Building a pipeline of community-engaged researchers: How interdisciplinary translational research training programs can collaborate with their Community Research Advisory Councils.

Community research advisory councils (C-RAC) bring together community members with interest in research to support design, evaluation, and dissemination of research in the communities they represent. There are few ways for early career researchers, such as TL1 trainees, to develop skills in community-engaged research, and there are limited opportunities for C-RAC members to influence early career researchers. In our novel training collaboration, TL1 trainees presented their research projects to C-RAC members who provided feedback.

Hemoglobin A1c and C-reactive protein are independently associated with blunted nocturnal blood pressure dipping in obesity-related prediabetes.

Blunted nocturnal dipping in blood pressure (BP) is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in middle-aged/older adults. The prevalence of blunted nocturnal BP dipping is higher in persons with obesity and diabetes, conditions that are also associated with elevated aortic stiffness and inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesized that elevated glycemia, inflammation and aortic stiffness would be inversely associated with the magnitude of nocturnal systolic BP dipping among middle-aged/older adults with obesity at high CVD risk.

Anxiety independently contributes to elevated inflammation in humans with obesity.

Objective: Anxious and depressive states are associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and a proinflammatory phenotype, although the latter appears to be at least partially explained by adiposity. It was hypothesized that depression and anxiety would be associated with elevated inflammation independent of adiposity in persons with obesity at high risk of CVD.

Methods: This study explored the relation between baseline anxiety as measured by the Beck Anxiety Inventory and depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II and baseline serum c-reactive protein (CRP) in a cross-sectional sample of 100 participants [mean (SD) age 57.

Higher augmentation index is associated with tension-type headache and migraine in middle-aged/older humans with obesity.

Objective: Obesity is a major risk factor for chronic daily headaches, including migraine and tension-type headache (TTH). Although migraine is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), a relation between TTH and CVD risk has not been established. It was hypothesized that higher carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV) and augmentation index (AI), measures of aortic stiffness and pressure wave reflection, respectively, and biomarkers of CVD risk, would be higher among adults with obesity and migraine or TTH compared with those with no headache.

Systemic exposure to aminoglycosides following knee and hip arthroplasty with aminoglycoside-loaded bone cement implants.

Background: Aminoglycoside-loaded bone cement (ALBC) implants are frequently used in orthopedic surgery. Parenteral aminoglycosides are known to cause nephrotoxicity. Reports of acute renal failure in patients receiving ALBC implants have been reported in the literature and at our hospital.

Sympathetic nervous system in obesity-related hypertension: mechanisms and clinical implications.

Obesity markedly increases the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, which may be related to activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Sympathetic overactivity directly and indirectly contributes to blood pressure (BP) elevation in obesity, including stimulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). The adipocyte-derived peptide leptin suppresses appetite, increases thermogenesis, but also raises SNS activity and BP.