Asian Subjects Research Articles

Reassessing Reification: Ethnicity amidst “Failed” Governmentality in Burma and India

AbstractIn part because a single colonial project eventually formally incorporated Burma as an appendage to British colonial rule of India, Burma scholars persistently draw on historiography and anthropology of India to assert that ethnic categories in Burma were “reified” and hierarchized by colonial governmentality and ensuing postcolonial statecraft. This article disputes such assumed equivalences, re-theorizing “reification” through the concept of governmentality to distinguish modes of regulation and the kinds of social responses incited, suggesting that India and Burma stand as respective exemplars of distinct governmental forms. Specifically, scholarship represents Indian population groups (of caste, tribe, ethnicity, etc. permutations) as being reified by dense and reinforcing applications of knowledge/power. Even when these various and interlinking regulatory apparatuses “fail” to accurately describe social reality, they interpellate a response from subject populations, a process that operates to dialectically reinforce the categories. Conversely, similar governmental apparatuses desultorily implemented in Burma have operated differently. While they have succeeded in making South Asian and Muslim subjects into Burma’s self-perceived constitutive outside, governmentality has “doubly failed” on itstaingyintha(indigenous) subjects. Poor knowledge of these Burmese peoples has foreclosed intensive projects of knowledge production, leading to “misinterpellation,” a form of metapragmatic awareness in which subjects recognize that discourses misdescribe them, and then strategically maneuver with(in) those labels. Ethnic emblems become hollow integuments navigable with comparative ease, as individuals modify their particular bodily and dispositional indices. The article concludes by encouraging comparative postcolonial governmentality studies that would delineate particularities in a concept (governmentality) that often remains unnuanced.

Ethnic determinants of skeletal health in female patients with fragility fracture in a culturally diverse population

BackgroundLow bone density leads to fragility fracture, with significant impact on morbidity and mortality. While ethnic differences in bone density have been observed in healthy subjects, this has not yet been explored in fragility fracture patients. AimsTo assess if ethnicity is associated with bone mineral density and serum markers of bone health in female patients who experience fragility fractures. Methods219 female patients presenting with at least one fragility fracture at a major tertiary hospital in Western Sydney Australia were studied. Western Sydney is a region with great cultural diversity, comprising people from over 170 ethnicities. Within this cohort, the three largest broad ethnic groups were Caucasians (62.1 %), Asians (22.8 %), and Middle Eastern patients (15.1 %). Location and nature of the presenting fracture and other relevant past medical history were obtained. Bone mineral density, measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and bone-related serum markers were compared between ethnicities. Covariates (age, height, weight, diabetes, smoking, and at-risk drinking) were adjusted in multiple linear regression model. ResultsAlthough Asian ethnicity was associated with lower bone mineral density at the lumbar spine in fragility fracture patients, this association was no longer significant after adjustment for weight. Ethnicity (Asian or Middle Eastern) was not a determinant of bone mineral density at any other skeletal site. Caucasians had lower estimated glomerular filtration rate compared to Asian and Middle Eastern subjects. Serum parathyroid hormone concentrations were significantly lower in Asians compared to other ethnicities. ConclusionAsian ethnicity and Middle Eastern ethnicity were not major determinants of bone mineral density at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, or total hip.

