Neighborhood Disorder, Psychophysiological Distress, and Health

How do neighborhoods affect the health of residents? We propose that the impact of neighborhood disorder on self-reported health is mediated by psychological and physiological distress. We hypothesize a stress process in which chronic stressors in the environment give rise to a psychological and physiological stress response that ultimately affects health. The exogenous variable of interest is the neighborhood where disadvantaged persons live, which may expose them to chronic stressors in the form of crime, trouble, harassment, and other potentially distressing signs of disorder and decay. The mediator is the stress response that occurs in the body and brain. Of interest here is a psychological stress response in the form of fearful anxiety and depression, and a physiological stress response in the form of signs and symptoms of autonomic arousal, such as dizziness, chest pains, trouble breathing, nausea, upset stomach, and weakness. The outcome is poor health. This model is supported using data from the Welfare, Children, and Families project, a sample of 2,402 disadvantaged women in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Chicago, Boston, and San Antonio.

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Physiological response of weaned piglets to two transport durations observed in a Canadian commercial setting

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skab311 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hannah R Golightly ◽

Jennifer Brown ◽

Renée Bergeron ◽

Zvonimir Poljak ◽

R Cyril Roy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stress Response ◽

Muscle Injury ◽

Physiological Stress ◽

Reference Ranges ◽

Weaned Piglets ◽

Water Losses ◽

Physiological Stress Response ◽

Long Duration ◽

The Impact ◽

Events Data

Abstract Observational studies describing the impact of transport duration on weaned piglet welfare are limited. Current Canadian transport regulations are heavily informed by studies involving market hogs. Due to physiological differences between weaned piglets and market hogs, additional data on their response to transport are needed for age-specific evidence-based recommendations. A cohort study was conducted to describe and compare mortality, injury, weight change, hematological or biochemical changes in hydration, muscle injury and stress response observed in weaned piglets undergoing short duration (SD, <3h), or long duration (LD, >30 h) commercial summertime transport events. Data collection on 440 of 11,434 transported piglets occurred the morning of the day before transport (T0), at arrival (T1) and approximately three to four days (78-93h) after arrival at the nursery barn (T2). Low mortality occurred over all transport events (0.06%) with no association observed between transport duration and odds of death during transport (P=0.62). The incidence of lameness between T0 and T1 was low (1.84% of the 435 focal piglets scored) with all lameness cases identified as mild in severity. Lesions on ears and skin were more prevalent than other injury types after transport (T1) and may have been related to mixing aggression associated with weaning rather than transport alone. LD piglets weighed 0.39 kg less than SD piglets at T1 (P<0.01), but no difference in group weight was observed at T2 (P=0.17). Hematological and biochemical differences were present between groups at T1. LD piglets had increased hematocrit levels compared to SD piglets (P=0.01) suggesting increased body water losses. SD piglets showed greater levels of muscle injury compared to LD piglets including elevated aspartate aminotransferase (P<0.01) and creatine kinase (P<0.01). However, these parameters were within normal reference ranges for piglets of this age group. Indicators of physiological stress response including cortisol and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratios were elevated in SD piglets compared to LD piglets (P=0.02 and P<0.01, respectively). The results of this study demonstrate that both short and long transport durations can result in detectable physiological changes in weaned piglets. The overall impact of these durations on piglet welfare should be further explored by analyzing behavioural time budgets during and after transport.

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