A Bayesian approach to Suchey-Brooks age estimation from the pubic symphysis using modern American samples.

A critical component of the biological profile involves accurate estimation of the age-at-death of the decedent(s). While bias, inaccuracy, and population specificity have plagued age estimation methods, these issues are minimized by Bayesian statistics. Our primary analysis generated ages of transition from the published Suchey-Brooks pubic symphysis dataset and coupled them with informative priors derived from two modern American forensic samples (Forensic Data Bank [FDB] and Forensic Anthropology Database for Assessing Methods Accuracy [FADAMA]) to test the accuracy of Bayesian analysis against the original method.

Psychological Disorders Linked to Osteoporosis Diagnoses in a Population-Based Cohort Study of Middle and Older Age United States Adults.

Background And Objectives: Although it is well established that psychological disorders and osteoporosis risk are linked, how the relationship manifests is not. This study examines depressive symptoms and a history of psychological problems as potential risk factors for osteoporosis diagnosis, adjudicating between 4 theoretical models rarely tested together. We analyze these models across multiple domains (i.

Development of a diverse osteoporosis screening tool for older US adults from the health and retirement study.

Existing osteoporosis screening tools have limitations, including using race as a predictor, and development on homogeneous samples. This biases risk assessment of osteoporosis in diverse populations and increases health inequities. We develop a tool that relies on variables easily learned during point-of-care, known by individuals, and with negligible racial bias.

Predictors of lower exercise capacity in patients with cancer.

Maintaining cancer patients' exercise capacity and therefore patients' ability to live a self-determined life is of huge importance, but little is known about major determinants. We sought to identify determinants of exercise capacity in patients with a broad spectrum of cancer types, who were already receiving cancer treatment or about to commence such therapy. Exercise capacity was assessed in 253 consecutive patients mostly suffering from advanced cancer using the 6-min walk test (6-MWT).

Using decision tree analysis to identify population groups at risk of subjective unmet need for assistance with activities of daily living.

Background: Identifying predictors of subjective unmet need for assistance with activities of daily living (ADL) is necessary to allocate resources in social care effectively to the most vulnerable populations. In this study, we aimed at identifying population groups at risk of subjective unmet need for assistance with ADL and instrumental ADL (IADL) taking complex interaction patterns between multiple predictors into account.

Methods: We included participants aged 55 or older from the cross-sectional German Health Update Study (GEDA 2019/2020-EHIS).

Feasibility of a patient-oriented navigation programme for patients with lung cancer or stroke in Germany: Protocol of the CoreNAVI study.

Background: Patient navigation programmes were introduced in the United States and recently gained interest in Germany, where the health care system is fragmented. Navigation programmes aim to decrease barriers to care for patients with age-associated diseases and complex care paths. Here we describe a feasibility study to evaluate a patient-oriented navigation model that was developed in a first project phase by integrating data about barriers to care, vulnerable patient populations and existing support services.

Childhood Family Environment and Osteoporosis in a Population-Based Cohort Study of Middle-to Older-Age Americans.

Demographic and early-life socioeconomic and parental investment factors may influence later-life health and development of chronic and progressive diseases, including osteoporosis, a costly condition common among women. The "long arm of childhood" literature links negative early-life exposures to lower socioeconomic attainment and worse adult health. We build on a small literature linking childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and bone health, providing evidence of whether associations exist between lower childhood SES and maternal investment and higher risk of osteoporosis diagnosis.

Structural Inequity and Socioeconomic Status Link to Osteoporosis Diagnosis in a Population-Based Cohort of Middle-Older-Age Americans.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is an important social determinant of health inequities that has been linked to chronic conditions, including osteoporosis, but research tends to focus on socioeconomic disadvantage rather than how socioeconomic advantage may facilitate these inequities. This study accounts for structural inequities and assesses the relationship between early-life and later-life SES, and risk of osteoporosis diagnosis. Data come from the nationally representative, population-based cohort Health and Retirement Study and include individuals ages 50 to 90.

