Hirudins and ornatin/decorsin-like factors of American hematophagous leeches
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Haementeria vizottoi, Limnobdella mexicana
SUBMITTER:
PROVIDER: S-BSST927 | biostudies-other |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Similar Datasets
Project description:This study used longitudinal survey data of Filipino American and Korean American youth to examine ways in which universal factors (e.g., peer antisocial behaviors and parent-child conflict) and Asian American (AA) family process variables (e.g., gendered norms) independently and collectively predict grade point average (GPA), externalizing, and internalizing problems. We aimed to explain the "Asian American youth paradox" in which low externalizing problems and high GPA coexist with high internalizing problems. We found that universal factors were extensively predictive of youth problems and remained robust when AA family process was accounted for. AA family process also independently explained youth development and, in part, the AA youth paradox. For example, gendered norms increased mental distress. Academic controls did the opposite of what it is intended, that is, had a negative impact on GPA as well as other developmental domains. Family obligation, assessed by family-centered activities and helping out, was beneficial to both externalizing and internalizing youth outcomes. Parental implicit affection, one of the distinct traits of AA parenting, was beneficial, particularly for GPA. This study provided important empirical evidence that can guide cross-cultural parenting and meaningfully inform intervention programs for AA youth.
| S-EPMC9222425 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Stroke mortality has been declining since the early 20th century. The reasons for this are not completely understood, although the decline is welcome. As a result of recent striking and more accelerated decreases in stroke mortality, stroke has fallen from the third to the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. This has prompted a detailed assessment of the factors associated with the change in stroke risk and mortality. This statement considers the evidence for factors that have contributed to the decline and how they can be used in the design of future interventions for this major public health burden.Writing group members were nominated by the committee chair and co-chair on the basis of their previous work in relevant topic areas and were approved by the American Heart Association Stroke Council's Scientific Statements Oversight Committee and the American Heart Association Manuscript Oversight Committee. The writers used systematic literature reviews, references to published clinical and epidemiological studies, morbidity and mortality reports, clinical and public health guidelines, authoritative statements, personal files, and expert opinion to summarize evidence and to indicate gaps in current knowledge. All members of the writing group had the opportunity to comment on this document and approved the final version. The document underwent extensive American Heart Association internal peer review, Stroke Council leadership review, and Scientific Statements Oversight Committee review before consideration and approval by the American Heart Association Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee.The decline in stroke mortality over the past decades represents a major improvement in population health and is observed for both sexes and for all racial/ethnic and age groups. In addition to the overall impact on fewer lives lost to stroke, the major decline in stroke mortality seen among people <65 years of age represents a reduction in years of potential life lost. The decline in mortality results from reduced incidence of stroke and lower case-fatality rates. These significant improvements in stroke outcomes are concurrent with cardiovascular risk factor control interventions. Although it is difficult to calculate specific attributable risk estimates, efforts in hypertension control initiated in the 1970s appear to have had the most substantial influence on the accelerated decline in stroke mortality. Although implemented later, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia control and smoking cessation programs, particularly in combination with treatment of hypertension, also appear to have contributed to the decline in stroke mortality. The potential effects of telemedicine and stroke systems of care appear to be strong but have not been in place long enough to indicate their influence on the decline. Other factors had probable effects, but additional studies are needed to determine their contributions.The decline in stroke mortality is real and represents a major public health and clinical medicine success story. The repositioning of stroke from third to fourth leading cause of death is the result of true mortality decline and not an increase in mortality from chronic lung disease, which is now the third leading cause of death in the United States. There is strong evidence that the decline can be attributed to a combination of interventions and programs based on scientific findings and implemented with the purpose of reducing stroke risks, the most likely being improved control of hypertension. Thus, research studies and the application of their findings in developing intervention programs have improved the health of the population. The continued application of aggressive evidence-based public health programs and clinical interventions is expected to result in further declines in stroke mortality.
