Comparison of established and preliminarily proposed ASAS MRI working group cut-offs for inflammatory MRI lesions in the sacroiliac joints in radiographic and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis.

Background: A consensus definition for active sacroiliitis by MRI, mentioned in the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), was published in 2009 and included a qualitative and quantitative MRI cut-off component. In 2021, updates to the quantitative component were preliminarily proposed. This post hoc analysis of part A of the phase 3 open-label C-OPTIMISE study (NCT02505542) explores the differences by applying the 2009 and preliminary 2021 inflammatory cut-offs on clinical outcomes of axSpA patients treated with certolizumab pegol.

Improving traffic-related air pollution estimates by modelling minor road traffic volumes.

Accurately estimating annual average daily traffic (AADT) on minor roads is essential for assessing traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) exposure, particularly in areas where most people live. Our study assessed the direct and indirect external validity of three methods used to estimate AADT on minor roads in Melbourne, Australia. We estimated the minor road AADT using a fixed-value approach (assuming 600 vehicles/day) and linear and negative binomial (NB) models.

Associations between Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Cognitive Function in Australian Urban Settings: The Moderating Role of Diabetes Status.

Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is associated with lower cognitive function and diabetes in older adults, but little is known about whether diabetes status moderates the impact of TRAP on older adult cognitive function. We analysed cross-sectional data from 4141 adults who participated in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) study in 2011-2012. TRAP exposure was estimated using major and minor road density within multiple residential buffers.

Differences in psychosocial distress among rural and metropolitan health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The Australian COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Workers study examined the prevalence and severity of mental health symptoms during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This substudy examined the differences in psychological well-being between rural and metropolitan health care workers (HCWs).

Design: A nationwide survey conducted between August and October 2020.

Vegetation and vehicle emissions around primary schools across urban Australia: associations with academic performance.

Background: Evolving evidence suggests that vegetation surrounding schools is beneficial to children's academic performance, however vehicle emissions are adversely related. Little is known about concurrent impacts of vegetation and vehicle emissions on academic performance. This study examined associations of vegetation and vehicle emissions near urban Australian primary schools with children's academic performance.

Outdoor particulate matter exposure and upper respiratory tract infections in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: While the relationship between outdoor particulate matter (PM) and lower respiratory tract infections in children and adolescents is accepted, we know little about the impacts of outdoor PM on the risk of developing or aggravating upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs).

Methods: We aimed to review the literature examining the relationship between outdoor PM exposure and URTIs in children and adolescents. A systematic search of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL and Web of Science databases was undertaken on April 3, 2020 and October 27, 2021.

A systematic review of the evidence of outdoor air pollution on asthma hospital visits in children and adolescents in South Asia - a call for data.

Outdoor air pollution and childhood asthma are increasing problems in South Asian countries. However, little is known about the associations between levels of air pollution and severe childhood asthma requiring hospital treatment in these regions. We undertook a systematic review to assess the evidence between outdoor air pollution exposure and childhood and adolescent asthma hospitalization in South Asia.

Urban Neighbourhood Environments, Cardiometabolic Health and Cognitive Function: A National Cross-Sectional Study of Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Australia.

Population ageing and urbanisation are global phenomena that call for an understanding of the impacts of features of the urban environment on older adults' cognitive function. Because neighbourhood characteristics that can potentially have opposite effects on cognitive function are interdependent, they need to be considered in conjunction. Using data from an Australian national sample of 4141 adult urban dwellers, we examined the extent to which the associations of interrelated built and natural environment features and ambient air pollution with cognitive function are explained by cardiometabolic risk factors relevant to cognitive health.

From urban neighbourhood environments to cognitive health: a cross-sectional analysis of the role of physical activity and sedentary behaviours.

Background: There is a dearth of studies on the effects of the neighbourhood environment on adults' cognitive function. We examined how interrelated aspects of the built and natural neighbourhood environment, including air pollution, correlate with adults' cognitive function, and the roles of physical activity and sedentary behaviours in these associations.

Methods: We used data from 4,141 adult urban dwellers who participated in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle 3 study on socio-demographic characteristics, neighbourhood self-selection, physical activity and sedentary behaviours, and cognitive function.

Parental Preconception Exposures to Outdoor Neighbourhood Environments and Adverse Birth Outcomes: A Protocol for a Scoping Review and Evidence Map.

Parental preconception exposures to built and natural outdoor environments could influence pregnancy and birth outcomes either directly, or via a range of health-related behaviours and conditions. However, there is no existing review summarising the evidence linking natural and built characteristics, such as air and noise pollution, walkability, greenness with pregnancy and birth outcomes. Therefore, the planned scoping review aims to collate and map the published literature on parental preconception exposures to built and natural outdoor environments and adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes.

The impact of Traffic-Related air pollution on child and adolescent academic Performance: A systematic review.

Background: The negative health impacts of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) have been investigated for many decades, however, less attention has been paid to the effect of TRAP on children's academic performance. Understanding the TRAP-academic performance relationship will assist in identifying mechanisms for improving students' learning and aid policy makers in developing guidance for protecting children in school environments.

Methods: This systematic review assessed the relationship between TRAP and academic performance.

Associations of traffic-related air pollution and greenery with academic outcomes among primary schoolchildren.

