A descriptive examination of rurality in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort: Implications, illustrations, and future directions.

Purpose: The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort has enrolled over 60,000 children to examine how early environmental factors (broadly defined) are associated with key child health outcomes. The ECHO Cohort may be well-positioned to contribute to our understanding of rural environments and contexts, which has implications for rural health disparities research. The present study examined the outcome of child obesity to not only illustrate the suitability of ECHO Cohort data for these purposes but also determine how various definitions of rural and urban populations impact the presentation of findings and their interpretation.

Neighborhood Food Access in Early Life and Trajectories of Child Body Mass Index and Obesity.

Importance: Limited access to healthy foods, resulting from residence in neighborhoods with low food access, is a public health concern. The contribution of this exposure in early life to child obesity remains uncertain.

Objective: To examine associations of neighborhood food access during pregnancy or early childhood with child body mass index (BMI) and obesity risk.

Maternal Body Mass Index Associates with Prenatal Characteristics and Fecal Microbial Communities.

The maternal microbiome plays a vital role in shaping pregnancy outcomes, but there remains a substantial gap in understanding its precise relationships to maternal health, particularly in relation to potential effects of body mass index (BMI) on gut microbial diversity. The aim of this observational study was to assess maternal characteristics in association with pre-pregnancy BMI and to further assess microbial diversity in association with specific maternal characteristics. Eighty-four pregnant women were recruited during their third trimester of pregnancy from various prenatal clinics across the state of Michigan.

Maternal COVID-19 exposure and placental characteristics.

Introduction: The impact of COVID-19 on the placenta is poorly described, particularly among minority women.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective case-control study. Micro- and macroscopic placental pathologic findings were compared for 15 COVID-19 positive and 36 negative mothers.

Prenatal physical activity and the gut microbiota of pregnant women: results from a preliminary investigation.

Purpose: To determine whether physical activity (PA), specifically meeting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity PA per week, is associated with gut microbiota composition in pregnant women.

Methods: In an ongoing birth cohort study, questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which provides data on PA variables, were used to determine whether pregnant women met or exceeded the PA recommendations. To profile the composition of gut bacterial microbiota, 16S rRNA sequencing was performed on stool samples obtained from pregnant women.

Associations between area-level arsenic exposure and adverse birth outcomes: An Echo-wide cohort analysis.

Background: Drinking water is a common source of exposure to inorganic arsenic. In the US, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was enacted to protect consumers from exposure to contaminants, including arsenic, in public water systems (PWS). The reproductive effects of preconception and prenatal arsenic exposure in regions with low to moderate arsenic concentrations are not well understood.

Developing a National-Scale Exposure Index for Combined Environmental Hazards and Social Stressors and Applications to the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort.

Tools for assessing multiple exposures across several domains (e.g., physical, chemical, and social) are of growing importance in social and environmental epidemiology because of their value in uncovering disparities and their impact on health outcomes.

Progression of C-reactive protein from birth through preadolescence varies by mode of delivery.

Introduction: Delivery via caesarean section (C-section) has been associated with an increased risk of childhood chronic diseases such as obesity and asthma, which may be due to underlying systemic inflammation. However, the impact of specific C-section types may be differential, as emergency C-sections typically involve partial labor and/or membrane rupture. Our objectives were to determine if mode of delivery associates with longitudinal profiles of high sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) -a marker of systemic inflammation-from birth through preadolescence, and to examine if CRP mediates the association between mode of delivery and preadolescent body mass index (BMI).

Association between prenatal antimicrobial use and offspring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Background: Gut-brain cross-talk may play an important role in modulating neurodevelopment. Few studies have examined the association between antimicrobials that influence infant gut microbiota assemblage and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Objective: To examine the association between maternal prenatal antimicrobial use and ADHD in offspring at 10 years of age.

Maternal polychlorinated biphenyl 126 (PCB 126) exposure modulates offspring gut microbiota irrespective of diet and exercise.

The gut microbiota plays an important role throughout the lifespan in maintaining host health, and several factors can modulate microbiota composition including diet, exercise, and environmental exposures. Maternal microbiota is transferred to offspring during early life; thus, environmental exposures before gestation may also modulate offspring microbiota. Here we aimed to investigate the effects of maternal exposure to dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the microbiota of aged offspring and to determine if lifestyle factors, including maternal exercise or offspring high-fat feeding alter these associations.

Comparison of methanol fixation versus cryopreservation of the placenta for metabolomics analysis.

