Search Results (1,136)

Depressive symptoms are prevalent in university students, yet scalable screening is constrained by self-report and intermittent assessment. Wearable monitoring of motion and light offers an objective alternative, though their combined screening characterization is limited. Undergraduate volunteers wore a self-designed wristband for seven days, recording triaxial acceleration and ambient light at 1 min resolution. Depressive symptoms were assessed via nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and grouped as Dep (≥5) or HC (<5). Motion and light rhythm features were extracted from 24 h profiles and predefined windows; logistic regression (LR) and support vector machine (SVM) compared motion-only, light-only, and joint sets, interpreted with Shapley additive explanations (SHAP). After preprocessing, 152 participants provided valid activity data (HC = 132, Dep = 20) and 218 valid light data (HC = 186, Dep = 32). The Dep group showed delayed activity timing, lower daily light exposure, and greater evening motion irregularity, with differences most prominent during 18:00–22:00 for motion entropy and variance. The joint motion–light SVM performed best (accuracy 85.2%, recall 60.0%, F1 Score 46.2%, Area Under Curve 0.892). SHAP highlighted evening motion entropy and variance, morning light exposure, and rhythm-related wavelet features. These findings indicate that wearable motion and light rhythms are associated with depressive symptoms; evening motion entropy and morning light exposure may aid campus risk screening as interpretable markers, although the cross-sectional design and PHQ-9-based grouping preclude diagnostic or causal conclusions. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic placed prolonged, multi-year demands on the systems supporting frontline workers in healthcare, public safety, and education. In response, approximately 150 licensed behavioral-health professionals and credentialed educators, trained in Psychological First Aid (PFA), built and staffed the Maine FrontLine WarmLine (MFLWL) as unpaid Volunteers from 21 March 2020 through 31 May 2021 and began fielding calls in April 2020, contributing approximately 33,000 h of service. Although the MFLWL fielded 100 calls in aggregate, engagement persisted and expanded into Community Outreach, reaching approximately 250 frontline workers. To understand that paradox, this narrative case study analyzed two waves of open-ended Volunteer surveys (n = 22; n = 20) using consensus-based thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: a specific COVID-19 frontline focus; personal and professional Calling; an intentionally cultivated Culture of self-care and relational support; and stakeholder relationships marked by experienced systemic betrayal and moral injury. Low call volume, rather than eroding engagement, appears to have activated Volunteers’ sense of Calling, converting frustrated readiness into new capability and new avenues of service. From these findings, we derive Emerging Volunteer Engagement (EVE), a values-and-process framework situated within Disaster Ecology that positions Volunteers as principal drivers of disaster response rather than interchangeable resources, with implications for Volunteer organization, support, and liability policy in future disasters. Full article

This study explored whether engaging in volunteering predicted subjective wellbeing and loneliness, above and beyond known sociodemographic predictors. Secondary data from 7146 adults from the Taking Part 2019–2020 survey (UK household survey of participation in culture and sport) were analysed. Hierarchical regressions were used to explore whether engaging in volunteering (yes/no) predicts subjective wellbeing variables (a sense that life is worthwhile, happiness, life satisfaction and anxiety) and loneliness. Gender, age group, Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), health and employment status were included as covariates. Volunteering significantly and positively predicted a sense that life is worthwhile, although with small variance explained, and was also unexpectedly associated with greater anxiety. These relationships were observed above and beyond the variance explained by the known sociodemographic predictors. Our study provides some support for the idea that volunteering may be linked to greater wellbeing, in terms of life being worthwhile, but offers a note of caution about the potential negative relationship with anxiety. Based on our findings, we suggest that volunteering is not necessarily linked to greater hedonic wellbeing but may instead be linked to greater eudaimonic wellbeing, that is, a sense that life is worthwhile. Full article

