Salt sensitivity of blood pressure and aldosterone: interaction between Lysine-specific demethylase 1 gene, sex, and age

Context Salt sensitivity of blood pressure (SSBP) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, especially in individuals of African descent, although underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) is a salt-sensitive epigenetic regulator associated with SSBP and aldosterone dysfunction. An LSD1 risk allele in humans is associated with SSBP and lower aldosterone levels in hypertensive African but not European descent. Heterozygous knockout LSD1 mice display SSBP and aldosterone dysregulation, but this effect is modified by age and biological sex. This might explain differences in cardiovascular risk with aging and biological sex in humans. Objective To determine if LSD1 risk allele (rs587618) carriers of African descent display a sex-by-age interaction with SSBP and aldosterone regulation. Methods We analyzed 297 individuals of African and European descent from the HyperPATH cohort. We performed multiple regression analyses for outcome variables related to SSBP and aldosterone. Results LSD1 risk allele carriers of African (but not European) descent had greater SSBP than non-risk homozygotes. Female LSD1 risk allele carriers of African descent had greater SSBP, mainly relationship-driven by women of low estrogen (postmenopausal). There was a significant LSD1 genotype-sex interaction in aldosterone response to angiotensin II stimulation in individuals ≤50 years, with female carriers displaying decreased aldosterone responsiveness. Conclusions SSBP associated with LSD1 risk allele status is driven by women of deplete estrogen state. Mechanisms related to a resistance to develop SSBP in females are uncertain but may relate to an estrogen modulating effect on mineralocorticoid receptor activation and/or LSD1 epigenetic regulation of the mineralocorticoid receptor.

The Guzmán’s of Mendoza - acclaimed classical musicians

During the 19th century in Chile and for three generations, the Guzmán’s were acclaimed classical musicians. The literature indicates that their patriarch Fernando Guzmán and his son Francisco arrived in Chile from Mendoza, Argentina in about 1822. There is little or no information regarding their heritage, origins and the correct composition of their large family. There are many errors and assumptions in the literature as to the number and paternity of several of them; it is intended to correct the misinformation and provide documentary evidence of the family origins, heritage and composition. The research makes use of the Mendoza Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths Parish Books from the 18th and 19th centuries, legal documents, and published material. It is confirmed that Fernando Guzmán was born into slavery, one of five children of Maria Juana, an African slave owned by the Santo Domingo Convent of Mendoza. Fernando married Juana Agustina, also a slave of African descent, owned by the Molina Sotomayor family. Fernando and Juana Agustina had 13 children, several of whom were also born into slavery. The Guzmán’s were a family of classical musicians par excellence. To celebrate their life and work, this research identifies and reports how the family was composed and how it evolved.

