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In the last decades, an alarming rise in prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has been observed which is partly attributed to a lack in physical activity and has started to become a public health concern. Therefore, the necessity for accurate physical activity assessment has become more and more apparent. Physical activity can be assessed objectively using accelerometers or combined devices. The application of such devices is sometimes complex and wearing the device may influence the behaviour of the test person. Therefore, assessment without any worn device would be an advantage.

Background: The objective of the study was to quantitatively compare school- and community-based dental clinics in New York City that provide dental services to children in need. It was hypothesized that the school-based clinics would perform better in terms of several measures. Methods: We reviewed billing and visit data derived from encounter forms and expense reports from 4 school- and 3 community-based clinics during 12 months in 2004-2005. The health clinics, administered by the Children's Aid Society, provided dental services to children regardless of ability to pay. The assessments were based on 8 performance indicators, including some based on relative value units, and profile of service indicators was used for assessment. Descriptive statistics and results from hypothesis tests are reported. Results: Based on significant and large differences on the indicators, the school-based health clinics appear to have definite advantages over community-based dental clinics. Results were consistent across many indicators. Conclusions: The results support increasing the number of school-based dental clinics in urban areas that serve children in need. Being based in schools, factors such as transportation issues, parent availability, and missed appointments are greatly reduced. This has great public dental health implications for children in underserved areas. Schools provide a natural location to provide preventive and responsive dental care. Similar advantages could be expected in rural areas and other areas of need. (Contains 5 tables.)

Very little research has been done in South Africa on HIV/AIDS and education. This article is a small attempt to plug the gap. The purpose of the research is to investigate the legal and policy provisions and implications regarding HIV/AIDS for rural and township schools in the Mpumalanga district of South Africa. It seeks to answer three questions: (1) What is the status of policy and legislation on HIV/AIDS and Education in South Africa? (2) How do schools understand, respond to and manage issues of law and policy regarding HIV/AIDS? (3) What are the possible areas of conflict between legal and policy provisions and educational practices and behaviours? After examining the different laws relating to HIV/AIDS and education in South Africa a case study approach is used to explore the research questions in a number of rural and township schools. The findings highlighted a general ignorance of basic human rights issues, the right to confidentiality, the right to security from discrimination if it is known that a teacher or a pupil is HIV positive, the right to privacy and the right, under certain circumstances, to disclosure. The findings also reveal a distance between policy and practice so that schools need to develop vigilance with respect to any legal challenges that they might face at a local level. The findings also show that governing bodies should be made aware of the general legal issues surrounding the individual and HIV/AIDS before they can introduce fair and balanced policies.

BackgroundThe United States faces a nursing shortage driven by a burnout epidemic among nurses and nursing students. Nursing students are an integral population to fuel the nursing workforce at high risk of burnout and increased rates of perceived stress. ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to describe WellNurse, a holistic, interdisciplinary, multidimensional longitudinal research study that examines evidence-based interventions intended to reduce burnout and increase resilience among graduate and undergraduate nursing students. MethodsGraduate and undergraduate nursing students matriculated at a large public university in the northeastern United States are eligible to enroll in this ongoing, longitudinal cohort study beginning in March 2021. Participants complete a battery of health measurements twice each semester during the fourth week and the week before final examinations. The measures include the Perceived Stress Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, the Brief Resilience Scale, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Participants are eligible to enroll in a variety of interventions, including mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindful eating, fitness training, and massage therapy. Those who enroll in specific, targeted interventions complete additional measures designed to target the aim of the intervention. All participants receive a free Fitbit device. Additional environmental changes are being implemented to further promote a culture that supports academic well-being, including recruiting a diverse student population through evidence-based holistic admissions, inclusive teaching design, targeted resilience and stress reduction workshops, and cultural shifts within classrooms and curricula. The study design protocol is registered at Open Science Framework (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/NCBPE). ResultsThe project was funded on January 1, 2022. Data collection started in March 2022. A total of 267 participants have been recruited. Results will be published after each semester starting in December 2023. WellNurse evaluation follows the Rapid Cycle Quality Improvement framework to continuously monitor ongoing project processes, activity outcomes, and progress toward reducing burnout and increasing resilience. Rapid Cycle Quality Improvement promotes the ability to alter WellNurse interventions, examine multiple interventions, and test their effectiveness among the nursing education population to identify the most effective interventions. ConclusionsAcademic nursing organizations must address student burnout risk and increase resilience to produce a future workforce that provides high-quality patient care to a diverse population. Findings from WellNurse will support evidence-based implementations for public baccalaureate and master’s nursing programs in the United States. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/49020

Offers a look at the use of law and legislation in the prevention of obesity and obesity-related disease in the U.S. Health risks associated with obesity, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic illness; Critique of government policies for health promotion, child nutrition, and physical fitness promotion; Recommendations for public health law and legislation to prevent obesity in Hawaii, Texas, and across the U.S.

