Are Neighborhood Greenspaces Associated with Leisure-time Physical Activity? Results from ELSA-Brasil Eight-year Follow-up.

We investigated whether neighborhood greenspaces were associated with physical activity in adulthood over 3 cohort visits after considering perceived safety and neighborhood contextual factors. We also evaluated whether the association with greenspace varied by neighborhood socioeconomic status. Participants (N = 4,800) from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) residing in two Brazilian state capitals were evaluated in Visits 1 (2008-2010), 2 (2012-2014) and 3 (2017-2019). Greenspaces were categorized by quintiles of positive Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) scores. Physical activity frequency was given by the number of visits at which participants reported moderate/vigorous physical activity (none, 1 or 2, and 3 visits). We used multinomial logistic regression. After adjustment for age, sex, education, research center, residence in slums, individuals in the 4th and 5th NDVI quintiles showed 73% higher odds of physical activity over 3 visits than those in the 1st quintile (4th quintile: 95%CI = 1.24-2.43; 5th quintile: 95%CI = 1.24-2.41). The strength of the association was attenuated after adjustment for perceived safety. After adjustment for contextual factors quantity of sidewalks and streetlights, the OR for the 4th and 5th NDVI quintiles decreased to 1.66 (95%CI = 1.18-2.33) and 1.62 (95%CI = 1.16-2.28), respectively. Finally, after including average household income per capita, the OR for physical activity in 3 visits for the 4th and 5th NDVI quintiles decreased to 1.48 (95%CI = 1.04-2.12) and 1.43 (95%CI = 1.00-2.04; p = 0.053), respectively. Greater greenspace contributed to sustained physical activity during the eight years of follow-up, indicating the potential contribution of public greenspaces to reducing health-related inequalities.

Short-term passive greenspace exposures have little effect on nasal microbiomes: A cross-over exposure study of a Maori cohort.

Indigenous health interventions have emerged in New Zealand aimed at increasing people's interactions with and exposure to macro and microbial diversity. Urban greenspaces provide opportunities for people to gain such exposures. However, the dynamics and pathways of microbial transfer from natural environments onto a person remain poorly understood. Here, we analysed bacterial 16S rRNA amplicons in air samples (n = 7) and pre- and post-exposure nasal samples (n = 238) from 35 participants who had 30-min exposures in an outdoor park. The participants were organised into two groups: over eight days each group had two outdoor park exposures and two indoor office exposures, with a cross-over study design and washout days between exposure days. We investigated the effects of participant group, location (outdoor park vs. indoor office), and exposures (pre vs. post) on the nasal bacterial community composition and three key suspected health-associated bacterial indicators (alpha diversity, generic diversity of Gammaproteobacteria, and read abundances of butyrate-producing bacteria). The participants had distinct nasal bacterial communities, but these communities did not display notable shifts in composition following exposures. The community composition and key health bacterial indicators were stable throughout the trial period, with no clear or consistent effects of group, location, or exposure. We conclude that 30-min exposure periods to urban greenspaces are unlikely to create notable changes in the nasal microbiome of visitors, which contrasts with previous research. Our results suggest that longer exposures or activities that involves closer interaction with microbial rich ecological components (e.g., soil) are required for greenspace exposures to result in noteworthy changes in the nasal microbiome.

Blue skies: Does the visual composition of sky guide subjective judgments of naturalness in the environment?

Expanding on previous findings, that highlighted the significance of sky in environmental perception, our analysis investigated whether the visual composition of the sky shapes perceptions of environmental naturalness. The study employed a novel, free-selection task in which participants viewed a series of environmental images with varying levels of natural and urban elements, as well as different sky visibility conditions, and were asked to identify "nature" within these images. The task procedure also involved subjective ratings of each scene. Using previously gathered data, we reassessed 105 participants' selection of the sky as "nature" across 96 photos of diverse outdoor scenes to understand which visuospatial features influence these perceptions. Utilizing the Boruta feature selection algorithm, we identified key characteristics-fractal dimensions, brightness, and entropy in brightness, hue, and saturation-that significantly predicted the selection of sky as "nature", irrespective of the environment type (urban or natural). Results indicated that lower fractal dimensions are preferred for sky selected as "nature", inversely affecting the naturalness judgment of scenes with the additional effect of brightness. These findings enhance our understanding of how visuospatial features influence environmental perception, offering implications for future research directions and theoretical advancements in understanding environmental perception.

