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Factors associated with IPV among immigrant women are not well understood. Using linked immigration and justice data, we compared the incidence of justice-identified IPV (JIIPV) among 58,564 international immigrant women born outside of Canada, 30,098 women born in other Canadian provinces (i.e., interprovincial migrants), and 88,662 long-term Manitoban resident women. International immigrant women had the lowest incidence of JIIPV compared to matched long-term Manitobans (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.49, 95% CI: 0.43–0.56) and interprovincial migrants (aHR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.43–0.73). Among immigrants, JIIPV varied substantially according to birthplace, increased with length of residence, and was less frequent among secondary immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction Children who have a history of involvement in child protection services (CPS) are over-represented in the youth and adult criminal justice systems. There are significant health and socioeconomic implications for individuals involved in either or both CPS and the justice system. Understanding the ‘overlap’ between these two systems would provide insight into the health and social needs of this population. This protocol describes a research programme on the relationship between the child welfare and the youth justice systems, looking specifically at the population involved in both CPS and the youth justice system. We will examine the characteristics associated with involvement in these systems, justice system trajectories of individuals with a history of CPS involvement and early adult outcomes of children involved in both systems. Methods and analysis Administrative data sets will be linked at the individual level for three cohorts born 1991, 1994 and 1998 in Manitoba, Canada. Involvement in CPS will be categorised as ‘placed in out-of-home care’, ‘received in-home services, but was not placed in care’ or ‘no involvement’. Involvement in the youth justice system will be examined through contacts with police between ages 12 and 17 that either led to charges or did not proceed. Individual, maternal and neighbourhood characteristics will be examined to identify individuals at greatest risk of involvement in one or both systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identified a non-synonymous mutation in Oas2 (I405N), a sensor of viral double-stranded RNA, from an ENU-mutagenesis screen designed to discover new genes involved in mammary development. The mutation caused post-partum failure of lactation in healthy mice with otherwise normally developed mammary glands, characterized by greatly reduced milk protein synthesis coupled with epithelial cell death, inhibition of proliferation and a robust interferon response. Expression of mutant but not wild type Oas2 in cultured HC-11 or T47D mammary cells recapitulated the phenotypic and transcriptional effects observed in the mouse. The mutation activates the OAS2 pathway, demonstrated by a 34-fold increase in RNase L activity, and its effects were dependent on expression of RNase L and IRF7, proximal and distal pathway members. This is the first report of a viral recognition pathway regulating lactation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are the leading cause of death in young people in North America. The effects of such deaths on parents have not been systematically studied. Administrative data sets were used to identify all parents (n = 1,458) who had an offspring die in a MVC between 1996 and 2008 in the province of Manitoba, Canada. They were matched to general population control parents who had not had offspring die from any sudden cause during the study period. Generalized estimating equations were used to compare the rates of physician-diagnosed mental and physical disorders, social factors, and treatment utilization in the 2 parent groups in the 2 years before and after offspring death, with adjustment for confounding factors. The risk of depression among bereaved parents almost tripled (adjusted prevalence ratio = 2.85, 95% confidence interval: 2.44, 3.33; P < 0.001) during the 2 years after death of an offspring. Significant increases in the risk of anxiety disorders (adjusted prevalence ratio = 1.45, 95% confidence interval: 1.26, 1.67; P < 0.001) were also observed. When compared with nonbereaved parents, bereaved parents had significant increases in the risks of depression (P < 0.001), anxiety disorders (P < 0.001), marital break-up (P = 0.015), and physician visits for mental illness (P < 0.001) in the post-death period. In conclusion, parents who lose an offspring in a MVC experience considerable mental illness and marital disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Suicide bereavement remains understudied and poorly understood. Objectives: To examine outcomes of parents bereaved by the suicide death of their offspring and to compare these with both nonbereaved parent controls and par-ents who had offspring die in a motor