Health Aff Sch
January 2024
New data from the Social Security Administration suggest there were 260 000 excess deaths in the United States among current or former disability beneficiaries during the first 22 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These beneficiaries accounted for 26% of all excess deaths in the United States during this period. The pattern of deaths among disabled beneficiaries corresponds closely to known milestones in the pandemic's history.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreased arterial stiffness is an independent risk factor for hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular morbidity. Thus, understanding the factors contributing to vascular stiffness is of critical importance. Here, we used a rat model containing a known quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome 3 (RNO3) for vasoreactivity to assess potential genetic elements contributing to blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and their downstream effects on cardiac structure and function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrancisella tularensis is the causative agent of the lethal disease tularemia. Despite decades of research, little is understood about why F. tularensis is so virulent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe relative mRNA levels of differentially expressed (DE) and housekeeping (HK) genes of six aneuploid cancer lines with large-scale genomic changes identified by SNP/SKY analysis were compared with similar genes in diploid cells. The aneuploid cancer lines had heterogeneous genomic landscapes with subdiploid, diploid, and supradiploid regions and higher overall gene copy numbers compared with diploid cells. The mRNA levels of the haploid, diploid, and triploid HK genes were found to be higher after correction of easily identifiable mRNA measurement errors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article provides policymakers with context for understanding past and future policy discussions regarding Social Security widow benefits. Using data from surveys, projections from a microsimulation model, and recent research, it examines three types of benefits-those for aged widows, widows caring for children, and disabled widows. The economic well-being of aged widows has shifted from one of widespread hardship to one in which above-poverty, but still modest, income typically prevails.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to demographic changes, the U.S. Social Security system will face financial challenges in the near future.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany of the federal and state programs that provide income security to U.S. families have their roots in the Social Security Act (the Act) of 1935.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur previous work found DA rats superior for intrinsic aerobic running capacity (ARC) and several cardiac function indexes compared with Copenhagen (COP) rats, and identified ARC quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on rat chromosomes 16 (RNO16) and 3 (RNO3). The purpose of this study was to use these inbred rat strains as a genetic substrate for differential cardiac gene expression to identify candidate genes for the observed ARC QTLs. RNA expression was examined globally in left ventricles of 15-wk-old DA, F1(COP x DA), and COP rats using microarrays to identify candidate genes for ARC QTLs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although 40-50% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors respond to cisplatin chemotherapy, there currently is no way to prospectively identify potential responders. The purpose of this study was to determine whether transcript abundance (TA) levels of twelve selected DNA repair or multi-drug resistance genes (LIG1, ERCC2, ERCC3, DDIT3, ABCC1, ABCC4, ABCC5, ABCC10, GTF2H2, XPA, XPC and XRCC1) were associated with cisplatin chemoresistance and could therefore contribute to the development of a predictive marker. Standardized RT (StaRT)-PCR, was employed to assess these genes in a set of NSCLC cell lines with a previously published range of sensitivity to cisplatin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe metabolic detoxification capacity may critically regulate the susceptibility of human tissues to cancer development. We used standardized and quantitative, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (StaRT-PCR) and microarray chip techniques to analyze transcript levels of multiple detoxification enzymes in cultured normal human oral keratinocytes (NOK) and the Siman virus 40 T antigen-immortalized oral keratinocyte line SVpgC2a, viewing the latter as a model of a benign tumor state. With good agreement between the 2 methodologies, NOK and SVpgC2a were found to express transcripts for cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs), factors related to CYP induction and enzymes involved in conjugation reactions or detoxification of reactive oxygen.
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