Parental Perceptions of Oral Health and School-Based Dental Sealant Programs

Introduction: Community Health Needs Assessment (University of Vermont Medical Center, 2013) Identified oral health in pediatric population as a primary concern Barriers to dental care cited: access, affordability, education School-Based Sealant Program (SBSP) Dental sealants are an evidence-based method of cavity prevention CDC strongly recommends delivery via SBSPs Few Vermont schools have such a program Vermont Medicaid State Plan amendment allows dental hygienists to bill without on-site dentist (2015)4 Unique opportunity to pilot an SBSP Pilot program implemented by the University of Vermont Medical Center Community Health Improvement Goal: sustainable model able to be replicated in Vermont schools Pilot School Selection – Milton Elementary-Middle School (MEMS) Demographics representative of Vermont schools (46% free & reduced lunch program); school administration supportive of an SBSP; no existing dental education (“Tooth Tutor”) program per Vermont Office of Oral Healthhttps://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1232/thumbnail.jp

Pathogenic Cav3.2 channel mutation in a child with primary generalized epilepsy.

Two paternally-inherited missense variants in CACNA1H were identified and characterized in a 6-year-old child with generalized epilepsy. Febrile and unprovoked seizures were present in this child. Both variants were expressed in cis or isolation using human recombinant Cav3.2 calcium channels in tsA-201 cells. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings indicated that one variant (c.3844C > T; p.R1282W) caused a significant increase in current density consistent with a pathogenic gain-of-function phenotype; while the other cis-related variant (c.5294C > T; p.A1765V) had a benign profile

Novelty seeking and mental health in Chinese university students before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: a longitudinal study

COVID-19 has created significant concern surrounding the impact of pandemic lockdown on mental health. While the pandemic lockdown can be distressing, times of crisis can also provide people with the opportunity to think divergently and explore different activities. Novelty seeking, where individuals explore novel and unfamiliarly stimuli and environments, may enhance the creativity of individuals to solve problems in a way that allows them to adjust their emotional responses to stressful situations. This study employs a longitudinal design to investigate changes in novelty seeking and mental health outcomes (namely, stress, anxiety, and depression) before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, among a group of students (final N = 173; Mage = 19.81; SDage = 0.98; 135 females and 38 males) from a university in southeast China. Participants were surveyed at three points: November, 2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic); between February and March, 2020 (during the peak of the pandemic and intense lockdown in China); and between May and June, 2020 (after lockdown had been lifted in China). Cross-sectionally, correlation analysis indicated that greater novelty seeking was associated with lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression at all three time points. Univariate latent curve modelling (LCM) indicated a growth trajectory in which novelty seeking increased over time and then remained high during the post-lockdown period. Stress, anxiety, and depression all showed V-shaped growth trajectories in which these variables decreased during lockdown, before increasing in the post-lockdown period. Multivariate LCM indicated the growth trajectory for novelty seeking was associated with the growth trajectories for stress, anxiety, and depression. This suggests that the observed decreases in stress, anxiety, and depression during the lockdown period may be attributable to the sample’s observed increase in novelty seeking. These findings are valuable in that they challenge the notion that lockdown measures are inherently detrimental to mental health. The findings indicate the important role of novelty seeking in responding to crises. It may be possible for future public health measures to incorporate the promotion of novelty seeking to help individuals’ respond to stressful situations and maintain good mental health in the face of crises

Mental health of Chinese people during the COVID-19 pandemic: associations with infection severity of region of residence and filial piety

This study aims to investigate mental health among Chinese people living in areas with differing levels of infection severity during the COVID-19 outbreak. It also assesses the association between reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety and mental health in times of crises. A sample of 1,201 Chinese participants was surveyed between April and June 2020. Wuhan city (where 23.4% of participants resided), Hubei province outside Wuhan (13.4% of participants), and elsewhere in China (63.1% of participants) were categorized into high, moderate, and low infection severity areas, respectively. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale’s severity cut-points were used to categorize participants. In the overall sample, 20.9, 34.2, and 29.0% of the participants showed elevated (mild to extremely severe) levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Those in the highest infection severity group were significantly more likely to be categorized as having elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. General linear modeling was performed on a composite mental distress variable (taking into account stress, anxiety, and depression scores). This model indicated that, even after adjusting for group differences in age, gender, education, and filial piety, the high infection severity group displayed more mental distress than the low infection severity groups. The model also found reciprocal filial piety to have a negative association with mental distress. Conversely, authoritarian filial piety was found to be unrelated to mental distress when controlling for the other variables in the model. No evidence was found for an interaction between either authoritarian or reciprocal filial piety and infection severity, which suggests that the negative association observed between reciprocal filial piety and mental distress was relatively consistent across the three infection severity groups. The findings suggest that future public health programs may integrate the promotion of filial piety as a strategy to help Chinese people maintain good mental health in the face of pandemic crises