Abstract 48: Increasing the racial diversity of lung adenocarcinoma cell lines

Abstract Lung cancer is a prominent source of cancer health disparities. Black males tend to smoke less, but have a 37% higher chance of developing lung cancer. The three most common histological subtypes of lung cancer are lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), squamous cell lung cancer (LUSQ), and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). To study lung cancer development, progression, and treatment, numerous tools are needed, including lung cancer cell lines. We undertook a literature and web-based investigation of lung cancer cell line availability from different racial/ethnic groups. We identified 188 cell lines from White individuals, 374 cell lines from Asian subjects, but only 26 cell lines from Blacks and none from Hispanic patients. We conclude that Black and Hispanic lung cancer cell lines are strongly underrepresented. Here we focus on LUAD cell lines since LUAD is the most common histological subtype in all racial/ethnic groups. While 67 White LUAD cell lines have been established, we only identified 5 Black LUAD lines. To remedy this lack of Black LUAD cell lines, we are collecting LUAD samples from Black patients to establish new cell lines (with full consent). In addition, we aim to increase the representation of Black cell lines by creating isogenic cell line variants of existing cell lines, like NCI-H23. NCI-H23 was derived from a Black male patient and carries a KRASG12C heterozygous mutation. We are using CRISPR/CAS9-based genome editing to introduce amino acid substitutions, including KRASG12V and KRASG12A. Our gene editing DNA includes a silent restriction site to help identify edited clones. A fluorescently labeled structured tracrRNA is included during the genomic editing process, allowing the electroporated cells to undergo fluorescence-activated cell sorting. We use the polymerase chain reaction to amplify the relevant genomic region, followed by restriction digestion to identify potential clones and sequencing to confirm successful editing. Several clones are currently under evaluation. Once new hetero- and homozygous KRAS mutants have been identified, we will test the efficacy of polyisoprenylated cysteinyl amide inhibitors (PCAIs). PCAIs have been shown to disrupt the RAS-mediated signaling pathway in racially/ethnically diverse cell lines (manuscript submitted). By generating newly-established and isogenic Black LUAD cell lines, we intend to ensure that potential therapeutics are tested on cell lines with the appropriate racial/ethnic genetic background. In the future, we hope to establish similar cell lines from Hispanic LUAD subjects. Citation Format: Christopher Leon, Matthew A. Gladstone, Chunli Yan, Diana I. Romero, Yong Huang, Nazarius S. Lamango, Ite A. Offringa. Increasing the racial diversity of lung adenocarcinoma cell lines [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 48.

No More Yellow Perils: Antiracism Teaching and Learning

The ongoing news about anti-Asian hate crimes prompted us to address racism through art education. In this article, we exemplify a model of antiracism art education implemented through three workshops: (1) Imagining Asians, which adopts an anticolonial pedagogy to destabilize the colonial and racist gaze toward Asians; (2) Animating the Chinese Taotie, which applies critical multicultural art education approaches to contextualize Chinese Shang arts and culture (1600–1046 BCE) and issues of social inequalities; (3) Layering Identity, which follows the cultural competence standards to emphasize the complexity of identity work and raise awareness of diverse identity-based narratives and issues. After explaining the conceptual foundation for each workshop, we describe the individual workshop and showcase selected preservice art teachers’ artworks reflecting their informed and empowered interpretation of Asian artifacts and intersectional identity. We conclude that the participants gain enriched knowledge toward Asian and Asian American subjectivities and experience with antiracism art education.

MP12-02 RACE REPORTING IN PROSTATE CANCER FOCAL THERAPY CLINICAL TRIALS

You have accessJournal of UrologyCME1 Apr 2023MP12-02 RACE REPORTING IN PROSTATE CANCER FOCAL THERAPY CLINICAL TRIALS Dhaval Jivanji, Arshia Sandozi, Katiana Vazquez-Rivera, Karis Buford, Mariela Martinez, David Silver, and Ariel Schulman Dhaval JivanjiDhaval Jivanji More articles by this author , Arshia SandoziArshia Sandozi More articles by this author , Katiana Vazquez-RiveraKatiana Vazquez-Rivera More articles by this author , Karis BufordKaris Buford More articles by this author , Mariela MartinezMariela Martinez More articles by this author , David SilverDavid Silver More articles by this author , and Ariel SchulmanAriel Schulman More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000003227.02AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Focal therapy has emerged as a primary treatment for localized prostate cancer, but there is limited evidence about its impact on oncological outcomes. Furthermore, there is a paucity of data looking at focal therapy in diverse racial populations. The objective of this study is to elucidate the current state of representation of non-white men in clinical trials investigating focal therapy. METHODS: PubMed and clinicaltrials.gov were queried using the search terms “prostate cancer” and “focal therapy” to identify all published and completed clinical trials between 2015-2022. Study characteristics were extracted and those that reported race information were further analyzed. Trials were excluded if focal therapy was used in combination with other treatments or used as salvage therapy. RESULTS: In total, 69 clinical trials (63 manuscripts, 6 completed clinical trials) were found to meet our inclusion criteria. HIFU (n=24, 34.8%), brachytherapy (n=9, 8.7%) and cryoablation (n=9, 8.7%) were the top three modalities studied. We found that 12/69 (17.4%) trials provided data on race which enrolled 945 patients. Within these studies, African American men only represented 4.3% of subjects (n=41). White subjects made up the vast majority of participants (n=871, 92.2%) followed by Multiracial subjects (n=18, 1.9%) and Asian subjects (n=8, 0.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Race was reported in only 17.4% of clinical trials studying focal therapy over the past eight years. Of the trials reporting race, African American men constituted <5% of study participants despite having the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the United States. It is incumbent upon future studies to report race data and to establish clinical trial enrollment protocol to address this discordance. Source of Funding: None © 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 209Issue Supplement 4April 2023Page: e133 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Dhaval Jivanji More articles by this author Arshia Sandozi More articles by this author Katiana Vazquez-Rivera More articles by this author Karis Buford More articles by this author Mariela Martinez More articles by this author David Silver More articles by this author Ariel Schulman More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...

