Greenspace exposure and the retinal microvasculature in healthy adults across three European cities.

Background: Emerging evidence points to the beneficial role of greenspace exposure in promoting cardiovascular health. Most studies have evaluated such associations with conventional cardiovascular endpoints such as mortality, morbidity, or macrovascular markers. In comparison, the microvasculature, a crucial compartment of the vascular system where early subclinical signs of cardiovascular problems appear, has not been studied in association with greenspace exposure.

Health impact assessment of port-sourced air pollution in Barcelona.

Introduction: Air pollution is a major health risk factor. Ports might be an understudied source of air pollution.

Methods: We conducted a spatial health impact assessment (HIA) of port-sourced air pollution for Barcelona for 2017 at the neighbourhood level.

Urban environment during pregnancy and lung function, wheezing, and asthma in school-age children. The generation R study.

The urban environment during pregnancy may influence child's respiratory health, but scarce evidence exists on systematic evaluation of multiple urban exposures (e.g., air pollution, natural spaces, noise, built environment) on children's lung function, wheezing, and asthma development.

Outdoor residential noise exposure and sleep in preadolescents from two European birth cohorts.

Objective: To examine whether outdoor residential exposure to annual average road traffic and multiple (i.e., road traffic, railway, aircraft, industry) noise levels is related with preadolescents' sleep using maternal-reported and wrist-actigraphy data in two European birth cohorts.

Exposure to outdoor residential noise during pregnancy, embryonic size, fetal growth, and birth outcomes.

Introduction: Previous literature suggested that noise exposure during pregnancy was not associated with adverse birth outcomes. However, no studies evaluated the association between noise exposure and embryonic and fetal growth, or mutually assessed other urban environmental exposures such as traffic-related air pollution or natural spaces.

Methods: We included 7947 pregnant women from the Generation R Study, the Netherlands.

Susceptible windows of exposure to fine particulate matter and fetal growth trajectories in the Spanish INMA (INfancia y Medio Ambiente) birth cohort.

While prior studies report associations between fine particulate matter (PM) exposure and fetal growth, few have explored temporally refined susceptible windows of exposure. We included 2328 women from the Spanish INMA Project from 2003 to 2008. Longitudinal growth curves were constructed for each fetus using ultrasounds from 12, 20, and 34 gestational weeks.

Air pollution exposure during pregnancy and childhood, cognitive function, and emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents.

Background: Exposure to air pollution may impact neurodevelopment during childhood, but current evidence on the association with cognitive function and mental health is inconclusive and primarily focusses on young children. Therefore, we aim to study the association of exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and childhood, with cognitive function and emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents.

Methods: We used data from 5170 participants of a birth cohort in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Green space exposure during pregnancy and umbilical cord blood levels of liver enzymes.

Evidence has suggested better pregnancy outcomes due to exposure to greenspace; however, the studies on such an association with the level of liver enzymes in the cord blood are still nonexistent. Hence, this study investigated the relationship between exposure to greenspace during the entire pregnancy and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in cord blood samples. We selected 150 pregnant women from our pregnancy cohort in Sabzevar, Iran (2018).

The impact of urban environmental exposures on health: An assessment of the attributable mortality burden in Sao Paulo city, Brazil.

Background: Currently, more than half of the global population lives in cities. Contemporary urban planning practices result in environmental risk factors (e.g.

Environmental noise exposure and emotional, aggressive, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-related symptoms in children from two European birth cohorts.

Background: Environmental noise exposure is increasing but limited research has been done on the association with emotional, aggressive, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related symptoms in children.

Objective: To analyze the association between prenatal and childhood environmental noise exposure and emotional, aggressive, and ADHD-related symptoms in children from two European birth cohorts.

Methods: We included 534 children from the Spanish INMA-Sabadell Project and 7424 from the Dutch Generation R Study.

The impact of urban and transport planning on health: Assessment of the attributable mortality burden in Madrid and Barcelona and its distribution by socioeconomic status.

Background: The population living in urban areas is growing rapidly. The level of exposure to adverse environmental factors is detrimental to human health and is directly related to urban and transport planning practices.

Objective: To estimate the premature mortality burden of non-compliance with international exposure guidelines for air pollution, noise, access to green space and heat for Barcelona and Madrid (Spain), and its distribution among the population by the socioeconomic status (SES).

Land-Use Change and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in an Urbanizing Area of South India: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Background: Land-use changes in city fringes due to urbanization can lead to a reduction of greenspace that may reduce its associated health benefits.

Objectives: We evaluated the association between changes in residential surrounding built-up land use and cardiometabolic risk factors in an urbanizing peri-urban area of south India and explored the mediating roles of air pollution, physical activity, and stress in these associations.

Methods: We analyzed data on 6,039 adults from the third follow-up of the Andhra Pradesh Children and Parent Study (APCAPS) cohort (2010-2012).

Is a liveable city a healthy city? Health impacts of urban and transport planning in Vienna, Austria.

Each year, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) computes the Global Liveability Index and determines the most liveable cities around the world. Vienna, Austria, was ranked by the EIU as the most liveable city worldwide in 2018 and 2019. However, the relationship between a liveable as well as healthy and environmentally-just city has not been previously explored.

