Vanishing twins, selection , and infant mortality in the United States.

Background And Objectives: Research to identify fetal predictors of infant mortality among singletons born in the United States (US) concludes that poorly understood and unmeasured "confounders" produce a spurious association between fetal size and infant death. We argue that these confounders include Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS)-the clinical manifestation of selection against frail male twins . We test our argument in 276 monthly conception cohorts conceived in the US from January 1995 through December 2017.

Ultra-processed food consumption and overweight in children, adolescents and young adults: Long-term data from the Kiel Obesity Prevention Study (KOPS).

Objective: The aim was to assess ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption, its impact on overweight and its association with weight trends from childhood and adolescence to young adulthood.

Methods: Long-term UPF consumption (13.3 years) by NOVA was analysed (children/adolescents and adults, n = 182) in the Kiel Obesity Prevention Study (KOPS, n = 10 750).

The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and Birth Outcomes Among Hispanic Mothers in California: A Sibling Control Design.

Background: Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) during pregnancy appears to reduce risks of preterm birth and low birthweight. Many pregnant women who receive WIC benefits, however, also participate in Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California). This co-participation raises the question of whether WIC per se confers these perinatal health benefits.

Vanishing twins, spared cohorts, and the birthweight of periviable infants born to Black and white women in the United States.

Pregnancies ending before 26 weeks contribute 1% of births but 40% of infant deaths in the United States. The rate of these "periviable" births to non-Hispanic (NH) Black women exceeds four times that for NH whites. Small male periviable infants remain most likely to die.

Integrated single-cell RNA-seq analysis reveals mitochondrial calcium signaling as a modulator of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

Endothelial cells (ECs) are highly plastic, capable of differentiating into various cell types. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is crucial during embryonic development and contributes substantially to vascular dysfunction in many cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). While targeting EndMT holds therapeutic promise, understanding its mechanisms and modulating its pathways remain challenging.

Male twinning after the 2008 Obama election: A test of symbolic empowerment.

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the first Black President of the United States. His campaign and electoral win served as a symbol of hope for a more just future, fostering an "Obama effect" that appears associated with improved well-being among non-Hispanic (NH) Black communities. Situating the Obama election within the symbolic empowerment framework, we consider the potentially protective role of the Obama election on NH Black fetal death, an important but understudied measure of perinatal health that has stark racial disparities.

Dynamic changes in place-based measures of structural racism and preterm birth in the USA.

Background: Structurally racist systems, ideologies and processes generate and reinforce inequities among minoritised racial/ethnic groups. Prior cross-sectional literature finds that place-based structural racism, such as the Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE), correlates with higher infant morbidity and mortality. We move beyond cross-sectional approaches and examine whether a decline in place-based structural racism over time coincides with a reduced risk of preterm birth across the USA.

The impact of two types of COVID-19-related discrimination and contemporaneous stressors on Chinese immigrants in the US South.

The global rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an increase in anti-Asian discrimination with potentially deleterious effects on individuals of Asian descent. In the present study, we examine how two types of COVID-19-related anti-Asian discrimination and other contemporaneous stressors independently contribute to perceptions of stress in a population-representative sample of Chinese immigrants in North Carolina, as well as the moderating role of ethnic identity on the association between COVID-related discrimination and stress. Analyses rely on data collected among participants ages 18+ in the Chinese Immigrants in Raleigh-Durham (ChIRDU) study who completed surveys in 2018 and during the COVID-19 pandemic (July-September 2020).

Corrigendum to "Overcrowding and COVID-19 mortality across U.S. counties: Are disparities growing over time?" [SSM-Population Health 15 (2021) 100845].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.

Using Social Networks to Sample Migrants and Study the Complexity of Contemporary Immigration: An Evaluation Study.

We test the effectiveness of a link-tracing sampling approach-network sampling with memory (NSM)-to recruit samples of rare immigrant populations with an application among Chinese immigrants in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. NSM uses the population network revealed by data from the survey to improve the efficiency of link-tracing sampling and has been shown to substantially reduce design effects in simulated sampling. Our goals are to (1) show that it is possible to recruit a probability sample of a locally rare immigrant group using NSM and achieve high response rates; (2) demonstrate the feasibility of the collection and benefits of new forms of network data that transcend kinship networks in existing surveys and can address unresolved questions about the role of social networks in migration decisions, the maintenance of transnationalism, and the process of social incorporation; and (3) test the accuracy of the NSM approach for recruiting immigrant samples by comparison with the American Community Survey.

Using Electronic Health Records to understand the population of local children captured in a large health system in Durham County, NC, USA, and implications for population health research.

Although local policies aimed at reducing childhood health inequities can benefit from local data, sample size constraints in population representative health surveys often prevent rigorous evaluations of child health disparities and health care patterns at local levels. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) offer a possible solution as they contain large amounts of information on pediatric patients within a health system. In this paper, we consider the suitability of using EHRs from a large health system to study local children's health by evaluating the extent to which the EHRs capture the county's child population.

Parental Death and Mid-adulthood Depressive Symptoms: The Importance of Life Course Stage and Parent's Gender.