| S-EPMC5995123 | biostudies-other
Project description:This study examined the practices, personal motivation, and barriers of African American communities in Mississippi regarding their dietary practices. We selected the Metro Jackson Area comprised of Hinds, Madison and Rankin Counties because it is a combination of urban and rural communities. The sample consisted of 70 participants from seven sites. A total of seven focus groups responded to six questions to assess practices, personal motivation, and barriers to dietary practices: (1) Where in your community can you access fresh fruits and vegetables? (2) How many meals a day should a person eat? (3) What would you consider to be a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner? (4) What would you consider to be a healthy snack? (5) What do you consider to be your motivations for eating healthy? (6) What do you consider to be your barriers to eating healthy? Each of the seven focus groups consisted of 6 to 12 participants and provided details of their dietary practices. The focus group interviews were digitally-recorded. The recorded interviews were transcribed. The majority of the participants stated that there is a limited availability of fresh fruits/vegetables in rural areas because of a shortage of grocery stores. When they do find fruits, they are priced very high and are unaffordable. Even though health conditions dictate food frequency and portion size, community members feel that individuals should eat three good balanced meals per day with snacks, and they should adhere to small portion sizes. While the desire to attain overall good health and eliminate associative risks for heart disease (e.g., diabetes, obesity) are personal motivations, the cost of food, transportation, age, and time required for food preparation were seen as barriers to healthy eating. Decisions regarding meal choice and meal frequency can have an impact on long-term health outcomes. Health promotion programs should become an integral part of academic- community collaborative agreements.
| S-EPMC5551156 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundCOVID-19 created unparalleled challenges for vulnerable communities, especially among American Indians and Alaska Natives. An effective COVID-19 response requires a tribally driven effort to understand the perspectives of Tribal members on testing and to ensure that delivery strategies are grounded in the cultural values, traditions, and experiences of the Tribes.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional, anonymous survey in October 2021 using established methods to reach Tribal members residing in three Reservations in the Great Plains (N = 679). Multivariate analyses were conducted using logistic regression to assess the association between independent variables and COVID-19 testing uptake after adjusting for confounding.ResultsAfter multivariate adjustment, a respondent's employment status, ability to isolate if diagnosed with COVID-19, and endorsing that COVID-19 testing is only needed if one has symptoms were significantly correlated with having been previously tested for COVID-19. Participants without a full-time job were about half as likely to have been tested for COVID-19 compared to those with full-time jobs. Participants who reported not being able to isolate if they tested positive for COVID-19 and participants who did not think testing was needed if asymptomatic were also half as likely to be tested.ConclusionsEnsuring that everyone has the ability to isolate, that people who are not working have easy access to testing, and that everyone understands the value of testing after exposure are key steps to maximizing testing uptake. Efforts will only be successful if there is continued investment in programs that provide free testing access for everyone on Reservations.
| S-EPMC9589717 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Latin American populations may present patterns of sociodemographic, ethnic and cultural diversity that can defy current universal models of healthy aging. The potential combination of risk factors that influence aging across populations in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries is unknown. Compared to other regions where classical factors such as age and sex drive healthy aging, higher disparity-related factors and between-country variability could influence healthy aging in LAC countries. We investigated the combined impact of social determinants of health (SDH), lifestyle factors, cardiometabolic factors, mental health symptoms and demographics (age, sex) on healthy aging (cognition and functional ability) across LAC countries with different levels of socioeconomic development using cross-sectional and longitudinal machine learning models (n = 44,394 participants). Risk factors associated with social and health disparities, including SDH (β > 0.3), mental health (β > 0.6) and cardiometabolic risks (β > 0.22), significantly influenced healthy aging more than age and sex (with null or smaller effects: β < 0.2). These heterogeneous patterns were more pronounced in low-income to middle-income LAC countries compared to high-income LAC countries (cross-sectional comparisons), and in an upper-income to middle-income LAC country, Costa Rica, compared to China, a non-upper-income to middle-income LAC country (longitudinal comparisons). These inequity-associated and region-specific patterns inform national risk assessments of healthy aging in LAC countries and regionally tailored public health interventions.
