Modelling Foot and Mouth Disease in the Context of Active Immigrants

This study employs mathematical modeling to analyze the impact of active immigrants on Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) transmission dynamics. We calculate the reproduction number (R0) using the next-generation matrix approach. Applying the Routh-Hurwitz Criterion, we establish that the Disease-Free Equilibrium (DFE) point achieves local asymptotic stability when R0 α1 and α2) are closely associated with reduced susceptibility in animal populations, underscoring the link between immigrants and susceptibility. Furthermore, our findings emphasize the interplay of disease introduction with population response and adaptation, particularly involving incoming infectious immigrants. Swift interventions are vital due to the limited potential for disease establishment and rapid susceptibility decline. This study offers crucial insights into the complexities of FMD transmission with active immigrants, informing effective disease management strategies.

Ableism and (Neo)Racism in School Placement Processes in Quebec: School Personnel Interpretations of Immigrant Student Difficulties - A Secondary Publication

The school placement processes of students from immigrant backgrounds considered to be in“difficulty”is an international concern at the intersection of works relating to special education and those concerning the school experiences of students from immigrant backgrounds or racialized groups.The research problem of this article concerns the identification of these students as disabled or as having adjustment or learning difficulties.From a perspective anchored in Disability Critical Race Studies,this ethnographic study documents different interpretations of perceived difficulties made by school actors with regard to seven primary school students from immigrant backgrounds.Five interpretation types are presented:(1)medicalization by dismissal of cultural markers,(2)medicalization by professional constraint,(3)medicalization by cultural deficit,(4)precautionary wait,and(5)cultural differentialism.Our results help to shed light on the special education overrepresentation phenomenon regarding these students and to understand how ableism and(neo)racism contribute to it.

Relations Between School and Immigrant Families in Albertan Francophone School: Perspectives of Settlement Workers in Schools - A Secondary Publication

In recent years,Francophone schools in Alberta,a province in western Canada,have seen significant ethnocultural diversification of their school population,thus reflecting recent migratory changes in Canada.The population of a Francophone school board located in an agglomeration of Alberta reflects these new migratory trends.A partial ethnodemographic portrait carried out in 2003 in six of its schools indicates that 50%of the pupils come from an immigrant background and come from 23 different countries;mostly from sub-Saharan African countries.This demographic reality,confirmed more than a decade later,represents a major structural change for Francophone schools.In Alberta,as in other Canadian provinces,inclusion is at the heart of discourse and educational practices.With a transformative aim,it intends to promote ethnocultural diversity in the classroom and equal opportunities through school equity practices.This article focuses on the settlement workers in schools responsible for bridging family,community,and school cultures.The analysis of the interviews of the four workers sheds light on and questions both the institutional practices and the personal strategies put in place to face the challenges encountered in this tripartite collaboration.

Inflammatory bowel disease among first generation immigrants in Israel:A nationwide epi-Israeli Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Nucleus study

BACKGROUND Israel has a high rate of Jewish immigration and a high prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD).AIM To compare IBD prevalence in first-generation immigrants vs Israel-born Jews.METHODS Patients with a diagnosis of IBD as of June 2020 were included from the validated epi-IIRN(Israeli IBD Research Nucleus)cohort that includes 98%of the Israeli population.We stratified the immigration cohort by IBD risk according to country of origin,time period of immigration,and age group as of June 2020.RESULTS A total of 33544 patients were ascertained,of whom 18524(55%)had Crohn’s disease(CD)and 15020(45%)had ulcerative colitis(UC);28394(85%)were Israel-born and 5150(15%)were immigrants.UC was more prevalent in immigrants(2717;53%)than in non-immigrants(12303,43%,P<0.001),especially in the<1990 immigration period.After adjusting for age,longer duration in Israel was associated with a higher point prevalence rate in June 2020(high-risk origin:Immigration<1990:645.9/100000,≥1990:613.2/100000,P=0.043;intermediate/low-risk origin:<1990:540.5/100000,≥1990:192.0/100000,P<0.001).The prevalence was higher in patients immigrating from countries with high risk for IBD(561.4/100000)than those originating from intermediate-/low-risk countries(514.3/100000;P<0.001);non-immigrant prevalence was 528.9/100000.CONCLUSION Lending support to the environmental effect on IBD etiology,we found that among immigrants to Israel,the prevalence of IBD increased with longer time since immigration,and was related to the risk of IBD in the country of origin.The UC rate was higher than that of CD only in those immigrating in earlier time periods.

