Publications by authors named "Andrew Tu"

Stable flies in the genus Stomoxys are highly abundant, blood-feeding pests on dairy farms; however, their role in the carriage and potential transmission of pathogens is largely understudied. Here, we report on the frequency and distribution of culturable bacteria collected from Stomoxys flies captured in free stall barns and nearby calf hutches over a three-month period on a focal research farm in Wisconsin, USA. Mastitis-associated bacterial taxa, including Staphylococcus, Escherichia, Enterobacter, and Klebsiella spp.

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infections can significantly impact the health and productivity of dairy cattle. Asymptomatic carriage of can make it difficult to identify and monitor this pathogen across a herd. Therefore, a more focused census on dairy farms is needed to better understand the dynamics of asymptomatic carriage.

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Article Synopsis
  • Illicit drug toxicity is the leading cause of death in British Columbia for individuals aged 10-59, with a notable rise in stimulant-related fatalities.
  • The study analyzed data from 3,788 drug toxicity deaths to understand the differences between deaths caused by stimulants versus opioids, focusing on the presence of chronic diseases.
  • Results indicated that individuals with heart disease are at a higher risk of death from stimulant use compared to opioid use, highlighting the need for further research and targeted interventions to prevent such fatalities among at-risk populations.
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The immune cell niche associated with oral dysplastic lesion progression to carcinoma is poorly understood. We identified T regulatory cells (Treg), CD8+ effector T cells (Teff) and immune checkpoint molecules across oral dysplastic stages of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD). OPMD and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissue sections (N = 270) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for Treg (CD4, CD25 and FoxP3), Teff (CD8) and immune checkpoint molecules (PD-1 and PD-L1).

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Extensive evidence supports the role of the immune system in modulating brain function and behaviour. However, past studies have revealed striking heterogeneity in behavioural phenotypes produced from immune system dysfunction. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we studied the neuroanatomical differences among 11 distinct genetically modified mouse lines (n = 371), each deficient in a different element of the immune system.

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Introduction: British Columbia (BC) declared an overdose public health emergency in 2016. Since then, BC has consistently reported the highest overdose death rates of any province in Canada. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, overdose deaths in BC reached a record high in 2020.

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This study explored the parenting practices that parents of 5-12 year-old children report using to encourage or discourage children's healthy eating and examined sex differences in parent's responses. A stratified sample of 135 parents in the US and Canada completed a semi-qualitative online survey (Jan-Feb 2014) (stratified by parents' sex, income, and ethnicity of each country). Parents provided short answers to questions regarding the strategies they or other parents used to encourage or discourage their children's healthy eating (5-12 year-old).

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Introduction: British Columbia (BC) declared a public health emergency in April 2016 in response to a rapid rise in overdose deaths. Further understanding of health care utilization is needed to inform prevention strategies for individuals who overdose from illegal drugs.

Methods: The Provincial Overdose Cohort includes linked administrative data on health care utilization by individuals who experienced an illegal drug overdose event in BC between 1 January 2015 and 30 November 2016.

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Background: Parents have the potential to substantively influence their child's physical activity. This study identified the parenting practices of US and Canadian parents to encourage or discourage their 5-12 year-old child's physical activity and to examine differences in parenting practices by country, parental sex, age of child, and income.

Methods: The sample consisted of 134 US and Canadian parents (54.

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Background: Parents are an important influence on children's dietary intake and eating behaviors. However, the lack of a conceptual framework and inconsistent assessment of food parenting practices limits our understanding of which food parenting practices are most influential on children. The aim of this study was to develop a food parenting practice conceptual framework using systematic approaches of literature reviews and expert input.

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Aim: Few studies have examined whether longitudinal changes in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), independent of each other, are associated with the risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS). The objective of this study was to examine the longitudinal effects of VAT and SAT on MetS and metabolic risk factors in a multi-ethnic sample of Canadians followed for 5-years.

Materials And Methods: In total, 598 adults of the Multicultural Community Health Assessment Trial (M-CHAT) were included in this study.

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Background: Parents are widely recognized as playing a central role in the development of child behaviors such as physical activity. As there is little agreement as to the dimensions of physical activity-related parenting practices that should be measured or how they should be operationalized, this study engaged experts to develop an integrated conceptual framework for assessing parenting practices that influence multiple aspects of 5 to 12 year old children's participation in physical activity. The ultimate goal of this study is to inform the development of an item bank (repository of calibrated items) aimed at measuring physical activity parenting practices.

