Contact with nature may be a remedy for loneliness: A nationally representative longitudinal cohort study.

Background: Nature prescribing - a written recommendation by a health professional for a person to spend more time in nature for health reasons - is being heralded by some as a potential solution to loneliness, defined as a felt deprivation of meaningful connection, companionship, and camaraderie. However, such recommendations currently lack evidence on how much time in natural environments is needed to tackle loneliness and over what timescale.

Methods: General, emotional, and social loneliness were measured using De Jong Gierveld's 6-item scale in a nationally representative sample of 3043 Australian participants at baseline (October 2020), with 2421 and 2123 completing follow-ups at 4 months (February 2021) and 16 months (February 2022), respectively.

Why might urban tree canopy reduce dementia risk? A causal mediation analysis of 109,688 adults with 11 years of hospital and mortality records.

Urban tree canopy is associated with lower dementia risk, but no mediation analysis has been attempted to reveal potential mechanisms. We examined 3,639 dementia diagnoses in 109,688 participants of the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study. Adjusted models indicated ≥20% tree canopy lowered the odds of developing dementia by 14% over 11 years (Odds Ratio = 0.

Leafier Communities, Healthier Hearts: An Australian Cohort Study of 104,725 Adults Tracking Cardiovascular Events and Mortality Across 10 Years of Linked Health Data.

Objective: Green space reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, but few studies examine what types of green space matter, which is an important consideration as cities densify and apartments become more common.

Method: Participants were 86,727 in houses and 17,998 in apartments from the 45 and Up Study (Sax Institute) baseline survey with 10 years of linked hospitalisation and death data used to define: (i) all-cause; and (ii) CVD-mortality; (iii) fatal and non-fatal CVD events; and (iv) acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Associations with total green space, tree canopy cover and open grass within 1.

Green space and cardiovascular health in people with type 2 diabetes.

Associations between green space type and 9-year risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospitalisations and deaths were analysed in 4166 people with type 2 diabetes in the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study. Incidence of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, fatal or non-fatal CVD events and acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) were 14.67%, 7.

Multilevel modeling of geographic variation in general practice consultations.

Objective: To test relatively simple and complex models for examining model fit, higher-level variation in, and correlates of, GP consultations, where known nonhierarchical data structures are present.

Setting: New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Design: Association between socioeconomic circumstances and geographic remoteness with GP consultation frequencies per participant was assessed using single-level, hierarchical, and multiple membership cross-classified (MMCC) models.

Behavioural change, weight loss and risk of dementia: A longitudinal study.

Recent meta-analysis reported higher dementia risks associated with lower body mass index (BMI) and decreasing BMI. We examined to what extent these associations were attenuated by changes in behaviours and local environment. Multilevel discrete time-to-event models examined associations between baseline and change in BMI with dementia detected through prescription medications (source: Department of Human Services), hospitalisations and death certificates among 144,456 participants in the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study.

Urban green space, tree canopy and 11-year risk of dementia in a cohort of 109,688 Australians.

Introduction: Urban greening is a climate change-related policy with considerable health benefits. But do these benefits extend to prevention of dementia and, if so, which types of green space matter?

Method: Multilevel discrete time-to-event cohort study of incident Alzheimer's disease over 11 years among a baseline recruited between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2009 (the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study). Sampled participants for this study (N=109,688) were aged 45 years or older with no record of dementia up to 6 years before baseline, living in the cities of Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle, Australia.

Automatic measurement of interburst interval in premature neonates using range EEG.

Objective: To explore the direct measure of EEG amplitude (range EEG, rEEG) for detection of interburst intervals (IBIs) and bursts in neonates.

Methods: Previously described 177 two-channel EEG recordings 3-6h long from 26 preterm infants (median gestational age of 26 weeks) at 23-38 weeks post-menstrual age (PMA) without major abnormalities were used to test four definitions of IBI detection algorithms with various settings of the parameters.

Results: As the basis for all four algorithms we developed the aggregation of rEEG signal over the channels by taking its maximum, and method of EEG trace selection at different phases of sleep-wake cycle (with different degree of discontinuity).

Law of effect models and choice between many alternatives.

Data from five experiments on choice between more than two variable-interval schedules were modeled with different equations for the Law of Effect. Navakatikyan's (2007) component-functions models with three, four and five free parameters were compared with Stevens' (1957), Herrnstein's (1970) and Davison and Hunter's (1976) equations. These latter models are consistent with the generalized-matching principle, whereas Navakatikyan's models are not.

Peak-to-peak amplitude in neonatal brain monitoring of premature infants.

Objective: To assess the strength of association between alternative measures of electroencephalographic (EEG) signal peak-to-peak amplitude (ppA) and postmenstrual age (PMA) among a cohort of extremely premature infants.

Methods: 177 Two-channel EEG recordings 3-6h long were collected from 26 infants born before 29weeks of gestation. The raw EEG was converted into four different continuous measures of ppA: amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG), range-EEG (rEEG), Gotman and Gloor's half-wave decomposition (HWD), and root of mean squares (RMS).

The dynamics of the law of effect: a comparison of models.

Dynamical models based on three steady-state equations for the law of effect were constructed under the assumption that behavior changes in proportion to the difference between current behavior and the equilibrium implied by current reinforcer rates. A comparison of dynamical models showed that a model based on Navakatikyan's (2007) two-component functions law-of-effect equations performed better than models based on Herrnstein's (1970) and Davison and Hunter's (1976) equations. Navakatikyan's model successfully described the behavioral dynamics in schedules with negative-slope feedback functions, concurrent variable-ratio schedules, Vaughan's (1981) melioration experiment, and experiments that arranged equal, and constant-ratio unequal, local reinforcer rates.

A model for residence time in concurrent variable interval performance.

A component-functions model of choice behavior is proposed for performance on interdependent concurrent variable-interval (VI) variable-interval schedules based on the product of two component functions, one that enhances behavior and one that reduces behavior. The model is the solution to the symmetrical pair of differential equations describing behavioral changes with respect to two categories of reinforcers: enhancing and reducing, or excitatory and inhibitory. The model describes residence time in interdependent concurrent VI VI schedules constructed from arithmetic and exponential distributions.

Seizure detection algorithm for neonates based on wave-sequence analysis.

Objective: The description and evaluation of the performance of a new real-time seizure detection algorithm in the newborn infant.

Methods: The algorithm includes parallel fragmentation of EEG signal into waves; wave-feature extraction and averaging; elementary, preliminary and final detection. The algorithm detects EEG waves with heightened regularity, using wave intervals, amplitudes and shapes.

Dynamic baroreflex control of blood pressure: influence of the heart vs. peripheral resistance.

The aim in the present experiments was to assess the dynamic baroreflex control of blood pressure, to develop an accurate mathematical model that represented this relationship, and to assess the role of dynamic changes in heart rate and stroke volume in giving rise to components of this response. Patterned electrical stimulation [pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS)] was applied to the aortic depressor nerve (ADN) to produce changes in blood pressure under open-loop conditions in anesthetized rabbits. The stimulus provided constant power over the frequency range 0-0.

A real-time algorithm for the quantification of blood pressure waveforms.

A real-time algorithm for quantification of biological oscillatory signals, such as arterial blood pressure (BP) is proposed which does not require user intervention and works on waveforms complicated by rapid changes in the mean level, frequency, or by the presence of arrhythmia. The algorithm is based on the continous independent assessment of the refractory period (RP). In the first stage, a sample of the signal is band-pass filtered.