The association of perceived discrimination with dementia risk in Black older adults.

Introduction: Non-Hispanic Black, compared to non-Hispanic White, older adults are at increased risk for dementia. This may be due partly to greater exposure to psychosocial stressors, such as discrimination; however, few studies have examined this association.

Methods: We examined the association of perceived discrimination (e.

Differential Employment Quality and Educational Inequities in Mental Health: A Causal Mediation Analysis.

Background: In the United States, inequities in mental distress between those more and less educated have widened over recent years. Employment quality, a multidimensional construct reflecting the relational and contractual features of employer-employee relationships, may mediate this inequity throughout adulthood, yet no study has examined the extent of this mediation in the United States, or how it varies across racialized and gendered populations.

Methods: Using the information on working-age adults from the 2001 to 2019 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we construct a composite measure of employment quality via principal component analysis.

Should We Trust You? Strategies to Improve Access to Mental Healthcare to BIPOC Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities have weathered centuries of racism, causing transgenerational mental health consequences and hindering access to quality treatment. In this commentary, we describe the systemic challenges of engaging BIPOC to promote mental health equity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then describe an initiative that illustrates these strategies, provide recommendations and further readings for academic institutions seeking to partner with community organizations to provide equitable mental health services to populations that have been traditionally overlooked.

Intermediate and long-term exposure to air pollution and temperature and the extracellular microRNA profile of participants in the normative aging study (NAS).

Background: The molecular effects of intermediate and long-term exposure to air pollution and temperature, such as those on extracellular microRNA (ex-miRNA) are not well understood but may have clinical consequences.

Objectives: To assess the association between exposure to ambient air pollution and temperature and ex-miRNA profiles.

Methods: Our study population consisted of 734 participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS) between 1999 and 2015.

Association of gender-based violence with sexual and drug-related HIV risk among female sex workers who use drugs in Kazakhstan.

Background: Little is known about the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) or client violence, and associated HIV risk among women who engage in sex work (WESW) and use drugs in Kazakhstan, despite a growing HIV epidemic.

Methods: Women who reported engaging in sex work and using illicit drugs were recruited from Almaty and Temirtau, Kazakhstan between 2015 and 2017. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to determine prevalence and correlates of physical and sexual violence perpetrated by intimate partners and clients.

Methods for retrospectively improving race/ethnicity data quality: a scoping review.

Improving race and ethnicity (hereafter, race/ethnicity) data quality is imperative to ensure underserved populations are represented in data sets used to identify health disparities and inform health care policy. We performed a scoping review of methods that retrospectively improve race/ethnicity classification in secondary data sets. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, searches were conducted in the MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science Core Collection databases in July 2022.

Prenatal oxidative stress and rapid infant weight gain.

Background And Objectives: Infant weight patterns predict subsequent weight outcomes. Rapid infant weight gain, defined as a >0.67 increase in weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) between two time points in infancy, increases obesity risk.

Prenatal bisphenol A and S exposure and atopic disease phenotypes at age 6.

Background: Atopic disease may be influenced by prenatal and early life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, including bisphenols, but results from epidemiological studies have been mixed. This study aimed to extend the epidemiological literature, hypothesizing that children with higher prenatal bisphenol exposure are more likely to have childhood atopic disease.

Methods: Urinary bisphenol A (BPA) and S (BPS) concentrations were measured in each trimester from 501 pregnant women in a multi-center, prospective pregnancy cohort.

Impact of sedentary behavior and emotional support on prenatal psychological distress and birth outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Studies have reported mixed findings regarding the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on pregnant women and birth outcomes. This study used a quasi-experimental design to account for potential confounding by sociodemographic characteristics.

Methods: Data were drawn from 16 prenatal cohorts participating in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program.

Attitudes towards persons with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities as rights holders in Ghana: a World Health Organization study.

Background: There are currently major efforts underway in Ghana to address stigma and discrimination, and promote the human rights of those with mental health conditions, within mental health services and the community, working with the World Health Organization's QualityRights initiative. The present study aims to investigate attitudes towards people with lived experience of mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities as rights holders.

Methods: Stakeholders within the Ghanaian mental health system and community, including health professionals, policy makers, and persons with lived experience, completed the QualityRights pre-training questionnaire.

A Structured Process to Identify Fit-for-Purpose Study Design and Data to Generate Valid and Transparent Real-World Evidence for Regulatory Uses.

Generating evidence from real-world data requires fit-for-purpose study design and data. In addition to validity, decision makers require transparency in the reasoning that underlies study design and data source decisions. The 2019 Structured Preapproval and Postapproval Comparative Study Design Framework to Generate Valid and Transparent Real-World Evidence (SPACE) and the 2021 Structured Process to Identify Fit-For-Purpose Data (SPIFD)-intended to be used together-provide a step-by-step guide to identify decision grade, fit-for-purpose study design and data.

Prevalence of Substance Use Among Asian Sexual Minority Individuals in the United States, 2015-2020.

