Maternity Leave and Its Impact on Breastfeeding: A Review of the Literature.

Background: Breastfeeding is known to be the best source of nutrition for infants. The World Health Organization recommends to exclusively breastfeed up to the sixth month of life and to breastfeed with complementary foods until the age of 2. It is reported that maternity leave (ML) is one of the most important interventions for an extended breastfeeding duration.

The comparative performance of the Canadian and Australian health systems.

Using three data sets, each providing an overview of health service delivery in high-income countries, this article provides a high-level comparative analysis of health system performance against specified key performance indicators in two jurisdictions: Canada and Australia. Several variations, nuances, and points of comparison between delivery and organization of care are discussed. The article examines three policy and structural differences that may help explain the comparatively superior performance of the Australian system on most indicators, and two key areas of improvement for the Canadian system were illuminated: a stronger central government role and a national pharmaceutical plan.

A Novel Variant of Desmoplakin Is Potentially Associated with Silicosis Risk.

Two genome-wide association studies and one sequencing study have coincidently reported significant associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the desmoplakin (DSP) gene with the risk of pulmonary fibrosis (mainly idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). However, these findings have not been well generalized to occupational pulmonary fibrosis (e.g.

Augmented Reality Games as a New Class of Physical Activity Interventions? The Impact of Pokémon Go Use and Gaming Intensity on Physical Activity.

Objective: To assess the health impact of augmented reality games by examining the association between Pokémon Go and physical activity among university students.

Materials And Methods: This pilot study included 65 medical students who were iPhone (Apple, Inc., Cupertino, CA) users with the built-in accelerometer and Health app.

Risk Factors for Violent Injuries and Their Severity Among Men in The Gambia.

A matched case-control study was conducted to identify risk factors for injury from physical violence and its severity in Gambian men. Study participants were recruited from eight emergency rooms and outpatient departments in two health administrative regions. Cases were male patients aged ⩾15 years who had been violently injured.

Comparing two methods for delivering clinical trial informed consent information to older adults: singular versus stepped approach.

Background: Adapting the informed consent process to the needs of older adults may enhance engagement and willingness to participate in a clinical trial. A key aspect of the process is being provided with written clinical trial information and consent documents and having an opportunity to discuss the information with the researcher. However, there are no guidelines on the most appropriate method for delivering this information to older adults and it is not known whether the delivery method is a facilitator or barrier towards clinical trial participation.

Reversing Antimicrobial Resistance in Multidrug-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae of Clinical Origin Using 1-(1-Naphthylmethyl)-Piperazine.

Eleven clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates were tested to access the potential of adjuvant therapies to reduce antimicrobial resistance using fixed concentrations of the chemosensitizers chlorpromazine (CPZ), thioridazine (TZ), phenylalanine-arginine-β-naphthylamide (PAβN), and 1-(1-naphthylmethyl)-piperazine-(NMP) with varying concentrations of antimicrobial agents nalidixic acid (NAL), ciprofloxacin (CIP), moxifloxacin (MXF), tetracycline (TET), and chloramphenicol (CHL). Ethidium bromide dye was used together with the chemosensitizers to investigate permeabilization effects. NMP was assessed for its capacity to reduce the mass of biofilm alone and in combination with CIP and MXF.

Why Is the U.S. Preterm Birth Rate So Much Higher Than the Rates in Canada, Great Britain, and Western Europe?

The portion of newborns delivered before term is considerably higher in the United States than in other developed countries. We compare the array of risk exposures and protective factors common to women across national settings, using national, regional, and international databases, review articles, and research reports. We find that U.

Children and E-Cigarettes: A New Threat to Health.

The widespread availability and use of E-Cigarettes in many countries has established the need for an assessment of their effect on children. By the end of 2017 the number published annually on E-Cigarettes had increased to 2976 and included 171 papers on E-Cigarettes and children. The objective of this commentary is to provide a review and public health perspective on the effects of E-cigarettes on children.

Evaluation of the Nutritional Quality of Commissary Foods Offered in American Women's Prisons.

Weight gain and obesity among female prisoners is of public health concern. This study analyzed the nutritional quality of commissary food and recipes cooked within eight women's prisons in the United States. Food items from commissary lists were categorized into the MyPlate food groups.

Barriers to Health Care Services Among Palestinian Women Denied Family Unification in Israel.

