An Evidence-Based Update On Vitamins

American adults take many types of vitamin supplements, despite limited evidence of their efficacy, especially in preventing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Supplements contain significant amounts of vitamins when consumed from multiple sources. Excess consumption of some vitamins may have detrimental health effects. Use of MMVM products appears to be safe; however, clinical outcomes have not been established. Although vitamin D and preconception folic acid may be appropriate for self care, a health care provider should monitor other vitamin supplements for disease prevention, such as niacin. Beyond supplementation as treatment for vitamin deficiencies, evidence is lacking

The Effect of a Student Pharmacist Directed Health-Education Program for Elementary-School Children

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to measure the effect of an annual student pharmacist led elementary-school health education program by assessing children’s comprehension of educational sessions.  Secondary objectives were to evaluate student pharmacists’ knowledge of health-related topics and practice skills. Methods: Student pharmacists led interactive learning sessions for elementary school students on nutrition, physical activity, summer safety, hygiene, medication safety, and tobacco prevention. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered to measure change in knowledge of health promotion and healthy lifestyles. Student pharmacists also completed pre- and post-health education intervention surveys to measure change in self-perception of knowledge, confidence, and practice application of health-related topics and practice skills. Results: Three-hundred and four elementary school children participated in the study with significant knowledge improvements observed in medication safety and tobacco prevention. Twenty-five student pharmacists completed surveys, resulting in a collective self-improvement in each area measured. Conclusion: Interactive educational sessions led by student pharmacists have a positive impact on elementary school children’s knowledge. Student pharmacists also demonstrated professional growth through increased knowledge, confidence, and communication skills in interacting with pediatric populations. Practice Implication: A co-curricular educational activity allowed student pharmacists to promote health and wellness to elementary students, a Healthy People 2020 goal, while also providing an opportunity to develop professional skills for future practice with pediatric patients.   Article Type: Original Researc

Introduction of an applicant Job-Related Task Assessment (JTA) and the effects on the health and fitness of police recruits

In 2020, a police department in the south-eastern USA introduced a Job-Related Task Assessment (JTA). The JTA included running, climbing, crawling, balance, direction changes, stair climbing, dragging, pushing, and simulated controlling of a struggling subject and needed to be completed by applicants in 6 : 57 min:s. It is not known whether introducing the JTA in the hiring process affected the health and fitness of hired recruits. OBJECTIVE: To compare the health and fitness of recruits hired prior to, and following, the JTA introduction. METHODS: Analysis was conducted on recruit data split into academy training year: 2016 (n = 91), 2017 (n = 129), 2018 (n = 167), 2019 (n = 242), and 2020 (n = 37). The 2020 group was hired after the JTA introduction and included one academy class. The following were recorded for all recruits: age, height, body mass, and body mass index; systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP); sit-and-reach; grip strength; push-ups; sit-ups; 2.4-km run; and a physical ability test (PAT). A univariate ANOVA, with sex and age as covariates and Bonferroni post hoc, determined between-year differences. RESULTS: The recruits from 2020 were significantly lighter than 2018 recruits (p <  0.031), had higher systolic and diastolic BP than recruits from 2016–2018 (p≤0.006), completed the 2.4-km run faster than recruits from all years (p <  0.001), and completed the PAT faster than the 2016 and 2019 (p = 0.006–0.007) recruits. CONCLUSION: The JTA introduction led to the selection of recruits with lower body mass, and better aerobic (2.4-km run) and job-specific fitness (PAT). However, 2020 recruits also had higher BP which should be monitored

Pharmacist-Administered Influenza Vaccination in Children and Corresponding Regulations

In our retrospective cohort study, we evaluated trends in pharmacist-administered pediatric influenza vaccination rates in the United States and corresponding state-level pharmacist pediatric vaccination authorization models, including minimum age requirements, vaccination protocols, and/or prescription requirements. An administrative health claims database was used to capture influenza vaccinations in children less than 18 years old with 1 year of continuous enrollment and joinpoint regression was used to assess trends. Of the 3,937,376 pediatric influenza vaccinations identified over the study period, only 3.2% were pharmacist-administered (87.7% pediatrician offices, 2.3% convenience care clinics, 0.8% emergency care, and 6.0% other locations). Pharmacist-administered pediatric influenza vaccination was more commonly observed in older children (mean age 12.65 ± 3.26 years) and increased significantly by 19.2% annually over the study period (95% confidence interval 9.2%-30.2%, p \u3c 0.05). The Northeast, with more restrictive authorization models, represented only 2.2% (n = 2816) of all pharmacist-administered pediatric influenza vaccinations. Utilization of pharmacist-administered pediatric influenza vaccination remains low. Providing children with greater access to vaccination with less restrictions may increase overall vaccination rates. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, pharmacists will play a major role in vaccinating children