Acculturation Gap Between Two Generation Immigrants:An Analysis of Fresh Off the Boat

Globalization facilitates the transnational and trans-regional flow of population.As new comers,immigrants need to adapt to new culture and conventions.The way of acculturation varies from individuals even within an immigrant family,with a problematic asymmetry that children acculturate faster than their last generations,as the acculturation gap-distress model demonstrates.However,empirical studies indicate that acculturation gap does not always associate with family and youth maladjustment,and parent’s attitude towards the host and origin culture rarely influences children.This paper analyses Fresh Off the Boat,a teleplay adapted from a Chinese American writer Eddie Huang’s memoir,to revile how different generation immigrants adapt to their new life.This paper finds that parents’orientations to Chinese and American culture affect their children,which is different from the previous study.Findings suggest that maintaining heritage culture is important for young immigrants’adjustment,while accepting host culture is crucial for their parents.Therefore,adopting a strategy of integration may be the ideal way of acculturation.

A Hybrid Immigrants Scheme for Genetic Algorithms in Dynamic Environments

Dynamic optimization problems are a kind of optimization problems that involve changes over time. They pose a serious challenge to traditional optimization methods as well as conventional genetic algorithms since the goal is no longer to search for the optimal solution（s） of a fixed problem but to track the moving optimum over time. Dynamic optimization problems have attracted a growing interest from the genetic algorithm community in recent years. Several approaches have been developed to enhance the performance of genetic algorithms in dynamic environments. One approach is to maintain the diversity of the population via random immigrants. This paper proposes a hybrid immigrants scheme that combines the concepts of elitism, dualism and random immigrants for genetic algorithms to address dynamic optimization problems. In this hybrid scheme, the best individual, i.e., the elite, from the previous generation and its dual individual are retrieved as the bases to create immigrants via traditional mutation scheme. These elitism-based and dualism-based immigrants together with some random immigrants are substituted into the current population, replacing the worst individuals in the population. These three kinds of immigrants aim to address environmental changes of slight, medium and significant degrees respectively and hence efficiently adapt genetic algorithms to dynamic environments that are subject to different severities of changes. Based on a series of systematically constructed dynamic test problems, experiments are carried out to investigate the performance of genetic algorithms with the hybrid immigrants scheme and traditional random immigrants scheme. Experimental results validate the efficiency of the proposed hybrid immigrants scheme for improving the performance of genetic algorithms in dynamic environments.

Hepatitis B virus infection in immigrant populations

Hepatitis B virus(HBV) is the most common cause of hepatitis worldwide, with nearly 350 million people chronically infected and 600000 deaths per year due to acute liver failure occurring during acute hepatitis or, more frequently, in HBV-related liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Ongoing immigration from countries with a high HBV endemicity to those with a low HBV endemicity warrants particular attention to prevent the spread of HBV infection to the native population. This review article analyzes the epidemiology and virological and clinical characteristics of HBV infection in immigrant populations and in their host countries, and suggests prophylactic measures to prevent the spread of this infection. Among the immigrants from different geographical areas, those from South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa show the highest prevalences of hepatitis B surface antigen(HBs Ag) carriers, in accordance with the high endemicity of the countries of origin. The molecular characteristics of HBV infection in immigrants reflect those of the geographical areas of origin: HBV genotype A and D predominate in immigrants from Eastern Europe, B and C in those from Asia and genotype E in those from Africa. The literature data on the clinical course and treatment of HBs Agpositive immigrants are scanty. The management of HBV infection in immigrant populations is difficult and requires expert personnel and dedicated structures for their assistance. The social services, voluntary operators and cultural mediators are essential to achieve optimized psychological and clinical intervention.

Emergency physician's perception of cultural and linguistic barriers in immigrant care:results of a multiple-choice questionnaire in a large Italian urban emergency department

BACKGROUND: A poor communication with immigrants can lead to inappropriate use of healthcare services, greater risk of misdiagnosis, and lower compliance with treatment. As precise information about communication between emergency physicians(EPs) and immigrants is lacking, we analyzed difficulties in communicating with immigrants in the emergency department(ED) and their possible associations with demographic data, geographical origin and clinical characteristics.METHODS: In an ED with approximately 85 000 visits per year, a multiple-choice questionnaire was given to the EPs 4 months after discharge of each immigrant in 2011.RESULTS: Linguistic comprehension was optimal or partial in the majority of patients. Signifi cant barriers were noted in nearly one fourth of patients, for only half of them compatriots who were able to translate. Linguistic barriers were mainly found in older and sicker patients; they were also frequently seen in patients coming from western Africa and southern Europe. Non-linguistic barriers were perceived by EPs in a minority of patients, more frequently in the elderly and frequent attenders. Factors independently associated with a poor f inal comprehension led to linguistic barriers, non-linguistic obstacles, the absence of intermediaries, and the presence of patient's fear and hostility. The latter probably is a consequence, not the cause, of a poor comprehension.CONCLUSION: Linguistic and non-linguistic barriers, although quite infrequent, are the main factors that compromise communication with immigrants in the ED, with negative effects especially on elderly and more seriously ill patients as well as on physician satisfaction and appropriateness in using services.

