Explore the vast range of titles available.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Hispanic population resulted in the almost complete elimination of the long-standing Hispanic mortality advantage relative to the non-Hispanic White population. However, it is unknown how COVID-19 mortality affected the diverse Hispanic subpopulations. We estimate life expectancy at birth in 2019 and 2020 by select Hispanic country/region of origin and explore how changes in age-specific all-cause and COVID-19 mortality affected changes in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 for each group. We use final 2019 and 2020 mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics and population estimates based on the 2019 and 2020 American Community Survey. We calculate life tables and apply decomposition techniques to explore the effects of changes in age- and cause-specific mortality on life expectancy. Patterns of age- and cause-specific excess deaths and their impact on declines in life expectancy due to the COVID-19 pandemic differed substantially by Hispanic subgroup. Life expectancy losses ranged from 0.6 to 6.7 years among males and from 0.6 to 3.6 years among females. Our findings highlight the heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic within the Hispanic population. Our findings contribute new information that will help future researchers identify the causes of the disproportionately severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Hispanic population. Our study underscores the importance of population disaggregation in endeavors to identify the multiple pathways by which the pandemic affected the Hispanic population.

Background: The sporadic nature of AD suggest that aside from biological determinants, environmental factors such as stress may play a role in the development, progression and outcome of disease. Recent data implicated stress as a potential risk factor in development of AD. This study aims to analyze the possible relationship between recent stressful life events and AD. Methods: We studied 132 patients with diagnosis of probable AD, according validated criteria, in mild to moderate stages. Medium age was 72.4 years. Meantime elapsed from the initial symptoms was 2.4 years. A control group of 89 healthy individuals paired for age, sex and education was studied. A questionnaire looking for stressful life events in the 3 years before diagnosis of AD was performed to patients, caregivers and controls. Results: In the AD group, 97 patients (73.5%) presented a history of significant stressful life events, 2.3 years (SD .4 years) before the onset of symptoms. The most common findings in the AD group were: couple death (28 cases), son’s death (17 cases), history of assault or violent theft (25 cases), and history of car accident without severe injuries (13 cases). Other stressful situations were marked financial problems, bereavement, retirement, adaptive changes due to migrations and diagnosis of severe somatic disease in the family. In the control group, only 24 individuals (27%) recognized similar previous stress factors in the previous 3 years Conclusions: We observed an association between stressful life events preceding the onset of dementia in a high percentage of our patients. Stress could trigger the degenerative process in AD and growing evidences suggest a dysfunction in neuroendocrine and immune system. According our results, we can establish a relationship between several stressful life events and the onset of dementia. It is an observational finding and does not imply direct causality. Future studies are required to examine this association in more detail in order to explain the possible mechanisms of this relationship.

This article examines the impact of green bonds on renewable energy generation and economic growth in Peru through an empirical analysis that incorporates robust econometric models, including OLS, GMM, and VAR, along with Johansen cointegration tests. Through these approaches, we assess the influence of green bonds on the energy sector, identifying how these financial instruments have boosted renewable energy projects and contributed to sustainable economic growth. The findings reveal a positive and significant relationship between green bonds and the expansion of renewable generation, further highlighting the crucial role of fiscal policies and regulatory frameworks in fostering these instruments. This analysis also identifies challenges, such as the need to strengthen institutional capacity and infrastructure to optimize the use of green bonds. This study provides a comprehensive perspective on the relevance of green bonds in the transition to a low-carbon economy in Peru, serving as a basis for future sustainable energy policies.

Malalcahuello ocaresi gen. n. & sp. n., from Chile, is described and compared with Campyloxenus pyrothorax Fairmaire & Germain, 1860.

Carlota gen. n., with one included species C. coigue sp. n., is described and illustrated from the Valdivian forests of Chile. The relationships of this genus to other Agrypnini from Chile are discussed and generic key for Chilean Agrypninae genera is provided.

To describe the coleopteran fauna occurring in canopies of temperate Gondwanan tree species in terms of their diversity and guild and taxonomic structures, and to test the proposition that this structuring reflects the Gondwanan origins of this fauna. The Andes and the coastal cordillera of temperate Chile. Canopy fogging was used to sample beetles from 29 trees. The samples were statistically described using Schao and the Simpson diversity index D. Cluster analyses and multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) were performed. The taxonomic and guild structures of the Chilean coleopteran fauna were compared quantitatively with those found in other parts of the world using homogeneity chi-square and t-tests. A collection of 25,497 beetle specimens was obtained primarily from Nothofagus dombeyi, Nothofagus obliqua and Araucaria araucana. The specimens collected were distributed between 485 morphospecies and included 107 putative, new generic-level taxa and 223 apparently undescribed species. Estimates of the size of the canopy beetle fauna showed that 600+ species were likely to be present. The communities found on a tree species differed markedly between years. MDS plots showed less community divergence between tree species for predators than for phytophages and xylophages. The guild structure was similar to that found on Australian 'Gondwanan' trees but differed significantly from the community structures found on 'Laurasian' tropical and temperate trees in supporting fewer phytophages and saprophages, but more xylophages. The predator guild showed a different pattern, with tropical faunas differing from those of more temperate regions, irrespective of hemisphere, as did the distribution of superfamilies. The beetle fauna found in the canopies of N. dombeyi, N. obliqua and A. araucana was large (600+ species), with about half of the species undescribed. Schao was found to vary with sample size and to give lower estimates of S than species attenuation curves, raising the possibility that the two methods are estimating the sizes of different statistical communities. It is possible that the attenuation curve is estimating the number of species to be found on a particular tree species, while Schao is estimating the 'carrying capacity' for beetle species of individual trees, and this varies from tree to tree. Care also needs to be taken in experimental design when monitoring temporal changes in forest insect communities given the difference in communities found between years in this study. The proportions of phytophages, saprophages and xylophages resemble those of a 'Gondwanan' rain forest from Australia and differ significantly from those of tropical and temperate 'Laurasian' forests.

