Multilevel analysis in rural cancer control: A conceptual framework and methodological implications

Momentary loneliness among older adults: Contextual differences and their moderation by gender and race/ethnicity

Effects of single and group housing conditions and alterations in social and physical contexts on amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization in rats

The design of a safe and reliable Autonomous Driving stack (ADS) is one of the most challenging tasks of our era. These ADS are expected to be driven in highly dynamic environments with full autonomy, and a reliability greater than human beings. In that sense, to efficiently and safely navigate through arbitrarily complex traffic scenarios, ADS must have the ability to forecast the future trajectories of surrounding actors. Current state-of-the-art models are typically based on Recurrent, Graph and Convolutional networks, achieving noticeable results in the context of vehicle prediction. In this paper we explore the influence of attention in generative models for motion prediction, considering both physical and social context to compute the most plausible trajectories. First, the past trajectories are encoded using a LSTM network which feed a Multi-Head Self-Attention module to compute the social context. Then, plausible goal points are extracted from the driveable area of the HDMap information (physical context). Finally, the input of our generator is a white noise vector sampled from a multivariate normal distribution while the social and physical context are its conditions to predict plausible trajectories. We validate our method using the Argoverse Motion Forecasting Benchmark 1.1, achieving competitive unimodal results. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/Cram3r95/mapfe4mp.

The emerging role of private sector in neoliberal city development is creating disconnect of contemporary public space with physical and social context. The following paper uses four case studies of public spaces within Karachi, mega city of Pakistan, to highlight the developing trends creating lack of context integration to place. The main research question for this study is, how well do the contemporary public spaces cater to inclusivity and integration with social and physical context? The research methodology used is mixed methods and qualitative research. Surveys and interviews conducted evaluate success factors and limitations in design approach to public spaces.

An increasingly globalized economy and rapidly changing communication technologies have had a fundamental impact on the physical and social nature of work. We highlight the recent emergence of modern work arrangements, Co-working Spaces and Jellies, in order to better understand the changing meaning of work and the role of physical space in creating and giving meaning to work. Despite the benefits of the trend towards teleworking and mobile work we find that many workers who have been left “placeless” are actively searching to re-embed work in shared physical locations. This search for the “third place” gives rise to Co-working Spaces and Jellies, modern work arrangements built around the need for shared location, interaction and community. Through a detailed historical account of evolving work arrangements from the postwar period to the present we trace fundamental changes in the physical location of work and the evolving connection between the space in which work takes place and meaning. We highlight the role of the physical and social context in meaning-making and illustrate the potential of meaning of work to be actively co-created an co- crafted in shared social and physical contexts. Finally, we outline the implications of taking the physical environment more seriously for theories of organizational behaviour more broadly and for managers seeking to drive innovation and employee engagement.

This article calls for more research that embeds dyadic relationships in their physical, social and temporal contexts. We use ethnographic accounts of courtship, wedding and placemaking practices in two different societies and find that: (1) social and environmental rituals often make salient the couple members' relationship to one another and their degree of obligation to their families and society; (2) events almost always involve significant use of the physical environment in terms of the location of events, the exchange of gifts, the use of special clothing and objects, etc.; and (3) activities occurring during these stages often symbolize and forecast future relationships between dyad members and between the dyad and its family and kin. Although network researchers often take into account the dyad's social context, our analysis suggests that physical and temporal qualities are also important.

The current study characterizes associations between physical and social contexts of self-reported primary episodes of eating/drinking and sociodemographic and obesity-related variables in US adults. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse a nationally representative sample of adults from the 2006-2008 American Time Use Survey. Models identifying physical (where) and social (whom) contexts of primary eating/drinking episodes at the population level, controlling for demographic characteristics, weight status and time of eating, were conducted. A nationally representative sample of US adults (n 21 315). Eating/drinking with immediate family was positively associated with age (OR = 1·15 (95 % CI 1·04, 1·27) to 1·23 (95 % CI 1·09, 1·39)), education level (OR = 1·16 (95 % CI 1·03, 1·30) to 1·36 (95 % CI 1·21, 1·54)), obesity (OR = 1·13 (95 % CI 1·04, 1·22)), children in the household (OR = 3·39 (95 % CI 3·14, 3·66)) and time of day (OR = 1·70 (95 % CI 1·39, 2·07) to 5·73 (95 % CI 4·70, 6·99)). Eating in the workplace was negatively associated with female gender (OR = 0·65 (95 % CI 0·60, 0·70)) and children in the household (OR = 0·90 (95 % CI 0·83, 0·98)), while positively associated with non-white status (OR = 1·14 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·29) to 1·47 (95 % CI 1·32, 1·65)) and time of day (OR = 0·25 (95 % CI 0·28, 0·30) to 5·65 (95 % CI 4·66, 6·85)). Women (OR = 0·80 (95 % CI 0·74, 0·86)), those aged >34 years (OR = 0·48 (95 % CI 0·43, 0·54) to 0·83 (95 % CI 0·74, 0·93)) and respondents with children (OR = 0·69 (95 % CI 0·63, 0·75)) were less likely to eat in a restaurant/bar/retail than at home. Overweight and obese respondents had a greater odds of reporting an episode of eating in social situations v. alone (e.g. immediate family and extended family; OR = 1·13 (95 % CI 1·04, 1·22)) and episodes occurring in restaurant/bar/retail locations (OR = 1·12 (95 % CI 1·03, 1·23) to 1·14 (95 % CI 1·05, 1·24)). Findings underscore the multidimensional nature of describing eating/drinking episodes. Social and physical contexts for eating/drinking and their demographic correlates suggest opportunities for tailoring interventions related to diet and may inform intervention targeting and scope.