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Purpose: To examine the influence of peers and the source of meals and snacks on the dietary quality of adolescents seeking obesity treatment.

Methods: Baseline surveys were completed by 173 adolescents with overweight or obesity (11-16 years old) enrolled in an e-health intervention in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dietary quality was assessed with three 24-h dietary recalls used to compute a Healthy Eating Index adapted to the Canadian context (HEI-C).

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Background: Few studies have evaluated the effect of adherence to a lifestyle intervention on adolescent health outcomes. The objective of this study was to determine whether adolescent and parental adherence to components of an e-health intervention resulted in change in adolescent body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) z-scores in a sample of overweight/obese adolescents.

Methods: In total, 159 overweight/obese adolescents and their parents participated in an 8-month e-health lifestyle intervention.

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Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the physical activity parenting practices (PAPPs) parents report using with the PAPPs incorporated in the published literature.

Methods: PAPPs in the literature were identified by reviewing the content of 74 published PAPP measures obtained from current systematic reviews supplemented with a literature search. The types of PAPPs used by parents were identified by surveying a stratified sample of 134 Canadian and US parents of 5- to 12 year-old children.

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Objective: Understanding the mechanisms by which neighbourhood environments influence childhood obesity is needed to facilitate the development of prevention strategies. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to identify the distinct types of neighbourhoods in which Canadian children reside and examine the extent to which physical activity and sedentary behaviour mediate the relationship between neighbourhood type and childhood obesity.

Methods: Baseline data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (1994/1995) were used for this study.

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Research to understand how parents influence their children's dietary intake and eating behaviors has expanded in the past decades and a growing number of instruments are available to assess food parenting practices. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on how constructs should be defined or operationalized, making comparison of results across studies difficult. The aim of this study was to develop a food parenting practice item bank with items from published scales and supplement with parenting practices that parents report using.

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Objective: In this study, unique body mass index (BMI) trajectories from ages 1 to 20 years were identified; each trajectory according to socio demographic and family characteristics was described.

Methods: Participants came from two national population surveys (n = 7,253; n = 901) and were aged 1-6 years at baseline. Children were surveyed biennially over eight waves up to 14-20 years of age.

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Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between parent and adolescent levels of physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and sleep among a group of overweight and obese adolescents.

Methods: Baseline data of parent-adolescent pairs who enrolled in a lifestyle modification intervention were analyzed for this study (n = 176). Participants completed questionnaires about their screen time (TV, video game, and computer time), wore an accelerometer for 8 days, and completed a sleep diary for 1 week.

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Background: Adherence to e-health obesity interventions is a significant challenge.

Purpose: We examined the individual and household predictors of adolescents' adherence to a Web-based lifestyle intervention.

Methods: One hundred sixty overweight/obese adolescents and one of their parents enrolled in the 8-month e-health intervention.

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Objective: To report the findings of a knowledge survey of nurse and physician immunization providers.

Design: Cross-sectional postal survey assessing demographic characteristics and vaccine knowledge.

Setting: British Columbia (BC).

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Objective: The goal of this study was to examine use of weight control strategies in Canadian adults and the role of income as a barrier to using these strategies.

Methods: Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey cycle 4.1 on health behaviour change was used for this study.

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Objectives: We investigated whether periodic increases in minimum alcohol prices were associated with reduced alcohol-attributable hospital admissions in British Columbia.

Methods: The longitudinal panel study (2002-2009) incorporated minimum alcohol prices, density of alcohol outlets, and age- and gender-standardized rates of acute, chronic, and 100% alcohol-attributable admissions. We applied mixed-method regression models to data from 89 geographic areas of British Columbia across 32 time periods, adjusting for spatial and temporal autocorrelation, moving average effects, season, and a range of economic and social variables.

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Aim: To investigate relationships between periodic increases in minimum alcohol prices, changing densities of liquor stores and alcohol-attributable (AA) deaths in British Columbia, Canada.

Design: Cross-section (16 geographic areas) versus time-series (32 annual quarters) panel analyses were conducted with AA deaths as dependent variables and price, outlet densities and socio-demographic characteristics as independent variables.

Setting And Participants: Populations of 16 Health Service Delivery Areas in British Columbia, Canada.

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