Implementation research logic model in the design and execution of eHealth innovations for maternal and newborn healthcare in Ethiopia.

Background: The use of eHealth innovations is becoming increasingly important in improving health outcomes, especially for maternal and newborn health. However, planning and executing these innovations can be challenging due to their complex nature. To provide guidance and clarity on implementation approaches, researchers need to use implementation research (IR) tools.

Associations between maternal plasma concentrations of corticotrophin releasing hormone and the placental transcriptome.

Introduction: The placenta produces corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), which rises exponentially in maternal plasma across pregnancy. CRH plays a functional role in fetal development, labor initiation, and the regulation of gestational length. We aimed to understand how maternal plasma CRH during pregnancy reflects placental physiology during parturition by characterizing placental transcriptomic signatures of maternal plasma CRH and comparing to transcriptomic signatures of gestational age at birth.

Poorer longitudinal growth among HIV exposed compared to unexposed infants in Kenya.

Background: Most infants born to women living with HIV (WLH) are HIV-exposed but uninfected exposed infants have poorer growth than HIV-unexposed uninfected children. Few large studies have compared children who are exposed (CHEU) and unexposed (CHUU) in the era of dolutegravir (DTG)-based antiretroviral treatment (ART).

Setting: Longitudinal study of mother-infant CHEU and CHUU pairs in Nairobi and Western Kenya.

Global Disparities of Cancer and Its Projected Burden in 2050.

Importance: Cancer prevention and care efforts have been challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflicts, resulting in a decline in the global Human Development Index (HDI), particularly in low- and middle-income countries. These challenges and subsequent shifts in health care priorities underscore the need to continuously monitor cancer outcome disparities and statistics globally to ensure delivery of equitable and optimal cancer prevention and care in uncertain times.

Objective: To measure the global burden of 36 cancers in 2022 by sex, age, and geographic location and to project future trends by 2050.

Association between fine particulate matter (PM) and infant mortality in a North Carolina birth cohort (2003-2015).

Background: While the association between fine particulate matter (PM) and adult mortality is well established, few studies have examined the association between long-term PM exposure and infant mortality.

Methods: We conducted an unmatched case-control study of 5992 infant mortality cases and 60,000 randomly selected controls from a North Carolina birth cohort (2003-2015). PM during critical exposure periods (trimesters, pregnancy, first month alive) was estimated using residential address and a national spatiotemporal model at census block centroid.

Associations Between Prenatal Vitamin D and Placental Gene Expression.

Background: Vitamin D is a hormone that regulates gene transcription. Prenatal vitamin D has been linked to immune and vascular function in the placenta, a key organ of pregnancy. Transcriptome-wide RNA sequencing can provide a more complete representation of the placental effects of vitamin D.

Isoniazid preventive therapy during infancy does not adversely affect growth among HIV-exposed uninfected children: Secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) decreases risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease; impact on long-term infant growth is unknown. In a recent randomized trial (RCT), we assessed IPT effects on infant growth without known TB exposure.

Methods: The infant TB Infection Prevention Study (iTIPS) trial was a non-blinded RCT among HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) infants in Kenya.

Prevalence of Dementia and Cognitive Impairment in East Africa Region: A Scoping Review of Population-Based Studies and Call for Further Research.

Background: Population-based research on the prevalence and determinants of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and cognitive impairment is scarce in East Africa.

Objective: To provide an overview of community- and population-based studies among older adults on the prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment in East Africa, and identify research gaps.

Methods: We carried out a literature search using three electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar) using pertinent search terms.

Neighbourhood-level policing as a racialised gendered stressor: multilevel analysis of police stops and preterm birth in Seattle, Washington.

Background: Most studies capturing the health effects of police violence focus on directly impacted individuals, but a burgeoning field of study is capturing the indirect, community-level health effects of policing. Few empirical studies have examined neighbourhood-level policing, a contextual and racialised gendered stressor, in relation to preterm birth risk among Black and other racially minoritised people.

Methods: We spatially linked individual birth records (2017-2019) in Seattle, Washington (n=25 909) with geocoded data on police stops for three exposure windows: year before pregnancy, first and second trimester.

Associations Between Prenatal Vitamin D and Placental Gene Expression.

Background: Vitamin D is a hormone regulating gene transcription. Prenatal vitamin D has been linked to immune and vascular function in the placenta, a key organ of pregnancy. To date, studies of vitamin D and placental gene expression have focused on a limited number of candidate genes.

Structural gendered racism and preterm birth inequities in the United States.

Structural gendered racism - the "totality of interconnectedness between structural racism and sexism" - is conceptualized as a fundamental cause of the persistent preterm birth inequities experienced by Black and Indigenous people in the United States. Our objective was to develop a state-level latent class measure of structural gendered racism and examine its association with preterm birth among all singleton live births in the US in 2019. Using previously-validated inequity indicators between White men and Black women across 9 domains (education, employment, poverty, homeownership, health insurance, segregation, voting, political representation, incarceration), we conducted a latent profile analysis to identify a latent categorical variable with k number of classes that have similar values on the observed continuous input variables.

