Continuity in child mental health from preschool years to adolescence in parental migration contexts: Evidence from a longitudinal study in Thailand.

Our analysis employed the life-course approach to examine whether and how mental health during the preschool stage could predict mental health during adolescence in the Thai context, where migration of parents is common. We used the longitudinal data set of the 2008 and 2021 Child Health and Migrant Parents (CHAMPSEA)-Thailand. The baseline survey of CHAMSEA-Thailand gathered data from 1030 households that met the eligibility criteria, each having a child within one of the two specified age ranges (aged 3-5 or 9-11). Our analysis used the baseline data of children aged 3 to 5 years old who were 16 to 18 years old in the subsequent survey (N = 404). In both surveys, the mental health of children was measured using the SDQ (total difficulties scores), a global standard tool for assessing children's mental health. Parental migration measured whether the parent(s) were international migrants when the child was 3 to 5 years old at the baseline. Results showed a significant, positive impact of the SDQ total difficulties scores of children aged 3 to 5 on their SDQ total difficulties scores when they grew up to 16 to 18 years old. Findings also revealed that experiencing parental international migration during the early life stage led to adverse effects on individuals' mental health when they became adolescents.

Longitudinal associations between parental migration and children's psychological well-being in Southeast Asia: The roles of caregivers' mental health and caregiving quality.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the longer-term effects of parental migration on the psychological well-being of children who stay behind in two major labor-sending countries in Southeast Asia, namely, Indonesia and the Philippines. Adopting the framework of the 'care triangle', we further examine how caregivers' mental health and caregiving quality moderate the associations between parental migration and children's psychological well-being. METHODS: Using longitudinal data collected in 2008 and 2016/17, we assess children's psychological well-being during early childhood (aged 3-5 years) and again in adolescence (aged 11-13 years). We apply both fixed-effects and random-effects models, using the Hausman test to indicate the preferred model. RESULTS: The findings indicate that there is no significant longer-term effect of parental migration on children's psychological well-being, but parental migration tends to show adverse effects on Filipino children's psychological well-being when they are cared for by a caregiver with poor mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The two-country comparison demonstrates the complexities of understanding the gender-based influences of parental migration on children's psychological well-being. The findings also highlight the caregiver's role in maintaining frequent communications with migrant parents within the care triangle, which is crucial to children's well-being.

Does public health policy quality foster state innovation capacity? Evidence from a global panel data.

The design and implementation of public health policy may shape state innovation capacity with governance effectiveness, political stability, and government integrity. Previous studies, however, failed to incorporate these relationships simultaneously. This study aims to combine two distinct scholarships to examine whether the quality of policies in the public health sector contributes to state innovation capacity. We extracted data from the WHO international health regulatory dataset covering the WHO Member States between 2010 and 2017 to investigate the relationship (N = 145). Our fixed-effects models and regression discontinuity design (RDD) suggest a positive impact of public health policy quality on state innovation capacity. There are several contributions to the study of the relationship between public health and innovation in this study. Firstly, it fills a theoretical void concerning the relationship between policy development and implementation in the public health sector and country-specific innovations. Second, it provides an empirical quantitative analysis of policy quality in the public health sector. Third, this study contributes evidence that public health plays an important role in fostering state innovation beyond urbanization, investment in science and technology, and foreign trade. Furthermore, our quasi-experimental evidence found that this mechanism may be significant only between the more politically stable countries and the most politically stable countries. These contributions have empirical implications for governments across the world that seek to balance public health and innovation capacity in the context of the post-pandemic era.

An Analysis of the Willingness to the COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots among Urban Employees: Evidence from a Megacity H in Eastern China.

Many studies have shown that urban workers may have a higher acceptance rate of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine uptake compared to their rural counterparts. As Omicron spreads globally, the COVID-19 booster vaccination has been acknowledged as the primary strategy against this variant. In this study, we identify factors related to the willingness of workers in megacities to take the vaccine booster shots and their main reasons accounting for their booster willingness. This research survey was conducted in megacity H in eastern China, and a total of 1227 employees from different industries were interviewed. The study at hand examines the relationship between various characteristics (including both economic and non-economic factors) of urban employees and their intention/desire to accept the COVID-19 booster shoots. The survey results show that some characteristics, namely work organization, vaccine knowledge, and social network, affect their intention to take COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. Urban employees with a strong work organization, a high degree of vaccine knowledge, and a dense social capital are more likely to receive booster injections than other employees. Therefore, work organization, vaccine knowledge, and social networks provide fundamental entry points for designing enhanced injection strategies to increase the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines among employees in megacities.

Antidiabetic Properties of the Tiger's Milk Medicinal Mushroom, Lignosus rhinocerotis (Agaricomycetes), in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats.

Diabetes mellitus is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although scientific evidence supporting its therapeutic efficacy is lacking, the use of the tiger's milk mushroom (TGM; Lignosus rhinocerotis), which is native to tropical areas such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, has been found to contain a very large amount of potential antioxidants. In this study, rats were weighed and then intravenously injected with 35 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). Rats were left for 1 week before blood glucose concentrations were measured to determine the onset of diabetes before the next procedure was conducted. Rats with blood glucose exceeding 7.0 mmol/L were considered diabetic and were included in the experiment. All groups were fed their respective treatments twice daily for 2 months throughout the experiment. Antidiabetic and antioxidant properties of freeze-dried TGM powder, such as reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), lipid peroxidation (LPO), and catalase (CAT) activities, were investigated in liver samples. The biological compounds present in the freeze-dried TGM powder was found to exhibit antidiabetic properties by significantly reducing elevated blood glucose concentrations to a normal range (3.0-7.0 mmol/L) in Sprague-Dawley rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes, and increasing the body weight of the rats. Freeze-dried TGM powder was also found to possess antioxidant activity by significantly increasing GSH, CAT, and SOD activities while reducing LPO (P < 0.05). THis study shows that freeze-dried TGM powder exhibits significant antidiabetic properties and may be a potential supplement in ameliorating diabetic complications.