Decreased Births Among Black Female Adolescents Following School Desegregation

Although the socioeconomic impact of school desegregation in the U.S. has been well documented, little is known about the health consequences of this policy. The purpose of this study was to quantify the associations between school desegregation and adolescent births among black and white females. We compared the change in prevalence of adolescent births in areas that implemented school desegregation plans in the 1970s with areas that implemented school desegregation plans in other decades, using difference-in-difference methods with 1970 and 1980 Census microdata. School desegregation policy in the U.S. in the 1970s was associated with a significant reduction of 3.2 percentage points in the prevalence of births among black female adolescents between 1970 and 1980. This association was specific to black female adolescents and was not observed among white adolescents

The association between blood pressure and years of schooling versus educational credentials: Test of the sheepskin effect

Purpose Attaining a degree may offer greater opportunities for health than years of schooling alone. This study examines whether there is a degree, or “sheepskin”, effect on the association between education and blood pressure. Methods Multivariable-adjusted ordinal and linear regression models assessed associations of years of schooling and degree attainment with systolic and diastolic blood pressure in a sample of 552 adults aged 38–47 years. Results Years of schooling was inversely associated with systolic blood pressure adjusting for age, gender and race (β=−0.4, 95% CL:−0.7,−0.1 mmHg systolic blood pressure/year of schooling). Additional adjustment for mother’s education, childhood verbal intelligence quotient, childhood health and childhood socioeconomic status had minimal impact on effect size (β= −0.3, 95% CI=−0.7,0.0). However, years of schooling was no longer associated with blood pressure in the fully adjusted model which included additional adjustment for degree attained (β=0.0, 95% CL:−0.5, 0.4). In the fully adjusted model (including adjustment for years of schooling), individuals with a graduate degree still had significantly lower systolic blood pressure than HS degree-holders (e.g. β=−9.2, 95% CL:−15.2,−3.2 for graduate vs. high school degree). Findings were similar for diastolic blood pressure. Conclusion The association of years of schooling with blood pressure may be largely due to degree attainment rather than simply the knowledge and skills accumulated due to years of schooling alone

Fatty Acid Desaturase Gene Variants, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Myocardial Infarction in the Costa Rica Study

Genetic variation in fatty acid desaturases (FADS) has previously been linked to long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in adipose tissue and cardiovascular risk. The goal of our study was to test associations between six common FADS polymorphisms (rs174556, rs3834458, rs174570, rs2524299, rs174589, rs174627), intermediate cardiovascular risk factors, and non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) in a matched population based case–control study of Costa Rican adults (n = 1756). Generalized linear models and multiple conditional logistic regression models were used to assess the associations of interest. Analyses involving intermediate cardiovascular risk factors and MI were also conducted in two replication cohorts, The Nurses’ Health Study (n = 1200) and The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (n = 1295). In the Costa Rica Study, genetic variation in the FADS cluster was associated with a robust linear decrease in adipose gamma-linolenic, arachidonic, and eicosapentaenoic fatty acids, and significant or borderline significant increases in the eicosadienoic, eicosatrienoic, and dihomo-gamma-linolenic fatty acids. However, the associations with adipose tissue fatty acids did not translate into changes in inflammatory biomarkers, blood lipids, or the risk of MI in the discovery or the replication cohorts. In conclusion, fatty acid desaturase polymorphisms impact long-chain PUFA biosynthesis, but their overall effect on cardiovascular health likely involves multiple pathways and merits further investigation

Mindfulness-Based Programs: Why, When, and How to Adapt?

This paper provides a framework for understanding why, when and how to adapt mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) to specific populations and contexts, based on research that developed and adapted multiple MBPs. In doing so, we hope to support teachers, researchers and innovators who are considering adapting an MBP to ensure that changes made are necessary, acceptable, effective, cost-effective, and implementable. Specific questions for reflection are provided such as (1) Why is an adaptation needed? (2) Does the theoretical premise underpinning mainstream MBPs extend to the population you are considering? (3) Do the benefits of the proposed adaptation outweigh the time and costs involved to all in research and implementation? (4) Is there already an evidenced-based approach to address this issue in the population or context? Fundamental knowledge that is important for the adaptation team to have includes the following: (1) essential ingredients of MBPs, (2) etiology of the target health outcome, (3) existing interventions that work for the health outcome, population, and context, (4) delivery systems and settings, and (5) culture, values, and communication patterns of the target population. A series of steps to follow for adaptations is provided, as are case examples. Adapting MBPs happens not only by researchers, but also by MBP teachers and developers, who endeavor to best serve the populations and contexts they work within. We hope that these recommendations for best practice provide a practical framework for skilfully understanding why, when, and how to adapt MBPs; and that this careful approach to adaptation maximizes MBP safety and efficacy

A Longitudinal Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Development of Metabolic Syndrome: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study

Despite variability in the burden of elevated depressive symptoms by sex and race and differences in the incidence of metabolic syndrome, few prior studies describe the longitudinal association of depressive symptoms with metabolic syndrome in a diverse cohort. We tested whether baseline and time-varying depressive symptoms were associated with metabolic syndrome incidence in black and white men and women from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study

Mindfulness and Behavior Change

Initiating and maintaining behavior change is key to the prevention and treatment of most preventable chronic medical and psychiatric illnesses. The cultivation of mindfulness, involving acceptance and nonjudgment of present-moment experience, often results in transformative health behavior change. Neural systems involved in motivation and learning have an important role to play. A theoretical model of mindfulness that integrates these mechanisms with the cognitive, emotional, and self-related processes commonly described, while applying an integrated model to health behavior change, is needed. This integrative review (1) defines mindfulness and describes the mindfulness-based intervention movement, (2) synthesizes the neuroscience of mindfulness and integrates motivation and learning mechanisms within a mindful self-regulation model for understanding the complex effects of mindfulness on behavior change, and (3) synthesizes current clinical research evaluating the effects of mindfulness-based interventions targeting health behaviors relevant to psychiatric care. The review provides insight into the limitations of current research and proposes potential mechanisms to be tested in future research and targeted in clinical practice to enhance the impact of mindfulness on behavior change

