Explore the vast range of titles available.

Gun violence has shortened the average life expectancy of Americans, and better knowledge about the root causes of gun violence is crucial to its prevention. While some empirical evidence exists regarding the impacts of social and economic factors on violence and firearm homicide rates, to the author's knowledge, there has yet to be a comprehensive and comparative lagged, multilevel investigation of major social determinants of health in relation to firearm homicides and mass shootings. This study used negative binomial regression models and geolocated gun homicide incident data from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2015, to explore and compare the independent associations of key state-, county-, and neighborhood-level social determinants of health-social mobility, social capital, income inequality, racial and economic segregation, and social spending-with neighborhood firearm-related homicides and mass shootings in the United States, accounting for relevant state firearm laws and a variety of state, county, and neighborhood (census tract [CT]) characteristics. Latitude and longitude coordinates on firearm-related deaths were previously collected by the Gun Violence Archive, and then linked by the British newspaper The Guardian to CTs according to 2010 Census geographies. The study population consisted of all 74,134 CTs as defined for the 2010 Census in the 48 states of the contiguous US. The final sample spanned 70,579 CTs, containing an estimated 314,247,908 individuals, or 98% of the total US population in 2015. The analyses were based on 13,060 firearm-related deaths in 2015, with 11,244 non-mass shootings taking place in 8,673 CTs and 141 mass shootings occurring in 138 CTs. For area-level social determinants, lag periods of 3 to 17 years were examined based on existing theory, empirical evidence, and data availability. County-level institutional social capital (levels of trust in institutions), social mobility, income inequality, and public welfare spending exhibited robust relationships with CT-level gun homicide rates and the total numbers of combined non-mass and mass shooting homicide incidents and non-mass shooting homicide incidents alone. A 1-standard deviation (SD) increase in institutional social capital was linked to a 19% reduction in the homicide rate (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.81, 95% CI 0.73-0.91, p < 0.001) and a 17% decrease in the number of firearm homicide incidents (IRR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.73-0.95, p = 0.01). Upward social mobility was related to a 25% reduction in the gun homicide rate (IRR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.66-0.86, p < 0.001) and a 24% decrease in the number of homicide incidents (IRR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.67-0.87, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, 1-SD increases in the neighborhood percentages of residents in poverty and males living alone were associated with 26%-27% and 12% higher homicide rates, respectively. Study limitations include possible residual confounding by factors at the individual/household level, and lack of disaggregation of gun homicide data by gender and race/ethnicity. This study finds that the rich-poor gap, level of citizens' trust in institutions, economic opportunity, and public welfare spending are all related to firearm homicide rates in the US. Further establishing the causal nature of these associations and modifying these social determinants may help to address the growing gun violence epidemic and reverse recent life expectancy declines among Americans.

Background In the United States, concerns have been increasingly raised over the future public health and economic burden of long COVID including disability and declines in labor force participation. However, only a handful of U.S. studies have explored sociodemographic or socioeconomic characteristics that put people at risk of long COVID or have investigated its economic and mental health sequelae. Methods Using repeated cross-sectional data on over 375,000 adults including nearly 50,000 adults with long COVID pooled from U.S. nationally-representative Household Pulse Survey data collected between September and November 2022 and between August and October 2023, I fit age- and gender-adjusted and multivariable modified Poisson regression models to examine multiple sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors as predictors of long COVID. I further estimate the risks of unemployment, financial hardship, and anxiety and depression among working-aged adults and adults with current long COVID symptoms, and estimate the economic burden of lost wages due to long COVID. Results Nearly one in seven adults (~35 million) and working-aged adults (~30 million) reported having a history of long COVID by late 2022 and late 2023. In age- and gender-adjusted models and fully-adjusted multivariable models, I find several factors predict long COVID including lower household income, and being Hispanic, female, gay/lesbian or bisexual. I also find having long COVID is linked to higher risks of recent unemployment, financial hardship, and anxiety and depressive symptomatology, with evidence of dose-response relationships. Conclusions Overall, an estimated 24 million working-aged adults with long COVID had been or may still be at risk of adverse socioeconomic and mental health outcomes. The lost earnings due to long COVID among working-aged adults are estimated to total $211 billion in 2022 and $218 billion in 2023. These findings highlight the substantial public health and economic implications of long COVID among Americans. Plain Language Summary Long COVID is a long-term health problem in people with a history of likely or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (the virus that causes COVID-19). U.S. Census Bureau data on over 375,000 adults were used to identify risk factors for long COVID and its harmful effects. Nearly one in every seven adults reported a history of long COVID in late 2023, months after the emergency phase of the pandemic was declared over. Those with lower income and who are Hispanic, female, and gay/lesbian or bisexual are at higher risk of long COVID. Long COVID is also linked to higher risks of job loss, financial hardship, and anxiety and depression. Overall, 24 million working-aged adults with long COVID were at risk of these negative outcomes. Lost earnings due to long COVID among working-aged adults totaled $218 billion in 2023. These findings show the important public health and economic consequences of long COVID among Americans. Kim identifies risk factors for long COVID and links long COVID to higher instances of job loss, financial hardship, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Lost earnings due to long COVID among working-aged adults are estimated to total $218 billion in 2023, indicating long COVID’s substantial public health and economic consequences among Americans.

