A Hospice Transitions Program for Patients in the Emergency Department.

Importance: Patients often visit the emergency department (ED) near the end of life. Their common disposition is inpatient hospital admission, which can result in a delayed transition to hospice care and, ultimately, an inpatient hospital death that may be misaligned with their goals of care.

Objective: To assess the association of hospice use with a novel multidisciplinary hospice program to rapidly identify and enroll eligible patients presenting to the ED near end of life.

Tinnitus-related increases in single-unit activity in awake rat auditory cortex correlate with tinnitus behavior.

Tinnitus is known to affect 10-15 % of the population, severely impacting 1-2 % of those afflicted. Canonically, tinnitus is generally a consequence of peripheral auditory damage resulting in maladaptive plastic changes in excitatory/inhibitory homeostasis at multiple levels of the central auditory pathway as well as changes in diverse nonauditory structures. Animal studies of primary auditory cortex (A1) generally find tinnitus-related changes in excitability across A1 layers and differences between inhibitory neuronal subtypes.

Antimicrobial effects of a borate-based bioactive glass wound matrix on wound-relevant pathogens.

Objective: The antimicrobial effects of a borate-based bioactive glass matrix (BBBGM) on clinically relevant microorganisms was investigated for up to seven days in vitro.

Method: A total of 19 wound-relevant pathogens were studied using the in vitro AATCC 100 test method.

Results: The reduction of viable Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and yeasts at days 4 and 7 post-culture on the BBBGM was significant (> 4log) in most cases.

Cohort profile: the longitudinal National Growth and Health Study (NGHS) of black and white girls from Northern California tracking how behavioural and psychosocial risk factors predict cardiovascular risk and biological ageing in midlife and in offspring.

Purpose: The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study (NGHS) prospectively collected anthropometric, biospecimens, clinical, health behaviour and psychosocial measures associated with cardiovascular disease from childhood to young adulthood. The aim of the current study was to assess the impact of stress, dysregulated eating and social genomic biomarkers on cardiometabolic risk factors among the original participants now in midlife and their children.

Participants: Beginning in 1987-1988, NGHS recruited black and white girls (age 9-10 years) from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds from from three sites: Cincinnati, Ohio; Washington, DC; and Western Contra Costa County, California (N=2379) and followed them for 10 years.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and BMI: Lifecourse Associations in a Black-White U.S. Women Cohort.

Introduction: Although adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been positively associated with adiposity, few studies have examined long-term race-specific ACE-BMI relationships.

Methods: A Black and White all-women cohort (N=611; 48.6% Black) was followed between 1987 and 1997 from childhood (ages 9-10 years) through adolescence (ages 19-20 years) to midlife (ages 36-43 years, between 2015 and 2019).

Desensitizing nicotinic agents normalize tinnitus-related inhibitory dysfunction in the auditory cortex and ameliorate behavioral evidence of tinnitus.

Tinnitus impacts between 10-20% of the population. Individuals most troubled by their tinnitus have their attention bound to and are distracted by, their tinnitus percept. While numerous treatments to ameliorate tinnitus have been tried, no therapeutic approach has been clinically accepted.

Increased pyramidal and VIP neuronal excitability in rat primary auditory cortex directly correlates with tinnitus behaviour.

Tinnitus affects roughly 15%-20% of the population while severely impacting 10% of those afflicted. Tinnitus pathology is multifactorial, generally initiated by damage to the auditory periphery, resulting in a cascade of maladaptive plastic changes at multiple levels of the central auditory neuraxis as well as limbic and non-auditory cortical centres. Using a well-established condition-suppression model of tinnitus, we measured tinnitus-related changes in the microcircuits of excitatory/inhibitory neurons onto layer 5 pyramidal neurons (PNs), as well as changes in the excitability of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) neurons in primary auditory cortex (A1).

Intergenerational effects of maternal lifetime stressor exposure on offspring telomere length in Black and White women.

Background: Although maternal stressor exposure has been associated with shorter telomere length (TL) in offspring, this literature is based largely on White samples. Furthermore, timing of maternal stressors has rarely been examined. Here, we examined how maternal stressors occurring during adolescence, pregnancy, and across the lifespan related to child TL in Black and White mothers.