The Agony of Early Chinese Immigrants--A Review on Shanghai Girls

The article aims at exploring by the way of a traditional approach—Historical-Biographical the agony confronted by early Chinese immigrants in America based on the novel Shanghai Girls.Early Chinese Americans encountered numerous pains:hardship in their work,discrimination in their lives,and the threat of deportation from the host government.Generally,the sufferings of theirs derive from three sources,namely,their powerless homeland,the hostility of the white and their low education status.Due to the poverty and powerless their homeland,both the sisters encountered countless insults.

Hepatitis B virus outreach to immigrant population in Greater Boston Area: Key to improving hepatitis B knowledge

AIM To characterize the understanding of hepatitis B virus(HBV) and determine if outreach improves HBV understanding among Greater Boston Area immigrants. METHODS Six outreach sessions were held in various community venues in the Greater Boston Area. Verbal consent was obtained from participants prior to starting each session. Each session included a pre-session questionnaire, followed by a teaching session, and then a post-session questionnaire. In person interpreters were present for translation during the teaching session and assistance for questionnaire completion when needed. The questions were developed based on the HBV clinical experience of physicians who serve largely immigrant populations. Questionnaires included Likerttype scale, open-ended, and true-false questions. All results were anonymous. RESULTS One hundred and one people participated in this study. Participants were 30% male with ages ranging from 19 to 87 years. The study population included immigrants from 21 countries, as well as seven United States-born participants. The greatest numbers of participants were from Somalia(44%), Morocco(10%), and Cameroon(8%). Pre session questionnaires revealed that 42% of participants were unaware that HBV can cause cancer, and 50% were unaware that therapies for HBV exist. Our brief teaching intervention led to improved scores on post session questionnaires. For example, at baseline, 58% of participants responded correctly to the question "HBV infection can cause scarring of the liver and liver cancer", whereas 79% of participants responded correctly after the teaching session(P = 0.01). Furthermore, the mean of total correct answers in the true or false portion of the questionnaire increased from 5.5 to 7.6(P < 0.001).CONCLUSION A teaching session targeting Boston Immigrants atrisk for HBV helped improve scores on HBV knowledge questionnaires. Outreach may empower at-risk patients to pro-actively seek HBV care.

Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori in female Vietnamese immigrants to Korea

AIM:To investigate the seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori) and its relationship to nutritional factors in female Vietnamese immigrants to Korea.METHODS:A total of 390 female immigrants from Vietnam and 206 Korean male spouses participated in the study.Blood samples from 321 female immigrants and 201 Korean male spouses were analyzed for H.pylori antibodies.Data on age,sex,alcohol consumption,smoking status,dietary nutritional factors and gastrointestinal symptoms were collected using questionnaires.The daily intakes of the following nutrients were estimated:energy,protein,niacin,lipid,fiber,calcium,iron,sodium,potassium,zinc,folate,cholesterol,and vitamins A,B1,B2,B6,C and E.RESULTS:The prevalence of H.pylori positivity was lower in the immigrants than in age-matched Koreanfemales(55.7% vs 71.4%,respectively;P < 0.0001) and the domestic population of Vietnam.The prevalence of H.pylori positivity among married couples was 31.7% for both spouses.There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of smoking,amount of alcohol consumed,or nutritional factors between the H.pylori-positive and negative groups.CONCLUSION:The prevalence of H.pylori positivity was lower among female Vietnamese immigrants than among Korean females.Nutritional factors did not differ between the H.pylori-positive and negative groups.

