Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Qingxiu Dang, Baoshan Zhang, Alejandra Nunez
Summary: The study found that social networks play a moderating role in the relationship between sleep quality and hopelessness among Chinese older adults. Those who are unmarried, have lower incomes, and are dissatisfied with life are more likely to have higher levels of hopelessness.
ARCHIVES OF GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Rocio Lopez, Sumit Mohan, Jesse D. Schold
Summary: This study on Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) found that adjusting for area deprivation and age significantly changed OPO measured performance and tier classifications, suggesting that underlying population characteristics may impact care processes and donation and transplant rates.
Article
Psychiatry
Susanne Roehr, Felix Wittmann, Christoph Engel, Cornelia Enzenbach, A. Veronica Witte, Arno Villringer, Markus Loeffler, Steffi G. Riedel-Heller
Summary: Social isolation has negative effects on physical and brain health. The prevalence of social isolation in the adult population was 12.3%, with higher rates in men and increasing with age. Socioeconomic status also played a significant role, with lower prevalence in high SES and higher prevalence in low SES groups. Effective prevention and intervention strategies should take into account these sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors.
SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Surgery
Bailey M. Humphreys, Kelvin O. Memeh, Alex Funkhouser, Tanaz M. Vaghaiwalla
Summary: This study analyzed the survival rate of Hurthle cell carcinoma using population-level data and found significant associations between age, gender, race, ethnicity, household income, tumor grade and stage, and the survival rate of Hurthle cell carcinoma. Surgical treatment had a positive impact on patients' survival, but the extent of surgery did not affect the survival rate.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Qing Song, Cong Liu, Wei Cheng, Ling Lin, Tao Li, Xueshan Li, Xiao Liu, Yuqin Zeng, Rong Yi, Xin Li, Yan Chen, Shan Cai, Ping Chen
Summary: Low-education COPD patients have a higher symptom burden, risk of exacerbation, and risk of all-cause mortality. Clinicians attending COPD patients should be more attentive of individuals with low education levels.
JOURNAL OF GLOBAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, Tahir Taj, Aslak H. Poulsen, Ulla A. Hvidtfeldt, Matthias Ketzel, Jesper H. Christensen, Jorgen Brandt, Lise M. Frohn, Camilla Geels, Victor H. Valencia, Mette Sorensen
Summary: This study investigates the associations between air pollution and socio-demographic variables, comorbidity, stress, and green space at the residence in Denmark. The results show that individuals with higher socioeconomic status and non-Danish origin are exposed to higher levels of air pollution. However, there is no consistent pattern observed for neighborhood-level indicators of socioeconomic status. People living in apartments or with little green space also have higher air pollution levels.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yao Wang, Jing Guo, Qiang Yue, Wei-Qiang Chen, Tao Du, Heming Wang
Summary: Rapid urbanization and increasing demand for buildings have put significant pressure on cities to reduce carbon emissions. This study calculates building-related CO2 emissions for 266 Chinese cities in 2010 and 2015, providing valuable insights and implications for reducing CO2 emissions in urban areas.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2023)
Article
Surgery
Enoch Yeung, Emma K. Satchell, Apar S. Patel, Nathaniel McElhaney
Summary: This study investigated the impact of socioeconomic factors on survival rates of patients with thymoma. The results showed that age, income, and race could be associated with survival outcomes.
