Relationships between adiposity distribution and metabolic health in preconception women in South Africa.

Objective: Adipose tissue is a central regulator of metabolic health and a contributor to systemic inflammation. Patterns of adiposity deposition are important to understand for optimizing health. This study aimed to asses relationships between adiposity deposition and metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in South African women prior to conception.

Trends and predictors of preterm birth among Asian Americans by ethnicity, 1992-2018.

Background: In an increasingly diverse United States (US) population, racial disparities in preterm birth outcomes continue to widen.

Objective: In this study, we examined temporal trends and risk of preterm birth among Asian American women over a quarter century (1992-2018).

Study Design: This is a retrospective cohort study using the 1992-2018 Natality data files.

"." A mixed methods study of socio-behavioral influences and severity of sickle cell disease in northern Nigeria.

Background: The modulatory effects of psychosocial and biophysical environments on sickle cell disease (SCD) severity during childhood has not been well characterized in high burden settings, such as Nigeria.

Objectives: We identified socio-demographic correlates and explored caregivers' perceptions on socio-behavioral and environmental influences on hospitalization for pain and blood transfusion of children with SCD in Kano, Nigeria.

Methods: Using mixed methods, structured questionnaires were administered to a clinic-based sample of caregivers of children with SCD (n = 372), complemented with eight focus group discussions.

Elevated Eosinophils as a Feature of Inflammation Associated With Hypertension in Virally Suppressed People Living With HIV.

Background People living with HIV (PLWH) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension, which persists despite effective plasma viral suppression on antiretroviral therapy. HIV infection is characterized by long-term alterations in immune function, but the contribution of immune factors to hypertension in PLWH is not fully understood. Prior studies have found that both innate and adaptive immune cell activation contributes to hypertension.

Frustrated Freedom: The Effects of Agency and Wealth on Wellbeing in Rural Mozambique.

In Sen's capability view of poverty, wellbeing is threatened by both deficits of wealth and deficits of individual agency. Sen further predicts that "unfreedom," or low levels of agency will suppress the wellbeing effects of higher levels of wealth. The current paper extends Sen's view to include a condition, labeled "frustrated freedom," in which relatively higher levels of agency can heighten the poverty effects of relatively low levels of material wealth.

The inwardly rectifying K+ channel KIR7.1 controls uterine excitability throughout pregnancy.

Abnormal uterine activity in pregnancy causes a range of important clinical disorders, including preterm birth, dysfunctional labour and post-partum haemorrhage. Uterine contractile patterns are controlled by the generation of complex electrical signals at the myometrial smooth muscle plasma membrane. To identify novel targets to treat conditions associated with uterine dysfunction, we undertook a genome-wide screen of potassium channels that are enriched in myometrial smooth muscle.

Educational intervention increased referrals to allopathic care by traditional healers in three high HIV-prevalence rural districts in Mozambique.

Introduction: Delayed uptake of clinical services impedes favorable clinical outcomes in Mozambique. Care is delayed among patients who initiate care with traditional healers; patients with conditions like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or tuberculosis are rarely referred to the health system in a timely fashion.

Methods: We conducted a pre-post educational intervention with traditional healers, assessing healer referral rates and HIV knowledge in three rural districts in Zambézia Province.