Various ambient air pollutants, residential green spaces, fibrosis 4 scores, genetic susceptibility, and risk of severe liver disease.

BACKGROUND: The relationship of air pollutants and residential exposure to greenspace with severe liver disease remains inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to assess the relationship of joint exposure to air pollutants, residential exposure to greenspaces with new-onset severe liver disease. METHODS: We included 427,697 participants without prior liver diseases from UK Biobank. A weighted air pollution score was calculated based on PM2.5, PM10, PM2.5-10, NO2, and NOX. The percentage of land coverage by residential greenspaces was estimated using land use data. The primary outcome was new-onset severe liver disease, defined as a composite outcome including hospitalization or death due to compensated or decompensated liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 12.0 years, 4572 participants developed severe liver disease. A higher air pollution score was significantly associated with an increased risk of new-onset severe liver disease (per SD increment; adjusted hazard ratio [HR],1.07; 95% confidence interval [CI],1.04-1.10). Moreover, residential greenspace coverage was inversely associated with new-onset severe liver disease (per SD increment; adjusted HR, 0.95; 95% CI,0.92-0.98). Genetic risks of liver cirrhosis did not significantly modify the associations (both P-interactions >0.05). However, we observed a stronger positive association between air pollution scores and new-onset severe liver disease in individuals with higher fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) scores, lower residential greenspaces, hypertension, and smokers (all P-interactions <0.05). Similarly, a more pronounced inverse association between residential exposure to greenspaces and new-onset severe liver disease was found in smokers and individuals with higher FIB-4 scores (both P-interactions<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a positive association between air pollution scores and the risk of new-onset severe liver disease, while residential greenspaces show an inverse association. These results underscore the importance of maintaining high exposure to green space and reducing air pollution to prevent serious liver disease.

Exploring public values through Twitter data associated with urban parks pre- and post- COVID-19.

Since school and business closures due to the evolving COVID-19 outbreak, urban parks have been a popular destination, offering spaces for daily fitness activities and an escape from the home environment. There is a need for evidence for parks and recreation departments and agencies to base decisions when adapting policies in response to the rapid change in demand and preferences during the pandemic. The application of social media data analytic techniques permits a qualitative and quantitative big-data approach to gain unobtrusive and prompt insights on how parks are valued. This study investigates how public values associated with NYC parks has shifted between pre- COVID (i.e., from March 2019 to February 2020) and post- COVID (i.e., from March 2020 to February 2021) through a social media microblogging platform -Twitter. A topic modeling technique for short text identified common traits of the changes in Twitter topics regarding impressions and values associated with the parks over two years. While the NYC lockdown resulted in much fewer social activities in parks, some parks continued to be valued for physical activity and nature contact during the pandemic. Concerns about people not keeping physical distance arose in parks where frequent human interactions and crowding seemed to cause a higher probability of the coronavirus transmission. This study demonstrates social media data could be used to capture park values and be specific per park. Results could inform park management during disruptions when use is altered and the needs of the public may be changing.

Urban-Related Environmental Exposures during Pregnancy and Placental Development and Preeclampsia: a Review.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To summarize the current knowledge of the pathophysiological implications and the clinical role of urban-related environmental exposures in pregnancy. RECENT FINDINGS: The ongoing urbanization worldwide is leading to an increasing number of pregnant women being exposed to higher levels of urban-related environmental hazards such as air pollution and noise and, at the same time, having less contact with natural environments. Pregnancy represents a particular and vulnerable life period both for women and their children. Extensive physiological and metabolic changes, as well as changes to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems during pregnancy, could result in increased sensitivity to damage by environmental factors. Exposure to air pollution and noise is associated with placental dysfunction and damage, which, in turn, could lead to maternal complications such as preeclampsia. In contrast, more contact with greenspace during pregnancy seems to mitigate these adverse impacts. These findings open up new challenges for our understanding of the potential effect of urban living on placental function and preeclampsia, and offer new clinical and research opportunities.

Influences of Outdoor Experiences During Childhood on Time Spent in Nature as an Adult.

