Understanding the use of CATI and web-based data collection methods during the pandemic among digitally challenged groups at FQHCs: data from the Research Program.

Introduction: The Research Program (Program) is an ongoing epidemiologic cohort study focused on collecting lifestyle, health, socioeconomic, environmental, and biological data from 1 million US-based participants. The Program has a focus on enrolling populations that are underrepresented in biomedical research (UBR). Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are a key recruitment stream of UBR participants.

Association of Cardiac Arrest With Opioid Overdose in Transport.

Introduction: Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. It has been linked to respiratory depression and cardiac toxicity, both of which can lead to cardiac arrest. Despite this potential association, few studies have examined this relationship, particularly in transport to the hospital.

Risk of Concussion After a Targeting Foul in Collegiate American Football.

Background: The targeting rule was adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2008 to discourage dangerous contact during collegiate American football competition. Although targeting rules have been emphasized as a means to reduce concussion rates, there is currently no evidence that targeting plays are higher risk for concussion than other plays in American football.

Purpose: To compare the rate of concussion occurring during targeting versus nontargeting plays in American collegiate football.

Higher Viral Load Drives Infrequent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Transmission Between Asymptomatic Residence Hall Roommates.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic spread to >200 countries in <6 months. To understand coronavirus spread, determining transmission rate and defining factors that increase transmission risk are essential. Most cases are asymptomatic, but people with asymptomatic infection have viral loads indistinguishable from those in symptomatic people, and they do transmit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Pac-12 CARE-Affiliated Program: structure, methods and initial results.

Sport-related concussion has garnered increasing scientific attention and research over the last decade. Collegiate student-athletes represent an important cohort in this field. As such, the Pac-12 CARE-Affiliated Program (CAP) was formed in 2017 as a regional hub of the Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) consortium.

Just 2% of SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals carry 90% of the virus circulating in communities.

We analyze data from the fall 2020 pandemic response efforts at the University of Colorado Boulder, where more than 72,500 saliva samples were tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using qRT-PCR. All samples were collected from individuals who reported no symptoms associated with COVID-19 on the day of collection. From these, 1,405 positive cases were identified.

Diagnostic accuracy and reliability of sideline concussion evaluation: a prospective, case-controlled study in college athletes comparing newer tools and established tests.

Objective: To assess diagnostic accuracy and reliability of sideline concussion tests in college athletes.

Methods: Athletes completed baseline concussion tests including Post-Concussion Symptom Scale, Standardised Assessment of Concussion (SAC), modified Balance Error Scoring System (m-BESS), King-Devick test and EYE-SYNC Smooth Pursuits. Testing was repeated in athletes diagnosed acutely with concussion and compared to a matched teammate without concussion.

Saliva TwoStep for rapid detection of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers.

Here, we develop a simple molecular test for SARS-CoV-2 in saliva based on reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification. The test has two steps: (1) heat saliva with a stabilization solution and (2) detect virus by incubating with a primer/enzyme mix. After incubation, saliva samples containing the SARS-CoV-2 genome turn bright yellow.

Just 2% of SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals carry 90% of the virus circulating in communities.

We analyze data from the Fall 2020 pandemic response efforts at the University of Colorado Boulder (USA), where more than 72,500 saliva samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using quantitative RT-PCR. All samples were collected from individuals who reported no symptoms associated with COVID-19 on the day of collection. From these, 1,405 positive cases were identified.

Saliva TwoStep for rapid detection of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers.

Here, we develop a simple molecular test for SARS-CoV-2 in saliva based on reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). The test has two steps: 1) heat saliva with a stabilization solution, and 2) detect virus by incubating with a primer/enzyme mix. After incubation, saliva samples containing the SARS-CoV-2 genome turn bright yellow.

Early Signs of Gut Microbiome Aging: Biomarkers of Inflammation, Metabolism, and Macromolecular Damage in Young Adulthood.

Emerging links between gut microbiota and diseases of aging point to possible shared immune, metabolic, and cellular damage mechanisms, operating long before diseases manifest. We conducted 16S rRNA sequencing of fecal samples collected from a subsample (n = 668) of Add Health Wave V, a nationally representative longitudinal study of adults aged 32-42. An overlapping subsample (n = 345) included whole-blood RNA-seq.

Characteristics and Incidence of Concussion Among a US Collegiate Undergraduate Population.

Importance: Concussion on university campuses is a significant health problem. Characterizing the incidence of concussion on college campuses may inform education and resource allocation policy at student health care centers.

Objectives: To establish a measure of concussion incidence among collegiate undergraduate students and to describe characteristics associated with concussion incidence, including sex, cause, and month.

Association of Adolescent Sport Participation With Cognition and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adulthood.