The utility of non-invasive tests to assess advanced fibrosis in Asian subjects with chronic hepatitis B and concomitant hepatic steatosis.

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is endemic to Asia and is a leading cause of liver-related morbidity. The prevalence of concomitant CHB and hepatic steatosis (HS) is increasing in Asia. Non-invasive tests (NITs) including FIB-4, NFS and APRI assess fibrosis in populations with a single aetiology, but not in subjects with concomitant CHB and HS. To explore the accuracy of NITs in predicting advanced fibrosis in patients with concomitant CHB and HS. This multicentre study of CHB patients who underwent liver biopsy explored clinical characteristics of these subjects, stratified by presence of HS. Fibrosis scores from NITs were compared against histological fibrosis stage in CHB subjects with and without HS. 2262 subjects were enrolled, 74.5% were males, and the mean age was 39.5 years ±11.8 SD. 984 (44.4%) had HS, 824 (36.4%) had advanced fibrosis. In the CHB group, the AUROC for advanced fibrosis were 0.65 (95% CI 0.62-0.69) for FIB-4 and 0.63 (95% CI 0.60-0.66) for APRI. The specificities were 0.94 for FIB-4 greater than 3.25 and 0.81 for APRI greater than 1.5. In the CHBHS group, the AUROC for advanced fibrosis were 0.67 (95% CI 0.63-0.71) for FIB-4, 0.60 (95% CI 0.56-0.64) for APRI and 0.65 (95% CI 0.61-0.69) for NFS. The specificities were 0.95 for FIB-4 greater than 3.25, 0.88 for APRI greater than 1.5 and 0.99 for NFS greater than 0.675. The performance of NITs to exclude advanced fibrosis did not differ greatly regardless of HS. FIB-4 and NFS have the best negative predictive values of 0.80 and 0.78, respectively, to exclude advanced fibrosis in CHBHS subjects.

Hypoxia-induced transcriptional differences in African and Asian versus European diabetic cybrids

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common diabetic microvascular complication and cause of blindness in adults under the age of 65. Our results suggest that, when comparing transcriptomes of cultures grown in hypoxic conditions versus room-air, cybrids containing mitochondria from African and Asian diabetic subjects ([Afr + Asi]/DM) have some uniquely different transcriptome profiles compared to European/diabetic (Euro/DM) cybrids (e.g., fatty acid metabolism: EnrichR rank 10 in [Afr + Asi]/DM, rank 85 in Euro/DM; Endocytosis: rank 25 in [Afr + Asi]/DM, rank 5 in Euro/DM; Ubiquitin Mediated Proteolysis: rank 34 in [Afr + Asi]/DM, rank 7 in Euro/DM). As determined by both RNA-seq and qRT-PCR results, transcription of the gene encoding oleoyl-ACP hydrolase (OLAH) was significantly increased in [Afr + Asi]/DM cybrids compared to Euro/DM cybrids in hypoxic conditions. Additionally, our results show that in hypoxic conditions, Euro/DM cybrids and [Afr + Asi]/DM cybrids show similar decreases in ROS production. All cybrids showed decreased ZO1-minus protein levels, but their phagocytic functions were not significantly altered in hypoxic conditions. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the "molecular memory" imparted by [Afr + Asi]/DM mtDNA may act through one of the molecular pathways seen in transcriptome analysis, such as fatty acid metabolism, without significantly changing essential RPE functions.

The Bleeding Wound: The Soviet War in Afghanistan and the Collapse of the Soviet System by Yaacov Ro’i

