Religion and flourishing among Afro-Trinidadians: the influence of proneness to guilt/shame and forgiveness by God on the relationship between religious commitment and health.

Background: Religiousness has been consistently linked to positive health outcomes and flourishing, yet the underlying mechanisms are complex and not well-understood. The forgiveness and relational spirituality model offers a framework to explore the moderated mediation among religious commitment, health, and forgiveness by God. Understanding these relationships among university students and community residents in Trinidad and Tobago can provide valuable insights into the role of religiousness in promoting wellbeing.

Racial Disparities in Minimally Invasive Benign Hysterectomy.

Background And Objectives: Racial and ethnic disparities in access to minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and the rate of surgical complications in minority groups remain profoundly underinvestigated. This meta-analysis aims to compare the rate of MIS utilization for benign hysterectomy as well as the surgical morbidity among racial and ethnic minority patients in the United States.

Methods: Studies comparing utilization rate of MIS for benign hysterectomy among non-Hispanic white, Black, and Hispanic populations were considered eligible.

Generalizing the intention-to-treat effect of an active control from historical placebo-controlled trials: A case study of the efficacy of daily oral TDF/FTC in the HPTN 084 study.

In many clinical settings, an active-controlled trial design (e.g., a non-inferiority or superiority design) is often used to compare an experimental medicine to an active control (e.

Effects of Demographic Identities on Psychosocial Burdens of Patients Living in the United States With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease predominantly affecting women, particularly in African American populations. While its physical health impacts are well-documented, patients also face significant psychosocial burdens, including barriers to healthcare access, financial constraints, mental health challenges, and inadequate social support.

Study Goal: This cross-sectional study surveyed 294 SLE patients recruited from Facebook and Reddit social media forums to examine how demographic factors such as age, race/ethnicity, and geographic location influence these burdens.

Wild boar carcasses in the center of boar activity: crucial risks of ASF transmission.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly virulent disease rapidly spreading through Europe with fatal consequences for wild boar and domestic pigs. Understanding pathogen transmission among individuals and populations is crucial for disease control. However, the carcass attractiveness for boars was surprisingly almost unstudied.

The African Initiative for Bioinformatics Online Training in Neurodegenerative Diseases (AI-BOND): Investing in the next generation of African neuroscientists.

Unlabelled: Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and AD-related dementias (AD/ADRD), pose significant challenges to health care systems globally, particularly in Africa. With the advances in medical technology and research capabilities, especially in next-generation sequencing and imaging, vast amounts of data have been generated from AD/ADRD research. Given that the greatest increase in AD/ADRD prevalence is expected to occur in Africa, it is critical to establish comprehensive bioinformatics training programs to help African scientists leverage existing data and collect additional information to untangle AD/ADRD heterogeneity in African populations.

Through the Eyes of Black Nurses: The Impact of the Nurse Training Act of 1964.

The Nurse Training Act (NTA) was passed by the United States Congress in 1964 in response to growing national concerns about a shortage of nurses. The legislation provided substantial funding for nursing education to increase the supply of nurses and improve the quality of nursing services. However, contemporary investigations into the causes of the shortage focused on the professional lives and experiences of white women, who were the main target of nurse recruitment and retention efforts.

Large Nevus Lipomatosus Cutaneous Superficialis in the Skin of Color.

A 15-year-old African-American man (Fitzpatrick skin type V) presented to the outpatient dermatology clinic with a large, verrucous, exophytic mass measuring 3.5 × 2.3 cm on the right lateral side of the posterior flank (Figure 1).

Using Anti-Blackness and Historical Inquiry to Ground Nursing and Research Practice in Black Populations.

Since the "Black Lives Matter" reckoning of 2020, professional health organizations have made public statements and apologized for not recognizing the role of racism in the creation of health disparities. For the American Nurses Association, this has taken the form of the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing One result of that work has been the Report on the History of Racism in Nursing, which details the constant maligning of the competence of Black nurses and their systematic exclusion from institutions within the profession. In this article, we want to take these ideas further and argue that the issue for nursing is not so much a generic kind of racism that a professional reorganization can address, but rather a deep and abiding "anti-blackness" that is intrinsic to the heart and soul of medical and health knowledge itself.

Comorbid conditions and survival among Black women with ovarian cancer.

Background: Black women with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have worse survival and a higher burden of comorbid conditions compared with other racial groups. This study examines the association of comorbid conditions and medication use for these conditions with survival among Black women with EOC.

Methods: In a prospective study of 592 Black women with EOC, the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) based on self-reported data, three cardiometabolic comorbidities (type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia), and medication use for each cardiometabolic comorbidity were evaluated.

Genome-scale evolution in local populations of wild chimpanzees.

Analysis of genome-scale evolution has been difficult in large, endangered animals because opportunities to collect high-quality genetic samples are limited. There is a need for novel field-friendly, cost-effective genetic techniques. This study conducted an exome-wide analysis of a total of 42 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) across six African regions, providing insights into population discrimination techniques.

Long COVID in transgender and gender nonbinary people in the United States.

Despite recommendations in the US National Research Action Plan on Long COVID, gender identity is rarely reported in research and surveillance used to guide public health programming and clinical care. We analyzed data from a cross-sectional study of COVID-19 in a nationwide sample of transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people (N = 2,134). Participants were surveyed between June 14, 2021 and May 1, 2022.

Stages and causes of the evolution of language and consciousness: A theoretical reconstruction.

