No abstract

Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey Cycle 1.1 showed that Chinese immigrants to Canada and Chinese individuals born in Canada were less likely than other Canadians to have contacted a health professional for mental health reasons in the previous year in the province of British Columbia. The difference persisted among individuals at moderate to high risk for depressive episode. Both immigrant and Canadian-born Chinese showed similar characteristics of mental health service use. The demographic and health factors that significantly affected their likelihood to consult mental health services included Chinese language ability, restriction in daily activities, frequency of medical consultations, and depression score. Notwithstanding lower levels of mental illness in ethnic Chinese communities, culture emerged as a major factor explaining differences in mental health consultation between Chinese and non-Chinese Canadians.

Linked immigration and health administrative databases were analyzed to study the factors associated with the rate of mental health consultations with physicians in 1992-2001 of over 150,000 Chinese immigrants in British Columbia, Canada. Results showed that number of years since landing and rate of non-mental health visits to general practitioners were the most consistent variables associated with mental health consultations to general practitioners and psychiatrists in all sex and age groups. Other variables associated with the rate of consultations were age, place of origin, educational level, marital status and English skill. Supply of physicians was not observed to be associated with mental health consultations. The findings are consistent with Andersen's behavioral model of health care utilization and introduce components specially pertinent to immigrants and mental health service utilization. They also highlight sub-populations among immigrants who may be at risk of experiencing mental health problems or encountering barriers to care.

SUMMARYSubmerged cultures of Claviceps fusiformis (Loveless) became progressively viscous during the incubation because of the production of an extracellular polysaccharide. The polysaccharide was shown to be a branched glucan with a PI + 3 linked main chain having single glucopyranosyl units at intervals along it in the PI + 6 configuration. For most of the media investigated growth at 27O and between pH 5 and 6 was accompanied by glucan production, which ceased when growth was arrested by lack of nutrient. The glucan was re-metabolized by the fungus only to a limited extent as the culture aged; the degree of branching varied during the culture period. The unit amount of glucan synthesized was not affected by numerous successive subculturings over a period of several months, but the product from the later cultures had a greater degree of branching. Branched glucans of similar structure to the above were also detected in low concentration in the natural sclerotia. The presence of PI -+ 3 linked glucans in the cell walls of this and other fungal strains examined was also indicated.

Objective: Reports suggest that immigrants are under-served by the mental health service system. The aim of this study is to examine the rates of mental health visits and hospitalization of Chinese immigrants in British Columbia using historic administrative databases.