Whose pollution, whose problem? Understanding perceptions of air pollution and implications for clean cooking (for health) in Nairobi schools.

Air pollution is a critical global public health and environmental concern, leading to over 6.7 million premature deaths annually, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the use of polluting fuels for cooking remains widespread. Incorporating perceptions of air pollution is argued as vital for developing effective intervention strategies.

Getting to effective housing policy for health: a thematic synthesis of policy development and implementation.

Impacts of housing on health are well-recognised. Despite this, housing standards have been neglected and there are gaps in healthy housing policies, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Given the recent publication of the WHO Housing and health guidelines, and the need to implement these into policy at all scales, we carried out a focused search and thematic synthesis of available literature on the barriers and enablers to recent housing and health policy.

Burden of headaches, eye irritation and respiratory symptoms among females stacking LPG with polluting cooking fuels: Modelling from peri-urban Cameroon, Ghana & Kenya.

Introduction: Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a clean cooking fuel that emits less household air pollution (HAP) than polluting cooking fuels (e.g. charcoal, wood).

Carriage of serotype A in children: Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) study.

Background: serotype a (Hia) has recently emerged as an important cause of invasive disease, mainly affecting young Indigenous children. Carriage of is a pre-requisite for invasive disease and reservoir for transmission. To better understand the epidemiology of invasive Hia disease, we initiated a multicentre study of nasopharyngeal carriage among Canadian children.

Household concentrations and female and child exposures to air pollution in peri-urban sub-Saharan Africa: measurements from the CLEAN-Air(Africa) study.

Background: Relatively clean cooking fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) emit less fine particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO) than polluting fuels (eg, wood, charcoal). Yet, some clean cooking interventions have not achieved substantial exposure reductions. This study evaluates determinants of between-community variability in exposures to household air pollution (HAP) across sub-Saharan Africa.

Estimated health effects from domestic use of gaseous fuels for cooking and heating in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analyses.

Background: Exposure to household air pollution from polluting domestic fuel (solid fuel and kerosene) represents a substantial global public health burden and there is an urgent need for rapid transition to clean domestic fuels. Gas for cooking and heating might possibly affect child asthma, wheezing, and respiratory health. The aim of this review was to synthesise the evidence on the health effects of gaseous fuels to inform policies for scalable clean household energy.

Mid-Term Effects of Selective Denervation Surgery on Facial Symmetry in Patients with Nonflaccid Facial Paralysis: Intermediate Follow-Up of Rest and Smile Symmetry.

Although selective denervation (SD) improves clinician-graded, objective, and patient-reported smile symmetry, changes in resting symmetry have not been comprehensively studied. To assess mid-term changes in resting facial symmetry after SD, and to evaluate changes in perceived emotions in faces at rest and with smiling. Nonflaccid facial paralysis (NFFP) patients undergoing SD were studied from September 2021 to October 2022.

Variables Affecting Cochlear Implant Performance After Loss of Residual Hearing.

Objective: Determine variables that influence post-activation performance for cochlear implant (CI) recipients who lost low-frequency acoustic hearing.

Methods: A retrospective review evaluated CNC word recognition for adults with normal to moderately severe low-frequency hearing (preoperative unaided thresholds of ≤70 dB HL at 250 Hz) who were implanted between 2012 and 2021 at a tertiary academic center, lost functional acoustic hearing, and were fit with a CI-alone device. Performance scores were queried from the 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24-month post-activation visits.

Increases in New but Not Returning Families to a Midwestern Food Pantry Network During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Food pantries are a resource for those experiencing food insecurity.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in food pantry utilization and volunteerism for a food pantry network during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: This 36-month longitudinal, observational study is a secondary analysis of data collected from an Ohio food pantry network.

Association of Self-Reported Autonomic Symptoms With Sensor-Based Physiological Measures.

Objective: Autonomic regulation of organ and tissues may give rise to disruptions of typical functions. The Body Perception Questionnaire Short Form (BPQ-SF) includes items that were developed to assess autonomic symptoms in daily life. This pair of studies aimed to establish previously unexplored psychometric properties of the BPQ-SF autonomic symptoms scale, develop normative values for clinical and research use, and assess the convergence of self-reports with sensor-based measures.

The Impact of Postoperative Patient Aromatherapy on Nurse Self-Efficacy.

A nurse-driven aromatherapy program investigated the effect on nurses' self-efficacy when using an essential oil inhalation protocol to reduce patients' postoperative pain and associated symptoms. After viewing an investigator-developed training module, staff nurses implemented aromatherapy. Results of changes in nurses' report of self-efficacy were evaluated using the Self-Efficacy in Providing Non-Drug therapies (SEND) survey tool.

COVID-19 & informal settlements: is 'Stay Home' safe?

The disproportional burden of coronavirus (COVID-19) and vulnerability to containment measures in informal settlements have been recognised; however, the role of poor housing conditions in propagating these remains neglected. Poor housing conditions makes it difficult to effectively implement social distancing measures. With increased time spent in cramped, dark and uncomfortable indoor environments, water and sanitation outside the home, and no outdoor space, higher exposure to existing health hazards and high levels of stress, with women and children being most vulnerable, are anticipated.

