Longitudinal change in the diet's monetary value is associated with its change in quality and micronutrient adequacy among urban adults.

Background: Reducing diet costs may lead to the selection of energy-dense foods, such as refined grains or foods high in added sugars and/or fats, which can lower overall dietary quality. We examined the longitudinal association between the monetary value of the diet (MVD) and the overall dietary quality across sex, race and income groups.

Methods And Findings: Longitudinal data from 1,466 adult urban participants from Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study were used.

Race Differences in Diet Quality of Urban Food-Insecure Blacks and Whites Reveals Resiliency in Blacks.

Introduction: Evidence from epidemiological studies shows a link between food insecurity and diet intake or quality. However, the moderating effect of race in this relation has not yet been studied.

Methods: Food insecurity (USDA Food Security Module) and diet quality (Healthy Eating Index-2010; HEI) were measured in 1741 participants from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study.

Relations of blood pressure and head injury to regional cerebral blood flow.

Hypertension confers increased risk for cognitive decline, dementia, and cerebrovascular disease. These associations have been attributed, in part, to cerebral hypoperfusion. Here we posit that relations of higher blood pressure to lower levels of cerebral perfusion may be potentiated by a prior head injury.

Cross-sectional relations of race and poverty status to cardiovascular risk factors in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Lifespan (HANDLS) study.

Background: Examine interactive relations of race and poverty status with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a socioeconomically diverse sample of urban-dwelling African American (AA) and White adults.

Methods: Participants were 2,270 AAs and Whites (57% AA; 57% female; ages 30-64 years) who completed the first wave of the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. CVD risk factors assessed included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), total cholesterol (TC), high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), and systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressure (SBP, DBP, PP).

Monetary Value of Diet Is Associated with Dietary Quality and Nutrient Adequacy among Urban Adults, Differentially by Sex, Race and Poverty Status.

Objective: The association between monetary value of the diet (MVD, $/day) with dietary quality was examined using a large sample of urban US adults, differentially by socio-demographic factors.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 2,111 participants, aged 30-64y, using data from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span Study. Dietary quality indices included Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) and Mean Adequacy Ratio (MAR), (two 24-hr recalls).

Provider perspectives on essential functions for care management in the collaborative treatment of hypertension: the P.A.R.T.N.E.R. framework.

Background: Care management has become a widespread strategy for improving chronic illness care. However, primary care provider (PCP) participation in programs has been poor. Because the success of care management relies on provider engagement, understanding provider perspectives is necessary.

Subjective socioeconomic status predicts Framingham cardiovascular disease risk for whites, not blacks.

Background: Higher rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors are well documented among those with objective indicators of lower socioeconomic status (SES), such as income, education, and occupation. However, relatively little is known about the relationship of subjective SES to CVD risk, particularly within different racial groups.

Methods: Subjective SES and Framingham 10-year CVD risk profile were examined in 1,722 socioeconomically diverse Black and White adults enrolled in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study.

Association of race consciousness with the patient-physician relationship, medication adherence, and blood pressure in urban primary care patients.

Background: Race consciousness (the frequency with which one thinks about his or her own race) is a measure that may be useful in assessing whether racial discrimination negatively impacts blood pressure (BP). However, the relation between race consciousness and BP has yet to be empirically tested, especially within the context of the patient-physician relationship and medication adherence.

Methods: Race-stratified generalized estimating equations were used to assess the relationship of race consciousness on BP, measures of the patient-physician relationship, and self-reported medication adherence, controlling for patients being nested within physicians and for patient age and sex.

Effects of estrogen and opioid blockade on blood pressure reactivity to stress in postmenopausal women.

Estrogen may influence coronary heart disease risk in women through the effects of endogenous opioids on autonomic control of blood pressure. In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we examined the combined effects of estrogen and the opioid antagonist, naltrexone, on blood pressure responses to psychological stress in 42 postmenopausal women. After 3 months of estrogen or estrogen plus progestin (hormone replacement therapy; n = 27) or placebo replacement, participants completed a mental arithmetic task after administration of .

Endophenotypes in schizophrenia: a selective review.

Background: Given the wealth of data in the literature on schizophrenia endophenotypes, it is useful to have one source to reference their frequency data. We reviewed the literature on disease-liability associated variants in structural and functional magnetic resonance images (MRI), sensory processing measures, neuromotor abilities, neuropsychological measures, and physical characteristics in schizophrenia patients (SCZ), their first-degree relatives (REL), and healthy controls (HC). The purpose of this review was to provide a summary of the existing data on the most extensively published endophenotypes for schizophrenia.

Effects of alcohol on performance on a distraction task during simulated driving.

Background: Prior studies report that accidents involving intoxicated drivers are more likely to occur during performance of secondary tasks. We studied this phenomenon, using a dual-task paradigm, involving performance of a visual oddball (VO) task while driving in an alcohol challenge paradigm. Previous functional MRI (fMRI) studies of the VO task have shown activation in the anterior cingulate, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex.