Associations of maternal stress, gene expression, and newborn birthweight in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Objectives: Maternal stress has long been associated with lower birthweight, which is associated with adverse health outcomes including many adult diseases. The underlying mechanisms remain elusive although changes in gene expression may play a role. Studies are only beginning to test how maternal stress impacts gene expression as reflected in the transcriptome.

Low birthweight is associated with epigenetic age acceleration in the first 3 years of life.

Background And Objectives: The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis posits that early life adversity is associated with poor adult health outcomes. Epidemiological evidence has supported this framework by linking low birthweight with adult health and mortality, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Accelerated epigenetic aging may be a pathway to connect early life experiences with adult health outcomes, based on associations of accelerated epigenetic aging with increased morbidity and mortality.

Prenatal maternal stress is associated with site-specific and age acceleration changes in maternal and newborn DNA methylation.

Prenatal maternal stress has a negative impact on child health but the mechanisms through which maternal stress affects child health are unclear. Epigenetic variation, such as DNA methylation, is a likely mechanistic candidate as DNA methylation is sensitive to environmental insults and can regulate long-term changes in gene expression. We recruited 155 mother-newborn dyads in the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate the effects of maternal stress on DNA methylation in mothers and newborns.

Perinatal Health Outcomes Across Rural and Nonrural Counties Within a Single Health System Catchment.

Background: Perinatal health outcomes are influenced by a variety of socioeconomic, behavioral, and economic factors that reduce access to health services. Despite these observations, rural communities continue to face barriers, including a lack of resources and the fragmentation of health services.

Objective: To evaluate patterns in health outcomes, health behaviors, socioeconomic vulnerability, and sociodemographic characteristics across rural and nonrural counties within a single health system catchment area.

Peripartum women's perspectives on research study participation in the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium during COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented need for population-level clinical trials focused on the discovery of life-saving therapies and treatments. However, there is limited information on perception of research participation among perinatal populations, a population of particular interest during the pandemic.

Methods: Eligible respondents were 18 years or older, were currently pregnant or had an infant (≤12 months old), and lived in Florida within 50 miles of sites participating in the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium.

Identification of a SGCD × Discrimination Interaction Effect on Systolic Blood Pressure in African American Adults in the Jackson Heart Study.

Background: In the United States, hypertension disproportionately afflicts over half of African American adults, many of whom also experience racial discrimination. Understanding gene × discrimination effects may help explain racial disparities in hypertension.

Methods: We tested for the main effects and interactive effects of 5 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs: rs2116737, rs11190458, rs2445762, rs2597955, and rs2416545) and experiences of discrimination on blood pressure (BP) in African Americans not taking antihypertensive medications in the Jackson Heart Study from Mississippi (n = 2,933).

Extending the utility of anterior corneal buttons through refrigeration and glycerol cryopreservation: utility rate and outcome analysis.

Background/aims: To evaluate the utility rate, indication, outcome, and cost of refrigeration and glycerol cryopreservation for storing anterior corneal buttons during endothelial keratoplasty for subsequent use in tectonic lamellar patch grafting.

Method: Anterior corneal buttons collected after precutting or prestripping during endothelial keratoplasty from January 2014 to December 2019 were preserved using the following protocol: (1) refrigeration for up to 4 weeks at 4° in Optisol-GS and (2) glycerol cryopreservation for up to 2 years. The utility rate, outcome and cost of these cryopreserved anterior corneal buttons were retrospectively examined.

The Lines That Held Us: Assessing Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in SARS-CoV-2 Testing.

Background: Racial disparities in SARS-CoV-2 prevalence are apparent. Race is a sociocultural construct, necessitating investigation into how sociocultural factors contribute.

Methods: This cross-sectional study linked laboratory data of adult patients between February 29 and May 15, 2020 with socio-demographics variables from the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS).

Sexual Harassment Experiences Across the Academic Medicine Hierarchy.