This author’s prolific scholarship combines nuanced argumentation with an encylopedic knowledge of late-socialist Soviet society, notably in the realms of foreign relations, nationalities policy, and religion. In this exhaustively researched book, Ro’i turns his attention to the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989), a conflict that Eduard Shevardnadze, the USSR’s last foreign minister, termed “a sin” in a 1990 speech to the Supreme Soviet (115). Although a number of excellent monographs on the subject have been published in recent years, Ro’i offers something new. In 1992/3, when a conflict that killed at least 15,000 Soviet soldiers and more than a million Afghans was recent news, he and a small team of interviewers conducted surveys and interviews with hundreds of former Soviet citizens, most of them war veterans, across eleven Soviet republics and among emigrés in Israel. Incorporating elements of qualitative and quantitative data and analysis, the result is a source base rich and unique in its combination of detail and raw emotion.The Bleeding Wound is a magisterial survey of the war’s intersection with important trends in the Soviet 1980s. The assessment of Russian political scientist Dmitrii Ol’shanskii whom Ro’i quotes at the outset summarizes the book’s argument: “The truth about Afghanistan emerges only in a polyphony of varying points of view grounded in authentic knowledge” (5). Ro’i seeks to study “the ways that the war encompassed various aspects of late Soviet government and society” through the lens of “a number of topics that were of paramount importance in the 1980s” (306)—official (civilian and military) attitudes toward the various stages of the war, the behavior and treatment of Soviet soldiers, ethnic relations in the Red Army, Soviet popular culture, veterans (afgantsy), and glasnost’. The book is organized according to ten thematic chapters, two providing a detailed chronology, three focusing on the military, and two engaging with media and public opinion. The final three chapters analyze the challenges confronting returning afgantsy, the position of Central Asian Muslims in the Red Army, and the political activity of afgantsy during and after the Soviet collapse.One area in which the book breaks new ground concerns its focus on Central Asian Muslims. Historically speaking, the Central Asian republics and Afghanistan hold much in common. The long-standing conventional wisdom is that the Soviet leadership sought to capitalize on these affinities by deploying Central Asian soldiers in the initial part of the war, only to pull them back because they were too sympathetic to locals, too Muslim, or insufficiently “internationalist.” Ro’i’s interviews and survey data allow him to paint a more complex picture. For example, his Central Asian respondents rated the need to intervene in Afghanistan much higher than did Russians, other Slavs, and Muslims from Russia and the Caucasus. In the early part of the war, 56 percent of Central Asian subjects affirmed the USSR’s “need” to intervene, compared to 31 percent of Russians (169). By contrast, in the same period, Central Asians scored lowest on the “moral right” to intervene compared to the same groups (173). Results like this one lead Ro’i to highlight the limitations of such surveys, and to rely instead on interviews with forty-four veterans and fifty civilians from the region. He identifies racism and Islamophobia as reasons behind doubt (in the USSR and Washington) about the Central Asians’ patriotism (260): “Careful scrutiny of the evidence demands that we refrain from drawing conclusions about widespread Central Asian disloyalty to the Soviet Union (261).” Rather than making sweeping generalizations, Ro’i brings his Central Asian informants to life by skillfully deploying colorful vignettes, such as one about a Tajik soldier who met Afghans who had known his parents. These and other accounts help to lighten the mood of a work that can make for harrowing reading (260).Jam-packed as it is with data and dense analysis, The Bleeding Wound may intimidate non-specialist readers. But Ro’i’s gift for weaving a galaxy of sources, and many different methodologies, into one elegant narrative, makes this book unique. It is both an excellent introduction for the more intrepid general reader and, more obviously, a key reference work about the Afghan War and the Soviet 1980s.

Applying machine learning methods to enable automatic customisation of knee replacement implants from CT data

The aim of this study was to develop an automated pipeline capable of designing custom total knee replacement implants from CT scans. The developed pipeline firstly utilised a series of machine learning methods including classification, object detection, and image segmentation models, to extract geometrical information from inputted DICOM files. Statistical shape models then used the information to create femur and tibia 3D surface model predictions which were ultimately used by computer aided design scripts to generate customised implant designs. The developed pipeline was trained and tested using CT scan images, along with segmented 3D models, obtained for 98 Korean Asian subjects. The performance of the pipeline was tested computationally by virtually fitting outputted implant designs with ‘ground truth’ 3D models for each test subject’s bones. This demonstrated the pipeline was capable of repeatably producing highly accurate designs, and its performance was not impacted by subject sex, height, age, or knee side. In conclusion, a robust, accurate and automatic, CT-based total knee replacement customisation pipeline was shown to be feasible and could afford significant time and cost advantages over conventional methods. The pipeline framework could also be adapted to enable customisation of other medical implants.

Visceral Adipose Tissue is Negatively Associated With Bone Mineral Density in NHANES 2011-2018.