Family unification received public and political attention following recent global immigration crises, though less within health research. In Israel, under the Family Reunification Order, about 20,000 Palestinian women from the Occupied Palestinian Territories are denied residency and the right to universal health care services (HSC) after marrying Palestinian citizens and moving to Israel. To better understand the relationship between lacking residency and barriers to accessing HCS, we conducted in-depth interviews with 21 Palestinian women (ages 22-59) denied family unification.

Absence of sustained breast cancer incidence inflation in a national mammography screening programme.

Objective: To investigate the impact of population mammography screening on breast cancer incidence trends in New Zealand.

Methods: Trends in age-specific rates of invasive breast cancer incidence (1994-2014) were assessed in relation to screening in women aged 50-64 from 1999 and 45-69 following the programme age extension in mid-2004.

Results: Breast cancer incidence increased significantly by 18% in women aged 50-64 compared with 1994-98 (p<0.

Does Introducing Public Funding for Allied Health Psychotherapy Lead to Reductions in Private Insurance Claims? Lessons for Canada from the Australian Experience.

Objective: Provincial and territorial governments are considering how best to improve access to psychotherapy from the current patchwork of programmes. To achieve the best value for money, new funding needs to reach a wider population rather than simply replacing services funded through insurance benefits. We considered lessons for Canada from the relative uptake of private insurance and public funding for allied health psychotherapy in Australia.

Epidemiology of Malaria in Yulin, South China 1999-2016: Imported Malaria Threatens Zero Local Case Status.

Objectives: This article describes the epidemiology of malaria in Yulin, 1999-2016. We review also malaria control strategy in Yulin in the posteradication phase.

Materials And Methods: We examined all malaria case records from Yulin prefecture reported to the Ministry of Health since 1999 and extracted malaria data between 1999 and 2003, the stage of malaria eradication, from the notifiable disease reporting records and case records of Guangxi.

Breast cancer mortality and screening mammography in New Zealand: Incidence-based and aggregate analyses.

Objective: To investigate trends in breast cancer mortality in New Zealand women, to corroborate or negate a causal association with service screening mammography.

Method: Cumulated mortality rates from breast cancer deaths individually linked to incident cases diagnosed before and after screening commencement were compared, in women aged 50-64 (from 2001) and aged 45-49 and 65-69 (from 2006). Trends and differences in aggregate invasive breast cancer mortality (1975-2013) were assessed in relation to introduction of mammography screening targeting women aged 50-64 and 45-69.

Correlates of frequent gambling and gambling-related chasing behaviors in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

Background and aims Published research on the relationship between disordered gambling and schizophrenia is limited. However, existing data suggest that individuals with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder may have a high prevalence of co-occurring disordered gambling. As such, effective strategies for screening and assessing gambling-related problems in individuals with psychosis are needed.

Observation of High School Students' Food Handling Behaviors: Do They Improve following a Food Safety Education Intervention?

Youth are a key audience for food safety education. They often engage in risky food handling behaviors, prepare food for others, and have limited experience and knowledge of safe food handling practices. Our goal was to investigate the effectiveness of an existing food handler training program for improving safe food handling behaviors among high school students in Ontario, Canada.

Novel Epigenomic Biomarkers of Male Infertility Identified by Methylation Patterns of CpG Sites Within Imprinting Control Regions of H19 and SNRPN Genes.

Male infertility is an important global health burden that can benefit from novel biomarkers and diagnostics innovation. Aberrant methylation of the imprinted genes H19 and SNRPN (small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptide N) in sperm DNA has been implicated in abnormal sperm parameters and male infertility. However, whether certain methylation patterns of one or multiple CpG sites within an imprinted gene are pathological for multiple sperm defects remains poorly understood.

Sublethal chronic effects of oral dietary exposure to deltamethrin in Swiss albino mice.

The hazards of dietary exposure to environmentally relevant levels of deltamethrin are poorly understood though studies enunciate the acute toxicity hazards. In this study, prolonged exposure to low levels of deltamethrin in mice was investigated. The mice were exposed daily via gavage method for 60 days.

Trends in the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Chinese School-Age Children and Adolescents from 2010 to 2015.

Background: In China, recent rapid economic growth has been associated with increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. This study aimed to provide the most updated prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity among school-age children and adolescents in Shanghai, China, in 2010-2015.

Methods: Annual physical examination data were collected from 66,410, 43,812, 104,887, 113,667, 119,401, and 109,068 school children and adolescents aged 6-17 in Minhang District, Shanghai, in 2010-2015.