In this original version of the traditional nursery rhyme, the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker try their hands at fishing, with disastrous results. Includes musical notation.

Objectives The United States is the only advanced economy globally that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation leave. Although empirical studies have linked paid vacation leave to happiness and stress, no study has investigated the association between paid vacation leave and depression. Using a nationally-representative longitudinal sample of 3380 working men and women aged 45-52 years from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, this study explored whether paid vacation leave may protect against depression. Methods Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were employed to estimate the impacts of the number of annual paid vacation days of leave measured at age 40 on depression measured using the 7-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale short form (CES-D-SF) scale at age 50. Models were adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic factors, physical health, weekly hours, and individual fixed effects. Results For every ten additional days of paid vacation leave, the odds of depression in women was 29% lower [odds ratio (OR) 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.55-0.92, P=0.01); there was no association in men. Linear regression models showed no association in either men or women. For every 10 days of paid leave, the odds of depression were 36% lower in White women and 38% lower in women with ≥2 children. Conclusions This study provides the first evidence on the linkage between paid vacation leave and depression, and supports a protective effect in White women with ≥2 children. Should this association be truly causal, and assuming a uniform effect across all ages in working adult women, the results from this study would suggest that a hypothetical increase in the average number of days of paid vacation leave of 10 days could avoid an estimated 568 442 cases of depression in women each year and lead to a cost savings of US$2.94 billion annually. Policies that mandate paid vacation leave may have marked positive impacts on the population health and economic burden of depression among working women in the USA.

Maintaining DNA integrity is vital for all cells and organisms. Defective DNA repair may contribute to neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We found reduced levels of BRCA1, but not of other DNA repair factors, in the brains of AD patients and human amyloid precursor protein (hAPP) transgenic mice. Amyloid-β oligomers reduced BRCA1 levels in primary neuronal cultures. In wild-type mice, knocking down neuronal BRCA1 in the dentate gyrus caused increased DNA double-strand breaks, neuronal shrinkage, synaptic plasticity impairments, and learning and memory deficits, but not apoptosis. Low levels of hAPP/Amyloid-β overexpression exacerbated these effects. Physiological neuronal activation increased BRCA1 levels, whereas stimulating predominantly extrasynaptic N -methyl- D -aspartate receptors promoted the proteasomal degradation of BRCA1. We conclude that BRCA1 is regulated by neuronal activity, protects the neuronal genome, and critically supports neuronal integrity and cognitive functions. Pathological accumulation of Aβ depletes neuronal BRCA1, which may contribute to cognitive deficits in AD. DNA repair deficits have been suggested to play a role in Alzheimer’s pathology. Here, the authors report reduced levels of the DNA repair factor BRCA1 in patient brains, and provide evidence that loss of BRCA1 in the dentate gyrus leads to spatial learning and memory deficits in mice.

Infant mortality (IM) and birth outcomes, key population health indicators, have lifelong implications for individuals, and are unequally distributed globally. Even among western industrialized nations, striking cross-country and within-country patterns are evident. We sought to better understand these variations across and within the United States of America (USA) and Western Europe (WE), by conceptualizing a social determinants of IM/birth outcomes framework, and systematically reviewing the empirical literature on hypothesized social determinants (e.g., social policies, neighbourhood deprivation, individual socioeconomic status (SES)) and intermediary determinants (e.g., health behaviours). To date, the evidence suggests that income inequality and social policies (e.g., maternal leave policies) may help to explain cross-country variations in IM/birth outcomes. Within countries, the evidence also supports neighbourhood SES (USA, WE) and income inequality (USA) as social determinants. By contrast, within-country social cohesion/social capital has been underexplored. At the individual level, mixed associations have been found between individual SES, race/ethnicity, and selected intermediary factors (e.g., psychosocial factors) with IM/birth outcomes. Meanwhile, this review identifies several methodological gaps, including the underuse of prospective designs and the presence of residual confounding in a number of studies. Ultimately, addressing such gaps including through novel approaches to strengthen causal inference and implementing both health and non-health policies may reduce inequities in IM/birth outcomes across the western developed world.