Timing of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use and risk for preterm birth and related adverse events: with a consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Objective: There is uncertainty around the safety of SSRIs for treating depression during pregnancy. Nevertheless, the use of SSRIs has been gradually increasing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period. We aimed to (1) characterize maternal depression rate and use of SSRIs in a recent 10-year period, (2) address confounding by indication, as well as socioeconomic and environmental factors, and (3) evaluate associations of the timing of SSRI exposure in pregnancy with risk for preterm birth (PTB), low birthweight (LBW), and small for gestational age (SGA) infants among women with depression before pregnancy.

Placental transcriptomic signatures of prenatal and preconceptional maternal stress.

Prenatal exposure to maternal psychological stress is associated with increased risk for adverse birth and child health outcomes. Accumulating evidence suggests that preconceptional maternal stress may also be transmitted intergenerationally to negatively impact offspring. However, understanding of mechanisms linking these exposures to offspring outcomes, particularly those related to placenta, is limited.

Plasma miRNAs and Treatment Failure in Participants in the Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY) Study.

Objective: To identify plasma miRNAs related to treatment failure in youth with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Research Design And Methods: We examined whether a panel of miRNAs could predict treatment failure in training/test data sets among participants in the Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY) study (N = 209). We also examined whether individual miRNAs were associated with treatment failure.

Effect of tuberculosis-HIV co-treatment on clinical and growth outcomes among hospitalized children newly initiating antiretroviral therapy.

Objective: Evaluate effects of tuberculosis (TB)-HIV co-treatment on clinical and growth outcomes in children with HIV (CHIV).

Design: Longitudinal study among Kenyan hospitalized ART-naive CHIV in the PUSH trial (NCT02063880).

Methods: CHIV started ART within 2 weeks of enrollment; Anti-TB therapy was initiated based on clinical and TB diagnostics.

Isoniazid preventive therapy during infancy does not adversely effect growth among HIV-exposed uninfected children: secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) decreases risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease; impact on long-term infant growth is unknown. In a recent randomized trial (RCT), we assessed IPT effects on infant growth without known TB exposure.

Methods: The infant TB Infection Prevention Study (iTIPS) trial was a non-blinded RCT among HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) infants in Kenya.

Associations of prenatal exposure to NO and near roadway residence with placental gene expression.

Introduction: Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP), a common exposure, potentially impacts pregnancy through altered placental function. We investigated associations between prenatal TRAP exposure and placental gene expression.

Methods: Whole transcriptome sequencing was performed on placental samples from CANDLE (Memphis, TN) (n = 776) and GAPPS (Seattle and Yakima, WA) (n = 205), cohorts of the ECHO-PATHWAYS Consortium.

Assessing Racial Disparities in Access, Use, and Outcomes for Pregnant and Postpartum Veterans and Their Infants in Veterans Health Administration.

Limited population-based data examines racial disparities among pregnant and postpartum Veterans. Our objective was to determine whether Black/white racial disparities in health care access, use, and Veteran and infant outcomes are present among pregnant and postpartum Veterans and their infants using Veterans Health Administration (VA) care. The VA National Veteran Pregnancy and Maternity Care Survey included all Veterans with a VA paid live birth between June 2018 and December 2019.

Effect of pregnancy versus postpartum maternal isoniazid preventive therapy on infant growth in HIV-exposed uninfected infants: a post-hoc analysis of the TB APPRISE trial.

Background: Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) initiation during pregnancy was associated with increased incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the TB APPRISE trial. Effects of IPT exposure on infant growth are unknown.

Methods: This post-hoc analysis used data from the TB APPRISE trial, a multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, which randomised women to 28-week IPT starting in pregnancy (pregnancy-IPT) or postpartum week 12 (postpartum-IPT) in eight countries with high tuberculosis prevalence.

Pregnancy loss and risk of incident CVD within 5 years: Findings from the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women with a history of pregnancy loss. Less is known about whether pregnancy loss is associated with age at the onset of CVD, but this is a question of interest, as a demonstrated association of pregnancy loss with early-onset CVD may provide clues to the biological basis of the association, as well as having implications for clinical care. We conducted an age-stratified analysis of pregnancy loss history and incident CVD in a large cohort of postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years old.

Nonsurgical periodontal treatment during pregnancy and rates of preterm birth.

Background: Periodontitis during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth (<37 weeks of gestation) or low birthweight (<2500 g) offspring. Beyond periodontal disease, the risk of preterm birth varies both by previous history of preterm birth and in association with social determinants prevalent among vulnerable and marginalized populations. This study hypothesized that the timing of periodontal treatment during pregnancy and/or social vulnerability measures modified the response to dental scaling and root planing for the treatment of periodontitis and prevention of preterm birth.