Tag: statistics

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Apr 27. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-20417-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Today, as a result of the developments and widespread use of information and communication technologies, the weight of online shopping in the economy has increased. The environmental impacts of this new order, which is an important part of electronic finance, are discussed. In this study, the effect of electronic finance, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and urbanization on emissions in EU member countries is examined using the panel vector autoregression (PVAR) approach for the period from 2005 to 2018. The main results suggest that e-finance has a positive and statistically significant effect on CO₂ emissions. However, the renewable energy consumption-increasing effect of e-finance is greater than its emission-reducing effect. Moreover, renewable energy consumption has a statistically insignificant effect on emissions. Therefore, the contribution of e-finance on environmental quality weakens. The requirement for EU member countries to prioritize the use of environmentally friendly energy to benefit from the environmental contribution of e-finance in the most optimal way is stated as the main policy implication of this study.

PMID:35474436 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-20417-5

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Apr 27. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-20339-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Water is the most fundamental need for better yield in agriculture. Worldwide, diesel and electricity are typically used to pump water which contributes to atmospheric pollution. Besides, a power outage affects the irrigation process badly. Without water, the crop may wither away, causing a substantial economic loss. This paper discusses the resilience of a solar PV system during a power outage. HOMER Pro software was used to perform the techno-economic analysis of solar-based irrigation for four major divisions of Bangladesh, while 1-hour power outage was assigned in REopt lite to model the survivability of the system against the grid outage. The simulation outcomes showed that the energy cost is $0.1496/kWh, $0.1502/kWh, $0.1557/kWh, and $0.1576/kWh for Rajshahi, Sylhet, Dhaka, and Chattogram, respectively. About 45% of excess electricity can be stored after fulfilling all requirements. The system is more economical than a microgrid-based water pumping system and a diesel-based system, and the photovoltaic system is technically and economically suitable to pump water if the nearest grid connection is impossible. When connected to the main utility grid, the system can survive without grid power for several hours, subject to daytime outages.

PMID:35474434 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-20339-2

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Apr 27. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-20233-x. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the impact of air pollution on residents’ subjective happiness, using data from the China General Social Survey for 2013, 2015, and 2017, regional air pollution, and socioeconomic indicators. We find that air pollution has a negative effect on residents’ subjective happiness. Specifically, the average marginal effect of the logarithm of SO₂ emissions on happiness is -0.0099 and significant at the 1% level; namely, a one-unit increase in [Formula: see text] will reduce the likelihood of residents feeling happy by 0.99%. This negative effect is greater for those who have children, are old, or have a higher level of education. We also empirically test two mechanisms by which air pollution affects subjective happiness-depressed mood and leisure activities outside the home-and demonstrate that environmental regulation can moderate the negative impact of air pollution on happiness, but the moderating effects are nonlinear. Environmental governance investments are more effective at the low level, pollutant discharge fees are more effective at the medium level, and complaints about environmental pollution are more effective at the high level. As well as enriching theoretical insights into the relationship between air pollution and happiness, this study provides a valuable reference for developing more suitable policies in relation to environmental management and national happiness.

PMID:35474435 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-20233-x

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Apr 27. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-20242-w. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Sleep disorders attract increasing concerns. However, the evidence of the association between ambient air pollution and sleep disorders is limited. Therefore, our aim was to determine the association between short-term air pollution exposure and outpatient visits for sleep disorders in Xi’an, the largest city in Northwest China. Baseline outpatient data of daily sleep disorders between 2011 and 2013 were collected. Quasi-Poisson distribution was applied by adjusting the day of the week and weather conditions. A total of 49,282 sleep disorder outpatient visits were recorded. The most significant association between air pollutants and outpatient visits was observed on concurrent day: per 10 μg/m³ increase of NO₂, SO₂, and PM₁₀ at lag 0 corresponded to increased outpatient sleep disorder visits at 0.22% (95% CI: 0.03%, 0.42%), 1.53% (95% CI: 0.53, 2.53%), and 2.57% (95% CI: 1.33%, 3.82%), respectively. As for gender-specific analysis, there was no statistically significant difference between males and females. The result of season-specific analysis showed no statistically significant difference between warm seasons and cool seasons, either. As for age-specific analysis, obvious associations were observed in 20-40 age group (NO₂) and > 40 age group (PM₁₀ and SO₂), while no evident association was found for the young age group (< 20 years old). Conclusively, short-term exposure to air pollutants, especially gaseous air pollutants, might increase the risk of sleep disorders, and such association appears to be more obvious in elder people. We provide novel data that there may be age differences in the relationship between short-term air pollution exposure and sleep disorders.

