The Effect of Obesity and Pregnancy Weight Gain on Maternal and Child Health.

In this study, we estimate the effect of prepregnancy obesity and excessive pregnancy weight gain on infant and maternal health outcomes. We rely on a large sample of maternally linked restricted data from 2004 to 2019 South Carolina birth certificates, which allow us to track the same mothers during multiple pregnancies over a period of more than 15 years. To address possible limitations of previous research, we account for genetic confounders and unobservable maternal and environmental factors by relying on a maternal fixed effects strategy.

Long-term effects of collaborative dementia care on quality of life and caregiver well-being.

Introduction: Collaborative dementia care models with care navigation, including the Care Ecosystem, improve outcomes for persons living with dementia (PLWDs) and their caregivers. The effects of continuous care over long periods have not been studied.

Methods: In this randomized clinical trial with 456 PLWD-caregiver dyads with high caregiver burden, we evaluated the cumulative 5-year treatment effect on PLWD quality of life, health care utilization, caregiver depression, self-efficacy, and burden.

Bromodomain-containing Protein 4 regulates innate inflammation via modulation of alternative splicing.

Introduction: Bromodomain-containing Protein 4 (BRD4) is a transcriptional regulator which coordinates gene expression programs controlling cancer biology, inflammation, and fibrosis. In the context of airway viral infection, BRD4-specific inhibitors (BRD4i) block the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and prevent downstream epithelial plasticity. Although the chromatin modifying functions of BRD4 in inducible gene expression have been extensively investigated, its roles in post-transcriptional regulation are not well understood.

The effectiveness of COVID deaths to COVID policies: A robust conditional approach.

This paper examines the effectiveness of four major COVID-19 social distancing policies, (i) shelter-in-place orders (SIPO), (ii) non-essential business closures, (iii) mandatory quarantine for travelers, and (iv) bans on large gatherings, on both COVID cases and COVID deaths. Results indicate that states are highly ineffective in producing the fraction of the population that does not have COVID-19 or the fraction of the population that does not die from COVID-19. We find that having any form of social distancing policies increases the fraction of the population not considered a positive COVID-19 case by 23.

Effect of collaborative dementia care on potentially inappropriate medication use: Outcomes from the Care Ecosystem randomized clinical trial.

Introduction: Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) cause adverse events and death. We evaluate the Care Ecosystem (CE) collaborative dementia care program on medication use among community-dwelling persons living with dementia (PLWD).

Methods: Secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial (RCT) comparing CE to usual care (UC) on changes in PIMs, over 12 months between March 2015 and May 2020.