Body weight and fat trajectories of Black and White women in the first postpartum year.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine changes in body weight and fat in Black and White women during the first postpartum year and to determine whether there is preferential retention of fat mass and abdominal fat.

Methods: Body composition was quantified by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in Black (n = 49) and White (n = 85) women at 6 to 8 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months after delivery of a singleton infant.

Results: Weight, fat mass, percent body fat, and fat in the trunk, android, gynoid, and limb regions decreased from 6 to 8 weeks to 12 months in White women, but not in Black women (fat mass, adjusted mean [SE]: 29.

Accounting for the Growth of Observation Stays in the Assessment of Medicare's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.

Importance: Decreases in 30-day readmissions following the implementation of the Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) have occurred against the backdrop of increasing hospital observation stay use, yet observation stays are not captured in readmission measures.

Objective: To examine whether the HRRP was associated with decreases in 30-day readmissions after accounting for observation stays.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study included a 20% sample of inpatient admissions and observation stays among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2015.

Are sexual minority adults differentially exposed to smoke-free laws and televised anti-tobacco media campaigns compared to the general US population? A descriptive analysis.

Background: Sexual minority (SM) (gay, lesbian and bisexual) adults are at higher risk of smoking compared with heterosexual individuals, yet little is known about how the tobacco control policy landscape interacts with sexual orientation smoking disparities.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive analysis to explore differential exposure to smoke-free laws and televised anti-tobacco media using two sources of national data from the United States: Census data on same-sex couple households/all households and data on SM adults/all adults from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). We combined this information with variables representing the proportion of individuals in each county covered by smoke-free laws (2013-2017), and average county-level exposure to televised anti-tobacco media campaigns (2013-2015).

Vitamin D3 Supplementation and Stress Fractures in High-Risk Collegiate Athletes - A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Vitamin D is paramount to bone health and little is known about vitamin D's role in the prevention of stress fractures in high-risk athletes. This study consists of a prospective, cross-sectional analysis accompanied by a retrospective review for control comparison of vitamin D3 supplementation in high-risk athletes. Our hypothesis is that supplemental vitamin D3 treatment will decrease the occurrence of stress fractures in high-risk collegiate athletes.

Comparison of Physical Activity Measures Derived From the Fitbit Flex and the ActiGraph GT3X+ in an Employee Population With Chronic Knee Symptoms.

Objective: We examined the accuracy of data from an affordable personal monitor (Fitbit Flex) compared with that of data from a research-grade accelerometer worn simultaneously for 7 days; high accuracy would support substitution with this less-expensive personal activity monitor in future community-based arthritis research.

Methods: Subjects (N = 35) with chronic knee symptoms were recruited for a pilot intervention study using Fitbits to increase physical activity in employees with chronic knee symptoms at an urban corporation. Subjects simultaneously wore for 7 days a Fitbit Flex (wrist-worn) and ActiGraph GT3X+ (waist-worn).

The Impact of Cardiorespiratory Fitness Levels on the Risk of Developing Atherogenic Dyslipidemia.

Background: Low cardiorespiratory fitness has been established as a risk factor for cardiovascular-related morbidity. However, research about the impact of fitness on lipid abnormalities, including atherogenic dyslipidemia, has produced mixed results. The purpose of this investigation is to examine the influence of baseline fitness and changes in fitness on the development of atherogenic dyslipidemia.

South Carolina 20 Years of Diabetes--A Public Health Concern.

Objective: To assess and enumerate the trends in diabetes prevalence, morbidity and mortality rates in South Carolina (SC) within the past 2 decades.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed state-level data from vital records, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Children's Health Assessment Survey and Administrative Claim Files.

Results: Over the past 20 years, there has been an average 2.

Short-term exposure to ambient ozone and stroke hospital admission: A case-crossover analysis.

We evaluated the association between short-term exposure to ambient ozone air pollution and stroke hospital admissions among adult residents of South Carolina (SC). Data on all incident stroke hospitalizations from 2002 to 2006 were obtained from the SC Office of Research and Statistics. Ozone exposure data were obtained from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Hierarchical Bayesian Model.

Has the yearly increase in the renal replacement therapy population ended?

The recent decline in the number of new patients undergoing dialysis and transplantation in the United States may be linked to a reduction in the incidence of early-start dialysis, defined as the initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT) at an estimated GFR ≥10 ml/min per 1.73 m(2). We examined the most recent data from the U.

Novel genetic variations of the p53R2 gene in patients with colorectal adenoma and controls.

Aim: p53-inducible ribonucleotide reductase small subunit 2 (p53R2) encodes a 351-amino-acid peptide, which catalyzes conversion of ribonucleoside diphosphates to the corresponding deoxyribonucleotides required for DNA replication and repair. A recent study reported that a point mutation (G/T) in the p53 binding sequence in a colon cancer cell line completely impaired p53R2 protein activity.

Methods: We screened the p53R2 gene coding regions and a regulatory region which contains a p53 binding sequence in 100 patients with colorectal adenoma and 100 control subjects using PCR, cold SSCP, and direct DNA sequencing.

