Background: Exercise during pregnancy and breastfeeding after pregnancy both positively influence a number of infant outcomes. However, whether physical activity during late pregnancy and breastfeeding postpartum influence motor development in the offspring at 4 months of age is unknown. Research Aim: The purposes of this study were to investigate the relationships between several important modifiable factors (i.e., maternal physical activity during late pregnancy and breastfeeding after pregnancy) on infant motor development at 4 months of age. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three women-infant pairs participated in this prospective longitudinal study. Maternal physical activity was assessed during late pregnancy with wrist-worn accelerometers for 7 consecutive days. Surveys were provided to determine infant feeding practices and other variables that could influence infant motor development. A pediatric board-certified physical therapist assessed infant motor development at 4 months using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale. Results: Infants who were exclusively breastfed had the highest motor development percentiles when compared with those whose mothers were supplementing with or using formula exclusively (exclusive breastfeeding: 64.3 -20.1, combination of mother's own milk and formula: 43.5 -5.0, exclusive formula: 31.5 -15.1, p = 0.001). No associations between physical activity levels during late pregnancy and infant motor development percentiles at 4 months were found (sedentary time: r = -0.057, p = 0.75; light activity: r = -0.074, p = 0.68; moderate activity: r = -0.094, p = 0.60). Conclusions: Infants who were exclusively breastfed had higher motor development percentiles at 4 months of age than those infants whose mothers supplemented with or used formula exclusively. Physical activity levels during late pregnancy were not related to infant motor development percentiles, which suggests that physical activities do not appear to be harmful to infant motor development.

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Early diagnosis of Stroke is challenging due to a lack of dependable diagnostic tests. Currently, the mainstay in early detection is by monitoring health an individual through traditional risk factors such as hypertension. Seeking new determinants, relevant to millennial life style, is therefore warranted. This study reveals new Stroke Analysis Markers (SAM) including Phosphodiesterase-4D involved in cardioembolic stroke. In addition to traditional factors, new millennial risk factors such as molecular and cellular determinants were studied based on 68 years of stroke research data from 1951 to 2019. The rs152312 SNP from stroke patients of deCODE was queried in eNSEMBL, BLAST and other databases to study PDE4D isoforms. In addition, the role of infection, immune cells, inflammation, gut microbial dysbiosis, the prevalence pattern of stroke in geographically different populations were analyzed. This study identified five new millennial risk factors as potentially helpful Stroke Analysis Markers for stroke by conjoining them as a single set of five parasol factors. They include genomic, microbiologic, immunologic, socio-epigenetic factors including two contig and alternative splicing markers along with their prevalence patterns among various populations. Taking appropriate preventive management by monitoring these new risk factors in high-risk individuals during annual checkup could help physicians to make an informed decision. Though significant challenges remain to be solved further large-scale studies on parasol factors will certainly unlock the secrets of early prediction of stroke.