Tag: nevin manimala

PLoS One. 2021 Jun 2;16(6):e0250892. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250892. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Using an own survey on wage expectations among students at two Swiss institutions of higher education, we examine the wage expectations of our respondents along two main lines. First, we investigate the rationality of wage expectations by comparing average expected wages from our sample with those of similar graduates; further, we examine how our respondents revise their expectations when provided information about actual wages. Second, using causal mediation analysis, we test whether the consideration of a rich set of personal and professional controls, inclusive of preferences on family formation and number of children in addition to professional preferences, accounts for the difference in wage expectations across genders. Results suggest that both males and females overestimate their wages compared to actual ones and that males respond in an overconfident manner to information about realized wages. Personal mediators alone cannot explain the indirect effect of gender on wage expectations; however, when combined with professional mediators, this results in a quantitatively large reduction in the unexplained effect of gender on wage expectations. Nonetheless, a non-negligible and statistically significant direct (or unexplained) effect of gender on wage expectations remains in several, but not all specifications.

PMID:34077428 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0250892

PLoS One. 2021 Jun 2;16(6):e0252094. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252094. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes have been implemented worldwide to raise revenue and reduce consumption of SSBs, which is associated with health harms. Empirical evaluations have found that these taxes are successful at reducing demand for SSBs; however, SSB taxes face opposition, in part because of claims that they will lead to substantial job losses. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the San Francisco SSB tax, implemented on January 1st, 2018, on employment.

METHODS: Monthly employment counts were obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from January 2013 (5-years pre-tax) through December 2019 (2-years post-tax) for the overall economy, private sector, supermarkets and other grocery stores, convenience stores, limited-service restaurants, and beverage manufacturing. A synthetic control analysis was conducted for each employment outcome. The synthetic controls (i.e., estimated counterfactuals) were generated from a pool of urban control counties using pre-tax labor market-related characteristics.

RESULTS: The synthetic controls had similar labor market-related characteristics and employment outcomes to those in San Francisco in the pre-tax period. Up to 2 years post-tax, differences in employment between San Francisco and the synthetic controls were small and not “statistically significant” based on placebo tests for all employment outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS: Up to two years post-tax, we do not find evidence that the San Francisco SSB tax negatively impacted net employment, employment in the private sector, or employment in specific SSB-related industries.

PMID:34077430 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0252094

Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2021 Jun 2:1-15. doi: 10.1080/19440049.2021.1921282. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Probabilistic exposure and risk assessment of chemical hazards in the diet have increasingly gained ground in recent years as a pragmatic approach for the approximation of reality. This work presents the outcomes of a project which aimed at applying probabilistic techniques for basic modelling of chronic dietary exposure to food contaminants following EFSA guidance. These techniques, based on Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) software and on the programming language R, were employed for the risk assessment of cadmium for Austrian adults, enabling the validation and the critical comparison of the two approaches. Harmonisation and optimisation of procedures, refinement of exposure assessment skills and confidence in the results were the main benefits. Data amount and validity were identified as critical parameters, influencing the precision of the results. Cadmium was selected as a case study due to its toxicological properties, its ubiquitous presence in food and the availability of Austrian occurrence data. Similar exposure and risk estimates were generated through MCRA and R in alternative optimistic and pessimistic exposure scenarios, suggesting low levels of concern, except for vegetarians, whose upper tail exposures are close to the established Tolerable Weekly Intake. However, as occurrence data gaps have been identified as the major element of uncertainty, the estimated exposure and risk levels are characterised as underestimated. Grains and grain-based products, potatoes and leafy vegetables are the main contributors to the intake. The results will contribute to risk management and to a future refinement of the assessment.

