Is the innate bio-protection power against human virus the same between males and females? A conclusion based on blood donor data of HTLV-I infection

Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is a retrovirus that causes adult T-cell leukemia. The male-to-female transmission is stronger than the reverse, so the carrier proportion of women is greater than that of men. On the other hand, since the mother-to-child transmission route via the breast-feeding is common for baby boys and girls, it has been thought the HTLV-I proportions of boys and girls are the same until now. A question arises as to whether the "innate protection powers against human virus" are the same between baby boys and girls. We utilize Blood donors in 1995-1998, which were provided by Japan Red Cross Society of Oita, Japan. The data are summarized into the frequency table with respect to gender and age. The age groups are <20, 20<age≤30, 30<age≤40, 40<age≤50, and >50 years old. The comparison of carrier proportions of males and females under 20 years old is made with a two-sided statistical test and for the other groups one-sided tests are carried out. The preset statistical analysis shows that the carrier proportion of girls is less than that that of boys. It implies that in HTLV-I the mother-to-child transmission probability of females is less than that of males. According to the present findings, it follows that the female's innate protection power against HTLV-I is stronger than that of males, and the conclusion may become a valid proposition for general human virus

Diagnostic utility of C-reactive Protein combined with brain natriuretic peptide in acute pulmonary edema: a cross sectional study

Introduction Discriminating acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) from cardiogenic pulmonary edema (CPE) using the plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) alone remains controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic utility of combination measurements of BNP and C-reactive protein (CRP) in critically ill patients with pulmonary edema

Sex- and Age-Related Differences in Morbidity Rates of 2009 Pandemic Influenza A H1N1 Virus of Swine Origin in Japan

BACKGROUND: The objective of the present study was to determine whether the morbidity rates of the 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1 virus (pdmH1N1) varied by age and/or sex. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Retrospective analysis of 2,024,367 cases of pdmH1N1 was performed using the national surveillance data from influenza sentinel points in Japan. The male-to-female morbidity ratios (M/F ratios) in nineteen age groups were estimated as the primary outcome. The M/F ratios for pdmH1N1 influenza were: >1 in age groups <20 years and ≥80 years (p<0.001); <1 in age groups 20-79 years (p<0.001). This data suggests that males <20 years of age may be more likely to suffer from pdmH1N1 influenza than females in the same age categories. When the infection pattern for pdmH1N1 was compared with that of seasonal influenza outbreaks between 2000 and 2008, the M/F ratio for pdmH1N1 influenza was higher in ages 3-29 years and lower in ages 40-79 years. Because the present study was based on the national surveillance, it was impossible to estimate the morbidity rate for the Japanese population. It is also likely that the data did not capture asymptomatic or mild infections. CONCLUSIONS: Although exposure to the pdmH1N1 virus is assumed to be similar in both boys and girls, M/F ratios were >1 in those younger than 20 years. The subsequent reversal of the M/F ratio in the adult generation could be due to several possibilities, including: greater immunity among adult males, more asymptomatic infections among males, less reporting of illness by males, or differences in exposure to the virus and probability of visiting a clinic. These results suggest that the infection and virulence patterns of pdmH1N1 are more complex than previously considered

Canonical exponential models for analysis of association between two sets of variables

The present paper discusses canonical exponential models for analysis of association between two sets of variables. First, properties of the models are discussed in view of entropy. It is shown that entropy in the models is decreasing in canonical association parameters. Second, the present paper proposes a summary measure of association in the models that is decomposed into canonical association components. The present approach is applied to the RC(M) association model and canonical correlation analysis with the multivariate normal distribution.Association model Canonical association Canonical correlation analysis Entropy Multivariate normal distribution

Statistical data analysis and entropy

This book reconsiders statistical methods from the point of view of entropy, and introduces entropy-based approaches for data analysis. Further, it interprets basic statistical methods, such as the chi-square statistic, t-statistic, F-statistic and the maximum likelihood estimation in the context of entropy. In terms of categorical data analysis, the book discusses the entropy correlation coefficient (ECC) and the entropy coefficient of determination (ECD) for measuring association and/or predictive powers in association models, and generalized linear models (GLMs). Through association and GLM frameworks, it also describes ECC and ECD in correlation and regression analyses for continuous random variables. In multivariate statistical analysis, canonical correlation analysis, T2-statistic, and discriminant analysis are discussed in terms of entropy. Moreover, the book explores the efficiency of test procedures in statistical tests of hypotheses using entropy. Lastly, it presents an entropy-based path analysis for structural GLMs, which is applied in factor analysis and latent structure models. Entropy is an important concept for dealing with the uncertainty of systems of random variables and can be applied in statistical methodologies. This book motivates readers, especially young researchers, to address the challenge of new approaches to statistical data analysis and behavior-metric studies

Existence of a Short-Run Equilibrium of the Dixit-Stiglitz-Krugman Model

Each short-run equilibrium of the Dixit-Stiglitz-Krugman model is defined as a solution to the wage equation when the distributions of workers and farmers are given functions. We extend the discrete nonlinear operator contained in the wage equation as a set-valued operator. Applying the Kakutani fixed-point theorem to the set-valued operator, under the most general assumptions, we prove that the model has a short-run equilibrium

The Existence and Uniqueness of Global Solutions to the Initial Value Problem for the System of Nonlinear Integropartial Differential Equations in Spatial Economics: The Dynamic Continuous Dixit-Stiglitz-Krugman Model in an Urban-Rural Setting

Assume that economic activities are conducted in a bounded continuous domain where workers move toward regions that offer higher real wages and away from regions that offer below-average real wages. The density of real wages is calculated by solving the nominal wage equation of the continuous Dixit-Stiglitz-Krugman model in an urban-rural setting. The evolution of the density of workers is described by an unknown function of the replicator equation whose growth rate is equal to the difference between the density of real wages and the average real wage. Hence, the evolution of the densities of workers and real wages is described by the system of the nominal wage equation and the replicator equation. This system of equations is an essentially new kind of system of nonlinear integropartial differential equations in the theory of functional equations. The purpose of this paper is to obtain a sufficient condition for the initial value problem for this system to have a unique global solution

Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions to the Wage Equation of Dixit-Stiglitz-Krugman Model with No Restriction on Transport Costs

In spatial economics, the distribution of wages is described by a solution to the wage equation of Dixit-Stiglitz-Krugman model. The wage equation is a discrete equation that has a double nonlinear singular structure in the sense that the equation contains a discrete nonlinear operator whose kernel itself is expressed by another discrete nonlinear operator with a singularity. In this article, no restrictions are imposed on the maximum of transport costs of the model and on the number of regions where economic activities are conducted. Applying Brouwer fixed point theorem to this discrete double nonlinear singular operator, we prove sufficient conditions for the wage equation to have a solution and a unique one