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Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a school-based nutrition program using a cafeteria environment intervention and classroom nutrition education on self-reported fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, self-efficacy to select FV, and preference for healthy foods. Methods: Using quasi-experimental pre-post design with 3 study conditions, a total of 665 fourth- and fifth-grade students participated in the study. The comprehensive intervention included a behavioral economics cafeteria intervention and weekly classroom nutrition education for 1 academic year. The intervention was designed and delivered by the extension system. Results: The comprehensive group showed significant improvement in some indicators including eating vegetables for lunch (p = 0.007), number of days eating vegetables (p < 0.001) and fruits (p < 0.001) in the last week, and self-efficacy in preparing FV at home (p = 0.034) compared to the control and cafeteria groups. Food preference of some food items, including oatmeal (p = 0.036 for cafeteria group, p < 0.001 for comprehensive group), whole grain noodles (p = 0.011 for comprehensive group), and vegetables (p = 0.003 for comprehensive group), significantly improved in the cafeteria and/or comprehensive group. Conclusions: Classroom nutrition education combined with cafeteria improvement has the potential to improve diet-related behavior of elementary school children. Also, collaborative partnership between schools and extension can enhance program sustainability.

Background and Aim: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a valuable procedure for pancreatobiliary disorders but carries significant risks, including post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). The exact cause of PEP is unclear, but mechanical and thermal injuries during the procedure and patient-related factors have been implicated. This study aims to investigate the possible contribution of potential pancreatotoxic drug (PPD) exposure to PEP risk. Methods: This was a retrospective, single-centre, cohort study conducted at Canberra Hospital, a tertiary university hospital. Consecutive ERCP performed with native papillae within a 4-year period from January 2019 to January 2023 were evaluated. Details of ERCP procedures, patient characteristics, and all medications were contemporaneously collected. All patients had follow-up phone calls or review within 24 h post procedure. The diagnosis of PEP was based on the Cotton consensus definition. Results: A total of 32 out of 444 patients (7.2%) developed PEP. There was no significant difference in the incidence of PEP between patients taking PPD compared to patients who were not (7.1% vs. 7.6%, p = 0.845). Three factors were independently associated with PEP in the multivariate analysis: the presence of a periampullary diverticulum (OR = 5.4, 95% CI 1.7–15.3, p = 0.002), the performance of pre-cut sphincterotomy (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.2–6.4, p = 0.017), and pancreatic duct cannulation (OR = 3, CI 1.3–7, p = 0.01). Conclusions: The overall incidence of pancreatitis in our selected group of ERCP patients with native papillae was 7.2%. Our study did not find the use of PPD to be a statistically significant risk factor for PEP.

Introduction Accurate and affordable laboratory testing is key to timely diagnosis and appropriate management of patients with COVID-19. New laboratory test protocols are released into the market under emergency use authorisation with limited evidence on diagnostic test accuracy. As such, robust evidence on the diagnostic accuracy and the costs of available tests is urgently needed to inform policy and practice especially in resource-limited settings. We aim to determine the diagnostic test accuracy, cost-effectiveness and utility of laboratory test strategies for COVID-19 in low-income and middle-income countries.Methods and analysis This will be a multistaged, protocol-driven systematic review conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for diagnostic test accuracy studies. We will search for relevant literature in at least six public health databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science and the WHO Global Index Medicus. In addition, we will search Cochrane Library, COVID-END and grey literature databases to identify additional relevant articles before double-screening and abstraction of data. We will conduct a structured narrative and quantitative synthesis of the results guided by the Fryback and Thornbury framework for assessing a diagnostic test. The primary outcome is COVID-19 diagnostic test accuracy. Using the GRADE approach specific to diagnostic accuracy tests, we will appraise the overall quality of evidence and report the results following the original PRISMA statement. The protocol is registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/).Ethics and dissemination Ethical review was done by the School of Biomedical Sciences Research Ethics Committee and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology. The published article will be accessible to policy and decision makers. The findings of this review will guide clinical practice and policy decisions and highlight areas for future research.PROSPERO registration number CRD42020209528.