Background Current estimates of sexual harassment across the academic hierarchy are subject to recall bias and have limited comparability between studies due to inconsistent time frames queried for each stage of training. No studies have surveyed medical students, residents/fellows, and faculty collectively and many studies exclude a wide range of sexual harassment behaviors. We assessed the incidence of sexual harassment across the different stages of academic medicine over the same time frame and within the same institutional culture.

Perspectives of Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women on Participating in Longitudinal Mother-Baby Studies Involving Electronic Health Records: Qualitative Study.

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) hold great potential for longitudinal mother-baby studies, ranging from assessing study feasibility to facilitating patient recruitment to streamlining study visits and data collection. Existing studies on the perspectives of pregnant and breastfeeding women on EHR use have been limited to the use of EHRs to engage in health care rather than to participate in research.

Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the perspectives of pregnant and breastfeeding women on releasing their own and their infants' EHR data for longitudinal research to identify factors affecting their willingness to participate in research.

Perspectives of pregnant and breastfeeding women on longitudinal clinical studies that require non-invasive biospecimen collection - a qualitative study.

Background: Investigation of the microbiome during early life has stimulated an increasing number of cohort studies in pregnant and breastfeeding women that require non-invasive biospecimen collection. The objective of this study was to explore pregnant and breastfeeding women's perspectives on longitudinal clinical studies that require non-invasive biospecimen collection and how they relate to study logistics and research participation.

Methods: We completed in-depth semi-structured interviews with 40 women who were either pregnant (n = 20) or breastfeeding (n = 20) to identify their understanding of longitudinal clinical research, the motivations and barriers to their participation in such research, and their preferences for providing non-invasive biospecimen samples.

A Critical Review on the Use of Race in Understanding Racial Disparities in Preeclampsia.

Background: Preeclampsia is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, affecting up to 8% of pregnancies globally. Although the precise etiology is still under study, the literature suggests that vascular changes reduce placental perfusion and affect the remodeling of spiral arteries to create the hallmark feature of preeclampsia: elevated blood pressure. Screening for preeclampsia is currently recommended for all pregnant women, particularly if risk factors exist.

Obesity and STING1 genotype associate with 23-valent pneumococcal vaccination efficacy.

BACKGROUNDObesity has been associated with attenuated vaccine responses and an increased risk of contracting pneumococcal pneumonia, but no study to our knowledge has assessed the impact of obesity and genetics on 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PPSV23) efficacy. We assessed the relationship of obesity (primary analysis) and stimulator of interferon genes (STING1) genotype (secondary analysis) on PPSV23 efficacy.METHODSNonobese (BMI 22-25 kg/m2) and obese participants (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) were given a single dose of PPSV23.

Fabrication of Guar-Only Electrospun Nanofibers by Exploiting a High- and Low-Molecular Weight Blend.

We present a facile approach to electrospin nanofibers of guar galactomannan by blending high- and low-molecular weights (MWs) of guar. We discover that while neither native high MW guar nor hydrolyzed low MW guar is electrospinnable on its own, their combination leads to synergism in producing defect-free nanofibers. Such an approach of fabricating nanofibers from blending multiple MWs of the same polymer may provide an easy route to produce nanofibers of biopolymers which are typically hard to electrospin.

Kar3 interaction with Cik1 alters motor structure and function.

Kar3, a kinesin-14 motor of Saccharomyces cerevisiae required for mitosis and karyogamy, reportedly interacts with Cik1, a nonmotor protein, via its central, predicted coiled coil. Despite this, neither Kar3 nor Cik1 homodimers have been observed in vivo. Here we show that Kar3 is a dimer in vitro by analytical ultracentrifugation.

Prevalence of anisometropia in Taiwanese schoolchildren.

Background And Purpose: This study investigated the prevalence and distribution of anisometropia in Taiwanese schoolchildren using nationwide data from refractive surveys performed in 1995 and 2000.

Methods: Complete survey data was obtained for 11,175 students in 1995 and 10,878 students in 2000. The refractive status of each student was measured using an autorefractometer under cycloplegia and rechecked with retinoscopy.