Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Apolipoprotein B In The Clinical Management Of Cardiovascular Risk In Adults: An Expert Clinical Consensus From The National Lipid Association, Daniel E Soffer, Nicholas A Marston, Kevin C Maki, Terry A Jacobson, Vera A Bittner, Jessica M Peña, George Thanassoulis, Seth S Martin, Carol F Kirkpatrick, Salim S Virani, Dave L Dixon, Christie M Ballantyne, Alan T Remaley

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

This National Lipid Association (NLA) Expert Clinical Consensus provides an overview of the physiologic and clinical considerations regarding the role of apolipoprotein B (apoB) measurement to guide clinical care based on the available scientific evidence and expert opinion. ApoB represents the total concentration of atherogenic lipoprotein particles in the circulation and more accurately reflects the atherogenic burden of lipoproteins when compared to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). ApoB is a validated clinical measurement that augments the information found in a standard lipoprotein lipid panel; therefore, there is clinical value in using apoB in conjunction with a standard lipoprotein lipid profile when …

Trpv4 Affects Visual Signals In Photoreceptors And Rod Bipolar Cells, Ye Long, Maxim Kozhemyakin, Samuel M Wu, Ji-Jie Pang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Mechanical sensitive channels expressed in mammalian retinas are effectors of elevated pressure stresses, but it is unclear how their activation affects visual function in pressure-related retinal disorders.

METHODS: This study investigated the role of the transient potential channel vanilloid TRPV4 in photoreceptors and rod bipolar cells (RBCs) with immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, electroretinography (ERG), and patch-clamp techniques.

RESULTS: TRPV4 immunoreactivity (IR) was found in the outer segments of photoreceptors, dendrites and somas of PKCα-positive RBCs and other BCs, plexiform layers, and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in wild-type mice. TRPV4-IR was largely diminished in the retinas of homozygous TRPV4 transgenic mice. …

Colonic Malakoplakia In A Pediatric Renal Transplant Recipient Case Report, Kristen G Valencia Deray, Richard Kellermayer, Alexis C Gomez, Kalyani R Patel, Peace Imani, Seiji Kitagawa, Claire E Bocchini, Alvaro Orjuela

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Malakoplakia is a rare, chronic granulomatous disease that mainly affects the genitourinary system of immunocompromised adults. It is caused by a bactericidal deficit in macrophages and, therefore, the treatment includes antimicrobials that reach high concentrations in macrophages. To our knowledge, we present the first case of malakoplakia in a pediatric solid organ transplant recipient. Our patient is a 15-year-old male renal transplant recipient who presented with recurrent diarrhea. Blood, urine, and gastrointestinal pathogen panel testing were positive for enteroaggregative Escherichia coli. A colonoscopy revealed diffuse malakoplakia. He had a complete resolution of symptoms with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole therapy. Unfortunately, his malakoplakia recurred …

Anemia, Iron Deficiency, And Cause-Specific Mortality: The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities Study, Ethan J Cannon, Jeffrey R Misialek, Leo F Buckley, Iman A F Aboelsaad, Christie M Ballantyne, John Leister, James S Pankow, Pamela L Lutsey

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Anemia is a risk factor for all-cause mortality in older adults. Iron deficiency may also be associated with adverse outcomes, independent of its role in causing anemia. This study tested the hypotheses that anemia, and low ferritin among non-anemic participants, were associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a community-based cohort of older adults.

Methods: Fasting blood was obtained from 5,070 ARIC participants (median age: 75 years) in 2011-2013. Anemia was defined by hemoglobin concentrations < 12 g/dL in women and < 13 g/dL in men. We classified 4,020 non-anemic participants by quartiles of plasma ferritin, measured by the SomaScan proteomics platform. Cox proportional hazards regression was used. Mortality was ascertained via phone calls with proxies as part of twice-yearly cohort follow-up, surveillance of local hospital discharge indexes, state death records, and linkage to the National Death Index.

