The World Trade Center exposome and health effects in 9/11 rescue and recovery workers.

Background: In the aftermath of the World Trade Center (WTC) attack on 11 September 2001, rescue and recovery workers faced hazardous conditions and toxic agents. Prior research linked these exposures to adverse health effects, but mainly examined individual factors, overlooking complex mixture effects.

Methods: This study applies an exposomic approach encompassing the totality of responders' experience, defined as the WTC exposome.

attenuates association between specific metal exposures during pregnancy and depressive symptoms in late childhood.

Emerging research suggests that exposures to metals during pregnancy and consequent disruptions in gut microbiome (GM) are associated with depressive disorders in childhood. , a GM bacteria, has been studied for its potential antidepressant effects. However, its role in influencing the association between prenatal metal exposures and depressive symptoms during childhood is unknown.

Exposure duration and cerebral amyloidosis in the olfactory cortex of World Trade Center responders: A positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Amyloid-β proteins, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, are believed to play an adaptive role in the cerebral immune response.

Objective: Amyloid is believed to play a role in cerebral immune response and could play a similar role in response to air pollution exposures. In the present study, we examined whether WTC exposure duration was associated with cerebral amyloidosis in WTC responders.

COVID-19 related cognitive, structural and functional brain changes among Italian adolescents and young adults: a multimodal longitudinal case-control study.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with brain functional, structural, and cognitive changes that persist months after infection. Most studies of the neurologic outcomes related to COVID-19 focus on severe infection and aging populations. Here, we investigated the neural activities underlying COVID-19 related outcomes in a case-control study of mildly infected youth enrolled in a longitudinal study in Lombardy, Italy, a global hotspot of COVID-19.

BrainAgeNeXt: Advancing Brain Age Modeling for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis.

Aging is associated with structural brain changes, cognitive decline, and neurodegenerative diseases. Brain age, an imaging biomarker sensitive to deviations from healthy aging, offers insights into structural aging variations and is a potential prognostic biomarker in neurodegenerative conditions. This study introduces BrainAgeNeXt, a novel convolutional neural network inspired by the MedNeXt framework, designed to predict brain age from T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

Sex-specific associations of a ferroalloy metal mixture with motor function in Italian adolescents.

Background: Motor function is critical for children's health, yet remains an understudied neurodevelopmental domain. Exposure to metals has been linked with motor function, but no study has examined the joint effects of metal mixtures.

Methods: We evaluated cross-sectional associations between a metal mixture and motor function among 569 adolescents (10-14 years old) living near the ferroalloy industry.

Early life manganese exposure and reported attention-related behaviors in Italian adolescents.

Background: Manganese (Mn) is an essential nutrient and neurotoxicant, and the neurodevelopmental effects of Mn may depend on exposure timing. Less research has quantitatively compared the impact of Mn exposure on neurodevelopment across exposure periods.

Methods: We used data from 125 Italian adolescents (10-14 years) from the Public Health Impact of Metals Exposure Study to estimate prospective associations of Mn in three early life exposure periods with adolescent attention-related behaviors.

A multi-environmental source approach to explore associations between metals exposure and olfactory identification among school-age children residing in northern Italy.

Background: Metal exposures can adversely impact olfactory function. Few studies have examined this association in children. Further, metal exposure occurs as a mixture, yet previous studies of metal-associated olfactory dysfunction only examined individual metals.

Akkermansia muciniphila modifies the association between metal exposure during pregnancy and depressive symptoms in late childhood.

Emerging research suggests that exposures to metals during pregnancy and gut microbiome (GM) disruptions are associated with depressive disorders in childhood. , a GM bacteria, has been studied for its potential antidepressant effects. However, its role in the influence of prenatal metal exposures on depressive symptoms during childhood is unknown.

Sex-specific associations between co-exposure to multiple metals and externalizing symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood.

Externalizing disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), account for the majority of the child/adolescent referrals to mental health services and increase risk for later-life psychopathology. Although the expression of externalizing disorders is more common among males, few studies have addressed how sex modifies associations between metal exposure and adolescent externalizing symptoms. This study aimed to examine sex-specific associations between co-exposure to multiple metals and externalizing symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood.

An Industry-Relevant Metal Mixture, Iron Status, and Reported Attention-Related Behaviors in Italian Adolescents.

Background: Exposure to environmental metals has been consistently associated with attention and behavioral deficits in children, and these associations may be modified by coexposure to other metals or iron (Fe) status. However, few studies have investigated Fe status as a modifier of a metal mixture, particularly with respect to attention-related behaviors.

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Public Health Impact of Metals Exposure study, which included 707 adolescents (10-14 years of age) from Brescia, Italy.

Prenatal metal exposures and childhood gut microbial signatures are associated with depression score in late childhood.

Background: Childhood depression is a major public health issue worldwide. Previous studies have linked both prenatal metal exposures and the gut microbiome to depression in children. However, few, if any, have studied their interacting effect in specific subgroups of children.

Neuro-environmental interactions: a time sensitive matter.

Introduction: The assessment of resting state (rs) neurophysiological dynamics relies on the control of sensory, perceptual, and behavioral environments to minimize variability and rule-out confounding sources of activation during testing conditions. Here, we investigated how temporally-distal environmental inputs, specifically metal exposures experienced up to several months prior to scanning, affect functional dynamics measured using rs functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI).

