Publications by authors named "Michelle Mendez"

Objective: Altered reactivity to emotional stimuli is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is suggested to reflect difficulties with emotion regulation. While disinhibition is common after moderate-to-severe TBI, limited research has investigated the link between disinhibition and emotional reactivity in this clinical group. The aim of this research, therefore, was to investigate the relationship between disinhibition and TBI to anger provocation.

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Objective: The present study evaluated the association of two measures of diet quality with BMI and waist circumference (WC), overall and by education level, among Mexican men and women.

Design: We constructed two a priori indices of diet quality, the Mexican Diet Quality Index (MxDQI) and the Mexican Alternate Healthy Eating Index (MxAHEI), which we examined relative to BMI and WC. We computed sex-specific multivariable linear regression models for the total sample and by education level.

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Background: Exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) via drinking water is a serious global health threat. Various factors influence susceptibility to iAs-associated health outcomes, including differences in iAs metabolism. Previous studies have shown that obesity is associated with iAs metabolism.

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Background: Recent research suggests that sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption has been declining among US children aged 2-18 y. However, most studies focused on changes in mean intake, ignore high SSB consumers and do not examine intake among vulnerable groups and, including adolescents, low-income households, and several racial/ethnic minorities.

Objective: The aim was to estimate usual SSB intake from NHANES surveys from 2003-2004 to 2013-2014 to examine shifts at both the median and 90th percentile among US children, evaluating the extent to which intake disparities in total SSBs and subtypes have persisted.

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Maternal diet during pregnancy has been shown to influence the child neuro-developmental outcomes. Studies examining effects of dietary patterns on offspring behavior are sparse. Determine if maternal adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with child behavioral outcomes assessed early in life, and to evaluate the role of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) regulating genomically imprinted genes in these associations.

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This work aims to demonstrate that radial acquisition with k-space variant reduced-FOV reconstruction can enable real-time cardiac MRI with an affordable computation cost. Due to non-uniform sampling, radial imaging requires k-space variant reconstruction for optimal performance. By converting radial parallel imaging reconstruction into the estimation of correlation functions with a previously-developed correlation imaging framework, Cartesian k-space may be reconstructed point-wisely based on parallel imaging relationship between every Cartesian datum and its neighboring radial samples.

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Background: This study assessed the associations between nine differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of imprinted genes in DNA derived from umbilical cord blood leukocytes in males and females and (1) birth weight for gestational age score, (2) weight-for-length (WFL) score at 1 year, and (3) body mass index (BMI) score at 3 years.

Methods: We conducted multiple linear regression in  = 567 infants at birth,  = 288 children at 1 year, and  = 294 children at 3 years from the Newborn Epigenetics Study (NEST). We stratified by sex and adjusted for race/ethnicity, maternal education, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, prenatal smoking, maternal age, gestational age, and paternal race.

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Diet is dictated by the surrounding environment, as food access and availability may change depending on where one lives. Maternal diet during pregnancy is an important part of the environment, and may affect the epigenome. Studies looking at overall diet pattern in relation to DNA methylation have been lacking.

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Objective: Eating away from home is associated with poor diet quality, in part due to less healthy food choices and larger portions. However, few studies account for the potential additional contribution of differences in food composition between restaurant- and home-prepared dishes. The present study aimed to investigate differences in nutrients of dishes prepared in restaurants v.

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Introduction: Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) has been shown to affect lipid metabolism and promote weight gain in animal studies. Recent epidemiological studies also support a link between BPA and obesity in human populations, although many were limited to a single adiposity measure or have not considered potential confounding by dietary factors. The purpose of this study is to examine associations between urinary BPA and adiposity measures in a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults.

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After publication of the article [1], it has been brought to our attention that the thirteenth author of this article has had their name spelt incorrectly. In the original article the spelling "Laura Rizzir" was used. In fact the correct spelling should be "Laura Rizzi".

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Background: While chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public health concern in low- and middle-income countries, such as China, few studies have investigated the association between urbanization and the occurrence of CKD in those countries.

Methods: We investigated the association between urbanization and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), an important CKD risk marker. Data came from the China Health and Nutrition Survey wave 2009, in which we collected fasting serum, individual and household data along with community level urbanization data, which was used to derive a study-specific urbanization measure, in 218 communities across nine provinces.

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Background: Cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) are common environmental contaminants that have been associated with lower birthweight. Although some essential metals may mitigate exposure, data are inconsistent. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between toxic metals, nutrient combinations and birthweight among 275 mother-child pairs.

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Prostate, breast and colorectal cancer are the most common tumours in Spain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between adherence to nutrition-based guidelines for cancer prevention and prostate, breast and colorectal cancer, in the MCC-Spain case-control study. A total of 1,718 colorectal, 1,343 breast and 864 prostate cancer cases and 3,431 population-based controls recruited between 2007 and 2012, were included in the present study.

