Examining how changes in provincial policy on vape marketing impacted the distribution of vaping advertisements near secondary schools in London,Ontario

ObjectivesOn January 1, 2020, the Government of Ontario passed a regulation banning vaping advertisements by retailers, apart from specialty shops. A motivation for this ban was to limit youth exposure to vaping advertisements. The primary goal of this research was to evaluate the impact of this ban on the number and density of vaping advertisements surrounding secondary schools. Additionally, we examined whether the number of vaping advertisements varied by school socio-demographic characteristics.MethodsThis study used a pre-post design. Audits were conducted December 2019 (pre-ban) and again January to February 2020 (post-ban), to identify vaping advertisements within 800 m surrounding secondary schools (n = 18) in London, Ontario.ResultsPrior to the ban, there were 266 vaping advertisements within 800 m of secondary schools. After the ban, this was reduced to 58, a 78.2% reduction. The mean number of vaping advertisements surrounding schools significantly decreased from 18.1 before the ban to 3.6 after the ban (p < 0.001). A significant positive correlation was found, prior to the ban, between the number of vaping advertisements surrounding schools and school-level residential instability (r = 0.42, p = 0.02). After the ban, no significant correlations were found between the number of vaping advertisements and school socio-demographic characteristics.ConclusionThe provincial ban of vaping advertisements in select retail settings significantly reduced the number of vaping advertisements in the areas surrounding secondary schools in London, Ontario. The ban also reduced socio-demographic inequities in youths’ potential exposure to marketing of vaping products. Continued monitoring of the geographic accessibility and promotion of vaping products is warranted.     

Community Care for People with Chronic Conditions: An Analysis of Nine Studies of Health and Social Service Utilization in Ontario

A series of studies conducted in the same region found that programmatic, community-based health and social service interventions have a positive impact on client well-being. These proactive interventions, designed to address the full range of health and social needs, were usually provided at the same–or even lower–costs as uncoordinated, illness-focused care. The results of this series suggest that across-the-board health care reduction, atleast in a system of national health insurance, will produce poorer results, at higher cost, for people with chronic conditions living in the community. Policy planners need more research that concentrates on comparisons of outcomes between and within different models of health and social service delivery. The studies should be designed to help them determine who benefits from different serviceconfigurations carried out within a range of policy environments at various costs.     

Pilot study of a visitor volunteer programme for community elderly people receiving home health care

There is a need to evaluate community support programmes for elderly people. In this randomized control trial (RCT), we determined the effectiveness of 'friendly visitors' in a volunteer programme of a visiting nurses organization in Southern Ontario, Canada. The Volunteer Friendly Visitor Programme was developed to support elderly people receiving homemaking and nursing care in the community. Volunteers are screened, trained, interviewed and matched to homebound elderly clients for general interest, visit expectations and personality. Volunteers spend three to four hours on average per week with clients socializing in mutually agreed-upon ways. The nursing staff identified clients who were lonely for this additional support. These newly-referred clients were randomly allocated to receive a friendly visitor or not for six weeks. Those receiving the volunteer visitor improved in life satisfaction and two social support measures: worth and social integration. Thus, the addition of volunteer visitors to planned homemaking and nursing care made a difference for elderly in the community.     

Social difficulties and victimization in children with SLI at 11 years of age.

Specific language impairment is sometimes thought to be associated with concurrent difficulties in the area of social and behavioral development (N. Botting and G. Conti-Ramsden, 2000; D. P. Cantwell and L. Baker, 1987; M. Fujiki, B. Brinton, and C. Todd, 1996; S. Redmond and M. Rice, 1998). The present study follows a group of 242 children, initially studied at age 7 years when they attended language units in England, and assesses their social and behavioral status at age 11 years. In total, 64% of the children were found to have scores on the Rutter behavioral questionnaire (M. Rutter, 1967) of 9 or above (clinical threshold); 34% scored over the threshold for the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire (R. Goodman, 1997); and 39% scored below average on the Peer Competence subscale of the Harter Perceived Competence Scale (S. Harter and R. Pike, 1984). On further analysis, these generalized difficulties were characterized mainly by poor social competence. In addition, 36% of the cohort were at risk of being regular targets for victimization compared to 12% of a comparison sample of typically developing peers. Few associations were found between social outcome and other measures, including nonverbal intelligence, overall linguistic skill, gender, and longitudinal measures taken previously. Importantly, however, pragmatic language difficulties measured on the Children's Communication Checklist (D. V. M. Bishop, 1998) were most strongly related to poor social outcome and to expressive language related to victimization.     

