Browsing by Subject "Human health"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    25012 Expanding Community Knowledge and Relationships for Congregation-Neighbor Health Connections and Advocacy in Indianapolis through a #HealthyMe Learning Community
    (Cambridge University Press, 2021) Craig, David; Gladden, Shonda; Christenson, Jacob; Lynch, Dustin; Campbell, Meredith; Hardwick, Emily; Wiehe, Sarah; Religious Studies, School of Liberal Arts
    ABSTRACT IMPACT: Congregations’ support for social, emotional, mental and spiritual wellness is foundational to human health and their community knowledge and presence can improve resilience and health in socially vulnerable neighborhoods. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The Indiana CTSI Monon Collaborative is listening and understanding the most pressing health issues in the community and are working together to design and deliver community health solutions. We worked with our community ambassador to launch a health and wellness learning community for ten congregations seeking to build a health-connector network. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Study team used qualitative (interviews, focus groups, listening sessions, learning management system, participatory-design research) and quantitative (surveys) data collection methods in the development and ongoing implementation of the learning community. Study Population: Based on initial assessment of health and social vulnerability data within the Marion County neighborhoods in Indianapolis, community ambassador engaged congregations in more vulnerable neighborhoods to seek participation in learning community. Ten congregations signed a covenant of participation; learning community includes 10 clergy and 8 health advocates. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Since the inception of the Learning Community in May 2020, we have developed a better understanding of the assets and barriers of LC participants around health and well-being. Through ongoing virtual gatherings (facilitated by community ambassador Good to the Soul), sharing of resources through our online modules on Canvas (LMS), and synthesis of data captured throughout our time together, LC participants have developed SMART goals which will inform priority setting for congregations to assist them in identifying the resources and connections necessary to drive forward solutions together as they seek out funding opportunities to support health improvement. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: The learning community has provided a space and structure for congregations to align around a shared goal focused on health and wellness. Through regular gatherings we were able to connect people, organizations, and systems who were all eager to learn and work across boundaries leading to greater resilience in vulnerable communities.
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    Geochemical legacies and the future health of cities: A tale of two neurotoxins in urban soils
    (University of California Press, 2015) Filippelli, Gabriel M.; Risch, Martin; Laidlaw, Mark A. S.; Nichols, Deborah E.; Crewe, Julie; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science
    The past and future of cities are inextricably linked, a linkage that can be seen clearly in the long-term impacts of urban geochemical legacies. As loci of population as well as the means of employment and industry to support these populations, cities have a long history of co-locating contaminating practices and people, sometimes with negative implications for human health. Working at the intersection between environmental processes, communities, and human health is critical to grapple with environmental legacies and to support healthy, sustainable, and growing urban populations. An emerging area of environmental health research is to understand the impacts of chronic exposures and exposure mixtures—these impacts are poorly studied, yet may pose a significant threat to population health. Acute exposure to lead (Pb), a powerful neurotoxin to which children are particularly susceptible, has largely been eliminated in the U.S. and other countries through policy-based restrictions on leaded gasoline and lead-based paints. But the legacy of these sources remains in the form of surface soil Pb contamination, a common problem in cities and one that has only recently emerged as a widespread chronic exposure mechanism in cities. Some urban soils are also contaminated with another neurotoxin, mercury (Hg). The greatest human exposure to Hg is through fish consumption, so eating fish caught in urban areas presents risks for toxic Hg exposure. The potential double impact of chronic exposure to these two neurotoxins is pronounced in cities. Overall, there is a paradigmatic shift from reaction to and remediation of acute exposures towards a more nuanced understanding of the dynamic cycling of persistent environmental contaminants with resultant widespread and chronic exposure of inner-city dwellers, leading to chronic toxic illness and disability at substantial human and social cost.
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    Health Impact Assessment: The Impacts of Increasing Tree Canopy Coverage in Marion County, Indiana
    (Society of Practitioners of Health Impact Assessment, 2022) Kampman, Haleigh; Whitlock, Annika; Hosler, Heidi; Health Policy and Management, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Background: Urban tree canopies help to address issues of climate change related to all dimensions of health. Certain areas of the city of Indianapolis are more prone to the negative effects that lack of tree coverage can cause. This assessment explored the short term and potential long-term impacts of the efforts to increase the tree canopy coverage in vulnerable areas of Indianapolis. This effort was a collaboration of faculty members from the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indianapolis Department of Public Works, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, and the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability. Methods: Our team used the standard seven-step Health Impact Assessment (HIA) process to make the recommendations provided. Using direct observation of the neighborhood, secondary data collection, literature review, and a key stakeholder interview, we examined key dimensions of health including environmental, physical, and personal health outcomes resulting from increased tree canopy coverage within census tract 3505 of Marion County, Indiana. Results: Increasing the percentage of tree canopy coverage in census tract 3505 – Crown Hill has significant positive health impacts with minimal negative outcomes. Such impacts may be, but are not subject to, lower temperatures, reduced cases of respiratory and cardiac infections/illnesses, promoting animal life, increasing neighborhood property values and filtering pollutants that result from human production activity. Conclusions: Further implementation of the Thrive Indianapolis project has broad positive implications for the community members living in this area. While few negative implications were found, we make recommendations to mitigate these effects while attempting to supplement the current project plan with a focus on the effects to human health.
