Association Between Vaccination Status and Mortality Among Intubated Patients With COVID-19-Related Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Importance: Although vaccination substantially reduces the risk of severe COVID-19, it is yet unknown whether vaccinated patients who develop COVID-19 and require invasive mechanical ventilation have lower mortality than controls.

Objective: To examine the association between COVID-19 vaccination status and mortality among critically ill patients who require invasive mechanical ventilation owing to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) related to COVID-19.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter cohort study was performed between June 7, 2021, and February 1, 2022, among 265 consecutive adult patients with COVID-19 in academic intensive care units who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation owing to ARDS.

Association between timing of intubation and clinical outcomes of critically ill patients: A meta-analysis.

Purpose: Optimal timing of intubation is controversial. We attempted to investigate the association between timing of intubation and clinical outcomes of critically ill patients.

Methods: PubMed was systematically searched for studies reporting on mortality of critically ill patients undergoing early versus late intubation.

Association between high levels of inflammatory markers and cognitive outcomes at 4 years of age: The Rhea mother-child cohort study, Crete, Greece.

There is growing evidence associating inflammatory markers in complex, higher order neurological functions, such as cognition and memory. We examined whether high levels of various inflammatory markers are associated with cognitive outcomes at 4 years of age in a mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece (Rhea study). We included 642 children in this cross-sectional study.

Association of Early Life Exposure to Phthalates With Obesity and Cardiometabolic Traits in Childhood: Sex Specific Associations.

Few studies have investigated longitudinal associations between early life phthalate exposure and subsequent obesity and cardiovascular risks in children with inconsistent results. We aimed to evaluate the associations between phthalate exposure during gestation and childhood with offspring obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors in 500 mother-child pairs from the Rhea pregnancy cohort in Crete, Greece. Seven phthalate metabolites [monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), mono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP), monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), and mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP)] were quantified in spot urine samples collected from mothers (1st trimester) and their children at 4 years of age.

Is early life exposure to polyomaviruses and herpesviruses associated with obesity indices and metabolic traits in childhood?

Background: Evidence for an infectious origin of obesity is emerging. We explored whether common viruses were associated with obesity and metabolic traits.

Methods: We used cross-sectional (n = 674) and prospective (n = 440) data from children participating at the 4 and 6 years of age follow-up in the Rhea birth cohort.

Maternal depression and personality traits in association with child neuropsychological and behavioral development in preschool years: Mother-child cohort (Rhea Study) in Crete, Greece.

Background: Poor perinatal maternal mental health has been linked with negative outcomes on early child development; however, the importance of maternal personality has been neglected thus far. We aimed to examine the effects of antenatal and postnatal maternal mental health, including assessment of maternal personality characteristics, on child neuropsychological and behavioral development at preschool years in a population based mother-child cohort (Rhea Study) in Crete, Greece.

Method: Self-reported measures of maternal depression (EPDS), trait anxiety (STAI-Trait) and personality traits (EPQ-R) were assessed in a sample of 288 women at 28-32 weeks of gestation.

Patterns of Early-Life Social and Environmental Exposures and Child Cognitive Development, Rhea Birth Cohort, Crete, Greece.

Early-life exposures are critical for later child cognitive development. McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) were used to assess cognitive development of 700 preschoolers (M  = 4.2 years), derived from the "Rhea" birth cohort, in Greece.

Maternal diet during pregnancy and micronuclei frequency in peripheral blood T lymphocytes in mothers and newborns (Rhea cohort, Crete).

Purpose: The study assessed whether diet and adherence to cancer prevention guidelines during pregnancy were associated with micronucleus (MN) frequency in mothers and newborns. MN is biomarkers of early genetic effects that have been associated with cancer risk in adults.

Methods: A total of 188 mothers and 200 newborns from the Rhea cohort (Greece) were included in the study.

Cord blood leptin levels in relation to child growth trajectories.

Objective: Leptin represents a potential modulator of developmental programming of childhood obesity. We investigated the association of cord blood leptin with growth trajectories from birth to early childhood.

Materials/methods: We used data from the prospective mother-child cohort "Rhea", Crete, Greece.

Dietary patterns in early childhood and child cognitive and psychomotor development: the Rhea mother-child cohort study in Crete.

Early-life nutrition is critical for optimal brain development; however, few studies have evaluated the impact of diet as a whole in early childhood on neurological development with inconsistent results. The present analysis is a cross-sectional study nested within an ongoing prospective birth cohort, the Rhea study, and aims to examine the association of dietary patterns with cognitive and psychomotor development in 804 preschool (mean age 4·2 years) children. Parents completed a validated FFQ, and dietary patterns were identified using principal component analysis.

Association of early life exposure to bisphenol A with obesity and cardiometabolic traits in childhood.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used extensively worldwide in the manufacture of plastic polymers. The environmental obesogen hypothesis suggests that early life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals such as BPA may increase the risk for wt gain later in childhood but few prospective epidemiological studies have investigated this relationship.

Objectives: We examined the association of early life BPA exposure with offspring obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors in 500 mother-child pairs from the RHEA pregnancy cohort in Crete, Greece.

