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Biomedical subjects

Ming Wen

Publications and source records attributed to Ming Wen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Objective and perceived neighborhood environment, individual SES and psychosocial factors, and self-rated health: an analysis of older adults in Cook County, Illinois.

This article investigates the relationship among objectively assessed neighborhood socio-economic status (SES), subjective perceptions of neighborhood environment, individual SES and psychosocial factors, and self-rated health among middle-aged and older adults. Analysis of data from a representative sample of adults, aged 50-67 years in Cook County, Illinois, shows a significant association between objective neighborhood SES and self-rated health after controlling for age, gender, and race/ethnicity, but the effect is substantially explained by individual SES and neighborhood perceptions. By contrast, perceived neighborhood quality (i.e., subjective ratings of neighborhood physical, social, and service environments) exhibits a significant effect after controlling for individual socio-demographic factors as well as neighborhood SES. In turn, the effects of perceived neighborhood environment on health are partially explained by the psychosocial factors of loneliness, depression, hostility, and stress, but not by perceived social support or social networks. In sum, the research supports a model in which the effects of neighborhood SES on self-rated health act through sequential pathways of individual SES, perceptions of neighborhood quality, and psychosocial status.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Low rates of colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer screening in Asian Americans compared with non-Hispanic whites: Cultural influences or access to care?

BACKGROUND: Asian Americans have lower cancer screening rates compared with non-Hispanic whites (NHWs). Little is known about mechanisms that underlie disparities in cancer screening. The objectives of the current study were 1) to determine the relation between nativity, years in the United States, language, and cancer screening in NHWs and Asian Americans, independent of access to care and 2) to determine whether Asians reported different reasons than NHWs for not obtaining cancer screening. METHODS: This population-based study included 36,660 NHWs, 1298 Chinese, 944 Filipinos, 803 Koreans, 857 Vietnamese, and 1036 Other Asians from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. The main study outcomes were 1) self-reported colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer screening and 2) reasons for not obtaining cancer screening. RESULTS: After adjusting for access to care, several Asian subgroups still had significantly lower rates of all types of cancer screening compared with NHWs. Adjusting for nativity, years in the United States, and English language attenuated the relation between Asian ethnicity and lower rates of colorectal and breast cancer screening. When they were asked what the most important reason was for not having each screening test, foreign-born Asians were significantly more likely than United States-born NHWs to report that they "didn't have problems/symptoms" (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Nativity, years in the United States, and English language may be markers of cultural differences that are mediating cancer screening disparities. Foreign-born Asians may believe that cancer screening is in response to symptoms rather than tests that are used prior to the development of symptoms. Health education messages must consider how to communicate effectively that "cancer screening is valuable, because it finds cancer before it is advanced enough to cause symptoms."

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Immigrant perceptions of discrimination in health care: the California Health Interview Survey 2003.

BACKGROUND: U.S. healthcare disparities may be in part the result of differential experiences of discrimination in health care. Previous research about discrimination has focused on race/ethnicity. Because immigrants are clustered in certain racial and ethnic groups, failure to consider immigration status could distort race/ethnicity effects. OBJECTIVES: We examined whether foreign-born persons are more likely to report discrimination in healthcare than U.S.-born persons in the same race/ethnic group, whether the immigration effect varies by race/ethnicity, and whether the immigration effect is "explained" by sociodemographic factors. RESEARCH DESIGN: The authors conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2003 California Health Interview Survey consisting of 42,044 adult respondents. Logistic regression models use replicate weights to adjust for nonresponse and complex survey design. OUTCOME MEASURE: The outcome measure of this study was respondent reports that there was a time when they would have gotten better medical care if they had belonged to a different race or ethnic group. RESULTS: Seven percent of blacks and Latinos and 4% of Asians reported healthcare discrimination within the past 5 years. Immigrants were more likely to report discrimination than U.S.-born persons adjusting for race/ethnicity. For Asians, only the foreign-born were more likely than whites to report discrimination. For Latinos, increased perceptions of discrimination were attributable to sociodemographic factors for the U.S.-born but not for the foreign-born. Speaking a language other than English at home increased discrimination reports regardless of birthplace; private insurance was protective for the U.S.-born only. CONCLUSIONS: Immigration status should be included in studies of healthcare disparities because nativity is a key determinant of discrimination experiences for Asians and Latinos.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Prospective effect of community distress and subcultural orientation on mortality following life-threatening diseases in later life.

