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Much of what we know about the intellectual landscape of anglophone demography comes from two sources: subjective narratives authored by leaders in the field, whose reviews and observations are derived from their research experience and field-specific knowledge; and professional histories covering the field's foundational controversies, which tend to focus on individuals, institutions, and influence. Here we use bibliographic information from all articles published in the three leading journals of anglophone demography— , , and —to survey the changing contours of anglophone demography's key research areas over the past 70 years. We characterize the field of demography by applying a two-pronged, data-grounded approach from the sociology of science. The first uses natural language processing that lets the substance of the field emerge from the contents of publication records and applies social network analyses to identify groups of papers that talk about the same thing. The second uses bibliometric tools to capture the “conversations” of demography with other disciplines. Our goals are to (1) identify the primary topics of demography since the discipline first gained prominence as an organized field; (2) assess changes in the field's intellectual cohesion and the topical areas that have grown or shrunk; and (3) examine how demographers place their work in relationship to other disciplines, the visibility and influence of demographic research in the broader scientific literature, and the cross-disciplinary translational reach of demographic research. Results provide a dynamic view of the field's scientific development in the second half of the twentieth century and the first two decades of the twenty-first century.

Polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) are myeloproliferative neoplasms with variable risk of evolution into post-PV and post-ET myelofibrosis, from now on referred to as secondary myelofibrosis (SMF). No specific tools have been defined for risk stratification in SMF. To develop a prognostic model for predicting survival, we studied 685 JAK2, CALR , and MPL annotated patients with SMF. Median survival of the whole cohort was 9.3 years (95% CI: 8-not reached-NR-). Through penalized Cox regressions we identified negative predictors of survival and according to beta risk coefficients we assigned 2 points to hemoglobin level <11 g/dl, to circulating blasts ⩾3%, and to CALR -unmutated genotype, 1 point to platelet count <150 × 10 9 /l and to constitutional symptoms, and 0.15 points to any year of age. Myelofibrosis Secondary to PV and ET-Prognostic Model (MYSEC-PM) allocated SMF patients into four risk categories with different survival ( P <0.0001): low (median survival NR; 133 patients), intermediate-1 (9.3 years, 95% CI: 8.1-NR; 245 patients), intermediate-2 (4.4 years, 95% CI: 3.2–7.9; 126 patients), and high risk (2 years, 95% CI: 1.7–3.9; 75 patients). Finally, we found that the MYSEC-PM represents the most appropriate tool for SMF decision-making to be used in clinical and trial settings.

We used a new conceptual framework that integrates tenets from health economics, social epidemiology, and health behavior to analyze the impact of socioeconomic forces on the temporal changes in the socioeconomic status (SES) gap in childhood overweight and obesity in China. In data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey for 1991 to 2006, we found increased prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity across all SES groups, but a greater increase among higher-SES children, especially after 1997, when income inequality dramatically increased. Our findings suggest that for China, the increasing SES gap in purchasing power for obesogenic goods, associated with rising income inequality, played a prominent role in the country’s increasing SES gap in childhood obesity and overweight.

We test the effectiveness of a link-tracing sampling approach—network sampling with memory (NSM)—to recruit samples of rare immigrant populations with an application among Chinese immigrants in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. NSM uses the population network revealed by data from the survey to improve the efficiency of link-tracing sampling and has been shown to substantially reduce design effects in simulated sampling. Our goals are to (1) show that it is possible to recruit a probability sample of a locally rare immigrant group using NSM and achieve high response rates; (2) demonstrate the feasibility of the collection and benefits of new forms of network data that transcend kinship networks in existing surveys and can address unresolved questions about the role of social networks in migration decisions, the maintenance of transnationalism, and the process of social incorporation; and (3) test the accuracy of the NSM approach for recruiting immigrant samples by comparison with the American Community Survey. Our results indicate feasibility, high performance, cost-effectiveness, and accuracy of the NSM approach to sample immigrants for studies of local immigrant communities. This approach can also be extended to recruit multisite samples of immigrants at origin and destination.

We studied the relationship between JAK2 (V617F) mutant allele burden and clinical phenotype, disease progression and survival in patients with polycythemia vera (PV). The percentage of granulocyte mutant alleles was evaluated using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction-based allelic discrimination assay. Of the 338 patients enrolled in this prospective study, 320 (94.7%) carried the JAK2 (V617F) mutation. Direct relationships were found between mutant allele burden and hemoglobin concentration ( P =0.001), white blood cell count ( P =0.001), spleen size ( P =0.001) and age-adjusted bone marrow cellularity ( P =0.002), while an inverse relationship was found with platelet count ( P <0.001). During the study period, eight patients progressed to post-PV myelofibrosis (MF) (all carrying >50% mutant alleles), while 10 patients developed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The mutant allele burden was significantly related to the risk of developing myelofibrosis ( P =0.029) and retained its significant effect also in multivariable analysis ( P =0.03). By contrast, the risk of developing AML as well as that of thrombosis was not significantly related to mutant allele burden. Leukocytosis did not affect thrombosis, MF, leukemia or survival. In conclusion, a JAK2 (V617F) allele burden >50% represents a risk factor for progression to MF in PV.