vehicle crash (MVC). Design: Population-based case-control study. Suicide-bereaved parents were compared with nonbereaved matched control parents in the general population (n= 1415) and with MVC-bereaved parents (n = 1132) on the rates of physician-diagnosed mental and physical dis-orders, social factors, and treatment use in the 2 years after death of the offspring. Adjusted relative rates (ARRs) were generated by generalized estimating equation mod-els and adjusted for confounding factors. Setting: Manitoba, Canada. Participants: All identifiable parents who had an off-spring die by suicide between 1996 and 2007 (n= 1415). Main Outcome Measures: Mental and physical dis-orders, social factors, and treatment use. Results: Suicide bereavement was associated with an increased rate of depression (ARR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.88-2.43), anxiety disorders (ARR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.24-1.60), and marital breakup (ARR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.13-1.23) in the 2 years after the suicide of an offspring, as compared with the 2 years prior to the death. Suicide-bereaved and MVC-bereaved parents had very few dif-ferences on predeath to postdeath outcomes. Depres-sion rate increases were greater for MVC-bereaved parents (19.9%) compared with suicide-bereaved parents (15.9%; P=.005), whereas suicide-bereaved parents had higher rate increases of hospitalization for mental illness (P=.049). Suicide-bereaved parents were more likely than their MVC-bereaved counterparts to have depression (ARR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.06-1.61), physical disorders (ARR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.19-1.45), and low income (ARR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.18-1.51) before their offspring's death. Conclusions: Suicide bereavement is associated with ad-verse mental health and social outcomes. These conse-quences appear similar to those associated with MVC be-reavement. Parents who lose offspring to suicide appear to be a vulnerable group even prior to their offspring's death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transcription factor ELF5 is responsible for gene expression patterning underlying molecular subtypes of breast cancer and may mediate acquired resistance to anti-estrogen therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few population studies have examined the psychiatric outcomes of children and adolescents in the child welfare system, and no studies have compared outcomes before and after entry into care. Our objective was to assess the relative rate (RR) of suicide, attempted suicide, admission to hospital and visits to physicians' offices among children and adolescents in care compared with those not in care. We also examined these outcomes within the child welfare population before and after entry into care. Methods: We used population-level data to identify children and adolescents 5 to 17 years of age who were in care in Manitoba for the first time between Apr. 1, 1997, and Mar. 31, 2006, and a comparison cohort not in care. We compared the two cohorts to obtain RRs for the specified outcomes. We also determined RRs within the child welfare population relative to the same population two years before entry into care. Results: We identified 8279 children and adolescents in care for the first time and a comparison cohort of 353 050 children and adolescents not in care. Outcome rates were higher among those in care than in the comparison cohort for suicide (adjusted RR 3.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.11-5.95), attempted suicide (adjusted RR 2.11, 95% CI 1.84-2.43) and all other outcomes. However, adjusted RRs for attempted suicide (RR 0.27, 95% CI 0.21-0.34), admissions to hospital and physician visits decreased after entry into care. Interpretation: Children and adolescents in care were at greater risk of suicide and attempting suicide than those who were not in care. Rates of suicide attempts and hospital admissions within this population were highest before entry into care and decreased thereafter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A newborn screen designed to predict family risk was examined to: (a) determine whether all families with newborns were screened; (b) evaluate its predictive validity for identifying risk of out-of-home placement, as a proxy for maltreatment; (c) determine which items were most predictive of out-of-home placement. All infants born in Manitoba, Canada from 2000 to 2002 were followed until March 31, 2004 (N = 40,886) by linking four population-based data sets: (a) newborn screening data on biological, psychological, and social risks; (b) population registry data on demographics; (c) hospital discharge data on newborn birth records; (d) data on children entering out-of-home care. Of the study population, 18.4% were not screened and 3.0% were placed in out-of-home care at least once during the study period. Infants not screened were twice as likely to enter care compared to those screened (4.9% vs. 2.5%). Infants screening at risk were 15 times more likely to enter care than those screening “not at risk.” Sensitivity and specificity of the screen were 77.6% and 83.3%, respectively. Screening efforts to identify vulnerable families missed a substantial portion of families needing support. The screening tool demonstrated moderate predictive validity for identifying children at risk of entering care in the first years of life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) is present on human airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells and can be activated by mast cell tryptase, trypsin, or an activating peptide (AP). Trypsin induced significant increases in PGE[sub 2] release from human ASM cells after 6 and 24 h and also induced cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 mRNA expression and COX-2 protein. Tryptase and the PAR-2 AP did not alter PGE[sub 2] release or COX-2 protein levels, suggesting a lack of PAR-2 involvement. When we compared results in asthmatic and nonasthmatic muscle cells, both trypsin and bradykinin induced less PGE[sub 2] from asthmatic ASM cells, and bradykinin induced significantly less COX-2 mRNA in asthmatic cells. Significantly less PGE[sub 2] was released from proliferating ASM cells from asthmatic patients. In conclusion, trypsin induces PGE[sub 2] release and COX-2 in human ASM cells, which is unlikely to be via PAR-2 activation. In addition, ASM cells from asthmatic patients produce significantly less PGE[sub 2] and COX-2 compared with nonasthmatic cells. These findings may contribute to the increase in muscle mass evident in asthmatic airways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is strong evidence to implicate transforming growth factor-beta in the remodeling that occurs in asthma, as levels are increased in bronchial lavage fluid and gene expression is increased in bronchial tissue. Transforming growth factor-beta is also known to increase the release of collagen from airway smooth muscle. Here we identify for the first time a possible mechanism for the effects of transforming growth factor-beta. Transforming growth factor-beta specifically induces mRNA and protein for connective tissue growth factor in airway smooth muscle, and moreover, we report that the connective tissue growth factor response is greater in airway smooth muscle cultured from patients with asthma compared with patients without asthma. This occurs at both the level of mRNA (37.53 +/- 11.62- and 13.59 +/- 3.12-fold increase at 24 hours compared with time 0, respectively, p < 0.02) and protein production (67.57 +/- 27.80- and 3.58 +/- 0.6-fold increase at 24 hours compared with time 0, respectively, p < 0.03). The differential connective tissue growth factor response to transforming growth factor-beta in asthmatic airway smooth muscle identifies a potential role for connective tissue growth factor in the remodeling that is characteristic of severe persistent asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Manitoba Healthy Baby Program is aimed at promoting pre- and perinatal health and includes two components: 1) prenatal income supplement; 2) community support programs. The goal of this research was to determine the uptake of these components by target groups.Methods: Data on participation in each of the two program components were linked to data on all hospital births in Manitoba between 2004/05 through 2007/08. Descriptive analyses of participation by maternal characteristics were produced. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with participation in the two programs. Separate regressions were run for two groups of women giving birth during the study period: 1) total population; 2) those receiving provincial income assistance during the prenatal period.Results: Almost 30% of women giving birth in Manitoba received the Healthy Baby prenatal income supplement, whereas only 12.6% participated in any community support programs. Over one quarter (26.4%) of pregnant women on income assistance did not apply for and receive the prenatal income supplement, despite all being eligible for it. Furthermore, 77.8% of women on income assistance did not participate in community support programs. Factors associated with both receipt of the prenatal benefit and participation in community support programs included lower SES, receipt of income assistance, obtaining adequate prenatal care, having completed high school and having depressive symptoms. Having more previous births was associated with higher odds of receiving the prenatal benefit, but lower odds of attending community support programs. Being married was associated with lower odds of receiving the prenatal benefit but higher odds of participating in community support programs.Conclusions: Although uptake of the Healthy Baby program in Manitoba is greater for women in groups at risk for poorer perinatal outcomes, a substantial number of women eligible for this program are not receiving it; efforts to reach these women should be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]