A descriptive analysis of STD prevalence among urban pregnant African-American teens: data from a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among a sample of African-American adolescent females at the time of their first prenatal visit and to assess key characteristics of those testing positive for sexually transmitted diseases. The study also determined differences in these characteristics between adolescents who were and those who were not diagnosed with an STD. METHODS: One-hundred-and-seventy pregnant African-American adolescents (aged 14-20 years; mean = 17.5 years) receiving their first prenatal visit were recruited at a prenatal clinic located in a large urban hospital. Biological assessment included nucleic acid amplification testing for gonococcal, chlamydial, and trichomonal infections. Rapid plasma reagin testing assessed infection with syphilis. A self-administered survey and in-depth face-to-face interview were used to collect detailed information assessing adolescents' sociodemographic characteristics, psychosocial indices, and their recent sexual risk behaviors. Data were analyzed using Student's t-tests and contingency table analyses, respectively, for continuous and categorical variables. RESULTS: Overall, 23.5% tested positive for one of the four STDs. Thirteen percent were infected with Chlamydia trachomatis, 1.2% with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, 8.9% with Trichomonas vaginalis, and 1.2% with Treponema pallidum. More than one-half reported recent (past 6 months) treatment for an STD, 30% of these tested positive for at least one of the four STDs assessed. Adolescents testing positive for STDs held favorable attitudes toward condom use, but levels of sexual risk were generally high. There were no sociodemographic, psychosocial, and sexual-risk differences between those testing positive and negative. CONCLUSION: Findings support STD screening efforts targeting pregnant adolescents. Providing clinic-based counseling and prevention education programs to pregnant adolescents regardless of apparent risk factors may also be warranted.     

Factors associated with intention to receive vaccines for bacterial sexually transmitted infections among young HPV-vaccinated Canadian women

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore the acceptability of bacterial STI vaccines among young HPV-vaccinated Canadian women to inform future vaccine program implementation.MethodsA 20-item cross-sectional questionnaire was administered from June 2019 to June 2020 to HPV-vaccinated participants of the pan-Canadian QUEST cohort. Multivariable logistic regression models assessed interest in chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea vaccines using a priori variables and factors significant in bivariate analysis.ResultsOf the 1092 respondents analyzed, 82% indicated interest in receiving one or more future STI vaccines. Respondents had a median age of 19.6 years (range 16.9–23.4), and 75% of respondents identified as white/European descent. In adjusted analyses, intent to engage in positive health behaviours was associated with vaccine interest for syphilis (OR = 5.76, 95% CI 4.03–8.27), chlamydia (OR = 5.27, 95% CI 3.66–7.63), and gonorrhea (OR = 5.96, 95% CI 4.15–8.60). Willingness to pay for an STI vaccine was also associated with vaccine interest for syphilis (OR = 2.02, 95% CI 1.29–3.19), chlamydia (OR = 2.41, 95% CI 1.50–3.90), and gonorrhea (OR = 2.29, 95% CI 1.44–3.63). Ever having sexual intercourse and identifying as LGBTQ were significantly associated with vaccine interest for all infections, while age and ever being immunosuppressed were not significant in any adjusted models.ConclusionFindings indicate over 80% of participants in a cohort of young HPV-vaccinated Canadian women are interested in receiving future bacterial STI vaccines. Further exploration of STI vaccine acceptability among diverse populations is required to inform future bacterial STI vaccine program implementation.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.17269/s41997-022-00648-2.     

Spheciosterol sulfates, PKCzeta inhibitors from a philippine sponge Spheciospongia sp

Three new sterol sulfates, spheciosterol sulfates A-C (1-3), and the known sterol sulfate topsentiasterol sulfate E (4) have been isolated from the sponge Spheciospongia sp., collected in the Philippines. Structures were assigned on the basis of extensive 1D and 2D NMR studies as well as analysis by HRESIMS. Compounds 1-4 inhibited PKCzeta with IC50 values of 1.59, 0.53, 0.11, and 1.21 microM, respectively. In a cell-based assay, 1-4 also inhibited NF-kappaB activation with EC50 values of 12-64 microM.     