Methods for collection of placental tissue at room temperature for metabolic profiling are described. Specimens were excised from the maternal side of the placenta and immediately flash frozen or fixed and stored for 1, 6, 12, 24, or 48 h in 80% methanol. Untargeted metabolic profiling was performed on both the methanol-fixed tissue and the methanol extract.

Global preterm births attributable to BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) exposure.

Epidemiological studies have shown that long-term exposure to toxic volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), is associated with preterm births (PTB). However, global PTB attributable to long-term BTEX exposure has not been reported in the literature yet. In this study, we employed a global chemical transport model, GEOS-Chem (Goddard Earth Observing System coupled with chemistry), in conjunction with an epidemiological model, to quantify the global country-specific PTB associated with long-term BTEX exposure at the horizontal resolution of 1 km × 1 km for the year 2015.

Usefulness of Statins as Secondary Prevention Against Recurrent and Terminal Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events.

Clinical guidelines recommend statins for patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), but many remain untreated. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of statin use on recurrent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). This study used medical records and insurance claims from 4 health care systems in the United States.

Early-life gut microbiota and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in preadolescents.

Background: Gut microbiota maturation coincides with nervous system development. Cross-sectional data suggest gut microbiota of individuals with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) differs. We hypothesized that infant gut microbiota composition is associated with later ADHD development in our on-going birth cohort study, WHEALS.

Understanding the #longCOVID and #longhaulers Conversation on Twitter: Multimethod Study.

Background: The scientific community is just beginning to uncover the potential long-term effects of COVID-19, and one way to start gathering information is by examining the present discourse on the topic. The conversation about long COVID-19 on Twitter provides insight into related public perception and personal experiences.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the #longCOVID and #longhaulers conversations on Twitter by examining the combined effects of topic discussion and social network analysis for discovery on long COVID-19.

Associations of physical activity with gut microbiota in pre-adolescent children.

Purpose: To determine whether physical activity (PA), primarily the recommended 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA, is associated with gut bacterial microbiota in 10-year-old children.

Methods: The Block Physical Activity Screener, which provides minutes/day PA variables, was used to determine whether the child met the PA recommendations. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed on stool samples from the children to profile the composition of their gut bacterial microbiota.

Physician adjudication of angioedema diagnosis codes in a population of patients with heart failure prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy.

Purpose: Our objective was to calculate the positive predictive value (PPV) of the ICD-9 diagnosis code for angioedema when physicians adjudicate the events by electronic health record review. Our secondary objective was to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of physician adjudication.

Methods: Patients from the Cardiovascular Research Network previously diagnosed with heart failure who were started on angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) during the study period (July 1, 2006 through September 30, 2015) were included.

Prenatal IgE as a Risk Factor for the Development of Childhood Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Few studies have examined if maternal allergic disease is associated with an offspring's neurodevelopment. We hypothesized that Th-2 biased maternal immune function assessed as total serum immunoglobulin (Ig) E is associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Data are from the Wayne County Health, Environment, Allergy, and Asthma Longitudinal Study (WHEALS), a racially and socioeconomically diverse birth cohort in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan.

Ambient BTEX exposure and mid-pregnancy inflammatory biomarkers in pregnant African American women.

Air pollution is associated with preterm birth (PTB), potentially via inflammation. We recently showed the mixture benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) is associated with PTB. We examined if ambient BTEX exposure is associated with mid-pregnancy inflammation in a sample of 140 African-American women residing in Detroit, Michigan.

Infant Feeding Practices and Subsequent Dietary Patterns of School-Aged Children in a US Birth Cohort.

Background: Infant feeding practices are thought to shape food acceptance and preferences. However, few studies have evaluated whether these affect child diet later in life.

Objective: The study objective was to examine the association between infant feeding practices and dietary patterns (DPs) in school-aged children.

Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: quantifying the practice in Michigan - a "hotspot state" early in the pandemic - using a volunteer-based online survey.

Background: Public Health policies related to social distancing efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic helped slow the infection rate. However, individual-level factors associated with social distancing are largely unknown. We sought to examine social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan, an infection "hotspot" state in the United States early in the pandemic.

Influence of a One-Time Web-Based Provider Intervention on Patient-Reported Outcomes After the Well-Child Visit: A Feasibility Study.

Purpose: Patient-centered care promotes positive health outcomes in pediatrics. We created a provider-focused intervention and implemented it in a pragmatic clustered randomized controlled trial to improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among pediatric patients.

Methods: A one-time (1-1.