Fellowship Program – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Funding Opportunities Open To Faculty And Students

Mary Switzer Research Fellowships – Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)

The Compendium of Best Practices in Poverty Measurement (PDF) describes poverty measurement practices around the world. The handbook was published last month by the Expert Group on Poverty Statistics (Rio Group) and represents a collaboration between country representatives and international groups.

THE NCHS has removed all NHANES Lab 21 “Volatile Organic Compounds” data files. The files were removed because of errors in identifying the results that were below the limit of detection, and in the fill values used for results that were below the limit of detection. A corrected data set will be released in October 2006.

The following grant announcements are new this week on the Population Research Institute Funding Announcements web page.

Funding for Faculty Investigators

Alcohol Education Project Grants (R25) – National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) III (U18) – Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Improved Measures of Diet and Physical Activity for the Genes and Environment Initiative (GEI) (U01) – National Cancer Institute (NCI) – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Jefferson Science Fellows – Carnegie Corporation of New York – MacArthur Foundation – National Academies – U.S. Department of State

Funding for Students (Pre-Doctoral Or Dissertation)

Carlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship – Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31) – Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

New entrants to the US workforce are not adequately prepared for work, according to a new report from The Conference Board. Are They Really Ready to Work? includes results from a survey and interviews and reports on the readiness of workers by educational attainment.

The Employer Health Benefits 2006 Annual Survey found that employee health coverage costs are rising faster than wages. The survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, examines trends in employer-sponsored health coverage.

The PRI Library has received an announcement from the Population Reference Bureau for their symposium: 300 million and counting.

The National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has launched its redesigned Web site at www.nichd.nih.gov. The Web site is designed to provide information for the public, the scientific community, and the media. Researchers will find new tools to help them identify appropriate NICHD staff to contact about their research, as well as access to funding and career development information based on level of experience with the National Institutes of Health (NIH).