Protein Secondary Structure Prediction Using Soft Computing Techniques.

Geographical inequalities in health are large and growing in most high-income nations, with clear regional divides in life expectancy becoming increasingly apparent in countries such as Italy, the USA, and the UK. For example, people living in the northern province of Trentino in Italy can expect to live three years longer on average than those living in the southern province of Campania (). Similarly, in the southern states of the USA, adult mortality rates are 30–40 % higher than in the better performing states of the Pacific Coast, Upper Midwest and New England – a phenomenon known as the ‘southern disadvantage’ (). In the UK, on the other hand, there is a long-standing Scottish mortality disadvantage as well as a health disadvantage, whereby the northern regions of England have worse health outcomes and shorter life expectancy (by two years on average) than regions in the rest of the country (; ). Investigating such geographical patterning of health and longevity can help reveal societal, political, and environmental antecedents for health inequalities (). The most common explanation for the north-south divide is the higher levels of deprivation in the northern regions (; ; Bambra and Martin, 2024). For example, whilst the north represents 30 % of population in England, it includes 50 % of the most deprived areas (). However, it is becoming increasingly recognised that area-level deprivation, as currently measured, is unlikely to be the only explanation. In their 2014 report have found that, since the early 2000s, a gap in life expectancy growth had emerged amongst the 20 % most deprived local authorities in England – between the north and those in the rest of England. By 2010, the annual life expectancy growth in the deprived areas in the north was around 6 months lower than in the deprived areas in the rest of England (). This patterning was also observed for mortality from Covid-19 (). In our study, we aim to explore and empirically test the potential theory-led explanations behind the growing divide. As such, we aim to contribute to the broader body of literature on spatial health inequalities focusing on factors above and beyond area-level deprivation.