PMID:35474431 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-20242-w

J Youth Adolesc. 2022 Apr 26. doi: 10.1007/s10964-022-01610-8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that genetic variants that regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function moderate the association between parenting and anxiety symptoms, but these studies have primarily focused on (i) individual genes with very small and unreliable effect and (ii) the role of mothers as opposed to fathers. Using a multilocus genetic profile score approach, the current study is the first to examine the moderation effect of HPA-axis multilocus genetic variants on the associations of both maternal and paternal parenting with adolescent anxiety symptoms. In a sample of Chinese Han adolescents (N = 772; 50.1% girls; M_age = 16.48 ± 1.40 years, range: 15-20 years), a theory-driven multilocus genetic profile score was computed by counting the numbers of alleles that were previously linked to heightened stress reactivity in six HPA-axis related genes. This HPA-axis related multilocus genetic profile score equivalently interacted with both maternal and paternal parenting in the prediction of adolescent anxiety symptoms. Consistent with cumulative polygenic plasticity hypothesis of differential susceptibility model, adolescents with more versus low alleles linked to heightened stress reactivity not only suffered more from poor maternal or paternal parenting quality, but also benefited more from high maternal or paternal parenting quality. However, none of the individual HPA-axis genes within this multilocus genetic profile score yielded a significant gene-by-environment (G × E) interaction when examined in isolation. The findings survived after internal replication analysis and a novel, valid influence statistic DFBETAS analysis, demonstrating the robustness of the results. The current study highlights the potential value of using a multilocus approach to understand G × E effects underlying anxiety symptoms and emphasizes the role of both mothers and fathers in such gene-parenting interactions, especially in Chinese families.

PMID:35474403 | DOI:10.1007/s10964-022-01610-8

Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2022 Apr 26. doi: 10.1002/erv.2912. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Sociocultural influences, including an increasing pressure for fashion models to maintain a thin body frame may be crucial in the development of eating disorders. The present study aimed to establish whether fashion models are more likely than non-models to develop eating disorders.

METHODS: Female fashion models were selected by snowball sampling (n = 179, mean age: 25.9 SD = 4.70 years). They were compared with an age adjusted control group (n = 261, mean age: 25.0 SD = 4.97 years). Participants completed an online questionnaire containing the Eating Disorder Inventory.

RESULTS: The average BMI of the fashion models was in the underweight range (mean BMI = 18.1 SD = 1.68). The BMI of the control group was significantly higher (mean = 22.1 SD = 4.23, p < 0.001). The frequency of simulated anorexia nervosa was 3.9% among the fashion models and 1.1% in the control group (p = 0.057). 14.6% of the models showed subclinical anorexia nervosa symptoms versus 2.7% in the control group (p < 0.001). The ratio of bulimia nervosa and subclinical bulimia nervosa showed no significant difference between the two groups.

CONCLUSION: Female fashion models showed no significant difference from the control group in the frequency of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa but had a significantly higher frequency of the subclinical form of anorexia nervosa.

PMID:35474384 | DOI:10.1002/erv.2912

Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 Apr 26:gkac274. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkac274. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Large-scale phenome-wide association studies performed using densely-phenotyped cohorts such as the UK Biobank (UKB), reveal many statistically robust gene-phenotype relationships for both clinical and continuous traits. Here, we present Gene-SCOUT, a tool used to identify genes with similar continuous trait fingerprints to a gene of interest. A fingerprint reflects the continuous traits identified to be statistically associated with a gene of interest based on multiple underlying rare variant genetic architectures. Similarities between genes are evaluated by the cosine similarity measure, to capture concordant effect directionality, elucidating clusters of genes in a high dimensional space. The underlying gene-biomarker population-scale association statistics were obtained from a gene-level rare variant collapsing analysis performed on over 1500 continuous traits using 394 692 UKB participant exomes, with additional metabolomic trait associations provided through Nightingale Health’s recent study of 121 394 of these participants. We demonstrate that gene similarity estimates from Gene-SCOUT provide stronger enrichments for clinical traits compared to existing methods. Furthermore, we provide a fully interactive web-resource (http://genescout.public.cgr.astrazeneca.com) to explore the pre-calculated exome-wide similarities. This resource enables a user to examine the biological relevance of the most similar genes for Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and UKB clinical trait enrichment statistics, as well as a detailed breakdown of the traits underpinning a given fingerprint.

