Tackling the Urban Health Divide Though Enabling Intersectoral Action on Malnutrition in Chile and Kenya

As momentum grows for a sustainable urbanisation goal in the post-2015 development agenda, this paper reports on an action research study that sought to tackle the urban health divide by enabling intersectoral action on social determinants at the local level. The study was located in the cities of Mombasa in Kenya and Valparaíso in Chile, and the impact of the intervention on child nutrition was evaluated using a controlled design. The findings showed that an action research process using the social educational process known as PLA could effectively build the capacity of multisectoral teams to take coordinated action which in turn built the capacity of communities to sustain them. The impact on child nutrition was inconclusive and needed to be interpreted within the context of economic collapse in the intervention area. Four factors were found to have been crucial for creating the enabling environment for effective intersectoral action (i) supportive government policy (ii) broad participation and capacity building (iii) involving policy makers as advisors and establishing the credibility of the research and (iii) strengthening community action. If lessons learned from this study can be adapted and applied in other contexts then they could have a significant economic and societal impact on health and nutrition equity in informal urban settlements.     

Higher intake of carotenoid is associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer in Chinese adults: a case–control study

Purpose

The associations between specific carotenoid intake and colorectal cancer risk remain inconsistent. The aim of this study was to examine the association between specific dietary carotenoid intake with colorectal cancer risk in Chinese adults.

Method

From July 2010 to October 2013, 845 eligible colorectal cancer cases and 845 frequency-matched controls (age and sex) completed in-person interviews. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate dietary intake. Multivariate logistical regression models were used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs) of colorectal cancer risk after adjusting for various confounders.

Results

A strong inverse association was found between β-cryptoxanthin intake and colorectal cancer risk. Compared with the lowest quartile, the highest quartile intake showed a risk reduction of 77 % (OR 0.23, 95 % CI 0.17–0.33, P _trend < 0.01) after adjustment for various confounding variables. The inverse associations were also observed for α-carotene (OR 0.50, 95 % CI 0.37–0.68, P _trend < 0.01), β-carotene (OR 0.67, 95 % CI 0.49–0.91, P _trend < 0.01), and lycopene (OR 0.51, 95 % CI 0.37–0.70, P _trend < 0.01). There was no statistically significant association between lutein/zeaxanthin intake and colorectal cancer risk. These findings were consistent across cancer site, sources of controls, and smoking status. The inverse associations between dietary α-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and lycopene intake and colorectal cancer risk were found in both males and females, while inverse associations between β-carotene intake and colorectal cancer risk were only observed in males.

Conclusions

Consumption of α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and lycopene was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk. No significant association was found between lutein/zeaxanthin intake and colorectal cancer risk.

     

DFT prediction of a novel molybdenum tetraboride superhard material

Although transition metal borides (TMBs) are promising superhard materials, the research and development of new TMB superhard materials is still a great challenge. Naturally, the Vickers hardness of TMBs is related to the 3D-network chemical bonding, in addition to the valence electron density and covalent bonds. In this paper, we apply ab initio calculations to explore the structural stability, Vickers hardness and hardening mechanism of MoB₄ tetraboride. Four possible tetraborides are predicted based on the phonon dispersion model. We find that MoB₄ with monoclinic structure (C2/m) and orthorhombic structure (Immm) are dynamically stable at the ground state. The calculated Vickers hardness of MoB₄ with monoclinic and orthorhombic structures is 41.3 GPa and 40.0 GPa, respectively. We suggest that the high hardness is derived from the 3D-network B–B covalent bond owing to bond synergistic effects. On the other hand, the Vickers hardness of MoB₄ decreases gradually with increasing pressure. The calculated results show that the hardness of MoB₄ is attributed to the B/G ratio and c/a ratio. Finally, we predict that MoB₄ is a new superhard material.

In this work, we predict that MoB₄ with monoclinic structure (C2/m) and orthorhombic structure (Immm) are potential superhard materials because of the 3D-network B–B covalent bonds. In addition, the hardness of MoB₄ is attributed to the B/G ratio and c/a ratio.     

