Critical Assessment of the Recommended Alert Limit Curves for Occupational Heat Exposure.

Background: Occupational heat stress recommendations aim to achieve thermal equilibrium and keep core temperature (T) below 38.0°C. We assessed the recommended alert limit curves when: (1) work-rest ratios are adjusted based on wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) at a fixed rate of metabolic heat production (H) and (2) H is adjusted based on WBGT at a fixed work-rest ratio.

Multiple maternal occupational exposures during pregnancy and intrauterine growth: analysis of the French Longitudinal Study of Children - ELFE cohort, using data-driven approaches.

Objective: To use data-driven approaches to investigate maternal multi-occupational exposures during pregnancy and their effects on intrauterine growth.

Methods: Maternal occupational exposure to 47 factors during pregnancy was evaluated with job-exposure matrices in the French ELFE cohort. The outcomes of interest were birthweight (BW), small for gestational age (SGA) and head circumference (HC).

Fractures are Highly Correlated with Bone Density and Inversely Correlated with Bone Turnover Markers in Autosomal Dominant Osteopetrosis.

Autosomal Dominant Osteopetrosis (ADO) is a rare, osteosclerotic disorder usually caused by missense variants in the CLCN7 gene, resulting in impaired osteoclastic bone resorption. Penetrance is incomplete and disease severity varies widely, even among relatives within the same family. Although ADO can cause visual loss, osteonecrosis, osteomyelitis, and bone marrow failure, the most common complication of ADO is fracture.

Understanding intimate partner reproductive coercion: a qualitative assessment responding to methodologic demands of health equity research.

Objective: To generate formative data for conceptualization of intimate partner reproductive coercion (RC) as part of a health equity approach to antiviolence research and clinical interventions.

Study Design: This qualitative study recruited 11 RC researchers from a national cohort and 20 community members from a state-wide research panel to participate in individual semi-structured interviews or video-conferencing community discussions. We analyzed data using modified grounded theory and the Framework Method.

Negative descriptors in electronic health records of patients with diabetes.

Background: Negative descriptors in electronic health records (EHR) contribute to worse health outcomes; studies show they are also more prevalent in EHRs of women and racial minorities and affect downstream research biases. Similar and unique patterns of negative descriptors may also exist in the records of blind patients, including those with diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is a preventable but leading cause of blindness in the US that is disproportionally high among women and racial and ethnic minorities.

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Discrimination, Nativity, and Associations with Tobacco and Cannabis Use Among Black Young Adults in the U.S.

Objective: Adverse experiences during childhood (ACEs) and other adversities, such as experiences of discrimination are important risk factors for substance use, particularly among Black individuals in the United States (U.S.).

A novel two-sample Mendelian randomization framework integrating common and rare variants: application to assess the effect of HDL-C on preeclampsia risk.

Mendelian randomization (MR) has become an important technique for establishing causal relationships between risk factors and health outcomes. By using genetic variants as instrumental variables, it can mitigate bias due to confounding and reverse causation in observational studies. Current MR analyses have predominantly used common genetic variants as instruments, which represent only part of the genetic architecture of complex traits.

The relationship between rural residence and cervical cancer screening in three sub-Saharan countries with different national screening policies.

Purpose: To compare cervical cancer screening prevalence between urban and rural women aged 30-49 years in three sub-Saharan African countries chosen by their country-specific screening strategy (Burkina Faso, which has a systematic population-based cervical cancer screening programme in place; Tanzania, where opportunistic screening options only are implemented; and Ghana, which has implemented neither one).

Methods: We used the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys data from Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tanzania. We restricted our analysis to women aged 30-49 eligible for cervical cancer screening and categorised them by their place of residence as urban or rural.

Menopause Is Not Associated with Asthma or Severe Asthma.

The effect of menopause on asthma outcomes is confounded by age, obesity, and female sex hormone use. A better understanding of this complex relationship between aging, inflammation, and hormone use is needed to guide future personalized approaches in asthma care.

Use of Co-Design Approaches to Identify Barriers to Health-Promoting Behaviors among African American Breast Cancer Survivors with Comorbid Obesity.

Approximately 90% of African American patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer have multimorbidity - with obesity as one of the most common conditions. Obesity is related to negative impacts across all aspects of cancer care as well as more adverse side effects of cancer treatment. African American breast cancer survivors (BCS) show higher incidences of chronic conditions, like obesity, with barriers to body wellness.

Association of Early Pregnancy HbA1c Levels with Perinatal and Postpartum Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes.

Many pregnancies are unexpected. We therefore assessed the impact of an early pregnancy HbA1c above or below non-pregnant targets on perinatal outcomes and HbA1c trajectories throughout pregnancy and 12 months postpartum among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D).We conducted a retrospective cohort study of pregnant individuals with T2D.

Evaluating the effectiveness of international travel controls to identify MPXV-infected travelers: a simulation study.