Methods: We implemented an interpretable XGBoost-shapley additive explanation (SHAP) model that integrated information from multiple exposure biomarkers to predict rs dynamics in typically developing adolescents.

The World Trade Center Exposome and Health Effects in 9/11 Rescue and Recovery Workers.

In the aftermath of the World Trade Center (WTC) attack, rescue and recovery workers faced hazardous conditions and toxic agents. Prior research linked these exposures to adverse health effects, but mainly examined individual factors, overlooking complex mixture effects. This study applies an exposomic approach encompassing the totality of responders' experience, defined as the WTC exposome.

Early-life manganese exposure during multiple developmental periods and adolescent verbal learning and memory.

Background: Manganese (Mn) is both an essential and toxic metal, and associations with neurodevelopment depend on exposure timing. Prospective data examining early life Mn with adolescent cognition are sparse.

Methods: We enrolled 140 Italian adolescents (10-14 years old) from the Public Health Impact of Metals Exposure study.

Assessing the mediating role of iron status on associations between an industry-relevant metal mixture and verbal learning and memory in Italian adolescents.

Background: Metals, including lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu), have been associated with neurodevelopment; iron (Fe) plays a role in the metabolism and neurotoxicity of metals, suggesting Fe may mediate metal-neurodevelopment associations. However, no study to date has examined Fe as a mediator of the association between metal mixtures and neurodevelopment.

Objective: We assessed Fe status as a mediator of a mixture of Pb, Mn, Cr and Cu in relation to verbal learning and memory in a cohort of Italian adolescents.

Covid-19 related cognitive, structural and functional brain changes among Italian adolescents and young adults: a multimodal longitudinal case-control study.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with brain functional, structural, and cognitive changes that persist months after infection. Most studies of the neurologic outcomes related to COVID-19 focus on severe infection and aging populations. Here, we investigated the neural activities underlying COVID-19 related outcomes in a case-control study of mildly infected youth enrolled in a longitudinal study in Lombardy, Italy, a global hotspot of COVID-19.

Salivary Metabolomic Signatures and Body Mass Index in Italian Adolescents: A Pilot Study.

Context: Obesity surveillance is scarce in adolescents, and little is known on whether salivary metabolomics data, emerging minimally invasive biomarkers, can characterize metabolic patterns associated with overweight or obesity in adolescents.

Objective: This pilot study aims to identify the salivary molecular signatures associated with body mass index (BMI) in Italian adolescents.

Methods: Saliva samples and BMI were collected in a subset of n = 74 young adolescents enrolled in the Public Health Impact of Metal Exposure study (2007-2014).

Functional changes in neural mechanisms underlying post-traumatic stress disorder in World Trade Center responders.

World Trade Center (WTC) responders exposed to traumatic and environmental stressors during rescue and recovery efforts have a high prevalence of chronic WTC-related post-traumatic stress disorder (WTC-PTSD). We investigated neural mechanisms underlying WTC-PTSD by applying eigenvector centrality (EC) metrics and data-driven methods on resting state functional magnetic resonance (fMRI). We identified how EC differences relate to WTC-exposure and behavioral symptoms.

Neuro-Environmental Interactions: a time sensitive matter.

The assessment of resting state (rs) neurophysiological dynamics relies on the control of sensory, perceptual, and behavioral environments to minimize variability and rule-out confounding sources of activation during testing conditions. Here, we investigated how temporally-distal environmental inputs, specifically metal exposures experienced up to several months prior to scanning, affect functional dynamics measured using rs functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). We implemented an interpretable XGBoost-Shapley Additive Explanation (SHAP) model that integrated information from multiple exposure biomarkers to predict rs dynamics in typically developing adolescents.

Topological network properties of resting-state functional connectivity patterns are associated with metal mixture exposure in adolescents.

Introduction: Adolescent exposure to neurotoxic metals adversely impacts cognitive, motor, and behavioral development. Few studies have addressed the underlying brain mechanisms of these metal-associated developmental outcomes. Furthermore, metal exposure occurs as a mixture, yet previous studies most often consider impacts of each metal individually.

Quantitative fluoride imaging of teeth using CaF emission by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.

In this work, we propose the use of molecular emission of calcium fluoride (CaF) by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to obtain quantitative fluoride distribution images of teeth. LIBS has proved to be an efficient technique to detect low amounts of fluoride in solids, and human teeth have the advantage being a matrix rich in calcium. We used new calibration material from sintered hydroxyapatite pellets doped with fluoride to determine the optimized LIBS conditions of argon flow at 1 L min and using the green emission bands of CaF in 530 nm, and obtained a calibration curve between 0 and 400 μg g, and LOD of 18 μg g.

Associations of an industry-relevant metal mixture with verbal learning and memory in Italian adolescents: The modifying role of iron status.

Background: Biomarker concentrations of metals are associated with neurodevelopment, and these associations may be modified by nutritional status (e.g., iron deficiency).

Impact of COVID-19-Related Social Isolation on Behavioral Outcomes in Young Adults Residing in Northern Italy.

Social isolation affects our emotions, behavior and interactions. Worldwide, individuals experienced prolonged periods of isolation during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when authorities-imposed restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus. In this study, we investigated the effects of social isolation on emotional and behavioral outcomes in young adults from Lombardy, Italy, a global hotspot of COVID-19.