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In a sample of 28 individuals cohabiting with a partner in NYC, Boston, or Chicago, this study tested whether implementation of stay-home orders to combat the spread of COVID-19 disrupted physical activity and whether high-quality romantic relationships buffered adverse effects. Participants provided FitBit data between February and October, 2020. Stay-home orders were associated with a reduction in daily step counts, B = −1595.72, p = 0.018, increased sedentary minutes, B = 33.75, p = 0.002, and reduced daily minutes of light and moderate physical activity, B = –25.01, p = 0.011; B = –0.72, p = 0.021. No moderation effects emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Advances in diagnostic imaging have increased the recognition of coexisting transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR‐CA) and severe aortic stenosis (AS), with a reported prevalence between 8–16%. In this prospective study, we aimed to evaluate the implications of ATTR‐CA on outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Methods and results: At two academic centres, we screened patients with severe AS undergoing TAVR for ATTR‐CA. Using Kaplan–Meier analysis, we compared survival free from death and a combined endpoint of death and first heart failure hospitalization between patients with and without ATTR‐CA. Cox proportional‐hazards models were used to determine the association of ATTR‐CA with these endpoints. The rate of heart failure hospitalization was compared amongst those with and without ATTR‐CA. Overall, 204 patients (83 years, 65% male, Society of Thoracic Surgeons score 6.6%, 72% New York Heart Association class III/IV) were included, 27 (13%) with ATTR‐CA. Over a median follow‐up of 2.04 years, there was no difference in mortality (log rank, P = 0.99) or the combined endpoint (log rank, P = 0.79) between patients with and without ATTR‐CA. In Cox proportional‐hazards models, the presence of ATTR‐CA was not associated with death. However, patients with ATTR‐CA had increased rates of heart failure hospitalization at 1 year (0.372 vs. 0.114 events/person‐year, P < 0.004) and 3 years (0.199 vs. 0.111 events/person‐year, P = 0.087) following TAVR. Conclusion: In moderate‐risk patients with severe AS undergoing TAVR, there was a 13% prevalence of ATTR‐CA, which did not affect mortality. The observed increase in heart failure hospitalization following TAVR in those with ATTR‐CA suggests the consequences of the underlying infiltrative myopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To examine the relationship of parental sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) attitudes with SSB consumption during the first 1000 days of life—gestation to age 2 years. Methods. We studied 394 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)–enrolled families during the first 1000 days of life in northern Manhattan, New York, in 2017. In regression models, we assessed cross-sectional relationships of parental SSB attitude scores with habitual daily parent SSB calories and infant SSB consumption, adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Results. Each point higher parental SSB attitude score was associated with lower parental SSB consumption (–14.5 median kcals; 95% confidence interval [CI] = −22.6, −6.4). For infants, higher parental SSB attitude score was linked with lower odds of infant SSB consumption (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.71, 0.99), and adjustment for socioeconomic factors slightly attenuated results (AOR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.71, 1.02). Conclusions. During the first 1000 days of life, greater negativity in parental attitudes toward SSB consumption was associated with fewer parental calories consumed from SSBs and lower likelihood of infant SSB consumption. Public Health Implications. Parental attitudes toward SSBs should be targeted in future childhood obesity interventions during pregnancy and infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including disease aggravation in Parkinson's disease (PD), but associations with specific PM 2.5 components have not been evaluated. To characterize the association between specific PM 2.5 components and PD first hospitalization, a surrogate for disease aggravation. We obtained data on hospitalizations from the New York Department of Health Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (2000–2014) to calculate annual first PD hospitalization counts in New York State per county. We used well-validated prediction models at 1 km2 resolution to estimate county level population-weighted annual black carbon (BC), organic matter (OM), nitrate, sulfate, sea salt (SS), and soil particle concentrations. We then used a multi-pollutant mixed quasi-Poisson model with county-specific random intercepts to estimate rate ratios (RR) of one-year exposure to each PM 2.5 component and PD disease aggravation. We evaluated potential nonlinear exposure–outcome relationships using penalized splines and accounted for potential confounders. We observed a total of 197,545 PD first hospitalizations in NYS from 2000 to 2014. The annual average count per county was 212 first hospitalizations. The RR (95% confidence interval) for PD aggravation was 1.06 (1.03, 1.10) per one standard deviation (SD) increase in nitrate concentrations and 1.06 (1.04, 1.09) for the corresponding increase in OM concentrations. We also found a nonlinear inverse association between PD aggravation and BC at concentrations above the 96th percentile. We found a marginal association with SS and no association with sulfate or soil exposure. In this study, we detected associations between the PM 2.5 components OM and nitrate with PD disease aggravation. Our findings support that PM 2.5 adverse effects on PD may vary by particle composition. • Analysis of long-term exposure to specific PM2.5 components and Parkinson's disease (PD) aggravation in New York State. • Not all PM2.5 components were positively associated with PD aggravation. • Long-term exposure to PM2.5 organic matter and nitrate were specifically associated with PD aggravation. • PM2.5 composition may influence its effect on PD aggravation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term temperature variability has been consistently associated with mortality, with limited evidence for cardiovascular outcomes. Previous studies have used multiple metrics to measure temperature variability; however, those metrics do not capture hour-to-hour changes in temperature. We assessed the correlation between sub-daily temperature-change-over-time metrics and previously-used metrics, and estimated associations with myocardial infarction (MI) hospitalizations. Hour-to-hour change-over-time was measured via three metrics: 24-hr mean absolute hourly first difference, 24-hr maximum absolute hourly first difference, and 24-hr mean hourly first difference. We first assessed the Spearman correlations between these metrics and four previously-used metrics (24-hr standard deviation of hourly temperature, 24-hr diurnal temperature range, 48-hr standard deviation of daily minimal and maximal temperatures, and 48-hr difference of daily mean temperature), using hourly data from the North America Land Data Assimilation System-2 Model. Subsequently, we estimated the association between these metrics and primary MI hospitalization in adult residents of New York State for 2000–2015 using a time-stratified case-crossover design. The hour-to-hour change-over-time metrics were correlated, but not synonymous, with previously-used metrics. We observed 809,259 MI, 45% of which were among females and the mean (standard deviation) age was 70 (15). An increase from mean to 90th percentile in mean absolute first difference of temperature was associated with a 2.04% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.30–2.78%) increase in MI rate. An increase from mean to 90th percentile in mean first difference also yielded a positive association (1.86%; 95%CI: 1.09–2.64%). We observed smaller- or similar-in-magnitude positive associations for previously-used metrics. First, short-term hour-to-hour temperature change was positively associated with MI risk. Second, all other variability metrics yielded positive associations with MI, with varying magnitude. In future research on temperature variability, researchers should define their research question, including which aspects of variability they intend to measure, and apply the appropriate metric. All metrics of temperature variability, including short-term hour-to-hour temperature changes, were positively associated with MI risk, though the magnitude of effect estimates varied by metric. • Temperature variability exposure includes how temperature changes over time. • Hour-to-hour change in ambient temperature was associated with myocardial infarction. • All of the examined metrics of temperature variability were positively associated with myocardial infarction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]