Results: Of the total participants, 21% had anemia at baseline. Over a median of 7.5 years, there were 1,147 deaths, including 357 due to …

Editorial: Sex Differences In Cancer Incidence, Mortality, And Survival: Methodological Perspectives, Syed Ahsan Raza, Wilson Luiz Da Costa, Aaron P Thrift

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Ispad Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2024: Screening, Staging, And Strategies To Preserve Beta-Cell Function In Children And Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes, Michael J Haller, Kirstine J Bell, Rachel E J Besser, Kristina Casteels, Jenny J Couper, Maria E Craig, Helena Elding Larsson, Laura Jacobsen, Karin Lange, Tal Oron, Emily K Sims, Cate Speake, Mustafa Tosur, Francesca Ulivi, Anette-G Ziegler, Diane K Wherrett, M Loredana Marcovecchio

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) guidelines represent a rich repository that serves as the only comprehensive set of clinical recommendations for children, adolescents, and young adults living with diabetes worldwide. This guideline serves as an update to the 2022 ISPAD consensus guideline on staging for type 1 diabetes (T1D). Key additions include an evidence-based summary of recommendations for screening for risk of T1D and monitoring those with early-stage T1D. In addition, a review of clinical trials designed to delay progression to Stage 3 T1D and efforts seeking to preserve beta-cell function in those with Stage 3 …

Catalyzing Communities Of Research Rigour Champions, Audrey C Brumback, William X Q Ngiam, Dana M Lapato, David B Allison, Christin L Daniels, Michael Dougherty, Haley F Hazlett, Kara L Kerr, Susan Pusek, Naomi Schrag

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

The biomedical sciences must maintain and enhance a research culture that prioritizes rigour and transparency. The US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke convened a workshop entitled 'Catalyzing Communities of Research Rigor Champions' that brought together a diverse group of leaders in promoting research rigour and transparency (identified as 'rigour champions') to discuss strategies, barriers and resources for catalyzing technical, cultural and educational changes in the biomedical sciences. This article summarizes 2 days of panels and discussions and provides an overview of critical barriers to research rigour, perspectives behind reform initiatives and considerations for stakeholders across science. Additionally, we …

A Comprehensive Review Of Advances In Hepatocyte Microencapsulation: Selecting Materials And Preserving Cell Viability, Hailian Wang, Lebin Wen, Fengdi Jiang, Pengyu Ren, Yixin Yang, Siyuan Song, Zhengteng Yang, Yi Wang

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Liver failure represents a critical medical condition with a traditionally grim prognosis, where treatment options have been notably limited. Historically, liver transplantation has stood as the sole definitive cure, yet the stark disparity between the limited availability of liver donations and the high demand for such organs has significantly hampered its feasibility. This discrepancy has necessitated the exploration of hepatocyte transplantation as a temporary, supportive intervention. In light of this, our review delves into the burgeoning field of hepatocyte transplantation, with a focus on the latest advancements in maintaining hepatocyte function, co-microencapsulation techniques, xenogeneic hepatocyte transplantation, and the selection of …

Sustainability Via Active Garden Education (Sage): The Process Of Incorporating Watering Into Structured Preschool Curriculum, Rebecca E Lee, Anel Arriola, Elizabeth Lorenzo, Erica G Soltero, Jacob Szeszuski

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

School gardens provide rich outdoor learning opportunities for young children. Practical considerations about garden maintenance, in particular, watering, can impeed success. This manuscript chronicles the development of garden maintenance strategies in Sustainability via Active Garden Education (SAGE). SAGE installed raised-bed gardens and provided a complete curriculum focused on increasing children's active time and improving healthy eating habits while fostering garden stewardship. SAGE was implemented by trained research personnel in four early care and education (ECE) facilities in Houston, Texas (SAGE 1, Summer, 2013), one ECE facility in Phoenix, Arizona (SAGE 2, Spring, 2017), and 24 ECE facilities in Phoenix, Arizona …

Adjusting For Covariates Representing Potential Confounders, Mediators, Or Competing Predictors In The Presence Of Measurement Error: Dispelling A Potential Misapprehension And Insights For Optimal Study Design With Nutritional Epidemiology Examples, Roger S Zoh, Diana M Thomas, Carmen D Tekwe, Xiaoxin Yu, Colby J Vorland, Nikhil V Dhurandhar, David M Klurfeld, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Variables such as dietary intake are measured with error yet frequently used in observational epidemiology. Although this limitation is sometimes noted, these variables are still often modeled as covariates without formal correction or sincere dialogue about measurement unreliability potentially weakening the validity of statistical conclusions. Further, larger sample sizes increase power (bias) to detect spurious correlations. Counterintuitively, recent work suggested a non-monotonic relationship between confounder unreliability and how much controlling for the confounder reduces (or induces) bias when testing for an exposure-outcome association. If true, such non-monotonicity would be especially concerning for applications such as nutrition, where measurement reliability …

