Acculturation and Nutritional Health of Immigrants in Canada: A Scoping Review

Although recent immigrants to Canada are healthier than Canadian born (i.e., the Healthy Immigrant Effect), they experience a deterioration in their health status which is partly due to transitions in dietary habits. Since pathways to these transitions are under-documented, this scoping review aims to identify knowledge gaps and research priorities related to immigrant nutritional health. A total of 49 articles were retrieved and reviewed using electronic databases and a stakeholder consultation was undertaken to consolidate findings. Overall, research tends to confirm the Healthy Immigrant Effect and suggests that significant knowledge gaps in nutritional health persist, thereby creating a barrier to the advancement of health promotion and the achievement of maximum health equity. Five research priorities were identified including (1) risks and benefits associated with traditional/ethnic foods; (2) access and outreach to immigrants; (3) mechanisms and coping strategies for food security; (4) mechanisms of food choice in immigrant families; and (5) health promotion strategies that work for immigrant populations.     

Media and scientific communication about the COVID-19 pandemic and the repercussions on the population's mental health: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Good communication strategies are essential in times of crisis, such as the coronavirus pandemic. The dissemination of inaccurate information and the need for social isolation to control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have shown a negative impact on the population, causing damage to mental health, with the appearance or worsening of symptoms of stress, fear, anxiety, and depression. Thus, the systematic review study is intended to gather evidence on the impact of information about COVID-19 on the mental health of the population.Methods:This systematic review protocol is conducted using the guidelines of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses protocols and the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The review aims to include published studies that address the exposure of the general population to information about COVID-19, through observational and experimental studies, which consider the following outcomes: fear, stress, anxiety, and depression. Thus, a comprehensive research strategy will be conducted in the following databases: PubMed / Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE, Science Direct, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). Two independent reviewers will perform all procedures, such as study selection, data collection, and methodological evaluation. Disagreements will be forwarded to a third reviewer. RevMan 5.3 software will be used for data analysis.Results:This systematic review will provide evidence of the influence of access to and consumption of media and scientific information about COVID-19 on the mental health of the population. It will consider information about the characterization of the study and the population studied, clinical and epidemiological information on mental health, and data on access to and consumption of media and scientific information.Discussion:The results should inform about the consequences of communication about the new coronavirus on the emergence or worsening of psychological and psychiatric symptoms, allowing to develop strategies to achieve effective communication of information to promote the mental health of the population.Systematic review registration number:PROSPERO CRD42020182918     

Available patient-centered Internet information on peri-implantitis. Can our patients understand it?

Clinical Oral Investigations - The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality, readability, and popularity of patient-oriented online information about peri-implantitis. The term...     

Modeling the potential impact of vaccination on the epidemiology of congenital cytomegalovirus infection

Background

Understanding the potential for vaccination to change cytomegalovirus (CMV) epidemiology is important for developing CMV vaccines and designing clinical trials.

Methods

We constructed a deterministic, age-specific and time-dependent mathematical model of pathogen transmission, parameterized using CMV seroprevalence from the United States and Brazil, to predict the impact of vaccination on congenital CMV infection.

Findings

Concurrent vaccination of young children and adolescents would result in the greatest reductions in congenital CMV infections in populations with moderate and high baseline maternal seroprevalence. Such a vaccination strategy, assuming 70% vaccine efficacy, 90% coverage and 5-year duration of protection, could ultimately prevent 30–50% of congenital CMV infections. At equilibrium, this strategy could result in a 30% reduction in congenital CMV infections due to primary maternal infection in the United States but a 3% increase in Brazil. The potential for an increase in congenital CMV infections due to primary maternal infections in Brazil was not predicted with use of a vaccine that confers protection for greater than 5 years.

Interpretation

Modeling suggests that vaccination strategies that include young children will result in greater declines in congenital CMV infection than those restricted to adolescents or women of reproductive age. Our study highlights the critical need for better understanding of the relative contribution of type of maternal infection to congenital CMV infection and disease, the main focus of vaccine prevention.     

Hepatoprotective Effect of Cymbopogon Citratus Aqueous Extract Against Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Liver Injury in Male Rats

Background

Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae) a tropical perennial herb plant that is widely cultivated to be eaten either fresh with food or dried in tea or soft drink has been reported to possess a number of medicinal and aromatic properties. This study aimed at evaluating the protective effects of C. citratus aqueous extract against liver injury induced by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), in male rats.

Materials and Methods

Twenty-five rats were randomly divided into five different groups of five animals in each group; (1) Control. (2) Received H₂O₂ (0.5%) with drinking water. (3), and (4) received H₂O₂ and C. citratus (100 mg·kg⁻¹ b wt), vitamin C (250 mg·kg⁻¹ b wt) respectively. (5), was given C. citratus alone. The treatments were administered for 30 days. Blood samples were collected and serum was used for biochemical assay including liver enzymes activities, total protein, total bilirubin and malonaldehyde, glutathione in serum and liver homogenates. Liver was excised and routinely processed for histological examinations.

Results

C. citratus attenuated liver damage due to H₂O₂ administration as indicated by the significant reduction (p<0.05), in the elevated levels of ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, TB, and MDA in serum and liver homogenates; increase in TP and GSH levels in serum and liver homogenates; and improvement of liver histo-pathological changes. These effects of the extract were similar to that of vitamin C which used as antioxidant reference.

Conclusion

C. citratus could effectively ameliorate H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress and prevent liver injury in male rats.     

Single-Center Outcome Analysis Comparing Reintervention Rates of Surgical Arterioplasty With Stenting for Branch Pulmonary Artery Stenosis in a Pediatric Population

Although catheter-based intervention is generally accepted as the treatment of choice for branch pulmonary artery (PA) stenosis, there are no data directly comparing both the need for reintervention and time to reintervention in patients undergoing transcatheter stenting versus surgical arterioplasty. We compared children who underwent surgical branch pulmonary arterioplasty and branch PA stent placement between January 2008 and May 2012 at a single tertiary center. Need for reintervention and mean time to reintervention were assessed using chi-square and independent sample Student t test. Thirty-seven patients were included (surgery n = 18, stent n = 19). Mean weight at initial intervention was 11.3 ± 8.8 kg for surgical and 20.1 ± 15.5 kg for stent (p = 0.041). Intervention was performed on the left PA in 17 patients, the right PA in 12 patients, and both PAs in 8 patients. Five patients had undergone previous intervention. On mean follow-up of 807 ± 415 days, 50 % (9 of 18) of the surgery cohort and 5.3 % (1 of 19) of the stent cohort required reintervention (p = 0.002). In all but one case reintervention was catheter-based. Mean time to reintervention for the surgery cohort was 272 ± 162 days and for the single stent cohort it was 150 days. When comparable age and weight groups were analyzed, reintervention was still more common in the surgery cohort (p = 0.007). Children undergoing surgical branch pulmonary arterioplasty are more likely to require reintervention than those undergoing stent placement.