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No study has analysed how protein intake from early childhood to young adulthood relate to adult BMI in a single cohort. To estimate the association of protein intake at 2, 11, 15, 19 and 22 years with age- and sex-standardised BMI at 22 years (early adulthood), we used linear regression models with dietary and anthropometric data from a Filipino birth cohort (1985-2005, n 2586). We used latent growth curve analysis to identify trajectories of protein intake relative to age-specific recommended daily allowance (intake in g/kg body weight) from 2 to 22 years, then related trajectory membership to early adulthood BMI using linear regression models.

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Objectives: To examine trends in the relationship between smoking history and both general and central fatness in adults from a Mediterranean setting. Materials and methods: The ENCAT 1992-1993 and 2002-2003 surveys were used; samples consisted of 482 men, 589 women from 1992-1993, and 515 men, 613 women from 2002-2003, aged 25-60 years. Measured anthropometry and self-reported data on smoking habits, diet, lifestyle and SES were collected.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Prenatal exposure to lead (Pb) negatively impacts fetal growth, but its effects on postnatal growth and the mechanisms behind these effects, particularly involving DNA methylation of imprinted genes, are not well understood.
  • - A study involving 321 pregnant women measured maternal Pb levels and analyzed the relationship between Pb exposure, DNA methylation patterns, birth weight, and growth between birth and age 3.
  • - Findings revealed that higher maternal Pb levels were linked to increased methylation of specific regulatory regions, lower birth weight, and increased adiposity in children by ages 2-3, suggesting potential risks for childhood obesity and related health issues in adulthood.
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Purpose: Although there is convincing evidence that red and processed meat intake increases the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), the potential role of meat cooking practices has not been established yet and could partly explain the current heterogeneity of results among studies. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between meat consumption and cooking practices and the risk of CRC in a population-based case-control study.

Methods: A total of 1671 CRC cases and 3095 controls recruited in Spain between September 2008 and December 2013 completing a food frequency questionnaire with a meat-specific module were included in the analyses.

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Objective: Little is known about arsenic and diabetes in youth. We examined the association of arsenic with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Case-Control (SEARCH-CC) study. Because one-carbon metabolism can influence arsenic metabolism, we also evaluated the potential interaction of folate and vitamin B12 with arsenic metabolism on the odds of diabetes.

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The recent epidemics of metabolic diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes(T2D), liver lipid disorders and metabolic syndrome have largely been attributed to genetic background and changes in diet, exercise and aging. However, there is now considerable evidence that other environmental factors may contribute to the rapid increase in the incidence of these metabolic diseases. This review will examine changes to the incidence of obesity, T2D and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the contribution of genetics to these disorders and describe the role of the endocrine system in these metabolic disorders.

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Background: Protein intake (PI) may alter adiposity but few studies have explored the age-specific associations of PI with body mass index (BMI).

Objective: We analyzed how PI and breastfeeding relate to BMI in the CLHNS (Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey), an observational Filipino birth cohort (1983-2005).

Methods: Random-effects longitudinal regression models estimated the association of daily breastfeeding frequency and energy-adjusted PI residuals with concurrent BMI z scores (zBMI) measured bimonthly from 2 to 24 mo (n = 2899), and the association of breastfeeding history and PI residuals with concurrent BMI using 5 surveys from 2 to 22 y (n = 2435).

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Background: Racial/ethnic disparities in dietary quality persist among Americans, but it is unclear whether highly processed foods or convenience foods contribute to these inequalities.

Objective: We examined the independent associations of race/ethnicity with highly processed and ready-to-eat (RTE) food purchases among US households. We determined whether controlling for between-group differences in purchases of these products attenuated associations between race/ethnicity and the nutritional quality of purchases.

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Variants in AS3MT, the gene encoding arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltranserase, have been shown to influence patterns of inorganic arsenic (iAs) metabolism. Several studies have suggested that capacity to metabolize iAs may vary depending on levels of iAs exposure. However, it is not known whether the influence of variants in AS3MT on iAs metabolism also vary by level of exposure.

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The association between visit-to-visit variability of blood pressure (BP) and cognitive decline over time remains incompletely understood in a general population of older adults. We assessed the hypothesis that higher visit-to-visit variability in BP, but not mean BP, would be associated with faster decline in cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults. This prospective cohort study comprised 976 adults who had 3 or 4 visits with BP measurements as part of the China Health and Nutrition Survey from 1991, up to their first cognitive tests, and completed cognitive screening tests at ≥2 visits in 1997, 2000, or 2004.

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