Objective Assessment Of Shared Plate Eating Using A Wearable Camera In Urban And Rural Households In Ghana, Christabel A Domfe, Megan A Mccrory, Edward Sazonov, Tonmoy Ghosh, Viprav Raju, Gary Frost, Matilda Steiner-Asiedu, Mingui Sun, Wenyan Jia, Tom Baranowski, Benny Lo, Alex K Anderson

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Shared plate eating (SPE), defined as two or more individuals eating directly from the same plate or bowl, is a common household food consumption practice in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Examination of household engagement in SPE remains largely unexplored, highlighting a gap in research when interpreting dietary information obtained from these settings. The dearth of research into SPE can be attributed to the inherent limitations of traditional dietary assessment methods which constrain their usability in settings where SPE is common.

Objective: In this expository narrative, we describe what SPE is when it is practiced in an LMIC …

Combinatorial Atoh1, Gfi1, Pou4f3, And Six1 Gene Transfer Induces Hair Cell Regeneration In The Flat Epithelium Of Mature Guinea Pigs, Yujie Liu, Lin Yang, Sunita Singh, Lisa A Beyer, Diane M Prieskorn, Donald L Swiderski, Andrew K Groves, Yehoash Raphael

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Flat epithelium (FE) is a condition characterized by the loss of both hair cells (HCs) and supporting cells and the transformation of the organ of Corti into a simple flat or cuboidal epithelium, which can occur after severe cochlear insults. The transcription factors Gfi1, Atoh1, Pou4f3, and Six1 (GAPS) play key roles in HC differentiation and survival in normal ears. Previous work using a single transcription factor, Atoh1, to induce HC regeneration in mature ears in vivo usually produced very few cells and failed to produce HCs in severely damaged organs of Corti, especially those with FE. Studies in vitro …

Advancing Kidney Xenotransplantation With Anesthesia And Surgery – Bridging Preclinical And Clinical Frontiers Challenges And Prospects, Xiaojian Zhang, Hailian Wang, Qin Xie, Yang Zhang, Yixin Yang, Man Yuan, Yuqi Cui, Si-Yuan Song, Jianzhen Lv, Yi Wang

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Xenotransplantation is emerging as a vital solution to the critical shortage of organs available for transplantation, significantly propelled by advancements in genetic engineering and the development of sophisticated immunosuppressive treatments. Specifically, the transplantation of kidneys from genetically engineered pigs into human patients has made significant progress, offering a potential clinical solution to the shortage of human kidney supply. Recent trials involving the transplantation of these modified porcine kidneys into deceased human bodies have underscored the practicality of this approach, advancing the field towards potential clinical applications. However, numerous challenges remain, especially in the domains of identifying suitable donor-recipient matches and …

Promoting Trustworthiness Of Science: Reproducing And Verifying Agarwal Et Al's (2022) Findings Through Collaborative Endeavors, Yasaman Jamshidi-Naeini, Nicolas Escobar Velasquez, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Sumayyah Ali, Luke R Howard, Stephanie Dickinson, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Novel, Pathogenic Insertion Variant Of Gsdme Associates With Autosomal Dominant Hearing Loss In A Large Chinese Pedigree, Jingliang Cheng, Ting Li, Qi Tan, Jiewen Fu, Lianmei Zhang, Luquan Yang, Baixu Zhou, Lisha Yang, Shangyi Fu, Alora Grace Linehan, Junjiang Fu

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Nonsyndromic hearing loss (NSHL) is a genetically diverse, highly heterogeneous condition characterised by deafness, and Gasdermin E (GSDME) variants have been identified as directly inducing autosomal dominant NSHL. While many NSHL cases associated with GSDME involve the skipping of exon 8, there is another, less understood pathogenic insertion variant specifically found in Chinese pedigrees that causes deafness, known as autosomal dominant 5 (DFNA5) hearing loss. In this study, we recruited a large Chinese pedigree, conducted whole‐exome and Sanger sequencing to serve as a comprehensive clinical examination, and extracted genomic DNA samples for co‐segregation analysis of the members. Conservation …

Randomized Pilot Study Examining An Online Diet Intervention To Increase Intake Of Fruits And Vegetables Among Healthy Adults, Diana E Kolb, Sarah E Deemer, Evaclaire Synkowski, Stephanie L Silveira

