Racial Discrimination, Identity, and Cardiovascular Health Among African American Men

In this talk, a conceptual framework for examining racial/ethnic disparities in health is presented, specifically considering the contribution of racism in the persistence and perpetuation of poorer health outcomes in racial/ethnic minority communities. While discrimination, defined as the experience of differential treatment, and in particular, unfair treatment attributed to membership in a social group, is one of the more obvious consequences of a racist ideology, among its more insidious consequences is internalized racism, or the acceptance of negative social values about the intrinsic worth of one\u27s racial group. An overview of the growing body of literature suggesting that experiences of discrimination may have consequences for health outcomes among racial/ethnic minorities is provided. In addition, a theoretical model of how racism may be embodied via its influence on racial/ethnic identity and identification is presented. Implications for programs and policies to address racism and discrimination in ameliorating racial/ethnic disparities in health are discussed

Discrimination, Attribution, and Racial Group Identification: Implications for Psychological Distress Among Black Americans in the National Survey of American Life (2001–2003)

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112256/1/j.1939-0025.2011.01122.x.pd

Evidence for Steady Heating: Observations of an Active Region Core with Hinode and TRACE

Previous observations have not been able to exclude the possibility that high temperature active region loops are actually composed of many small scale threads that are in various stages of heating and cooling and only appear to be in equilibrium. With new observations from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) and X-ray Telescope (XRT) on \textit{Hinode} we have the ability to investigate the properties of high temperature coronal plasma in extraordinary detail. We examine the emission in the core of an active region and find three independent lines of evidence for steady heating. We find that the emission observed in XRT is generally steady for hours, with a fluctuation level of approximately 15% in an individual pixel. Short-lived impulsive heating events are observed, but they appear to be unrelated to the steady emission that dominates the active region. Furthermore, we find no evidence for warm emission that is spatially correlated with the hot emission, as would be expected if the high temperature loops are the result of impulsive heating. Finally, we also find that intensities in the "moss", the footpoints of high temperature loops, are consistent with steady heating models provided that we account for the local expansion of the loop from the base of the transition region to the corona. In combination, these results provide strong evidence that the heating in the core of an active region is effectively steady, that is, the time between heating events is short relative to the relevant radiative and conductive cooling times.Comment: Minor changes based on the final report from the referee; Movies are available from the first autho

The Role of Racial Identity and Implicit Racial Bias in Self-Reported Racial Discrimination: Implications for Depression Among African American Men

Racial discrimination is conceptualized as a psychosocial stressor that has negative implications for mental health. However, factors related to racial identity may influence whether negative experiences are interpreted as instances of racial discrimination and subsequently reported as such in survey instruments, particularly given the ambiguous nature of contemporary racism. Along these lines, dimensions of racial identity may moderate associations between racial discrimination and mental health outcomes. This study examined relationships between racial discrimination, racial identity, implicit racial bias, and depressive symptoms among African American men between 30 and 50 years of age (n = 95). Higher racial centrality was associated with greater reports of racial discrimination, while greater implicit anti-Black bias was associated with lower reports of racial discrimination. In models predicting elevated depressive symptoms, holding greater implicit anti-Black bias in tandem with reporting lower racial discrimination was associated with the highest risk. Results suggest that unconscious as well as conscious processes related to racial identity are important to consider in measuring racial discrimination, and should be integrated in studies of racial discrimination and mental health

Feasibility of atrial fibrillation detection from a novel wearable armband device

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the world’s most common heart rhythm disorder and even several minutes of AF episodes can contribute to risk for complications, including stroke. However, AF often goes undiagnosed owing to the fact that it can be paroxysmal, brief, and asymptomatic. OBJECTIVE: To facilitate better AF monitoring, we studied the feasibility of AF detection using a continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) signal recorded from a novel wearable armband device. METHODS: In our 2-step algorithm, we first calculate the R-R interval variability–based features to capture randomness that can indicate a segment of data possibly containing AF, and subsequently discriminate normal sinus rhythm from the possible AF episodes. Next, we use density Poincaré plot-derived image domain features along with a support vector machine to separate premature atrial/ventricular contraction episodes from any AF episodes. We trained and validated our model using the ECG data obtained from a subset of the MIMIC-III (Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III) database containing 30 subjects. RESULTS: When we tested our model using the novel wearable armband ECG dataset containing 12 subjects, the proposed method achieved sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and F1 score of 99.89%, 99.99%, 99.98%, and 0.9989, respectively. Moreover, when compared with several existing methods with the armband data, our proposed method outperformed the others, which shows its efficacy. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the novel wearable armband device and our algorithm can be used as a potential tool for continuous AF monitoring with high accuracy