Public health emergencies often unfold over extended periods and place sustained pressure on community-level governance, particularly when demands for supplies, information, medical access, and daily support exceed routine service capacity. This study examines how community response organizations develop adaptive capacity under such conditions, drawing on a Shanghai community during the 2022 COVID-19 lockdown. Grounded theory was used to analyze semi-structured interviews, field observations, archival documents, and online community records and to identify the process through which fragmented resident mutual aid developed into organized collaboration. The grounded analysis identifies four linked stages of organizational evolution: capacity building, structural emergence, institutional consolidation, and experience accumulation. Building on these findings, a system dynamics model formalizes selected causal relationships and explores the feedback interactions among demand pressure, material reserves, information gaps, panic, volunteer mobilization, organizational division of labor, institutional support, and trust. The analysis illustrates how, within the proposed mechanism, resident participation may be activated through social capital, stabilized through institutional coordination and rule support, and sustained through feedback linking service performance, information reliability, trust, and continued participation. The study provides a feedback-based explanation of how community response capacity develops under prolonged emergency pressure and clarifies how informal resident action and formal governance arrangements can become mutually reinforcing. These findings contribute to research on community emergency adaptation and offer implications for grassroots preparedness, volunteer coordination, and collaborative governance. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns heavily impacted the stress levels of families worldwide. We examined parental stress levels regarding a variety of subtopics (including finances, schooling, and seeing extended family) in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. A mixed-method survey approach was used with a volunteer sample of 101 parents from the North Bay community. Included in the survey were 25 potential parental stressors, which parents were asked to rate in terms of their stressfulness, both during the COVID-19 lockdowns and post-pandemic. To accomplish this, participants were administered only one questionnaire, after the height of the pandemic was over, and asked to reflect on both the current time and on the time during the lockdown phase of the pandemic. General stress levels were higher after the lockdowns ended compared to during the lockdowns, indicated by 20 out of the 25 surveyed parental stressors. Four themes were identified in the qualitative data obtained from open-ended questions: ability to parent; requiring additional support; mental and physical well-being; and child-rearing. Specifically, in terms of the first theme, some parents felt that parenting had become more difficult, while others did not. With respect to theme two, many parents felt a need for support in a variety of areas, which relates to theme three, as supports were often desired to improve mental or physical well-being. The fourth theme highlighted the opportunity to spend more time at home with family and raise children according to parents’ own principles. Parents were also asked about changes in their behaviours, like gambling and alcohol use; gambling, in particular, increased during and after the pandemic compared to before. However, parents reported that the difficulty associated with continuing to parent as they did before the lockdowns was minimal, and that it did not change during or after the lockdowns. Finally, parents were asked about changes to their own mental and physical health; results were mixed, but approximately half of participants perceived positive changes in their well-being. Thus, compared to existing research, the current study provides a more comprehensive overview of stressors experienced by families in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns. It also brings to light suggestions and recommendations from survey respondents to improve parents’ quality of life in post-COVID-19 North Bay, Ontario. Full article

Background: Dietary behaviors are important modifiable factors related to health and well-being. Sports volunteers represent a population involved in sport-related environments, yet limited evidence is available regarding their specific dietary behaviors and their associations with sociodemographic characteristics. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 297 sports volunteers (184 women, 113 men) at international sporting events in Poznan, Poland. Twenty specific dietary behaviors, including meal frequency, consumption of fruits, vegetables, cereal products, meat, dairy products, fish, sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages, salty snacks, ready-made meals, legumes, water, and selected eating behaviors, were assessed using a 20-item dietary habits questionnaire developed in accordance with dietary recommendations of the National Institute of Public Health and the National Center for Nutrition Education in Poland. Gender, age, educational attainment, and BMI were recorded. Chi-square tests were used to examine bivariate associations between each dietary behavior and sociodemographic characteristics. Multivariable logistic regression models were subsequently applied to dietary behaviors showing statistically significant bivariate associations. Results: Of the 20 dietary behaviors assessed, only a small number varied significantly according to sociodemographic characteristics. Women reported higher adherence to daily fruit consumption (46.8% vs. 28.1%; p = 0.002) and daily consumption of at least three portions of vegetables (44.1% vs. 28.9%; p = 0.013) than men. Participants aged 18 years differed from older age groups in daily fruit consumption and limiting meat consumption to no more than once per day (p < 0.05). Educational attainment was associated with daily fruit consumption, with participants with primary education reporting higher adherence than those with higher education (48.8% vs. 25.3%; p = 0.011). BMI was associated with several dietary behaviors, including fruit consumption, avoiding snacking between meals, and portion control (p < 0.05). In multivariable analyses, female gender remained independently associated with fruit and vegetable consumption, while younger age was independently associated with daily fruit consumption and lower meat consumption. BMI remained independently associated with daily fruit consumption, whereas educational attainment was no longer significantly associated with dietary behaviors after adjustment. Conclusions: Most of the 20 dietary behaviors assessed did not differ significantly according to the examined sociodemographic characteristics. The observed associations were limited to selected behaviors and varied by gender, age, educational attainment, and BMI. Further research should examine additional factors, including physical activity, volunteering characteristics, and socioeconomic conditions, that may contribute to dietary behaviors among sports volunteers. Full article