We conducted a prospective and contextual study to examine the effects of community social-economic-physical distress and subcultural orientation on mortality following onset of 13 life-threatening diseases in later life. We also examined the inter-relationship between the effects of community social, economic and physical distress (i.e. poverty, physical disorder and low collective efficacy) and subcultural orientation (i.e. anomie and tolerance of risk behaviour) on the survival chances of seriously ill older patients. Three data sources were combined to construct the working sample: 1990 Census data, the 1994-95 PHDCN-CS, and the COSI data. Fifty-one ZIP code areas in Chicago and 12,672 elderly patients were studied. Community distress (HR = 1.04; 95% CI = (1.01, 1.07)) and anomie (HR = 1.26; 95% CI = (1.02, 1.54)) are found to be significantly and positively associated with a higher hazard of death. Moreover, community anomie contributes to the effect of community distress on post-hospitalisation mortality. The social, economic, physical and cultural environment in which people live appears to exert a significant impact on whether older people facing life-threatening illness live or die.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2006

[Effects of the degrees of anxiety and depression on the therapeutic effect of acupuncture in the patient of insomnia].

OBJECTIVE: To probe factors of influencing therapeutic effects of acupuncture in the patient of insomnia. METHODS: According to scores of degrees of anxiety and depression, 52 cases of insomnia were divided into 3 groups, group I (mild or less degree) and group II (moderate degree) and group II (serious degree). The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) were compared before and after treatment in the 3 groups, and between two groups after treatment. Results There were significant differences in the therapeutic effect as the groups I, II compared with the group III (P < 0.01). The total sleep quality in the group I was better than that in the group II (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The degree of anxiety and depression in the patient of insomnia is one of important factors influencing therapeutic effect of acupuncture on insomnia.

Acupuncture Therapy↗
PubMed2006

[Building artificial neural networks model on portable NIR integrity wheat component measuring apparatus].

The quantitative analysis model of protein in integrity wheat was built by three layers back propagation artificial neural networks for portable near infrared (NIR) integrity wheat component measuring apparatus. The structure diagram of integrity wheat component measuring apparatus, light route structure of apparatus and the spectrum of integrity wheat were given in the present paper. The theory of artificial neural network was briefly introduced and the results of quantitative analysis model of protein were given. For calibration set and prediction set, the correlation coefficient was 0.90 and 0.96 respectively; the relative standard deviation is 3.77% and 4.46% respectively. Because of the influence of light route structure, electrical circuit, and integrity sample forms on the measuring apparatus, some nonlinearity exists between the spectral parameters and chemical values. The results of artificial neural networks nonlinear model were superior to linear model.

Neural Networks, Computer↗
PubMed2005

Effect of specific aspects of community social environment on the mortality of individuals diagnosed with serious illness.

The purpose of this study was to examine the prospective and contextual effects of urban community environment on mortality among Medicare beneficiaries who were 67 years old or older in 1993, lived in the city of Chicago, and were hospitalized for one of 13 serious diseases. As expected, we found that advantageous socioeconomic context helps lower mortality risk among elderly patients over and above individual demographic and health background. We also found that collective efficacy was a health-enhancing social resource whereas criminal and violent activities in the community appeared to be deleterious. Inconsistent with our hypotheses, community social network density (measured by the size of social network and frequency of social interaction) was not protective but detrimental. Moreover, social support and the civic involvement of residents in the community do not seem to affect mortality. The complex relationship between community social environment and health found in this study may suggest that community-level social interventions based on social capital/social cohesion models are not likely to achieve fruitful results without concomitant effort in the economic and health care realm, at least in terms of influences on the health of older people once they are already ill.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2005

