BACKGROUND Mathematical modelling of infectious disease is increasingly used to help guide public health policy. As directly transmitted infections, such as influenza and tuberculosis, require contact between individuals, knowledge about contact patterns is a necessary pre-requisite of accurate model predictions. Of particular interest is the potential impact of school closure as a means of con...

In the United States, influenza season typically begins in October or November, peaks in February, and tapers off in April. During the winter holiday break, from the end of December to the beginning of January, changes in social mixing patterns, healthcare-seeking behaviors, and surveillance reporting could affect influenza-like illness (ILI) rates. We compared predicted with observed weekly IL...

Using weekly retail transaction scanner price data from a large U.S supermarket chain, we find significantly higher retail price rigidity for private label products than for nationally branded products during the Christmas and Thanksgiving holiday periods relative to the rest of the year. The finding cannot be explained by changes in holiday period promotional practices because we find that pri...

Today, people are more and more active in social networks and communicate via text massages, images or “likes”. Especially images are used to assist a person to provide their opinion. Images show the daily life or things that interest people (e.g. van House 2011). Thereby a huge amount of information is provided. The evaluation of images would enable a comprehensive classification of the consum...

The impact of reactive school closure on an epidemic is uncertain, since it is not clear how an unplanned closure will affect social mixing patterns. The effect of school holidays on social mixing patterns is better understood. Here, we use mathematical models to explore the influence of the timing of school holidays on the final size and peak incidence of an influenza-like epidemic. A well-tim...

After discontinuation of bisphosphonate therapy, an antiresorptive effect and antifracture protection persist for an undefined period. Patients are encouraged to continue calcium and vitamin D supplementation, during a bisphosphonate drug holiday. However, assessment of adequate calcium intake during the bisphosphonate drug holiday is difficult. Therefore, we measured the serum intact parathyro...

Bisphosphonate class of drugs, the most commonly prescribed for the treatment of osteoporosis, is effective in preventing and treating bone loss and fractures. However, the treatment duration and the applicability of “drug holidays” for bisphosphonates need optimization in order to minimize long-term exposure. Drug holidays may prevent potential adverse events while still maintaining some degre...

In Switzerland the holiday-home-market is a major pillar in the accommodation sector as there are more holiday apartment beds than hotel beds. While the number of hotel beds decreases for economic reasons a positive trend of holiday apartment beds exists, but only a limited number of second homes are on the market. This study investigates the barriers-to-rent on an economical, social and psycho...

This study shows that mortality dips before a symbolically meaningful occasion and peaks just afterward. Mortality among Chinese (n = 1288) dips by 35.1% in the week before the Harvest Moon Festival and peaks by the same amount (34.6%) in the week after. We chose to study mortality among Chinese and a Chinese holiday for two reasons. First, the holiday moves around the calendar, thus allowing s...

Sudden cardiac death is a significant health issue, causing millions of deaths worldwide annually. Studies have found that the likelihood of such death is higher in winter. Further studies identified that the highest likelihood occurs on Christmas Day and New Years Day, but not the interim period. Thanksgiving, Independence Day and the Islamic holiday Eid Al-Fitr also show significant increases...