Association between an Internet-Based Measure of Area Racism and Black Mortality

Racial disparities in health are well-documented and represent a significant public health concern in the US. Racism-related factors contribute to poorer health and higher mortality rates among Blacks compared to other racial groups. However, methods to measure racism and monitor its associations with health at the population-level have remained elusive. In this study, we investigated the utility of a previously developed Internet search-based proxy of area racism as a predictor of Black mortality rates. Area racism was the proportion of Google searches containing the “N-word” in 196 designated market areas (DMAs). Negative binomial regression models were specified taking into account individual age, sex, year of death, and Census region and adjusted to the 2000 US standard population to examine the association between area racism and Black mortality rates, which were derived from death certificates and mid-year population counts collated by the National Center for Health Statistics (2004–2009). DMAs characterized by a one standard deviation greater level of area racism were associated with an 8.2% increase in the all-cause Black mortality rate, equivalent to over 30,000 deaths annually. The magnitude of this effect was attenuated to 5.7% after adjustment for DMA-level demographic and Black socioeconomic covariates. A model controlling for the White mortality rate was used to further adjust for unmeasured confounders that influence mortality overall in a geographic area, and to examine Black-White disparities in the mortality rate. Area racism remained significantly associated with the all-cause Black mortality rate (mortality rate ratio = 1.036; 95% confidence interval = 1.015, 1.057; p = 0.001). Models further examining cause-specific Black mortality rates revealed significant associations with heart disease, cancer, and stroke. These findings are congruent with studies documenting the deleterious impact of racism on health among Blacks. Our study contributes to evidence that racism shapes patterns in mortality and generates racial disparities in health

Active region transition region loop populations and their relationship to the corona

The relationships among coronal loop structures at different temperatures is not settled. Previous studies have suggested that coronal loops in the core of an active region are not seen cooling through lower temperatures and therefore are steadily heated. If loops were cooling, the transition region would be an ideal temperature regime to look for a signature of their evolution. The Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on Hinode provides monochromatic images of the solar transition region and corona at an unprecedented cadence and spatial resolution, making it an ideal instrument to shed light on this issue. Analysis of observations of active region 10978 taken in 2007 December 8 -- 19 indicates that there are two dominant loop populations in the active region: core multi-temperature loops that undergo a continuous process of heating and cooling in the full observed temperature range 0.4-2.5 MK and even higher as shown by the X-Ray Telescope (XRT); and peripheral loops which evolve mostly in the temperature range 0.4-1.3 MK. Loops at transition region temperatures can reach heights of 150 Mm in the corona above the limb and develop downflows with velocities in the range of 39-105 km/s.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

In Enterovirus 71 Encephalitis With Cardio-Respiratory Compromise, Elevated Interleukin 1β, Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist, and Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor Levels Are Markers of Poor Prognosis

Background. Enterovirus 71 (EV71) causes large outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), with severe neurological complications and cardio-respiratory compromise, but the pathogenesis is poorly understood. Methods. We measured levels of 30 chemokines and cytokines in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from Malaysian children hospitalized with EV71 infection (n = 88), comprising uncomplicated HFMD (n = 47), meningitis (n = 8), acute flaccid paralysis (n = 1), encephalitis (n = 21), and encephalitis with cardiorespiratory compromise (n = 11). Four of the latter patients died. Results. Both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediator levels were elevated, with different patterns of mediator abundance in the CSF and vascular compartments. Serum concentrations of interleukin 1β (IL-1β), interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) were raised significantly in patients who developed cardio-respiratory compromise (P = .013, P = .004, and P 100 at admission being the most accurate prognostic marker for death (P < .001; accuracy, 85.5%; sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 84.7%). Conclusions. Given that IL-1β has a negative inotropic action on the heart, and that both its natural antagonist, IL-1Ra, and G-CSF are being assessed as treatments for acute cardiac impairment, the findings suggest we have identified functional markers of EV71-related cardiac dysfunction and potential treatment options

Robust hermetic packaging techniques for MEMS integrated microsystems.

This work is the result of a Sandia National Laboratories LDRD funded fellowship at the University of Michigan. Although, guidance and suggestions were offered by Sandia, the work contained here is primarily the work of Brian H. Stark, and his advisor, Professor Khalil Najafi. Junseok Chae, Andrew Kuo, and their coworkers at the University of Michigan helped to record some of the data. The following is an abstract of their work. We have developed a vacuum packaging technology using a thick nickel film to seal MEMS structures at the wafer level. The package is fabricated in a three-mask process by electroplating a 40 micro-meter thick nickel film over an 8 micro-meter sacrificial photoresist that is removed prior to package sealing. Implementation of electrical feedthroughs in this process requires no planarization. The large release channel enables an 800x800 micro-meter package to be released in less than three hours. Several mechanisms, based upon localized melting and lead/tin solder bumping, for sealing the release channel have been investigated. We have also developed Pirani gauges, integrated with this package, which can be used to establish the hermeticity of the different sealing technologies. They have measured a sealing pressure of approximately 1.5 Torr. Our work differs from previous Pirani gauges in that we utilize a novel doubly anchored structure that stiffens the structural membrane while not substantially degrading performance in order to measure fine leak rates