Our ability of screening broad communities for clinically asymptomatic diseases critically drives population health. Sensory chewing gums are presented targeting the tongue as 24/7 detector allowing diagnosis by “anyone, anywhere, anytime”. The chewing gum contains peptide sensors consisting of a protease cleavable linker in between a bitter substance and a microparticle. Matrix metalloproteinases in the oral cavity, as upregulated in peri-implant disease, specifically target the protease cleavable linker while chewing the gum, thereby generating bitterness for detection by the tongue. The peptide sensors prove significant success in discriminating saliva collected from patients with peri-implant disease versus clinically asymptomatic volunteers. Superior outcome is demonstrated over commercially available protease-based tests in saliva. “Anyone, anywhere, anytime” diagnostics are within reach for oral inflammation. Expanding this platform technology to other diseases in the future features this diagnostic as a massive screening tool potentially maximizing impact on population health. Early detection of gum inflammation caused by dental implants helps prevent tissue damage. Here, the authors present a peptide sensor that generates a bitter taste when cleaved by proteases present in peri-implant disease, embed it in a chewing gum, and compare the probe to existing sensors using patient saliva.

China's HIV prevalence is low, mainly concentrated among female sex workers (FSWs), their clients, men who have sex with men, and the stable partners of members of these high-risk groups. We evaluate the contribution to the spread of HIV of China's regime of heterosexual relations, of the structure of heterosexual networks, and of the attributes of key population groups with simulations driven by data from a crosssectional survey of egocentric sexual networks of the general population of Shanghai and from a concurrent respondent-driven sample of FSWs. We find that the heterosexual network generated by our empirically calibrated simulations has low levels of partner change, strong constraints on partner selection by age and education, and a very small connected core, mainly comprising FSWs and their clients and characterized by a fragile transmission structure. This network has a small HIV epidemic potential but is compatible with the transmission of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as syphilis, which are less susceptible to structural breaks in transmission of infection. Our results suggest that policies that force commercial sex underground could have an adverse effect on the spread of HIV and other STIs.

Background: The current COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the modus operandi of all fields of medicine, significantly impacting patients with oncological diseases and multiple comorbidities. Thus, in recent months, the establishment of melanoma management during the emergency has become a major area of interest. In addition to original articles, case reports and specific guidelines for the period have been developed. Purpose: This article aims to evaluate whether melanoma management has been changed by the outbreak of COVID-19, and if so, what the consequences are. We summarized the main issues concerning the screening of suspicious lesions, the diagnosis of primary melanoma, and the management of early-stage and advanced melanomas during the pandemic. Additionally, we report on the experience of our dermatological clinic in northern Italy. Methods: We performed a literature review evaluating articles on melanomas and COVID-19 published in the last two years on PubMed, as well as considering publications by major healthcare organizations. Concerning oncological practice in our center, we collected data on surgical and therapeutic procedures in patients with a melanoma performed during the first months of the pandemic. Conclusions: During the emergency period, the evaluation of suspicious skin lesions was ensured as much as possible. However, the reduced level of access to medical care led to a documented delay in the diagnosis of new melanomas. When detected, the management of early-stage and advanced melanomas was fully guaranteed, whereas the follow-up visits of disease-free patients have been postponed or replaced with a teleconsultation when possible.

We compare the performance of multiple respondentdriven sampling estimators under different sample recruitment conditions in hidden populations of female sex workers in the midst of China’s ongoing epidemic of sexually transmitted infections. We first examine empirically calibrated simulations grounded in survey data to evaluate the relative performance of each estimator under ideal sampling conditions consistent with respondent-driven sampling assumptions and under conditions that mimic observed respondent-driven sampling recruitment processes. One estimator, which incorporates respondents’ reports on their network of contacts, substantially out-performs the others under all conditions. We then apply the estimators to empirical samples of female sex workers collected in two Chinese cities that include unique data on respondents’ networks. These empirical results are consistent with the simulation results, suggesting that traditional respondent-driven sampling estimators overestimate the proportion of female sex workers working in low tiers of sex work and are likely to overstate the sexually transmitted infection risk profiles of these populations.