Wastewater surveillance of antibiotic resistant bacteria for public health action: Potential and Challenges.

Antibiotic resistance is an urgent public health threat. Actions to reduce this threat include requiring prescriptions for antibiotic use, antibiotic stewardship programs, educational programs targeting patients and healthcare providers, and limiting antibiotic use in agriculture, aquaculture, and animal husbandry. Wastewater surveillance might complement clinical surveillance by tracking time/space variation essential for detecting outbreaks and evaluating efficacy of evidence-based interventions; identifying high-risk populations for targeted monitoring; providing early warning of the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria and identifying novel antibiotic resistant threats.

Oral Disease and Atherosclerosis May Be Associated with Overlapping Metabolic Pathways.

Objectives: Dental caries and periodontitis are among the most prevalent chronic diseases worldwide and have been associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD). This study aimed to determine (1) the independent associations between subclinical ASCVD markers (carotid intima media thickness [CIMT] and coronary artery calcification [CAC]) and quantitative indices of oral disease including the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index, gingivitis parameters, periodontal status, and number of teeth lost and (2) the extent to which metabolites altered in individuals with oral disease overlapped with those altered in individuals with ASCVD.

Methods: We used data from 552 participants recruited through the Dental Strategies Concentrating on Risk Evaluation project.

Maternal perceptions of assisting preschool-aged children with toothbrushing.

Background: Parent-led toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste is part of an evidence-based strategy to prevent caries in children. There is a gap in the literature regarding perceptions of how and when to assist a child with toothbrushing from the maternal perspective.

Methods: A qualitative cross-sectional study was conducted with participants in North and North Central Appalachia to examine maternal perceptions of when and how to assist with toothbrushing.

Risk of Postpartum Dental Caries: Survival Analysis of Black/African American and White Women in Appalachia.

Background: Pregnancy is associated with increased risk of caries, but the extent this increase extends into the postpartum period is poorly understood.

Study Objective: Describe the epidemiology of dental decay in the postpartum period among Black/African American and White American women and explore associations with potentially modifiable risk factors.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed data from 1,131 Black/African American and White women participating in Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia cohorts.

Association of patient clinical and gut microbiota features with vancomycin-resistant enterococci environmental contamination in nursing homes: a retrospective observational study.

Background: Preventing transmission is crucial for reducing infections with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in nursing homes. To identify resident characteristics associated with MDRO spread, we investigated associations between patient characteristics and contamination of their proximate room surfaces with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).

Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we used demographic and clinical data (including data on comorbidities, physical independence, catheter use within the past 30 days, and antibiotic exposure within the past 30 days) and surveillance cultures of patient body sites and room surfaces at enrolment and during weekly follow-up visits within the first month, and monthly thereafter (up to 6 months), in six US nursing homes collected in a previous clinical trial (September, 2016, to August, 2018).

Smoking and salivary microbiota: a cross-sectional analysis of an Italian alpine population.

The oral microbiota plays an important role in the exogenous nitrate reduction pathway and is associated with heart and periodontal disease and cigarette smoking. We describe smoking-related changes in oral microbiota composition and resulting potential metabolic pathway changes that may explain smoking-related changes in disease risk. We analyzed health information and salivary microbiota composition among 1601 Cooperative Health Research in South Tyrol participants collected 2017-2018.

Meta-analysis reveals the vaginal microbiome is a better predictor of earlier than later preterm birth.

Background: High-throughput sequencing measurements of the vaginal microbiome have yielded intriguing potential relationships between the vaginal microbiome and preterm birth (PTB; live birth prior to 37 weeks of gestation). However, results across studies have been inconsistent.

Results: Here, we perform an integrated analysis of previously published datasets from 12 cohorts of pregnant women whose vaginal microbiomes were measured by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Potential risk factors and genetic variants associated with dental caries incidence in Appalachia using genome-wide survival analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the potential risk factors and genetic variants associated with dental caries incidence using survival analysis.

Methods: The Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia recruited and prospectively followed pregnant women and their children. A total of 909 children followed from birth for up to 7 years were included in this study.

Bacterial Community Modifies Host Genetics Effect on Early Childhood Caries.

By age 5, approximately one-fifth of children have early childhood caries (ECC). Both the oral microbiome and host genetics are thought to influence susceptibility. Whether the oral microbiome modifies genetic susceptibility to ECC has not been tested.

Bacterial community modifies host genetics effect on early childhood caries.

Background: By age five approximately one-fifth of children have early childhood caries (ECC). Both the oral microbiome and host genetics are thought to influence susceptibility. Whether the oral microbiome modifies genetic susceptibility to ECC has not been tested.

Genome-Wide Analysis of Dental Caries Variability Reveals Genotype-by-Environment Interactions.

Genotype-by-environment interactions (GEI) may influence dental caries, although their effects are difficult to detect. Variance quantitative trait loci (vQTL) may serve as an indicator of underlying GEI effects. The aim of this study was to investigate GEI effects on dental caries by prioritizing variants from genome-wide vQTL analysis.

Catalytic Asymmetric Imine Cross-Coupling Reaction.

Catalytic asymmetric cross-coupling of imines constitutes a particularly desirable method for the synthesis of chiral vicinal diamines directly from readily available achiral precursors. The potential of this method lies in the possibility of utilizing a variety of imines as reacting partners. However, the realization of highly stereoselective cross-coupling of two different imines proved to be a formidable challenge.

Food insecurity and consumption of cariogenic foods in mothers and their two-year-old children in Appalachia.