Study on Yangxue Qingnao granule in treating chronic cerebrovascular insufficiency.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of Yangxue Qingnao granule (YXQNG) in treating chronic cerebrovascular insufficiency (CCI) and its possible mechanism. METHODS: Eighty-three patients with CCI were randomly divided into YXQNG and nimodipine (ND) groups, the score of vertigo and the change in cerebral blood velocity before and after treatment were observed. And in the animal experiment, the authors adopted bilateral ligation of cervical carotid communis artery to establish CCI rat models in order to observe the effect of YXQNG and ND on incubation period of vertigo in rats and on memory performance. RESULTS: After clinical treatment, the vertigo score of YXQNG group was 2.34, and that of the ND group was 4.18, the comparison between the two groups showed that the difference was significant (P < 0.05). After treatment, the middle cerebral artery mean velocity (MCA Vm) of YXQNG group was 64.78 cm/s, vertebral artery mean velocity (VA Vm) was 29.78 cm/s, while that of ND group was 60.34 cm/s and 23.23 cm/s respectively, the comparison between these two groups showing statistical significance and the difference being obvious (P < 0.05). Experimental study showed that the rats in the model group after 12 weeks learning and memory were markedly lowered, the vertigo incubation period significantly lengthened, and compared with that of the model group, learning and memory of the YXQNG group was markedly improved and vertigo incubation period shortened, with the difference from that of the ND group insignificant, P > 0.05. CONCLUSION: YXQNG could effectively improve CCI patients' vertigo and other clinical symptoms and increase the cerebral blood flow, lessen the vertigo incubation of model group rats, elevate model group rats' memory performance.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Racial disparities in self-rated health at older ages: what difference does the neighborhood make?

OBJECTIVES: Racial differences in self-rated health at older ages are well documented. African Americans consistently report poorer health, even when education, income, and other health status indicators are controlled. The extent to which neighborhood-level characteristics mediate this association remains largely unexplored. We ask whether neighborhood social and economic resources help to explain the self-reported health differential between African Americans and Whites. METHODS: Using the 1990 Decennial Census, the 1994-1995 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods-Community Survey, and selected years of the 1991-2000 Metropolitan Chicago Information Center-Metro Survey, we examine the impact of neighborhood structure and social organization on self-rated health for a sample of Chicago residents aged 55 and older (N = 636). We use multilevel modeling techniques to examine both individual and neighborhood-level covariates. RESULTS: Findings indicate that affluence, a neighborhood structural resource, contributes positively to self-rated health and attenuates the association between race and self-rated health. When the level of affluence in a community is low, residential stability is negatively related to health. Collective efficacy, a measure of neighborhood social resources, is not associated with health for this older population. DISCUSSION: Analyses incorporating individual and neighborhood-level contextual indicators may further our understanding of the complex association between sociodemographic factors and health.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2005

Neighborhood effects on posthospitalization mortality: a population-based cohort study of the elderly in Chicago.

CONTEXT: Place of residence is associated with health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To examine neighborhood effects on mortality after the onset of serious disease and to assess whether these effects vary for different sociodemographic or diagnostic subgroups. DESIGN, SETTING, PATIENTS: Our sample consists of a complete cohort of 10,557 elderly Medicare beneficiaries throughout the city of Chicago newly diagnosed and hospitalized for the first time with one of five common serious diseases in 1993 (stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, hip fracture, and lung cancer) followed until 1999. Attributes of 51 zip code neighborhoods were obtained both from census data (1990) and from a comprehensive social survey of neighborhood residents (1994-1995). Cox proportional hazards models with robust standard errors were specified. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Survival after hospitalization. RESULTS: People who lived in neighborhoods with higher socioeconomic status (SES) or with a better social environment had significantly longer survival after disease onset. We evaluated the differential impact of neighborhood attributes on survival depending on gender, race, and poverty using interaction terms. Only the interaction terms between neighborhood social-structural factors and individual poverty were significant, suggesting that neighborhood SES and social environment were especially helpful for people with higher income. Neighborhood attributes did not differ in their impact depending on the race or sex of the subjects. Analyses of cause-specific mortality showed that myocardial infarction was the primary force driving the associations between neighborhood attributes and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Where people live matters with respect to posthospitalization mortality, but how neighborhoods affect this outcome depends on individual demographic and diagnostic characteristics. Myocardial infarction in particular may be a "neighborhood sensitive" condition. Individuals' health may depend not just on individuals' characteristics but also on their neighborhoods'.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

