18 HEALTH
thursday 01 july 2021
burdekinlocal.com.au
New AI research progress could help save premature babies JAMES Cook University scientists believe they have made a breakthrough in the science of keeping premature babies alive. As part of her PhD work, JCU engineering lecturer Stephanie Baker led a pilot study that used new artificial intelligence technology to accurately predict how much risk individual premature babies face. She said the JCU team’s research had developed the Neonatal Artificial Intelligence Mortality Score (NAIMS), a hybrid neural network that relies on simple demographics and trends in heart and respiratory rate to determine mortality risk. “This is the first work we’re aware of that uses only easyto-record demographics and
respiratory rate and heart rate data to produce an accurate prediction of immediate mortality risk,” said Ms Baker. Complications resulting from premature birth are the leading cause of death in children under five with over 50 per cent of newborn deaths occurring in preterm infants. “Preterm birth rates are increasing almost everywhere. In neonatal intensive care units, assessment of mortality risk assists in making difficult decisions regarding which treatments should be used and if and when treatments are working effectively,” said Ms Baker. She said that to guide their care, preterm babies are often given a score that indicates
the risk they face but that there are limitations to the current system. “Generating the score requires complex manual measurements, extensive laboratory results, and the listing of maternal characteristics and existing conditions,” said Ms Baker. “Due to the simplicity and high performance of our proposed scheme, NAIMS could easily be continuously and automatically recalculated, enabling analysis of a baby’s responsiveness to treatment and other health trends,” said Ms Baker. She says that with improvements in AI like the Neonatal Artificial Intelligence Mortality Score (NAIMS) babies can be better
monitored without the need for time-consuming and invasive procedures. Ms Baker said the next step in the process was to partner with local hospitals to gather more data and undertake further testing. “An ideal scheme would be
one that uses fundamental demographics and routinely measured vital signs to provide continuous assessment. This would allow for assessment of changing risk without placing an unreasonable additional burden on healthcare staff,”
said Ms Baker. “Additionally, we aim to conduct research into the prediction of other outcomes in neonatal intensive care.”
Students with overconfident parents perform better in school Marina Trajkovich A NEW study led by the Conversation and Society for Research in Child Development shows that overconfidence in your children’s academic abilities can actually help improve their grades. The study examined 2,602 Australian children and the attitudes of their mothers to determine the degree to which positive optimism would have an impact on a child’s academic performance over time. The study asked Aussie mums to rate their children’s numeracy and maths skills and their reading abilities as below average, average or above average, which determined parental optimism and pessimism in their kid’s abilities at school. These attitudes were then compared to the student’s actual results in standardised NAPLAN testing through years 3, 5 and 7 to determine whether parental views were accurate representations of student ability. The study found that students with parents who held overly optimistic perceptions of their grades actually improved significantly more over a two year testing period,
compared to students whose parent’s had more realistic or pessimistic views of their abilities. “We found, on average, mums were more optimistic about their child’s ability than their child’s school results suggested. We found this improved not only their kid’s later school results but also increased their interest in school,” wrote one researcher in the report published by the Conversation. By comparing NAPLAN results between a two year period researchers Philip D. Parker, Taren Sanders, Jake Anders, Rhiannon B. Parker and Jasper J. Duineveld were able to confirm that parental optimism consistently benefited students. “Overly optimistic parents could reduce their kids’ drive to work harder and give them a false idea of the opportunities available to them. Or this same optimism could fill the child with confidence, kindle their self-belief and give them the courage to try harder. “We set out to discover which of these possibilities is most likely, and we found a mother’s optimism about how good their child is in maths and reading consistently benefited children,” said the report.
Go Dry this July Marina Trajkovich
The study also revealed a degree of gender stereotyping amongst parents, where girls were perceived to be better in reading and boys in numeracy. There was no perceived link between a mothers optimism
and socioeconomic status as initially hypothesised. However it was found that mothers from non-English speaking background, had higher levels of optimism in their children’s academic abilities.
THE Dry July Foundation is encouraging Aussies to give up alcohol for the month of July, advocating the health benefits of skipping drinks for a month while raising money for cancer research. With most adult Aussies consuming alcohol to some degree, giving it up for the month can seem a daunting task, but one that has a myriad of health benefits, impacting your energy levels, quality of sleep and improving your overall mood and daily functioning. Reducing or curbing your drinking habits can also have a positive impact on your finances. Advice from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), suggests no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 in a single drinking session. Tips for managing Dry July 1 If you’re considering giving up the grog for the whole month, DryJuly.com has several resources and ideas for how to stay on track, like alternative ways to socialise
that don’t involve a typical visit to a bar. 2 Set a goal for yourself and get moving, by using the month to focus on improving your lifestyle and your health. Cravings are natural and so experts recommend mindfully acknowledging the discomfort but ultimately using will power to refocus on what you are achieving for your body and mind. 3 Focusing on the health benefits can help you stay on track. After one week of giving up drinking, you might notice that your sleep quality is improving, you’re saving calories and you’re more hydrated. After a month, your skin will look visibly healthier and your liver function will have improved and the fat surrounding it reduced, impacting the 500 vital functions it performs from removing contaminants and converting food to nutrients within your body. CONNECT NOW: To register for Dry July, learn more about the cause or raise money for cancer research visit: www.dryjuly.com