Memórias de mulheres afrodescendentes de sucesso na educação de jovens e adultos

O presente texto expõe um dos resultados de estudos e experiências vivenciadas no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da Universidade Federal do Piauí- PPGEd/UFPI. Através da pesquisa que resultou na Dissertação intitulada, “Histórias que se cruzam na EJA: as Trajetórias de Vida de Mulheres Afrodescendentes de Sucesso Educacional”, em que a primeira autora buscou problematizar como mulheres afrodescendentes interpretam a sua trajetória de vida e sua passagem pela EJA, expondo também, implicações advindas destas em suas formas de organização da vida e no enfrentamento das suas dificuldades socioculturais, considerando os fatores de gênero-raça-classe. Neste artigo buscamos refletir sobre as memórias de duas mulheres afrodescendentes, egressas da EJA, participantes da citada investigação. A intenção foi analisar, a partir das histórias de vida de cada uma, as táticas utilizadas por elas para que pudessem alcançar a emancipação social, e assim obterem o sucesso educacional/profissional desejado por cada uma delas, de maneira singular. As discussões foram feitas a partir dos seguintes autores/as: Arroyo (2014, 2017), Boakari (2010, 2015, 2019), Certeau (1994), Guimarães (2013), Martins (2013), dentre outros/as. A análise dos dados e as suas interpretações evidenciaram que há lições nas trajetórias educativas, que nos mostram como essas mulheres utilizaram o direito a educação como ferramenta para superar algumas dificuldades impostas pela condição interseccional de ser mulher-afrodescendente-pobre no Brasil. Essas mulheres afrodescendentes, por meio de táticas subverteram a lógica social brasileira, e ocuparam lugares que não eram comuns a elas, nem para muitas outras, com características semelhantes e em condições parecidas.Palavras-chave: Mulheres afrodescendentes sujeitas de sua História; EJA como direito e tática; Sucesso educacional e socioprofissional.Memories of successful afrodescendant women in youth and adult educationABSTRACTThis text presents some results of studies and experiences lived in the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Piauí (PPGEd/UFPI). With help from the research that resulted in the Master´s Thesis entitled "Stories that intersect in EJA (Youth and Adult Education Programs): the Life Trajectories and Educational Success of Women of African Descent", we problematized how women of African descendance interpret their trajectories in life and times spent in EJA programs. Implications arising from these experiences in terms of how they helped the women organize their lives and face their sociocultural difficulties, considering gender-race-class factors, were considered. In this article, we seek to reflect on the memories of two Brazilian women of African descent, graduates from EJA programs, with the intention to analyze, from the life stories of each one, the tactics used by them to achieve social emancipation and attain the educational/professional success desired by each one of them, in a unique way. Discussions were supported by the following authors: Arroyo (2014; 2017), Boakari (2010; 2015; 2019), Certeau (1994), Guimarães (2013), Martins (2013), among others. Data analysis and their interpretations showed that there are lessons to be learned from the educational trajectories of the participants of the study, as they show us how these women used their right to an education as a tool to overcome difficulties imposed by their intersectional conditions of being poor Afro-descendant women in Brazil. These women of African origin, through tactics developed by each one, subverted the Brazilian social logic and occupied places that were not common for persons like them, nor for many others with similar characteristics and in similar conditions.Keywords: Subject afrodescendant women of their History; EJA as law and Tactics; Educational and socioprofessional success.Memorias de éxito de mujeres descendientes africanas em la educación de jóvenes y adultosRESUMENEste texto presenta algunos resultados de estudios y experiencias vividas en el Programa de Posgrado en Educación de la Universidad Federal de Piauí-PPGEd/UFPI. A través de la investigación que dio como resultado la Disertación titulada "Historias que se cruzan en EJA: las Trayectorias de Vida de Mujeres Afrodescendientes de Éxito Educativo", tentamos problematizar cómo las mujeres afrodescendientes interpretan su trayectoria de vida y su paso por EJA, exponiendo también, las implicaciones que surgen de estos en sus formas de organizar su vida y en el enfrentamiento de sus dificultades socioculturales, considerando factores género-raza-clase. En este artículo buscamos reflexionar sobre la memoria de dos mujeres afrodescendientes, egresadas de EJA, que participan en la investigación antes mencionada. La intención fue analizar, a partir de las historias de vida de cada una, las tácticas utilizadas por ellas para que pudieran lograr la emancipación social y así obtener el éxito educativo/profesional deseado por cada una de ellas, de manera única. Las discusiones se basaron en los siguientes autores: Arroyo (2014; 2017), Boakari (2010; 2015; 2019), Certeau (1994), Guimarães (2013), Martins (2013), entre otros. El análisis de datos y sus interpretaciones mostraron que hay lecciones en las trayectorias educativas, que nos muestran cómo estas mujeres utilizaron el derecho a la educación como una herramienta para superar algunas dificultades impuestas por la condición interseccional de ser una mujer afrodescendiente pobre en Brasil. Estas mujeres afrodescendientes, mediante tácticas subvirtieron la lógica social brasileña y ocuparon lugares que no eran comunes a ellas, ni a muchas otras con características similares y en condiciones similares.Palabras clave: Sujeto mujeres afrodescendientes de su Historia; EJA en ley y táctica; Éxito educativo y socioprofesional.