Health Insurance Coverage as a Social Determinant of Osteoporosis Diagnosis in a Population-Based Cohort Study of Older American Adults.

Social determinants of health theoretical frameworks identify health insurance coverage as a determinant of older adults' osteoporosis diagnoses, which results in health inequities. In this research, we used the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study dataset of older United States adults, sampled biennially from 2012 to 2016. Logistic regressions estimated odds of osteoporosis diagnosis with and without a bone scan and/or hip fracture, holding insurance type, and health and demographic factors constant.

Cardiovascular and metabolic determinants of quality of life in patients with cancer.

Aims: Maintaining quality of life (QoL) in patients with cancer has gathered significant interest, but little is known about its major determinants. We sought to identify determinants of QoL in patients undergoing cancer treatment as well as in treatment-naïve patients about to commence such therapy.

Methods And Results: QoL was assessed in 283 patients with cancer using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 questionnaire.

Development of a patient-oriented navigation model for patients with lung cancer and stroke in Germany.

Background: The concept of patient navigation was first established in the USA to support vulnerable patient groups in receiving timely and comprehensive access to cancer care. It has recently gained increasing interest in Germany to support patients with chronic diseases in a fragmented healthcare system. The aim of this paper is to present the development of such a model adapted to the German context based on the results of mixed-methods studies investigating the need for and barriers to patient-oriented care.

How social/environmental determinants and inflammation affect salivary telomere length among middle-older adults in the health and retirement study.

Social epidemiology posits that chronic stress from social determinants will lead to a prolonged inflammatory response that may induce accelerated aging as measured, for example, through telomere length (TL). In this paper, we hypothesize variables across demographic, health-related, and contextual/environmental domains influence the body's stress response, increase inflammation (as measured through high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)), and thereby lead to shortening of telomeres. This population-based research uses data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Study on participants ages ≤ 54-95 + years, estimating logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models of variables (with and without confounders) across the domains on shortened TL.

Patient Navigation-Who Needs What? Awareness of Patient Navigators and Ranking of Their Tasks in the General Population in Germany.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the awareness of patient navigation (PN) in the general population in Germany and to assess which navigator tasks are considered most important. The analysis drew on a 2019 nationwide telephone survey of 6110 adults. We compared rankings of emotional support, administrative support and information among respondents with and without experience of patient navigation.

What do people with lung cancer and stroke expect from patient navigation? A qualitative study in Germany.

Objective: This qualitative study investigated patients' needs and wishes in relation to patient navigation.

Design: A qualitative interview study was conducted. Participants were invited to take part in three in-depth interviews over a period of 6-12 months.

Assessing the roles of demographic, social, economic, environmental, health-related, and political factors on risk of osteoporosis diagnosis among older adults.

Unlabelled: Chronic stress from social/environmental pressures has been proposed to affect bone health through increased inflammation. We demonstrate that inflammation from prolonged stress does not cause changes to bone health through inflammation but instead impacts access to health care, social inequalities, and overall health, which in turn impact bone health.

Purpose: The study provides a comprehensive assessment of how determinants of health across demographic, psychological, mobility-related, health, environmental, and economic domains are associated with the diagnosis of osteoporosis and tests three hypotheses: (1) a diverse set of variables across domains will predict osteoporosis, (2) chronic inflammation as a result of stress (represented by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) will not be associated with osteoporosis, and (3) the model developed will have high accuracy in predicting osteoporosis.

HPTE-Induced Embryonic Thymocyte Death and Alteration of Differentiation Is Not Rescued by ERα or GPER Inhibition but Is Exacerbated by Concurrent TCR Signaling.