PMID:34077339 | DOI:10.1080/19440049.2021.1921282

PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Jun 2;17(6):e1009064. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009064. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Technological advances have enabled us to profile multiple molecular layers at unprecedented single-cell resolution and the available datasets from multiple samples or domains are growing. These datasets, including scRNA-seq data, scATAC-seq data and sc-methylation data, usually have different powers in identifying the unknown cell types through clustering. So, methods that integrate multiple datasets can potentially lead to a better clustering performance. Here we propose coupleCoC+ for the integrative analysis of single-cell genomic data. coupleCoC+ is a transfer learning method based on the information-theoretic co-clustering framework. In coupleCoC+, we utilize the information in one dataset, the source data, to facilitate the analysis of another dataset, the target data. coupleCoC+ uses the linked features in the two datasets for effective knowledge transfer, and it also uses the information of the features in the target data that are unlinked with the source data. In addition, coupleCoC+ matches similar cell types across the source data and the target data. By applying coupleCoC+ to the integrative clustering of mouse cortex scATAC-seq data and scRNA-seq data, mouse and human scRNA-seq data, mouse cortex sc-methylation and scRNA-seq data, and human blood dendritic cells scRNA-seq data from two batches, we demonstrate that coupleCoC+ improves the overall clustering performance and matches the cell subpopulations across multimodal single-cell genomic datasets. coupleCoC+ has fast convergence and it is computationally efficient. The software is available at https://github.com/cuhklinlab/coupleCoC_plus.

PMID:34077420 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009064

PLoS One. 2021 Jun 2;16(6):e0252160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252160. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Clinical expertise has since 1891 a Swedish counterpart in proven experience. This study aims to increase our understanding of clinicians’ views of their professional expertise, both as a source or body of knowledge and as a skill or quality. We examine how Swedish healthcare personnel view their expertise as captured by the (legally and culturally relevant) Swedish concept of “proven experience,” through a survey administered to a simple random sample of Swedish physicians and nurses (2018, n = 560). This study is the first empirical attempt to analyse the notion of proven experience as it is understood by Swedish physicians and nurses. Using statistical techniques for data dimensionality reduction (confirmatory factor analysis and multidimensional scaling), the study provides evidence that the proven experience concept is multidimensional and that a model consisting of three dimensions-for brevity referred to as “test/evidence”, “practice”, and “being an experienced/competent person”-describes the survey responses well. In addition, our results cannot corroborate the widely held assumption in evidence-based medicine that an important component of clinical expertise consists of experience of patients’ preferences.

PMID:34077421 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0252160

Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2021 Jun 2:1-8. doi: 10.1080/19440049.2021.1923820. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Carmines (E120) are used worldwide as natural food colouring agents of animal origin, with a widespread application, including yoghurts. Despite being considered safe for human health, carmines are known to cause allergic reactions. Our goal was to evaluate the presence of carmines in different yoghurts with a label declaration of E120, purchased in Portugal, and, for the first time, to assess the human risk. The analytical methodology, recommended by JECFA, was based on acid hydrolysis of the samples followed by spectrophotometric UV-Vis analysis at 494 nm. This methodology allowed for a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 39.0 mg/kg and recovery rates higher than 97.7%. All the samples had carmines at levels above the LOQ, ranging between 43.8 and 193.8 mg/kg, with an average of 125.2 ± 34.5 mg/kg. In total, 8 (26.7%) samples exceeded the European Union (EU) maximum permitted level (MPL) established for carmines in this foodstuff, 150 mg/kg. Solid yoghurts presented higher average levels, 137.2 mg/kg, when compared to liquid samples, 107.2 mg/kg, with a significant statistical difference (p= 0.0236) being observed. No significant statistical difference was observed between white and private labels, whose average levels were very similar, 125.4 vs 125 mg/kg, respectively. Although some samples were above the allowable values, the estimated daily intake (EDI), designed for the different scenarios of different yoghurt types, did not exceed the established ADI, 5 mg/kg bw/day. According to the obtained results, carmine ingestion through the consumption of yoghurt poses low risk to the Portuguese consumers. However, children were the most vulnerable population group with a calculated risk value of up to 10% considering the mean content scenario. These first findings point out the need to reinforce surveillance programmes and monitoring studies, contributing to an increased awareness regarding carmine exposure, however it must be emphasised that yoghurt has evident nutritional benefits depending on a healthful consumer choice.

PMID:34077331 | DOI:10.1080/19440049.2021.1923820

J Vet Med Educ. 2021 Jun 2:e20200098. doi: 10.3138/jvme-2020-0098. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A recent survey of members of residency selection committees for the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and American College of Veterinary Surgeons boards found letters of recommendation to be the most important factor when reviewing a resident’s application followed by class rank as the second most important factor. These statistics indicate an interesting, but possibly troubling trend. This Letter to The Editor discusses the major problems concerning these findings and what residency program committees might consider as an alternative.