Momentary mood response to natural outdoor environments in four European cities.

Exposure to natural outdoor environments (NOE) has been shown in population-level studies to reduce anxiety and psychological distress. This study investigated how exposure to one's everyday natural outdoor environments over one week influenced mood among residents of four European cities including Barcelona (Spain), Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom), Doetinchem (The Netherlands) and Kaunas (Lithuania). Participants (n = 368) wore a smartphone equipped with software applications to track location and mood (using mobile ecological momentary assessment (EMA) software), for seven consecutive days.

Correlates of Walking for Travel in Seven European Cities: The PASTA Project.

Background: Although walking for travel can help in reaching the daily recommended levels of physical activity, we know relatively little about the correlates of walking for travel in the European context.

Objective: Within the framework of the European Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) project, we aimed to explore the correlates of walking for travel in European cities.

Methods: The same protocol was applied in seven European cities.

When, Where, and What? Characterizing Personal PM Exposure in Periurban India by Integrating GPS, Wearable Camera, and Ambient and Personal Monitoring Data.

Evidence identifying factors that influence personal exposure to air pollutants in low- and middle-income countries is scarce. Our objective was to identify the relative contribution of the time of the day ( when?), location ( where?), and individuals' activities ( what?) to PM personal exposure in periurban South India. We conducted a panel study in which 50 participants were monitored in up to six 24-h sessions ( n = 227).

The Urban Exposome during Pregnancy and Its Socioeconomic Determinants.

Background: The urban exposome is the set of environmental factors that are experienced in the outdoor urban environment and that may influence child development.

Objective: The authors' goal was to describe the urban exposome among European pregnant women and understand its socioeconomic determinants.

Methods: Using geographic information systems, remote sensing and spatio-temporal modeling we estimated exposure during pregnancy to 28 environmental indicators in almost 30,000 women from six population-based birth cohorts, in nine urban areas from across Europe.

Development of land-use regression models for fine particles and black carbon in peri-urban South India.

Land-use regression (LUR) has been used to model local spatial variability of particulate matter in cities of high-income countries. Performance of LUR models is unknown in less urbanized areas of low-/middle-income countries (LMICs) experiencing complex sources of ambient air pollution and which typically have limited land use data. To address these concerns, we developed LUR models using satellite imagery (e.

Health impact assessment of cycling network expansions in European cities.

We conducted a health impact assessment (HIA) of cycling network expansions in seven European cities. We modeled the association between cycling network length and cycling mode share and estimated health impacts of the expansion of cycling networks. First, we performed a non-linear least square regression to assess the relationship between cycling network length and cycling mode share for 167 European cities.

Estimated effects of air pollution and space-time-activity on cardiopulmonary outcomes in healthy adults: A repeated measures study.

Background: Exposure to air pollution is known to affect both short and long-term outcomes of the cardiopulmonary system; however, findings on short-term outcomes have been inconsistent and often from isolated and long-term rather than coexisting and short-term exposures, and among susceptible/unhealthy rather than healthy populations.

Aims: We aimed to investigate separately the annual, daily and daily space-time-activity-weighted effect of ambient air pollution, as well as confounding or modification by other environmental (including noise) or space-time-activity (including total daily physical activity) exposures, on cardiopulmonary outcomes in healthy adults.

Methods: Participants (N=57: 54% female) had indicators of cardiopulmonary outcomes [blood pressure (BP), pulse (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV {SDNN}), and lung function (spirometry {FEV, FVC, SUM})] measured on four different mornings (at least five days apart) in a clinical setting between 2011 and 2014.

Living Close to Natural Outdoor Environments in Four European Cities: Adults' Contact with the Environments and Physical Activity.

This study investigated whether residential availability of natural outdoor environments (NOE) was associated with contact with NOE, overall physical activity and physical activity in NOE, in four different European cities using objective measures. A nested cross-sectional study was conducted in Barcelona (Spain); Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom); Doetinchem (The Netherlands); and Kaunas (Lithuania). Smartphones were used to collect information on the location and physical activity (overall and NOE) of around 100 residents of each city over seven days.

Predictors of Daily Mobility of Adults in Peri-Urban South India.

Daily mobility, an important aspect of environmental exposures and health behavior, has mainly been investigated in high-income countries. We aimed to identify the main dimensions of mobility and investigate their individual, contextual, and external predictors among men and women living in a peri-urban area of South India. We used 192 global positioning system (GPS)-recorded mobility tracks from 47 participants (24 women, 23 men) from the Cardiovascular Health effects of Air pollution in Telangana, India (CHAI) project (mean: 4.

The association of air pollution and greenness with mortality and life expectancy in Spain: A small-area study.

Background: Air pollution exposure has been associated with an increase in mortality rates, but few studies have focused on life expectancy, and most studies had restricted spatial coverage. A limited body of evidence is also suggestive for a beneficial association between residential exposure to greenness and mortality, but the evidence for such an association with life expectancy is still very scarce.

Objective: To investigate the association of exposure to air pollution and greenness with mortality and life expectancy in Spain.