Who Influences Your Outcomes? The Effect of Culture and Ethnic Origin, Neighborhood and Peers on Personal Income: A Spatial Econometric Analysis of New York City

Being a “social animal”, each person is inherently embedded into a complex structure of social relations. He has role models to aspire to, conformity rules to follow, and expectations to meet. This paper explores the different social influences each person experiences in life. Specifically, I consider how a person’s ethnic community, age reference group, occupational and industry group peers, and residential area neighbors affect his total income. I introduce a novel model of multiple social networks and discuss various identification implications. I apply the model empirically to New York City, which naturally is a very favorable environment to test for multiple social effects. The study uses generous person-level American Community Survey data that cover rich geographic, ethnic, demographic, and employment characteristics. The sample consists of five pooled cross-sections, resulting in about 270,000 observations. I analyze a model with spatial lags in dependent variable SARAR(1,0), a model with spatial lags in disturbance term SARAR(0,1), and a model with spatial lags in both dependent variable and error SARAR(1,1). I address self-selection into groups by correcting the empirical model for neighborhood choice and occupation choice. The main finding of the dissertation is that a person’s income is affected by his occupational group within his neighborhood, by people of the same occupation and industry, by people of the same age group, and by his ethnic group within his neighborhood. Additionally, people that work in the same industry and the same neighborhood have their unobserved characteristics correlated

Application of MATLAB in -Omics and Systems Biology

Biological data analysis has dramatically changed since the introduction of high-throughput -omics technologies, such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing. The key advantage of obtaining thousands of measurements from a single sample soon became a bottleneck limiting transformation of generated data into knowledge. It has become apparent that traditional statistical approaches are not suited to solve problems in the new reality of “big biological data.” From the other side, traditional computing languages such as C/C++ and Java, are not flexible enough to allow for quick development and testing of new algorithms, while MATLAB provides a powerful computing environment and a variety of sophisticated toolboxes for performing complex bioinformatics calculations

Secondary Baryon Asymmetry in pi(+-)p Collisions

The process of secondary baryon production in pi(+-)p collisions at high energies in the central and forward fragmentation regions is considered in the framework of the Quark-Gluon String Model. The contribution of the string-junction mechanism to the baryon production is analysed. The results of numerical calculations are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data on the Lambda/bar(Lambda) and p/bar(p)$ asymmetries.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of QCD@Work 2007, International Workshop on Quantum Chromodynamics, Theory and Experiment, Martina Franca-Valle d'Itria, Italy, June 16-20, 2007 (6 pages and 4 figures

ELECTRONIC REGIONAL RISK ATLAS: DEVELOPMENT, STRUCTURE AND APPLICATION PRACTICE IN REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

Initially ERRA was developed as a web-service presenting natural (landslides, flooding, earthquake, wildfire, strong winds) and man-made hazards and risks

Age estimation of Russian individuals by teeth using the London Atlas

Conhecer a idade de um indivíduo, vivo ou morto, é essencial em diversas situações. O método London Atlas utiliza desenvolvimento e erupção dentais para estimar a idade. Testar o método em diferentes populações é importante para avaliar sua performance. Esse estudo objetivou analisar o desempenho do London Atlas em uma amostra de origem russa, utilizando radiografias panorâmicas. Uma amostra de 703 indivíduos russos (n = 405 mulheres, 57,61% e n = 298 homens, 42,39%), com idades entre 8 e 23 anos foram analisadas. Resultados obtidos mostram uma superestimação em indivíduos de 8 a 14 anos e subestimação nos grupos de 15 a 23 anos. A diferença média entre idades estimadas e reais não excederam o valor de 0,7 anos nos indivíduos com idade abaixo de 19 anos. Essa diferença aumentou em até três anos em indivíduos de 20 a 23 anos. Diferenças estatisticamente significantes foram encontradas entre homens e mulheres com 17 e 18 anos (p<0,05). O London Atlas é adequado para crianças e adolescentes de origem russa, com idades de 8 a 19 anos. No entanto, observou-se resultados insatisfatórios para sua aplicação em indivíduos acima de 20 anos.Knowing an individual's age is necessary for several situations, both in the living and the deceased. The London Atlas uses dental development and eruption to estimate age. Testing the method in different populations is necessary to assess its performance. This study aimed to assess the performance of the London Atlas method in a Russian sample using panoramic radiographs. A sample of 703 panoramic radiographs of Russian individuals (n = 405 females, 57.61% and n = 298 males, 42.39%) with ages between 8 and 23 years were analyzed. The results showed overestimation in individuals from 8 to 14 years and underestimation from 15 to 23 years. The mean difference between estimated and chronological ages did not exceed 0.7 years among individuals with ages below 19 years. The difference increased to over three years in individuals from 20 to 23 years. Statistically significant differences were found between females and males between 17 and 18 years (p<0.05). The London Atlas is suitable for Russian children and adolescents aged between 8 and 19 years; however, it showed unsatisfactory results for application in individuals over 20 years