Asian sexual minorities (SMs) are an under-researched population. SMs are at higher risk for substance use problems than heterosexuals, but little research exists specifically on Asians who are SM. This study compared the prevalence of substance use among Asian SMs and among adults by race/ethnicity and sexual identity in the US.

Stressful life events and accelerated biological aging over time in youths.

Experiencing adversity in childhood and adolescence, including stressful life events (SLEs), may accelerate the pace of development, leading to adverse mental and physical health. However, most research on adverse early experiences and biological aging (BA) in youths relies on cross-sectional designs. In 171 youths followed for approximately 2 years, we examined if SLEs over follow-up predicted rate of change in two BA metrics: epigenetic age and Tanner stage.

Estimates and Projections of the Global Economic Cost of 29 Cancers in 204 Countries and Territories From 2020 to 2050.

Importance: Cancers are a leading cause of mortality, accounting for nearly 10 million annual deaths worldwide, or 1 in 6 deaths. Cancers also negatively affect countries' economic growth. However, the global economic cost of cancers and its worldwide distribution have yet to be studied.

Prevalence and factors associated with adolescent pregnancies in Zambia: a systematic review from 2000-2022.

Background: Adolescent pregnancy increases risk of short- and long-term adverse social and health outcomes for the adolescent mother and child. Zambia has high prevalence rates of adolescent pregnancy. However, the risk factors are varied and in need of further review and research.

Perinatal Outcomes during versus Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Role of Maternal Depression and Perceived Stress: A Report from the ECHO Program.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on perinatal outcomes while accounting for maternal depression or perceived stress and to describe COVID-specific stressors, including changes in prenatal care, across specific time periods of the pandemic.

Study Design: Data of dyads from 41 cohorts from the National Institutes of Health Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program ( = 2,983) were used to compare birth outcomes before and during the pandemic ( = 2,355), and a partially overlapping sample ( = 1,490) responded to a COVID-19 questionnaire. Psychosocial stress was defined using prenatal screening for depression and perceived stress.

Manmade earthquakes and healthcare visits for anxiety disorders in Oklahoma, 2010-2019.

Unlabelled: Since 2010, seismicity in Oklahoma has increased from wastewater injection. It remains unknown if these earthquakes have resulted in increased treatment seeking for mental healthcare services.

Methods: Using data from a nationwide United States patient-level commercial and Medicare Advantage claims database from 2010 to 2019, we identified healthcare encounters for anxiety disorders using diagnostic codes and subclassified them as adjustment reaction; anxiety-related disorders; physical symptoms of anxiety; and stress disorders.

Individual blood concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and chemical elements, and COVID-19: A prospective cohort study in Barcelona.

Background: There is wide, largely unexplained heterogeneity in immunological and clinical responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Numerous environmental chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemical elements (including some metals, essential trace elements, rare earth elements, and minority elements), are immunomodulatory and cause a range of adverse clinical events. There are no prospective studies on the effects of such substances on the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19.

Impact of air pollution on running performance.

Air pollution exposures during training may impact race preformances. We aggregated data on 334 collegiate male track & field athletes from 46 universities across the United States over 2010-2014. Using distributed lag non-linear models, we analyzed the relationship between race time and PM, ozone, and two versions of the Air Quality Index (AQI) exposures up to 21 days prior to the race.

Wildfire smoke exposure and emergency department visits for headache: A case-crossover analysis in California, 2006-2020.

Objective: To evaluate the association of short-term exposure to overall fine particulate matter of <2.5 μm (PM ) and wildfire-specific PM with emergency department (ED) visits for headache.

Background: Studies have reported associations between PM exposure and headache risk.

Machine learning models of 6-lead ECGs for the interpretation of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).

Background: Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH) is closely linked to the cardiovascular disease prognosis, and thus, timely diagnosis improves outcomes. Diagnosis is challenging due to dependency on doctor's visits and a 12‑lead ECG. In addition, the interpretation of LVH from ECGs is challenging due to variability of ECG measurements, body habitus, electrode positioning, several LVH ECG criteria and EP mechanisms.

Short-term air pollution and temperature exposure and changes in the extracellular microRNA profile of Normative Aging Study (NAS) participants.

Background: While the health effects of air pollution and temperature are widely studied, the molecular effects are poorly understood. Extracellular microRNAs (ex-miRNAs) have the potential to serve as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers and/or to act as intercellular signaling molecules that mediate the effects of environmental exposures on health outcomes.

Methods: We examined the relationship between short-term exposure to air pollution and ambient temperature and the ex-miRNA profiles of participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS) from 1999 to 2015.

Recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin and gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist differently affect the profile of extracellular vesicle microRNAs in human follicular fluid.

Purpose: To compare the expression profile of extracellular vesicle microRNAs (EV-miRNAs) derived from follicular fluid after a trigger with recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (r-hCG) or with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone GnRH agonist (GnRH-a) for final oocyte maturation.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort. Women undergoing in vitro fertilization at a tertiary university-affiliated hospital were recruited between 2014 and 2016.