Background and Objectives: Inborn errors of immunity (IEI), also referred to as primary immunodeficiencies, are chronic conditions characterized by recurrent infections and long-term treatment requirements that may adversely affect psychological well-being. Although mental health outcomes in patients with IEI have been increasingly recognized, data regarding the psychological impact on family members remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with IEI and their family members compared with healthy controls and to examine the association of sociodemographic and clinical factors with anxiety and depressive symptom scores. Materials and Methods: A total of 375 participants were included, comprising 34 patients with IEI, 102 family members, and 239 healthy controls. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Group comparisons were performed using non-parametric statistical tests. Multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted to identify independent predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms. The internal consistency of the scales was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha, McDonald’s omega, and Guttman’s lambda-2 coefficients. Results: Both patients with IEI and their family members demonstrated significantly higher BAI and BDI scores than healthy volunteers in the unadjusted comparisons (all p < 0.001), with no statistically significant differences between patients and relatives. After multivariable adjustment using HC3 robust standard errors, healthy volunteers had significantly lower BAI and BDI scores than patients with IEI. Patient relatives had significantly lower BDI scores, but their adjusted BAI scores did not differ significantly from those of patients. Female sex remained independently associated only with higher BAI scores. The BAI and BDI showed excellent internal consistency, with all reliability coefficients exceeding 0.90. Conclusions: Patients with IEI and their family members had higher anxiety and depressive symptom scores than healthy volunteers. Although patients and relatives had comparable BAI and BDI scores in the unadjusted comparisons, adjusted analyses showed significantly lower BDI scores among relatives, whereas the adjusted BAI difference was not statistically significant. Healthy volunteers had significantly lower adjusted BAI and BDI scores than patients, and female sex was independently associated with higher BAI scores. These findings support consideration of psychological well-being at both the patient and family levels in IEI, although the cross-sectional design precludes causal inference. Full article

Accurate non-contact human height estimation is vital for large-scale growth monitoring in schools but remains challenging for monocular RGB sensors due to scale ambiguity and keypoint jitter. This study proposes a robust temporal SegPose framework for high-precision height measurement in unconstrained outdoor playground environments. We develop a multi-task deep learning model using a MobileNetV4 backbone and a novel Height-Aware Boundary Refinement (HABR) module, which utilizes nose-spatial priors to refine cranial vertex localization. To resolve scale issues, a three-way orthogonal calibration system is established using existing playground marking lines and goalposts to dynamically estimate ground plane metric factors. A linear Kalman filter is integrated to smooth keypoint trajectories, suppressing gait-induced oscillations and reducing high-frequency jitter by 64.92%. Validated on a dataset of 95 volunteers (53 males, 42 females) at distances of 6–12 m, the proposed system achieves a mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.42 cm and a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 0.84%, significantly outperforming recent Transformer-based state-of-the-art methods. The framework operates at 42.7 FPS, ensuring real-time performance while adhering to a privacy-preserving protocol that decouples biometric records from individual identities. These results demonstrate that our framework effectively overcomes boundary ambiguity and distance-dependent resolution loss, providing a reliable, efficient, and ethical solution for automated physical health assessments in educational settings. Full article