Beyond checklists: Using clinic ethnography to assess the enabling environment for tuberculosis infection prevention control in South Africa

Sub-optimal implementation of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures for airborne infections is associated with a rise in healthcare-acquired infections. Research examining contributing factors has tended to focus on poor infrastructure or lack of health care worker compliance with recommended guidelines, with limited consideration of the working environments within which IPC measures are implemented. Our analysis of compromised tuberculosis (TB)-related IPC in South Africa used clinic ethnography to elucidate the enabling environment for TB-IPC strategies. Using an ethnographic approach, we conducted observations, semi-structured interviews, and informal conversations with healthcare staff in six primary health clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between November 2018 and April 2019. Qualitative data and fieldnotes were analysed deductively following a framework that examined the intersections between health systems ‘hardware’ and ‘software’ issues affecting the implementation of TB-IPC. Clinic managers and front-line staff negotiate and adapt TB-IPC practices within infrastructural, resource and organisational constraints. Staff were ambivalent about the usefulness of managerial oversight measures including IPC protocols, IPC committees and IPC champions. Challenges in implementing administrative measures including triaging and screening were related to the inefficient organisation of patient flow and information, as well as inconsistent policy directives. Integration of environmental controls was hindered by limitations in the material infrastructure and behavioural norms. Personal protective measures, though available, were not consistently applied due to limited perceived risk and the lack of a collective ethos around health worker and patient safety. In one clinic, positive organisational culture enhanced staff morale and adherence to IPC measures. ‘Hardware’ and ‘software’ constraints interact to impact negatively on the capacity of primary care staff to implement TB-IPC measures. Clinic ethnography allowed for multiple entry points to the ‘problematic’ of compromised TB-IPC, highlighting the importance of capturing dimensions of the ‘enabling environment’, currently not assessed in binary checklists

Beyond checklists: Using clinic ethnography to assess the enabling environment for tuberculosis infection prevention control in South Africa

From PLOS via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: collection 2022, received 2022-05-04, accepted 2022-10-12, epub 2022-11-09Acknowledgements: We acknowledge the important contributions of Gimenne Zwama, Thandeka Smith and Zama Khanyile in conducting and documenting the ethnographic fieldwork in KZN. We are grateful to the health clinic managers and health workers for their time, interest, and motivation to participate in this study. We thank our colleagues from the Umoya omuhle project for the rich inter-disciplinary discussions and exchange of ideas.Publication status: PublishedFunder: Economic and Social Research Council; funder-id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000269; Grant(s): ES/P008011/1Funder: Bloomsbury Set, Research England; Grant(s): CCF17-7779Funder: Economic and Social Research Council; Grant(s): ES/P008011/1Funder: Wellcome Trust Strategic Core Award; Grant(s): Africa Health Research Institute, ref. 201433/A/16/ASub-optimal implementation of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures for airborne infections is associated with a rise in healthcare-acquired infections. Research examining contributing factors has tended to focus on poor infrastructure or lack of health care worker compliance with recommended guidelines, with limited consideration of the working environments within which IPC measures are implemented. Our analysis of compromised tuberculosis (TB)-related IPC in South Africa used clinic ethnography to elucidate the enabling environment for TB-IPC strategies. Using an ethnographic approach, we conducted observations, semi-structured interviews, and informal conversations with healthcare staff in six primary health clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between November 2018 and April 2019. Qualitative data and fieldnotes were analysed deductively following a framework that examined the intersections between health systems ‘hardware’ and ‘software’ issues affecting the implementation of TB-IPC. Clinic managers and front-line staff negotiate and adapt TB-IPC practices within infrastructural, resource and organisational constraints. Staff were ambivalent about the usefulness of managerial oversight measures including IPC protocols, IPC committees and IPC champions. Challenges in implementing administrative measures including triaging and screening were related to the inefficient organisation of patient flow and information, as well as inconsistent policy directives. Integration of environmental controls was hindered by limitations in the material infrastructure and behavioural norms. Personal protective measures, though available, were not consistently applied due to limited perceived risk and the lack of a collective ethos around health worker and patient safety. In one clinic, positive organisational culture enhanced staff morale and adherence to IPC measures. ‘Hardware’ and ‘software’ constraints interact to impact negatively on the capacity of primary care staff to implement TB-IPC measures. Clinic ethnography allowed for multiple entry points to the ‘problematic’ of compromised TB-IPC, highlighting the importance of capturing dimensions of the ‘enabling environment’, currently not assessed in binary checklists