Background: In August 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency due to the rapid spread of mpox in Africa and beyond. International travel controls (ITCs), such as health screening and viral testing, could help avoid/delay the global spread of MPXV, fostering preparedness and response efforts. However, it is not clear whether the viral tests at immigration are sufficient to avoid introduction of MPXV and which samples should be used on the viral tests.

Sexual Consent Cognitions and Consent-Seeking Behaviors Among U.S. Adolescents.

Sexual consent is an ongoing agreement to engage in sexual behavior, requiring individuals to provide consent when sexual behavior is desired and seek consent from partners. While many initiate sexual activity during adolescence, adolescents remain mostly absent from the sexual consent literature. No work has explored consent cognitions and behaviors across adolescents of diverse gender and sexual identities.

Gentrification influences mosquito community composition at neighborhood and county levels in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Gentrification is occurring across urban areas in the United States and poses threats to marginalized and vulnerable communities through displacement, disruption of social networks, and worsening health outcomes. Gentrification is both a social and environmental process, affecting socioecological factors responsible for driving mosquito abundance and community composition. Our study aims to investigate how gentrification in Miami-Dade County, Florida, affects the alpha and beta diversity of mosquito communities.

The Global Matrix of Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents in Latin America: trends, successes and challenges in practice and surveillance.

Objective: To synthesize the grades of physical activity (PA) indicators for children and adolescents (5-17 years) in Latin American countries; explore the social determinants of health (SDoH) for PA indicators; and identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to improve PA levels.

Method: Participating Latin American countries graded a set of common PA indicators following the harmonized methodology established by the Global Matrix initiative. Cross-sectional (2014, 2016, 2018, 2022) and time trend (2018-2022) data were synthesized within and between countries for each PA indicator.

Change in Head Impact Exposure following Return-to-Sport in Concussed Football Athletes.

Purpose: Following sport-related concussions, early head impact exposure and premature return-to-sport are known to increase risk of repeat concussion in football athletes, yet athletes' true post-injury head impact exposure profiles (i.e., characteristics of recorded head impacts over a given time period) and biomechanical progression have not been explored.

Sex, hormones, and lung health.

Sex plays an essential role as a biological variable in lung health, leading to observed differences in lung disease susceptibility. Some respiratory conditions are more common in women than men, especially after puberty, indicating the influence of ovarian hormones on disease mechanisms. Other conditions display sex disparities that begin in utero and progress throughout the life span.

Probabilistic Risk Assessment Approaches Better Protect Susceptible Populations.

Across all of its program areas, the United States Environmental Protection Agency conducts risk assessments to evaluate the potential adverse effects of environmental hazards on ecological and human health. Traditionally, these assessments rely on deterministic methods that use point estimates for key parameters and incorporate uncertainty factors and precautionary assumptions to account for uncertainties in data and variability in environmental conditions, exposure pathways, and population characteristics. However, these approaches are unnecessarily conservative for the general population yet fail to transparently account for the vulnerabilities of susceptible populations.

Opioid overdose and naloxone administration knowledge and perceived competency in a probability sample of Indiana urban communities with large Black populations.

Background: Opioid overdose deaths pose a serious public health concern in the United States, with disproportionately higher rates of increase among Black Americans despite expanded naloxone access. Improving community knowledge and confidence in naloxone use may be critical to reducing these disparities.

Objective: This study assessed individual- and community-level factors associated with knowledge and perceived competency in managing opioid overdose and administering naloxone among urban Indiana residents.

The real-world association between male circumcision and risk of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa: a household fixed-effects analysis of 279,351 men from 29 countries.

Introduction: While voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) reduces the individual-level risk of HIV acquisition by approximately 60% in randomised-controlled trials, little is known about the 'real-world' long-term effect of medical and traditional male circumcision on the cumulative risk of HIV infection. We estimate the association between these for the first time using a quasi-experimental study design-a household fixed-effects analysis-for sub-Saharan Africa, the global region with the largest HIV burden.

Methods: We pooled individual-level cross-sectional data from the nationally-representative Demographic and Health Surveys and AIDS Indicator Surveys across all sub-Saharan African countries in which the surveys included data on both male circumcision and HIV status.

Comparison of two measurement error-correction approaches for assessing the association between choline intake and coronary heart disease prevalence among US community-dwelling adults.

Purpose: This study compared two measurement error-correction approaches-linear mixed-effects approach to measurement error-correction (MEM) and simulation-extrapolation (SIMEX)-for assessing the association between choline intake and coronary heart disease (CHD) prevalence among United States (US) community-dwelling adults.

Methods: Simulations were conducted to evaluate the performances of five estimation approaches: benchmark analysis, 1-day method, average method (AveMethod), MEM, and SIMEX. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were analyzed to determine the relationship between choline intake and CHD prevalence using these methods.