Circulating immune complexes have been investigated in jirds (Meriones unguiculatus) infected with the filarial nematode Brugia pahangi. Two-month-old male jirds were inoculated with seventy-five B. pahangi infective larvae into the left groin. At 8 months post-infection, sera of individual animals from a group of seventeen infecteds and seventeen age-matched controls were analysed for immune complexes by (1) a solid-phase Clq binding assay (Clq-SP) and (2) precipitation with 15% polyethylene glycol followed by binding of 125I-labelled rabbit anti-jird Ig antiserum (PEG). A significant increase in the level of circulating immune complexes was shown in the infected group as compared with the controls for both assays, with a P value = 0.005 for PEG and P = 0.001 for Clq-SP. Using the mean of the control group ± 2 s.d. as the upper limit of the normal range, 24% of the infected group had elevated immune complex levels by the PEG assay, and 41% were elevated in the Clq-SP assay. A high degree of variability was noted in the levels of immune complexes among individual animals in the infected group by each test. No correlation between immune complex levels and numbers of circulating microfilariae was found in either assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of how individual differences related to self-regulation interact with alcohol use patterns to predict intimate partner aggression (IPA) is examined. We hypothesized that excessive drinking will be related to partner aggression among those who have low self-regulation. In addition, we explored the extent to which differences in self-regulation in one partner may moderate the relationship between alcohol use and partner aggression. A sample of married or cohabitating community couples (N = 280) ages 18–45 was recruited according to their classification into four drinking groups: heavy drinking in both partners (n = 79), husband only (n = 80), wife only (n = 41), by neither (n = 80), and interviewed annually for 3 years. IPA, drinking, and scores on measures of negative affect, self-control, and Executive Cognitive Functioning (ECF) were assessed for both members of the couple. The Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) was used to analyze longitudinal models predicting the occurrence of IPA from baseline alcohol use, negative affect, self-control and ECF. Actor self-control interacted with partner self-control such that IPA was most probable when both were low in self-control. Contrary to prediction, actors high in alcohol use and also high on self-control were more likely to engage in IPA. Partner alcohol use was predictive of actor IPA when the partner was also high in negative affect. Low partner ECF was associated with more actor IPA. These findings suggest that self-regulatory factors within both members of a couple can interact with alcohol use patterns to increase the risk for relationship aggression.

OBJECTIVE: Epifluorescence microscopy, a methodology for the screening of bodily fluids and tissue specimens for microsporidia species, was directed to evaluate the retention of epifluorescence of fixed and stained specimens over time. METHODS: Thirty samples of stool, bodily fluids, duodenal touch preparations, and biopsies, were tested for the retention of their epifluoresence using the Fungi-Fluor procedure. Specimens were examined under a 330- to 380-nm UV filter at the time of preparation, 3 wk later, and then at monthly intervals for 18 months. All specimens were reevaluated for the presence or absence of fluorescence and any decrement of fluorescence over time. No special preservation techniques were used on any of the slides. RESULTS: All 30 specimens maintained their epifluorescence from the time of slide preparation to 18 month later. No decrement in fluorescence was noted in any sample examined. Accuracy and ease of spore identification was maintained. CONCLUSIONS: Epifluorescence microscopy demonstrates the utility of this technique for archival study of microsporidia-containing specimens over prolonged periods of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article relates the author's experience in relation to educational practices. According to the author, teachers and educators are giving their daily consent to the establishment of slavery, regrettable in its present consequences and in future probabilities. The author has added that time is an element that is easily determined, and in scholastic affairs, it means about as little as any other factor imaginable.

Our Shining Star this month is Robert Potter, RN, CEN, LP, a certified emergency nurse at North Hills Hospital, North Richland, Texas. He's nominated by his colleague, Lisa Ash, RN, BSN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]