| S-EPMC10504086 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The literature reports psychosocial, environmental, and cultural factors related to Early Childhood Caries (ECC), but few studies have included American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. AI/AN children have the highest prevalence of ECC among any population group in the United States. This study examined socio-demographic characteristics of children and their parents/caregivers and psychosocial characteristics of parents/caregivers as risk factors for baseline oral health status of preschool children in the Navajo Nation, as part of a 3-year cluster randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of trained community workers providing a fluoride varnish and oral health promotion intervention to. The study recruited 1,015 children at 52 Head Start Centers. Baseline ECC data were collected by calibrated dental hygienists for 981 of the children ages of 3-5 years, and a Basic Research Factors Questionnaire (BRFQ) was completed by their parents/caregivers. Bivariable analysis revealed that dmfs was higher in older children; in males; in children with male parents/caregivers; and when the parent/caregiver had less education and income, worse oral health behavior in caring for their children's teeth, and higher scores for external powerful others and external chance locus of control, greater perceived susceptibility and barriers, and lower scores for community risky behavior. In a multiple linear regression model, the variables that remained statistically significant were child's age and gender, and oral health behavior score of the parent/caregiver. Intervening to improve parent/caregiver oral health behavior in caring for the teeth of children potentially could in AI/AN children.
| S-EPMC4163944 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceNumerous efforts have been made to include diverse populations in genetic studies, but American Indian populations are still severely underrepresented. Polygenic scores derived from genetic data have been proposed in clinical care, but how polygenic scores perform in American Indian individuals and whether they can predict disease risk in this population remains unknown.ObjectiveTo study the performance of polygenic scores for cardiometabolic risk factors of lipid traits and C-reactive protein in American Indian adults and to determine whether such scores are helpful in clinical prediction for cardiometabolic diseases.Design, setting, and participantsThe Strong Heart Study (SHS) is a large American Indian cohort recruited from 1989 to 1991, with ongoing follow-up (phase VII). In this genetic association study, data from SHS American Indian participants were used in addition to data from 2 large-scale, external, ancestry-mismatched genome-wide association studies (GWASs; 450 865 individuals from a European GWAS and 33 096 individuals from a multi-ancestry GWAS) and 1 small-scale internal ancestry-matched American Indian GWAS (2000 individuals). Analyses were conducted from February 2023 to August 2024.ExposureGenetic risk score for cardiometabolic disease risk factors from 6 traits including 5 lipids (apolipoprotein A, apolipoprotein B, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides), and an inflammatory biomarker (C-reactive protein [CRP]).Main outcomes and measuresData from SHS participants and the 2 GWASs were used to construct 8 polygenic scores. The association of polygenic scores with cardiometabolic disease was assessed using 2-sided z tests and 1-sided likelihood ratio tests.ResultsIn the 3157 SHS participants (mean [SD] age, 56.44 [8.12] years; 1845 female [58.4%]), a large European-based polygenic score had the most robust performance (mean [SD] R2 = 5.0% [1.7%]), but adding a small-scale ancestry-matched GWAS using American Indian data helped improve polygenic score prediction for 5 of 6 traits (all but CRP; mean [SD] R2, 7.6% [3.2%]). Lipid polygenic scores developed in American Indian individuals improved prediction of diabetes compared with baseline clinical risk factors (area under the curve for absolute improvement, 0.86%; 95% CI, 0.78%-0.93%; likelihood ratio test P = 3.8 × 10-3).Conclusions and relevanceIn this genetic association study of lipids and CRP among American Indian individuals, polygenic scores of lipid traits were found to improve prediction of diabetes when added to clinical risk factors, although the magnitude of improvement was small. The transferability of polygenic scores derived from other populations is still a concern, with implications for the advancement of precision medicine and the potential of perpetuating health disparities, particularly in this underrepresented population.