Introduction: Time spent in nature provides myriad physical and mental health benefits for both adults and children. Despite these benefits, most people spend too little time in nature to realize the maximal effect. Different types of childhood experiences may have differential influence on adult time in nature. This study assessed the influences of different kinds of childhood outdoor experiences on time spent in nature as an adult. The first aim was to utilize 20 childhood nature experience items to construct summative scales. The second aim was to examine the influence of each scale and other factors on adult time in nature. Methods: A 2-factor scale measuring wild and domesticated childhood nature experiences was developed using principal and confirmatory factor analyses. An online study of 2,109 American adults was conducted. Multiple linear regression examined the influences of the 2 childhood nature experiences scales, attitude and self-efficacy scales, and sex and age covariates on adult time spent in nature. Results: Significant predictors of adult time in nature were wild childhood nature experiences (ß=0.279, p<0.001), positive attitudes about nature (ß=0.12, p<0.05), negative attitudes about nature (ß= -0.23, p<0.001), and self-efficacy (ß=0.71, p<0.001). Conclusions: Wild childhood nature experiences (e.g., camping, hiking, and fishing) that include skill building, that are immersive and engaging, and that involve opportunity for social interaction may translate better into adult nature activities. Programs that introduce and support wild experiences may increase lifelong time spent in nature.

Exposure to greenspaces sourced soils improves mice gut microbiota.

Greenspaces are important components of our living environment and have been linked to various human health. However, the mechanisms underlying the linkages remain unclear. Enriching microbiota has emerged as a novel mechanism, but the corresponding evidence is still limited. We collected soil samples from forest land, grassland, and barren land in Zunyi City, southwestern China and prepared soil solutions. A total of 40 BALB/c mice were evenly divided into normal control group, model control group, forest soil group, grassland soil group, and barren land soil group. After establishing the pseudo germ-free mouse model, different soil solutions were administered through gavage, lasting for seven weeks. Fecal samples were collected and a 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing analysis was performed. Then, alpha- and beta-diversity were calculated and employed to estimate the effects of soil exposures on mice gut microbial diversity and composition. Further, Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis was carried out to evaluate the effects of soil exposures on gut microbiota specific genera abundances and functional pathways. Compared to mice exposed to barren land soils, those exposed to soils sourced from forest land showed an increase of 0.43 and 70.63 units in the Shannon index and the Observed ASVs, respectively. In addition, exposure to soils sourced from forest land and grassland resulted in healthier changes (i.e., more short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)-producing bacteria) in gut microbiota than those from barren land. Furthermore, mice exposed to forest soil and grassland soil showed enrichment in 5 and 3 pathways (e.g., butanoate metabolism) compared to those exposed to barren land soil, respectively. In conclusion, exposure to various greenspaces soils may modify the gut microbial communities of mice, potentially fostering a more beneficial microbiota profile. Further better-designed studies are needed to validate the current findings and to explore the effects of greenspace related gut microbiota on human health.

Do greenspaces really reduce heat health impacts? Evidence for different vegetation types and distance-based greenspace exposure.

BACKGROUND: While vegetation type, population density and proximity to greenspaces have been linked to human health, what type and location of greenspace matter most have remained unclear. In this context, there are question marks over investment-style metrics. OBJECTIVES: This paper aims at establishing what vegetation type may matter most in modifying heat-mortality associations, and what the optimal buffer distances of total and specific types of greenspace exposure associated with reduced heat-related mortality risks are. METHODS: We conducted small-area analyses using daily mortality data for 286 Territory Planning Units (TPUs) across Hong Kong and 1 × 1 km gridded air temperature data for the summer months (2005-2018). Using a case time series design, we examined effect modifications of total and specific types of greenspaces, as well as population-weighted exposure at varying buffer distances (200-4000 m). We tested the significance of effect modifications by comparing relative risks (RRs) between the lowest and highest quartiles of each greenspace exposure metric; and explored the strength of effect modifications by calculating the ratio of RRs. RESULTS: Forests, unlike grasslands, showed significant effect modifications on heat-mortality associations, with RRs rising from 0.98 (95 %CI: 0.92,1.05) to 1.06 (1.03, 1.10) for the highest to lowest quartiles (p-value = 0.037) The optimal distances associated with the most apparent effects were around 1 km for population-weighted exposure, with the ratio of RRs being 1.424 (1.038,1.954) for NDVI, 1.191 (1.004,1.413) for total greenspace, and 1.227 (1.024,1.470) for forests. A marked difference was observed in terms of the paired area-level and optimal distance-based exposure to total greenspace and forests under extreme heat (p-values < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that greenspace, particularly nearby forests, may significantly mitigate heat-related mortality risks.