This article presents a refinement of theoretical explanations of the main stages of linguistic and cognitive evolution in anthropogenesis. The concepts of language, consciousness, self-consciousness, the self, the unconscious, the subconscious, and the relation between free will and determinism remain at the center of active and complex debates in philosophy and neuroscience. A basic theoretical apparatus comprising the central concepts of "concern" and "providing structure" (an extension of the biological concept of "adaptation") develops the paradigm of the extended evolutionary synthesis.

A generalised catalytic model to assess changes in risk for multiple reinfections with SARS-CoV-2.

Background: Monitoring trends in multiple infections with SARS-CoV-2, following several pandemic waves, provides insight into the biological characteristics of new variants, but also necessitates methods to understand the risk of multiple reinfections.

Objectives: We generalised a catalytic model designed to detect increases in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, to assess the population-level risk of multiple reinfections.

Methods: The catalytic model assumes the risk of reinfection is proportional to observed infections and uses a Bayesian approach to fit model parameters to the number of nth infections among individuals that occur at least 90 days after a previous infection.

Racial/ethnic differences in mental health treatment received among people with comorbid cardiometabolic and depressive symptomology: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2017 to March 2020 Pre-Pandemic.

Background: Individuals with chronic physical conditions and comorbid mental illness have increased probability of adverse health outcomes. As minority populations have limited access to both medical care and culturally appropriate mental health services, having a comorbid mental health condition can further impede their ability to manage chronic conditions and widen racial disparities in health outcomes. Further, racial/ethnic disparities in treatment patterns are likely to exacerbate disparities in adverse health outcomes.

History of Multiple Allergies and Gradual Onset Running-Related Injuries in Distance Runners: SAFER XXXV.

Objective: To determine if any gradual onset running-related injury (GORRI) was associated with any allergies, multiple allergies (allergies to animals, plants, medication), and allergy medication use.

Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.

Setting: Two Oceans Marathons (56 km, 21.

Alzheimer's disease plasma biomarkers and physical functioning in a diverse sample of adults.

Introduction: The relationship between Alzheimer's disease (AD) plasma biomarkers, and physical functioning (PF) across diverse races and ethnicities remains unclear. This study aims to explore this association in an ethno-racially diverse sample of cognitively unimpaired community-dwelling adults.

Methods: Data clinical examinations, neuropsychological tests, blood draws, and PF exams (Timed Up and Go [TUG] and Short Physical Performance Battery [SPPB]) were analyzed.

Persistence of Lithium Underutilization in Patients of African Ancestry with Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a chronic disease that imposes a lifelong burden on those that suffer from it. Lithium is still considered both gold standard treatment and first-line maintenance treatment, and access to treatment with lithium is paramount to improving patient outcomes. However, access to adequate treatment is not only contingent on symptom recognition, accurate diagnosis, and individualization of treatment, but also affected by racial and ethnic disparities at each stage of patient experience.

Clinicopathological presentation of liver abscesses and hydatid liver disease from two South African tertiary hospitals.

Background: Hepatic abscesses represent infections of the liver parenchyma from bacteria, fungi, and parasitic organisms. Trends in both abscess microbiology and management of abscesses (infective collections) have changed over the past decade. There is a paucity of published data regarding the clinicopathological features of liver abscesses in sub-Saharan Africa and other low-income and middle-income countries.

Hearing the Silence and Silenced: Co-Producing Research on Infant-Feeding Experiences and Practices With Black Women With HIV.

In the UK, up to 700 people with HIV give birth annually; the majority are Black African migrant cisgender women. Infant-feeding decisions for parents with HIV are complex, requiring parents to weigh-up the small risk of HIV transmission via breastmilk and UK guidelines recommending formula milk, against strong personal and societal expectations to breastfeed. We explored this situation in a qualitative study.

Establishing the African region monitoring vaccine effectiveness (AFRO-MoVE) network for respiratory pathogens.

Population-level vaccination with newly developed vaccines to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic created a need to monitor vaccine effectiveness (VE) in the context of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and changing epidemiology. WHO and partners launched the African Region Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness (AFRO-MoVE) Network in March 2021 to assess the performance of COVID-19 vaccines in real-world conditions in Africa. The Network aimed to facilitate and support comparable COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness studies in the African region, to provide a platform of scientific expertise and infrastructure, encourage the use of robust similar study designs to enable pooling to produce regional VE estimates and to build a sustainable network of hospitals, institutions, and experts to evaluate vaccines against pandemic and endemic respiratory pathogens.

Real-life dosing conditions in older adults and geriatric patients in Poland - An international questionnaire study to investigate the regional differences in drug intake behaviour in the older population.

Older people represent approximately 20% of the Polish population and are the primary population using medications. Behaviours connected with drug intake (such as dosage form modifications, type and amount of fluid and/or food accompanying administration) are crucial for drug efficacy and avoidance of adverse effects. The presented study had three research aims; firstly, to investigate the real-life drug administration process among older adults and geriatric patients in Poland.

Geospatial Analysis of Multilevel Socioenvironmental Factors Impacting the Campylobacter Burden among Infants in Rural Eastern Ethiopia: A One Health Perspective.

Increasing attention has focused on health outcomes of Campylobacter infections among children younger than 5 years in low-resource settings. Recent evidence suggests that colonization by Campylobacter species contributes to environmental enteric dysfunction, malnutrition, and growth faltering in young children. Campylobacter species are zoonotic, and factors from humans, animals, and the environment are involved in transmission.