The relationship of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) with bone mineral density (BMD) is not well established. To examine the associations of VAT and SAT with total body BMD in a large, nationally representative population with a wide range of adiposity. We analyzed 10 641 subjects aged 20 to 59 years in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2018 who had undergone total body BMD and had VAT and SAT measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Linear regression models were fitted while controlling for age, sex, race or ethnicity, smoking status, height, and lean mass index. In a fully adjusted model, each higher quartile of VAT was associated with an average of 0.22 lower T-score (95% CI, -0.26 to -0.17, P < 0.001), whereas SAT had a weak association with BMD but only in men (-0.10; 95% CI, -0.17 to -0.04, P = 0.002). However, the association of SAT to BMD in men was no longer significant after controlling for bioavailable sex hormones. In subgroup analysis, we also found differences in the relationship of VAT to BMD in Black and Asian subjects, but these differences were eliminated after accounting for racial and ethnic differences in VAT norms. VAT has a negative association with BMD. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanism of action and, more generally, to develop strategies for optimizing bone health in obese subjects.

Echocardiographic reference ranges for noninvasive left ventricular 18-segment myocardial work index and work efficiency in a healthy Asian population

BackgroundLeft ventricular (LV) myocardial work index (WI) and work efficiency (WE) have become the latest indicators for assessing LV function. Reference ranges for normal LV segmental WI and WE have not been established.MethodsFour hundred eleven healthy Asian subjects (47% men, median age: 35 years) were enrolled prospectively. WI and WE were analysed using the LV pressure–strain loop (LVPSL) with specific software.ResultsWI and WE differed significantly between segments as well as between walls and levels of the left ventricle. The anteroseptal basal segment had the lowest WI and WE (1440 mmHg ± 324 and 92% [88–96], respectively) among the eighteen segments. Significant WI and WE differences were found between sexes and age groups. No correlation was observed between age groups and the average WI of any wall or level in men, while the average WI of several different walls and levels in women showed significant differences between age groups. The average WI of most walls and levels increased with age in women. No correlation was found between age groups and the average WE of any wall or level in either men or women.ConclusionsThis study establishes the normal reference values of WI and WE of eighteen segments for clinical work and clinical experiments. There were significant differences in WI and WE between segments, levels, and walls of the normal left ventricle. Sex should be considered when analysing WI and WE. Age should be considered when analysing WI in women.Graphical

Associations between interleukin 17A and 17F polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility: A meta-analysis.

Owing to their role in inflammatory reactions and immunological responses as well as their chromosomal location, interleukin (IL) 17A and 17F are regarded as candidate causal genes associated with asthma. The aim of this study was to determine whether IL17 polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to asthma. We used the PubMed/Medline and Embase databases to search for studies reporting IL17 polymorphisms in patients with asthma and healthy controls. Meta-analyses were conducted to determine the associations between IL17A rs8193036 (-737C/T), rs2275913 (-197G/A), rs3819024 (A/G), rs3748067 (C/T), and rs4711998 (A/G) and IL17F rs763780 (7488A/G), rs2397084 (T/C), rs1889570 (C/T), rs11465553 (G/A), and rs1266828 (T/C) polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility. A total of 20 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Our results revealed the IL17A rs8193036 CC genotype was associated with asthma susceptibility (odds ratio [OR]=1.490, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.027-2.161, p=.036). However, stratification by ethnicity indicated no association between this polymorphism and asthma in European and Asian subjects. Furthermore, no association was found between this polymorphism and asthma using the allele contrast, dominant or homozygous contrast models. No evidence of an association was found between any of the other IL17A and IL17F polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility in this meta-analysis. This meta-analysis showed that, among the studied polymorphisms, only the CC genotype of IL17A rs8193036 is associated with asthma susceptibility.

The limits of imperial incorporation: Alternative sociological frameworks to study Asian American subjects

AbstractThis paper argues existing scholarship on Asian American communities is limited by an assumption that incorporation into the US can productively address racial and economic precarity. As an alternative, we offer “Extinguishing Asian (American) Insurgency”, a theoretical framework that incorporates histories of colonialism, imperialism, and postcolonial politics of incorporation into contemporary sociological analyses of Asian subject formation. Applying Du Boisian sociology alongside Frantz Fanon and Joy James, the framework adopts a global, relational analysis of Asian Americans and the US state. We demonstrate the framework's utility through two case studies: anti‐colonial Sikh diasporic politics through the Gadar Party and US state efforts to tie diasporic South Vietnamese identity to an anti‐communist politic. As such, we encourage the study of alternative possibilities of Asian subject formation that are extinguished by state incorporation, particularly through imperialism and military serivce. Specifically, we address sociologists who extinguish the insurgent Asian American subject in their scholarship by assuming incorporation and pro‐state politics as a natural end goal of migration, or those who simply do not name the US as the institutional force extinguishing possibilities of Asian Americans' insurgency.

