Combined and sequential exposure to prenatal second hand smoke and postnatal maternal distress is associated with cingulo-opercular global efficiency and attention problems in school-age children.

Background: Prenatal exposure to secondhand (environmental) tobacco smoke (SHS) is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, including altered functional activation of cognitive control brain circuitry and increased attention problems in children. Exposure to SHS is more common among Black youth who are also disproportionately exposed to socioeconomic disadvantage and concomitant maternal distress. We examine the combined effects of exposure to prenatal SHS and postnatal maternal distress on the global efficiency (GE) of the brain's cingulo-opercular (CO) and fronto-parietal control (FP) networks in childhood, as well as associated attention problems.

The Role of Environmental Chemicals in the Etiology of Learning Difficulties: A Novel Theoretical Framework.

Children from economically disadvantaged communities have a disproportionate risk of exposure to chemicals, social stress, and learning difficulties. Although animal models and epidemiologic studies link exposures and neurodevelopment, little focus has been paid to academic outcomes in environmental health studies. Similarly, in the educational literature, environmental exposures are overlooked as potential etiologic factors in learning difficulties.

Effects of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood material hardship on reading achievement in school-age children: A preliminary study.

Background: Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are at elevated risk for reading problems. They are also likely to live in neighborhoods with high levels of air pollution and to experience material hardship. Despite these risk factors, the links between prenatal chemical exposures, socioeconomic adversities, and reading problems in youth from disadvantaged backgrounds remain understudied.

COVID-19 Pandemic Experiences and Symptoms of Pandemic-Associated Traumatic Stress Among Mothers in the US.

Importance: The primary outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of women with children remain largely unknown.

Objectives: To identify and describe clusters of mothers of children participating in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program that characterize pandemic-associated hardships, coping mechanisms, and behaviors, and to evaluate associations between pandemic-associated hardships, coping strategies, and behavior changes with pandemic-associated traumatic stress symptoms.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter cohort study investigated experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic between April 2020 and August 2021 among maternal caregivers of children participating in the ECHO Program.

Higher maternal education is related to negative functional connectivity between attention system networks and reading-related regions in children with reading difficulties compared to typical readers.

Ten to 15% of school-age children have reading difficulties (RD, or dyslexia), defined by deficits in phonological processing, fluency, and executive functions (EFs). Although RD is referred to as a genetic disorder, reading ability may also be affected by environmental factors such as inadequate exposure to literacy and a lack of parental involvement. These environmental components are a part of the socioeconomic status (SES) measure, which is defined by parental occupation, educational attainment, and household income and are positively correlated to reading ability.

Maternal depression is associated with decreased functional connectivity within semantics and phonology networks in preschool children.

Introduction: Maternal depression is characterized by a lack of emotional responsiveness and engagement with their child, which may lead to the child's decreased cognitive, and language outcomes all related to the child's future reading outcomes. The relations between maternal depression and functional connectivity in neural circuits supporting language in the child was explored.

Methods: Eleven 4-year-old girls completed language abilities assessment and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan.

Longer Screen Vs. Reading Time is Related to Greater Functional Connections Between the Salience Network and Executive Functions Regions in Children with Reading Difficulties Vs. Typical Readers.

An adverse relationship between screen exposure time and brain functional/structural connectivity was reported in typically developing children, specifically related to neurobiological correlates of reading ability. As children with reading difficulties (RD) suffer from impairments in reading and executive functions (EF), we sought to determine the association between the ratio of screen time duration to reading time duration and functional connectivity of EF networks to the entire brain in children with RD compared to typical readers (TRs) using resting state data. Screen/reading time ratio was related to reduced reading and EF abilities.

Maternal depression is associated with altered functional connectivity between neural circuits related to visual, auditory, and cognitive processing during stories listening in preschoolers.

Background: Maternal depression can influence the early activity of a mother reading stories to a young child, as depressed mothers are less likely to read to their children. Here, maternal depression association to neurobiological circuitry of narrative comprehension, visualization, and executive functions during stories listening was examined in 21 4-year-old girls and their mothers. Maternal depression scores were collected from the mothers, and functional MRI during stories listening was collected from the children.

Maternal reading fluency is associated with functional connectivity between the child's future reading network and regions related to executive functions and language processing in preschool-age children.

Reading is an acquired skill that relies on cognitive-control and language abilities. Home reading environment has been positively correlated with activation in parietal-temporal-occipital association cortex supporting mental imagery and narrative comprehension during a story-listening task in preschool-age children. However, the degree to which maternal reading ability influences early brain development, specifically neural circuits involved with language and reading, is not well understood.

Systemic Elevation of Proinflammatory Interleukin 18 in HIV/HCV Coinfection versus HIV or HCV Monoinfection.

Background: HIV/HCV coinfection and elevated interleukin (IL)-18 levels are both associated with enhanced progression of hepatic inflammation and increased risk of diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease. IL-18 is a proinflammatory cytokine made upon activation of the inflammasome, an innate sensing system. We assessed whether increased IL-18 could explain the increased incidence and progression of inflammatory conditions seen with HIV/HCV coinfection.

Regulation of flagellar, motility and chemotaxis genes in Rhizobium leguminosarum by the VisN/R-Rem cascade.

In this paper, we describe the regulatory roles of VisN, VisR and Rem in the expression of flagellar, motility and chemotaxis genes in Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae strains VF39SM and 3841. Individual mutations in the genes encoding these proteins resulted in a loss of motility and an absence of flagella, indicating that these regulatory genes are essential for flagellar synthesis and function. Transcriptional experiments involving gusA-gene fusions in wild-type and mutant backgrounds were performed to identify the genes under VisN/R and Rem regulation.