Neighbourhood mobility in context : household moves and changing neighbourhoods in the Netherlands

Although high levels of population mobility are often viewed as a problem at the neighbourhood level we know relatively little about what makes some neighbourhoods more mobile than others. The main question in this paper is to what extent differences in out-mobility between neighbourhoods can be explained by differences in the share of mobile residents, or whether other neighbourhood characteristics also play a role. To answer this question we focus on the effects of the socioeconomic status and ethnic composition of neighbourhoods and on neighbourhood change. Using data from the Netherlands population registration system and the Housing Demand Survey we model population mobility both at individual and at neighbourhood levels. The aggregate results show that the composition of the housing stock and of the neighbourhood population explain most of the variation in levels of neighbourhood out-mobility. At the same time, although ethnic minority groups in the Netherlands are shown to be relatively immobile, neighbourhoods with higher concentrations of ethnic minority residents have the highest population turnovers. The individual-level models show that people living in neighbourhoods which experience an increase in the percentage of ethnic minorities are more likely to move, except when they belong to an ethnic minority group themselves. The evidence suggests that 'white flight' and 'socio-economic flight' are important factors in neighbourhood change.PostprintPeer reviewe

Socio-spatial mobility in British society

The research reported in this paper examines the nature and extent of socio-spatial mobility in the United Kingdom. In contrast with previous studies, we do not only investigate who moves out of deprived neighbourhoods, but our models cover the entire spectrum of neighbourhoods and provide a more complete interpretation of the process of mobility across socio-spatial structures. We use the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) to classify neighbourhoods defined as small areas containing approximately 1500 people. We use the data from all available waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to trace moves between these neighbourhoods, classified into deprivation deciles. We define upward socio-spatial mobility as moving to neighbourhoods with lower levels of deprivation. The focus on residential choices and the outcomes - residential sorting - allows us to measure the fluidity of the British social structure. We show that restricted ability to compete for the better neighbourhoods combines with residence in neighbourhoods with relatively high degrees of deprivation to limit opportunities for social mobility. The analysis shows that education and income play critical roles in the ability of individuals to make neighbourhood and decile gains when they move. There are also powerful roles of being unemployed and being (and becoming) a social renter. Both these latter effects combine to seriously restrict the possibilities for socio-spatial movement for certain groups. The results suggest serious structural barriers to socio-spatial mobility in British society, barriers which are directly related to the organisation of the housing market

Age-related curves of AMH using the Gen II, the picoAMH and the Elecsys assays in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

CONTEXT: Several challenges still exist to adopt the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) as a marker of polycystic ovary morphology (PCOM), as included in the recently updated international guideline. Although different evaluations of age- and assay-specific reference ranges have been published in the last years, these studies have mainly been conducted in normo-ovulatory or infertile women.OBJECTIVE: To develop an age-specific percentile distribution of AMH in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) measured by three different assays.DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study.PATIENTS: 2,725 women aged 20 to 40 years with PCOS diagnosis were included.INTERVENTION (S): Serum AMH measurement by the Gen II (Beckman Coulter), the picoAMH (Ansh Labs), and the Elecsys (Roche) assays.MAIN OUTCOME MEAUSRE (S): Age-specific centile curves for all the assays and correlations between AMH, clinical, hormonal, and ultrasound characteristics.RESULTS: Age-related nomograms for the 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 95th percentiles of AMH were calculated using the LMS method for all the assays. AMH levels were significantly different between PCOS phenotypes. AMH levels were positive correlated to luteinizing hormone (LH), LH/follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio, testosterone, androstenedione, free androgen index, mean follicular number, and mean ovarian volume.CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge this is the first study reporting age specific percentile nomograms of serum AMH levels measured by the Gen II, the picoAMH and the Elecsys assays in a large population of PCOS women. These findings may help to interpret AMH levels in PCOS patients and facilitate the use of AMH as a diagnostic tool across age ranges.</p

