A theoretical and experimental study of radiation damage in drift-field solar cells Annual report

Current-voltage relationship and spectral response of drift field and conventional solar cells in radiation environmen

Transient conductivity of silicon Final report

Transient conductivity of silico

Truck drivers' perceptions on wearable devices and health promotion:A qualitative study

Professional truck drivers, as other shift workers, have been identified as a high-risk group for various health conditions including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, sleep apnoea and stress. Mobile health technologies can potentially improve the health and wellbeing of people with a sedentary lifestyle such as truck drivers. Yet, only a few studies on health promotion interventions related to mobile health technologies for truck drivers have been conducted. We aimed to explore professional truck drivers views on health promotion delivered via mobile health technologies such as wearable devices.We conducted a phenomenological qualitative study, consisting of four semi-structured focus groups with 34 full-time professional truck drivers in the UK. The focus groups were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic content analysis. We discussed drivers perceptions of their health, lifestyle and work environment, and their past experience and expectations from mobile health technologies.The participants viewed their lifestyle as unhealthy and were aware of possible consequences. They expressed the need and wish to change their lifestyle, yet perceived it as an inherent, unavoidable outcome of their occupation. Current health improvement initiatives were not always aligned with their working conditions. The participants were generally willing to use mobile health technologies such as wearable devices, as a preventive measure to avoid prospect morbidity, particularly cardiovascular diseases. They were ambivalent about privacy and the risk of their employers monitoring their clinical data.Wearable devices may offer new possibilities for improving the health and wellbeing of truck drivers. Drivers were aware of their unhealthy lifestyle. They were interested in changing their lifestyle and health. Drivers raised concerns regarding being continuously monitored by their employer. Health improvement initiatives should be aligned with the unique working conditions of truck drivers. Future research is needed to examine the impact of wearable devices on improving the health and wellbeing of professional drivers

Home Visits and the Use of Routine and Emergency Postpartum Care Among Low-Income People: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance: Access to appropriate postpartum care is essential for improving maternal health outcomes and promoting maternal health equity. Objective: To analyze the impact of the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) home visiting program on use of routine and emergency postpartum care. Design, Setting, and Participants: This study was a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial that enrolled eligible participants between 2016 and 2020 to receive NFP or usual care from a South Carolina Medicaid program. Participants were nulliparous pregnant individuals at less than 28 weeks’ gestation at enrollment who were enrolled in Medicaid during pregnancy or delivery. Analysis was performed February 2, 2023, to July 16, 2024. Intervention: Participants were enrolled in a 2:1 ratio to receive NFP, an established model of nurse home visiting, or usual care. NFP visits are conducted prenatally and for up to 2 years post partum. Main Outcomes and Measures: This study assessed one of the trial’s preregistered secondary outcomes: attendance at a routine postpartum health care visit before 12 weeks post partum. Other exploratory outcomes included outpatient care use, hospitalization, and emergent, nonemergent, and any use of emergency department (ED) health services at 12 weeks and 1 year post partum. Subgroup analyses examined individuals who underwent cesarean delivery, had chronic disease, experienced pregnancy complications, reported non-Hispanic Black race and ethnicity, were socially vulnerable, or were unaffected by COVID-19. Results: Among 5670 participants enrolled, 4877 were analyzed (median [IQR] age, 21 [19-25] years), including 3261 who received NFP and 1616 who received usual care. By race and ethnicity, the sample included 259 Hispanic individuals (5.7%); 56 non-Hispanic Asian, Indigenous, or Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander individuals (1.2%); 2535 non-Hispanic Black individuals (55.4%); 1587 non-Hispanic White individuals (34.7%); and 141 individuals (3.1%) with more than 1 race reported (and non-Hispanic ethnicity). There was no significant difference in attendance of routine postpartum visit at 12 weeks between NFP and usual care groups (63.8% vs 64.2%; adjusted difference [AD] −0.3 [95% CI, −3.2 to 2.5] percentage points). In exploratory analyses, the NFP group was less likely to have a visit to the ED without admission (AD, −2.5 [95% CI, −4.8 to −0.1] percentage points) in the first 12 weeks post partum. Other outcomes, including hospitalizations, outpatient visits, and emergent and nonemergent ED visits, were not different between intervention and control groups. There were also no statistically significant differences within subgroups. Conclusions and Relevance: In this secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial of nulliparous pregnant individuals with low income, nurse home visiting did not increase use of routine postpartum care in the immediate or extended postpartum periods, even among those with greater health challenges. Nurse home visiting was associated with reduced ED use. More research is needed on how to improve continuity of perinatal care for low-income populations. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03360539</p