Background: Recent studies have associated sport-related concussion with depression and impaired cognitive ability later in life in former professional football players. However, population studies with two 1950s-era cohorts did not find an association between high school football participation and impaired cognition or depressive symptoms in late adulthood.

Purpose/hypothesis: This study assessed whether actual/intended participation in contact sports during adolescence had an adverse effect on participants' cognition or depressive symptoms in early adulthood.

Author Correction: Testing the key assumption of heritability estimates based on genome-wide genetic relatedness.

In the original paper, we used the variable "URBRUR08," from the 2008 survey wave as a measure of childhood urbanicity. Upon further investigation we realized that this variable actually measured Beale urban-rural code during the respondent's adulthood.  Thus, we reran our analysis of the pseudo-heritability of childhood urbanicity using the variable.

Imputation of behavioral candidate gene repeat variants in 486,551 publicly-available UK Biobank individuals.

Some of the most widely studied variants in psychiatric genetics include variable number tandem repeat variants (VNTRs) in SLC6A3, DRD4, SLC6A4, and MAOA. While initial findings suggested large effects, their importance with respect to psychiatric phenotypes is the subject of much debate with broadly conflicting results. Despite broad interest, these loci remain absent from the largest available samples, such as the UK Biobank, limiting researchers' ability to test these contentious hypotheses rigorously in large samples.

Genome-wide association analyses of risk tolerance and risky behaviors in over 1 million individuals identify hundreds of loci and shared genetic influences.

Humans vary substantially in their willingness to take risks. In a combined sample of over 1 million individuals, we conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of general risk tolerance, adventurousness, and risky behaviors in the driving, drinking, smoking, and sexual domains. Across all GWAS, we identified hundreds of associated loci, including 99 loci associated with general risk tolerance.

Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use.

Tobacco and alcohol use are leading causes of mortality that influence risk for many complex diseases and disorders. They are heritable and etiologically related behaviors that have been resistant to gene discovery efforts. In sample sizes up to 1.

Transancestral GWAS of alcohol dependence reveals common genetic underpinnings with psychiatric disorders.

Liability to alcohol dependence (AD) is heritable, but little is known about its complex polygenic architecture or its genetic relationship with other disorders. To discover loci associated with AD and characterize the relationship between AD and other psychiatric and behavioral outcomes, we carried out the largest genome-wide association study to date of DSM-IV-diagnosed AD. Genome-wide data on 14,904 individuals with AD and 37,944 controls from 28 case-control and family-based studies were meta-analyzed, stratified by genetic ancestry (European, n = 46,568; African, n = 6,280).

Habitual aerobic exercise and circulating proteomic patterns in healthy adults: relation to indicators of healthspan.

Habitual aerobic exercise enhances physiological function and reduces risk of morbidity and mortality throughout life, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. The circulating proteome reflects the intricate network of physiological processes maintaining homeostasis and may provide insight into the molecular transducers of the health benefits of physical activity. In this exploratory study, we assessed the plasma proteome (SOMAscan proteomic assay; 1,129 proteins) of healthy sedentary or aerobic exercise-trained young women and young and older men ( n = 47).

Amino acid and lipid associated plasma metabolomic patterns are related to healthspan indicators with ageing.

Advancing age is associated with impairments in numerous physiological systems, leading to an increased risk of chronic disease and disability, and reduced healthspan (the period of high functioning healthy life). The plasma metabolome is thought to reflect changes in the activity of physiological systems that influence healthspan. Accordingly, we utilized an LC-MS metabolomics analysis of plasma collected from healthy young and older individuals to characterize global changes in small molecule abundances with age.

Chronic nicotinamide riboside supplementation is well-tolerated and elevates NAD in healthy middle-aged and older adults.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) has emerged as a critical co-substrate for enzymes involved in the beneficial effects of regular calorie restriction on healthspan. As such, the use of NAD precursors to augment NAD bioavailability has been proposed as a strategy for improving cardiovascular and other physiological functions with aging in humans. Here we provide the evidence in a 2 × 6-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial that chronic supplementation with the NAD precursor vitamin, nicotinamide riboside (NR), is well tolerated and effectively stimulates NAD metabolism in healthy middle-aged and older adults.

Teaching Epidemiology at the Undergraduate Level: Considerations and Approaches.

The rapid growth in undergraduate public health education has offered training in epidemiology to an increasing number of undergraduate students. Epidemiology courses introduce undergraduate students to a population health perspective and provide opportunities for these students to build essential skills and competencies such as ethical reasoning, teamwork, comprehension of scientific methods, critical thinking, quantitative and information literacy, ability to analyze public health information, and effective writing and oral communication. Taking a varied approach and incorporating active learning and assessment strategies can help engage students in the material, improve comprehension of key concepts, and further develop key competencies.