Simply Dinner: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Home Meal Delivery

ObjectiveTo determine the effect of a bundled intervention (home meal delivery and provision of cooking/serving resources) on preschoolers’ body mass index z-score (BMIz), dietary quality, and family meal frequency.MethodsParticipants (299 families; mean child age 4.4 years, 47% male, 55% White, 18% Black, 27% Hispanic or other race and ethnicity, and 25% were overweight or obese) were randomized to a control group or to provision of cooking/serving resources plus home meal delivery for 12 weeks (meals provided by Meals on Wheels [MOW cohort, n = 83] or a commercial service [COM cohort, n = 216]). Outcomes were child dietary quality, family meal frequency, and child BMIz.ResultsThe intervention increased dinnertime intake of red and orange vegetables in the full sample (MOW cohort+COM cohort) (0.10 pre- to 0.15 cup equivalents (CE) post-in the intervention group vs 0.10 pre- to 0.09 post- in the control group; P = .01) and the COM cohort (0.11 pre- to 0.17 CE post- vs 0.11 pre- to 0.09 post-; P = .002), and typical daily dietary intake of fruit and fruit juice in the MOW cohort (1.50 CE pre- to 1.66 post- vs 1.48 pre- to 1.19 post-; P = .05). The intervention did not change meal frequency or BMIz.ConclusionsShort-term home meal delivery with provision of cooking/serving resources improved dietary quality among preschool-aged children but did not change meal frequency or BMIz. Expansion of Meals on Wheels programs to preschool-aged children may be a promising intervention to improve dietary quality. Family meals, when already frequent, are not further increased by reducing the burden of meal preparation.     

Forensic considerations when dealing with incinerated human dental remains

Establishing the human dental identification process relies upon sufficient post-mortem data being recovered to allow for a meaningful comparison with ante-mortem records of the deceased person. Teeth are the most indestructible components of the human body and are structurally unique in their composition. They possess the highest resistance to most environmental effects like fire, desiccation, decomposition and prolonged immersion. In most natural as well as man-made disasters, teeth may provide the only means of positive identification of an otherwise unrecognizable body. It is imperative that dental evidence should not be destroyed through erroneous handling until appropriate radiographs, photographs, or impressions can be fabricated. Proper methods of physical stabilization of incinerated human dental remains should be followed. The maintenance of integrity of extremely fragile structures is crucial to the successful confirmation of identity. In such situations, the forensic dentist must stabilise these teeth before the fragile remains are transported to the mortuary to ensure preservation of possibly vital identification evidence. Thus, while dealing with any incinerated dental remains, a systematic approach must be followed through each stage of evaluation of incinerated dental remains to prevent the loss of potential dental evidence. This paper presents a composite review of various studies on incinerated human dental remains and discusses their impact on the process of human identification and suggests a step by step approach.     

解放军援利医疗队埃博拉防治培训体系的评价与建议

目的 总结中国人民解放军第二批援利医疗队开展抗击埃博拉任务培训体系特点,并提出建议。 方法 在赴利比里亚前,医疗队开展了专项培训。本次培训以埃博拉相关理论讲授及防护技能训练为重点,并开展了工作制度及流程、应急预案及外事教育等培训。通过集中讲授与分散自习相结合的方式开展理论学习;通过视频及现场演示、模组化训练加强防护技能培训;最后通过模组化情景模拟训练和督导考核将理论、技能、工作流程及应急演练等有机结合,使各部门相互协调配合发挥作用,达到了预期培训目的。 结果 专项培训卓有成效。通过总结,我们建议,针对大部分非传染病专业人员,有必要在理论培训中加入传染病总论、传染病防控原则及规范等概论内容,以指导受训者在工作中解决具体问题。另外,开展心理辅导,消除队员内心的恐惧和焦虑等不良情绪,使队员学会自我疏导,也有助于医疗队在域外顺利安全开展任务。 结论 重大突发传染病疫情专业培训体系为实现"打胜仗、零感染"的目标奠定了坚实的基础。模组化情景模拟训练方法是应对突发传染病疫情医疗队战前培训的有效方法,应被广泛推广应用。     

厦门市2013－2017年手足口病发病与气象因素影响分析

目的 研究厦门市气象因素对手足口病发病的影响,为手足口病的预警预测和防控提供科学依据。方法 采用R3.4.3软件对2013－2017年厦门市日平均本站气压、日平均相对湿度、日平均气温、日照时数等气象因素资料和日手足口病发病数进行相关分析和分布滞后非线性模型分析。结果 厦门市2013－2017年共报告手足口病36 464例,发病数呈上升趋势（F=40.359,P=0.008）。日平均相对湿度、日平均气温和日照时数与手足口病发病呈正相关（r>0）,日平均本站气压与手足口病发病呈负相关（r<0）。在滞后0～5 d的情况下,日平均本站气压>1 005 hPa时,随着气压的增高,手足口病发病风险逐渐增加;发病风险随着滞后天数的增加而减弱;气压为1 017 hPa滞后0 d时发病风险最高（RR=1.14,95% CI：0.67～1.94）。相对湿度>95%时,随着相对湿度增加,手足口病发病风险逐渐增加,滞后时间分布在0～10 d,以第4、5天最为明显,相对湿度为100%滞后5 d时发病风险最高（RR=1.32,95% CI：1.02～1.71）。>28℃和<8℃时对手足口病发病都是危险因素,但滞后时间不一致,低温时滞后15～20 d相对危险度最高,而高温时滞后时间主要分布在5～15 d,以日平均气温28℃滞后4 d发病风险最高（RR=1.10,95% CI：0.94～1.29）。日照时数较长时（>12 h）滞后0～3 d对手足口病发病呈现危险性,其中日照均数13 h滞后0 d发病风险最大（RR=1.20,95% CI：1.05～1.36）。结论 日平均本站气压、日平均相对湿度、日平均气温、日照时数等气象因素与厦门市手足口病发病相关,且具有一定的滞后性,可以考虑纳入手足口病预警预测体系。     

