The Connection, Volume 5, Issue 01, Summer 2006

The Connection is published by the Prevention Research Center (PRC), Prevention & Population Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. The purpose of The Connection is to provide reports and updates on programs of the PRC and those of its Community Advisory Council and other partners.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc_prc_newsletters/1032/thumbnail.jp

The Connection, Volume 5, Issue 02, Spring 2007

The Connection is published by the Prevention Research Center (PRC), Prevention & Population Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. The purpose of The Connection is to provide reports and updates on programs of the PRC and those of its Community Advisory Council and other partners.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc_prc_newsletters/1031/thumbnail.jp

The Connection, Volume 4, Issue 02, Fall 2005

The Connection is published by the Prevention Research Center (PRC), Prevention & Population Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. The purpose of The Connection is to provide reports and updates on programs of the PRC and those of its Community Advisory Council and other partners.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc_prc_newsletters/1033/thumbnail.jp

The Connection, Volume 4, Issue 01, Summer 2005

The Connection is published by the Prevention Research Center (PRC), Prevention & Population Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. The purpose of The Connection is to provide reports and updates on programs of the PRC and those of its Community Advisory Council and other partners.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc_prc_newsletters/1034/thumbnail.jp

“MULTIRACIAL AND MULTIETHNIC IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT: SHOULD THE QUESTION REALLY BE ‘IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?’”

The purpose of this symposium is to challenge and expand the work in identity development beyond simplistic, single identity developmental frameworks by examining the inherent complexities of multiple identity development and group affiliations

Effects of urate, a natural inhibitor of peroxynitrite-mediated toxicity, in the response of Arabidopsis thaliana to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae

Urate, a natural peroxynitrite scavenger, has been used to investígate the possible role of peroxynitrite during plant-pathogen interactions. Urate greatly reduced lesión formation in Arabidopsis leaves treated with an abiotic peroxynitrite-generating system or with a peroxynitrite solution, indicating that it can act as an effective scavenger in planta. In the interaction with the avirulent Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola [avrRPNW], cell death in the inoculated área was strongly reduced by urate, without compromising disease resistance. In contrast, urate promoted discrete cell death in response to an isogenic Pseudomonas syringae (awRPMT), which did not trigger an HR when inoculated alone, and it induced resistance and arrest of pathogen growth. Scavenging of peroxynitrite did not modify the response of Arabidopsis to an avirulent strain of Xanthomonas campestris pv campestris, that showed a high resistance to NO and peroxynitrite. Our data indícate that peroxynitrite plays a significant role in the responses of plants to Pseudomonas syrin

Advancing the human right to housing in post-Katrina New Orleans: discursive opportunity structures in housing and community development

In post-Katrina New Orleans, housing and community development (HCD) advocates clashed over the future of public housing. This case study examines the evolution of and limits to a human right to housing frame introduced by one nongovernmental organization (NGO). Ferree’s concept of the discursive opportunity structure and Bourdieu’s social field ground this NGO’s failure to advance a radical economic human rights frame, given its choice of a political inside strategy that opened up for HCD NGOs after Hurricane Katrina. Strategic and ideological differences within the field limited the efficacy of this rights-based frame, which was seen as politically radical and risky compared with more resonant frames for seeking affordable housing resources and development opportunities. These divides flowed from the position of the movement-born HCD field within a neoliberal political economy, especially its current institutionalization in the finance and real estate sector, and its dependence on the state for funding and political legitimacy

\u3cem\u3eABCC9\u3c/em\u3e Gene Polymorphism Is Associated with Hippocampal Sclerosis of Aging Pathology

Hippocampal sclerosis of aging (HS-Aging) is a high-morbidity brain disease in the elderly but risk factors are largely unknown. We report the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) with HS-Aging pathology as an endophenotype. In collaboration with the Alzheimer\u27s Disease Genetics Consortium, data were analyzed from large autopsy cohorts: (#1) National Alzheimer\u27s Coordinating Center (NACC); (#2) Rush University Religious Orders Study and Memory and Aging Project; (#3) Group Health Research Institute Adult Changes in Thought study; (#4) University of California at Irvine 90+ Study; and (#5) University of Kentucky Alzheimer\u27s Disease Center. Altogether, 363 HS-Aging cases and 2,303 controls, all pathologically confirmed, provided statistical power to test for risk alleles with large effect size. A two-tier study design included GWAS from cohorts #1-3 (Stage I) to identify promising SNP candidates, followed by focused evaluation of particular SNPs in cohorts #4-5 (Stage II). Polymorphism in the ATP-binding cassette, sub-family C member 9 (ABCC9) gene, also known as sulfonylurea receptor 2, was associated with HS-Aging pathology. In the meta-analyzed Stage I GWAS, ABCC9 polymorphisms yielded the lowest p values, and factoring in the Stage II results, the meta-analyzed risk SNP (rs704178:G) attained genome-wide statistical significance (p = 1.4 × 10-9), with odds ratio (OR) of 2.13 (recessive mode of inheritance). For SNPs previously linked to hippocampal sclerosis, meta-analyses of Stage I results show OR = 1.16 for rs5848 (GRN) and OR = 1.22 rs1990622 (TMEM106B), with the risk alleles as previously described. Sulfonylureas, a widely prescribed drug class used to treat diabetes, also modify human ABCC9 protein function. A subsample of patients from the NACC database (n = 624) were identified who were older than age 85 at death with known drug history. Controlling for important confounders such as diabetes itself, exposure to a sulfonylurea drug was associated with risk for HS-Aging pathology (p = 0.03). Thus, we describe a novel and targetable dementia risk factor

Common genetic variants in the CLDN2 and PRSS1-PRSS2 loci alter risk for alcohol-related and sporadic pancreatitis

Pancreatitis is a complex, progressively destructive inflammatory disorder. Alcohol was long thought to be the primary causative agent, but genetic contributions have been of interest since the discovery that rare PRSS1, CFTR, and SPINK1 variants were associated with pancreatitis risk. We now report two significant genome-wide associations identified and replicated at PRSS1-PRSS2 (1×10-12) and x-linked CLDN2 (p < 1×10-21) through a two-stage genome-wide study (Stage 1, 676 cases and 4507 controls; Stage 2, 910 cases and 4170 controls). The PRSS1 variant affects susceptibility by altering expression of the primary trypsinogen gene. The CLDN2 risk allele is associated with atypical localization of claudin-2 in pancreatic acinar cells. The homozygous (or hemizygous male) CLDN2 genotype confers the greatest risk, and its alleles interact with alcohol consumption to amplify risk. These results could partially explain the high frequency of alcohol-related pancreatitis in men – male hemizygous frequency is 0.26, female homozygote is 0.07