Fundamento: las malformaciones congénitas contribuyen de forma importante a la mortalidad infantil. Producen secuelas y resulta difícil su prevención. Objetivo: determinar factores de riesgo relevantes asociados a la aparición de malformaciones congénitas. Métodos: estudio observacional de casos y controles no pareados realizado en Cienfuegos en el período de enero de 2008 a diciembre de 2013, sobre un universo de 27 002 gestantes; las mujeres registradas con fetos o recién nacidos con malformaciones congénitas, constituyeron el grupo de casos (483), el grupo control estuvo conformado por el doble de mujeres con niños sanos (966), seleccionadas por un muestreo aleatorio simple. La información se recolectó de los registros de malformaciones congénitas y del Departamento de Archivo del Hospital Provincial. Se utilizó el estadígrafo Chi cuadrado con una exigencia del 95 % y la razón de productos cruzados (OR) con un índice de confiabilidad de 95 %. Se aplicó la regresión logística utilizando el método “adelante Wald” para determinar los factores de riesgo relevantes asociados a la aparición de malformaciones congénitas. Resultados: la tasa de malformaciones congénitas fue de 17,8 por cada mil nacimientos, con tendencia ascendente; predominaron las malformaciones cardiovasculares. El consumo de alcohol, la consanguinidad y los antecedentes familiares de malformados, constituyeron factores relevantes en la aparición de malformaciones congénitas. Conclusiones: a pesar de los avances logrados, aún existe falta de percepción de los riesgos y es necesario su identificación para trazar estrategias de intervención que permitan una maternidad saludable.

Focuses on public policy concerning obesity in the United States. Social costs from obesity that need to be addressed by a long-term commitment for funding and research; Examples of attempts to regulate social issues, including the consequences of school policies on junk food and fast food; Rep. Maile Shimabukuro's work with the Hawaii State Legislature's Pediatric Obesity Task Force; Legislative bills that she co-sponsored, including one for nutrition standards in public schools; Texas' policy on the school breakfast and lunch program and other efforts to fight obesity in schoolchildren.

This study focused on determining the level of environmental education knowledge and skills among primary school learners in South Africa, under the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12. Environmental education is important in the promotion of sustainable environmental conservation and reducing negative effects, which are caused by adverse climatic conditions. We used a qualitative approach for data collection from eight primary schools located in the North Tshwane District of Gauteng province, through interviews and observations. The sample comprise teachers, learners, and non-teaching staff working at the schools. The findings from interviews suggest that the curriculum offers learners adequate environmental educational knowledge in the Social Science and Natural Science subjects. Similarly, the results from the observations show that, from visual sights of the surroundings of the schools, the school has gardens, tree nurseries, tree plantations, and a clean environment around the school. In conclusion, learners are provided with adequate environmental educational knowledge and they are able to contribute towards maintaining a clean environment and conservation in their communities.

Purpose: The cause of disc herniation is not well understood yet. It is assumed that heavy lifting and extreme postures can cause small injuries starting either in the inner anulus or from the outside close to the endplate. Such injuries are accumulated over years until its structure is weakened and finally a single loading event leads to a sudden failure of the last few intact lamellae. This paper describes a novel, custom-developed dynamic 6-DOF disc-loading simulator that allows complex loading to provoke such disc damage and herniations., Methods: The machine's axes are driven by six independent servomotors providing high loads (10 kN axial compression, 2 kN shear, 100 Nm torque) up to 5 Hz. A positional accuracy test was conducted to validate the machine. Subsequently, initial experiments with lumbar ovine motion segments under complex loading were performed. After testing, the discs were examined in an ultra-high field MRI (11.7 T). A three-dimensional reconstruction was performed to visualise the internal disc lesions., Results: Validation tests demonstrated positioning with an accuracy of ≤0.08°/≤0.026 mm at 0.5 Hz and ≤0.27°/≤0.048 mm at 3.0 Hz with amplitudes of ±17°/±2 mm. Typical failure patterns and herniations could be provoked with complex asymmetrical loading protocols. Loading with axial compression, flexion, lateral bending and torsion lead in 8 specimens to 4 herniated discs, two protrusions and two delaminations. All disc failures occurred in the posterior region of the disc., Conclusion: This new dynamic disc-loading simulator has proven to be able to apply complex motion combinations and allows to create artificial lesions in the disc with complex loading protocols. The aim of further tests is to better understand the mechanisms by which disc failure occurs at the microstructural level under different loading conditions. Visualisation with ultra-high field MRI at different time points is a promising method to investigate the gradual development of such lesions, which may finally lead to disc failure. These kinds of experiments will help to better investigate the mechanical failure of discs to provide new insights into the initiation of intervertebral disc herniation. This device will also serve for many other applications in spine biomechanics research.

