Clustering in surgical trials : database of intracluster correlations

PMID: 22217216 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC3311136 Free PMC ArticlePeer reviewedPublisher PD

Financial inclusion and it’s effect on poverty in Indonesia

This study aims to analyze and determine the impact of Financial Inclusion in Indonesia and other macroeconomic variables on poverty rate in Indonesia. This study uses secondary data. Analysis method with the Random Effect Model (REM) approach. The results of this study indicate that the variable Bank Service Offices per 1,000 km2 , Ratio of DPK, Ratio CRD have a negative and significant effect on poverty rate in 33 provinces in Indonesia in 2014-2018, and Unemployment Rate (UMP) has a positive and significant effect on poverty rate in 33 provinces in Indonesia in the 2014-2018 period. However, the variable Economic Growth and Inflation (INF) did not have a significant effect on poverty in 33 provinces in Indonesia in the 2014-2018 period. Measuring this dimension is still difficult to do and currently several international institutions were concerned about the development of financial inclusion.

Droplet dynamics on a wettability patterned surface during spray impact

Wettability patterning of a surface is a passive method to manipulate the flow and heat transport mechanism in many physical processes and industrial applications. This paper proposes a rational wettability pattern comprised of multiple superhydrophilic wedges on a superhydrophobic background, which can continuously remove the impacted spray droplets from the horizontal surface. We observed that the spray droplets falling on the superhydrophilic wedge region spread and form a thin liquid film, which is passively transported away from the surface. However, most of the droplets falling on the superhydrophobic region move towards the wedge without any flooding. The physics of the passive transport of the liquid film on a wedge is also delved into using numerical modelling. In particular, we elucidate the different modes of droplet transport in the superhydrophobic region and the interaction of multiple droplets. The observed droplet dynamics could have profound implications in spray cooling systems and passive removal of liquid from a horizontal surface. This study’s findings will be beneficial for the optimization of efficient wettability patterned surfaces for spray cooling application

Evolution of competitive ability for essential resources

Competition for limiting resources is among the most fundamental ecological interactions and has long been considered a key driver of species coexistence and biodiversity. Species’ minimum resource requirements, their R*, are key traits that link individual physiological demands to the outcome of competition. However, a major question remains unanswered -- to what extent are species’ competitive traits able to evolve in response to resource limitation? To address this knowledge gap, we performed an evolution experiment in which we exposed Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for approximately 285 generations to seven environments in chemostats which differed in resource supply ratios (including nitrogen, phosphorus and light limitation) and salt stress. We then grew the ancestors and descendants in common garden experiments and quantified their competitive abilities for essential resources. We investigated constraints on trait evolution by testing whether changes in resource requirements for different resources were correlated. Competitive abilities for phosphorus improved in all populations, while competitive abilities for nitrogen and light increased in some populations and decreased in others. In contrast to the common assumption that there are trade-offs between competitive abilities for different resources, we found that improvements in competitive ability for a resource came at no detectable cost. Instead, improvements in competitive ability for multiple resources were either positively correlated or not significantly correlated. Using resource competition theory, we then demonstrated that rapid adaptation in competitive traits altered the predicted outcomes of competition. These results highlight the need to incorporate contemporary evolutionary change into predictions of competitive community dynamics over environmental gradients

高島教授の景気政策 : 『租税・公債・通貨新論』

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Temperature-dependence of minimum resource requirements alters competitive hierarchies in phytoplankton

Resource competition theory is a conceptual framework that provides mechanistic insights into competition and community assembly of species with different resource requirements. However, there has been little exploration of how resource requirements depend on other environmental factors, including temperature. Changes in resource requirements as influenced by environmental temperature would imply that climate warming can alter the outcomes of competition and community assembly

Pulmonary Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare is the main driver of the rise in non-tuberculous mycobacteria incidence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2007-2012