Background: Emergency medical service (EMS) personnel and volunteers are frequently exposed to traumatic events, placing them at elevated risk for psychological distress, including post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs), depression, and dissociation. This study examined the relationships among PTSS, depression, and dissociation in Israeli EMS personnel, with a particular focus on whether dissociation mediates the association between depression and PTSS. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 60 EMS personnel in Israel, including 7 paid employees, 37 volunteers, and 16 participants who did not report their employment status. PTSSs were assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), depressive symptoms were measured with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and dissociative experiences were evaluated using the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II). Correlational analyses and mediation analyses were performed. Results: Significant positive correlations were found among PTSS, depression, and dissociation. However, mediation analysis indicated that dissociation did not significantly mediate the relationship between depression and PTSS. Conclusions: Although depression and dissociation were both strongly associated with PTSS, dissociation did not account for the association between depression and PTSS in this sample of EMS personnel. These findings suggest that other psychological mechanisms may underlie the relationship between depression and trauma-related symptoms in emergency responders. Further research is warranted to identify these mechanisms and to inform targeted interventions aimed at promoting the mental health and resilience of EMS personnel. Full article

Background: The aim of the present study was to develop and optimize an experimental ELISA test system for the detection of IgG antibodies to Toxocara canis and subsequently apply it for the assessment of human and canine exposure in Uralsk, Kazakhstan, within a One Health framework. Methods: A native somatic antigen of T. canis was fractionated by gel filtration, and the working fraction was selected by SDS-PAGE and pilot ELISA. The optimized test system was used for the analysis of sera of 1000 adult volunteers. Antibody avidity was determined in IgG-positive human specimens, and human seropositivity was evaluated for associations with demographic and questionnaire-derived variables. Serum samples from 100 stray dogs were tested by ELISA and fecal samples by copromicroscopy. Agreement with the commercial DRG ELISA was tested with 50 positive and 50 negative human serum samples. Results: The antigen fraction of 18–22 kDa showed the best separation between positive and negative sera. IgG antibodies against T. canis were detected in 116/1000 volunteers (11.6%). Seropositivity was 17.0% in the 2025 sample and 6.2% in the 2026 sample (odds ratio 3.10; 95% confidence interval 2.01–4.77; p < 0.001). No significant associations were found with sex, age, residence, or questionnaire-derived variables. Among seropositive volunteers, 28.4% had low-avidity, 26.7% intermediate-avidity, 29.3% intermediate/high-avidity and 15.5% high-avidity IgG. Overall, 78/100 of the stray dogs were copropositive, and 93/100 were seropositive. All copropositive dogs were seropositive, and 15 additional seropositive dogs were copronegative. Agreement with the DRG ELISA was 97.0% (Cohen’s κ = 0.94). Conclusions: The experimental ELISA allowed the assessment of T. canis exposure of humans and dogs. Seropositivity in humans in Uralsk showed exposure. High seropositivity in dogs and frequent egg shedding showed a substantial canine reservoir and a potential for environmental contamination. These results support integrated surveillance and control within a One Health context. Full article