JOURNAL OF SURGICAL RESEARCH
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Hellyda de Souza Bezerra, Roberta Machado Alves, Talita Araujo de Souza, Arthur de Almeida Medeiros, Isabelle Ribeiro Barbosa
Summary: The study analyzed the associations between individual characteristics and social context with mental distress symptoms in the Brazilian population. The results showed that young and middle-aged individuals, low education, women, absence of partner, smokers or former smokers were at highest risk for depressive thoughts, while belonging to classes D-E and living in states with lower expected years of schooling were protective factors. These findings emphasize the importance of strengthening psychosocial care targeted at vulnerable groups.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Cybernetics
Doaa Herzallah, Francisco Munoz-Leiva, Francisco Liebana-Cabanillas
Summary: The study aims to investigate the impact of social networks on individual purchasing decisions, and analyze the factors driving sales growth in social commerce, particularly on Instagram.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Weihua Wang, Lin Qiu, Rina Sa, Shaonong Dang, Feng Liu, Xiang Xiao
Summary: The study found that the association between socioeconomic characteristics, diet, and lifestyle factors with BMI varies across different BMI quantiles. Limiting oil and alcohol intake may decrease BMI score, while consuming more red meat could be a strategy to increase BMI.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ty Felmingham, Fakir M. Amirul Islam
Summary: Globally, around 5% of adults suffer from depressive disorder. This study examined the association between sociodemographic factors and depression using data from a national survey in Australia. The findings showed that depression is more prevalent among younger individuals, females, and those with lower socioeconomic status in the Australian population. Appropriate intervention programs should be implemented for this specific group.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Alvaro I. Langer, Marcelo A. Crockett, Mariori Bravo-Contreras, Carolina Carrillo-Naipayan, Matias Chaura-Mario, Barbara Gomez-Curumilla, Claudia Henriquez-Pacheco, Rodrigo C. Vergara, Jorge Santander, Zayra Antunez, Tomas Baader
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of subthreshold depressive episodes and major depressive episodes in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic in southern Chile, as well as the association between social and economic factors and these depressive symptoms. The results showed that both subthreshold and major depressive symptoms were common in college students, and their associations with social and economic factors varied.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Frances Murray, Meghan Allen, Collin M. Clark, Christopher J. Daly, David M. Jacobs
Summary: This study found that socio-demographic and economic factors are associated with 30-day readmission rates for HRRP-targeted conditions, with lower income quartile patients having increased odds of readmission, while female gender and rural hospital designation were associated with decreased odds for most conditions. These social characteristics should be incorporated into interventions to improve discharge planning and reduce readmission rates.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Riana M. Brown, Sam G. B. Roberts, Thomas Pollet
Summary: Personality factors have an impact on the properties of offline social networks, and this study explores their association with the structural properties of online networks. The research shows that users high in Openness to Experience spend less time on Facebook, while Extraversion is positively related to network size. These findings suggest that personality traits influence both online and offline social interactions.
PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Emergency Medicine
David A. Rolls, Sankalp Khanna, Justin Boyle, Yang Xie, Norm Good, Michelle Romeo, Anthony Bell
Summary: Presentations to emergency departments on the weekend are slightly associated with higher 7-day mortality rates. Staffing ratios do not significantly impact differences in emergency department mortality rates between within-hours and after-hours presentations.
EMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Freya M. Shearer, James Walker, Nefel Tellioglu, James M. McCaw, Jodie McVernon, Andrew Black, Nicholas Geard
Summary: During the early stages of an emerging disease outbreak, governments face challenges in decision-making due to limited data availability. This article introduces a rapid risk assessment framework developed in February 2020 for the Australian government to assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 importation. The framework provides a flexible approach to assess importation risk during pandemic scenarios.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Deborah Warr, Georgina Luscombe, Danielle Couch
Summary: The slow progress of telehealth in rural Australia can be attributed to a lack of understanding of telehealth as a socio-technical practice, resulting in critical blind spots. These blind spots include a failure to consider the unintended consequences of technology, a lack of evidence base focusing on service users and patients, insufficient attention to social determinants of health and digital divides, and a reluctance to involve community stakeholders in the design and production of telehealth services. Addressing these blind spots can enhance the accessibility, effectiveness, and responsiveness of telehealth to community needs and contexts.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cameron Zachreson, Freya M. Shearer, David J. Price, Michael J. Lydeamore, Jodie McVernon, James McCaw, Nicholas Geard
Summary: In areas with low disease prevalence and immunity, strengthening border quarantine systems through vaccination and mass vaccination effectively controls the transmission of COVID-19. The success of these programs largely depends on the effectiveness of the vaccines against viral transmission.