[Effect and mechanism of rhubarb on fibrinolysis in secondary damaged central nerve system of rats with acute hemorrhagic stroke].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of rhubarb in treating secondary damage of central nerve system (CNS) in rats with acute hemorrhagic stroke (AHS) and to explore the possible mechanism. METHODS: The rat's AHS model was established by autologous blood injection, the effect of rhubarb on the secondary damage of CNS, plasminogen (PLG) in brain and tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA) were observed. RESULTS: (1) The nerve function deficit signs reappeared in about 70% model rats 4 - 6 days after modeling and reached the peak at day 6 - 8, scored as 1.63 +/- 0.72 on day 4 and as 2.32 +/- 1.12 on day 7; (2) Rhubarb could effectively improve the secondary nerve function damage, with the nerve deficit scores kept to 1.24 +/- 0.19 from day 4 on, and no sign of secondary CNS damage was shown. The nerve deficit score was 1.22 +/- 0.15 on day 7 in the rhubarb treated group, showing significant difference as compared with that in the model group (P<0.05); (3) The specific amplified products of t-PA mRNA on day 3 and that of PLG mRNA on day 7 in CNS of model group were significantly higher than those in the sham operated group and the rhubarb treated group. CONCLUSION: Rhubarb could effectively reduce the secondary CNS damage in rats with AHS, it might be related with the suppressive effect of rhubarb on tPA mRNA and PLG mRNA expression in CNS.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

[Development of portable LED-based NIR integrity wheat component measuring apparatus].

A integrity wheat component quickly measuring apparatus which based on NIR LED was developed, by using new chip and designing software. While providing a lower cost apparatus, it also provides quick answer speed and smaller size for fieldwork of wheat's components measuring. The apparatus is made up of NIR LED, interference filter, lens, Si photronic detector, microprocessor system and calibration model. Compared with other instrument, the apparatus has many advantages, such as compact space, simple structure, low power waste, and anti-shake. This paper introduces the design of the apparatus, and predicts the concentration of wheat protein. The apparatus can realize non-damage measurement of wheat components' concentration on fieldwork.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2003

Associations among awareness of prognosis, hopefulness, and coping in patients with advanced cancer participating in phase I clinical trials.

GOALS: There is considerable debate concerning prognosis in patients with advanced cancer (advanced cancer patients, ACP), but no one has systematically examined the relationship between awareness of prognosis and hopefulness. In this study, the relationships among awareness of prognosis, hopefulness, and coping were examined in a selected group of ACP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All subjects were enrolled in phase I trials. Information was obtained from subjects via structured, face-to-face interviews. Subjects provided demographic information, answered questions designed to ascertain their awareness of their prognosis, and completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General instrument (FACT-G). RESULTS: A total of 179 consecutive subjects enrolled in phase I trials were interviewed. Awareness of prognosis was assessed using a semiquantitative scale. Willingness to provide responses to the question was significantly negatively correlated with hopefulness ( r=-0.306, P=0.030). Using items from the FACT-G, hopefulness and coping were positively correlated ( r=0.140, P=0.097). Female subjects were more realistic about their prognosis than men ( b=0.568, P=0.026). More educated patients had higher response rates to the prognosis questions (OR 1.62, P<0.001), and demonstrated a more realistic awareness of prognosis ( b=0.225, P=0.030). Overall, there was a strong association between coping status and responding to the prognosis questions ( P=0.033). Patients who reported being "not at all proud of coping" had a lower response rate than patients who reported better coping. DISCUSSION: Among the ACP who provided responses, many reported an unrealistic view of their prognosis. Having a more accurate view of prognosis in the face of terminal illness was associated with reduced hopefulness, which may be related to a poorer sense of coping. Finally, the prognosis question utilized in the study was problematic, led to a fairly poor response rate, and may be indicative of the many difficulties present in attempting to accurately assess ACPs' perceptions of their prognosis. Other methods, such as in-depth qualitative methods, may lead to more productive inquiry into ACPs' awareness of their prognosis. Further research into the accurate assessment of awareness of prognosis is needed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2003

Poverty, affluence, and income inequality: neighborhood economic structure and its implications for health.