High performance sol–gel synthesized Ce0.9Sr0.1(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O4 sensing membrane for a solid-state pH sensor

In this paper, we developed a high-performance solid-state pH sensor using a Ce_0.9Sr_0.1(Zr_0.53Ti_0.47)O₄ (CSZT) membrane through a very simple sol–gel spin-coating process. The structural properties of the CSZT membrane are correlated with its sensing characteristics. The CSZT based EIS sensor exhibited a high pH sensitivity of 92.48 mV pH⁻¹, which is beyond the Nernst limit (59.4 mV pH⁻¹), and good reliability in terms of a low hysteresis voltage of 1 mV and a small drift rate of 0.15 mV h⁻¹. This behaviour is attributed to the incorporation of Sr in the CSZT sensing membrane, which promotes change in the Ce oxidation state from Ce⁴⁺ to Ce³⁺.

We developed a high-performance solid-state pH sensor using a Ce_0.9Sr_0.1(Zr_0.53Ti_0.47)O₄ (CSZT) membrane through a very simple sol–gel spin-coating process.     

“医院-社区-家庭-个人”四位一体化糖尿病健康教育模式探究

目的分析目前糖尿病(diabetes mellitus,DM)健康教育工作中的优势及存在的问题,根据这些优势和问题提出一种更好的DM健康教育模式。方法通过对有关DM健康教育模式文献资料进行研究,根据不同方面,将其按照一个清晰的框架整理出来,在此基础上进行综合分析。结果目前国内DM健康教育主要是由医院、社区、家庭开展,而医院、社区、家庭和DM患者在DM健康教育中各有优势,同时也有局限,若能协调得当,可更有效、更系统地开展健康教育工作。结论 "医院-社区-家庭-个人"四位一体化健康教育模式是以医院为主导并提供优势资源,社区卫生服务机构为中心纽带,带动患者及其家庭的健康教育模式,这便于DM患者及其家庭掌握更多DM知识及其防治技能,有效地控制病情和减轻患者家庭负担。     

该院高危手术前二次医患沟通12年的实践研究

高危手术的患者死亡、残疾等不良后果概率高,极易发生医患纠纷,通过在医务处二次医患沟通,强化并完善术前准备内容,充分医患沟通手术的相关内容,降低术后风险发生概率,有效防范医患纠纷的发生。     

Strawberry Phytochemicals Inhibit Azoxymethane/Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colorectal Carcinogenesis in Crj: CD-1 Mice

Human and experimental colon carcinogenesis are enhanced by a pro-inflammatory microenvironment. Pharmacologically driven chemopreventive agents and dietary variables are hypothesized to have future roles in the prevention of colon cancer by targeting these processes. The current study was designed to determine the ability of dietary lyophilized strawberries to inhibit inflammation-promoted colon carcinogenesis in a preclinical animal model. Mice were given a single i.p. injection of azoxymethane (10 mg kg⁻¹ body weight). One week after injection, mice were administered 2% (w/v) dextran sodium sulfate in drinking water for seven days and then an experimental diet containing chemically characterized lyophilized strawberries for the duration of the bioassay. Mice fed control diet, or experimental diet containing 2.5%, 5.0% or 10.0% strawberries displayed tumor incidence of 100%, 64%, 75% and 44%, respectively (p < 0.05). The mechanistic studies demonstrate that strawberries reduced expression of proinflammatory mediators, suppressed nitrosative stress and decreased phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinase and nuclear factor kappa B. In conclusion, strawberries target proinflammatory mediators and oncogenic signaling for the preventive efficacies against colon carcinogenesis in mice. This works supports future development of fully characterized and precisely controlled functional foods for testing in human clinical trials for this disease.     

脑室给予不同剂量的Capsazepine对LPS致大鼠发热过程的影响

目的在大鼠侧脑室内给予不同剂量的瞬时受体电位香草酸受体1(transient receptor potential vanilloid 1,TRPV1)拮抗剂Capsazepine,观察对LPS致热过程的影响。方法在侧脑室内预先给与3种剂量Capsazepine,随之腹腔给与LPS致热。在腹腔内埋植发射子遥测体温变化过程,同时应用荧光测定法检测下丘脑细胞内钙离子浓度的变化,Western blot方法检测TRPV1表达水平。结果随着Capsazepine剂量增大,LPS致大鼠发热水平升高,下丘脑细胞内钙离子浓度减少,TRPV1表达水平降低。结论 Capsazepine作用于大鼠下丘脑,可使LPS诱导的发热水平提高,此效应可能与TRPV1的作用有关。