Susceptible windows of prenatal and postnatal fine particulate matter exposures and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in early childhood

Few prior studies have explored windows of susceptibility to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in both the prenatal and postnatal periods and children's attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. We analyzed data from 1416 mother-child pairs from the Spanish INMA (INfancia y Medio Ambiente) Study (2003–2008). Around 5 years of age, teachers reported the number of ADHD symptoms (i.e., inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity) using the ADHD Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Around 7 years of age, parents completed the Conners' Parent Rating Scales, from which we evaluated the ADHD index, cognitive problems/inattention, hyperactivity, and oppositional subscales, reported as age- and sex-standardized T-scores. Daily residential PM2.5 exposures were estimated using a two-stage random forest model with temporal back-extrapolation and averaged over 1-week periods in the prenatal period and 4-week periods in the postnatal period. We applied distributed lag non-linear models within the Bayesian hierarchical model framework to identify susceptible windows of prenatal or postnatal exposure to PM2.5 (per 5-μg/m3) for ADHD symptoms. Models were adjusted for relevant covariates, and cumulative effects were reported by aggregating risk ratios (RRcum) or effect estimates (βcum) across adjacent susceptible windows. A similar susceptible period of exposure to PM2.5 (1.2–2.9 and 0.9–2.7 years of age, respectively) was identified for hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms assessed ~5 years (RRcum = 2.72, 95% credible interval [CrI] = 1.98, 3.74) and increased hyperactivity subscale ~7 years (βcum = 3.70, 95% CrI = 2.36, 5.03). We observed a susceptibility period to PM2.5 on risk of hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms ~5 years in gestational weeks 16–22 (RRcum = 1.36, 95% CrI = 1.22, 1.52). No associations between PM2.5 exposure and other ADHD symptoms were observed. We report consistent evidence of toddlerhood as a susceptible window of PM2.5 exposure for hyperactivity in young children. Although mid-pregnancy was identified as a susceptible period of exposure on hyperactivity symptoms in preschool-aged children, this association was not observed at the time children were school-aged.</p

Susceptible windows of exposure to fine particulate matter and fetal growth trajectories in the Spanish INMA (INfancia y Medio Ambiente) birth cohort

While prior studies report associations between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure and fetal growth, few have explored temporally refined susceptible windows of exposure.We included 2328 women from the Spanish INMA Project from 2003 to 2008. Longitudinal growth curves were constructed for each fetus using ultrasounds from 12, 20, and 34 gestational weeks. Z-scores representing growth trajectories of biparietal diameter, femur length, abdominal circumference (AC), and estimated fetal weight (EFW) during early (0-12 weeks), mid-(12-20 weeks), and late (20-34 weeks) pregnancy were calcu-lated. A spatio-temporal random forest model with back-extrapolation provided weekly PM2.5 exposure estimates for each woman during her pregnancy. Distributed lag non-linear models were implemented within the Bayesian hierarchical framework to identify susceptible windows of exposure for each outcome and cumulative effects [13cum, 95% credible interval (CrI)] were aggregated across adjacent weeks. For comparison, general linear models evaluated associations between PM2.5 averaged across multi-week periods (i.e., weeks 1-11, 12-19, and 20-33) and fetal growth, mutually adjusted for exposure during each period. Results are presented as %change in z-scores per 5 mu g/m3 in PM2.5, adjusted for covariates.Weeks 1-6 [13cum =-0.77%, 95%CrI (-1.07%,-0.47%)] were identified as a susceptible window of exposure for reduced late pregnancy EFW while weeks 29-33 were positively associated with this outcome [13cum = 0.42%, 95%CrI (0.20%, 0.64%)]. A similar pattern was observed for AC in late pregnancy. In linear regression models, PM2.5 exposure averaged across weeks 1-11 was associated with reduced late pregnancy EFW and AC; but, positive associations between PM2.5 and EFW or AC trajectories in late pregnancy were not observed.PM2.5 exposures during specific weeks may affect fetal growth differentially across pregnancy and such as-sociations may be missed by averaging exposure across multi-week periods, highlighting the importance of temporally refined exposure estimates when studying the associations of air pollution with fetal growth

Exposure to natural environments during pregnancy and birth outcomes in 11 european birth cohorts

