Building Community Engagement Capacity in a Transdisciplinary Population Health Research Consortium.

Community engagement has been named a research priority by the National Institutes of Health, and scholars are calling for community engagement as an approach to address racism and equity in science. Robust community-engaged research can improve research quality, increase inclusion of traditionally marginalized populations, broaden the impact of findings on real-life situations, and is particularly valuable for underexplored research topics. The goal of this paper is to describe lessons learned and best practices that emerged from community engagement in a multi-institution population health research consortium.

Psychiatric morbidity across the life course and provoked vulvodynia: is it dependent upon the presence of non-stress-related immune dysfunction?

Background: Vulvodynia impacts up to 8% of women by age 40, and these women may have a more compromised immune system than women with no vulvar pain history.

Aim: Given that psychiatric morbidity is associated with vulvodynia and is known to activate immune inflammatory pathways in the brain and systemically, we sought to determine whether the association between psychiatric morbidity and vulvar pain was independent of or dependent upon the presence of immune-related conditions.

Methods: Women born in Sweden between 1973 and 1996 with localized provoked vulvodynia (N76.

Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in US Women: Contemporary Prevalence Estimates from the RISE FOR HEALTH Study.

Purpose: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of a wide range of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in US women, and explore associations with bother and discussion with health care providers, friends, and family.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed baseline data collected from May 2022 to December 2023 in the RISE FOR HEALTH study-a large, regionally representative cohort study of adult female community members. LUTS and related bother were measured by the 10-item Symptoms of Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction Research Network Symptom Index, and discussion was assessed by a study-specific item.

Depression and help-seeking behaviors among college students: Findings from the Healthy Minds Study 2018-2019.

Objective: To determine the likelihood of using and mental health services among college students according to prior history of depression diagnosis and presence of depression symptoms.

Participants: College students from 79 universities in the U.S.

Immune Dysregulation, Inflammation in Characterizing Women with Vulvodynia, Depression, and Both.

Depression and vulvodynia are often comorbid. The onset of depression and vulvodynia may be immune and/or stress/environmentally induced. We explored whether vulvodynia, depression, or both occur in response to a Th1-mediated versus Th2-mediated immune response.

Premenstrual Disorders, Timing of Menopause, and Severity of Vasomotor Symptoms.

Importance: Although premenstrual disorders (PMDs) end at menopause, it is unclear whether they are associated with the timing and symptom severity of menopause.

Objective: To prospectively examine whether women with PMDs have increased risks of early menopause and menopause-related vasomotor symptoms (VMS).

Design, Setting, And Participants: This population-based cohort study was nested in the Nurses' Health Study II (data collected from questionnaire sent between June 1991 and June 2017).

Association between eating disorders and sleep duration among college students: Findings from the National Healthy Minds study.

Objectives: Explore associations between eating disorders (EDs) and sleep duration and the impact of depression symptoms (DSs) in American college students.

Participants: College students from 2018 to 2019 Healthy Minds Study.

Methods: Multivariate logistic regression evaluated associations between EDs (bulimia, anorexia, binge eating [BED]) and sleep duration.

The Association Between Immune-Related Conditions Across the Life-Course and Provoked Vulvodynia.

Vulvodynia, impacts up to 8% of women by age 40, and is hypothesized to manifest through an altered immune-inflammatory response. To test this hypothesis, we identified all women born in Sweden between 1973 and 1996 diagnosed with localized provoked vulvodynia (N76.3) and/or vaginismus (N94.

Sexual Health Behaviors by Age 17 and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms at Age 19: PLUS Research Consortium Analysis of ALSPAC Data.

Purpose: We examined how antecedent sexual health factors affect lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in adolescent women.

Methods: We analyzed 1,941 adolescent women from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children at age 19. At ages 15 and 17, participants reported use of oral contraceptives (OCs), history of sexual intercourse, number of sexual partners, and condom use.

An IGF-1R-mTORC1-SRPK2 signaling Axis contributes to FASN regulation in breast cancer.

Background: Fatty acid synthase (FASN) expression is associated with a more aggressive breast cancer phenotype and is regulated downstream of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling pathways. Recently, post transcriptional regulation of lipogenic transcripts have been demonstrated as being mediated downstream of serine-arginine rich protein kinase 2 (SRPK2), which acts to phosphorylate serine-arginine rich splicing factors (SRSFs), resulting in RNA binding and various RNA regulatory processes. Though post-transcriptional regulation of FASN has been studied previously, the upstream mediators of these pathways have not been elucidated.

