The influence of HIV infection on the age dependence of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin in South Africa

BACKGROUND. Cancer incidence typically increases with age, but it is not known whether ethnic characteristics influence the age dependence of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (SCC). OBJECTIVES. (i) To determine the age dependence of SCC in the black African, coloured and white population groups of South Africa (SA); and (ii) to show whether any differences in the rate of change of age dependence could be influenced by diversity in behaviour and lifestyle, especially with regard to the prevalence of HIV infection, rather than by a fundamental variation in cancer biology between the populations. METHODS. Linear regression analysis was applied to the logarithm of the age-specific incidence rates for SCC v. the logarithm of age between 35 and 74 years. The slopes of the regression (age exponent) were compared for each subset of gender, population group and year of diagnosis (between 2000 and 2010). RESULTS. The most notable feature was the low value of the age exponent in both male and female black African compared with the white and coloured populations. This finding could be explained in part by the difference in the prevalence of HIV infection in the black African population group compared with the white and coloured population groups. CONCLUSIONS. The prevalence of HIV infection in black Africans in SA tends to decrease the apparent age component in SCC compared with the white and coloured population groups. Other factors relating to lifestyle and behaviour that differ between the population groups are also likely to influence the age component in SCC.The National Research Foundation of South Africa and the South African Medical Research Council.http://www.samj.org.zaam2017Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog

Health visiting teams and children’s oral health: a scoping review

Background Recent policies have recommended early-life interventions to prevent caries. The four nations of the UK each have a national universal children’s health programme, through which health visitors and their wider team (HVTs) promote health in the early years. HVT visits offer an opportunity to support parents to improve their child’s oral health. A scoping review was conducted to provide a descriptive synthesis of the current literature related to the role of HVTs in improving the oral health of children 0–5 years old and to identify significant gaps for future research. This review informed the feasibility study of the First Dental Steps Intervention, a targeted health visitor-led infant oral health intervention in England. Methods Electronic database searches for peer-reviewed literature were performed using Medline via Ovid and Web of Science (1946–2021). The quality of included intervention studies was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool. Additionally, a grey literature search was conducted (key organisations, bibliographic and thesis databases, forwards and backwards citation, Google). Results Thirty-nine publications, published between 1980 and 2021, were included. The majority of included papers were from the UK. The quality of intervention studies (n = 7) ranged from weak to strong. Thematic analysis identified the following themes: (1) professional knowledge, education, and training; (2) involvement of HVs in the delivery of oral health interventions; (3) effectiveness of interventions; (4) perspectives of HVs providing oral health advice and acceptability; and (5) barriers and facilitators to promoting oral health. The grey literature search identified 125 sources. HVT involvement was reported in a variety of source types: reports, guidance documents, evaluations, reviews, and training resources. HVTs were involved in oral health by providing oral health packs, brushing and oral health advice, registration and attendance, oral health training, risk assessment, and referral to dental services. Conclusion The current literature suggests that HVTs are well placed to improve children’s oral health. Facilitators and barriers are encountered by HVTs in promoting oral health which should be considered by commissioners. There is a need for future high-quality studies that address the inadequacies found and provide further evidence of the effectiveness of HVT’s oral health interventions

Using systems thinking to understand how the South West - School Health Research Network can improve adolescent health and well-being: a qualitative process evaluation

Schools offer a valuable setting to promote good health and mental well-being amongst young people. Schools are complex systems and therefore systems interventions are needed to improve pupil health and well-being. This paper presents a qualitative process evaluation of the South West- School Health Research Network, a systems level intervention. The evaluation is based on interviews with school staff, local authorities and wider stakeholders. Given the complexity of England's educational system there is a need to intervene and monitor health at multiple levels and to ensure close partnership working to effectively improve adolescent health through schools

Study protocol for First Dental Steps Intervention: feasibility study of a health visitor led infant oral health improvement programme