Analyzing Regional Variation in Health Care Utilization Using (Rich) Household Microdata

This paper exploits rich SOEP microdata to analyze state-level variation in health care utilization in Germany. Unlike most studies in the field of the Small Area Variation (SAV) literature, our approach allows us to net out a large array of individual-level and state-level factors that may contribute to the geographic variation in health care utilization. The raw data suggest that state-level hospitalization rates vary from 65 percent to 165 percent of the national mean. Ambulatory doctor visits range from 90 percent to 120 percent of the national mean. Interestingly, in the former GDR states doctor visit rates are significantly below the national mean, while hospitalization rates lie above the national mean. The significant state-level differences vanish once we control for individual-level socio-economic characteristics, the respondents' health status, their health behavior as well as supply-side state-level factors

The Effects of the Massachusetts Health Reform on Financial Distress

A major benefit of health insurance coverage is that it protects the insured from unexpected medical costs that may devastate their personal finances. In this paper, we use detailed credit report information on a large panel of individuals to examine the effect of a major health care reform in Massachusetts in 2006 on a broad set of financial outcomes. The Massachusetts model served as the basis for the Affordable Care Act and allows us to examine the effect of coverage on financial outcomes for the entire population of the uninsured, not just those with very low incomes. We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the impact of the reform across counties and age groups using levels of pre-reform insurance coverage as a measure of the potential effect of the reform. We find that the reform reduced the total amount of debt that was past due, the fraction of all debt that was past due, improved credit scores and reduced personal bankruptcies. We also find suggestive evidence that the reform lowered the total amount of debt and decreased third party collections. The effects are most pronounced for individuals who had limited access to credit markets before the reform. These results show that health care reform has implications that extend well beyond the health and health care utilization of those who gain insurance coverage

A synthesis of evidence for policy from behavioural science during COVID-19

Scientific evidence regularly guides policy decisions, with behavioural science increasingly part of this process. In April 2020, an influential paper proposed 19 policy recommendations (‘claims’) detailing how evidence from behavioural science could contribute to efforts to reduce impacts and end the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we assess 747 pandemic-related research articles that empirically investigated those claims. We report the scale of evidence and whether evidence supports them to indicate applicability for policymaking. Two independent teams, involving 72 reviewers, found evidence for 18 of 19 claims, with both teams finding evidence supporting 16 (89%) of those 18 claims. The strongest evidence supported claims that anticipated culture, polarization and misinformation would be associated with policy effectiveness. Claims suggesting trusted leaders and positive social norms increased adherence to behavioural interventions also had strong empirical support, as did appealing to social consensus or bipartisan agreement. Targeted language in messaging yielded mixed effects and there were no effects for highlighting individual benefits or protecting others. No available evidence existed to assess any distinct differences in effects between using the terms ‘physical distancing’ and ‘social distancing’. Analysis of 463 papers containing data showed generally large samples; 418 involved human participants with a mean of 16,848 (median of 1,699). That statistical power underscored improved suitability of behavioural science research for informing policy decisions. Furthermore, by implementing a standardized approach to evidence selection and synthesis, we amplify broader implications for advancing scientific evidence in policy formulation and prioritization

Employer Health Insurance Mandates and the Risk of Unemployment

Employer health insurance mandates form the basis of many health care reform proposals. Proponents make the case that they will increase insurance, while opponents raise the concern that low-wage workers will see offsetting reductions in their wages and that in the presence of minimum wage laws some of the lowest wage workers will become unemployed. We construct an estimate of the number of workers whose wages are so close to the minimum wage that they cannot be lowered to absorb the cost of health insurance, using detailed data on wages, health insurance, and demographics from the Current Population Survey (CPS). We find that 33 percent of uninsured workers earn within $3 of the minimum wage, putting them at risk of unemployment if their employers were required to offer insurance. Assuming an elasticity of employment with respect to minimum wage increase of -0.10, we estimate that 0.2 percent of all full-time workers and 1.4 percent of uninsured full-time workers would lose their jobs because of a health insurance mandate. Workers who would lose their jobs are disproportionately likely to be high school dropouts, minority, and female. This risk of unemployment should be a crucial component in the evaluation of both the effectiveness and distributional implications of these policies relative to alternatives such as tax credits, Medicaid expansions, and individual mandates, and their broader effects on the well-being of low-wage workers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73099/1/j.1540-6296.2008.00133.x.pd

Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behavior with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we review experimental and correlational data from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months