Effects of Early Life Adversity on Pubertal Timing and Tempo in Black and White Girls: The National Growth and Health Study.

Objective: Although exposure to abuse in early life predicts earlier pubertal timing, especially for girls, it is unclear if this association generalizes to nonabuse stressors. In addition, the impact of race on the stress-maturation association remains unknown. To address these issues, we examined whether race moderates the effects of early adversity on pubertal timing and tempo using a longitudinal study design.

Differences in gut microbiome by insulin sensitivity status in Black and White women of the National Growth and Health Study (NGHS): A pilot study.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is greatest amongst Black women in the U.S., contributing to disproportionately higher type 2 diabetes prevalence compared to White women.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and obesity risk: A review of recommendations for obesity prevention policies.

Emerging evidence indicates that industrially produced endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may be as obesogenic as poor dietary patterns and should be considered in obesity prevention policies. The authors conducted two reviews: (a) a systematic search of four electronic databases for papers published since January 2010 to identify the policy recommendations contained in scientific reviews of EDC exposure and obesity risk and (b) a narrative review of obesity policy documents published since January 2012 to identify the recommendations of national and international agencies. A search of four electronic databases found 63 scientific reviews with policy recommendations, of which 26 suggested individual responsibility to avoid exposure, 11 suggested medical interventions to counter the effects of exposure, and 42 suggested regulatory control of hazardous chemicals.

Role of food aid and assistance in addressing the double burden of malnutrition in Ghana: a qualitative policy analysis.

Background And Aims: In many low-income and middle-income countries, the double burden of malnutrition threatens public health and economic progress, urging a re-evaluation of the roles and responsibilities of nutrition actors, both traditional and non-traditional. This study examines the food aid and assistance activities of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)-one non-traditional actor in the double burden conversation-and the potential for these activities to reach beyond their traditional mandate on undernutrition to also address overweight and obesity in Ghana.

Methods: Information on WFP activities in Ghana from 2012 up through its planning into 2023 was extracted from 11 WFP planning, operations and evaluation documents.

Recognize fish as food in policy discourse and development funding.

The international development community is off-track from meeting targets for alleviating global malnutrition. Meanwhile, there is growing consensus across scientific disciplines that fish plays a crucial role in food and nutrition security. However, this 'fish as food' perspective has yet to translate into policy and development funding priorities.

Grappling With Complex Food Systems to Reduce Obesity: A US Public Health Challenge.

Despite 2 decades of effort by the public health community to combat obesity, obesity rates in the United States continue to rise. This lack of progress raises fundamental questions about the adequacy of our current approaches. Although the causes of population-wide obesity are multifactorial, attention to food systems as potential drivers of obesity has been prominent.

Sports Sponsorships of Food and Nonalcoholic Beverages.

Background: Food and nonalcoholic beverage companies spend millions of dollars on professional sports sponsorships, yet this form of marketing is understudied. These sponsorships are valuable marketing tools but prompt concerns when unhealthy products are associated with popular sports organizations, especially those viewed by youth.

Methods: This descriptive study used Nielsen audience data to select 10 sports organizations with the most 2-17 year old viewers of 2015 televised events.

Addressing Food Insecurity in Family Medicine and Medical Education.

Background And Objectives: Food insecurity is associated with poor health outcomes, yet is not routinely addressed in health care. This study was conducted to determine if education regarding food insecurity as a health issue could modify knowledge, attitudes, and clinical behavior.

Methods: Educational sessions on food insecurity and its impact on health were conducted in 2015 at three different family medicine residency programs and one medical school.

Food Swamps Predict Obesity Rates Better Than Food Deserts in the United States.

This paper investigates the effect of food environments, characterized as food swamps, on adult obesity rates. Food swamps have been described as areas with a high-density of establishments selling high-calorie fast food and junk food, relative to healthier food options. This study examines multiple ways of categorizing food environments as food swamps and food deserts, including alternate versions of the Retail Food Environment Index.

Marketing Food and Beverages to Youth Through Sports.

Food and beverage marketing has been identified as a major driver of obesity yet sports sponsorship remains common practice and represents millions of dollars in advertising expenditures. Research shows that food and beverage products associated with sports (e.g.