Traditional theories of grief suggest that individuals experience short-term increases in depressive symptoms following the death of a parent. However, growing evidence indicates that effects of parental bereavement may persist. Situating the short- and long-term effects of parental death within the life course perspective, we assess the combined influence of time since loss and life course stage at bereavement on mental health for maternal and paternal death.

Material studies for the recycling of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG).

This study investigates the feasibility of material recycling for retrieved gillnets from the Baltic Sea collected during a campaign of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Germany. Fragments from the material were analysed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealing polyamide 6 (PA6), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in net material, swim lines and sink lines, respectively. A visual examination by microscope found large quantities of minerals attached to the surface of the material as well as in knots and loops of the polymer structure.

Overcrowding and COVID-19 mortality across U.S. counties: Are disparities growing over time?

A growing line of research underscores that sociodemographic factors may contribute to disparities in the impact of COVID-19. Further, stages of disease theory suggests that disparities may grow as the pandemic unfolds and more advantaged areas are better able to apply growing knowledge and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we focus on the role of county-level household overcrowding on disparities in COVID-19 mortality in U.

Marker-less online MR-guided stereotactic body radiotherapy of liver metastases at a 1.5 T MR-Linac - Feasibility, workflow data and patient acceptance.

Introduction: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an established ablative treatment for liver tumors with excellent local control rates. Magnetic resonance imaging guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) provides superior soft tissue contrast and may therefore facilitate a marker-less liver SBRT workflow. The goal of the present study was to investigate feasibility, workflow parameters, toxicity and patient acceptance of MRgSBRT on a 1.

Collected marine litter - A growing waste challenge.

Marine litter, in particular plastic debris, poses a serious threat to marine life, human health and the economy. In order to reduce its impact, marine litter collections such as beach clean-ups are frequently conducted. This paper presents a systematic review of temporal developments, geographical distribution, quantities and waste treatment pathways of collected marine litter.

Pre- and perinatal complications in relation to Tourette syndrome and co-occurring obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Pre- and perinatal complications have been implicated in the onset and clinical expression of Tourette syndrome albeit with considerable inconsistencies across studies. Also, little is known about their role in co-occurring obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in individuals with a tic disorder. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of pre- and perinatal complications in relation to the presence and symptom severity of chronic tic disorder and co-occurring OCD and ADHD using data of 1113 participants from the Tourette International Collaborative Genetics study.

Microplastic concentrations in beach sediments along the German Baltic coast.

The contamination with microplastic particles and fibres was evaluated on beaches along the German Baltic coast. Sediments were sampled near the Warnow and Oder/Peene estuaries, on Rügen island and along the Rostock coast to derive possible entry pathways. Seasonal variations were monitored along the Rostock coast from March to July 2014.

Combined epidural analgesia and general anesthesia induce ischemia distal to a severe coronary artery stenosis in swine.

Epidural analgesia combined with general anesthesia may improve cardiac function and reduce the work of the heart by decreasing the rate pressure product. However, the effect of this combined technique has not been studied in the presence of severe coronary artery stenosis. Therefore, we investigated epidural analgesia combined with general anesthesia in a swine model with a tight coronary artery stenosis.

Expression of a chimaeric granule-bound starch synthase-GUS gene in transgenic potato plants.

Granule-bound starch synthase is the key enzyme in amylose synthesis. The regulation of this gene was investigated using a chimaeric gene consisting of a 0.8 kb 5' upstream sequence of the granule-bound starch synthase gene from potato and the beta-glucuronidase gene which was introduced into potato using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary vector system.

Hypokalemia in rats produces resistance to dysrhythmias under halothane anesthesia.

The arrhythmogenic threshold was investigated during acute and chronic hypokalemia under halothane anesthesia with an epinephrine challenge in the rat model. It was hypothesized that in the setting of severe hypokalemia, general anesthesia would be arrhythmogenic and would be exaggerated with increased levels of catecholamines. Rats were divided into four groups as follows: normokalemic control (group I, n = 10), acute hypokalemia with furosemide (group II, n = 16), acute hypokalemia with hyperventilation (group III, n = 18), and chronic hypokalemia induced by a low potassium (K+) diet (group IV, n = 22).

The effect of arterial pressure alterations during halothane anesthesia on residual flow and infarct size with transient regional ischemia of the dog.

The present study was designed to determine if infarct size under halothane anesthesia could be reduced by increasing the pressure gradient across the collateral vascular bed, thereby increasing flow within the occluded vascular bed. Forty-nine mongrel dogs were anesthetized with halothane under identical physiologic conditions with the exception of systemic arterial blood pressure. The control group of 18 animals anesthetized with halothane was compared to two experimental groups.

Cardiovascular effects and placental passage of dantrolene in the maternal-fetal sheep model.

Using the chronic maternal-fetal sheep preparation, nine pregnant ewes were studied to determine the effects of intravenous dantrolene sodium on maternal and fetal physiology, with particular reference to its placental passage, and its effects on uterine blood flow and uterine tone. Two doses of dantrolene sodium were studied: 1.2 mg/kg and 2.