Food and Housing Insecurity in Nevada During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified concerns regarding food and housing insecurity in the United States, particularly among vulnerable populations. After the pandemic prompted a shutdown of nonessential businesses in Nevada, unemployment rose dramatically as the gaming, tourism, and hospitality industries struggled. This study analyzed the results of two telephone surveys of Nevada adults' experiences in 2020 (n = 1000) and 2021 (n = 1002). The results demonstrate between 2020 and 2021 an 8.24 percentage point decline in food insecurity (FI) from 30.2% to 21.96% and a 12.58 percentage point increase in housing insecurity (HI) from 12.27% to 24.85%. Age, disability status, and certain categories of race/ethnicity and income were associated with both HI and FI in 2020, but disability was no longer significant in 2021. Instead, spouse/partner-status, living with children ≤ 18-years-old and receipt of SNAP benefits were significantly associated with FI in 2021. In particular, health status became a significant factor of both HI and FI. People of color experienced FI disparities compared to Whites. Asians/Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders were 3.22 times (95% CI 1.51, 6.86) more likely to experience FI in 2021 than Whites. A matched, longitudinal analysis also revealed that Whites experienced a significant 9.1 percentage point estimated decline in the probability of FI between 2020 and 2021. However, the reduction among non-White participants was statistically insignificant at 2.5 percentage points. Results indicate the importance of supporting the food and housing needs of people of color and individuals with disabilities. Further research should especially investigate the comparative FI rate among Asians/Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders in 2021 and offer solutions to the soaring prevalence of housing insecurity.

A Mixed-Methods Assessment of Residential Housing Tenants’ Concerns about Property Habitability and the Implementation of Habitability Laws in Southern Nevada

Housing is a key health determinant. Habitability laws set minimum standards for adequate housing. However, accessing them to ensure adequate housing may be a challenge for many tenants. This paper explores the need for rental housing policy that would better support adequate and safe housing, particularly for low-income renters. A mixed-methods approach assessed residential tenant habitability concerns in Clark County, Nevada, through calls relayed to the Clark County Landlord–Tenant Hotline (CCLTH). Of the 2865 calls, 74.3% were from ZIP codes that were 80% of the median income and below. There was a significant relationship between the ZIP code-level income and the reporting of at least one essential habitability concern. Of the 266 participants that responded to a follow-up call, 34.6% reported that their complaint was resolved and there was no association between resolution and income. Qualitative data analysis from phone interviews revealed two central themes: (1) resources to navigate landlord–tenant laws are limiting and (2) housing policies need to be strengthened to help tenants and keep people housed. Understanding tenant concerns regarding substandard housing and related inequities can help inform rental housing policy and its implementation to promote healthy homes and improve health outcomes for communities burdened by poor rental housing conditions.

Insights into transcriptional silencing and anti-silencing in Shigella flexneri: a detailed molecular analysis of the icsP virulence locus

Transcriptional silencing and anti-silencing mechanisms modulate bacterial physiology and virulence in many human pathogens. In Shigella species, many virulence plasmid genes are silenced by the histone-like nucleoid structuring protein H-NS and anti-silenced by the virulence gene regulator VirB. Despite the key role that these regulatory proteins play in Shigella virulence, their mechanisms of transcriptional control remain poorly understood. Here, we characterize the regulatory elements and their relative spacing requirements needed for the transcriptional silencing and anti-silencing of icsP, a locus that requires remotely located regulatory elements for both types of transcriptional control. Our findings highlight the flexibility of the regulatory elements' positions with respect to each other, and yet, a molecular roadblock docked between the VirB binding site and the upstream H-NS binding region abolishes transcriptional anti-silencing by VirB, providing insight into transcriptional anti-silencing. Our study also raises the need to re-evaluate the currently proposed VirB binding site. Models of transcriptional silencing and anti-silencing at this genetic locus are presented, and the implications for understanding these regulatory mechanisms in bacteria are discussed.