Environmental and dietary factors associated with urinary OH-PAHs in mid-pregnancy in a large multi-site study.

Background: PAH exposure is associated with adverse health outcomes, but exposure sources in pregnancy are not well-understood.

Objectives: We examined associations between urinary OH-PAHs during pregnancy and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and short-term ambient air pollution exposure. Participants included 1603 pregnant non-smokers in three cohorts from 7 sites across the USA.

Effectiveness of Original Monovalent and Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccines Against COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization and Severe In-Hospital Outcomes Among Adults in the United States, September 2022-August 2023.

Background: Assessments of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness are needed to monitor the protection provided by updated vaccines against severe COVID-19. We evaluated the effectiveness of original monovalent and bivalent (ancestral strain and Omicron BA.4/5) COVID-19 vaccination against COVID-19-associated hospitalization and severe in-hospital outcomes.

Urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolite concentrations in three pregnancy cohorts from 7 U.S. study sites.

Objective: Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is associated with adverse birth and developmental outcomes in children. We aimed to describe prenatal PAH exposures in a large, multisite U.S.

Effectiveness of Updated 2023-2024 (Monovalent XBB.1.5) COVID-19 Vaccination Against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB and BA.2.86/JN.1 Lineage Hospitalization and a Comparison of Clinical Severity - IVY Network, 26 Hospitals, October 18, 2023-March 9, 2024.

Background: Assessing COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) and severity of SARS-CoV-2 variants can inform public health risk assessments and decisions about vaccine composition. BA.2.

Considering occupational performance during recovery of distal radius fracture: A scoping review.

Introduction: Distal radius fracture (DRF) is one of the most common upper extremity fractures treated by hand therapists and can lead to chronic physical impairment and reduced occupational performance. This scoping review aimed to reveal what is currently known about occupational performance following DRF and to explore if and how occupational performance is defined and considered in the research.

Methods: This review was guided by the PRISMA-Scoping review and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines.

Longitudinal study of birthweight, blood pressure, and markers of arterial stiffness in children age six among the TIDES cohort.

Objective: Although some studies have observed an association between birthweight and cardiovascular disease in adulthood, fewer have investigated whether birthweight is linked to cardiovascular health in early childhood. This study assesses the association between birthweight and cardiovascular outcomes in children 6 years of age.

Study Design: Birthweight, blood pressure (BP), and markers of arterial stiffness in children, including brachial artery distensibility and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), were obtained from 324 participants in The Infant Development and the Environment Study, a prospective multisite pregnancy cohort.

The Conflict between Regulatory Agencies over the 20,000-Fold Lowering of the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for Bisphenol A (BPA) by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Background: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommended lowering their estimated tolerable daily intake (TDI) for bisphenol A (BPA) 20,000-fold to . BPA is an extensively studied high production volume endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) associated with a vast array of diseases. Prior risk assessments of BPA by EFSA as well as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have relied on industry-funded studies conducted under good laboratory practice protocols (GLP) requiring guideline end points and detailed record keeping, while also claiming to examine (but rejecting) thousands of published findings by academic scientists.

Severity of Respiratory Syncytial Virus vs COVID-19 and Influenza Among Hospitalized US Adults.

Importance: On June 21, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines for adults aged 60 years and older using shared clinical decision-making. Understanding the severity of RSV disease in adults can help guide this clinical decision-making.

Objective: To describe disease severity among adults hospitalized with RSV and compare it with the severity of COVID-19 and influenza disease by vaccination status.

Associations of prenatal ambient air pollution exposures with asthma in middle childhood.

We examined associations between prenatal fine particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO), and ozone (O) exposures and child respiratory outcomes through age 8-9 years in 1279 ECHO-PATHWAYS Consortium mother-child dyads. We averaged spatiotemporally modeled air pollutant exposures during four fetal lung development phases: pseudoglandular (5-16 weeks), canalicular (16-24 weeks), saccular (24-36 weeks), and alveolar (36+ weeks). We estimated adjusted relative risks (RR) for current asthma at age 8-9 and asthma with recent exacerbation or atopic disease, and odds ratios (OR) for wheezing trajectories using modified Poisson and multinomial logistic regression, respectively.

Ultra-processed and fast food consumption, exposure to phthalates during pregnancy, and socioeconomic disparities in phthalate exposures.

Background: Consuming ultra-processed foods may increase exposure to phthalates, a group of endocrine disruptors prevalent in food contact materials.

Objectives: Investigate associations between ultra-processed food intake and urinary phthalates during pregnancy, and evaluate whether ultra-processed foods mediate socioeconomic disparities in phthalate exposures.

Methods: In a socioeconomically diverse sample of 1031 pregnant women from the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) Study in the urban South, the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire was administered and urinary phthalate metabolites were measured in the second trimester.

Engineering Challenges and Opportunities in Autologous Cellular Cancer Immunotherapy.

The use of a patient's own immune or tumor cells, manipulated ex vivo, enables Ag- or patient-specific immunotherapy. Despite some clinical successes, there remain significant barriers to efficacy, broad patient population applicability, and safety. Immunotherapies that target specific tumor Ags, such as chimeric Ag receptor T cells and some dendritic cell vaccines, can mount robust immune responses against immunodominant Ags, but evolving tumor heterogeneity and antigenic downregulation can drive resistance.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Phthalate Exposure and Preterm Birth: A Pooled Study of Sixteen U.S. Cohorts.

Background: Phthalate exposures are ubiquitous during pregnancy and may contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in preterm birth.

Objectives: We investigated race and ethnicity in the relationship between biomarkers of phthalate exposure and preterm birth by examining: ) how hypothetical reductions in racial and ethnic disparities in phthalate metabolites might reduce the probability of preterm birth; and ) exposure-response models stratified by race and ethnicity.

Methods: We pooled individual-level data on 6,045 pregnancies from 16 U.

Vaccine Effectiveness Against Influenza A-Associated Hospitalization, Organ Failure, and Death: United States, 2022-2023.

Background: Influenza circulation during the 2022-2023 season in the United States largely returned to pre-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-pandemic patterns and levels. Influenza A(H3N2) viruses were detected most frequently this season, predominately clade 3C.2a1b.

"Palliative care is so much more than that": a qualitative study exploring experiences of hospice staff and bereaved carers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The way in which end-of-life care was provided changed significantly during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The national lockdown restrictions reduced formal care support services and increased the burden on many carers taking on the caring role for the first time. We aimed to explore decision-making about the place of care during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on experience from the perspectives of carers and hospice staff caring for people at the end-of-life.