Press Releases

Source: DALLE-3 via BING Images Copyright: N/A (AI generated) URL: https://www.bing.com/images/create/aa-healthcare-worker-wearing-mask-she-is-l… License: Public Domain (CC0) An artificial intelligence tool effectively detected distress in hospital workers’ conversations with their therapists early during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study shows, suggesting a potential new technology that screens for depression and anxiety. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced many hospitals to operate beyond capacity, medical workers were faced with overwhelming numbers of work shifts, limited rest, and an increased risk of COVID-19 infection. At the same time, quarantine policies and fear of infecting family reduced their access to social support, with the combination increasing the risk of medical errorsRead More →

Source: Image created by JMIR Publications/Authors Copyright: JMIR Publications URL: https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e47254 License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) Reference intervals (RIs) are being used across many medical disciplines, allowing physicians to quickly pinpoint potentially pathological test results. RIs vary between populations and individuals, but, so far, personalized RIs are cumbersome to obtain. Researchers from the BioRef consortium of the University Hospital Bern (Inselspital), University Hospital Lausanne (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois [CHUV]), the University Children’s Hospital Zürich (Kinderspital Zürich), and Swiss Paraplegic Research have established a multicentric IT framework in collaboration with Tune Insight and the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN) to obtain patient group–specific RIs from routineRead More →

Source: Unsplash Copyright: madison lavern URL: https://unsplash.com/photos/4gcqRf3-f2I License: Licensed by JMIR A global study analyzing more than 280,000 digital meditation sessions has found that the practice leads to significant improvements in mood, regardless of the length of a session. The University of Adelaide–led study, which used deidentified data provided by US-based meditation app Insight Timer, found that consistent practice had a greater influence on the effectiveness of meditation for a practitioner. A lot of people feel like they need to meditate every day for long periods of time to realise any benefit, and then become disheartened when they find this unsustainable. We found that practiceRead More →

Source: Freepik Copyright: freepik.com Source image URL: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/digital-nomad-working-remotly-their-project_21795560.htm License: Licensed by JMIR CONTACT: Lois E. Yoksoulian, Physical Sciences Editor 217-244-2788, leyok@illinois.edu. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — New research led by data science experts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and United Nations Global Pulse found that there is no strong evidence that YouTube promoted antivaccine sentiments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, performs an algorithmic audit to examine if YouTube’s recommendation system acts as a “rabbit hole,” leading users searching for vaccine-related videos to antivaccine content. For the study, the researchers asked study participants to intentionally find an antivaccine video with asRead More →

Source: pxhere Copyright: rawpixel.com URL: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1451619 License: Public Domain (CC0) Receiving therapy for problematic social media use can be effective in improving the mental well-being of people with depression, finds a new study by researchers at University College London (UCL). The research, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, found that social media use interventions could help adults for whom social media use has become problematic or interferes with their mental health. Problematic use is when a person’s preoccupation with social media results in a distraction from their primary tasks and the neglect of responsibilities in other aspects of their life. Previous research hasRead More →

Source: freepik.com Copyright: Freepik URL: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/doctor-vaccinating-patient-clinic_12892257.htm License: Licensed by JMIR Provaccination tweets outnumbered antivax sentiment almost four to one in new research that canvassed a whopping 75 million COVID-19 comments on Twitter at the height of the global pandemic. Shattering public perception that antivax messaging ruled the airwaves, the collaborative study published today, led by the University of Melbourne in partnership with Curtin University, assessed vaccination-related tweets between March 2020 and March 2021. Study coauthor Dr Mengbin “Ben” Ye, from the Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science within Curtin’s School of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, said provax discussion significantly dominated antivax discussion in contrastRead More →

Source: freepik.com Copyright: Drazen Zigic Source image URL: https://tinyurl.com/4pwtcb7k License: Licensed by JMIR New research finds a novel parenting smartphone app, developed by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London and South London, and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, reduced child emotional problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. The app, Parent Positive, was designed specifically to support parents during COVID-19 lockdowns. It provides evidence-based online resources, advice on common parenting challenges, and access to expert support. Published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the Supporting Parents And Kids Through Lockdown Experiences (SPARKLE) trial—a collaboration between King’s College and the University of Oxford—investigatedRead More →

Source: Unsplash Copyright: Annie Spratt URL: https://unsplash.com/photos/kZO9xqmO_TA License: Licensed by JMIR Program allows children’s voices to shine A pilot study shows how after-school care can play an important role in building children’s well-being and social connection. The program involves children in the design process and gives them a voice and role to shape their own experience. Children are learning to build their well-being and meaningful social connections through a unique study that fills a crucial gap in outside school hours care (OSHC) across Australia. OSHC is the fastest-growing childhood education and care sector in Australia. In 2020, the Productivity Commission reported that the OSHC systemRead More →

Newly published research in the journal JMIRx Bio challenges the popular theory linking the Loch Ness Monster to giant eels, revealing statistical evidence against their existence (Toronto, July 24, 2023) In a new study published in JMIRx Bio, one of JMIR Publications’ new overlay journals, scientist Floe Foxon explores whether the Loch Ness Monster, a creature in Scottish folklore, could be a giant eel. Using previous estimates of the monster’s size to predict the probability of encountering a large eel of a similar size, the study found that giant eels could not account for sightings of larger animals in Loch Ness, a freshwater lake inRead More →