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Intake of fruits and vegetables (F&V) is related to health outcomes. The purpose of the study was to test an online diet program promoting F&V intake among healthy adults. Twenty-three participants were randomly assigned to complete an 8-week intervention condition (#800gChallenge®) or wait-list control condition. In weeks 1-4, intervention participants were asked to interact with an application reporting (a) whether they met their daily 800g F&V goal, (b) if their 800g of F&V was from a variety of sources, and (c) reading of daily educational material. Weeks 1-4 included weekly Zoom check-in meetings. Weeks 5-8 were autonomous, wherein participants reported …

Circulating Sphingolipids In Relation To Cognitive Decline And Incident Dementia: The Cardiovascular Health Study, Kristine F Moseholm, Héléne T Cronjé, Manja Koch, Annette L Fitzpatrick, Oscar L Lopez, Marcia C De Oliveira Otto, W T Longstreth, Andrew N Hoofnagle, Kenneth J Mukamal, Rozenn N Lemaitre, Majken K Jensen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Whether circulating levels of sphingolipids are prospectively associated with cognitive decline and dementia risk is uncertain.

Methods: We measured 14 sphingolipid species in plasma samples from 4488 participants (mean age 76.2 years; 40% male; and 25% apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele carriers). Cognitive decline was assessed annually across 6 years using modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MSE) and Digital Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Additionally, a subset of 3050 participants were followed for clinically adjudicated dementia.

Results: Higher plasma levels of sphingomyelin-d18:1/16:0 (SM-16) were associated with a faster cognitive decline measured with 3MSE, in contrast, higher levels of sphingomyelin-d18:1/22:0 (SM-22) …

Lysophospholipids Are Associated With Outcomes In Hospitalized Patients With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Aaron M Gusdon, Jude Pj Savarraj, John B Redell, Atzhiry Paz, Sarah Hinds, Angela Burkett, Glenda Torres, Xuefang Ren, Neeraj Badjatia, Georgene W Hergenroeder, Anthony N Moore, H Alex Choi, Pramod K Dash

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) accounts for 70-90% of all TBI cases. Lipid metabolites have important roles in plasma membrane biogenesis, function, and cell signaling. As TBI can compromise plasma membrane integrity and alter brain cell function, we sought to identify circulating phospholipid alterations after mTBI, and determine if these changes were associated with clinical outcomes. Patients with mTBI (Glasgow Coma Score [GCS] ≥13 and loss of consciousness <30 >min) were recruited. A total of 84 mTBI subjects were enrolled after admission to a level I trauma center, with the majority having evidence of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage on brain computed tomography …

Changes In Unhealthy Food Consumption Among Vulnerable Elementary-Aged Children In The United States During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Serial Cross-Sectional Analysis, Nivedhitha Parthasarathy, Nalini Ranjit, Ru-Jye Chuang, Christine Markham, Mike Pomeroy, Jacqueline Noyola, Deepali K Ernest, Shreela V Sharma

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Several studies suggest that during the early pandemic, amidst socioeconomic instability, children from underserved families were more likely to resort to consuming cheaper, lower-quality foods with longer shelf lives. This study investigated the change in unhealthy food consumption across different phases (pre, early, mid) of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether the strength of association between unhealthy food consumption and household socioeconomic disadvantage (HSED) varied across phases of the pandemic.

Methods: This study utilized serial cross-sectional data collected from low-income families enrolled in a school-based food co-op, Brighter Bites. Secondary data analysis included 5,384 surveys from families who had complete …

Comparing The Use And Effectiveness Of In-Person And Remote Physical Education Delivery During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kempson Onadeko, Timothy J Walker, Derek W Craig, Jacob Szeszulski, Andjelka Pavlovic, Laura F Defina, Harold W Kohl

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Physical Education is a key component to improve youth health, but there is limited information on Physical Education delivery in different formats.

PURPOSE: We compared PE formats (in-person versus remote) across evaluation aspects: weekly minutes; perceived effectiveness; and student-to-teacher ratio.

METHODS: We distributed questionnaires (2020-2021 school year) to school contacts who represented NFL Play 60 FitnessGram

RESULTS: Among 165 schools, 10% (n=17) offered in-person instruction, 31% (n=51) offered remote instruction, and 59% offered both (n=97). Results revealed higher in-person PE minutes (77.2±7.3) compared to remote minutes (67.1±14.6), but results were not significantly different (p=0.19). School contacts reported significantly more …

A Virtual Culinary Medicine Intervention For Ethnically Diverse Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes: Development Of The Nourishing The Community Through Culinary Medicine, Lorena Macias-Navarro, John Wesley Mcwhorter, Diana C Guevara, Sarah S Bentley, Shreela V Sharma, Jennifer H Torres, David Ai, Natalia I Heredia