BACKGROUND: The incidence of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) isolation from humans is increasing worldwide. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland (EW&NI) the reported rate of NTM more than doubled between 1996 and 2006. Although NTM infection has traditionally been associated with immunosuppressed individuals or those with severe underlying lung damage, pulmonary NTM infection and disease may occur in people with no overt immune deficiency. Here we report the incidence of NTM isolation in EW&NI between 2007 and 2012 from both pulmonary and extra-pulmonary samples obtained at a population level. METHODS: All individuals with culture positive NTM isolates between 2007 and 2012 reported to Public Health England by the five mycobacterial reference laboratories serving EW&NI were included. RESULTS: Between 2007 and 2012, 21,118 individuals had NTM culture positive isolates. Over the study period the incidence rose from 5.6/100,000 in 2007 to 7.6/100,000 in 2012 (p < 0.001). Of those with a known specimen type, 90 % were pulmonary, in whom incidence increased from 4.0/100,000 to 6.1/100,000 (p < 0.001). In extra-pulmonary specimens this fell from 0.6/100,000 to 0.4/100,000 (p < 0.001). The most frequently cultured organisms from individuals with pulmonary isolates were within the M. avium-intracellulare complex family (MAC). The incidence of pulmonary MAC increased from 1.3/100,000 to 2.2/100,000 (p < 0.001). The majority of these individuals were over 60 years old. CONCLUSION: Using a population-based approach, we find that the incidence of NTM has continued to rise since the last national analysis. Overall, this represents an almost ten-fold increase since 1995. Pulmonary MAC in older individuals is responsible for the majority of this change. We are limited to reporting NTM isolates and not clinical disease caused by these organisms. To determine whether the burden of NTM disease is genuinely increasing, a standardised approach to the collection of linked national microbiological and clinical data is required

The influence of feeding behaviour and temperature on the capacity of mosquitoes to transmit malaria

Insecticide-treated bed nets reduce malaria transmission by limiting contact between mosquito vectors and human hosts when mosquitoes feed during the night. However, malaria vectors can also feed in the early evening and in the morning when people are not protected. Here, we explored how the timing of blood feeding interacts with environmental temperature to influence the capacity of Anopheles mosquitoes to transmit the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. In laboratory experiments, we found no effect of biting time itself on the proportion of mosquitoes that became infectious (vector competence) at constant temperature. However, when mosquitoes were maintained under more realistic fluctuating temperatures, there was a significant increase in competence for mosquitoes feeding in the evening (18:00), and a significant reduction in competence for those feeding in the morning (06:00), relative to those feeding at midnight (00:00). These effects appear to be due to thermal sensitivity of malaria parasites during the initial stages of parasite development within the mosquito, and the fact that mosquitoes feeding in the evening experience cooling temperatures during the night, whereas mosquitoes feeding in the morning quickly experience warming temperatures that are inhibitory to parasite establishment. A transmission dynamics model illustrates that such differences in competence could have important implications for malaria prevalence, the extent of transmission that persists in the presence of bed nets, and the epidemiological impact of behavioural resistance. These results indicate that the interaction of temperature and feeding behaviour could be a major ecological determinant of the vectorial capacity of malaria mosquitoes

Health-related quality of life of Southern Chinese with chronic hepatitis B infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Few studies have evaluated the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Southern Chinese with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>To evaluate the HRQOL of Chinese patients at different stages of CHB infection and to find out factors associated with HRQOL.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>520 Chinese adult CHB patients of whom 156 were uncomplicated, 102 had impaired liver function, 139 had cirrhosis and 123 had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were interviewed with a structured questionnaire, the SF-36 Health Survey version 2 (SF-36v2), and the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ). The differences in SF-6D health preference values and SF-36v2 scores between each CHB group and Hong Kong population norms were assessed by t-test. ANOVA was used to compare the mean SF-6D health preference, SF-36v2 scores, and CLDQ scores among CHB groups. Multiple linear regressions were performed to identify determinants of HRQOL.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CHB patients had significantly lower SF-36v2 scores than the population norm. The SF-6D values of CHB patients with uncomplicated disease, impaired liver function, HCC and cirrhosis were 0.755, 0.745, 0.720 and 0.701, respectively, all significantly lower than the population norm of 0.787. Advanced stage of CHB illness, anti-viral treatment, bilirubin level, psychological co-morbidity, younger age and female were associated with poorer HRQOL.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>CHB infection had a negative impact on HRQOL. There was a progressive decrease in health preference values with CHB disease progression. The results can be used for the estimation of quality adjusted life years (QALYs) for CHB patients in cost effectiveness or cost utility studies.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><url>http://www.hkclinicaltrials.com</url>; HKCTR-151.</p