Objectives: To describe the association between household food insecurity and intake of cariogenic foods that increase risk of dental caries.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 842 mothers in Appalachia and their children participating in the Center for Oral Health Research Cohort 2 between 2011 and 2017 when their children were ~ 24 months of age. Mothers completed a telephone interview regarding cariogenic food consumption and food insecurity.

Association of Early Childhood Caries with Bitter Taste Receptors: A Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies and Transcriptome-Wide Association Study.

Although genetics affects early childhood caries (ECC) risk, few studies have focused on finding its specific genetic determinants. Here, we performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in five cohorts of children (aged up to 5 years, total N = 2974, cohorts: Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia cohorts one and two [COHRA1, COHRA2], Iowa Fluoride Study, Iowa Head Start, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children [ALSPAC]) aiming to identify genes with potential roles in ECC biology. We meta-analyzed the GWASs testing ~3.

Evaluating the ecological hypothesis: early life salivary microbiome assembly predicts dental caries in a longitudinal case-control study.

Background: Early childhood caries (ECC)-dental caries (cavities) occurring in primary teeth up to age 6 years-is a prevalent childhood oral disease with a microbial etiology. Streptococcus mutans was previously considered a primary cause, but recent research promotes the ecologic hypothesis, in which a dysbiosis in the oral microbial community leads to caries. In this incident, density sampled case-control study of 189 children followed from 2 months to 5 years, we use the salivary bacteriome to (1) prospectively test the ecological hypothesis of ECC in salivary bacteriome communities and (2) identify co-occurring salivary bacterial communities predicting future ECC.

Factors affecting maternal decision making about grandparents' cariogenic dietary choices for children: A qualitative study.

Background: Added sugar in children's diets puts them at higher risk of developing caries. Researchers have reported that grandparents frequently give their grandchildren cariogenic foods and beverages (for example, those with added sugars) and disagreements between grandparents and parents can ensue over this issue. This study's objective was to examine factors that influence whether mothers address grandparents about giving their grandchildren cariogenic foods and beverages.

Mother's Experience of Conflict Within Their Family Social Network when Advocating for Children's oral Health.

Objectives: Examine whether mothers perceived that child oral health was a source of conflict in family relationships.

Methods: This cross-sectional qualitative study consisted of 126 semi-structured interviews with mothers of 3-5 year-old children from West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Interviews consisted of open-ended questions on the mother's social relationships that affected child dental visits, oral hygiene, and diet.

Maternal factors and risk of early childhood caries: A prospective cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between time-varying factors (mother's oral health, oral hygiene, smoking habits, diet, food insecurity and stress) socioeconomic factors (mother's employment, marital status, household income, insurance status, household size) and medical history on children's risk of developing a carious lesion in the first 3 years of life.

Methods: Longitudinal data from the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia Cohort Two (COHRA2) were analysed. Pregnant women ≥18 years in the USA were recruited during pregnancy; all consenting women delivering at term and their babies had regular dental assessments and complete in-person surveys and telephone interviews regarding sociodemographic factors, medical and dental history, and oral health behaviours.

Plaque Microbiome in Caries-Active and Caries-Free Teeth by Dentition.

Objective: Describe associations between dental caries and dental plaque microbiome, by dentition and family membership.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 584 participants in the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia Cohort 1 (COHRA1). We sequenced the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (V4 region) of frozen supragingival plaque, collected 10 y prior, from 185 caries-active (enamel and dentinal) and 565 caries-free (no lesions) teeth using the Illumina MiSeq platform.

Early Childhood Diet in Relation to Toddler Nighttime Sleep Duration Trajectories.

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether dietary habits at age 2 associate with sleep duration trajectories through age 5 in children from north and central Appalachia. A total of 559 children from the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA) cohort 2 were followed via caregiver phone interviews up to six times between ages 2 and 5. Exposures included data from the year 2 interview: sleep habits, household and demographic characteristics, meal patterns and consumption frequencies of fruits, vegetables, water, juice, milk, and soda.

Genome-wide Scan of Dental Fear and Anxiety Nominates Novel Genes.

Dental care-related fear and anxiety (DFA) is prevalent, affects oral health care utilization, and is related to poor oral health and decreased quality of life. In addition to learned and cultural factors, genetics is hypothesized to contribute to DFA. Therefore, we performed a genome-wide association study to identify genetic variants contributing to DFA.

Racism in oral healthcare settings: Implications for dental care-related fear/anxiety and utilization among Black/African American women in Appalachia.

Objective: To explore the association of racism in oral healthcare settings and dental care-related fear/anxiety with dental utilization among Black/African American women in Appalachia.

Methods: We analyzed self-report measures of racism in oral healthcare settings, dental care-related anxiety and fear, recency of a dental visit, and demographic information from 268 pregnant women participating in the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA) SMILE cohort. All participants self-identified as African American or Black and resided in Appalachia (i.

Exploring Mothers' Perspectives About Why Grandparents in Appalachia Give Their Grandchildren Cariogenic Foods and Beverages: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease. Past studies revealed that grandparents provide their grandchildren with cariogenic foods and beverages (eg, those with free sugars and/or modified starches). Qualitative research can help identify what drives this phenomenon.

Mothers' Sources of Child Fluoride Information and Misinformation From Social Connections.

Importance: Fluoride delivered either topically (eg, fluoride varnish) or systemically (eg, water fluoridation, prescription fluoride supplements) is widely used as a caries preventive agent in children. The widespread existence of misinformation, including inaccurate information that attaches negative values or suspicion to fluoride treatments, raises concerns that misinformation will lead to underutilization of fluoride and contribute to avoidable increases in caries prevalence.

Objective: To describe the social relationships from which mothers obtain child fluoride information and misinformation.