Bipolar Radiofrequency-Assisted Liposuction for Cervical Contouring in Eastern Asians.

East Asian beauty standards uphold a V-shaped face and a long slender neck. Some patients are dissatisfied with the concurrent nonsurgical treatment and prefer limited downtime with minimally invasive procedures to achieve a natural skin-tightening outcome. The authors performed bipolar radiofrequency-assisted liposuction (RFAL) to achieve cervical rejuvenation. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of RFAL for the treatment of cervical skin and soft-tissue laxity in Eastern Asians. In total, 66 patients with neck skin and soft-tissue laxity were treated with bipolar RFAL under tumescent local anesthesia. Further, the surgical outcomes were evaluated based on patient satisfaction score and the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS) score at 6 months postoperatively. Moreover, the incidence of postoperative complications was determined. All patients were followed up for at least 6 months. After RFAL technologies treatment, significant improvement in the neck contour was observed. The average GAIS score was 3.03 (4, very much improved; 3, much improved; 2, improved; 1, no change; and 0, worsened). Approximately 93% of patients were satisfied with the RFAL neck contouring outcome. Notably, no serious complications requiring further intervention were encountered in this series. The described RFAL treatment significantly improved the refinement of neck contouring in Eastern Asian subjects. The simple, minimally invasive cervical procedure under local anesthesia improve the cervical-mental angle definition, tissue-tightening effect, face slimming, and the mandibular line. No serious adverse events except mild complications were reported. This treatment could achieve extraordinary results with a high safety profile.

Afro-Asian Intimacies Across Southern Cartographies: Race, Sex, and Gender in Toni Morrison's Home and Yusef Komunyakaa's Dien Cai Dao

Afro-Asian Intimacies Across Southern Cartographies:Race, Sex, and Gender in Toni Morrison's Home and Yusef Komunyakaa's Dien Cai Dao Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi (bio) In 1953, following the Korean Armistice Agreement that ostensibly ended direct U.S. intervention in Korea (but, in reality, merely led to a recalibration of the unending Korean War), African American soldier Clarence Adams was one of twenty-one prisoners of war who refused repatriation back to the United States and instead migrated to the People's Republic of China. His decision was influenced by the antiblackness that structured the segregated U.S. South, curtailing his chances of upward mobility, as well as his compassion for the Korean civilians devastated by U.S. military intervention, prompting recognition of the shared oppression of Third World peoples.1 Twelve years later, during the Vietnam War, he broadcast a message to Black soldiers via Radio Hanoi, urging them to return to the United States: "You are fighting the wrong war. Brothers, go home. The Negro people need you back there."2 According to Daniel Y. Kim, "Adams mobilize[d] a historiography of a race war to cast both the Korean and Vietnam Wars as ones waged by a white empire against a colored population," exemplifying what Bill Mullens terms "Afro-Orientalism": a phenomenon in which Black activists turned to idealized Asian subjects for anti-imperialist and antiracist inspiration.3 I begin with Adams' story for three reasons. First, it highlights continuities between Black narratives of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Whereas historians have elucidated the experiences of Black soldiers during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, respectively, few studies have grappled with these two Cold War fronts in relation, noting patterns and [End Page 97] particularities in Black subject formation across the two U.S. imperial conflicts.4 With the signing of Executive Order 9981 in July 1948, President Harry S. Truman desegregated the U.S. military, exemplifying the United States' project of racial liberalism and bolstering the expansion of the liberal empire, vis-à-vis the Soviet Union, even as Jim Crow laws continued to delimit the mobility of African Americans on the home front. Whereas the Korean War was the first U.S. experiment in militarized integration, it wasn't until the Vietnam War that the question of Black–white tensions in the military, transposed from the continental United States to the battlefront in Asia, gained widespread visibility. As Martin Luther King, Jr., famously observed in his "Beyond Vietnam" speech of April 1967: "[We watch] Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools. So we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would hardly live on the same block in Chicago."5 Segregation at home was only interrupted by "brutal solidarity" abroad: the uniting of Black and white soldiers in a common project of racialized wartime destruction.6 But continuities between the Korean and Vietnam Wars also led to political mobilization: many civil rights and Black Power leaders active during the Vietnam War era, such as Bobby Seale, James Forman, Ivory Perry, and Robert F. Williams, were radicalized during their experiences as Black soldiers in Cold War Korea.7 Second, Adams' story stitches together three southern spaces that are rarely discussed in relation: the U.S. South, South Korea, and South Vietnam. To focus on the southern-ness of these three sites is to trace the convergence of white supremacy, antiblackness, imperialism, and anticommunism that cohere at the intersection of the U.S. Civil War and Cold War politics.8 Raised in Memphis, Tennessee, amid the structural antiblackness of the segregated U.S. South, Adams joined the U.S. Army to escape incarceration at the hands of white policemen. This military service brought him to South Korea: a decolonizing nation that the United States had taken upon itself to protect in the Cold War struggle against North Korea, Communist China, and the Soviet Union. These south-south relationalities—the transposition of a Black subject of the U.S. South to the southern warfront of a new...