Safety Concerns Associated with Home Care Nursing.

Compared to nurses in acute care settings, home care nurses face unique threats to safety, including unsanitary conditions in homes, dangerous pets, firearms in the home, hostile patients or family members, high-crime neighborhoods, and motor vehicle accidents while traveling between patients. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore specific personal safety and environmental concerns faced by home care nurses. Seventy-five home care and home hospice nurses completed an anonymous Qualtrics survey.

Epidemiology of invasive disease in northwestern Ontario: comparison of invasive and noninvasive clinical isolates.

In the post- type b (Hib) vaccine era, invasive type a (Hia) disease emerged in North American Indigenous populations. The role of Hia in noninvasive disease is uncertain; it is unknown whether noninvasive Hia infections are prevalent in populations with a high incidence of invasive disease, and whether invasive and noninvasive Hia isolates have different characteristics. We analyzed all invasive and noninvasive clinical isolates collected in a northwestern Ontario hospital serving 82% Indigenous population over 5.

Readability and Quality of English and Spanish Online Health Information about Cochlear Implants.

Objective: According to the American Medical Association, Internet web site health information should be written at or below a 6th grade reading level. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the readability and quality of cochlear implant web site health information.

Study Design: Cross-sectional web site analysis.

Multiple aspects of energy poverty are associated with lower mental health-related quality of life: A modelling study in three peri-urban African communities.

Objective: Over 900 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) live in energy poverty, relying on cooking polluting fuels (e.g. wood, charcoal).

Association of childhood maltreatment with adult body awareness and autonomic reactivity: The moderating effect of practicing body psychotherapy.

Research shows the disruptive effects of early maltreatment on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning in adulthood. Psychotherapists not only tend to report higher rates of personal experience with early maltreatment, but also fewer mental problems and disturbances in adulthood, as compared to other professions. However, the role of the ANS in these processes has been understudied despite the relevance of the therapist's psychological state and related nonverbal communication for the therapeutic alliance.

Eating sustainably: Conviction or convenience?

Environmentally sustainable food consumption is one component of addressing climate change. Previous research has largely approached sustainable food consumption by investigating individual behaviors, without a broader conceptualization of what motivates food consumers to act sustainably. Using a representative sample of Indiana consumers, we explore sustainability across a range of food behaviors through latent class analysis, controlling for environmental attitudes, spatial access to food, and consumer demographics.

Complex dynamics in sustaining clean cooking and food access through a pandemic: A COVID-19 impact study in peri-urban Cameroon.

Access to clean energy for cooking is central to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7. Latest predictions suggest that this goal will not be met by 2030, with further setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on household cooking fuel, practices and dietary behaviours in a peri-urban community in Central Cameroon.

Proposed Changes to Nutrition Curricula in Higher Education.

Although the field of nutrition has shifted to holistic approaches to dietary health, introductory nutrition courses have primarily focused on a reductionist approach. From my perspective, there is a need for radical changes in nutrition curricula to emphasize the importance of whole foods, complex dietary behavior, and food systems that align with the progress made within the field of nutrition. This holistic perspective of food and dietary patterns can help future dietitians and those not pursuing dietetics to understand the complex realities of nutrition while also learning transferable skills, such as systems-thinking, communication, and evaluation and critique of current research.

Naturally acquired antibody against Haemophilus influenzae type a in pediatric saliva.

We developed a salivary assay for the detection of naturally acquired IgA antibody against Haemophilus influenzae type a (Hia) capsular polysaccharide in healthy Indigenous children from Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Hia-specific IgA antibody was detected in the saliva of 93% of Indigenous children aged 2-7 years.

Increased Autonomic Reactivity and Mental Health Difficulties in COVID-19 Survivors: Implications for Medical Providers.

Background: Because there is a relationship between mental health (MH) and medical adversity and autonomic dysregulation, we hypothesized that individuals infected with COVID-19 would report greater current autonomic reactivity and more MH difficulties (emotional distress, mindfulness difficulties, and posttraumatic stress). We also hypothesized that individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 who are experiencing difficulties related to their prior adversity and those providing medical care to COVID-19 patients would be more negatively impacted due to their increased stress and infection rates.

Method: US participants ( = 1,638; 61% female; Age = 46.

Naturally acquired antibodies against 7 Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes in Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults.

Despite the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines for pediatric immunization, North American Indigenous populations continue to experience high burden of pneumococcal infections. Naturally acquired antibodies, which can protect unvaccinated adults against pneumococcal infections, have not previously been studied in Canadian Indigenous people. We analysed concentrations of natural serum IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies specific to 7 serotype-specific capsular polysaccharides (3, 6B, 9V, 14, 19A, 19F and 23F) in 141 healthy individuals (age between 18 and 80 years), including Indigenous adults living in 2 geographical different areas of Ontario, Canada, and non-Indigenous residing in northwestern Ontario.