We tested three competing hypotheses regarding the adult \"Hispanic mortality paradox\": data artifact, migration, and cultural or social buffering effects. On the basis of a series of parametric hazard models estimated on nine years of mortality follow-up data, our results suggest that the \"Hispanic\" mortality advantage is a feature found only among foreign-born Mexicans and foreign-born Hispanics other than Cubans or Puerto Ricans. Our analysis suggests that the foreign-born Mexican advantage can be attributed to return migration, or the \"salmon-bias\" effect. However, we were unable to account for the mortality advantage observed among other foreign-born Hispanics.

There are large and persistent disparities in life expectancy among racial–ethnic groups in the USA, but the extent to which these patterns vary geographically on a local scale is not well understood. This analysis estimated life expectancy for five racial–ethnic groups, in 3110 US counties over 20 years, to describe spatial–temporal variations in life expectancy and disparities between racial–ethnic groups. We applied novel small-area estimation models to death registration data from the US National Vital Statistics System and population data from the US National Center for Health Statistics to estimate annual sex-specific and age-specific mortality rates stratified by county and racial–ethnic group (non-Latino and non-Hispanic White [White], non-Latino and non-Hispanic Black [Black], non-Latino and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native [AIAN], non-Latino and non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander [API], and Latino or Hispanic [Latino]) from 2000 to 2019. We adjusted these mortality rates to correct for misreporting of race and ethnicity on death certificates and then constructed abridged life tables to estimate life expectancy at birth. Between 2000 and 2019, trends in life expectancy differed among racial–ethnic groups and among counties. Nationally, there was an increase in life expectancy for people who were Black (change 3·9 years [95% uncertainty interval 3·8 to 4·0]; life expectancy in 2019 75·3 years [75·2 to 75·4]), API (2·9 years [2·7 to 3·0]; 85·7 years [85·3 to 86·0]), Latino (2·7 years [2·6 to 2·8]; 82·2 years [82·0 to 82·5]), and White (1·7 years [1·6 to 1·7]; 78·9 years [78·9 to 79·0]), but remained the same for the AIAN population (0·0 years [–0·3 to 0·4]; 73·1 years [71·5 to 74·8]). At the national level, the negative difference in life expectancy for the Black population compared with the White population decreased during this period, whereas the negative difference for the AIAN population compared with the White population increased; in both cases, these patterns were widespread among counties. The positive difference in life expectancy for the API and Latino populations compared with the White population increased at the national level from 2000 to 2019; however, this difference declined in a sizeable minority of counties (615 [42·0%] of 1465 counties) for the Latino population and in most counties (401 [60·2%] of 666 counties) for the API population. For all racial–ethnic groups, improvements in life expectancy were more widespread across counties and larger from 2000 to 2010 than from 2010 to 2019. Disparities in life expectancy among racial–ethnic groups are widespread and enduring. Local-level data are crucial to address the root causes of poor health and early death among disadvantaged groups in the USA, eliminate health disparities, and increase longevity for all. National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Cancer Institute; National Institute on Aging; National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases; Office of Disease Prevention; and Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, US National Institutes of Health.

Objectives. We evaluated the racial misclassification of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) in cancer incidence and all-cause mortality data by Indian Health Service (IHS) Contract Health Service Delivery Area (CHSDA). Methods. We evaluated data from 3 sources: IHS-National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), IHS-National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR)/Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, and National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS). We calculated, within each data source, the sensitivity and classification ratios by sex, IHS region, and urban–rural classification by CHSDA county. Results. Sensitivity was significantly greater in CHSDA counties (IHS-NVSS: 83.6%; IHS-NPCR/SEER: 77.6%; NLMS: 68.8%) than non-CHSDA counties (IHS-NVSS: 54.8%; IHS-NPCR/SEER: 39.0%; NLMS: 28.3%). Classification ratios indicated less misclassification in CHSDA counties (IHS-NVSS: 1.20%; IHS-NPCR/SEER: 1.29%; NLMS: 1.18%) than non-CHSDA counties (IHS-NVSS: 1.82%; IHS-NPCR/SEER: 2.56%; NLMS: 1.81%). Race misclassification was less in rural counties and in regions with the greatest concentrations of AI/AN persons (Alaska, Southwest, and Northern Plains). Conclusions. Limiting presentation and analysis to CHSDA counties helped mitigate the effects of race misclassification of AI/AN persons, although a portion of the population was excluded.

Objectives. We estimated complete period life tables for the non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) population residing in Contract Health Service Delivery Area (CHSDA) counties for the period 2007–2009. Methods. We used National Vital Statistics System mortality data files for years 2007–2009 corrected for AI/AN misclassification on death certificates, midyear 2008 revised census bridged race intercensal population estimates, and National Vital Statistics System birth data for years 2006–2009. We used the same methodology as that used to estimate official US annual life tables, with some minor modifications. Results. For the period 2007–2009, the non-Hispanic AI/AN population in CHSDA counties had the lowest life expectancy at birth (71.1 years) of any racial/ethnic group for which official US life tables are estimated. By comparison, in 2008, life expectancy at birth was 73.9 years for the non-Hispanic Black population, 78.4 years for the non-Hispanic White population, and 80.8 years for the Hispanic population. Conclusions. The life tables showed a clear mortality disadvantage for the non-Hispanic AI/AN population in CHSDA counties relative to other national populations. The findings suggested that further research is necessary to explore the causes behind these disadvantages.