Injuries Following Implementation of a Progressive Load Carriage Program in United States Marine Corps Training

PURPOSE: The overall physical demands placed on recruits completing United States Marine Corps (USMC) training is high and comes concomitantly with high rates of injuries. Load carriage with heavy loads is of particular concern. However, load carriage conditioning, if optimised, can reduce injury risk. METHODS: Retrospective injury data of recruits completing training informed this study. Data were drawn from recruits completing an original load carriage (OLC) program (n=2,363) and those completing a modified load carriage (LCMOD) program (n=681). Musculoskeletal injury data were drawn from the USMC San Diego sports medicine injury database. A population estimate of the OLC:LCMOD relative risk ratio (RR) was calculated. RESULTS: The proportion of injuries sustained by the LCMOD cohort (n=268; 39%) was notably lower than that sustained by the OLC cohort (n=1,372; 58%). The reoccurrence rate *f injury for LCMOD soldiers compared to the OLC was 0.68 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.75). The leading nature of injury (i.e., sprains and strains) was consistent between both cohorts (OLC: n=396; 29% vs. LCMOD: n=66; 25%). Inflammation (n=172; 13%) and fractures (n=144; 11%) were next most common for OLC recruits; while pain (n=58; 22%) and medial tibial stress syndrome (n=18; 8%) were next most common for LCMOD recruits. While stress reactions were proportionally higher in LCMOD (n=17; 6%) when compared to OLC (n=4; 0.3%), stress fractures were proportionality lower (LCMOD: n=9; 3% vs. OLC: n=114; 8%). Pre-existing / chronic injuries were higher in LCMOD (+5%) while new overuse injuries were lower (-7%). Totalling 65% (OLC) and 70% (LCMOD) of reported injuries the knee, lower leg, ankle, and foot were the top 4 bodily sites of injuries, although there were variations in the orders of presentations (See Table 1 for top 10 bodily sites). RELEVANCE: Careful periodisation and planning of a load carriage program can reduce injuries without reducing training outcomes

ImmPort, toward repurposing of open access immunological assay data for translational and clinical research

Immunology researchers are beginning to explore the possibilities of reproducibility, reuse and secondary analyses of immunology data. Open-access datasets are being applied in the validation of the methods used in the original studies, leveraging studies for meta-analysis, or generating new hypotheses. To promote these goals, the ImmPort data repository was created for the broader research community to explore the wide spectrum of clinical and basic research data and associated findings. The ImmPort ecosystem consists of four components–Private Data, Shared Data, Data Analysis, and Resources—for data archiving, dissemination, analyses, and reuse. To date, more than 300 studies have been made freely available through the ImmPort Shared Data portal , which allows research data to be repurposed to accelerate the translation of new insights into discoveries

Cardiovascular Demand Differences Between Male and Female US Marine Recruits During Progressive Loaded Hikes

Schram, B, Orr, R, Niederberger, B, Givens, A, Bernards, J, and Kelly, KR. Cardiovascular demand differences between male and female US Marine recruits during progressive loaded hikes. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-Despite having to carry the same occupational load, female soldiers tend to be lighter than male soldiers. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in cardiovascular load between female and male US Marine recruits during progressive load carriage hikes. United States Marine Corps recruits (565 male recruits; 364 female recruits) completed 6 loaded hikes over 6 weeks (1: 10 kg, 30 minutes; 2: 10 kg, 45 minutes; 3: 15 kg, 30 minutes, 4: 15 kg, 45 minutes; 5: 20 kg, 30 minutes; 6: 20 kg, 45 minutes) during which cardiovascular response was measured. Average heart rate (HRavg), HR maximum (HRmax), and pace were measured via a wrist-worn physiological monitor. Independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare between sexes, with significance set at 0.008 after adjusting for multiple comparisons. The average female recruit had significantly lower body mass (BM) compared with the average male recruit (p &lt; 0.001) and thus carried a significantly heavier relative load. (10 kg ∼17%, 15 kg ∼25%, 20 kg ∼33%, p &lt; 0.001). There were no significant differences in pace in any hike, and no significant differences were found in HRavg or HRmax when comparing female and male Marines during Hike 1. For female Marines, HRavg was significantly higher compared with male Marines during Hike 2 (+6.5 b·min-1, p &lt; 0.001) and Hike 3 (+7.4 b·min-1, p &lt; 0.001), and both HRavg and HRmax were significantly higher in Hike 4 (+11.9 b·min-1, +8.4 b·min-1, p &lt; 0.001), Hike 5 (+7.7 b·min-1, +7.9 b·min-1, p &lt; 0.001), and Hike 6 (+6.9 b·min-1, +7.1 b·min-1, p &lt; 0.001), respectively. Female Marines endured greater cardiovascular demand compared with male Marines during load carriage events when carrying loads greater than 15 kg (∼25% BM).</p