Health Status Inequality among Immigrants in Switzerland

Objective: To assess self-rated health and impairments for six large immigrant groups (Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Portugal, Serbia, Turkey) in Switzerland. Methods: We used population-based survey data from the Swiss Migrant Health Survey 2010 and the Swiss Health Survey 2007. The sample comprised permanent residents aged 17 - 64 years (n = 14,637). Multivariate logistic regressions have been used to estimate odds ratios (OR). Results: Ill health and activities of daily living (ADL) impairments were associated with older age in all groups. However, nationals from Turkey and nationals from Kosovo were substantially more likely than Swiss to report ill health (OR = 1.05;CI = 1.02 - 1.09;P = 0.001 and OR = 1.05;CI = 1.01 - 1.10;P = 0.016) and ADL impairments (OR = 1.06;CI = 1.03 - 1.09;P = 0.000 and OR = 1.04;CI = 1.01 - 1.07;P = 0.004) with increasing age. Furthermore, Portuguese women were more likely (OR = 2.65;CI = 1.40 - 5.03;P = 0.003) to report ill health than Swiss women. Conclusions: Immigrant-specific preventive and health promotion initiatives should target vulnerable immigrants from Turkey, Portugal, and Kosovo. Furthermore, groups with few economic and psychosocial resources in the general population of Switzerland should be more involved in interventions to reduce health risk.

Cigarette use attitudes and effects of acculturation among Arab immigrants in USA: A preliminary study

The purpose of this study is to explore cigarette use patterns, which include current use, beliefs, attitudes, attempts to quit, and acculturation, among Arab immigrants. A sample of self-identified Arab immigrants (221) living in the Richmond, VA metropolitan area was recruited from Middle Eastern groceries, restaurants/lounges, and faith and charitable organizations. Men in this sample had higher rates of cigarette smoking (67.6%) than the rest of the general adult US population. Many smokers in the study had the desire to quit and had made attempts to quit. Further analysis of acculturation in relation to the risk of not considering quitting was performed using logistic regression. The older an individual was when he/she moved to the US (OR = 0.93, CI: 0.87, 0.98) and the more time an individual had spent in the US (OR = 0.93, CI: 0.88, 0.98) contributed significantly to the least number of quit attempts. Further random sampling and study is needed to confirm the high prevalence of tobacco use among this minority group.

Immigrants’ Satisfaction from the National Health System in Greece: In the Quest of the Contributing Factors

Immigrants deserve special attention as they constitute a very sensitive social group, facing an increasing risk of social exclusion. The access of immigrants to health services is one of the most important factors, which contributes to their integration into the society of induction. The purpose of this study is to track and assess the immigrants’ satisfaction from the health services provided by the Greek National Health System (NHS). The satisfaction level assessment is examined in conjunction with demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the study participants, as well as with the characteristics that are related to their personal experience with the National Health System in Greece. The research was conducted from March 2012 to May 2013. The sample of the research comprises of 126 “first-generation” immigrants on legal permit of residence in Greece, who lived in the prefecture of Attica. It is panel study based on “snowball sampling” and the statistical analysis was conducted with the use of the Stata (ver. 11), while the statistical analysis used probit estimation techniques. The demographic and social variables—particularly the variables of gender, “understanding the Greek language”, “education”, “participation in the community of origin” and “insurance”—the variables of “health” and specifically “long-term diseases” and the variable of “trust” are found to be highly related with immigrants’ satisfaction degree from the Greek health system. Our research concludes that health is a fundamental, human right and immigrants’ access to health services is essential not only for their instant and effective treatment of their health problems and the improvement of their lives but also for ensuring the public health in Greece. In order to properly incorporate immigrants in Greece in particular, the health policy decision-makers have to pay attention to the contributing factors.

Changes in fat but not fruit and vegetable intakes linked with body weight change in Mexican women immigrants in Quebec

The objective of the present study was to identify dietary parameters for predicting body weight change (ΔBW) in Mexican-born women (Mexicans) following immigration to Quebec City, Canada. Methods: Changes in fruit (ΔF), vegetable (ΔV), fruit and vegetable (ΔFV), and fat (ΔFat) intake were assessed according to post-immigration periods (1-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-20 years) using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Anthropometric measures were also conducted in 87 Mexicans (study group) and 88 native-born Quebecers (comparison group) aged 18-65 years. Associations were calculated using full and partial robust regression models adjusting for potential confounders (origin, education, income, age, length of residence in Quebec City). Results: There was no difference in ΔBW between the groups. Body weight (BW) increased significantly in both Mexican (5.5 ± 0.9 kg, P < 0.0001) and Quebec women (4.7 ± 0.8 kg, P < 0.0001). ΔBW was positively correlated with ΔFat (β = 0.03, P = 0.003), but not correlated with origin, ΔF, or ΔV. ΔBW was negatively associated with education (β = –4.33, P = 0.007) and positively associated with length of residence (β = 0.3, P = 0.003). Partial models indicated ΔF (β = –1.35, P β = –1.04, P = 0.0001), and ΔFV (β = –2.27, P < 0.0001) were associated with origin, whereas net annual household income (β = 0.16, P = 0.04) was positively associated with ΔFat. Conclusions: Change in body weight could be predicted by length of residence, education, and change in fat intake in Mexican immigrant women and native-born Quebecers whereas changes in fruit and vegetable intakes could be predicted by Mexican or Quebec origin.