The practice gap in the care of women following successful infertility treatments: unasked research questions in midwifery and nursing

The aim of this paper is to highlight the gap between existing research evidence and nursing and midwifery practices in caring for women following successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), and to suggest directions for research within these disciplines. We argue that although the number of couples in the UK experiencing fertility problems has risen, 1.4% of all births in the UK are as the result of infertility treatments (HFEA, 2005/2006); yet there is little research into the experiences of motherhood for women who successfully achieve pregnancy following IVF or GIFT. Consequently, there is negligible research evidence for nurses and midwives practicing in this area, and British healthcare staff appear to be unaware of the specific needs of infertile women during pregnancy, birth and early motherhood. In this paper we review the existing literature on this group of women, which falls into three areas: studies into the psychosocial development of the child conceived via IVF/GIFT/donor insemination; comparative studies into experiences of women following successful infertility treatment and women who conceive naturally; and studies into the experiences of women following successful IVF treatment. We review this literature to argue for research into the needs of infertile women following successful IVF/GIFT, to inform evidence for practice.     

Willingness to Self-Collect a Sample for HPV-Based Cervical Cancer Screening in a Well-Screened Cohort: HPV FOCAL Survey Results

Self-collection may provide an opportunity for innovation within population-based human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical cancer screening programs by providing an alternative form of engagement for all individuals. The primary objective was to determine willingness to self-collect a vaginal sample for primary HPV screening and factors that impact willingness in individuals who participated in the Human Papillomavirus For Cervical Cancer (HPV FOCAL) screening trial, a large randomized controlled cervical screening trial. A cross-sectional online survey was distributed between 2017 and 2018 to 13,176 eligible participants exiting the FOCAL trial. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression assessed factors that influence willingness to self-collect on 4945 respondents. Overall, 52.1% of respondents indicated willingness to self-collect an HPV sample. In multivariable analysis, the odds of willingness to self-collect were significantly higher in participants who agreed that screening with an HPV test instead of a Pap test was acceptable to them (odds ratio (OR): 1.45 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.15, 1.82), those who indicated that collecting their own HPV sample was acceptable to them (p < 0.001), and those with higher educational ascertainment (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.54). The findings offer insight into the intentions to self-collect in those already engaged in screening, and can inform cervical cancer screening programs interested in offering alternative approaches to HPV-based screening.     

Surgical Management of Craniovertebral Junction Schwannomas: A Systematic Review

Background: Craniovertebral junction (CVJ) schwannomas are rare, with surgery and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) being effective yet challenging options. We systematically reviewed the literature on CVJ schwannomas. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Web-of-Science, and Cochrane were searched following the PRISMA statement to include studies reporting CVJ schwannomas. Clinical features, management, and outcomes were analyzed. Results: We collected 353 patients from 101 included articles. Presenting symptoms were mostly neck pain (30.3%) and headache (26.3%), with most cranial neuropathies involving the XII (31.2%) and X (24.4%) nerves. Most tumors originated from C2 (30.9%) and XII (29.4%) nerves, being extracranial (45.1%) and intradural-extradural (44.2%). Erosion of C1–C2 vertebrae (37.1%), the hypoglossal canal (28.3%), and/or jugular foramen (20.1%) were noted. All tumors were operated, preferably with the retrosigmoid approach (36.5%), with the far-lateral approach (29.7%) or with the posterior approach and cervical laminectomy (26.9%), far-lateral approaches (14.2%), or suboccipital craniotomy with concurrent cervical laminectomy (14.2%). Complete tumor resection was obtained most frequently (61.5%). Adjuvant post-surgery stereotactic radiosurgery was delivered in 5.9% patients. Median follow-up was 27 months (range, 12–252). Symptom improvement was noted in 88.1% of cases, and cranial neuropathies showed improvement in 10.2%. Post-surgical complications occurred in 83 patients (23.5%), mostly dysphagia (7.4%), new cranial neuropathies (6.2%), and cerebrospinal fluid leak (5.9%). A total of 16 patients (4.5%) had tumor recurrence and 7 died (2%), with median overall survival of 2.7 months (range, 0.1–252). Conclusions: Microsurgical resection is safe and effective for CVJ schwannomas. Data on SRS efficacy and indications are still lacking, and its role deserves further evaluation.