Long-term effect of a low-intensity smoking intervention embedded in an adherence program for patients with hypercholesterolemia: Randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveWe evaluated the long-term effect of a smoking intervention embedded in an adherence program in patients with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.MethodSecondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial: In 2002–2004, 8108 patients with hypercholesterolemia were enrolled from general practices in Germany. Patients received a 12-month adherence program and statin medication (intervention) or statin medication only (control). The program aimed to improve adherence to medication and lifestyle by educational material, mailings, and phone calls. Smoking was self-reported at baseline and every 6 months during the 3-year follow-up.ResultsIn total, 7640 patients were analyzed. At baseline, smoking prevalence was 21.7% in the intervention and 21.5% in the control group. Prevalence decreased in both groups to 16.6% vs. 19.5%, 15.3% vs. 16.8%, and 14.2% vs. 15.6% at the 12-, 24-, and 36-month follow-up. The intervention had a beneficial effect on smoking differing over time (group × time: P = 0.005). The effect was largest after 6 and 12 months [odds ratios (95% confidence intervals): 0.67 (0.54–0.82) and 0.63 (0.51–0.78)]. The effect decreased until the 18-month follow-up [0.72 (0.58–0.90)] and was not significant after 24 months.ConclusionA low-intensity smoking intervention embedded in an adherence program can contribute to smoking cessation although the intervention effect diminished over time.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov): NCT00379249.     

Increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with traumatic liver injury: Real-world data from a nationwide population-based study

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer globally, and liver is one of the most commonly injured organs after blunt abdominal trauma. The traumatic liver injury–HCC risk relationship remains unclear.We extracted data of patients with traumatic liver injury between 2000 and 2013 from Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (n = 15,966) and those of age-, gender-, occupation-, and index year-matched individuals without traumatic liver injury from the general population (n = 63,864). Cox proportional hazard models were employed to determine the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for HCC occurrence in the traumatic liver injury cohort compared with that in the comparison cohort.Patients with traumatic liver injury had an increased HCC risk (adjusted HR 2.13, 95% CI 1.59–2.85); this increased risk was more pronounced within 1 year after injury (adjusted HR 8.84, 95% CI 4.29–18.2). After >1 year of injury, HCC risk remained 1.53-fold higher in patients with traumatic liver injury than in those without traumatic liver injury (95% CI 1.08–2.15).People with traumatic liver injury demonstrate a high HCC risk, particularly within the first year of the injury.     

Pulmonary vascular resistance in dogs and minipigs—effects of hypoxia and inhaled nitric oxide

The pig has been reported to present with a stronger hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction than many other species, including the dog, but it is not known whether this is associated with a different longitudinal partitioning of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). We investigated the relationships between cardiac output (Q̇) and mean pulmonary artery pressure (Ppa) minus occluded Ppa (Ppao), and effective pulmonary capillary pressure (Pc′) minus Ppao, in seven minipigs and in seven dogs in hyperoxia (FI_O2 0.4) and hypoxia (FI_O2 0.1), first without, then with the inhalation of 80 ppm nitric oxide (NO) to inhibit any reversible component of PVR. Pc′ was estimated from the Ppa decay curve following pulmonary artery balloon occlusion. In hyperoxia, minipigs compared to dogs had (Ppa−Ppao)/Q̇ and (Pc′−Ppao)/Q̇ plots shifted to higher pressures. Hypoxia at each level of Q̇ increased Ppa−Ppao in minipigs more than in dogs, and Pc′−Ppao in minipigs only. Inhaled NO reversed hypoxia-induced changes in (Ppa−Ppao)/Q̇ and (Pc′−Ppao)/Q̇ plots. We conclude that the minipig, compared to the dog, presents with higher PVR and reactivity including vessels downstream to the site of Pc′ as determined by the arterial occlusion technique.     

Do changes in neighborhood social context mediate the effects of the moving to opportunity experiment on adolescent mental health?

This study investigated whether changes in neighborhood context induced by neighborhood relocation mediated the impact of the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) housing voucher experiment on adolescent mental health. Mediators included participant-reported neighborhood safety, social control, disorder, and externally-collected neighborhood collective efficacy. For treatment group members, improvement in neighborhood disorder and drug activity partially explained MTO's beneficial effects on girls' distress. Improvement in neighborhood disorder, violent victimization, and informal social control helped counteract MTO's adverse effects on boys' behavioral problems, but not distress. Housing mobility policy targeting neighborhood improvements may improve mental health for adolescent girls, and mitigate harmful effects for boys.