Obesity among people with and without mental retardation across adulthood.

Objective: This study was designed to explore obesity during adulthood and the likelihood of moving out of obesity among 1809 adults without disability and 680 adults with mental retardation who received care at the same primary care practices during the period of 1990 to 2003.

Research Method And Procedures: A retrospective observational design using medical records first identified patients with mental retardation (MR) and age-matched controls without disabilities. Data on BMI collected during each primary care visit allowed exploration of obesity at three levels.

Dietary exposures and oral precancerous lesions in Srikakulam District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Objective: To test the effect of dietary nutrients on oral precancerous lesions in a reverse-smoking (i.e. smoking with the glowing end inside the mouth) population in South India.

Racial/ethnic health disparities in South Carolina and the role of rural locality and educational attainment.

Background: The prevalence of selected health indicators were compared among the Catawba Indians, African Americans, and whites in South Carolina, considering the possible role of rural locality and education.

Methods: Catawba members were respondents of a 1998 survey (N = 808). Other South Carolina residents were respondents of the 1995-1997 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (4,150 whites and 1,413 African Americans).

Change in women's diet and body mass following intensive intervention for early-stage breast cancer.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of an intensive dietary intervention on diet and body mass in women with breast cancer.

Design: Randomized clinical trial.

Subjects: 172 women aged 20 to 65 years with stage I or II breast cancer.

Lifetime physical activity and breast cancer risk in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study.

Overall physical activity in adolescence and adulthood, and changes in activity over the lifespan were analysed by in-person interviews among 1459 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and 1556 age-matched controls in urban Shanghai. Physical activity from exercise and sports, household, and transportation (walking and cycling) was assessed in adolescence (13-19 y) and adulthood (last 10 y), as was lifetime occupational activity. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence limits (OR (95% CL)) while controlling for confounders.

Assessment of clinical partner violence screening tools.

Objective: To compare the Women's Experience with Battering Scale (WEB) with the Index of Spouse Abuse-Physical Scale (ISA-P) as screening tools to identify intimate partner violence (IPV).

Methods: We conducted a large cross-sectional survey of women age 18 to 65 attending one of two family practice clinics from 1997 to 1998. All women completed both the WEB and the ISA-P and a telephone interview.

Assets-oriented community assessment.

Determining how to promote community health requires that community health workers first assess where the community stands. The authors maintain that Healthy Communities initiatives are better served by assets-oriented assessment methods than by standard "problem-focused" or "needs-based" approaches. An assets orientation allows community members to identify, support, and mobilize existing community resources to create a shared vision of change, and encourages greater creativity when community members do address problems and obstacles.

Population-based, case-control study of HER2 genetic polymorphism and breast cancer risk.

Background: Alterations of the HER2 (also known as erbB-2 or neu) proto-oncogene have been implicated in the carcinogenesis and prognosis of breast cancer. A polymorphism at codon 655 (GTC/valine to ATC /isoleucine [Val(655)Ile]) in the transmembrane domain-coding region of this gene has been identified and may be associated with the risk of breast cancer. We evaluated this hypothesis in a subgroup of women who participated in a large-scale, population-based, case-control study of breast cancer in Shanghai, China.

Within-person variability of the ratios of urinary 2-hydroxyestrone to 16alpha-hydroxyestrone in Caucasian women.

The ratio of urinary 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OHE1) to 16alpha-hydroxyestrone (16alpha-OHE1) has been suggested as a potential biomarker for breast cancer risk. We evaluated within-person variability of this biomarker in ten healthy Caucasian women aged 23-58 years. Each study participant was asked to provide an overnight fasting morning urine sample once a week for an average of 8 weeks.

Heterogeneity in associations between macronutrient intake and lipoprotein profile in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To evaluate associations between macronutrient intake and lipoprotein profile among individuals with type 2 diabetes who participated in the San Luis Valley Diabetes Study (SLVDS) or the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS).

Research Design And Methods: Diet was assessed by 24-h recall in the SLVDS (n = 421) and by validated food frequency interview in the IRAS (n = 437). Analyses adjusted for kilocalories, age, sex, and other covariates were conducted separately for the two study groups.

The acceptability of oral fluid testing for HIV antibodies. A pilot study in gay bars in a predominantly rural state.

Background: One barrier for individuals desiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody testing has been the lack of alternatives to blood HIV testing. Oral fluid HIV testing provides another testing option.

Objectives: To evaluate the acceptability of oral fluid testing for HIV antibodies in a gay bar outreach setting.

Factors affecting fibrinolytic potential: cardiovascular fitness, body composition, and lipoprotein(a).

The purpose of the study was to determine the factors that affect basal (resting) and poststressor fibrinolytic activity or potential. Variables of interest included cardiovascular fitness (maximal oxygen consumption [Vo2max]), body fat, body mass index (BMI), and lipids/lipoproteins, including lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]. Blood was collected from 46 middle-aged men before and after a maximal exercise test.