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Virtual culinary medicine education interventions have the potential to improve dietary behaviors, nutrition knowledge, cooking skills, and health outcomes for ethnically diverse individuals with type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study is to describe the adaptation of the Nourishing the Community through Culinary Medicine (NCCM) program for virtual delivery, and the protocol for pilot testing this intervention. The intervention includes five 90-min virtual NCCM sessions streamed live from a Teaching Kitchen. Feasibility outcomes are recruitment, retention, acceptability, and satisfaction. Short-term effectiveness outcomes are measured through self-administered questionnaires, including perceived health, average daily servings of fruits and vegetables, frequency of …

Exploring Sexual Orientation Disparities Regarding The Interplay Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Self-Reported Diabetes Status, And Depression Among Adults In The United States, Sumaita Choudhury, Paul G Yeh, Kaitlyn L Zajack-Garcia, Christine M Markham

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Previous research has revealed a strong link between the experience of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and diabetes in adulthood. Moreover, research has shown that sexual minorities (SM) are exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) (i.e. CSA) and experience depression at higher rates than their heterosexual counterparts. Thus, it is imperative to further investigate the role of depression and the differential associations of exposure to ACEs with diabetes prevalence by sexual orientation. We explored sexual orientation disparities regarding the relationship between CSA and diabetes and examined the moderating role of depression. A total of 29,903 participants from the 2021 Behavioral Risk …

Circulating Sphingolipids In Relation To Cognitive Decline And Incident Dementia: The Cardiovascular Health Study, Kristine F Moseholm, Héléne T Cronjé, Manja Koch, Annette L Fitzpatrick, Oscar L Lopez, Marcia C De Oliveira Otto, W T Longstreth, Andrew N Hoofnagle, Kenneth J Mukamal, Rozenn N Lemaitre, Majken K Jensen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Whether circulating levels of sphingolipids are prospectively associated with cognitive decline and dementia risk is uncertain.

METHODS: We measured 14 sphingolipid species in plasma samples from 4488 participants (mean age 76.2 years; 40% male; and 25% apolipoprotein E (

RESULTS: Higher plasma levels of sphingomyelin-d18:1/16:0 (SM-16) were associated with a faster cognitive decline measured with 3MSE, in contrast, higher levels of sphingomyelin-d18:1/22:0 (SM-22) were associated with slower decline in cognition measured with DSST. In Cox regression, higher levels of SM-16 (hazard ration [HR] = 1.24 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-1.44]) and ceramide-d18:1/16:0 (Cer-16) (HR = 1.26 [95% CI: 1.10-1.45]) …

Variant Of The Lactase Lct Gene Explains Association Between Milk Intake And Incident Type 2 Diabetes, Kai Luo, Guo-Chong Chen, Yanbo Zhang, Jee-Young Moon, Jiaqian Xing, Brandilyn A Peters, Mykhaylo Usyk, Zheng Wang, Gang Hu, Jun Li, Elizabeth Selvin, Casey M Rebholz, Tao Wang, Carmen R Isasi, Bing Yu, Rob Knight, Eric Boerwinkle, Robert D Burk, Robert C Kaplan, Qibin Qi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cow's milk is frequently included in the human diet, but the relationship between milk intake and type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains controversial. Here, using data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, we show that in both sexes, higher milk intake is associated with lower risk of T2D in lactase non-persistent (LNP) individuals (determined by a variant of the lactase LCT gene, single nucleotide polymorphism rs4988235 ) but not in lactase persistent individuals. We validate this finding in the UK Biobank. Further analyses reveal that among LNP individuals, higher milk intake is associated with alterations in gut microbiota (for …

Dynamic Risk Score Modeling For Multiple Longitudinal Risk Factors And Survival, Cuihong Zhang, Jing Ning, Jianwen Cai, James E Squires, Steven H Belle, Ruosha Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Modeling disease risk and survival using longitudinal risk factor trajectories is of interest in various clinical scenarios. The capacity to build a prognostic model using the trajectories of multiple longitudinal risk factors, in the presence of potential dependent censoring, would enable more informed, personalized decision making. A dynamic risk score modeling framework is proposed for multiple longitudinal risk factors and survival in the presence of dependent censoring, where both events depend on participants' post-baseline clinical progression and form a competing risks structure. The model requires relatively few random effects regardless of the number of longitudinal risk factors and can therefore …