Age-, Sex-, and Race-Based Normal Values for Left Ventricular Circumferential Strain from the World Alliance Societies of Echocardiography Study

Left ventricular (LV) circumferential strain has received less attention than longitudinal deformation, which has recently become part of routine clinical practice. Among other reasons, this is because of the lack of established normal values. Accordingly, we aimed to establish normative values for LV circumferential strain and determine sex-, age- and race-related differences in a large cohort of healthy adults. Complete 2D transthoracic echocardiograms were obtained in 1572 healthy subjects (51% male), enrolled in the World Alliance of Societies of Echocardiography (WASE) Study. Subjects were divided into 3 age groups (<35, 35-55, >55 years) and stratified by sex and by race. Vendor-independent semi-automated speckle tracking software was used to determine LV regional and global circumferential strain (GCS) values. Limits of normal for each measurement were defined as 95% of the corresponding sex and age group falling between the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles. Intergroup differences were analyzed using unpaired t-tests. Circumferential strain showed a gradient, with lower magnitude at the mitral valve level, increasing progressively towards the apex. Compared to men, women had statistically higher magnitude of regional and global strain. Older age was associated with a stepwise increase in GCS despite an unaffected EF, a decrease in LV volume and a relatively stable GLS in men with a small gradual decrease in women. Asian subjects demonstrated significantly higher GCS magnitudes than whites of both sexes and blacks in women only. In contrast, no significant differences in GCS were found between white and black subjects of either sex. Importantly, despite statistical significance of the above differences across sex-, age- and races, circumferential strain values were similar in all groups, with variations of the order of magnitude of 1-2%. Notably, no differences in GCS were found between brands of imaging equipment. This study established normal values of LV regional and global circumferential strain, and identified sex-, age- and race-related differences, where present.

Normal Values of Left Ventricular Mass by Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Echocardiography: Results from the World Alliance Societies of Echocardiography Normal Values Study

Although increased left ventricular (LV) mass is associated with adverse outcomes, measured values vary widely depending on the specific technique used. Moreover, the impact of sex, age, and race on LV mass remains controversial, further limiting the clinical use of this parameter. Accordingly, the authors studied LV mass using a variety of two-dimensional and three-dimensional echocardiographic techniques in a large population of normal subjects encompassing a wide range of ages. Transthoracic echocardiograms obtained from 1,854 healthy adult subjects (52% men) enrolled in the World Alliance Societies of Echocardiography (WASE) Normal Values Study, were divided into three age groups (young, 18-35years; middle aged, 36-55years; and old, >55years). LV mass was obtained using five conventional techniques, including linear and two-dimensional methods, as well as direct three-dimensional measurement. All LV mass values were indexed to body surface area, and differences according to sex, age, and race were analyzed for each technique. LV mass values differed significantly among the five techniques. Three-dimensional measurements were considerably smaller than those obtained using the other techniques and were closer to magnetic resonance imaging normal values reported in the literature. For all techniques, LV mass in men was significantly larger than in women, with and without body surface area indexing. These technique- and sex-related differences were larger than measurement variability. In women, age differences in LV mass were more pronounced and depicted significantly larger values in older age groups for all techniques, except three-dimensional echocardiography, which showed essentially no differences. LV mass was overall larger in black subjects than in white or Asian subjects. Significant differences in LV mass values exist across echocardiographic techniques, which are therefore not interchangeable. Sex-, race-, and age-related differences underscore the need for separate population specific normal values.