The relationship between mindfulness and mental distress in Chinese people during the COVID-19 pandemic: Moderating effects of infection severity of region and mediating effects of resilience and self-efficacy

The current study investigated the moderating effects of COVD-19 infection severity of region of residence, and the mediating effects of resilience and self-efficacy, on the relationship between mindfulness and mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1,220 participants from 107 cities in China took part in a cross-sectional survey. The data were collected during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (from April 10 to June 10, 2020). The final sample comprised of 1,201 participants with a mean age of 29.62 (SD = 12.72; Range = 18–78). Participants were categorized into high, moderate, and low infection-severity areas according to the numbers of infected people and deaths in their residential areas as of April 16, 2020. The findings showed that mindfulness, resilience, and self-efficacy were negatively associated with the mental distress indicators of stress, anxiety, and depression and that mindfulness, resilience, and self-efficacy positively correlated to one another. COVID-19 infection severity in one's region of residence did not moderate the negative associations between mindfulness and stress, anxiety and depression, while resilience and self-efficacy mediated the negative relationship between mindfulness and mental distress. This study therefore sheds light on some of the mechanisms by which mindfulness helps individuals maintain good mental health in times of adversity. The inclusion of mindfulness, resilience, and self-efficacy in the design and implementation of mental health intervention in response to the pandemic and future public health crisis may help mitigate some of the mental problems related to the COVID-19 and future pandemics

The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey

Using a social ecological perspective, we examined the effects of connectedness in multiple domains on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors among Asian American (AA), Pacific Islander (PI), and Caucasian/White American (WA) adolescents in California. After adjusting for age, gender, and socioeconomic status, the following consistent results emerged across the three ethnic groups: (a) community connectedness increased the odds of physical activity; (b) internal, family, and school connectedness decreased, whereas friend connectedness increased, the odds of substance use; and (c) internal and family connectedness decreased the odds of violent behavior. We also found specific ethnic variations pertaining to the effects of connectedness. Friend connectedness increased the odds of violent behavior for AAs and WAs, but not for PIs. Meanwhile, community connectedness increased the odds of substance use and violent behavior for AAs and PIs, but decreased the odds of these behaviors for WAs. Findings for healthy dietary behavior were inconsistent across ethnic groups and connectedness domains. Our overall findings suggest that the effects of connectedness were more salient for health-compromising behaviors than for health-promoting behaviors. Health prevention and intervention efforts in adolescents could target the role of their connectedness to their multiple social domains

Linking medical licensing examination scores with longitudinal physician practice data using a privacy preserving protocol

Introduction Medical education and regulatory bodies do not often share performance data due to privacy concerns. Innovative approaches are needed to facilitate research while preserving security and privacy. To this end, a privacy preserving protocol was employed linking medical examination and regulatory data to examine future physician competence across the career. Objectives and Approach This study extends previous work linking de-identified Canadian medical licensing examination data with medical regulatory outcomes to answer the following question: is there a predictive relationship between licensing examination scores and post-licensure practice outcomes? A privacy preserving protocol using a third party organization was employed to link data between two disparate organizations - a medical licensing examination organization (MLE) and a medical regulatory authority (MRA). Multiple years of licensing examinations were linked to thirteen years of regulatory assessment outcomes (2004 – 2016) without identifiable data being shared to either party. Results Medical Identification Number for Canada (MINC) was used as a common identifying variable between the two organizations. First, the analytic cohort was created by linking identifying variables of the physicians of interest from both parties, thereby creating a common cohort. The third-party organization then created an encryption key using the common cohort and the MLE examination data. The key was given to the MRA and the encrypted, de-identified examination data was given back to the MLE. Lastly, the MRA data was de-identified, encrypted and transferred to the MLE for analysis. This ensured neither party had access to each other’s encrypted data and the key simultaneously. Conclusion/Implications Privacy preserving protocols enhance opportunities for novel research questions and data linkages within and across sectors; here, results from this analysis may enhance the utility of medical licensing exams by providing evidence for secondary uses. Furthermore, it will offer other physician organizations evidence to support physicians across their career trajectory

Inter-organizational governance:a review, conceptualisation and extension

Although the concepts of relational and contractual governance in inter-organizational relationships have attracted academic and practitioner interest over the last decades, to date there have been limited comprehensive and systematic efforts to review, analyse and synthesise extant literature. We review and analyse 1,415 publications identified from a wide range of management disciplines and journals from 1990 to 2018. We deploy bibliographic and content analyses to offer a comprehensive literature analyses and synthesis and subsequently develop and position a multidimensional framework of exchange governance. The proposed framework covers existing conceptualisations of exchange governance and its diverse mechanisms, environmental dimensions influencing the use of exchange governance mechanisms and performance implications. We uncover areas that are currently under-studied and draw out fruitful future research avenues