Association of C1QB gene polymorphism with schizophrenia in Armenian population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Schizophrenia is a complex, multifactorial psychiatric disorder. Our previous findings indicated that altered functional activity of the complement system, a major mediator of the immune response, is implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. In order to explore whether these alterations are genetically determined or not, in the present study we evaluated the possible association of complement C1Q component gene variants with susceptibility to schizophrenia in Armenian population, focusing on four frequent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of <it>C1QA </it>and <it>C1QB </it>genes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the present study four SNPs of the complement C1Q component genes (<it>C1QA</it>: rs292001, <it>C1QB </it>rs291982, rs631090, rs913243) were investigated in schizophrenia-affected and healthy subjects. Unrelated Caucasian individuals of Armenian nationality, 225 schizophrenic patients and the same number of age- and sex-matched healthy subjects, were genotyped. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) and quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>While there was no association between <it>C1QA </it>rs292001, <it>C1QB </it>rs913243 and rs631090 genetic variants and schizophrenia, the <it>C1QB </it>rs291982*G minor allele was significantly overrepresented in schizophrenic patients (G allele frequency 58%) when compared to healthy subjects (46%, OR = 1.64, <it>p</it>_corr= 0.0008). Importantly, the susceptibility for schizophrenia was particularly associated with <it>C1QB </it>rs291982 GG genotype (OR = 2.5, <it>p</it>_corrected= 9.6E-5).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results obtained suggest that <it>C1QB </it>gene may be considered as a relevant candidate gene for susceptibility to schizophrenia, and its rs291982*G minor allele might represent a risk factor for schizophrenia at least in Armenian population. Replication in other centers/populations is necessary to verify this conclusion.</p

Functional characterization of the complement receptor type 1 and its circulating ligands in patients with schizophrenia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Whereas the complement system alterations contribute to schizophrenia, complement receptors and regulators are little studied. We investigated complement receptor type 1 (CR1) expression on blood cells, the levels of circulating immune complexes (CIC) containing ligands of CR1, C1q complement protein and fragments of C3 complement protein (C1q-CIC, C3d-CIC), and CR1 C5507G functional polymorphism in schizophrenia patients and controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found an increased C1q-CIC level and CR1 expression on blood cells, elevated number of CR1 positive erythrocytes and reduced number of CR1 positive lymphocytes and monocytes in patients compared to controls. No difference in the levels of C3d-CIC between groups was observed. Higher CR1 expression on erythrocytes in CC genotype versus CG+GG for both groups was detected, whereas no difference was observed for other cell populations. Our results indicated that schizophrenia is associated with the increased CR1 expression and C1q-CIC level.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study for the first time indicated that schizophrenia is associated with the increased CR1 expression and C1q-CIC level. Further studies in other ethnic groups are needed to replicate these findings.</p

NS3: Neuro-Symbolic Semantic Code Search

Semantic code search is the task of retrieving a code snippet given a textual description of its functionality. Recent work has been focused on using similarity metrics between neural embeddings of text and code. However, current language models are known to struggle with longer, compositional text, and multi-step reasoning. To overcome this limitation, we propose supplementing the query sentence with a layout of its semantic structure. The semantic layout is used to break down the final reasoning decision into a series of lower-level decisions. We use a Neural Module Network architecture to implement this idea. We compare our model - NS3 (Neuro-Symbolic Semantic Search) - to a number of baselines, including state-of-the-art semantic code retrieval methods, and evaluate on two datasets - CodeSearchNet and Code Search and Question Answering. We demonstrate that our approach results in more precise code retrieval, and we study the effectiveness of our modular design when handling compositional queries