Testing the effectiveness of warning statements designed to encourage healthy lifestyle behaviours is largely done by showing the messages to study participants in the absence of ‘real world’ social and physical contexts. This approach does not factor in the impact of the medium of the message. A virtual, 360-degree environment (Messaging360) was developed that online participants can explore and be exposed to messages in a variety of different social and physical contexts: through advertising in a newspaper, labels on products and from a small child and a doctor avatar. The platform allows for large numbers of participants to be tested in a way that models real-life contexts for the messages and so may represent a more effective way of assessing their impact in delivering the health information.

The purpose of this survey research is to analyze and compare the views of classroom teachers on character education in Turkey, Germany and the U.S. In this study, in which descriptive survey method was used, data were collected from 419 teachers from three countries with questionnaire forms. The data were subjected to descriptive analysis. It was determined that character education is influenced by many factors such as family education level, media, internet, social and physical context, and that teachers in all three countries have similar views, only American teachers think differently that "social and physical context" is more important. Character education is mostly practiced in the USA, and to a lesser extent in Germany and Turkey. Teachers of three countries believe that Life & Social studies are the most important lessons that contribute character education. However, character education should be integrated with other curricula with an interdisciplinary approach preferably. Various resources such as meetings, in-school posters, books and thematic projects are used in character education and American teachers use these resources more than other teachers. According to participants, techniques such as observation, interviews, and questionnaires may be used to determine whether character education goals have been achieved. It is seen that the majority of teachers in all three countries are not sure about the possibility to achieve the goals of character education. It may be stated that teachers do not have a very high level of belief in the level of realization of character education goals. According to German teachers, values are less important, but values are acquired at a similar rate, and for Turkish teachers values are very highly important, but not realized at the expected level. In conclusion, the views of teachers from different countries on character education have similar and different aspects.

The purpose of this survey research is to analyze and compare the views of classroom teachers on character education in Turkey, Germany and the U.S. In this study, in which descriptive survey method was used, data were collected from 419 teachers from three countries with questionnaire forms. The data were subjected to descriptive analysis. It was determined that character education is influenced by many factors such as family education level, media, internet, social and physical context, and that teachers in all three countries have similar views, only American teachers think differently that "social and physical context" is more important. Character education is mostly practiced in the USA, and to a lesser extent in Germany and Turkey. Teachers of three countries believe that Life & Social studies are the most important lessons that contribute character education. However, character education should be integrated with other curricula with an interdisciplinary approach preferably. Various resources such as meetings, in-school posters, books and thematic projects are used in character education and American teachers use these resources more than other teachers. According to participants, techniques such as observation, interviews, and questionnaires may be used to determine whether character education goals have been achieved. It is seen that the majority of teachers in all three countries are not sure about the possibility to achieve the goals of character education. It may be stated that teachers do not have a very high level of belief in the level of realization of character education goals. According to German teachers, values are less important, but values are acquired at a similar rate, and for Turkish teachers values are very highly important, but not realized at the expected level. In conclusion, the views of teachers from different countries on character education have similar and different aspects.

There is an unmet need to empirically explore and understand drivers of cancer disparities, particularly social determinants of health. We explored natural language processing methods to automatically and empirically extract clinical documentation of social contexts and needs that may underlie disparities. This was a retrospective analysis of 230,325 clinical notes from 5,285 patients treated with radiotherapy from 2007 to 2019. We compared linguistic features among White versus non-White, low-income insurance versus other insurance, and male versus female patients' notes. Log odds ratios with an informative Dirichlet prior were calculated to compare words over-represented in each group. A variational autoencoder topic model was applied, and topic probability was compared between groups. The presence of machine-learnable bias was explored by developing statistical and neural demographic group classifiers. Terms associated with varied social contexts and needs were identified for all demographic group comparisons. For example, notes of non-White and low-income insurance patients were over-represented with terms associated with housing and transportation, whereas notes of White and other insurance patients were over-represented with terms related to physical activity. Topic models identified a social history topic, and topic probability varied significantly between the demographic group comparisons. Classification models performed poorly at classifying notes of non-White and low-income insurance patients (F1 of 0.30 and 0.23, respectively). Exploration of linguistic differences in clinical notes between patients of different race/ethnicity, insurance status, and sex identified social contexts and needs in patients with cancer and revealed high-level differences in notes. Future work is needed to validate whether these findings may play a role in cancer disparities.

