Tie Decay and Dissolution: Contentious Prescribing Practices in the Prescription Drug Epidemic.

Although a substantial body of work has investigated drivers of tie formation, there is growing interest in understanding why relationships decay or dissolve altogether. The networks literature has tended to conceptualize tie decay as driven by processes similar to those underlying tie formation. Yet information that is revealed through ongoing interactions can exert different effects on tie formation and tie decay.

The How Matters: How Primary Care Provider Communication With Team Relates to Patients' Disease Management.

Background: Investigating primary care provider (PCP)-team communication can provide insight into how colleagues work together to become high-functioning teams more able to address an increasingly complex set of tasks associated with chronic disease management.

Objective: To assess how PCP communication with their care team relates to patients' health.

Research Design: Longitudinal study of how 3 aspects of PCP-care team communication-participation, time spent listening, and uninterrupted speaking length-relate to disease management of patients with hypertension or diabetes, and the effect of these team communication behaviors on PCP-patient communication as a pathway by which this relationship might exist.

ADHD remission, inclusive special education, and socioeconomic disparities.

To understand how institutional environments and socioeconomic backgrounds may influence health outcomes, we examined the relationship among special education environments, socioeconomic status (SES), and likelihood of ADHD remission in children. While the majority of children experience remission by adulthood, the likelihood of remission varies across different SES levels and education environments. We find that for low SES children the likelihood of remission is higher in states that have more inclusive special education regimes.

Association Between Organ Procurement Organization Social Network Centrality and Kidney Discard and Transplant Outcomes.

Background: Given growth in kidney transplant waitlists and discard rates, donor kidney acceptance is an important problem. We used network analysis to examine whether organ procurement organization (OPO) network centrality affects discard and outcomes.

Methods: We identified 106,160 deceased donor kidneys recovered for transplant from 2000 to 2010 in Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

Socioeconomic Status and the Increased Prevalence of Autism in California.

The prevalence of autism has increased precipitously-roughly 10-fold in the past 40 years-yet no one knows exactly what caused this dramatic rise. Using a large and representative dataset that spans the California birth cohorts from 1992 through 2000, we examine individual and community resources associated with the likelihood of an autism diagnosis over time. This allows us to identify key social factors that have contributed to increased autism prevalence.

Age of diagnosis for autism: individual and community factors across 10 birth cohorts.

Background: The incidence of autism rose dramatically between 1992 and 2001, while the age at which children were first diagnosed declined. During this period the size and composition of the autism caseload has changed, but little is known about whether the factors associated with the timing of diagnosis may also have shifted. Using a multilevel analysis strategy, the individual and community-level factors associated with age of diagnosis were modelled across 10 birth cohorts of California children.

Estimated autism risk and older reproductive age.

Objectives: We sought to estimate the risk for autism associated with maternal and paternal age across successive birth cohorts.

Methods: We linked birth records and autism diagnostic records from the California Department of Developmental Services for children born in California between 1992 and 2000 to calculate the risk associated with maternal and paternal age for each birth cohort as well as for the pooled data.

Results: The categorical risks associated with maternal age over 40 years ranged from a high of 1.