Dna Methylation In Aging And Alzheimer's Disease, Raymond Cheng, Jingmin Shu, Hai Chen, Ming Li, Xiaodong Cheng, Li Liu

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

DNA methylation undergoes significant changes with age. These alterations play a pivotal role in the development of age-related diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent advancements in DNA methylome profiling have revealed global hypomethylation patterns, particularly within repetitive elements, as well as gene-specific changes that are associated with neurodegeneration. Age-related alterations in DNA methylation have been implicated in the disruption of key cellular processes, such as inflammation and proteostasis, both central to AD pathology. However, several challenges persist in this field. One major issue is the inconsistency of findings across different brain regions and tissue types, which complicates result interpretation. Furthermore, …

Using Focus Groups To Explore Older Black Men's Perception Of Dietary Interventions., Ashley R Shaw, Eric D Vidoni, Mickeal N Key, Brandon A Yates, Roland Thorpe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Older Black men are underrepresented in research despite being disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors related to AD compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Although dietary interventions have shown promise to reduce modifiable CV risk factors related to AD, Black Americans have lower adherence likely due to lack of cultural considerations. Using a noninterventional convergent parallel mixed-methods approach, this study examined the cultural contexts that inform perceptions of dietary interventions among older Midwestern Black men. All participants completed an online demographic and dietary habit survey prior to focus group discussions. Two focus group discussion sessions were conducted …

Association Of Cancer Diagnosis With Disability Status Among Older Survivors Of Colorectal Cancer: A Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study, Shiming Zhang, Lin-Na Chou, Michael D Swartz, Hemalkumar B Mehta, James S Goodwin, Yong-Fang Kuo, Sharon Hermes Giordano, Carole A Tucker, Karen M Basen-Engquist, Elizabeth J Lyons, Brian Downer, Susan K Peterson, Tru Cao, Maria C Swartz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Older cancer survivors likely experience physical function limitations due to cancer and its treatments, leading to disability and early mortality. Existing studies have focused on factors associated with surgical complications and mortality risk rather than factors associated with the development of poor disability status (DS), a proxy measure of poor performance status, in cancer survivors. We aimed to identify factors associated with the development of poor DS among older survivors of colorectal cancer (CRC) and compare poor DS rates to an age-sex-matched, non-cancer cohort.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study utilized administrative data from the Texas Cancer Registry Medicare-linked database. …

Factors Associated With Infant Sex And Preterm Birth Status For Selected Birth Defects From The National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997–2011, Eva M Williford, Wei Yang, Meredith M Howley, Chen Ma, Ronnie T Collins, Kari A Weber, Dominique Heinke, Julie M Petersen, A J Agopian, Natalie P Archer, Andrew F Olshan, Lindsay A Williams, Marilyn L Browne, Gary M Shaw

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Birth defects and preterm birth co-occur, with some overlapping risk factors. Many birth defects and preterm births tend to have a male preponderance. We explored potential risk factors impacting sex and preterm (< 37 weeks of gestation) birth differences among infants with selected birth defects delivered from 1997 to 2011 using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS).

Methods: The NBDPS was a large multisite, population-based case-control study. Using random forests, we identified important predictors of male preterm, female preterm, and male term, each compared with female term births for each birth defect. Using logistic regression, we estimated odds ratios for associations between important predictors and sex-preterm birth status by birth defect.

Results: We examined 11,379 infants with nine specific birth defects. The top …

A Comparative Study Of Venezuelan Immigrants’ Pre- And Post-Migration Concerns For Their Children In The United States And Colombia, Aigerim Alpysbekova, Pablo Montero-Zamora, Mary H Soares, Carolina Scaramutti, Sumeyra Sahbaz, Maria Duque, Tara Bautista, Maria Fernanda Garcia, Christopher P Salas-Wright, Mildred M Maldonado-Molina, Melissa M Bates, Augusto Pérez-Gómez, Juliana Mejía Trujillo, Eric C Brown, Seth J Schwartz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Research suggests that forced migration may lead to cultural stress and psychological distress. However, little is known about immigrant parents' pre- and post-migration concerns for their children's welfare. The present study examined the concerns of Venezuelan parents who migrated to the United States versus those who migrated to Colombia, and whether post-migration concerns were related to cultural stressors, mental health, and cultural identity. A sample of 609 Venezuelan immigrants completed surveys and responded to an open-ended prompt asking about pre- and post-migration concerns for children's welfare. Lack of safety was the most common pre-migration concern for Venezuelans in the U.S., …