Conventional milling separates the wheat germ and bran from the endosperm to obtain white semolina; although these fractions retain recognized nutritional value, a substantial share is still diverted to feed and other comparatively low-value uses rather than into food for direct human consumption. In this Perspective we ask whether recovering a larger share of these fractions—through a controlled industrial sequence of selection, de-oiling and physical fractionation—can be turned into a functional ingredient, commercialized as “altograno”, that improves the health profile of an ordinary pasta without compromising palatability or shelf stability. To address this objective we proceed in a fixed analytical sequence: what the product is and what a habitual portion actually delivers; a nutrient-by-nutrient appraisal graded by level of evidence; the biological mechanisms from the intestinal lumen to the hepatocyte; and only then the clinical endpoint. The evidence base integrates two complementary studies of one product line from the Casillo Next Gen Food chain: a full nutritional, microbiological and gastrointestinal characterization in healthy volunteers, and a double-blind randomized controlled trial with in vitro hepatocyte evidence in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS), with and without major psychiatric disorders (MPDs). Because the clinically tested product (67% semolina, 27% de-oiled wheat germ, 6% microencapsulated wheat-germ oil) shares the same nominal formulation as the germ-plus-oil pasta (EP3) of the characterization study—although the measured nutritional values reported in the two papers differ, so the two products cannot be regarded as analytically identical—the two datasets can be read together, with due caution, across kernel processing, composition, hepatocellular mechanism and gut-microbiota switching to a clinical endpoint: a ~13.5% fall in non-HDL cholesterol, roughly 2.5-fold greater than with conventional pasta, with no statistically significant interaction with the polygenic risk score detected, and paralleled by normalized hepatocyte lipid loading in vitro. We argue that de-oiling is best understood as a deliberate technological optimization—trading a portion of labile lipids for stability and standardization while recovering the bioactive oil for protected re-addition—and that this evidence, while still preliminary on several fronts, supports dedicated, mechanistically instrumented clinical development of upcycled-kernel staples rather than establishing these products as proven therapeutic tools. Full article

Social Q&A platforms produce short, noisy, and highly diverse user questions, making coarse topic labels insufficient for accurate information organization. This study proposes a dynamic seed topic construction and multi-demand topic identification framework for health science popularization questions on the Zhihu platform. Using 3529 cleaned questions derived from 2011 to 2024, the framework combines BERTopic clustering, LLM-based topic naming, and a TOP-K cross-filtering update strategy that integrates semantic similarity and frequency. The LLM then performs topic identification, optimization, and assignment, and a co-occurrence network analyzes topic associations. The method generates 26 initial seed topics, which expand to 51 topic instances and are subsequently optimized to 36 topics. Compared with LDA, BERTopic, and LLM-based baselines, our framework achieved the best topic coherence and the lowest topic similarity while maintaining good topic diversity. Human evaluation by 17 volunteers on 30 questions showed that the model performed at least as well as user-assigned tags across relevance, comprehensiveness, clarity, accuracy, and readability, with clearer advantages in relevance and accuracy. These results suggest that the proposed framework can identify fine-grained, interpretable, and strongly associated information-demand topics for social Q&A platforms. Full article

The aim of the study was to identify the characteristics of Aotearoa/New Zealand osteopaths who report often discussing occupational health and safety (OHS) issues with patients. Participants completed a questionnaire, through a practice-based research network, exploring their demographic, practice, and clinical management characteristics. Backward logistic regression was used to identify statistically significant predictors of often discussing OHS issues with patients. Two hundred and seventy-seven (N = 277) completed the questionnaire. One hundred and fourteen participants (41.2%) reported often discussing OHS with patients. Predictors associated with lower odds of often discussing OHS included more years in osteopathy practice (aOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.92–0.98), volunteering as an osteopath (aOR 0.40, 95% CI 0.19–0.91), sending referrals to a massage therapist (aOR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26–0.91) or naturopath (aOR 0.43, 95% CI 0.24–0.79), and working across more than one practice location (aOR 0.46, 95% CI 0.24–0.87). Predictors associated with higher odds included receiving referrals from another osteopath (aOR 2.72, 95% CI 1.33–5.58), often treating work-related injuries (aOR 2.26, 95% CI 1.19–4.30), often discussing medications (aOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.20–4.07), and often discussing physical activity (aOR 7.74, 95% CI 2.42–24.80), though the latter estimate carries considerable imprecision. A significant proportion of Aotearoa/New Zealand osteopaths report discussing OHS issues with their patients. These findings reflect self-reported consultation behaviours and should not be interpreted as evidence of formal occupational health competence or effectiveness. Further research on the nature, content, and outcomes of osteopathic engagement with OHS concerns is needed. Full article

