Explanipedia

Using low-cost sensors and GPS to assess spatiotemporal variations in personal exposure to PM2.5 in the Washington State Twin Registry Open

Ningrui Liu, Ally R. Avery, Elena Austin, John Scott Meschke, Nicola K. Beck , et al. · 2025

Epidemiological studies typically rely on exposure assessments based on ambient PM_2.5 concentrations at participants' home addresses. However, these approaches neglect personal exposures indoors and across different non-resident…

Longitudinal Association Between Walkability and Physical Activity in Twins Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Matthew Pilgrim, Ofer Amram, Stephen J. Mooney , et al. · 2025

This study supports a quasi-causal relationship between changes in neighborhood walkability and changes in neighborhood walking, extending previous cross-sectional findings in the same twin cohort by establishing temporality.

Using low-cost sensors and GPS to assess spatiotemporal variations in personal exposure to PM<sub>2.5</sub>in the Washington State Twin Registry Open

Ningrui Liu, Ally R. Avery, Elena Austin, John Scott Meschke, Nicola K. Beck , et al. · 2025

Epidemiological studies typically rely on exposure assessments based on ambient PM 2.5 concentrations at participants' home addresses. However, these approaches neglect personal exposures indoors and across different non-residential microe…

Epigenome-wide association study of systemic effects of obesity susceptibility in human twins Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Millissia Ben Maamar, Eric Nilsson, Daniel Beck , et al. · 2023

The current study was designed to use an epigenome-wide association approach (EWAS) to identify potential systemic DNA methylation alterations that are associated with obesity using 22 discordant twin pairs. Buccal cells (from a cheek swab…

Cross-Sectional Study of Location-Based Built Environments, Physical Activity, Dietary Intake, and Body Mass Index in Adult Twins Open

Glen E. Duncan, Feiyang Sun, Ally R. Avery, Philip M. Hurvitz, Anne Vernez Moudon , et al. · 2023

We examined relationships between walkability and health behaviors between and within identical twin pairs, considering both home (neighborhood) walkability and each twin’s measured activity space. Continuous activity and location data (vi…

Epigenome-wide association study of systemic effects of obesity susceptibility in human twins Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Millissia Ben Maamar, Eric Nilsson, Daniel Beck , et al. · 2023

The current study was designed to use an epigenome-wide association approach (EWAS) to identify potential systemic DNA methylation alterations that are associated with obesity using 22 discordant twin pairs. Buccal cells (from a cheek swab…

Epigenome-wide association study of physical activity and physiological parameters in discordant monozygotic twins Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Jennifer L. M. Thorson, Eric Nilsson, Daniel Beck , et al. · 2022

Measuring and modelling perceptions of the built environment for epidemiological research using crowd-sourcing and image-based deep learning models Open

Andrew Larkin, Ajay Krishna, Lizhong Chen, Ofer Amram, Ally R. Avery , et al. · 2022

Bring Your Own Location Data: Use of Google Smartphone Location History Data for Environmental Health Research Open

Perry Hystad, Ofer Amram, Funso Oje, Andrew Larkin, Kwadwo Boakye , et al. · 2022

We believe collecting GLH data is a feasible and cost-effective method for capturing retrospective time-activity patterns for large populations that presents new opportunities for environmental epidemiology. Cohort studies should consider …

The pillars of health: influence of multiple lifestyle behaviors on body mass index and depressive symptoms in adult twins Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Siny Tsang, Nathaniel F. Watson, Bethany D. Williams , et al. · 2022

Background Guidelines promoting healthy lifestyles are cornerstones of chronic disease prevention and treatment. The purpose of this study is to investigate independent and joint associations of five key health behaviors with health outcom…

The Pillars of Health: Influence of Multiple Lifestyle Behaviors on Body Mass Index and Depressive Symptoms in Adult Twins Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Siny Tsang, Nathaniel F. Watson, Bethany Williams , et al. · 2022

Background: Guidelines promoting healthy lifestyles are cornerstones of chronic disease prevention and treatment. The purpose of this study is to investigate independent and joint associations of five key health behaviors with health outco…

Additional file 1 of The pillars of health: influence of multiple lifestyle behaviors on body mass index and depressive symptoms in adult twins Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Siny Tsang, Nathaniel F. Watson, Bethany D. Williams , et al. · 2022

Additional file 1. Appendix Material.

