Gestational exposure to PM, NO, and sex steroid hormones: Identifying critical windows of exposure in the Rochester UPSIDE Cohort.

Background: Sex steroid hormones are critical for maintaining pregnancy and optimal fetal development. Air pollutants are potential endocrine disruptors that may disturb sex steroidogenesis during pregnancy, potentially leading to adverse health outcomes.

Methods: In the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Understanding Pregnancy Signals and Infant Development pregnancy cohort (Rochester, NY), sex steroid concentrations were collected at study visits in early-, mid-, and late-pregnancy in 299 participants.

Identifying Predictors of Spatiotemporal Variations in Residential Radon Concentrations across North Carolina Using Machine Learning Analytics.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas derived from the decay of uranium in the Earth's crust. Radon exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers in the US. Radon infiltrates homes through soil and building foundations.

Construction of a minute ventilation model to address inter-individual inhaled dose variability within identical exposure scenarios using wearable devices.

Inhaled dose is crucial for accurately assessing exposure to air pollution, determined by pollutant concentration and minute ventilation (VE). However, the VE predictive models and its application to assess the health effects of air pollution are still lacking. In this study, we developed VE predictive models using machine learning techniques, utilizing data obtained from eighty participants who underwent a laboratory cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET).

Transition of cooking fuels and obesity risk in Chinese adults.

Background: Since 1990 s, China has witnessed a widespread transition to clean cooking fuels, presenting an opportunity to investigate whether household fuel transition could mitigate obesity risk and reconcile inconsistencies in the literature regarding the association between cooking fuels and obesity.

Methods: The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) is a prospective cohort study covering 12 provinces of China (1989-2015). Participants were classified into persistent cleaner fuel users, fuel transitioners, and persistent polluting fuel users according to self-reported primary cooking fuels.

Effects of ambient temperature on pediatric incident seizure: A case-crossover analysis using distributed lag non-linear models.

Objective: Emerging evidence supports that brain dysfunction may be attributable to environmental factors. This study aims to examine associations of ambient temperature and temperature variability (TV) with seizure incidence in children, which has not been explored.

Material And Methods: Data on 2718 outpatient visits due to seizure were collected in Shanghai, China, from 2018 to 2023.

Reduced human fecundity attributable to ambient fine particles in low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM) has been associated with reduced human fecundity. However, the attributable burden has not been estimated for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the exposure-response function between PM and the infertility rate has been insufficiently studied.

Objective: This study examined the associations between long-term exposure to PM and human fecundity indicators, namely the expected time to pregnancy (TTP) and 12-month infertility rate (IR), and then estimated PM-attributable burden of infertility in LMICs.

Neighborhood-level socioeconomic disparities in Radon testing in North Carolina from 2010 to 2020.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that poses significant health risks to humans, including increased risk of lung cancer. This study investigates the association of neighborhood-level socioeconomic variables with radon testing and radon exposure levels in North Carolina between 2010 and 2020. Our analysis of the two largest commercial household radon tests reveals that 67% of census tracts had testing rates below 10 tests per 1000 population, indicating low testing prevalence.

A chronic stress-induced microbiome perturbation, highly enriched in , promotes colorectal cancer growth and metastasis.

Mounting evidence indicates that psychological stress adversely affects cancer progression including tumor growth and metastasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of chronic stress-induced microbiome perturbation in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. Chronic restraint stress (CRS) was used to establish the chronic stress mouse model, behavioral tests were used for the CRS model evaluation.

Nasal oxidative stress mediating the effects of colder temperature exposure on pediatric asthma symptoms.

Background: Colder temperature exposure is a known trigger for pediatric asthma exacerbation. The induction of oxidative stress is a known pathophysiologic pathway for asthma exacerbation. However, the role of oxidative stress in linking colder temperature exposure and worsened pediatric asthma symptoms is poorly understood.

Bi-directional association between outdoor or social activities and cognitive function: do the PM exposure catalyze the detrimental inactivity-poor cognition cycle?

Background: Previous research has shown that lack of leisure activities, either outdoor or social activities, impedes cognitive function. However, the interrelationship between poor cognition and deficient activities is understudied. In addition, whether exposure to air pollution, such as PM, can accelerate the detrimental 'inactivity-poor cognition' cycle, is worthy of investigation.

Fine particulate matter contributes to COPD-like pathophysiology: experimental evidence from rats exposed to diesel exhaust particles.

Background: Ambient fine particulate matter (PM) is considered a plausible contributor to the onset of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Mechanistic studies are needed to augment the causality of epidemiologic findings. In this study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that repeated exposure to diesel exhaust particles (DEP), a model PM, causes COPD-like pathophysiologic alterations, consequently leading to the development of specific disease phenotypes.

Housing Environmental Factors Driving Falls Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A National Cohort Study.

Background And Objectives: Housing is one of the main places where falls occur; however, few studies have examined housing environmental factors driving fall risk. This study aimed to explore the associations between housing environmental factors and falls in China.

Research Design And Methods: The study included data of middle-aged and older adults aged ≥45 years from 4 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

Associations between personal apparent temperature exposures and asthma symptoms in children with asthma.

Ambient temperature and relative humidity can affect asthma symptoms. Apparent temperature is a measure of temperature perceived by humans that takes into account the effect of humidity. However, the potential link between personal exposures to apparent temperature and asthma symptoms has not been investigated.

Radon decay product particle radioactivity and oxidative stress biomarkers in patients with COPD.

Radon decay products include α-radiation emitting radionuclides that attach to airborne particles that have potential to promote oxidative tissue damage after inhalation. To assess associations between α-particle radioactivity (α-PR) with urinary biomarkers of oxidative tissue damage, 140 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had up to four 1-week seasonal assessments (N = 413) of indoor (home) and ambient (central site) PM and black carbon (BC). Following environmental sampling, urine samples were analyzed for total and free malondialdehyde (MDA), biomarkers of lipid oxidation, and 8-hydroxyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a biomarker of DNA oxidative damage.

Identifying critical windows of air pollution exposure during preconception and gestational period on birthweight: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Few studies have assessed air pollution exposure association with birthweight during both preconception and gestational periods.

Methods: Leveraging a preconception cohort consisting of 14220 pregnant women and newborn children in Shanghai, China during 2016-2018, we aim to assess associations of NO and PM exposure, derived from high-resolution spatial-temporal models, during preconception and gestational periods with outcomes including term birthweight, birthweight Z-score, small-for-gestational age (SGA) and large-for-gestational age (LGA). Linear and logistic regressions were used to estimate 3-month preconception and trimester-averaged air pollution exposure associations; and distributed lag models (DLM) were used to identify critical exposure windows at the weekly resolution from preconception to delivery.

Citrus peel extract protects against diesel exhaust particle-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-like lung lesions and oxidative stress.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide and characterized by emphysema, small airway remodeling and mucus hypersecretion. Citrus peels have been widely used as food spices and in traditional Chinese medicine for chronic lung disease. Given that citrus peels are known for containing antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, we hypothesize that citrus peel intake can suppress oxidative stress and inflammatory response to air pollution exposure, thereby alleviating COPD-like pathologies.