Distance Estimation Is Influenced by Encoding Conditions

Background:\ud It is well established that foveating a behaviorally relevant part of the visual field improves localization performance as compared to the situation where the gaze is directed elsewhere. Reduced localization performance in the peripheral encoding conditions has been attributed to an eccentricity-dependent increase in positional uncertainty. It is not known, however, whether and how the foveal and peripheral encoding conditions can influence spatial interval estimation. In this study we compare observers' estimates of a distance between two co-planar dots in the condition where they foveate the two sample dots and where they fixate a central dot while viewing the sample dots peripherally.\ud \ud Methodology/Principal Findings:\ud Observers were required to reproduce, after a short delay, a distance between two sample dots based on a stationary reference dot and a movable mouse pointer. When both sample dots are foveated, we find that the distance estimation error is small but consistently increases with the dots-separation size. In comparison, distance judgment in peripheral encoding condition is significantly overestimated for smaller separations and becomes similar to the performance in foveal trials for distances from 10 to 16 degrees.\ud \ud Conclusions/Significance:\ud Although we find improved accuracy of distance estimation in the foveal condition, the fact that the difference is related to the reduction of the estimation bias present in the peripheral conditon, challenges the simple account of reducing the eccentricity-dependent positional uncertainty. Contrary to this, we present evidence for an explanation in terms of neuronal populations activated by the two sample dots and their inhibitory interactions under different visual encoding conditions. We support our claims with simulations that take into account receptive fields size differences between the two encoding conditions

Anti-müllerian hormone as a diagnostic biomarker for polycystic ovary syndrome and polycystic ovarian morphology:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Importance: As part of the 2023 international evidence-based polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) guideline, this meta-analysis investigated the inclusion of Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels in the diagnostic criteria for PCOS. Objective: To answer the following three questions: 1) Are AMH levels effective in diagnosing PCOS in adult women? 2) Are AMH levels effective in diagnosing PCOS in adolescents? Are AMH levels effective in diagnosing polycystic ovarian morphology (PCOM)? Data Sources: Searches were conducted in six databases until July 31, 2023. Study Selection and Synthesis: Eligible studies were those conducted in humans, published in English, and reporting sensitivity, specificity, and/or area under the curve values. Extracted data included study population, age, body mass index, AMH assay, cut-off value of AMH levels, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve values. The risk of bias was assessed using the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies tool. A random effects model was used to test diagnostic accuracy. Main Outcomes: Pooled sensitivity and specificity to use AMH levels for PCOS diagnosis in adults as well as adolescents and for detecting PCOM in adults. Results: Eighty-two studies were included. The adult AMH-PCOS meta-analyses (n = 68) showed a pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76–0.82; I2 = 86%) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.84–0.89; I2 = 91%). The adolescent AMH-PCOS meta-analysis (n = 11) showed a pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.66 (95% CI, 0.58–0.73; I2 = 74%) and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.71–0.83; I2 = 45%). The adult AMH-PCOM meta-analysis (n = 7) showed a pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.79 (95% CI, 0.72–0.85; I2 = 94%) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.78–0.93; I2 = 94%). Conclusion and relevance: This study investigated the most profound change in the 2023 international evidence-based PCOS guideline, which now recommends AMH levels for defining PCOM in adults in accordance with the diagnostic algorithm. Antimüllerian hormone levels alone are insufficient for PCOS diagnosis and are nonspecific for PCOM in adolescents. Multiple factors influence AMH levels and cause heterogeneity as well as limitations in this study. Consequently, no international cut-off value could be recommended, emphasizing the need for research on more individualized cut-off values.</p

Gene network approach reveals co-expression patterns in nasal and bronchial epithelium

© 2019, The Author(s). Nasal gene expression profiling is a new approach to investigate the airway epithelium as a biomarker to study the activity and treatment responses of obstructive pulmonary diseases. We investigated to what extent gene expression profiling of nasal brushings is similar to that of bronchial brushings. We performed genome wide gene expression profiling on matched nasal and bronchial epithelial brushes from 77 respiratory healthy individuals. To investigate differences and similarities among regulatory modules, network analysis was performed on correlated, differentially expressed and smoking-related genes using Gaussian Graphical Models. Between nasal and bronchial brushes, 619 genes were correlated and 1692 genes were differentially expressed (false discovery rate 2). Network analysis of correlated genes showed pro-inflammatory pathways to be similar between the two locations. Focusing on smoking-related genes, cytochrome-P450 pathway related genes were found to be similar, supporting the concept of a detoxifying response to tobacco exposure throughout the airways. In contrast, cilia-related pathways were decreased in nasal compared to bronchial brushes when focusing on differentially expressed genes. Collectively, while there are substantial differences in gene expression between nasal and bronchial brushes, we also found similarities, especially in the response to the external factors such as smoking

The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and hyperprolactinemia in women with PCOS

