Stages of development and injury patterns in the early years: a population-based analysis

BACKGROUND: In Canada, there are many formal public health programs under development that aim to prevent injuries in the early years (e.g. 0–6). There are paradoxically no population-based studies that have examined patterns of injury by developmental stage among these young children. This represents a gap in the Canadian biomedical literature. The current population-based analysis explores external causes and consequences of injuries experienced by young children who present to the emergency department for assessment and treatment. This provides objective evidence about prevention priorities to be considered in anticipatory counseling and public health planning. METHODS: Four complete years of data (1999–2002; n = 5876 cases) were reviewed from the Kingston sites of the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP), an ongoing injury surveillance initiative. Epidemiological analyses were used to characterize injury patterns within and across age groups (0–6 years) that corresponded to normative developmental stages. RESULTS: The average annual rate of emergency department-attended childhood injury was 107 per 1000 (95% CI 91–123), with boys experiencing higher annual rates of injury than girls (122 vs. 91 per 1000; p < 0.05). External causes of injury changed substantially by developmental stage. This lead to the identification of four prevention priorities surrounding 1) the optimization of supervision; 2) limiting access to hazards; 3) protection from heights; and 4) anticipation of risks. CONCLUSION: This population-based injury surveillance analysis provides a strong evidence-base to inform and enhance anticipatory counseling and other public health efforts aimed at the prevention of childhood injury during the early years

Species-specific responses to forest soil inoculum in planted trees in an abandoned agricultural field

Tree plantations are commonly used to restore abandoned agricultural fields with varying degrees of success. Agricultural soils differ from forest soils in nutrient availability and microbial communities. The objective of this study was to test the effect of adding small amounts of forest soil on the survival, growth and rates of mycorrhizal fungal colonization of trees planted in an abandoned agricultural field over the crucial first three growing seasons. Seedlings of two arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and two ectomycorrhizal (EM) tree species were planted in an abandoned agricultural field. Soil inocula were taken from four forest stands, each dominated by one of the planted species. Half of the soil samples were sterilized before inoculation to distinguish microbial from nutrient effects. The effect of the quantity of soil inoculum added was tested using 300 and 1500 ml of forest soil. Tree mortality was low and did not vary between treatments. The growth of EM tree species responded, positively or negatively, to forest soil inoculation. A negative feedback was detected on the growth of red oak seedlings inoculated with red oak soil. Seedlings inoculated with EM sterilized soils were smaller than control seedlings, presumably due to lower nutrient availability of EM forest soils compared to agricultural field soil. The majority of the effects, either positive or negative, were observed the first year. After three seasons of growth, only yellow birch seedlings that had received 1500 ml of non-sterilized red oak soil still benefited from soil inoculation. More research is needed in nutrient-limited soils to determine whether inoculation would have greater or longer term benefits on tree survival and growth

Relevance of omental pericellular adipose tissue collagen in the pathophysiology of human abdominal obesity and related cardiometabolic risk

Background: Adipose tissue fibrosis is a relatively new notion and its relationship with visceral obesity and cardiometabolic alterations remains unclear particularly in moderate obesity. Objective: Our objective was to examine if total and pericellular collagen accumulation are relevant for the pathophysiology of visceral obesity and related cardiometabolic risk. Subjects and methods: Omental (OM) and subcutaneous (SC) fat surgical samples were obtained in 56 women (age: 47.2±5.8 years; BMI: 27.1±4.4kg/m2 ). Body composition and fat distribution were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography, respectively. Total and pericellular collagen were measured using picrosirius red staining and CD68+ cells, a marker of total macrophages, as well as CD163+ cells, a marker of M2-macrophages, were identified using immunohistochemistry. Results: We found that only pericellular collagen percentage, especially in OM fat, was associated with higher BMI, body fat mass and adipose tissue areas as well as lower radiologic attenuation of VAT and altered cardiometabolic risk variables. Strong correlations between peri-adipocyte collagen percentage and total or M2-macrophages percentage were observed in both depots. Total collagen percentage in either compartment was not related to adiposity, fat distribution or cardiometabolic risk. Conclusion: As opposed to whole-tissue based assessments of adipose tissue fibrosis, collagen deposition around the adipocyte, especially in the OM fat compartment is related to total and regional adiposity as well as altered cardiometabolic risk profile

L’offre active de services de santé mentale en français en Ontario : données et enjeux

Au Canada, au gouvernement fédéral et dans plusieurs provinces, le principe d’offre active sert à guider la prestation des services publics en français. L’Ontario se démarque, car son approche est en partie volontaire. Il importe donc d’étudier comment les services en français sont intégrés à la gouvernance des services publics au sein de la province. Cet article puise dans les données gouvernementales existantes afin de brosser un tableau de l’offre active de services en français en santé mentale. Or, les auteurs montrent que ces données sont difficiles à obtenir et parcellaires. L’article sert à souligner des défis importants pour l’offre de services en français dans le domaine de la santé mentale en Ontario.In Canada, at the federal level and in many provinces, the principle of active offer has been used to guide the delivery of French-language services. Ontario stands out, since the approach is partly voluntary. As such, it is important to study how French-language services are integrated into the governance of the province’s public services. This article draws upon existing government data to form a general picture of the active offer of French-language services in the mental health sector. However, the authors demonstrate that the data are not readily accessible and are fragmentary. The article is used to highlight key challenges to the offer of French-language services in the mental health sector in Ontario