A Haptoglobin Exon Copy Number Variant Associates With HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Impairment in European and African-Descent Populations

A common two-exon deletion distinguishes the gene encoding the free hemoglobin capturing protein—haptoglobin (HP)–into two alleles: HP1 and HP2. To evaluate the impact of this copy number variant (CNV) on neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in people living with HIV, we imputed this variant in 432 European-descent (EUR) and 491 African-descent (AFR) participants from the CNS HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research Study using an optimized imputation pipeline and evaluated its associations with NCI. At baseline, in AFR, the HP2 allele decreased the odds of NCI (defined by a global deficit score, GDS, ⩾0.5; Odds Ratio, OR = 0.584, p = 0.022). However, in EUR, HP2 increased the odds (OR = 2.081, p = 0.040) of NCI suggesting a detrimental effect. These effects were extended to longitudinal analyses using repeated measurements where the protective effect of the HP2 allele in AFR became marginally significant (p = 0.054) and in EUR the detrimental effect increased in significance (p = 0.037). In EUR, the HP2 allele slightly reduced the risk of NCI over time (OR = 0.028 per allele per year, p = 0.024). Further analyses of cognitive domain-specific impairment revealed that the HP-NCI effect was based on changes in learning, speed of information processing, and verbal domains over time differing by ancestry groups. Overall, these findings suggest that these functional HP CNV alleles influence the likelihood of NCI and contribute to changes in neurocognitive function over time in people living with HIV.

Legacies of Slavery and their Enduring Harms

This article provides a much needed inquiry into the legacy of slavery from an interdisciplinary perspective, including the historical, socioeconomic, political, and the epistemic. It makes an important distinction between the legacy of slavery and its persisting damages. By investigating this legacy’s effects on peoples, communities, and societies, it highlights the imperative of situating the pains and sufferings of historical traumas within contemporary structural oppression and institutional discrimination that have perpetuated these harms. The article consists of four sections: it first outlines the legacy of slavery, comprised in instrumentalizing black bodies for economic gains, employing political aggression to colonize both lands and minds, applying racialized discourse to demean and dehumanize, and oppressing people of African descent through structural violence. It then discusses the legacy’s injuries as transgenerational and cultural traumas, and how these wounds are experienced by the relevant communities. The third section focuses on racism as a significant harm, analyzing different forms of racism (internalized, interpersonal, and institutional) as interconnected and mutually reinforcing. To conclude, this article considers challenges in addressing the legacy of slavery and puts forward tentative ideas for collective healing.

Imperatives, Impossibilities, and Intimacies in the Imperial Archive: Chinese Men and Women of Colour in Early Nineteenth-Century Trinidad

In this article, I elaborate on Lisa Lowe’s “intimacies as method” by examining the case of 198 Chinese men conscripted to Trinidad in 1806. I argue that tracing Chinese migration to the Caribbean in the early nineteenth century demonstrates that the British empire began to imagine new hierarchies of unfreedom for people of Asian and African descent before the abolition of chattel slavery. British imperial actors hoped that Chinese men would assume a mediating function between white planters and the extant population of colour in Trinidad. This vision was predicated on the assumption that the migrants would partner with women of colour to form heterosexual intimacies while also refraining from other forms of socio-political contact with Afro-Trinidadians. Lowe’s intimacies as method guides my navigation of the imperial archive and, in particular, compels me to think relationally about differentially colonized and racialized sub jects in early nineteenth-century Trinidad, both as they were positioned in the colony and as they refused these stereotypes, brokering their own transactions and collaborations.

Health equity implications of COVID-19 on dementia care in community for people of African descent

This presentation shares results from an analysis of interviews conducted to understand the health equity implications of COVID-19 responses on dementia care in the community for people of African descent in Nova Scotia, Canada. Interviews were embedded within a larger multi-method rapid research project that aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on dementia care for geographically and socially marginalized groups in the province. Data from the interviews was analyzed using a constructivist thematic analysis method, guided by an intersectional theoretical scaffold. Three themes were identified related to systemic barriers, mental health, system navigation and self-care, and collected under the overarching theme of ‘facing the unknown with dementia’. Results emphasized the value and notable absence of community driven, culturally specific dementia programs, resources and navigators for people living with dementia, family caregivers and care workers of African descent. Participants identified lack of health system and care provider knowledge and understanding of the cultures and histories of people of African descent as a barrier to quality care and to addressing dementia-related stigma. Conversations focused on the need for practical and accessible tools, strategies and perspectives responsive to the actually lived realities and needs of people in community, and for research that actually contributes to individual and collective life in tangible, timely and culturally meaningful ways. Recommendations focus on the importance of centering community in dementia care programs, policy, practice and research to improve services and supports for people of African descent.