Introduction: Ovulatory dysfunction is usually caused by an endocrine disorder, of which polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause. PCOS is usually associated with estrogen levels within the normal range and can be characterized by oligo-/anovulation resulting in decreased progesterone levels. It is suggested that decreased progesterone levels may lead to more autoimmune diseases in women with PCOS. In addition, it is often claimed that there is an association between hyperprolactinemia and PCOS. In this large well-phenotyped cohort of women with PCOS, we have studied the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and hyperprolactinemia compared to controls, and compared this between the four PCOS phenotypes. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study contains data of 1429 women with PCOS and 299 women without PCOS. Main outcome measures included thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), Free Thyroxine (FT4), and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOab) levels in serum, the prevalence of thyroid diseases and hyperprolactinemia. Results: The prevalence of thyroid disease in PCOS women was similar to that of controls (1.9% versus 2.7%; P = 0.39 for hypothyroidism and 0.5% versus 0%; P = 0.99 for hyperthyroidism). TSH levels were also similar (1.55 mIU/L versus 1.48 mIU/L; P = 0.54). FT4 levels were slightly elevated in the PCOS group, although within the normal range (18.1 pmol/L versus 17.7 pmol/L; P &lt; 0.05). The prevalence of positive TPOab was similar in both groups (5.7% versus 8.7%; P = 0.12). The prevalence of hyperprolactinemia was similarly not increased in women with PCOS (1.3%% versus 3%; P = 0.05). In a subanalysis of 235 women with PCOS and 235 age- and BMI-matched controls, we found no differences in thyroid dysfunction or hyperprolactinemia. In according to differences between PCOS phenotypes, only the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism was significantly higher in phenotype B (6.3%, n = 6) compared to the other phenotypes. Conclusion: Women with PCOS do not suffer from thyroid dysfunction more often than controls. Also, the prevalence of positive TPOab, being a marker for future risk of thyroid pathology, was similar in both groups. Furthermore, the prevalence of hyperprolactinemia was similar in women with PCOS compared to controls.</p

Analysis of Process Configurations for CO2 Capture by Precipitating Amino Acid Solvents

Precipitating amino acid solvents are an alternative to conventional amine scrubbing for CO2 capture from flue gas. Process operation with these solvents leads to the formation of precipitates during absorption that need to be re-dissolved prior to desorption of CO2. The process configuration is crucial for the successful application of these solvents. Different process configurations have been analyzed in this work, including a full analysis of the baseline operating conditions (based on potassium taurate), the addition of lean vapor compression, multiple absorber feeds, and the use of different amino acids as alternative solvents to the baseline based on potassium taurate. The analysis is carried out with an equilibrium model of the process that approximates the thermodynamics of the solvents considered. The results show that the precipitating amino acid solvents can reduce the reboiler duty needed to regenerate the solvent with respect to a conventional MEA process. However, this reduction is accompanied by an expenditure in lower grade energy needed to dissolve the precipitates. To successfully implement these processes into power plants, an internal recycle of the rich stream is necessary. This configuration, known as DECAB Plus, can lower the overall energy use of the capture process, which includes the energy needed to regenerate the solvent, the energy needed to dissolve the precipitates, and the energy needed to compress the CO2 to 110 bar. With respect to the energy efficiency, the DECAB Plus with lean vapor compression configuration is the best configuration based on potassium taurate, which reduces the reboiler duty for regeneration by 45% with respect to conventional MEA. Retrofitting this process into a coal fired power plant will result in overall energy savings of 15% with respect to the conventional MEA process, including compression of the CO2 stream to 110 bar. Potassium alanate was found to reduce the energy use with respect to potassium taurate under similar process configurations. Therefore, the investigation of potassium alanate in a DECAB Plus configuration is highly recommended, since it can reduce the energy requirements of the best process configuration based on potassium taurat

Not Just Fun and Games: A Review of College Drinking Games Research From 2004 to 2013

Drinking games are a high-risk social drinking activity consisting of rules and guidelines that determine when and how much to drink (Polizzotto et al., 2007). Borsari\u27s (2004) seminal review paper on drinking games in the college environment succinctly captured the published literature as of February 2004. However, research on college drinking games has grown exponentially during the last decade, necessitating an updated review of the literature. This review provides an in-depth summary and synthesis of current drinking games research (e.g., characteristics of drinking games, and behavioral, demographic, social, and psychological influences on participation) and suggests several promising areas for future drinking games research. This review is intended to foster a better understanding of drinking game behaviors among college students and improve efforts to reduce the negative impact of this practice on college campuses