Modulation of Breast Cancer Cell FASN Expression by Obesity-Related Systemic Factors.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to determine the impact of exposure to obesity-related systemic factors on fatty acid synthase enzyme (FASN) expression in breast cancer cells.

Methods: MCF-7 breast cancer cells were exposed to sera from patients having obesity or not having obesity and subjected to quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Subsequent MTT and colony-forming assays using both MCF-7 and T-47D cells exposed to sera and treated with or without FASN inhibitor, TVB-3166, were used.

Toileting Behaviors and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: A Cross-sectional Study of Diverse Women in the United States.

Background: Toileting behaviors are increasingly recognized as factors potentially contributing to development of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

Objectives: To examine adult women's toileting behaviors and LUTS across age and race/ethnicity groups and relationships between toileting behaviors and LUTS.

Design: Planned secondary analysis of questionnaire data collected in a focus group study on bladder health.

Isoflavone Containing Legumes Mitigate Ergot Alkaloid-Induced Vasoconstriction in Goats ().

Ergot alkaloids produced by a fungal endophyte that infects tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum; (E+ TF) can induce constriction of the vasculature in ruminants, resulting in “fescue toxicosis”. Legumes contain isoflavones that have been demonstrated to prevent and reverse E+ TF vasoconstriction. Several legumes are conventionally utilized in ruminant production, but can vary in both isoflavone concentration and composition.

Menstrual Cycle Characteristics and Vulvodynia.

The menstrual cycle may influence vulvodynia through hormonal pathways or vulvar irritation due to menstruation or menstrual hygiene. We assessed menstrual cycle characteristics in those with and without clinically confirmed vulvodynia. Participants were recruited from the administrative database of a health care network serving ∼27% of Minneapolis-Saint Paul residents.

Characterizing Differences in Thymic Function in Women With and Without Vulvodynia: A Community-Based Study.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between vulvodynia and thymic function.

Materials And Methods: In this case-control study of 200 clinically confirmed cases of vulvodynia and 205 general population controls residing in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area, we used DNA extracted from whole blood to measure levels of signal joint T-cell receptor excision circles (sjTRECs), a measure of thymic output. We used logistic regression to evaluate the association between vulvodynia and thymic function.

Care Seeking for Chronic Vulvar Pain Among a Large, Population-Based Sample of Reproductive-Aged Women.

Chronic vulvar pain is a prevalent but often misdiagnosed and undertreated condition that adversely impacts quality of life. A large proportion of women report not seeking care for chronic vulvar pain, but little is known about the factors that underlie care-seeking decisions. We used a large, population-based survey of women aged 18-40 years to assess a history of chronic vulvar burning, pain on contact, or itching that had lasted ≥3 months.

Effect of biochanin A on the rumen microbial community of Holstein steers consuming a high fiber diet and subjected to a subacute acidosis challenge.

Subacute rumen acidosis (SARA) occurs when highly fermentable carbohydrates are introduced into the diet, decreasing pH and disturbing the microbial ecology of the rumen. Rumen amylolytic bacteria rapidly catabolize starch, fermentation acids accumulate in the rumen and reduce environmental pH. Historically, antibiotics (e.

Potential for Selection Bias in Studies of the Association of Hormonal Contraception and Chronic Vulvar Pain.

Hormonal contraceptive use is common among reproductive-aged women, but research evaluating its etiological relationship to vulvodynia remains mixed. We sought to evaluate this association and examine the potential for bias due to care-seeking behavior. We conducted a case-control study of women recruited from a large health care network database from 2008 to 2011.

Early Life Health in Women with Provoked Vestibulodynia and/or Vaginismus.

The lifetime prevalence of prolonged vulvar pain ranges from 3% to 28% among premenopausal women. Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD), often accompanied with various degrees of vaginismus, is the predominant cause. We explored the association between birth-related events and the risk of developing PVD/vaginismus during adulthood.

Evaluation of oral citrulline administration as a mitigation strategy for fescue toxicosis in sheep.

Gestating ewes consuming ergot alkaloids, from endophyte-infected (E+) tall fescue seed, suffer from intrauterine growth restriction and produce smaller lambs. Arginine (Arg) supplementation has been shown to increase birth weight and oral citrulline (Cit) administration is reported to increase arginine concentrations. Two experiments were conducted to: 1) evaluate if oral supplementation with Cit or water, to ewes consuming E+ fescue seed, increases lamb birth weight and 2) determine the effectiveness of Cit and citrulline:malate as an oral drench and elevating circulating levels of Cit to determine levels and dose frequency.