blandaltman: A command to create variants of Bland–Altman plots

Bland–Altman plots can be useful in paired data settings such as measurement-method comparison studies. A Bland–Altman plot has differences, percentage differences, or ratios on the y axis and a mean of the data pairs on the x axis, with 95% limits of agreement indicating the central 95% range of differences, percentage differences, or ratios. This range can vary with the mean. We introduce the community-contributed blandaltman command, which uniquely in Stata can 1) create Bland–Altman plots featuring ratios in addition to differences and percentage differences, 2) allow the limits of agreement for ratios and percentage differences to vary as a function of the mean, and 3) add confidence intervals, prediction intervals, and tolerance intervals to the plots

The impact of parenthood on environmental attitudes and behaviour: a longitudinal investigation of the legacy hypothesis

Willingness to engage in sustainable actions may be limited by the psychological distance of climate change. In this study, we test the legacy hypothesis, which holds that having children leads parents to consider the legacy left to offspring in respect of environmental quality. Using the Understanding Society dataset, a longitudinal survey representative of the UK population (n = 18,176), we assess how having children may change people’s individual environmental attitudes and behaviour. Results indicate that having a new child is associated with a small decrease in the frequency of a few environmental behaviours. Only parents with already high environmental concern show a small increase in the desire to act more sustainably after the birth of their first child. Overall, the results do not provide evidence in support of the legacy hypothesis in terms of individual-level environmental attitudes and behaviours. We argue that the transition to parenthood is a time where concern is prioritised on the immediate wellbeing of the child and not on the future environmental threats

The Promise and Challenge of Therapeutic MicroRNA Silencing in Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding, RNA molecules that regulate gene expression. They have a long evolutionary history and are found in plants, viruses, and animals. Although initially discovered in 1993 in Caenorhabditis elegans, they were not appreciated as widespread and abundant gene regulators until the early 2000s. Studies in the last decade have found that miRNAs confer phenotypic robustness in the face of environmental perturbation, may serve as diagnostic and prognostic indicators of disease, underlie the pathobiology of a wide array of complex disorders, and represent compelling therapeutic targets. Pre-clinical studies in animal models have demonstrated that pharmacologic manipulation of miRNAs, mostly in the liver, can modulate metabolic phenotypes and even reverse the course of insulin resistance and diabetes. There is cautious optimism in the field about miRNA-based therapies for diabetes, several of which are already in various stages of clinical trials. This review will highlight both the promise and the most pressing challenges of therapeutic miRNA silencing in diabetes and related conditions

A decade with vamdc: Results and ambitions

This paper presents an overview of the current status of the Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre (VAMDC) e-infrastructure, including the current status of the VAMDC-connected (or to be connected) databases, updates on the latest technological development within the infrastructure and a presentation of some application tools that make use of the VAMDC e-infrastructure. We analyse the past 10 years of VAMDC development and operation, and assess their impact both on the field of atomic and molecular (A&amp;M) physics itself and on heterogeneous data management in international cooperation. The highly sophisticated VAMDC infrastructure and the related databases developed over this long term make them a perfect resource of sustainable data for future applications in many fields of research. However, we also discuss the current limitations that prevent VAMDC from becoming the main publishing platform and the main source of A&amp;M data for user communities, and present possible solutions under investigation by the consortium. Several user application examples are presented, illustrating the benefits of VAMDC in current research applications, which often need the A&amp;M data from more than one database. Finally, we present our vision for the future of VAMDC.</jats:p

A Decade with VAMDC: Results and Ambitions

This paper presents an overview of the current status of the Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre (VAMDC) e-infrastructure, including the current status of the VAMDC-connected (or to be connected) databases, updates on the latest technological development within the infrastructure and a presentation of some application tools that make use of the VAMDC e-infrastructure. We analyse the past 10 years of VAMDC development and operation, and assess their impact both on the field of atomic and molecular (A&M) physics itself and on heterogeneous data management in international cooperation. The highly sophisticated VAMDC infrastructure and the related databases developed over this long term make them a perfect resource of sustainable data for future applications in many fields of research. However, we also discuss the current limitations that prevent VAMDC from becoming the main publishing platform and the main source of A&M data for user communities, and present possible solutions under investigation by the consortium. Several user application examples are presented, illustrating the benefits of VAMDC in current research applications, which often need the A&M data from more than one database. Finally, we present our vision for the future of VAMDC

Spatial Distribution of the Pathways of Cholesterol Homeostasis in Human Retina

The retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye and one of the few human organs whose cholesterol maintenance is still poorly understood. Challenges in studies of the retina include its complex multicellular and multilayered structure; unique cell types and functions; and specific physico-chemical environment.We isolated specimens of the neural retina (NR) and underlying retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choroid from six deceased human donors and evaluated them for expression of genes and proteins representing the major pathways of cholesterol input, output and regulation. Eighty-four genes were studied by PCR array, 16 genes were assessed by quantitative real time PCR, and 13 proteins were characterized by immunohistochemistry. Cholesterol distribution among different retinal layers was analyzed as well by histochemical staining with filipin. Our major findings pertain to two adjacent retinal layers: the photoreceptor outer segments of NR and the RPE. We demonstrate that in the photoreceptor outer segments, cholesterol biosynthesis, catabolism and regulation via LXR and SREBP are weak or absent and cholesterol content is the lowest of all retinal layers. Cholesterol maintenance in the RPE is different, yet the gene expression also does not appear to be regulated by the SREBPs and varies significantly among different individuals.This comprehensive investigation provides important insights into the relationship and spatial distribution of different pathways of cholesterol input, output and regulation in the NR-RPE region. The data obtained are important for deciphering the putative link between cholesterol and age-related macular degeneration, a major cause of irreversible vision loss in the elderly

Citizenship Norms in Eastern Europe

Research on Eastern Europe stresses the weakness of its civil society and the lack of political and social involvement, neglecting the question: What do people themselves think it means to be a good citizen? This study looks at citizens’ definitions of good citizenship in Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, using 2002 European Social Survey data. We investigate mean levels of civic mindedness in these countries and perform regression analyses to investigate whether factors traditionally associated with civic and political participation are also correlated with citizenship norms across Eastern Europe. We show that mean levels of civic mindedness differ significantly across the four Eastern European countries. We find some support for theories on civic and political participation when explaining norms of citizenship, but also demonstrate that individual-level characteristics are differently related to citizenship norms across the countries of our study. Hence, our findings show that Eastern Europe is not a monolithic and homogeneous bloc, underscoring the importance of taking the specificities of countries into account

A decade with vamdc: Results and ambitions

This paper presents an overview of the current status of the Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre (VAMDC) e-infrastructure, including the current status of the VAMDC-connected (or to be connected) databases, updates on the latest technological development within the infrastructure and a presentation of some application tools that make use of the VAMDC e-infrastructure. We analyse the past 10 years of VAMDC development and operation, and assess their impact both on the field of atomic and molecular (A&amp;M) physics itself and on heterogeneous data management in international cooperation. The highly sophisticated VAMDC infrastructure and the related databases developed over this long term make them a perfect resource of sustainable data for future applications in many fields of research. However, we also discuss the current limitations that prevent VAMDC from becoming the main publishing platform and the main source of A&amp;M data for user communities, and present possible solutions under investigation by the consortium. Several user application examples are presented, illustrating the benefits of VAMDC in current research applications, which often need the A&amp;M data from more than one database. Finally, we present our vision for the future of VAMDC.</jats:p