Risk and Protective Factors for Preterm Birth Among Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Groups in California.

Importance: Preterm birth (PTB) (gestational age <37 weeks) is a major cause of infant mortality and morbidity in the US and is marked by racial and ethnic and socioeconomic inequities. Further research is needed to elucidate the association of risk and protective factors with trends in PTB rates and with related inequities.

Objective: To describe the association of PTB rates with inequities as well as related risk and protective factors over the past decade in a US population-based cohort.

Using Latent Profile Analysis to Characterize Clinical Heterogeneity and Impulsivity in a Large Residential Addiction Treatment Program.

Clinical heterogeneity among patients in addiction treatment settings represents a challenge as most of the treatment programs are designed to treat substance use disorders (SUD) generally rather than offering more tailored approaches addressing individual patient needs. Systematic characterization of clinical heterogeneity may permit more individualized care paths toward improving outcomes. Data were collected from a large inpatient SUD treatment program between April 2018 and March 2020 ( = 1519).

Associations with spontaneous and indicated preterm birth in a densely phenotyped EHR cohort.

Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of infant mortality and follows multiple biological pathways, many of which are poorly understood. Some PTBs result from medically indicated labor following complications from hypertension and/or diabetes, while many others are spontaneous with unknown causes. Previously, investigation of potential risk factors has been limited by lack of data on maternal medical history and the difficulty of classifying PTBs as indicated or spontaneous.

Applying Logic to the Healthcare Journey.

Cross-disciplinary approaches to remediate complex healthcare service delivery issues may have merit. This study aims to establish the potential benefits of applying service design and evaluative research concepts in healthcare. Specifically, this study aims to demonstrate how a Customer Journey Map and a Logic Model could be used in unison to identify and remedy service delivery gaps to reduce barriers to care.

Leveraging electronic health records to identify risk factors for recurrent pregnancy loss across two medical centers: a case-control study.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), defined as 2 or more pregnancy losses, affects 5-6% of ever-pregnant individuals. Approximately half of these cases have no identifiable explanation. To generate hypotheses about RPL etiologies, we implemented a case-control study comparing the history of over 1,600 diagnoses between RPL and live-birth patients, leveraging the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford University electronic health record databases.

Prevalence of cannabis use disorder among individuals using medical cannabis at admission to inpatient treatment for substance use disorders.

Introduction: Cannabis is used for medical and recreational purposes and may result in cannabis use disorder (CUD). This study explored the prevalence of cannabis use disorder and other psychiatric comorbidities among inpatients undergoing treatment for substance use disorder who reported medical cannabis use at admission.

Methods: We assessed CUD and other substance use disorders based on DSM-5 symptoms, anxiety with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and post-traumatic stress disorder with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).

Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of an Integrated Youth Services Network in Ontario.

Introduction: In response to the challenges of the traditional mental health system for youth both in Canada and abroad, models of integrated youth services (IYS) that span the integration of mental health, health, substance use, eucation, employment, peer support, and navigation into 'one-stop shops' are being established nationally and internationally. IYS models, however, need to be better described and evaluated to inform the replicability of this approach in other jurisdictions.

Description: This paper describes the implementation of an IYS in a small urban city and rural county in Ontario, Canada, including insights from key informants into barriers, facilitators, and lessons learned.

Developing a resiliency model for survival without major morbidity in preterm infants.

Objective: Develop and validate a resiliency score to predict survival and survival without neonatal morbidity in preterm neonates <32 weeks of gestation using machine learning.

Study Design: Models using maternal, perinatal, and neonatal variables were developed using LASSO method in a population based Californian administrative dataset. Outcomes were survival and survival without severe neonatal morbidity.

Estimating stillbirth and neonatal mortality rate among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, September 2017 to December 2018: a prospective surveillance.

Introduction: There is limited literature on neonatal mortality in humanitarian emergencies. We estimated neonatal mortality and stillbirth rates; determined whether an association exists between proximity to a secondary health facility and neonatal mortality or stillbirth; and tested the correlation between the number of health facilities in a camp and neonatal mortality or stillbirth rates in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Methods: We conducted a prospective community-based mortality surveillance in 29 out of 34 Rohingya refugee camps between September 2017 and December 2018, covering approximately 811 543 Rohingya refugees with 19 477 estimated live births.

Residential particulate matter, proximity to major roads, traffic density and traffic volume as risk factors for preterm birth in California.

Background: While pollution from vehicle sources is an established risk factor for preterm birth, it is unclear whether distance of residence to the nearest major road or related measures like major road density represent useful measures for characterising risk.

Objective: To determine whether major road proximity measures (including distance to major road, major road density and traffic volume) are more useful risk factors for preterm birth than other established vehicle-related measures (including particulate matter <2.5 μm in diameter (PM ) and diesel particulate matter (diesel PM)).

National Retail Sales of Alcohol and Cannabis During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada.

This economic evaluation examines national retail sales of alcohol and cannabis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

The association of COVID-19 infection in pregnancy with preterm birth: A retrospective cohort study in California.

Introduction: Our understanding of the association between coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and preterm or early term birth among racially and ethnically diverse populations and people with chronic medical conditions is limited.

Methods: We determined the association between COVID-19 and preterm (PTB) birth among live births documented by California Vital Statistics birth certificates between July 2020 and January 2021 (n=240,147). We used best obstetric estimate of gestational age to classify births as very preterm (VPTB, <32 weeks), PTB (< 37 weeks), early term (37 and 38 weeks), and term (39-44 weeks), as each confer independent risks to infant health and development.

Mortality and Major Neonatal Morbidity in Preterm Infants with Serious Congenital Heart Disease.

Objective: To investigate the trends of 1-year mortality and neonatal morbidities in preterm infants with serious congenital heart disease (CHD).

Study Design: This cohort study used a population-based administrative dataset of all liveborn infants of 26-36 weeks gestational age with serious CHD born in California between 2011 and 2017. We assessed 1-year mortality and major neonatal morbidities (ie, retinopathy of prematurity, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis, intraventricular hemorrhage grade >2, and periventricular leukomalacia) across the study period and compared these outcomes with those in infants without CHD.

Predictors of premature treatment termination in a large residential addiction medicine program.

Background: While inpatient programs are a common setting for addiction treatment, patients' premature termination is a major concern. Predicting premature treatment termination has the potential to substantially improve patient outcomes by identifying high-risk profiles and suggesting care paths that might reduce dropout. The current study examined the predictors of premature termination from an inpatient addiction medicine service.

Robust Sequence Determinants of α-Synuclein Toxicity in Yeast Implicate Membrane Binding.

Protein conformations are shaped by cellular environments, but how environmental changes alter the conformational landscapes of specific proteins remains largely uncharacterized, in part due to the challenge of probing protein structures in living cells. Here, we use deep mutational scanning to investigate how a toxic conformation of α-synuclein, a dynamic protein linked to Parkinson's disease, responds to perturbations of cellular proteostasis. In the context of a course for graduate students in the UCSF Integrative Program in Quantitative Biology, we screened a comprehensive library of α-synuclein missense mutants in yeast cells treated with a variety of small molecules that perturb cellular processes linked to α-synuclein biology and pathobiology.

Cohort study of respiratory hospital admissions, air quality and sociodemographic factors in preterm infants born in California.

Background: Preterm infants suffer from respiratory morbidity especially during the first year of life.

Objective: To investigate the association of air quality and sociodemographic indicators on hospital admission rates for respiratory causes.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study.