Hepatocyte growth factor and risk of incident stroke in Black and White Americans in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study.

Background: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a cytokine produced in response to endothelial damage. Higher levels correlate with cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension and diabetes.

Objectives: We hypothesized that HGF is associated with stroke.

Development and validation of a risk model for hospital-acquired venous thrombosis: the Medical Inpatients Thrombosis and Hemostasis study.

Background: Regulatory organizations recommend assessing hospital-acquired (HA) venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk for medical inpatients.

Objectives: To develop and validate a risk assessment model (RAM) for HA-VTE in medical inpatients using objective and assessable risk factors knowable at admission.

Methods: The development cohort included people admitted to medical services at the University of Vermont Medical Center (Burlington, Vermont) between 2010 and 2019, and the validation cohorts included people admitted to Hennepin County Medical Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota), University of Michigan Medical Center (Ann Arbor, Michigan), and Harris Health Systems (Houston, Texas).

Development of a computable phenotype using electronic health records for venous thromboembolism in medical inpatients: the Medical Inpatient Thrombosis and Hemostasis study.

Background: Accurate and efficient methods to identify venous thromboembolism (VTE) events in hospitalized people are needed to support large-scale studies. Validated computable phenotypes using a specific combination of discrete, searchable elements in electronic health records to identify VTE and distinguish between hospital-acquired (HA)-VTE and present-on-admission (POA)-VTE would greatly facilitate the study of VTE, obviating the need for chart review.

Objectives: To develop and validate computable phenotypes for POA- and HA-VTE in adults hospitalized for medical reasons.

Association between peripheral blood cytopenia and cancer mortality: A race-specific risk factor for cancer death.

Background: Cytopenia is associated with cancer through mechanisms including clonal hematopoiesis and chronic inflammation. Cytopenia is more prevalent in Black people but its relationship with racial disparities in cancer mortality is unknown.

Methods: Cytopenia was defined in 19,028 Black and White participants recruited between 2003 and 2007 for the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke cohort, based on age-, sex-, and race-adjusted ranges for blood counts.

Race-Dependent Association of High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels With Incident Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: Plasma lipids are risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) in part because of race-specific associations of lipids with CHD.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to understand why CHD risk equations underperform in Black adults.

Methods: Between 2003 and 2007, the REGARDS (REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) cohort recruited 30,239 Black and White individuals aged ≥45 years from the contiguous United States.

Venous thrombosis risk during and after medical and surgical hospitalizations: The medical inpatient thrombosis and hemostasis (MITH) study.

Background: Thirty to seventy percent of all venous thromboembolism (VTE) events are associated with hospitalization. The absolute and relative risks during and after hospitalization are poorly characterized.

Objectives: Quantify the absolute rate and relative risk of VTE during and up to 3 months after medical and surgical hospitalizations.

Thrombo-inflammatory biomarkers and D-dimer in a biracial cohort study.

Background: Higher D-dimer is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and venous thromboembolism. In the general population, D-dimer and other thrombo-inflammatory biomarkers are higher among Black individuals, who also have higher risk of these conditions compared to White people.

Objective: To assess whether Black individuals have an exaggerated correlation between D-dimer and thrombo-inflammatory biomarkers characteristic of cardiovascular diseases.

Biomarkers as MEDiators of racial disparities in risk factors (BioMedioR): Rationale, study design, and statistical considerations.

Purpose: Relative to White adults, Black adults have a substantially higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes, both key risk factors for stroke, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, and dementia. Blood biomarkers have shown promise in identifying contributors to racial disparities in many chronic diseases.

Methods: We outline the study design and related statistical considerations for a nested cohort study, the Biomarker Mediators of Racial Disparities in Risk Factors (BioMedioR) study, within the 30,239-person biracial REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study (2003-present).

Peripheral Blood Cytopenia and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality.

Background Individual blood cell count abnormalities have been associated with cardiovascular disease and increased mortality. In this study, we defined a "cytopenia phenotype," reflecting bone marrow hypoproliferation, to determine if peripheral blood cytopenia is associated with increased cardiovascular disease and mortality risk. Methods and Results Study participants were derived from a biracial observational cohort study, REGARDS (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke), that enrolled 30 239 Black and White participants aged ≥45 years between 2003 and 2007.

Venous thrombosis recurrence risk according to warfarin versus direct oral anticoagulants for the secondary prevention of venous thrombosis.

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) affects nearly 1 million Americans annually, and many benefit from continued anticoagulation after the initial 3- to 6-month treatment period (secondary prevention).

Objectives: To determine whether warfarin, apixaban, or rivaroxaban is associated with reduced recurrent VTE hospitalization in the secondary prevention of VTE.