Interventions to Modify Psychological Well-Being: Progress, Promises, and an Agenda for Future Research

Psychological well-being, characterized by feelings, cognitions, and strategies that are associated with positive functioning (including hedonic and eudaimonic well-being), has been linked with better physical health and greater longevity. Importantly, psychological well-being can be strengthened with interventions, providing a strategy for improving population health. But are the effects of well-being interventions meaningful, durable, and scalable enough to improve health at a population-level? To assess this possibility, a cross-disciplinary group of scholars convened to review current knowledge and develop a research agenda. Here we summarize and build on the key insights from this convening, which were: (1) existing interventions should continue to be adapted to achieve a large-enough effect to result in downstream improvements in psychological functioning and health, (2) research should determine the durability of interventions needed to drive population-level and lasting changes, (3) a shift from individual-level care and treatment to a public-health model of population-level prevention is needed and will require new infrastructure that can deliver interventions at scale, (4) interventions should be accessible and effective in racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse samples. A discussion examining the key future research questions follows

Associations of education with 30 year life course blood pressure trajectories: Framingham Offspring Study

Background: Education is inversely associated with cardiovascular disease incidence in developed countries. Blood pressure may be an explanatory biological mechanism. However few studies have investigated educational gradients in longitudinal blood pressure trajectories, particularly over substantial proportions of the life course. Study objectives were to determine whether low education was associated with increased blood pressure from multiple longitudinal assessments over 30 years. Furthermore, we aimed to separate antecedent effects of education, and other related factors, that might have caused baseline differences in blood pressure, from potential long-term effects of education on post-baseline blood pressure changes. Methods: The study examined 3890 participants of the Framingham Offspring Study (mean age 36.7 years, 52.0% females at baseline) from 1971 through 2001 at up to 7 separate examinations using multivariable mixed linear models. Results: Mixed linear models demonstrated that mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) over 30 years was higher for participants with ≤12 vs. ≥17 years education after adjusting for age (3.26 mmHg, 95% CI: 1.46, 5.05 in females, 2.26 mmHg, 95% CI: 0.87, 3.66 in males). Further adjustment for conventional covariates (antihypertensive medication, smoking, body mass index and alcohol) reduced differences in females and males (2.86, 95% CI: 1.13, 4.59, and 1.25, 95% CI: -0.16, 2.66 mmHg, respectively). Additional analyses adjusted for baseline SBP, to evaluate if there may be educational contributions to post-baseline SBP. In analyses adjusted for age and baseline SBP, females with ≤12 years education had 2.69 (95% CI: 1.09, 4.30) mmHg higher SBP over follow-up compared with ≥17 years education. Further adjustment for aforementioned covariates slightly reduced effect strength (2.53 mmHg, 95% CI: 0.93, 4.14). Associations were weaker in males, where those with ≤12 years education had 1.20 (95% CI: -0.07, 2.46) mmHg higher SBP over follow-up compared to males with ≥17 years of education, after adjustment for age and baseline blood pressure; effects were substantially reduced after adjusting for aforementioned covariates (0.34 mmHg, 95% CI: -0.90, 1.68). Sex-by-education interaction was marginally significant (p = 0.046). Conclusion: Education was inversely associated with higher systolic blood pressure throughout a 30-year life course span, and associations may be stronger in females than males.Eric B Loucks, Michal Abrahamowicz, Yongling Xiao, John W Lync

Smoking induces coordinated DNA methylation and gene expression changes in adipose tissue with consequences for metabolic health

Abstract Background Tobacco smoking is a risk factor for multiple diseases, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Many smoking-associated signals have been detected in the blood methylome, but the extent to which these changes are widespread to metabolically relevant tissues, and impact gene expression or metabolic health, remains unclear. Methods We investigated smoking-associated DNA methylation and gene expression variation in adipose tissue biopsies from 542 healthy female twins. Replication, tissue specificity, and longitudinal stability of the smoking-associated effects were explored in additional adipose, blood, skin, and lung samples. We characterized the impact of adipose tissue smoking methylation and expression signals on metabolic disease risk phenotypes, including visceral fat. Results We identified 42 smoking-methylation and 42 smoking-expression signals, where five genes (AHRR, CYP1A1, CYP1B1, CYTL1, F2RL3) were both hypo-methylated and upregulated in current smokers. CYP1A1 gene expression achieved 95% prediction performance of current smoking status. We validated and replicated a proportion of the signals in additional primary tissue samples, identifying tissue-shared effects. Smoking leaves systemic imprints on DNA methylation after smoking cessation, with stronger but shorter-lived effects on gene expression. Metabolic disease risk traits such as visceral fat and android-to-gynoid ratio showed association with methylation at smoking markers with functional impacts on expression, such as CYP1A1, and at tissue-shared smoking signals, such as NOTCH1. At smoking-signals, BHLHE40 and AHRR DNA methylation and gene expression levels in current smokers were predictive of future gain in visceral fat upon smoking cessation. Conclusions Our results provide the first comprehensive characterization of coordinated DNA methylation and gene expression markers of smoking in adipose tissue. The findings relate to human metabolic health and give insights into understanding the widespread health consequence of smoking outside of the lung

Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) – a community perspective

This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through on-line media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focussed on process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come