Objective

This study aims to examine if older adults living in poverty and from minority racial/ethnic groups experienced disproportionately high rates of poor oral health outcomes measured by oral health quality of life (OHQOL) and number of permanent teeth.

Methods

Cross-sectional analysis of 2,745 community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2008. Oral health outcomes were assessed by questionnaire using the NHANES-Oral Health Impact Profile for OHQOL and standardized examination for dentition. Logistic and linear regression analyses were used to determine the association between oral health outcomes and predictors of interest. All analyses were weighted to account for complex survey sampling methods.

Results

Both poverty and minority race/ethnicity were significantly associated with poor oral health outcomes in OHQOL and number of permanent teeth. Distribution of scores for each OHQOL domain varied by minority racial/ethnic group.

Conclusions

Oral health disparities persist in older adults living in poverty and among those from minority racial/ethnic groups. The racial/ethnic variation in OHQOL domains should be further examined to develop interventions to improve the oral health of these groups.

Purpose: Pain and mood disorder frequently coexist. Yet, for Asian Americans (AAs), scant information about pain and mood disorder is available. Our aims were to compare (1) the rates of pain and mood disorders and (2) the magnitude of associations between pain and mood disorders between AAs and European Americans (EAs), and across different Asian subgroups. Methods: An analytical data was constructed from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES), a representative sample of community-residing U.S. adults (n = 9,871). Pain morbidity was assessed by self-report. Mood disorders, including major depression and anxiety disorders, were assessed using the diagnostic interview. Analysis included descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression modeling. All analyses were weighted to approximate the U.S. populations, and controlled for sociodemographic and immigration characteristics. Results: Greater proportion of EAs, compared to AAs, endorsed lifetime pain (56.8% vs. 35.8%). Having life pain disorders elevated the likelihood of lifetime mood disorder by more than 2-folds (weight adjusted odds ratio (WAOR): 2.12, 95% CI: 1.77, 2.55). Having pain disorders over the past 12 months elevated the likelihood of mood disorder in the same time period by more than 3-folds (WAOR: 3.29, 95% CI: 2.02, 5.37) among AAs. The magnitude of the association between pain and psychiatric morbidity were greater in Vietnamese Americans compared to other AAs and EAs. Discussion: The conventional belief that rates of pain and mood disorders are greater in AAs than EAs may need to be further examined. Vietnamese Americans may be particularly vulnerable for experience of comorbid pain and mood disorders.

DNA replication is fundamental for life, yet a detailed understanding of bacterial DNA replication is limited outside the organisms Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Many bacteria, including mycobacteria, encode no identified homologs of helicase loaders or regulators of the initiator protein DnaA, despite these factors being essential for DNA replication in E. coli and B. subtilis. In this study we discover that a previously uncharacterized protein, Rv0004, from the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis is essential for bacterial viability and that depletion of Rv0004 leads to a block in cell cycle progression. Using a combination of genetic and biochemical approaches, we found that Rv0004 has a role in DNA replication, interacts with DNA and the replicative helicase DnaB, and affects DnaB-DnaA complex formation. We also identify a conserved domain in Rv0004 that is predicted to structurally resemble the N-terminal protein-protein interaction domain of DnaA. Mutation of a single conserved tryptophan within Rv0004's DnaA N-terminal-like domain leads to phenotypes similar to those observed upon Rv0004 depletion and can affect the association of Rv0004 with DnaB. In addition, using live cell imaging during depletion of Rv0004, we have uncovered a previously unappreciated role for DNA replication in coordinating mycobacterial cell division and cell size. Together, our data support that Rv0004 encodes a homolog of the recently identified DciA family of proteins found in most bacteria that lack the DnaC-DnaI helicase loaders in E. coli and B. subtilis. Therefore, the mechanisms of Rv0004 elucidated here likely apply to other DciA homologs and reveal insight into the diversity of bacterial strategies in even the most conserved biological processes.