PMID:34077333 | DOI:10.3138/jvme-2020-0098

Eur J Sport Sci. 2021 Jun 2:1-23. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2021.1938690. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AbstractRunners’ gait patterns vary during a half marathon and influence the knee joint mechanics. Joint contact force is a better estimate of the net joint loadings than external joint moments and closely correlates to injury risks. This study explored the changes of lower limb joint kinematics, muscle activities, and knee joint loading in runners across the running mileages of a half marathon. Fourteen runners completed a half marathon on an instrumented treadmill where motion capture was conducted every 2 km (from 2 km to 20 km). A musculoskeletal model incorporating medial/lateral tibiofemoral compartments was used to process the movement data and report outcome variables at the selected distance checkpoints. Statistics showed no changes in joint angles, muscle co-contraction index, ground reaction force variables, and medial tibiofemoral contact force (p > 0.05). Knee adduction moment at 18 km was significantly lower than those at 2 km (p = 0.002, γ = 0.813) and 6 km (p = 0.001, γ = 0.663). Compared to that at 2 km, lateral tibiofemoral contact force was reduced at 18 km (p = 0.030, Hedges’ g = 0.690), 16 km (p < 0.001, Hedges’ g = 0.782), 14 km (p = 0.045, Hedges’ g = 0.859), and 10 km (p < 0.001, Hedges’ g = 0.771) respectively. Mechanical realignment of the lower limb may be the cause of the altered knee loadings and possibly led to reduced running economy in response to a prolonged run. The injury potential of the redistributed tibiofemoral forces warranted further studies.

PMID:34077303 | DOI:10.1080/17461391.2021.1938690

J Med Virol. 2021 Jun 2. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27122. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Researchers around the world are working at record speed to find the best ways to treat and prevent COVID-19. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin for the treatment of hospitalized mild to moderate COVID-19 infected patients.

METHODS: This was a randomized open-label controlled study which included 164 COVID-19 patients. Patients were randomized into two groups where group1 (Ivermectin group) included patients who received ivermectin12mg once daily for 3 days with standard care and group 2 (control group) included patients who received standard protocol of treatment alone for 14 days. The main outcomes were mortality, the length of hospital stay and the need for mechanical ventilation. All patients were followed up for one month.

RESULTS: Overall, 82 individuals were randomised to receive ivermectin plus standard of care and 82 to receive standard of care alone. Patients in the ivermectin group had shorter length of hospital stay (8.82± 4.94 days) than the control group (10.97 ± 5.28 days), but this was not statistically significant (P= 0.085). Three patients (3.7%) in each group required mechanical ventilation (P= 1.00). The death rate was three patients in the ivermectin group (3.7%) versus four patients (4.9%) in the control group without any significant difference between the two groups (P= 1.00).

CONCLUSION: Whereas there was no statistically significant difference in any endpoints by ivermectin doses (12 mg/day for 3 days); there was an observed trend to reducing hospital stay in the ivermectin treated group. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34076901 | DOI:10.1002/jmv.27122

J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2021 Jun 2. doi: 10.1111/jdv.17434. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Assessment of psoriasis is exclusively done measuring severity using somatic scores such as the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) or patient-reported outcomes such as the dermatology life quality index (DLQI). There is no established tool to measure a patient’s individual psoriasis activity over time.

OBJECTIVES: Development of a new tool to classify psoriasis activity types.

METHODS: Open patient interviews were performed and adapted in several steps and by using different groups of patients. Wording of the tool’s axis and description how to use it was optimized with the input of patients. The final ActiPso tool was used in a prospective study in psoriasis patients.

RESULTS: Four activity types could be identified describing psoriasis intensity (eg. severity, itch, pain) over one typical year and an event/trigger type describing flares. In the study in 586 psoriasis patients of the 536 patients eligible for analysis 40.9% self-classified as type 1 (“stable”), 22.6 % as type 2 (“unstable”), 30.6 % as type 3 (“winter-type”), and 6.0 % as type 4 (“summer-type”), respectively. Flares of psoriasis as identified by the event/trigger type were reported in 36.1 % of patients with activity type 1, 67.8 % with type 2, 73.8 % of type 3, and 59.4 % of type 4, respectively.

LIMITATIONS: In regions with no seasonal variations ActiPso types 3 and 4 may not apply.

CONCLUSIONS: Interviewed patients were able to describe their course of psoriasis disease and to name potential triggering factors. By doing so activity types of psoriasis were defined for the first time and the importance of events/triggers for flares described and integrated into ActiPso types as a basis for advanced patient-centric management.

PMID:34076926 | DOI:10.1111/jdv.17434