| S-EPMC11904716 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Urbanization results in increased numbers of people living in cities and poses challenges and opportunities to public health policies. Studies of urban scaling have unveiled how cities' socio-economic and infrastructural attributes vary systematically with city size. Previous studies have explored the scaling properties of health outcomes across metropolitan areas in different countries, but chronic diseases have been infrequently examined. This paper examines scaling behaviors of 4 cardiovascular risk factors: hypertension, diabetes, tobacco smoking, and obesity across 230 cities in six countries of Latin America. In analyses pooled across countries, diabetes and hypertension showed weakly superlinear scaling (higher prevalence in larger cities). In comparison, obesity showed linear scaling, and tobacco showed weakly sublinear scaling (lower prevalence in larger cities), although most coefficients did not differ significantly from the null. In country-specific analyses, hypertension and diabetes tended to show a superlinear pattern across most countries, obesity tended to show a sublinear pattern in most countries, and tobacco tended to be superlinear (in contrast to the analysis pooled across countries where it was sublinear). Results suggest the need to examine further the drivers of this varying scaling of risk factors.
| S-EPMC11873263 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSocial determinants of health (SDOH) play a significant role in the development of cardiovascular risk factors. We investigated SDOH associations with cardiovascular risk factors among Asian American subgroups.Methods and resultsWe utilized the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative survey of US adults, years 2013 to 2018. SDOH variables were categorized into economic stability, neighborhood and social cohesion, food security, education, and health care utilization. SDOH score was created by categorizing 27 SDOH variables as 0 (favorable) or 1 (unfavorable). Self-reported cardiovascular risk factors included diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, insufficient physical activity, suboptimal sleep, and nicotine exposure. Among 6395 Asian adults aged ≥18 years, 22.1% self-identified as Filipino, 21.6% as Asian Indian, 21.0% as Chinese, and 35.3% as other Asian. From multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models, each SD increment of SDOH score was associated with higher odds of diabetes among Chinese (odds ratio [OR], 1.45; 95% CI, 1.04-2.03) and Filipino (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.02-1.51) adults; high blood pressure among Filipino adults (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.03-1.60); insufficient physical activity among Asian Indian (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.22-1.65), Chinese (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.33-1.88), and Filipino (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.06-1.46) adults; suboptimal sleep among Asian Indian adults (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.01-1.42); and nicotine exposure among Chinese (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.15-2.11) and Filipino (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.14-1.97) adults.ConclusionsUnfavorable SDOH are associated with higher odds of cardiovascular risk factors in Asian American subgroups. Culturally specific interventions addressing SDOH may help improve cardiovascular health among Asian Americans.
| S-EPMC11262505 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Most studies of socioeconomic status (SES) and chronic disease risk factors have been conducted in high-income countries, and most show inverse social gradients. Few studies examine these patterns in lower- or middle-income countries. Using cross-sectional data from a 2005 national risk factor survey in Argentina (a middle-income country), we investigated the associations of individual- and area-level SES with chronic disease risk factors (body mass index [BMI], hypertension, and diabetes) among residents of Buenos Aires. Associations of risk factors with income and education were estimated after adjusting for age, sex (except in sex-stratified models), and the other socioeconomic indicators. BMI and obesity were inversely associated with education and income for women, but not for men (e.g., mean differences in BMI for lowest versus highest education level were 1.55 kg/m2, 95%CI = 0.72-2.37 in women and 0.17 kg/m2, 95%CI = -0.72-1.06 in men). Low education and income were also associated with increased odds of hypertension diagnosis in all adults (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.48, 95%CI = 0.99-2.20 and AOR = 1.50, 95%CI = 0.99-2.26 for the lowest compared to the highest education and income categories, respectively). Lower education was strongly associated with increased odds of diabetes diagnosis (AOR = 4.12, 95%CI = 1.85-9.18 and AOR = 2.43, 95%CI = 1.14-5.20 for the lowest and middle education categories compared to highest, respectively). Area-level education also showed an inverse relationship with BMI and obesity; these results did not vary by sex as they did at the individual level. This cross-sectional study of a major urban area provides some insight into the global transition with a trend toward concentrations of risk factors in poorer populations.
| S-EPMC2587655 | biostudies-other