Patients/methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of participants enrolled in the MarketScan Insurance Database between 2013 and 2017 in those with an incident VTE.

Television viewing, physical activity and venous thromboembolism risk: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study.

Introduction: Television (TV) viewing may be associated with increased venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk independent of VTE risk factors including physical activity. This association was assessed in a large biracial US cohort of Black and White adults.

Methods: Between 2003 and 2007 The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study recruited 30,239 participants aged ≥45 years, who were surveyed for baseline TV viewing and followed for VTE events.

Influence of Opioid Prescription Policy on Overdoses and Related Adverse Effects in a Primary Care Population.

Background: In response to the opioid epidemic, many states have enacted policies limiting opioid prescriptions. There is a paucity of evidence of the impact of opioid prescribing interventions in primary care populations, including whether unintended consequences arise from limiting the availability of prescribed opioids.

Objective: Our aim was to compare changes in opioid overdose and related adverse effects rate among primary care patients following the implementation of state-level prescribing policies.

Liver Fibrosis is Associated with Ischemic Stroke Risk in Women but not Men: The REGARDS Study.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is inconsistently associated with ischemic stroke, with one study suggesting an association in women and not men. The relative importance of liver fibrosis, as opposed to fatty liver, for cardiovascular risk is increasingly appreciated. We hypothesized that advanced liver fibrosis is associated with incident ischemic stroke risk, and especially in women.

Life's Simple 7 and Incident Hypertension: The REGARDS Study.

Background The Life's Simple 7 (LS7) metric incorporates health behaviors (body mass index, diet, smoking, physical activity) and health factors (blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose) to estimate an individual's level of cardiovascular health. The association between cardiovascular health and incident hypertension is unresolved. Hypertension's threshold was recently lowered and it is unclear if better cardiovascular health is associated with lower risk of incident hypertension with the updated threshold or in a multirace cohort.

Soluble CD14, Ischemic Stroke, and Coronary Heart Disease Risk in a Prospective Study: The REGARDS Cohort.

Background Soluble CD14 (sCD14), a circulating pattern recognition receptor, has been suggested as a cardiovascular disease risk factor. Prospective studies evaluating sCD14 with incident cardiovascular disease events are limited, particularly among racially diverse populations. Methods and Results Between 2003 and 2007, the REGARDS (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) study recruited 30 239 black and white participants across the United States.

Hemoglobin levels and coronary heart disease risk by age, race, and sex in the reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke study (REGARDS).

Higher and lower hemoglobin concentrations are associated with coronary heart disease (CHD), but whether this risk is consistent across age, sex, and race is unclear. The Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study is an observational cohort study of 30 239 black, and white, adults aged 45 and older recruited 2003-7. Participants were included if they had hemoglobin measures, were CHD-free at baseline, and had all baseline variables.

Effects of human demand on conservation planning for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Safeguarding ecosystem services and biodiversity is critical to achieving sustainable development. To date, ecosystem services quantification has focused on the biophysical supply of services with less emphasis on human beneficiaries (i.e.

Ecology and Economics of Using Native Managed Bees for Almond Pollination.

Native managed bees can improve crop pollination, but a general framework for evaluating the associated economic costs and benefits has not been developed. We conducted a cost-benefit analysis to assess how managing blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria Say [Hymenoptera: Megachildae]) alongside honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) can affect profits for almond growers in California. Specifically, we studied how adjusting three strategies can influence profits: (1) number of released O.

Disaggregating the evidence linking biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services (ES) are an increasingly popular policy framework for connecting biodiversity with human well-being. These efforts typically assume that biodiversity and ES covary, but the relationship between them remains remarkably unclear. Here we analyse >500 recent papers and show that reported relationships differ among ES, methods of measuring biodiversity and ES, and three different approaches to linking them (spatial correlations, management comparisons and functional experiments).

Modeling the status, trends, and impacts of wild bee abundance in the United States.

Wild bees are highly valuable pollinators. Along with managed honey bees, they provide a critical ecosystem service by ensuring stable pollination to agriculture and wild plant communities. Increasing concern about the welfare of both wild and managed pollinators, however, has prompted recent calls for national evaluation and action.

Graph and circuit theory connectivity models of conservation biological control agents.

The control of agricultural pests is an important ecosystem service provided by predacious insects. In Midwestern USA, areas of remnant tallgrass prairie and prairie restorations may serve as relatively undisturbed sources of natural predators, and smaller areas of non-crop habitats such as seminatural areas and conservation plantings (CP) may serve as stepping stones across landscapes dominated by intensive agriculture. However, little is known about the flow of beneficial insects across large habitat networks.