Background: There is preliminary evidence that greenery/greenspace around schools may be positively associated with children's cognitive development and academic outcomes, whereas traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) may have a detrimental effect. Few studies have examined pathways between both exposures and academic outcomes. This study aimed to assess associations between greenery, road traffic density (a proxy for TRAP) surrounding primary (elementary) schools, and academic achievement of primary schoolchildren in Melbourne, Australia.

Development of Measures of Perceived Neighborhood Environmental Attributes Influencing, and Perceived Barriers to Engagement in, Healthy Behaviors for Older Chinese Immigrants to Australia.

Environmental correlates, barriers, and facilitators of physical activity, healthy eating, and socializing are understudied in older immigrants to developed countries. This study developed/adapted and validated measures of perceived barriers and neighborhood environmental characteristics related to these health-enhancing behaviors appropriate for older Chinese immigrants to Australia and similar Western countries. Older Chinese immigrants living in Melbourne (Australia) were recruited from neighborhoods varying in walkability and percentage of Chinese residents.

The Role of Traffic-Related Air Pollution on Neurodegenerative Diseases in Older People: An Epidemiological Perspective.

Traffic-related air pollution is ubiquitous and almost impossible to avoid. It is important to understand the role that traffic-related air pollution may play in neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, particularly among older populations and at-risk groups. There is a growing interest in this area among the environmental epidemiology literature and the body of evidence identifying this role is emerging and strengthening.

Is short-term exposure to grass pollen adversely associated with lung function and airway inflammation in the community?

Background: The association between grass pollen exposure and early markers of asthma exacerbations such as lung function changes and increase in airway inflammation is limited. We investigated the associations between short-term grass pollen exposure and lung function and airway inflammation in a community-based sample, and whether any such associations were modified by current asthma, current hay fever, pollen sensitization, age, and other environmental factors.

Methods: Cross-sectional and short-term analyses of data from the Melbourne Atopy Cohort Study (MACS) participants (n = 936).

International Mind, Activities and Urban Places (iMAP) study: methods of a cohort study on environmental and lifestyle influences on brain and cognitive health.

Introduction: Numerous studies have found associations between characteristics of urban environments and risk factors for dementia and cognitive decline, such as physical inactivity and obesity. However, the contribution of urban environments to brain and cognitive health has been seldom examined directly. This cohort study investigates the extent to which and how a wide range of characteristics of urban environments influence brain and cognitive health via lifestyle behaviours in mid-aged and older adults in three cities across three continents.

Air pollution is associated with depressive symptoms in elderly women with cognitive impairment.

Background: Studies on air pollution and depression in the elderly are limited and the results are heterogeneous.

Objectives: We examined the association of ambient air pollution exposure and diagnosis and symptoms of depression in the elderly; and whether any associations were confounded or modified by cognitive decline.

Methods: We enrolled 821 elderly women from the German SALIA cohort (follow-up examination, 2007-2010).

Effects of opioid receptor ligands in rats trained to discriminate 22 from 2 hours of food deprivation suggest a lack of opioid involvement in eating for hunger.

It is well accepted that opioids promote feeding for reward. Some studies suggest a potential involvement in hunger-driven intake, but they suffer from the scarcity of methodologies differentiating between factors that intersect eating for pleasure versus energy. Here, we used a unique food deprivation discrimination paradigm to test a hypothesis that, since opioids appear to control feeding reward, injection of opioid agonists would not produce effects akin to 22 h of food deprivation.

Association between fire smoke fine particulate matter and asthma-related outcomes: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Asthma-related outcomes are regularly used by studies to investigate the association between human exposure to landscape fire smoke and health. Robust summary effect estimates are required to inform health protection policy for fire smoke exposure.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the association between short-term exposure to landscape fire smoke (LFS) fine particulate matter (PM) and asthma-related outcomes.

Outdoor fungal spores and acute respiratory effects in vulnerable individuals.

Background: Many outdoor fungal spores are ubiquitous, respirable and possibly allergenic. They may contribute to asthma symptoms; however, little is known about their effects on respiratory function.

Objective: To investigate if outdoor fungal spore levels were associated with lung function or airway inflammation, and whether fungal sensitization or current asthma modified any associations.

Greenspace and Atopic Sensitization in Children and Adolescents-A Systematic Review.

In the last decade, studies investigating greenspace have highlighted several benefits to human health. However, the effect of greenspace on allergies and atopic sensitization in children was not clear. While several studies have investigated this link, the evidence has not been systematically synthesized.

High ambient levels of grass, weed and other pollen are associated with asthma admissions in children and adolescents: A large 5-year case-crossover study.

Background: Pollen is an important aeroallergen that triggers asthma exacerbations in children, but we know little about the impact of different pollen types in cities with varying climatic conditions and pollen seasons.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the role of ambient level of different types of pollen on a large time series of child and adolescent asthma hospitalizations in Sydney, Australia.

Methods: Childhood asthma hospitalization and the daily ambient pollen concentrations of different species were collected in South-West Sydney.

Air Pollution and Otitis Media in Children: A Systematic Review of Literature.

Young children are particularly vulnerable to otitis media (OM) which globally affects over 80% of children below the age of 3 years. Although there is convincing evidence for an association between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and OM in children, the relationship with ambient air pollution is not clear. We aimed to systematically review the literature on the relationship between ambient air pollution exposure and OM in children.