Article
Environmental Studies
Keith Jacobs, Rowland Atkinson, Deborah Warr
Summary: In recent years, there has been a resurgence of political economy scholarship focusing on the class antagonisms within housing systems and the role of housing assets in shaping class-based fissures. This research highlights changes within capitalism, the continued role of the State, the ideological position of housing and tenure, and class-tenure antagonisms in urban settings.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aida Brankovic, David Rolls, Justin Boyle, Philippa Niven, Sankalp Khanna
Summary: Preventing unplanned hospitalisations is crucial for addressing the growing demand for hospital care. This study developed scalable algorithms to address rehospitalisations and identified key factors for predicting hospitalisation risk. The findings highlighted the importance of patient data history and the effectiveness of a gradient boosted modelling approach.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jessie J. Goldsmith, Patricia T. Campbell, Juan Pablo Villanueva-Cabezas, Rebecca H. Chisholm, Melita McKinnon, George G. Gurruwiwi, Roslyn G. Dhurrkay, Alfred M. Dockery, Nicholas Geard, Steven Y. C. Tong, Jodie McVernon, Katherine B. Gibney
Summary: Cultural practices and development level can influence household structures and mixing patterns, but current data collection tools do not capture these data. Research shows that communities where households are organized across dwellings have a significant impact on infectious disease transmission, highlighting the importance of including these data in disease models.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Mathematics
Xiao Sun, James M. McCaw, Pengxing Cao
Summary: Malaria continues to be a significant public health burden in South-East Asia and Africa. Mathematical models have advanced our understanding of within-host infection dynamics and drug action, supporting malaria elimination efforts. However, current models mainly rely on deterministic dynamics and cannot account for stochastic phenomena such as extinction after treatment. The development of a stochastic model reveals the possibility of stochastic extinction of parasitized red blood cells in malaria-infected individuals, and underscores the importance of highly effective antimalarials in curing patients.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Nicholas Geard, Richard Bradhurst, Nefel Tellioglu, Vicka Oktaria, Jodie McVernon, Amanda Handley, Julie E. Bines
Summary: Rotavirus infection is a major cause of diarrheal disease in young children, and global vaccine coverage has led to a reduction in infection rates. Research shows that the RV3-BB vaccine is effective in preventing rotavirus infection and disease, even at lower vaccination rates.
HUMAN VACCINES & IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Nick Golding, David J. Price, Gerard Ryan, Jodie McVernon, James M. McCaw, Freya M. Shearer
Summary: Against the backdrop of global transmission, some countries have successfully controlled large outbreaks of COVID-19 and maintained near-elimination status. Tracking disease transmissibility in near real-time is crucial for epidemic response. A semi-mechanistic modelling framework that combines behavioral data and case data has been developed to estimate the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 during periods of high to low - or zero - case incidence, providing valuable information for tracking and planning the control of outbreaks and monitoring the risk of virus reintroduction.
Article
Biology
Thomas Williams, James M. McCaw, James M. Osborne
Summary: This study investigates the impact of spatial discretization on the behavior of models of viral spread within tissues. The results show that the choice of discretization method can qualitatively change key outcomes, including the time scale of infection. Additionally, implementing viral spread as a cell-scale process or as a high-resolution converged PDE can result in distinct model outcomes, raising important conceptual questions about the assumptions underlying the spatial structure of the model.
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Thomas Harris, Nicholas Geard, Cameron Zachreson
Summary: Correlations between viral load in transmission chains can affect estimates of transmission properties, especially when initial viral loads are low, leading to potentially misleading results.
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
(2023)
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Punya Alahakoon, James M. McCaw, Peter G. Taylor
Summary: This study investigates the reliable estimation of waning immunity rate and other epidemiological parameters from multiple outbreak data. The findings demonstrate that adopting a Bayesian hierarchical approach can provide more accurate and precise estimates, especially in communities where epidemic fade-out is observed.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE MODELLING
(2023)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
James m. Mccaw, Michael j. Plank
Summary: This article provides an overview of how mathematical modelling and data analytics have supported the policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand. It discusses various model outputs used in different contexts and the communication issues between modellers and stakeholders. The article concludes with future challenges and opportunities in this area.