In this paper, we attempt to verify that neighborhood economic structure influences individual health over and above other individual characteristics, and to comparatively evaluate the effects of neighborhood concentrated affluence, concentrated poverty and income inequality in relation to individual health in the USA. We also explore physical environment, health-enhancing services, social hazards (crime) and social resources as mechanisms operating at the neighborhood level that may help to explain the influence of structural economic conditions on health. We use Hierarchical Ordinal Logit Models to examine a rich multi-level data set. Results indicate that affluence exerts significant contextual effects on self-rated health while poverty and income inequality at the neighborhood level are not important structural factors. Moreover, we find that a composite measure of social resources distinguishes itself in both explaining the impact of concentrated affluence and exerting an independent contextual effect on individual health. Physical environment, or the level of physical disorder in the neighborhood, also mediates the effect of affluence on self-rated health, although to a lesser degree than social resources. Our empirical findings suggest that different dimensions of economic structure do not in fact have unique and additive contributions to individual health; the presence of affluent residents is essential to sustain neighborhood social organization which in turn positively affect health.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Explaining variation in health status across space and time: implications for racial and ethnic disparities in self-rated health.

We use the Metropolitan Community Information Center-Metro Survey-a serial cross section of adults residing in the City of Chicago, USA, conducted from 1991 through 1999-in combination with 1990 census data to simultaneously examine the extent to which self-rated health varies across Chicago neighborhoods and across time. Three-level hierarchical logit models are employed to decompose individual, spatial, and temporal variance in self-rated health. Results indicate that variation in self-rated health across neighborhoods is explained, in part, by variation in the level of neighborhood affluence. Neighborhood level poverty, however, is not a significant predictor of self-rated health. Community level affluence, moreover, accounts for a substantial proportion of the residual health deficit experienced by African-Americans when compared with Whites (after controlling for individual level SES). The effects of affluence hold when controlling for spatial autocorrelation and when considered in primarily African-American neighborhoods. Findings also indicate that individuals living in the City of Chicago became significantly healthier over the decade of the 1990s, and that this improvement in health is explained largely by the increasing education and income levels of Chicago residents.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Isoimmunization is unlikely to be the cause of hemolysis in ABO-incompatible but direct antiglobulin test-negative neonates.

OBJECTIVE: It is stated that the direct antiglobulin (Coombs') test (DAT) may be negative in ABO hemolytic disease of the newborn. Thus, significant jaundice in neonates who are A-B incompatible with their mothers but DAT test negative is often attributed to isoimmunization and another diagnosis is not sought. We wished to determine the rate of bilirubin production, as an objective measure of hemolysis, in 2 groups of DAT-negative neonates--ABO-compatible and ABO-incompatible--and in DAT-positive ABO-incompatible neonates. METHODS: In consecutive, term, healthy newborns who were admitted to the general care nursery, we measured the level in parts per million (ppm) of end-tidal breath carbon monoxide (CO), corrected for inspired CO (ETCOc), an index of the rate of bilirubin production. We compared the levels in DAT-negative ABO-incompatible neonates with those in ABO-compatible neonates and with the levels in DAT-positive ABO-incompatible neonates. Statistical analysis was performed using 2-sample t and chi(2) tests. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the mean 12-hour ETCOc levels in DAT-negative ABO-incompatible neonates (n = 60, 2.2 +/- 0.6 ppm) versus DAT-negative ABO-compatible neonates (n = 171, 2.1 +/- 0.6 ppm), although there was a difference between the mean levels in DAT-positive ABO-incompatible neonates (n = 14, 3.4 +/- 1.8 ppm) and the DAT-negative groups. Four DAT-negative ABO-incompatible neonates had elevated ETCOc levels; in 2, we diagnosed a specific hematologic abnormality, namely, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in 1 and elliptocytosis in the other. CONCLUSION: In DAT-negative newborns with significant jaundice or increased bilirubin production, even if ABO-incompatible, a cause other than isoimmunization should be sought.

Bilirubin↗