Changes in physical activity levels and mental health during COVID-19: Prospective findings among adult twin pairs Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Siny Tsang, Bethany D. Williams, Edmund Seto · 2021

Background Physical distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic mitigation strategies have negatively impacted physical activity (PA) levels and mental health in cross-sectional studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations…

Differences in Stress and Anxiety Among Women With and Without Children in the Household During the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic Open

Ally R. Avery, Siny Tsang, Edmund Seto, Glen E. Duncan · 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns have had a disproportionate impact on parents of children under 18, particularly women. Mandatory school closures and loss of childcare resulted in parents balancing work, teaching, and childca…

Measurement of neighborhood-based physical activity bouts Open

Glen E. Duncan, Philip M. Hurvitz, Anne Vernez Moudon, Ally R. Avery, Siny Tsang · 2021

This study examined how buffer type (shape), size, and the allocation of activity bouts inside buffers that delineate the neighborhood spatially produce different estimates of neighborhood-based physical activity. A sample of 375 adults wo…

Is COVID-19 Keeping us Up at Night? Stress, Anxiety, and Sleep Among Adult Twins Open

Siny Tsang, Ally R. Avery, Edmund Seto, Glen E. Duncan · 2021

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a variety of social distancing measures to mitigate the virus outbreak have been implemented. These measures may have unintended consequences on individuals’ well-being, such as increased stress, anxie…

Fear and depression linked to COVID-19 exposure A study of adult twins during the COVID-19 pandemic Open

Siny Tsang, Ally R. Avery, Glen E. Duncan · 2020

Stress, Anxiety, and Change in Alcohol Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings Among Adult Twin Pairs Open

Ally R. Avery, Siny Tsang, Edmund Seto, Glen E. Duncan · 2020

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted the lives of people worldwide since being declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Social restrictions aimed at flattening the curve may be associated with an increase in stress and anxiety, whic…

Perceived change in physical activity levels and mental health during COVID-19: Findings among adult twin pairs Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Edmund Seto, Siny Tsang · 2020

Strategies to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic may be impacting physical activity and mental health, with those experiencing a decrease in physical activity also having higher levels of stress and anxiety. These relationships are confounded …

The Washington State Twin Registry: 2019 Update Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Eric Strachan, Eric Turkheimer, Siny Tsang · 2019

It has been over 5 years since the last special issue of Twin Research and Human Genetics on ‘Twin Registries Worldwide: An Important Resource for Scientific Research’ was published. Much progress has been made in the broad field of twin r…

Heritability of Type 2 Diabetes in the Washington State Twin Registry Open

Ally R. Avery, Glen E. Duncan · 2019

Approximately 12% of U.S. adults have type 2 diabetes (T2D). Diagnosed T2D is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors including age and lifestyle. In adults 45 years and older, the Discordant Twin (DISCOTWIN) consortiu…

A Twin Study of Genetic Influences on Nephrolithiasis in Women and Men Open

David S. Goldfarb, Ally R. Avery, Lada Beara‐Lasić, Glen E. Duncan, Jack Goldberg · 2018

Usability of a Personal Air Pollution Monitor: Design-Feedback Iterative Cycle Study Open

Glen E. Duncan, Edmund Seto, Ally R. Avery, Mike Oie, Graeme Carvlin , et al. · 2018

Both qualitative and quantitative measures showed an improvement in device usability over the 3 waves. This study demonstrates how the design-feedback iterative cycle can be used to improve the usability of devices manufactured for use in …

Cohort Profile: TWINS study of environment, lifestyle behaviours and health Open

Glen E. Duncan, Ally R. Avery, Philip M. Hurvitz, Anne Vernez Moudon, Siny Tsang , et al. · 2018

Usability of a Personal Air Pollution Monitor: Design-Feedback Iterative Cycle Study (Preprint) Open

Glen E. Duncan, Edmund Seto, Ally R. Avery, Mike Oie, Graeme Carvlin , et al. · 2018

BACKGROUND There is considerable evidence that exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution is associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes. However, true exposure-outcome associations are hampered by measurement issu…

DNA methylation associated with healthy aging of elderly twins Open

Sangkyu Kim, Jennifer Wyckoff, Anne-T Morris, Annemarie Succop, Ally R. Avery , et al. · 2018

0177 Sleep and Resilient Coping: A Twin Study Open

Catherine McCall, Eric Turkheimer, Siny Tsang, Ally R. Avery, Glen E. Duncan , et al. · 2018

Stress and trauma increase vulnerability to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While some individuals develop adverse outcomes after trauma, others recover from, or even thrive after extreme adversity. Sleep influences t…

Heritability of pain catastrophizing and associations with experimental pain outcomes Open

Zina Trost, Eric Strachan, Michael Sullivan, Tine Vervoort, Ally R. Avery , et al. · 2015

This study used a twin paradigm to examine genetic and environmental contributions to pain catastrophizing and the observed association between pain catastrophizing and cold-pressor task (CPT) outcomes. Male and female monozygotic (n = 206…

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