Quality of Life Changes in Taiwanese Patients with Dentofacial Deformities Undergoing Orthognathic Surgery

Objectives: The evaluation of orthognathic surgery (OgS) is shifting towards a coherent approach for patient care that balances objective clinician-defined measures with patient-centred outcome assessments, including health-related quality of life (QoL). This aim of this study adds to the pool of literature in East Asian subjects by studying the longitudinal QoL changes in Taiwanese patients with dentofacial deformities (DFD) undergoing OgS, using two standardized questionnaires at three different treatment stages. Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised 113 consecutive Taiwanese OgS patients who underwent surgical-orthodontic treatment between 2015 and 2018. The subjects completed SF-36 and OHIP-14 standardized questionnaires with one additional aesthetics question at one month before OGS (T1), 3 months (T2) and at debond (T3). All responses were screened, and 90 valid questionnaires included for analysis. Additional subgroup comparisons were made between Class II and Class III patients, symmetric and asymmetric patients, surgery-first approach and orthodontics-first approach, presence or absence of genioplasty, genders, and younger and older patients. Results: The cohort was comprised largely of skeletal Class III patients (84.4%) and showed significant improvements in OHIP-14 and Aesthetic score from T1 to T3. Pre-surgical orthodontic decompensation leads to a decrease in QoL. Patients who have undergone genioplasty have better generic health QoL than those without genioplasty at T3. Male DFD patients have better generic oral health and aesthetics QoL than female DFD patients. Age does not appear to affect generic health, generic oral health and aesthetics QoL at any time during OgS treatment. Conclusion: OgS has positive effects on generic health, generic oral health and aesthetics QoL in DFD patients. The effect of asymmetry on QoL in OgS patients remains an area that requires further research in order to clarify conflicting results in the literature. Future studies should explore the long-term stability of QoL effects.

Genome-wide assessment reveals a significant association between ACSS3 and physical activity.

Recent genetic studies have identified physical activity (PA)-susceptible loci in European ancestry subjects; however, due to considerable genetic differences, these findings are not likely extendable to East Asian populations. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify significantly associated PA-susceptible loci using genome-wide association studies (GWASs) with East Asian (EAS) subjects and to generalize the findings to European (EUR) ancestries. The mRNA levels of genes located near the genome-wide significantly associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were compared under PA and control conditions. Rs74937256, located in ACSS3 (chromosome 12), which primarily functions in skeletal muscle tissues, was identified as a genome-wide significant variant (P=6.06 × 10-9 ) in EAS. Additionally, the rs2525840, also in ACSS3 satisfied the Bonferroni corrected significance (P= 3.77 × 10-5 ) in EUR. We found that rs74937256 is an expressed trait locus of ACSS3 (P=10-4 ), and ACSS3 mRNA expression significantly differs after PA, based on PrediXcan (P=7 × 10-8 ) and the gene expression omnibus database (P=0.043).

The Predictive Role of the Triglyceride/Glucose Index in Patients with Hypercholesterolemia and Acute Ischemic Stroke.

The triglyceride/glucose index (TyG) reflects insulin resistance and predicts the risk of acute ischemic stroke (aIS). However, it is uncertain if this index predicts the severity and outcome of aIS because studies that addressed this question are few and all were performed in Asian subjects. Moreover, there are no studies that focused on patients with hypercholesterolemia. We studied 997 Caucasian patients who were hospitalized for aIS and had hypercholesterolemia. aIS severity was assessed at admission with the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and severe aIS was defined as NIHSS 21. The outcome was assessed with the functional outcome at discharge and with in-hospital mortality. An unfavorable functional outcome was defined as modified Rank in scale (mRs) at discharge between 3 and 6. The TyG index did not correlate with the NIHSS at admission (r = 0.032, p = NS) and was similar in patients with severe and non-severe aIS (8.7 0.6 and 8.6 0.6, respectively; p = NS). Risk factors for severe aIS were age, female gender, atrial fibrillation (AF) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at admission. The TyG index also did not correlate with the mRs(r = 0.037, p = NS) and was similar in patients who had unfavorable and favorable functional outcome (8.7 0.6 and 8.6 0.5, respectively; p = NS). Risk factors for unfavorable functional outcome were age, previous ischemic stroke, body mass index and the NIHSS at admission. The TyG index was similar in patients who died during hospitalization and patients who were discharged (8.7 0.6 and 8.7 0.6, respectively; p = NS). Risk factors for in-hospital mortality were AF and DBP and NIHSS at admission. The TyG index does not appear to be associated with the severity or the outcome of aIS. Nevertheless, since there are few relevant data in Caucasians and the TyG index is an inexpensive and widely available biomarker, more studies in this ethnic group are required to determine the predictive role of this index in patients with aIS.