Latinos are the fastest growing aging population in the U.S. However, there has been limited attention to conceptualizing successful aging among Latinos, especially those residing in rural ...communities. Latinos are the largest racial or ethnic group residing in rural underserved communities and rural Latinos experience significant structural barriers to access the conditions they need to age well. The goal of this study is to make unique contributions to the successful aging literature by describing what successful aging means for middle-aged Latinas residing in a rural community.
This qualitative paper used inductive thematic content analysis to examine definitions of successful aging among Latina women (n = 40) residing in an underserved agricultural community and entering mid-life (mean = 49 years old; age range 40-64).
With regards to definitions of successful aging, four themes emerged: 1) Having good health; 2) maintaining an active lifestyle; 3) the wellbeing of one's children; and 4) being independent.
Participants' definitions of successful aging aligned to some extent with existing frameworks, specifically related to health and independence. However, middle-aged Latina participants' unique definitions of successful aging also diverged from existing frameworks, especially around the wellbeing of their children and the importance of work as a way of maintaining an active lifestyle. More research is needed to understand the unique social context and circumstances of middle-aged Latinos residing in rural communities and how they influence their aging journeys. This can provide important information for the development of culturally sensitive services, interventions, and policies to help Latinos age well.
It is predicted that climate change will cause species extinctions and distributional shifts in coming decades, but data to validate these predictions are relatively scarce. Here, we compare recent ...and historical surveys for 48 Mexican lizard species at 200 sites. Since 1975, 12% of local populations have gone extinct. We verified physiological models of extinction risk with observed local extinctions and extended projections worldwide. Since 1975, we estimate that 4% of local populations have gone extinct worldwide, but by 2080 local extinctions are projected to reach 39% worldwide, and species extinctions may reach 20%. Global extinction projections were validated with local extinctions observed from 1975 to 2009 for regional biotas on four other continents, suggesting that lizards have already crossed a threshold for extinctions caused by climate change.
Abstract Objectives The Latino population is one of the largest, most diverse, and fastest-growing demographic groups in the United States. Although Latinos enjoy longer life spans and reduced ...mortality risk relative to non-Hispanic Whites, they have higher rates of chronic health conditions such as diabetes and dementia and live more of their older years with poor health and disability. Such inequities point to the need for this research focused on examining resiliency strategies and barriers to successful aging among various U.S. Latino subgroups. Methods This qualitative study used thematic content analysis to examine resiliency strategies and barriers to successful aging among Mexican immigrant women (n = 40) residing in an underserved agricultural community and entering mid-life (mean = 49 years old). Results With regards to barriers to successful aging, 3 themes emerged: (1) stressful lifestyle in the United States compared to the participants’ home countries; (2) stress from expectations at home; and (3) stress due to work and the various components around work. The following 4 resiliency strategies emerged: (1) family as a motivation for moving forward in life and focusing on the success of children; (2) having a positive mindset; (3) praying to God for strength to overcome obstacles; and (4) self-care. Discussion Despite experiencing barriers to successful aging, participants practice various resiliency strategies to age successfully. Because many of the barriers identified are related to poverty-related stressors, systemic solutions addressing the social determinants of health are needed.
Abstract Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide. There is limited evidence that exposure to current-use pesticides may contribute to cardiovascular disease risk. We examined the ...association between residential proximity to the application of agricultural pesticides and cardiovascular risk factors among 484 adult women in the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study, a cohort based in an agricultural region of California. Outcome assessment was completed between 2010 and 2013. Using participant residential addresses and California’s Pesticide Use Reporting database, we estimated agricultural pesticide use within one km of residences during the 2-year period preceding outcome assessment. We used Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling to evaluate associations between exposure to 14 agricultural pesticides and continuous measures of waist circumference, body mass index, and blood pressure. Each 10-fold increase in paraquat application around homes was associated with increased diastolic blood pressure (β=2.60 mm Hg, 95% Credible Interval (CrI): 0.27-4.89) and each 10-fold increase in glyphosate application was associated with increased pulse pressure (β=2.26 mm Hg, 95% CrI: 0.09-4.41). No meaningful associations were observed for the other pesticides examined. Our results suggest that paraquat and glyphosate pesticides may affect cardiovascular disease development in women with chronic environmental exposure.
Previous studies showed that residents of higher elevations have lower glucose levels. Our objective in this study is to determine the basal and postprandial glucose levels in apparently healthy ...permanent residents of the miner population center of La Rinconada located 5100 meters (m) above sea level.
Forty male permanent residents of the Rinconada miner population center were studied. The oral glucose tolerance test was used to evaluate basal and postprandial glycemia levels at 1, 2, and 3 h.
The individuals had a mean age of 43.95 ± 8.54 years. Basal glycemia in subjects without excessive erythrocytosis (EE) was 73.3 ± 7.9 mg/dL, while levels in patients with EE were 57.98 ± 7.38 mg/dL. In the postprandial period, at 1 h after oral glucose overload, a mean value of 76.35 ± 13.53 mg/dL was observed in subjects with EE compared to 94.68 ± 9.98 mg/dL in subjects without EE. After 2 h, subjects with EE had a glycemia level of 72.91 ± 9.17 mg/dL EE compared to 90.73 ± 13.86 mg/dL without EE. At 3 h, the average glycemia level in subjects with EE was 70.77 ± 8.73 mg/dL compared to 87.79 ± 14.16 mg/dL in those without EE.
These findings suggest that under hypoxic conditions, glycemia levels are lower in both subjects with and without EE, having obtained lower levels in subjects with EE in relation to those with normal values of Hb and Hct. The results of this study indicate that in the conditions of severe hypoxia, blood glucose levels are below the values considered normal for sea level.
