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Vaccines May 2024Much of the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by a divergence between general public opinion and public health policy. With little attention...
Much of the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by a divergence between general public opinion and public health policy. With little attention paid to individuals incarcerated during this time, there is limited direct evidence regarding how incarcerated people perceived efforts to mediate the harms of COVID-19. Prisons operate as a microcosm of society in many ways but they also face unique public health challenges. This study examines vaccine hesitancy-and acceptance-among a sample of individuals incarcerated within adult prisons in Pennsylvania. Using administrative records as well as rich attitudinal data from a survey of the incarcerated population, this study identifies a variety of social and historical factors that are-and are not-associated with an incarcerated person's willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Our findings highlight vaccination challenges unique to the carceral context and offer policy recommendations to improve trust in credible health messengers and health service provision for this often overlooked but vulnerable population.
PubMed: 38932328
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12060600 -
Vaccines May 2024The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an urgent global response in vaccine deployment, achieving over 70.6% global vaccination coverage with at least one dose. This study...
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an urgent global response in vaccine deployment, achieving over 70.6% global vaccination coverage with at least one dose. This study focuses on Taiwan's vaccine administration and adverse event reporting, set against a global backdrop. Using data from Taiwan's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and global vaccination data, this study investigates vaccine safety and the public health implications of vaccination strategies from local and global perspectives. Taiwan's proactive approach, resulting in high vaccination rates, provides a case study for the monitoring and management of vaccine-related adverse events. This study offers insights into the safety profiles of various COVID-19 vaccines and further explores the implications of adverse event reporting rates for vaccine policy and public health strategies. The comparative analysis reveals that, while vaccination has been effective in controlling the virus's spread, safety monitoring remains critical for maintaining public trust. It underscores the necessity of enhanced surveillance and the importance of transparent and tailored risk communication to support informed public health decisions. The findings aim to contribute to the global dialogue on vaccine safety, equitable distribution, evidence-based policy-making, and development of mitigation measures with consideration of local demographics in the ongoing fight against COVID-19.
PubMed: 38932320
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12060591 -
Vaccines May 2024The share of the elderly population is growing worldwide as life expectancy increases. Immunosenescence and comorbidities increase infectious diseases' morbidity and... (Review)
Review
The share of the elderly population is growing worldwide as life expectancy increases. Immunosenescence and comorbidities increase infectious diseases' morbidity and mortality in older adults. Here, we aimed to summarize the latest findings on vaccines for the elderly against herpes zoster, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19, and pneumococcal disease and to examine vaccine recommendation differences for this age group in Europe and the United States. PubMed was searched using the keywords "elders" and "vaccine" alongside the disease/pathogen in question and paraphrased or synonymous terms. Vaccine recommendations were also sought in the European and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention databases. Improved vaccines, tailored for the elderly, mainly by using novel adjuvants or by increasing antigen concentration, are now available. Significant differences exist between immunization policies, especially between European countries, in terms of the recipient's age, number of doses, vaccination schedule, and implementation (mandatory or recommended). Understanding the factors that influence the immune response to vaccination in the elderly may help to design vaccines that offer long-term protection for this vulnerable age group. A consensus-based strategy in Europe could help to fill the gaps in immunization policy in the elderly, particularly regarding vaccination against RSV and pneumococcus.
PubMed: 38932295
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12060566 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024A recent development in cloud computing has introduced serverless technology, enabling the convenient and flexible management of cloud-native applications. Typically,...
A recent development in cloud computing has introduced serverless technology, enabling the convenient and flexible management of cloud-native applications. Typically, the Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) solutions rely on serverless backend solutions, such as Kubernetes (K8s) and Knative, to leverage the advantages of resource management for underlying containerized contexts, including auto-scaling and pod scheduling. To take the advantages, recent cloud service providers also deploy self-hosted serverless services by facilitating their on-premise hosted FaaS platforms rather than relying on commercial public cloud offerings. However, the lack of standardized guidelines on K8s abstraction to fairly schedule and allocate resources on auto-scaling configuration options for such on-premise hosting environment in serverless computing poses challenges in meeting the service level objectives (SLOs) of diverse workloads. This study fills this gap by exploring the relationship between auto-scaling behavior and the performance of FaaS workloads depending on scaling-related configurations in K8s. Based on comprehensive measurement studies, we derived the logic as to which workload should be applied and with what type of scaling configurations, such as base metric, threshold to maximize the difference in latency SLO, and number of responses. Additionally, we propose a methodology to assess the scaling efficiency of the related K8s configurations regarding the quality of service (QoS) of FaaS workloads.
PubMed: 38931559
DOI: 10.3390/s24123774 -
Nutrients Jun 2024This article presents the dietary habits of Lithuanian first-grade (7-8-year-old) students over a 15-year surveillance period to understand the trends and changes in...