Background Dental caries in childhood is a burden on the daily lives of children and their families, and associated with poor oral health in adulthood. In England, dental caries is the most common reason for young children to be admitted to hospital. It is believed that most tooth extractions (due to decay) for children aged 10 years and under, could be avoided with improved prevention and early management. National public health policy recommendations in England include specific oral health initiatives to tackle tooth decay. One of these initiatives is delivered as part of the Healthy Child Programme and includes providing workforce training in oral health, integrating oral health advice into home visits, and the timely provision of fluoride toothpaste. This protocol seeks to assess the delivery of the First Dental Steps intervention and uncertainties related to the acceptability, recruitment, and retention of participants. Methods This study seeks to explore the feasibility and acceptability of the First Dental Steps intervention and research methods. First Dental Steps intervention will be delivered in local authority areas in South West England and includes oral health training for health visitors (or community nursery nurses) working with 0–5-year-olds and their families. Further, for vulnerable families, integrating oral health advice and the provision of an oral health pack (including a free flow cup, an age appropriate toothbrush, and 1450 ppm fluoride toothpaste) during a mandated check by a health visitor. In this study five local authority areas will receive the intervention. Interviews with parents receiving the intervention and health visitors delivering the intervention will be undertaken, along with a range of additional interviews with stakeholders from both intervention and comparison sites (four additional local authority areas). Discussion This protocol was written after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a result, some of the original methods were adjusted specifically to account for disruptions caused by the pandemic. Results of this study will primarily provide evidence on the acceptability and feasibility of both the First Dental Steps intervention and the research methods from the perspective of both families and stakeholders

Conducting school-based health surveys with secondary schools in England: advice and recommendations from school staff, local authority professionals, and wider key stakeholders, a qualitative study

Background Improving the health and well-being of young people is a public health priority. Schools present an ideal setting to implement strategies to improve young people’s health and well-being. A key strategy involves conducting surveys to assess student health needs, inform interventions, and monitor health over time. Conducting research in schools is, however, challenging. Schools can find it difficult to participate and adhere to research processes, even when they are keen to be involved in research, because of competing priorities (e.g., attendance and educational achievement), as well as time and resource constraints. There is a lack of literature on the perspectives of school staff and other key stakeholders working in young people’s health on how best to work with schools to conduct health research, and in particular, health surveys. Methods Participants (n = 26) included members of staff from 11 secondary schools (covering students aged 11–16 years), 5 local authority professionals, and 10 wider key stakeholders in young people's health and well-being (e.g., a school governor, a national government member), based in South West England. Participants took part in semi-structured interviews that were conducted either over the phone or via an online platform. Data were analysed using the Framework Method. Results Three main themes were identified: Recruitment and Retention, Practicalities of Data Collection in Schools, and Collaboration from Design to Dissemination. It is important to acknowledge the role of local authorities and academy trusts in the English education system, and work closely with these when conducting school-based health surveys. School staff prefer to be contacted about research via email and in the summer term, following exams. Researchers should contact a member of staff involved in student health/well-being, as well as senior leadership, during recruitment. Data collection during the start and end of the school year is undesirable. Research should be collaborative with school staff and young people, consistent with school priorities and values, and flexible and tailored to school timetables and resources. Conclusions Overall the findings demonstrate that survey-based research methods should be school-led and tailored to each school

Integrating sequence and array data to create an improved 1000 Genomes Project haplotype reference panel

A major use of the 1000 Genomes Project (1000GP) data is genotype imputation in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Here we develop a method to estimate haplotypes from low-coverage sequencing data that can take advantage of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) microarray genotypes on the same samples. First the SNP array data are phased to build a backbone (or 'scaffold') of haplotypes across each chromosome. We then phase the sequence data 'onto' this haplotype scaffold. This approach can take advantage of relatedness between sequenced and non-sequenced samples to improve accuracy. We use this method to create a new 1000GP haplotype reference set for use by the human genetic community. Using a set of validation genotypes at SNP and bi-allelic indels we show that these haplotypes have lower genotype discordance and improved imputation performance into downstream GWAS samples, especially at low-frequency variants. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Study of doubly strange systems using stored antiprotons

Bound nuclear systems with two units of strangeness are still poorly known despite their importance for many strong interaction phenomena. Stored antiprotons beams in the GeV range represent an unparalleled factory for various hyperon-antihyperon pairs. Their outstanding large production probability in antiproton collisions will open the floodgates for a series of new studies of systems which contain two or even more units of strangeness at the P‾ANDA experiment at FAIR. For the first time, high resolution γ-spectroscopy of doubly strange ΛΛ-hypernuclei will be performed, thus complementing measurements of ground state decays of ΛΛ-hypernuclei at J-PARC or possible decays of particle unstable hypernuclei in heavy ion reactions. High resolution spectroscopy of multistrange Ξ−-atoms will be feasible and even the production of Ω−-atoms will be within reach. The latter might open the door to the |S|=3 world in strangeness nuclear physics, by the study of the hadronic Ω−-nucleus interaction. For the first time it will be possible to study the behavior of Ξ‾+ in nuclear systems under well controlled conditions