PMID:35474393 | DOI:10.1093/nar/gkac274

Am J Epidemiol. 2022 Apr 26:kwac082. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwac082. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Few prospective studies have examined associations between diet quality and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), or comprehensively compared diet quality indices. We conducted a prospective analysis of adherence to the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015, alternative HEI-2010 (AHEI-2010), alternate Mediterranean diet (aMED), and two Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH, Fung and Mellen) indices and PDAC within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-AARP Diet and Health Study (United States, 1995-2011). The dietary quality indices were calculated using responses from a 124-item food frequency questionnaire completed by 535,824 (315,780 men and 220,044 women) participants. We used Cox proportional hazard regression models to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each diet quality index and PDAC. During follow-up through 2011 (15.5-year median), 3,137 incident PDAC cases were identified. Compared to those with the lowest adherence quintiles (Q1), participants with the highest adherence (Q5) [HRs (95% CIs)] to the HEI-2015 [0.84 (0.75, 0.94)], aMED [0.82 (0.73, 0.93)], DASH-Fung [0.85 (0.77, 0.95)], and DASH-Mellen [0.86 (0.77, 0.96)] had a statistically significant lower PDAC risk but not the AHEI-2010 [0.93 (0.83, 1.04)]. This prospective observational study supports the hypothesis that greater adherence to the HEI-2015, aMED, and DASH dietary recommendations may reduce PDAC.

PMID:35474368 | DOI:10.1093/aje/kwac082

J Nurs Manag. 2022 Apr 27. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13646. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: This research was planned to identify nurse managers’ opinions on artificial intelligence and robot nurses.

BACKGROUND: As the concepts of artificial intelligence and robot nurses are becoming widespread in Turkey, nurse managers are expected to guide and cooperate with nurses in the future in regards to these technologies.

METHODS: The sample of the study consisted of 326 manager nurses, who were reached via the online questionnaire during the period of September-November 2021. Nurse Managers Information Form and Question Form on Artificial Intelligence and Robot Nurses were used to collect data. Data in this cross-sectional descriptive study was collected between September 2021 and November 2021 by the online survey method. The descriptive statistics of the data were analyzed with numbers and percentages. The difference between the knowledge of artificial intelligence and robot nurses and demographic characteristics was analyzed with the Chi-square test.

RESULTS: According to the findings, 66.9% of the nurse managers reported having heard the concepts of artificial intelligence and robot nurses previously. 67.2% stated that they thought that robot nurses would benefit the nursing profession, but 86.2% voiced disbelief that robots would replace nurses.

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the participating nurse managers reported that artificial intelligence and robot nurses would not replace nurses but would be beneficial for nurses and would reduce their workload.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: It should be ensured that the nurse managers plan the areas in the hospital where artificial intelligence and robot nurses will be used and determine the possible risks. Awareness should be increased with in-service trainings and patient safety and ethical problems regarding the use of artificial intelligence and robot nurses should be identified.

PMID:35474366 | DOI:10.1111/jonm.13646

Eur J Hum Genet. 2022 Apr 26. doi: 10.1038/s41431-022-01104-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has a high incidence and mortality worldwide. Microsatellite instability (MSI) is crucial in CRC, with distinct molecular and clinicopathological features in patients. Nowadays, it is a predictive marker for immunotherapy. We proposed to evaluate the 5-year outcome of MSI status in 1002 Brazilian CRC, and associate it with genetic ancestry, molecular and clinicopathological features. MSI evaluation was performed using molecular markers. MSI+ tumors were analyzed for alterations in 23 MSI-targeted genes. Genetic ancestry was evaluated using an Ancestry-Informative markers panel. MSI status was analyzed in relation to CRC specific survival and other clinical and genetic variables. MSI+ status was observed in 10.5% of cases. MSI+ status was significantly associated with the anatomic site right colon, mucinous histological type, clinical stage II, histological grade III/undifferentiated, no recurrence of disease, and live cases without cancer. No association of MSI status with genetic ancestry components was observed. MSI-targeted genes analyses showed the most frequently altered genes: ATM, EGFR, MRE11, ROCK1, and TGFBRII. There was a statistically significant difference in cancer-specific survival between cases according to MSI status. This study constitutes the most comprehensive analyses of the MSI impact on the Brazilian CRC. MSI+ frequency in Brazilian CRC agreed with the literature and was associated with several clinicopathological features related with less aggressive tumors, independently of their genetic ancestry.

PMID:35474354 | DOI:10.1038/s41431-022-01104-y