Background: Since drug-related emergency department (ED) visits are common among older adults, the objectives of our study were to identify the frequency of drug-related problems (DRPs) among patients presenting to the ED with non-specific complaints (NSC), such as generalized weakness and to evaluate responsible drug classes., Methods: Delayed type cross-sectional diagnostic study with a prospective 30 day follow-up in the ED of the University Hospital Basel, Switzerland. From May 2007 until April 2009, all non-trauma patients presenting to the ED with an Emergency Severity Index (ESI) of 2 or 3 were screened and included, if they presented with non-specific complaints. After having obtained complete 30-day follow-up, two outcome assessors reviewed all available information, judged whether the initial presentation was a DRP and compared their judgment with the initial ED diagnosis. Acute morbidity ("serious condition") was allocated to individual cases according to predefined criteria., Results: The study population consisted of 633 patients with NSC. Median age was 81 years (IQR 72/87), and the mean Charlson comorbidity index was 2.5 (IQR 1/4). DRPs were identified in 77 of the 633 cases (12.2%). At the initial assessment, only 40% of the DRPs were correctly identified. 64 of the 77 identified DRPs (83%) fulfilled the criteria "serious condition". Polypharmacy and certain drug classes (thiazides, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants) were associated with DRPs., Conclusion: Elderly patients with non-specific complaints need to be screened systematically for drug-related problems., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00920491.

Objectives: Patients presenting to emergency departments (ED) with nonspecific complaints (NSCs) such as "not feeling well,""feeling weak,""being tired,""general deterioration," or other similar chief complaints that do not have a readily identifiable probable etiology are a common patient group at risk for adverse outcomes. Certain biomarkers, which have not yet been tested for prognostic value when applied to ED patients with NSCs, have emerged as useful tools for predicting prognosis in patients with a variety of diseases. This study tested the hypothesis that two of these novel markers, copeptin (a C-terminal portion of provasopressin) and/or peroxiredoxin-4 (Prx4), an enzyme that degrades hydrogen peroxide, singly or together are helpful in predicting death in the near term among patients presenting to the ED with NSCs., Methods: The Basel Non-specific Complaints (BANC) study is a delayed type cross-sectional diagnostic study with a prospective 30-day follow-up. ED patients with NSCs were consecutively enrolled. Patients with vital parameters out of the normal range were excluded. The primary endpoint of this study was the predictive value of copeptin and Prx4 for 30-day mortality in patients with NSCs. Measurement of both copeptin and Prx4 was performed in serum samples with sandwich immunoluminometric assays., Results: On follow-up at 30 days after ED presentation, 28 of 438 patients with NSC had died. Copeptin and Prx4 concentrations were significantly higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors (Kruskal-Wallis test, p = 0.0001 and p < 0.0001, respectively). In univariate models, Prx4 (likelihood ratio [LR] χ(2) = 22.24, p < 0.00001, concordance index [C-index] = 0.749) and copeptin (LR χ(2) = 16.98, p = 0.00004, C-index = 0.724) were both predictive of 30-day mortality, and elevated levels were associated with an increased mortality. The bivariable model, which included both Prx4 and copeptin (LR χ(2) = 28.22, p < 0.00001, C-index = 0.783), allows a significantly better prediction than the univariate Prx4 (p = 0.00025) and copeptin models (p = 0.00099), respectively. Both biomarkers provided independent and additional information to clinical risk scores (Katz Activities of Daily Living [ADL] and Charlson Comorbidity Index [CCI], all p < 0.0005)., Conclusions: Copeptin and Prx4 are new prognostic markers in patients presenting to the ED with NSCs. Copeptin and Prx4 might be valuable tools for risk stratification and decision-making in this patient group., (© 2011 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.)

Objectives: Patient management in emergency departments (EDs) is often based on management protocols developed for specific complaints like dyspnea, chest pain, or syncope. To the best of our knowledge, to date no protocols exist for patients with nonspecific complaints (NSCs) such as "weakness,""dizziness," or "feeling unwell." The objectives of this study were to provide a framework for research and a description of patients with NSCs presenting to EDs., Methods: Nonspecific complaints were defined as the entity of complaints not part of the set of specific complaints for which evidence-based management protocols for emergency physicians (EPs) exist. "Serious conditions" were defined as potentially life-threatening or those requiring early intervention to prevent health status deterioration. During a 6-month period, all adult nontrauma patients with an Emergency Severity Index (ESI) of 2 or 3 were prospectively enrolled, and serious conditions were identified within a 30-day period., Results: The authors screened 18,261 patients for inclusion. A total of 218 of 1,611 (13.5%) nontrauma ESI 2 and 3 patients presented with NSCs. Median age was 82 years (interquartile range [IQR]=72 to 87), and 24 of 218 (11%) were nursing home inhabitants. A median of 4 (IQR=3 to 5) comorbidities were recorded, most often chronic hypertension, coronary artery disease, and dementia. During the 30-day follow-up period a serious condition was diagnosed in 128 of 218 patients (59%). The 30-day mortality rate was 6%., Conclusions: Patients with NSC presenting to the ED are at high risk of suffering from serious conditions. Sensitive risk stratification tools are needed to identify patients with potentially adverse health outcomes., (Copyright (c) 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.)