This article presents the dietary habits of Lithuanian first-grade (7-8-year-old) students over a 15-year surveillance period to understand the trends and changes in their nutrition patterns. The presented data were collected from three study rounds of the Lithuanian Growth Surveillance Study conducted between 2008 and 2023, with a total sample of 11,594 first-grade students from all 10 counties of Lithuania. The main findings reveal significant shifts in breakfast consumption, with an increase in daily breakfast intake observed over the surveillance period. Conversely, the consumption of cereal porridge showed a notable decrease, particularly in the frequency of consumption. Positive changes were noted in the consumption of vegetables and fresh fruits, indicating an improvement in dietary quality. Also, a concerning trend of declining consumption of certain nutritious food groups like fish and dairy products is identified, whereas the consumption of sugary beverages is low. These findings underscore the importance of ongoing efforts to promote healthier eating habits among school-age children in Lithuania. Addressing these trends requires a multifaceted approach involving education, policy changes, and community-based interventions to ensure the long-term health and well-being of children.
Topics: Humans; Lithuania; Cross-Sectional Studies; Child; Male; Female; Feeding Behavior; Longitudinal Studies; Diet; Fruit; Vegetables; Students; Breakfast; Diet, Healthy; Diet Surveys
PubMed: 38931323
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121970 -
Nutrients Jun 2024Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) offer broad recommendations based on scientific evidence, focusing on food groups rather than nutrients that should be included in...
BACKGROUND
Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) offer broad recommendations based on scientific evidence, focusing on food groups rather than nutrients that should be included in the diet. Emerging adulthood (18-30 years) is a critical period for poor dietary quality and mental health. Eating habits (EHs) are formed early in life and are influenced by various factors, such as emotional state, which can lead to either binge or restricted eating, ultimately increasing the risk of eating disorders (EDs). This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the extent of adherence to the Saudi Healthy Plate Dietary Guidelines (SHPDGs) and its potential association with Eating Concerns (ECs) among Saudi females (aged 18-30 years) from all provinces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
METHODS
A validated online questionnaire was used to assess eating behaviors (EBs) using the Starting The Conversation (STC) instrument and EC symptoms using the Eating Disorders Screen for Primary Care (ESP) screening tool.
RESULTS
The total sample size was 1092 participants with a mean age of 23.02 ± 3.47. Only 0.7% of the participants adhered to the SHPDGs and were free of EC symptoms. Conversely, 50.4% of participants who exhibited EC symptoms had poor adherence to the SHPDGs. Across Saudi Arabian provinces, high adherence to the SHPDGs was more prominent in both the Eastern and Western provinces (37.5%) than in the Central and Southern provinces (0%). The most striking result was that the Central province exhibited a high percentage of poor adherence to the SHPDGs (25.6%). Moreover, high adherence to SHPDGs was not associated with the probability of ECs.
CONCLUSIONS
The present study revealed a trend of poor adherence to SHPDGs among Saudi females, with a large proportion also experiencing EC symptoms. Accordingly, the authors recommend increasing awareness within the Saudi community about SHPDGs using educational campaigns on social media platforms to enhance the importance of adopting a healthy diet, especially among females, and demonstrate that the impact on their health and well-being is that they are experiencing multiple phases that involve pregnancy and giving birth involves specific nutritional requirements.
Topics: Humans; Female; Saudi Arabia; Young Adult; Adult; Adolescent; Cross-Sectional Studies; Feeding Behavior; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Nutrition Policy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Diet, Healthy; Guideline Adherence
PubMed: 38931285
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121931 -
Nutrients Jun 2024This study examined the association between salt-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB) and salt excretion using the 24-hour (24 h) urinary collection method....
This study examined the association between salt-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB) and salt excretion using the 24-hour (24 h) urinary collection method. Data were utilized from the Community-Based Management of Non-Communicable Diseases in Nepal (COBIN) Salt Survey, a community-based cross-sectional study conducted among a sub-sample of COBIN cohort in Pokhara Metropolitan City, Western Nepal, from July to December 2018, among adults aged 25-70 years. A total of 451 adults participated in the study, and a single 24 h urine sample was collected from each participant. The mean [(standard deviation (SD)] age of the participants was 49.6 (9.82) years, and the majority were female (65%). The mean urinary salt excretion was 13.28 (SD: 4.72) g/day, with 98% of participants consuming ≥5 g of salt/day. Although 83% of participants knew the risks of high salt intake and 87% believed it was important to reduce their intake, only 10% reported doing so. Salt-related attitude i.e., self-perceived salt intake was significantly associated with urinary salt excretion, adding extra salt to food, consuming processed foods, and taking actions to salt control. Participants who perceived themselves as consuming high salt had higher urinary salt excretion [(14.42 g/day; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 13.45, 15.39, = 0.03)], were more likely to add extra [(Odds ratio (OR) = 3.59; 95% CI: 2.03, 6.33, < 0.001)], and consume processed foods more often (OR = 1.90; 95% CI: 1.06, 3.40, < 0.05) compared to those who self-perceived consuming a normal amount of salt. Conversely, participants who perceived themselves as consuming low salt were more likely to take actions to control salt intake (OR = 4.22; 95% CI: 1.90, 9.37, < 0.001) compared to their counterparts who perceived consuming a normal amount of salt. There existed a gap between salt-related knowledge, attitudes, and actual behaviors, resulting in a high salt intake among the Nepalese population. Nepal urgently requires tailored national salt reduction programs that comprise both policy and community-level interventions to achieve a 30% reduction in mean population salt intake by 2025. Further validation studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of community-based intervention in Nepal.