In recent years, the development of seismic networks in Metropolitan Lima, administrated by public and private institutions, has received special attention since it makes possible the quantification ...of different seismic indexes under the occurrence of earthquakes. Therefore, the integration of the information both from acceleration sensors and site conditions from microzoning studies allows the estimation of the possible extent of the damage in quasi-real time. In this study, the implementation of a system to evaluate seismic parameters in a uniform grid of 250 x 250 m2 resolution is reported. In this regard, peak ground acceleration (PGA) values from the available time-history records are computed and reduced to the engineering bedrock level. Then, by means of the interpolation technique called Ordinary Kriging, in which each seismic station is considered as a random variable and the correlation between a pair of such random variables depends only on the distance between their coordinates, the acceleration distribution is evaluated. Amplification factors are applied in order to finally bring the PGA up to the surface level. A quantitative evaluation of the accuracy of our results is performed using two recent earthquakes with moment magnitude larger than 5: the 2019 Mw 8.0 Lagunas earthquake and 2021 Mw 6.0 Mala earthquake. The results have reproduced to some extent the seismic response of the diverse geomorphological deposits in Metropolitan Lima and suggest the inclusion of a larger number of strong motion stations in order to reduce the estimation errors.
One of the more challenging areas of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research can be navigating the components of human subjects research protections implemented by the Institutional ...Review Board (IRB). The authors of this article, a faculty developer and a current and former research compliance coordinator, discuss the history of IRB in relation to SoTL research and explicate some of the foundational components of IRB protocols for SoTL projects. In particular, the authors explore what constitutes “research” for SoTL projects, explain the different IRB types of review, and offer some sample SoTL projects with respect to their IRB implications.
The use of household cleaning products can result in exposure to potentially hazardous volatile and semi‐volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs). “Green” cleaning products have become ...increasingly available, but there is no official “green” standard, and it is difficult for consumers to know what chemicals they may be exposed to while cleaning. We measured air concentrations of 46 VOCs and SVOCs of concern released from conventional and “green” cleaning products during both real‐world household cleaning and a controlled chamber environment, with a focus on chemicals that might increase women's risk of breast cancer, including possible carcinogens, reproductive/developmental toxicants, or endocrine disruptors. Air samples were analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and high‐performance liquid chromatography. First, in a study of 50 women cleaning their own homes using either conventional or “green” cleaning products, we recorded the products used and collected air samples from the breathing zone to determine whether specific products or types of products were associated with increased concentrations of specific VOCs and SVOCs. The results showed that women who used conventional bleach products, disinfecting wipes, and dish soap had higher breathing zone air concentrations of several VOCs, including chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, hexaldahyde, and 1,4‐dioxane, than women who did not use these products. While fewer “green” products were associated with increases in VOC air concentrations, use of “green” all‐purpose cleaners was associated with increases in air concentrations of some fragrance chemicals of concern. In the laboratory, we then selected 9 of the most common conventional products and 7 “green” products used in the in‐home study for measurement of the same VOCs using a continuous stirred cylindrical flow‐through chamber. We found that 75% of the highest VOC emissions were emitted by conventional cleaning products, but we also identified VOC emissions of concern from green products. VOC emissions in the chamber largely agreed with the modeled associations from real‐world cleaning.
We estimated growth pattern and growth rate of individuals of Anadia bogotensis in captivity and under climatic conditions similar to those in the wild. We collected eggs of this species from ...communal nests from a highland locality in the municipality of La Calera, Cundinamarca, in Colombia. The eggs were incubated in outdoors terrariums, and the growth of the hatchlings was recorded until their death. The growth pattern fits a logistic model, in which individuals grow moderately at the beginning, and then their growth rate increases. The growth rate increases even after individuals reach sexual maturity and seems to decrease close to their maximum body size. It is a fast growing species that reaches sexual maturity at around 50 % of its maximum body size and has a lifespan of less than two years. This strategy could be a consequence of high predation pressures, but it is a hypothesis that needs to be tested in the wild, highland Andes.
Household cleaning products may be a significant source of chemical exposures, including carcinogens and suspected endocrine disruptors.
We characterized exposures during routine household cleaning ...and tested an intervention to reduce exposures to cleaning product chemicals.
The Lifting Up Communities with Interventions and Research (LUCIR) Study is a youth-led, community-based intervention project. Youth researchers conducted personal air monitoring with 50 Latina women while they cleaned their homes with their regular cleaning products (preintervention visit) and then 1 week later while they used "green" cleaning products provided by the study (postintervention visit). Air samples were analyzed for volatile and semivolatile organic compounds using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography. We compared pre- and postintervention air concentrations of 47 chemicals of concern, selected because they were on California's Proposition 65 list of carcinogens or reproductive/developmental toxicants or were suspected endocrine disruptors. Youth researchers were integrally involved in the study design, data collection, interpretation, and dissemination of findings.
We observed statistically significant decreases in air concentrations of 17 chemicals of concern when participants switched to green cleaning products, including decreases in geometric mean concentrations of 1,4-dioxane (
), chloroform (
), benzene (
), naphthalene (
), toluene (
), and hexane (
). We observed significant increases in air concentrations of three fragrance compounds: the plant-derived terpene, beta-myrcene (221.5%), and the synthetic musks celestolide (31.0%) and galaxolide (79.6%). Almost all participants (98%) said the replacement products worked as well as their original products, and 90% said that they would consider buying the replacement products in the future.
This study demonstrates that choosing cleaning products that are marketed as green may reduce exposure to several carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. Future studies should determine whether use of unscented green products would further reduce exposure to terpenes and musks. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8831.
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