Is there an association between eating behaviour and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in preschool children?

Background: There is some evidence that aberrant eating behaviours and obesity co-occur with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. The present study is the first that aims to investigate the association between eating behaviours and ADHD symptoms in early childhood in a population-based cohort.

Methods: We included 471 preschool children from the Rhea mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece.

Metabolic profile in early pregnancy is associated with offspring adiposity at 4 years of age: the Rhea pregnancy cohort Crete, Greece.

Context: Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity may increase the risk of childhood obesity but it is unknown whether other metabolic factors in early pregnancy such as lipid profile and hypertension are associated with offspring cardiometabolic traits.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate whether fasting lipid, glucose, and insulin levels during early pregnancy and maternal pre-pregnancy weight status, are associated with offspring adiposity measures, lipid levels and blood pressure at preschool age.

Design And Methods: The study included 618 mother-child pairs of the pregnancy cohort "Rhea" study in Crete, Greece.

Association of Prenatal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants with Obesity and Cardiometabolic Traits in Early Childhood: The Rhea Mother-Child Cohort (Crete, Greece).

Background: Prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) may increase risk of obesity later in life.

Objective: We examined the relation of in utero POPs exposure to offspring obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors at 4 years of age in the Rhea mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece (n = 689).

Methods: We determined concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in first-trimester maternal serum.

Association of trimester-specific gestational weight gain with fetal growth, offspring obesity, and cardiometabolic traits in early childhood.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of trimester-specific gestational weight gain with offspring fetal growth, obesity risk, and cardiometabolic health outcomes from birth to 4 years of age.

Study Design: We conducted the present study with 977 mother-child pairs of the pregnancy cohort "Rhea" study in Crete, Greece. We measured birthweight, body mass index from 6 months to 4 years of age, waist circumference, skinfold thickness, blood pressure, and blood levels of lipids, C-reactive protein, and adipose tissue hormones at 4 years of age.

Maternal diet, prenatal exposure to dioxin-like compounds and birth outcomes in a European prospective mother-child study (NewGeneris).

Maternal diet can result in exposure to environmental contaminants including dioxins which may influence foetal growth. We investigated the association between maternal diet and birth outcomes by defining a dioxin-rich diet. We used validated food frequency questionnaires to assess the diet of pregnant women from Greece, Spain, United Kingdom, Denmark and Norway and estimated plasma dioxin-like activity by the Dioxin-Responsive Chemically Activated LUciferase eXpression (DR-CALUX®) bioassay in 604 maternal blood samples collected at delivery.

Relative validity of an FFQ for pre-school children in the mother-child 'Rhea' birth cohort in Crete, Greece.

Objective: To examine the relative validity of an FFQ based on parental report for pre-school children in the mother-child 'Rhea' birth cohort.

Design: The children's mothers completed an FFQ that referred to the children's dietary intake for the previous year by telephone interview. Mothers completed also three food records, two on weekdays and one on a weekend day.

Maternal diet, prenatal exposure to dioxins and other persistent organic pollutants and anogenital distance in children.

We investigated the potential endocrine disruptive effect of prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) through maternal diet, by measuring anogenital distance in newborns and young children. We included 231 mothers and their newborns measured at birth from the Rhea study in Crete, Greece and the Hmar study in Barcelona, Spain and 476 mothers and their children measured between 1 and 2 years from the Rhea study. We used food frequency questionnaires to assess maternal diet and estimated plasma dioxin-like activity by the Dioxin-Responsive Chemically Activated LUciferase eXpression (DR-CALUX®) and other POPs in maternal samples.

The effect of high doses of folic acid and iron supplementation in early-to-mid pregnancy on prematurity and fetal growth retardation: the mother-child cohort study in Crete, Greece (Rhea study).

Purpose: We examined whether high doses of folic acid and iron supplementation in early-to-mid pregnancy affect the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and small for gestational age neonates, in the mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece (Rhea study).

Methods: We included 1,279 women with singleton pregnancies with complete data on supplements use in early-to-mid pregnancy and birth outcomes. Anthropometric measurements at birth were obtained from medical records.

Dietary patterns during pregnancy and the risk of postpartum depression: the mother-child 'Rhea' cohort in Crete, Greece.

Objective: To identify and describe dietary patterns in a cohort of pregnant women, and investigate whether dietary patterns during pregnancy are related to postpartum depression (PPD).

Design: The study uses data from the prospective mother-child cohort 'Rhea' study. Pregnant women completed an FFQ in mid-pregnancy and the Edinburg Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) at 8-10 weeks postpartum.

Factors associated with active smoking, quitting, and secondhand smoke exposure among pregnant women in Greece.

Background: Pregnant women are exposed to tobacco smoke through active smoking and contact with secondhand smoke (SHS), and these exposures have a significant impact on public health. We investigated the factors that mediate active smoking, successful quitting, and SHS exposure among pregnant women in Crete, Greece.

Methods: Using a cotinine-validated questionnaire, data were collected on active smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke from 1291 women who had successfully completed the first contact questionnaire of the prospective mother-child cohort (Rhea) in Crete during the 12th week of pregnancy.