A Sinuous Tumulus over an Active Lava Tube at Klauea Volcano: Evolution, Analogs, and Hazard Forecasts

Inflation of narrow tube-fed basaltic lava flows (tens of meters across), such as those confined by topography, can be focused predominantly along the roof of a lava tube. This can lead to the development of an unusually long tumulus, its shape matching the sinuosity of the underlying lava tube. Such a situation occurred during Klauea Volcanos (Hawaii, USA) ongoing East Rift Zone eruption on a lava tube active from July through November 2010. Short-lived breakouts from the tube buried the flanks of the sinuous, ridge-like tumulus, while the tumulus crest, its surface composed of lava formed very early in the flows emplacement history, remained poised above the surrounding younger flows. At least several of these breakouts resulted in irrecoverable uplift of the tube roof. Confined sections of the prehistoric Carrizozo and McCartys flows (New Mexico, USA) display similar sinuous, ridge-like features with comparable surface age relationships. We contend that these distinct features formed in a fashion equivalent to that of the sinuous tumulus that formed at Klauea in 2010. Moreover, these sinuous tumuli may be analogs for some sinuous ridges evident in orbital images of the Tharsis volcanic province on Mars. The short-lived breakouts from the sinuous tumulus at Klauea were caused by surges in discharge through the lava tube, in response to cycles of deflation and inflation (DI events) at Klauea's summit. The correlation between DI events and subsequent breakouts aided in lava flow forecasting. Breakouts from the sinuous tumulus advanced repeatedly toward the sparsely populated Kalapana Gardens subdivision, destroying two homes and threatening others. Hazard assessments, including flow occurrence and advance forecasts, were relayed regularly to the Hawaii County Civil Defense to aid their lava flow hazard mitigation efforts while this lava tube was active

Anxious/depressed symptoms are related to microstructural maturation of white matter in typically developing youths

AbstractThere are multiple recent reports of an association between anxious/depressed (A/D) symptomatology and the rate of cerebral cortical thickness maturation in typically developing youths. We investigated the degree to which anxious/depressed symptoms are tied to age-related microstructural changes in cerebral fiber pathways. The participants were part of the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development. Child Behavior Checklist A/D scores and diffusion imaging were available for 175 youths (84 males, 91 females; 241 magnetic resonance imagings) at up to three visits. The participants ranged from 5.7 to 18.4 years of age at the time of the scan. Alignment of fractional anisotropy data was implemented using FSL/Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, and linear mixed model regression was carried out using SPSS. Child Behavior Checklist A/D was associated with the rate of microstructural development in several white matter pathways, including the bilateral anterior thalamic radiation, bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculus, left superior longitudinal fasciculus, and right cingulum. Across these pathways, greater age-related fractional anisotropy increases were observed at lower levels of A/D. The results suggest that subclinical A/D symptoms are associated with the rate of microstructural development within several white matter pathways that have been implicated in affect regulation, as well as mood and anxiety psychopathology.</jats:p

Gender differences in injuries sustained during United States Marine Corps training

Aim: To investigate gender-specific differences in injuries in United States Marine Corps (USMC) trainees.Design: Retrospective cohort study.Method: Point-of-care injury data for USMC recruits (females=94; males=681) completing training were drawn from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego sports medicine injury database and analysed descriptively. The male: female incidence rate ratio (IRR) was calculated.Results: Male trainees suffered more injuries (male=268; 39%; female n=22; 23%; IRR=1.68 (95% CI 1.33 to 2.1)). Sprains and strains were the leading nature of injury (female=41%; male=25%) followed by pain(female=23%; male=22%). The leading type of injury was ‘new overuse injuries’ for both genders (54% each). Female trainees experienced more acute injuries (36% versus 26%). While female (55%) and male (58%)rates of ‘moderate’ injuries were similar, female trainees experienced more ‘mild’ injuries (36% versus 25%). The knee (female=27%: male=23%) and lower leg (female=23%: male=21%) were the leading injury sites. All injuries were to the lower limbs in female trainees; male trainees also reported injuries to the upper limb (12%) and trunk (8%).Conclusion: Female trainees experienced fewer injuries than male trainees, with more being mild. Both genders had similar natures of injuries in similar body sites except that male trainees reported some upper body and trunk injuries.</div