From “Employer-Employee” to “Family of Choice”: The Development of the Relationship between Philippine Worker Immigrants and Elderly Care Recipients

The current study adds to the pool of findings regarding experiences of female Philippine work immigrants employed in elderly caregiving in Israel, as they cope with their role as caregivers. Based on an analysis of the qualitative interviews with 27 Philippine women, three themes emerged. The first is the manner in which these caregivers perceive the treatment and care they give their elderly employers, taking into account the initial stage of the professional relationship, the various types of support, and the employer-employee interactions. The second theme deals with the manner in which these caregivers perceive their role once the relationship with the elderly care recipient is established and the employer’s needs and preferences become familiar;that is, once there is a clear caregiver-client relationship. The third theme deals with the manner in which the caregivers perceive their relationship with their elderly employers and with the employers’ family members, and the way they believe their employer and family perceive their role as caregivers. This stage of the relationship they define as “family of choice”. The combination of the three themes presents a comprehensive picture of positive change in terms of the caregivers perception of their role, and a shift in the manner in which they perceive their employers: from a “source of income” to “parent”.

A Mathematical Modelling of the Effect of Treatment in the Control of Malaria in a Population with Infected Immigrants

In this work, we developed a compartmental bio-mathematical model to study the effect of treatment in the control of malaria in a population with infected immigrants. In particular, the vector-host population model consists of eleven variables, for which graphical profiles were provided to depict their individual variations with time. This was possible with the help of MathCAD software which implements the Runge-Kutta numerical algorithm to solve numerically the eleven differential equations representing the vector-host malaria population model. We computed the basic reproduction ratio R0 following the next generation matrix. This procedure converts a system of ordinary differential equations of a model of infectious disease dynamics to an operator that translates from one generation of infectious individuals to the next. We obtained R0 = , i.e., the square root of the product of the basic reproduction ratios for the mosquito and human populations respectively. R0m explains the number of humans that one mosquito can infect through contact during the life time it survives as infectious. R0h on the other hand describes the number of mosquitoes that are infected through contacts with the infectious human during infectious period. Sensitivity analysis was performed for the parameters of the model to help us know which parameters in particular have high impact on the disease transmission, in other words on the basic reproduction ratio R0.

Immigrants and the utilization of hospital emergency departments

BACKGROUND:Immigrants with language barriers are at high risk of having poor access to health care services.However,several studies have indicated that immigrants tend to use emergency departments(EDs) as their primary source of care at the expense of primary care.This may place an additional burden on already overcrowded EDs and lead to a low level of patient satisfaction with ED care.The study was to review if immigrants utilize ED care differently from host populations and to assess immigrants' satisfaction with ED care.DATA SOURCES:Studies about immigrants' utilization of EDs in Australia and worldwide were reviewed.RESULTS:There are conflicting results in the literature about the pattern of ED care use among immigrants.Some studies have shown higher utilization by immigrants compared to host populations and others have shown lower utilization.Overall,immigrants use ED care heavily,make inappropriate visits to EDs,have a longer length of stay in EDs,and are less satisfied with ED care as compared to host populations.CONCLUSIONS:Immigrants might use ED care differently from host populations due to language and cultural barriers.There is sparse Australian literature regarding immigrants' access to health care including ED care.To ensure equity,further research is needed to inform policy when planning health care provision to immigrants.

Chronic Stress and Its Symptoms among Mexican Immigrants in Edmonton, Canada

Immigration-related stress is the result of an environment that imposes demands surpassing the psychological resources of those suffering from it with a destabilizing effect on their physical and psychological health. The purpose of this study is to determine what the chronic stress levels are and their association with psychophysiological symptoms and gender in Mexican immigrants living in Edmonton, Canada. A representative random sample was made of 237 immigrants in 2012. The stress symptoms inventory was used and a multiple regression and multivariate analysis was made. Results indicated that chronic stress levels were: 14% high, 46% medium and 40% low and psychophysiological predictor symptoms were: fatigue, constipation, frequent colds, cold hands and feet and insomnia, and the female gender. Therefore one may conclude that a precise identification of the predictor symptoms of chronic stress may help promote and implement programs aimed at timely prevention of stress before they affect the health and occupational safety of Mexican immigrants living in Edmonton, Canada.