COVID-19 Pandemic Associations on Mental and Physical Health in African Americans Participating in a Behavioral Intervention.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionate effects on communities of color, with higher death rates among African Americans (AA). The purpose of this study was to assess associations in African Americans' mental and physical health with the COVID-19 pandemic. Data for this study came from a larger nutrition intervention of AAs in the Southeastern United States, the Nutritious Eating with Soul study. Data collected before and after March 15, 2020 (the day when local South Carolina schools and businesses closed), were analyzed to assess the association of the pandemic on participants' stress, control of healthy eating, physical activity, and body mass index. Repeated measures analysis of covariance using full maximum likelihood estimation to handle missing data was used. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 150 participants were enrolled in the study (48.2 ± 10.6 years old, 79% female, 75% with college degree or higher). Participants' reporting of stress did not show statistically significant change over time. Cognitive control increased 1.43 points (F = 20.60, p < 0.0001) and body mass index increased 0.72 kg/m2 (F = 10.68, p = 0.001). Future longitudinal studies should investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges to understanding and improving health among African Americans. The study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT03354377.

Walking and running to benefit breast cancer: descriptive characteristics of participants in the 2017 Walk for Life events.

AIMS: The prevalence of charities and other non-profit organisations sponsoring for-cause physical activity (PA) events has continued to rise. Few studies have examined for-cause events through a public health perspective to determine the reach and potential for public health and PA promotion. This study described participants in a for-cause event supporting breast cancer to determine the reach of the event and identified possible leverage points of for-cause events for public health promotion. METHODS: Participants registered online for the Walk for Life events in Columbia, SC (Half marathon, 10k, 5k, and Walk-a-thon), were included in this study. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. RESULTS: Over 6,000 people participated in the event and 4,942 registered online. Of online registrants, most participants were women (n = 3,800, 78.95%) and most participants, completed the walk-a-thon (n = 3,539), followed by the 5k (n = 829), half-marathon (n = 236), and 10k (n = 209). The average age of participants was 39.79 years (SD = 1.35). CONCLUSIONS: For-cause PA events often recruit high numbers of participants, particularly high-priority populations in PA interventions. Therefore, these events bear innovative implications for PA researchers and practitioners to leverage these events to promote health and PA while simultaneously supporting charity and non-profit organisations.

Church leaders' barriers and facilitators before and after implementing a physical activity and nutrition intervention.

Faith-based health promotion programs have been effective in increasing healthy eating (HE) and physical activity (PA). Very few reports exist regarding church leaders' anticipated and experienced barriers and facilitators to program implementation. Pastors (n = 38, 70%) and program coordinators (n = 54, 100%) from churches (N = 54) who attended a program training answered open-ended questions about anticipated barriers and facilitators to implementing the HE and PA parts of the Faith, Activity, and Nutrition (FAN) program. Twelve months later, pastors (n = 49, 92%) and coordinators (n = 53, 98%) answered analogous questions about their experienced barriers and facilitators to implementing the HE and PA parts of the FAN program. Responses were coded using thematic analysis. Similar themes appeared at baseline and follow-up for anticipated and experienced barriers and facilitators. The most common barriers were no anticipated barriers, resistance to change, church characteristics, and lack of participation/motivation. The most common facilitators were internal support, leadership, and communication. Few differences were found between anticipated and experienced barriers and facilitators. Understanding these perspectives, particularly overcoming resistance to change and church characteristics through strong leadership and internal support from church leaders, will improve future program development, resources, and technical assistance in faith-based and non-faith-based communities alike.

Cerec3D endocrowns--two-year clinical examination of CAD/CAM crowns for restoring endodontically treated molars.

The present clinical study evaluates the clinical prognosis of Cerec3D endocrowns over an observation period of two years. Twenty Cerec endocrowns (VITABLOCS Mark II, Vita Zahnfabirk, Bad Säckingen, Germany) were placed with PanaviaTM F 2.0, a dual-curing bonding composite. The control examinations took place semi-annually and the restorations were evaluated based on modified US Public Health Service criteria (USPHS). The two-year survival rate of the Cerec endocrowns was 90%. Two out of 20 endocrowns were assessed as failure because of fractures. The first fracture was observed after 12 months and the second fracture after 18 months. No recurrent caries was diagnosed during the entire examination period. Slight percussion symptoms were found on three restorations in the first weeks after placement. The results of the present study show that good esthetic and functional results similar to those of other restoration types can be achieved with endocrowns and that CAD/CAM-fabricated crowns represent a very promising treatment alternative for endodontically treated molars.

Evaluation of the clinical success of Cerec 3D inlays.

The objective of the present study was to determine the clinical success of Cerec 3D inlays over a period of three years. Within the scope of the restorative dentistry course II, 62 Cerec ceramic inlays were inserted with Dual Cement (Ivoclar Vivadent) in combination with the Syntac Classic system (Ivoclar Vivadent). Regular follow-up examinations and assessments were performed by reference to modified US Public Health Service (USPHS) criteria. The baseline examination was performed one week after insertion and further follow-up examinations were performed at 6-month intervals. The survival rate of the Cerec 3D inlays was 95% after three years. Three inlays were assessed as failures because of loss of sensitivity, restoration fracture, and marginal gap formation. Six patients initially suffered from postoperative hypersensitivity, which vanished by the first follow-up examination. The results of this study show that dentists with little experience are able to achieve good clinical results and long-term success after short theoretical as well as practical training and an introductory course in the Cerec method.