Research suggests that maternal exposure to natural environments (i.e., green and blue spaces) promotes healthy fetal growth. However, the available evidence is heterogeneous across regions, with very few studies on the effects of blue spaces. This study evaluated associations between maternal exposure to natural environments and birth outcomes in 11 birth cohorts across nine European countries. This study, part of the LifeCycle project, was based on a total sample size of 69,683 newborns with harmonised data. For each participant, we calculated seven indicators of residential exposure to natural environments: surrounding greenspace in 100m, 300m, and 500m using Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) buffers, distance to the nearest green space, accessibility to green space, distance to the nearest blue space, and accessibility to blue space. Measures of birth weight and small for gestational age (SGA) were extracted from hospital records. We used pooled linear and logistic regression models to estimate associations between exposure to the natural environment and birth outcomes, controlling for the relevant covariates. We evaluated the potential effect modification by socioeconomic status (SES) and region of Europe and the influence of ambient air pollution on the associations. In the pooled analyses, residential surrounding greenspace in 100m, 300m, and 500m buffer was associated with increased birth weight and lower odds for SGA. Higher residential distance to green space was associated with lower birth weight and higher odds for SGA. We observed close to null associations for accessibility to green space and exposure to blue space. We found stronger estimated magnitudes for those participants with lower educational levels, from more deprived areas, and living in the northern European region. Our associations did not change notably after adjustment for air pollution. These findings may support implementing policies to promote natural environments in our cities, starting in more deprived areas. © 2022Funding text 1: This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (LIFECYCLE, grant agreement No 733206; EUCAN-Connect grant agreement No 824989). ISGlobal acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and State Research Agency through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. For more information of each cohort individual funding, see Supplementary Material s, Information S2. ; Funding text 2: We would like to thanks to all the mothers, fathers, and children for their generous contribution as participants in the cohorts that are part of the LifeCycle project. For more information of each cohort individual acknowledgment, see Supplementary Materials, Information S1. This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (LIFECYCLE, grant agreement No 733206; EUCAN-Connect grant agreement No 824989). ISGlobal acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and State Research Agency through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. For more information of each cohort individual funding, see Supplementary Materials, Information S2. DAL has received support from Medtronic Ltd and Roche Diagnostics for research unrelated to this study. All the other authors declare that they have no competing interests

National and firm-level drivers of the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers

Multinational companies must understand the influences on responsibility for managing people so that they can manage talent consistently thus ensuring that it is transferable across locations. We examine the impact of firm and national level characteristics on the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers. Our analysis draws on data from 2335 indigenous organizations in 21 countries. At the firm level, we found that where the HR function has higher power, devolution is less likely. At the national level, devolution of decision making to line management is more likely in societies with more stringent employment laws and lower power distance

Advancing tools for human early lifecourse exposome research and translation (ATHLETE)

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Early life stages are vulnerable to environmental hazards and present important windows of opportunity for lifelong disease prevention. This makes early life a relevant starting point for exposome studies. The Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome Research and Translation (ATHLETE) project aims to develop a toolbox of exposome tools and a Europe-wide exposome cohort that will be used to systematically quantify the effects of a wide range of community- and individual-level environmental risk factors on mental, cardiometabolic, and respiratory health outcomes and associated biological pathways, longitudinally from early pregnancy through to adolescence. Exposome tool and data development include as follows: (1) a findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable (FAIR) data infrastructure for early life exposome cohort data, including 16 prospective birth cohorts in 11 European countries; (2) targeted and nontargeted approaches to measure a wide range of environmental exposures (urban, chemical, physical, behavioral, social); (3) advanced statistical and toxicological strategies to analyze complex multidimensional exposome data; (4) estimation of associations between the exposome and early organ development, health trajectories, and biological (metagenomic, metabolomic, epigenetic, aging, and stress) pathways; (5) intervention strategies to improve early life urban and chemical exposomes, co-produced with local communities; and (6) child health impacts and associated costs related to the exposome. Data, tools, and results will be assembled in an openly accessible toolbox, which will provide great opportunities for researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders, beyond the duration of the project. ATHLETE’s results will help to better understand and prevent health damage from environmental exposures and their mixtures from the earliest parts of the life course onward.European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 874583—the Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome Research and Translation (ATHLETE) project; Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2012-10995) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance; Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2012-10995) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R21ES029681, R01ES029944, R01ES030364, R01ES030691, and P30ES007048); National Institutes of Health supported Dr. Conti (P01CA196569, R01CA140561) and Dr. Stratakis (P30DK048522); National Institute for Health Research under its Applied Research Collaboration Yorkshire and Humber; Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC-2014-CoG-648916); European Union’s Horizon 2020 co-funded programme European Research Area Net on Biomarkers for Nutrition and Health (European Research Area Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life) (Early life programming of childhood health project [number 696295; 2017], ZonMW, The Netherlands [number 529051014; 2017]; Agence Nationale de Securite Sanitaire de l’Alimentation de l’Environnement et du Travail (EST-18 RF-25)

Evaporitic traces in the Upper Albian of Bi Haizpeak / Dos Hermanas (Aralar, Nafarroa): palaeotectonic implications

Pétrographie analysis of a thin (50 cm) bed from the Upper Albian Bi Haizpeak/Dos Hermanas (Aralar) unit, has shown signs and traces of evaporitic minerals. These features mainly consist of gypsum inclusions, micritic feplacements of gypsum crystals, and authigenic quartz cristals with anhidrite and gypsum inclusions. This is the first reference to Albian evaporites in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin, wihch, on the other hand, were formed in a general humid climate. We attribute these sulphate minerals to anomalous sedimentary conditions, related to a pulse of local ascension ofKeuper salt through synsedimentary fault

The Aia-Zaldibia trough (Lower Aptian, Aralar, Gipuzkoa)

Detailed mapping, facies analysis and thickness distribution of a lower Aptian succession in the Aralar area, led to the establishment of a sedimentary trough for the early Aptian in the Aia-Zaldibia section. The trough was located on a carbonate platform and was filled with high energy mixed terrigenous and carbonate materials attributed to an estuarine environment. N-S oriented synsedimentary deep tectonic control is Invoked to explaint he trough origin and its developmen

ESC expert statement on the effects on mood of the natural cycle and progestin-only contraceptives

Hormonal fluctuations during the natural cycle, as well as progestins used for hormonal contraception, can exert effects on mood especially in vulnerable women. Negative effects of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine contraception on mood are rare