Topics: Humans; Female; Middle Aged; Male; Nepal; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Adult; Sodium Chloride, Dietary; Cross-Sectional Studies; Aged; Health Behavior; Feeding Behavior
PubMed: 38931282
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121928 -
Nutrients Jun 2024The SI.Menu study offers the latest data on the dietary intake of Slovenian adolescents aged 10 to 17. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively assess their...
BACKGROUND
The SI.Menu study offers the latest data on the dietary intake of Slovenian adolescents aged 10 to 17. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively assess their dietary intake (energy and nutrients) and compare their food intakes with dietary recommendations for healthy and sustainable diets.
METHODS
The cross-sectional epidemiological dietary study SI.Menu (March 2017-April 2018) was conducted on a representative sample of Slovenian adolescents aged 10 to 17 years ( 468) (230 males and 238 females). Data on dietary intake were gathered through two non-consecutive 24 h recalls, in line with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) EU Menu methodology. The repeated 24 h Dietary Recall (HDR) and Food Propensity Questionnaire (FPQ) data were combined to determine the usual intakes of nutrients and food groups, using the Multiple Source Method (MSM) program.
RESULTS
Adolescents' diets significantly deviate from dietary recommendations, lacking vegetables, milk and dairy products, nuts and seeds, legumes, and water, while containing excessive meat (especially red meat) and high-sugar foods. This results in insufficient intake of dietary fibre, and nutrients such as vitamin D, folate, and calcium.
CONCLUSIONS
The dietary intake of Slovenian adolescents does not meet healthy and sustainable diet recommendations. This study provides an important insight into the dietary habits of Slovenian adolescents that could be useful for future public health strategies.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Female; Male; Child; Slovenia; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet, Healthy; Diet; Feeding Behavior; Recommended Dietary Allowances; Diet Surveys; Eating; Energy Intake; Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
PubMed: 38931267
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121912 -
Nutrients Jun 2024This study aimed to model how substituting foods consumed by Canadians for alternatives with more favourable nutrient profiling (NP) scores would impact dietary intakes....
This study aimed to model how substituting foods consumed by Canadians for alternatives with more favourable nutrient profiling (NP) scores would impact dietary intakes. The Ofcom NP system, developed to help the UK Office of Communication differentiate foods that can be advertised to children, was applied to foods consumed by Canadians aged 2 years and older in the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) ( = 19,447). Foods were substituted for similar options from the Euromonitor branded food composition database (Scenario 1) or from the primarily aggregated food profiles in the CCHS survey food composition database (Scenario 2) with either the most favourable (optimistic; 1A and 2A) or a more favourable Ofcom score (realistic; 1B and 2B). Mean intakes of Ofcom scores, calories, saturated fat, sugars, and sodium from these scenarios were compared to baseline. Only 2.9% of foods consumed had a similar Euromonitor option with a lower Ofcom score. Scenarios 1A, 1B, and 2A had lower Ofcom scores, calorie, sodium, saturated fat, and sugar intakes compared to baseline. Scenario 2B had lower levels of all outcome measures, except for an increase in calories compared to baseline. Selection of foods with more favourable NP scores has the potential to decrease the Canadian intake of nutrients of concern.
Topics: Humans; Canada; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Male; Adolescent; Adult; Young Adult; Nutrition Surveys; Middle Aged; Nutritive Value; Diet; Aged; Energy Intake; Nutrients; Eating
PubMed: 38931231
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121874 -
Nutrients Jun 2024States in the U.S. are newly implementing universal school meal (USM) policies, yet little is known about the facilitators of their success and the challenges they...
States in the U.S. are newly implementing universal school meal (USM) policies, yet little is known about the facilitators of their success and the challenges they confront. This study evaluated the challenges and facilitators faced by school food authorities (SFAs) implementing California's universal school meal (USM) policy during its inaugural year (2022-2023) using an online survey. In March 2023, 430 SFAs reported many benefits, including increased meal participation (64.2% of SFAs) and revenues (65.7%), reduced meal debt (41.8%) and stigma (30.9%), and improved meal quality (44.3%) and staff salaries (36.9%). Reported challenges include product/ingredient availability (80.9%), staffing shortages (77.0%), vendor/distributor logistics issues (75.9%), and administrative burden (74.9%). Top facilitators included state funding (78.2%) and increased federal reimbursement (77.2%). SFAs with fewer students eligible for free or reduced-price meals (as opposed to SFAs with more) reported greater increases in meal participation and reductions in stigma but also more administrative burdens. Larger SFAs reported greater increases in revenues, staff salaries, and improvements in meal quality than smaller SFAs but also more challenges. Overall, California's USM policy has enhanced student access to healthy meals while mitigating social and financial barriers. Understanding California's experience can inform other jurisdictions considering or implementing similar policies.
Topics: California; Humans; Food Services; Schools; Nutrition Policy; Meals; Surveys and Questionnaires; Child
PubMed: 38931167
DOI: 10.3390/nu16121812