Volunteering is a key component of social capital associated with improved health outcomes. However, it remains unclear how volunteer patterns differ by race and education and whether standard measures adequately capture racial and contextual differences in how volunteering is understood and reported. This mixed-methods study examined racial and educational differences in volunteer activities over time and evaluated how individuals from different racial backgrounds define, engage in, and value volunteering. This study used a mixed-methods longitudinal design combining secondary analysis of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study (1995–2016; n = 5921) with qualitative interviews (n = 47) in the United States. The quantitative outcome was the number of self-reported volunteer hours per month across four domains: healthcare, youth-related, political, and other organizations. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine differences by race, volunteer context, and time, adjusting for age, gender, and educational attainment. Qualitative interviews used MIDUS item probes and open-ended questions to examine participants’ interpretations of volunteer work, unpaid activities, and forms of engagement. Black participants reported significantly higher volunteer hours than White participants (β = 0.97, p = 0.007). Volunteering varied by context, with higher engagement in school and youth-related (β = 1.12, p < 0.001) and other organizational activities (β = 2.80, p < 0.001) and lower engagement in political contexts (β = −0.45, p < 0.001), relative to healthcare settings. Volunteering increased modestly over time (Wave 2: β = 0.45, p < 0.001; Wave 3: β = 0.39, p < 0.001). Interaction analyses indicated that racial differences varied across contexts, with a significantly smaller increase in volunteering within “other” organizations among Black participants relative to White participants (β = −1.29, p = 0.006). Qualitative findings indicated that Black participants more often engaged in community-based and informal activities, including work within community organizations, whereas White participants more frequently participated in formal volunteering. Urban residents reported more flexible engagement compared with suburban residents’ structured participation. Volunteering is shaped by structural and contextual factors. Public health research and interventions should adopt more inclusive measures to better capture diverse forms of civic engagement. Full article

Background: Oral cancer remains a major global health concern, with increasing incidence and mortality, especially in developing countries. Public awareness is crucial for early detection and improved outcomes. Objective: To assess oral cancer awareness, recognition of risk factors and early signs, screening behavior, and care-seeking preferences among patients attending a university dental hospital in Türkiye. Methods: This cross-sectional, facility-based survey included 1360 volunteer patients who attended the Faculty of Dentistry between January and December 2025. Consecutive sampling was used to include all eligible and consenting individuals. A structured questionnaire assessed participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, oral cancer awareness, knowledge of symptoms and risk factors, screening history, and lifestyle habits. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome was oral cancer awareness (measured by the question “Have you ever heard of oral cancer?”). Secondary outcomes included knowledge of risk factors and early clinical signs, screening history, preferred healthcare contact for suspected oral cancer, and lifestyle factors (tobacco and alcohol). Associations between sociodemographic variables and oral cancer awareness were also evaluated. Results: The sample consisted of 1360 participants (56.4% female; mean age: 33.44 ± 14.60 years; range: 18–70). Of the 1377 questionnaires collected, 1360 were complete and included in the final analysis (questionnaire completion rate: 98.8%). Breast cancer was the most recognized cancer (96.9%), whereas only 50.8% of participants had heard of oral cancer. Dentists (39.4%) were the primary source of information. Tobacco use (92.2%) and alcohol consumption (80.3%) were the most frequently identified risk factors, whereas only 58.3% recognized human papillomavirus as a risk factor for oral cancer. In univariate analyses, oral cancer awareness was significantly associated with age, marital status, education level, monthly income, occupation, alcohol use, and the timing of the most recent dental visit (p < 0.05). In multivariable logistic regression, undergraduate education (OR = 2.008, 95% CI: 1.135–3.553), higher monthly income (>100,000 TRY vs. <25,000 TRY, OR = 2.398, 95% CI: 1.571–3.658), alcohol use (OR = 1.521, 95% CI: 1.082–2.139), and a dental visit within the previous year (OR = 4.130, 95% CI: 1.590–10.730) remained independently associated with oral cancer awareness. Conclusions: Oral cancer awareness in this study population was limited. The findings suggest that targeted educational strategies may be beneficial for improving oral cancer awareness. Strengthening dentists’ preventive role and promoting education through social media may help improve oral cancer awareness and facilitate earlier detection. Full article