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    Hoosiers’ Health in a Changing Climate: A Report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment
    (Purdue University, 2018-01-01) Filippelli, Gabriel; Widhalm, Melissa; Filley, Rose; Comer, Karen; Ejeta, Gebisa; Field, William; Freeman, Jennifer; Gibson, Joe; Jay, Stephen; Johnson, Daniel P.; Moreno-Madriñán, Max; Mattes, Richard; Ogashawara, Igor; Prather, Jeremy; Rosenthal, Frank; Smirat, Jeries; Wang, Yi; Wells, Ellen; Dukes, Jeffrey
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    Sex-Specific Skeletal Muscle Gene Expression Responses to Exercise Reveal Novel Direct Mediators of Insulin Sensitivity Change
    (medRxiv, 2024-09-08) Ma, S.; Morris, M. C.; Hubal, M. J.; Ross, L. M.; Huffman, K. M.; Vann, C. G.; Moore, N.; Hauser, E. R.; Bareja, A.; Jiang, R.; Kummerfeld, E.; Barberio, M. D.; Houmard, J. A.; Bennett, W. B.; Johnson, J. L.; Timmons, J. A.; Broderick, G.; Kraus, V. B.; Aliferis, C. F.; Kraus, W. E.; Exercise & Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Sciences
    Background: Understanding the causal pathways, systems, and mechanisms through which exercise impacts human health is complex. This study explores molecular signaling related to whole-body insulin sensitivity (Si) by examining changes in skeletal muscle gene expression. The analysis considers differences by biological sex, exercise amount, and exercise intensity to identify potential molecular targets for developing pharmacologic agents that replicate the health benefits of exercise. Methods: The study involved 53 participants from the STRRIDE I and II trials who completed eight months of aerobic training. Skeletal muscle gene expression was measured using Affymetrix and Illumina technologies, while pre- and post-training Si was assessed via an intravenous glucose tolerance test. A novel gene discovery protocol, integrating three literature-derived and data-driven modeling strategies, was employed to identify causal pathways and direct causal factors based on differentially expressed transcripts associated with exercise intensity and amount. Results: In women, the transcription factor targets identified were primarily influenced by exercise amount and were generally inhibitory. In contrast, in men, these targets were driven by exercise intensity and were generally activating. Transcription factors such as ATF1, CEBPA, BACH2, and STAT1 were commonly activating in both sexes. Specific transcriptional targets related to exercise-induced Si improvements included TACR3 and TMC7 for intensity-driven effects, and GRIN3B and EIF3B for amount-driven effects. Two key signaling pathways mediating aerobic exercise-induced Si improvements were identified: one centered on estrogen signaling and the other on phorbol ester (PKC) signaling, both converging on the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and other relevant targets. Conclusions: The signaling pathways mediating Si improvements from aerobic exercise differed by sex and were further distinguished by exercise intensity and amount. Transcriptional adaptations in skeletal muscle related to Si improvements appear to be causally linked to estrogen and PKC signaling, with EGFR and other identified targets emerging as potential skeletal muscle-specific drug targets to mimic the beneficial effects of exercise on Si.
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    Socioeconomic indicators of heat-related health risk supplemented with remotely sensed data
    (2009-10-16) Johnson, Daniel P.; Wilson, Jeffrey S.; Luber, George C.
    Background: Extreme heat events are the number one cause of weather-related fatalities in the United States. The current system of alert for extreme heat events does not take into account intra-urban spatial variation in risk. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a potential method to improve spatial delineation of risk from extreme heat events in urban environments by integrating sociodemographic risk factors with estimates of land surface temperature derived from thermal remote sensing data. Results: Comparison of logistic regression models indicates that supplementing known sociodemographic risk factors with remote sensing estimates of land surface temperature improves the delineation of intra-urban variations in risk from extreme heat events. Conclusion: Thermal remote sensing data can be utilized to improve understanding of intra-urban variations in risk from extreme heat. The refinement of current risk assessment systems could increase the likelihood of survival during extreme heat events and assist emergency personnel in the delivery of vital resources during such disasters.