Gerontological literature utilizes the life stress paradigm to understand the impact of stress on psychological well-being, as well as the protective role that social resources play in buffering those effects; however these relationships are not well understood within various historical and social contexts. Utilizing a sample of 490 community-residing older adults in post-civil war Lebanon, this study investigates the moderating role of various social support factors in the stress-depression relationship. Contrary to expectations, results suggest that older Lebanese are more susceptible to the effects of health-decline and serious accident events than other types of stressors such as losses in the family and financial problems. Furthermore, findings provide evidence for a differential protective role for the respondent's spouse and children for only certain stressful events. The discussion highlights the role of family as a stress buffer in a shifting physical, social and political environmental context. Results from this study add to the discourse by emphasizing the importance of understanding the saliency of the stressor as well as source of support provided.

Objective:Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs), formed in early childhood, are correlates of future alcohol consumption and related problems. Social cognitive theories suggest that AOEs become activated in specific social and physical location contexts. Prior research, primarily among university students, has aimed to identify situational influences on specific AOEs, as indexed by reports of AOEs in hypothetical drinking scenarios. This study aims to deepen understanding of AOE activation in real-world settings by examining social and physical situational correlates of AOE activation among adolescents ages 15 to 17, in daily life.Method:Adolescents (evaluable n = 102), reporting any drinking in the past month, completed smartphone reports for 24 days. Adolescents indicated their social setting (e.g., solitary, peers, family), physical location (e.g., home, friend’s place, elsewhere), and strength of AOEs (tension-reduction, enhancement, sociability) just prior to drinking in daily life.Results:Adolescents’ AOE activation prior to drinking was associated with their immediate social context and physical location. Specifically, drinking with peers present was associated with higher ratings of enhancement and sociability AOEs. In contrast, drinking with family members present and drinking at home were associated with lower ratings of enhancement and sociability AOEs.Conclusions:Our findings provide new information about social-contextual correlates of specific AOE domains in naturalistic settings among adolescents. Identifying situational relations with AOE activation in daily life is important to build social-cognitive models of alcohol-consumption behavior, particularly during adolescence as drinking experiences broaden.

A greater understanding of human dynamics as they play out in both physical space and through interpersonal communication is vital for the design and development of intelligent and resilient cities. Physical context provides insight into the space-time distribution of population and their activity patterns, while interpersonal communication can now be measured at the population scale through digital interactions. In this work, we propose a novel method to discover these dynamics. We use a dataset of 72 million tweets to develop a spatially embedded network of communication, and then use community detection algorithms to explore regional and urban delineation in the United States. We compare these results to US census regions and economic and infrastructural networks. We find that the broad spatial delineation of communities and sub-communities is consistent with United States regions, states, and major metropolitan areas. We describe how these methods could be extended to generate a measure of social regions that can be consistently applied anywhere there is a sufficiently rich data source. A deeper understanding of urban social structure measured by spatially embedded communication networks can enable a better understanding of the interactions between urban social and physical contexts. This, in turn, may enable urban managers and policy makers to identify strategies for supporting urban resilience.

6011 Background: Since the mid-1970s there has been little progress in improving cancer survival for adolescents and young adults (AYAs, defined by the National Cancer Institute as individuals 15 to 39 years of age), in contrast to the substantial improvements for children and older adults. The association between insurance status and cancer disparities (stage at diagnosis, survival, and treatment) in AYA patients has not been examined in a national sample. Methods: The National Cancer Data Base, a national hospital-based cancer registry, was used to examine insurance status and cancer disparities in 177,359 AYA cancer patients. Cases were diagnosed during 1998−2003 and followed for vital status through 2008. We examined the association between insurance status and stage at diagnosis, stage-specific survival, and receipt of the most frequently used stage-specific treatments for common AYA sites (thyroid, female breast, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and acute myeloid leukemia). Results: Insurance status was strongly related to cancer disparities in AYA patients. For example, compared to patients with private insurance, uninsured patients were 1.71 times more likely to be diagnosed at stage IV (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.63−1.79), had higher risk of death within every stage [stage I, hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI), 2.43 (2.13−2.76); stage II, 1.87 (1.70−2.06); stage III, 1.55 (1.43−1.68); stage IV, 1.39 (1.31−1.48); and unstaged (leukemias, CNS tumors, etc.), 1.67 (1.58−1.76), and for the four sites listed above, were less likely to receive the most frequently used stage-specific treatments. Insurance status remained a strong independent predictor for each of these outcomes in multivariate models adjusting for patient, hospital, and tumor factors. Conclusions: In a large national sample, insurance status was a strong independent predictor of cancer disparities in AYA patients. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 should facilitate the acquisition of adequate health insurance by AYA, who are the most under- and uninsured age group in the US population, and should contribute to remediation of such disparities.