Organochlorine pesticides, such as DDT, methoxychlor, and their metabolites, have been characterized as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs); suggesting that their modes of action involve interaction with or abrogation of endogenous endocrine function. This study examined whether embryonic thymocyte death and alteration of differentiation induced by the primary metabolite of methoxychlor, HPTE, rely upon estrogen receptor binding and concurrent T cell receptor signaling. Estrogen receptor inhibition of ERα or GPER did not rescue embryonic thymocyte death induced by HPTE or the model estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES).

An epidemiological approach to the analysis of cribra orbitalia as an indicator of health status and mortality in medieval and post-medieval London under a model of parasitic infection.

Objectives: Many individuals living in medieval and post-medieval London suffered issues with sanitation, food insecurity, infectious disease, and widespread exposure to parasites from a multitude of sources, causing increased risk of death for many inhabitants. We examine this stressful environment and its relationship with various demographic and temporal dimensions, using cribra orbitalia (CO) as an indicator of stress, to model an increased risk of dying under the expectations of our proposed parasitic model of infection.

Materials And Methods: We analyze the relationship between CO and mortality across seven medieval and post-medieval cemeteries from London by the covariates of sex, status, and age-at-death.

Can routine register data be used to identify vulnerable lung cancer patients of suboptimal care in a German comprehensive cancer centre?

Objectives: Several patient factors have been described to influence access to optimal cancer care like socioeconomic factors or place of residence. In this study, we investigate whether data routinely collected in a clinical cancer registry can be used to identify populations of lung cancer patients with increased risk of not receiving optimal cancer care.

Methods: We analysed data of 837 lung cancer patients extracted from the clinical cancer registry of a German university hospital.

In-vivo comparison of the Ni-free steel X13CrMnMoN18-14-3 and titanium alloy implants in rabbit femora - A promising steel for orthopedic surgery.

A variety of metallic biomaterials is used for fracture fixation. Allergic reactions towards nickel-containing steels urge the need for alternatives. The present study investigated the suitability of the nickel-free stainless steel P2000 in comparison to titanium alloy implants for bone surgical applications in a rabbit femora defect model.

[Structured Collection of Data on Support Offers for Lung Cancer and Stroke Patients in Berlin].

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate available offers of support for stroke and lung cancer patients and their caregivers in the Berlin region besides direct medical or therapeutic care and to identify barriers in the use of available support from the perspective of care experts.

Methods: A structured search of different sources, including an internet search, print information as well as interviews with experts and a group discussion, was conducted on support services available to lung cancer and stroke patients and their caregivers in Berlin for managing their altered health and life situation. Target groups of identified offers were verified and further information was gathered by a questionnaire.

New Approaches to Age Estimation Using Palatal Suture Fusion.

Palatal suture fusion has seen little testing and/or application due in part to an inadequately described relationship to formal age ranges. This study presents a modified scoring method that examines fusion on samples of modern documented adult males and compares two Bayesian approaches to age estimation. In the first analysis, American and Portuguese collections were used to derive univariate and multivariate transition analysis (TA) parameters, which combined with an informative prior, estimated age in a sample of modern Americans and Portuguese.

Survival analysis of the Black Death: Social inequality of women and the perils of life and death in Medieval London.

Objectives: Described as an indiscriminate killer by many chroniclers, the Black Death descended on London during the 14th century. To best understand the pattern of transmission among demographic groups, models should include multiple demographic and health covariates concurrently, something rarely done when examining Black Death, but implemented in this study to identify which demographic groups had a higher susceptibility. Female predisposition to the Black Death was also explored, focusing on whether social inequality added to vulnerability.

Ancient Egyptian health: the prevalence of anemia at the origins of agriculture and state level society.

Ancient Egyptians experienced a vast increase in population size following the Neolithic Revolution. Nomadic hunter-gatherer groups gradually adopted agriculture as their primary food subsistence strategy. Analyses of human societies shifting from foragers to farmers have provided evidence which suggests this transition is linked with an increase in disease and allostatic load.

Correction: Iron deficiency anemia, population health and frailty in a modern Portuguese skeletal sample.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.