Body mass index mediates the direct association of subjective social status and hypertension in a fulani west African immigrant sample.

The inverse association between social status and hypertension (HTN) often observed in native-born populations may not hold among immigrants from regions where larger bodies are markers of success. Qualitative evidence suggests that many African immigrant groups view larger body size as a marker of social status. The present study examined the relationships between subjective social status, body mass index (BMI), and HTN in a cross-sectional, community snowball sample of 218 West African Fulani immigrants living in New York City. Over a third of the sample met criteria for HTN. Higher subjective social status within the Fulani community was directly associated with higher likelihood of HTN. BMI fully mediated this association. Member checking revealed a community narrative in which being heavy indicated higher status. These findings provide the first quantitative evidence that aesthetic markers of status within African immigrant communities may comprise risks to cardiovascular health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Non-Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Poly (ɛ-Caprolactone) (PCL) and MgO Incorporated PCL Nanofibers.

The study delves into the kinetics of non-isothermal crystallization of Poly (ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) and MgO-incorporated PCL nanofibers with varying cooling rates. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC-3) was used to acquire crystallization information and investigate the kinetics behavior of the two types of nanofibers under different cooling rates ranging from 0.5-5 K/min. The results show that the crystallization rate decreases at higher crystallization temperatures. Furthermore, the parameters of non-isothermal crystallization kinetics were investigated via several mathematical models, including Jeziorny and Mo's models. Mo's approach was suitable to describe the nanofibers' overall non-isothermal crystallization process. In addition, the Kissinger and Friedman methods were used to calculate the activation energy of bulk-PCL, PCL, and MgO-PCL nanofibers. The result showed that the activation energy of bulk-PCL was comparatively lower than that of nanofibers. The investigation of the kinetics of crystallization plays a crucial role in optimizing manufacturing processes and enhancing the overall performance of nanofibers.

Migration Factors in West African Immigrant Parents' Perceptions of Their Children's Neighborhood Safety.

Immigrants make up large proportions of many low-income neighborhoods, but have been largely ignored in the neighborhood safety literature. We examined perceived safety's association with migration using a six-item, child-specific measure of parents' perceptions of school-aged (5-12 years of age) children's safety in a sample of 93 West African immigrant parents in New York City. Aims of the study were (a) to identify pre-migration correlates (e.g., trauma in home countries), (b) to identify migration-related correlates (e.g., immigration status, time spent separated from children during migration), and (c) to identify pre-migration and migration correlates that accounted for variance after controlling for non-migration-related correlates (e.g., neighborhood crime, parents' psychological distress). In a linear regression model, children's safety was associated with borough of residence, greater English ability, less emotional distress, less parenting difficulty, and a history of child separation. Parents' and children's gender, parents' immigration status, and the number of contacts in the U.S. pre-migration and pre-migration trauma were not associated with children's safety. That child separation was positively associated with safety perceptions suggests that the processes that facilitate parent-child separation might be reconceptualized as strengths for transnational families. Integrating migration-related factors into the discussion of neighborhood safety for immigrant populations allows for more nuanced views of immigrant families' well-being in host countries.