Estimating measures of multidimensional poverty in Stata

This paper describes the multidimensional poverty measures developed by Alkire and Foster (2011) and shows how they can be computed in Stata with the command mpi

Fetal and early neonatal interleukin-6 response

In 1998, a systemic fetal cytokine response, defined as a plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) value above 11 pg/mL, was reported to be a major independent risk factor for the subsequent development of neonatal morbid events even after adjustments for gestational age and other confounders. Since then, the body of literature investigating the use of blood concentrations of IL-6 as a hallmark of the fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS), a diagnostic marker of early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) and a risk predictor of white matter injury (WMI), has grown rapidly. In this article, we critically review: IL-6 biological functions; current evidence on the association between IL-6, preterm birth, FIRS and EONS; IL-6 reference intervals and dynamics in the early neonatal period; IL-6 response during the immediate postnatal period and perinatal confounders; accuracy and completeness of IL-6 diagnostic studies for EONS (according to the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy statement); and recent breakthroughs in the association between fetal blood IL-6, EONS, and WMI

Imputation of missing expenditure information in standard household income surveys

The aim of this paper is to present a new methodology for dealing with missing expenditure information in standard income surveys. Under given conditions, typical imputation procedures, such as statistical matching or regression-based models, can replicate well in the income survey both the unconditional density of household expenditure and its joint density with a set of socio-demographic variables that the two surveys have in common. However, standard imputation procedures may fail in capturing the overall relation between income and expenditure, especially if the common control variables used for the imputation have a weak correlation with the missing information. The paper suggests a two-step imputation procedure that allows reproducing the joint relation between income and expenditure observed from external sources, while maintaining the advantages of traditional imputation methods. The proposed methodology suits well for any empirical analysis that needs to relate income and consumption, such as the estimation of Engel curves or the evaluation of consumption taxes through micro-simulation models. An empirical application shows the makings of such a technique for the evaluation of the distributive effects of consumption taxes and proves that common imputation methods may produce significantly biased results in terms of policy recommendations when the control variables used for the imputation procedure are weakly correlated with the missing variable

Comparative efficacy and safety of 3-day azithromycin and 10-day penicillin V treatment of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis in children

The efficacy and safety of a 3-day course of azithromycin oral suspension (10 mg/kg of body weight once daily) were compared with those of penicillin V (50,000 U/kg/day in two divided doses) in children aged 3 to 12 years for the treatment of symptomatic pharyngitis caused by the group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS), For the 154 evaluable patients, the original infecting strain of GABHS was eliminated at the end of follow-up (34 to 36 days after treatment started) from 67 (85.8%) of 78 penicillin-treated patients and 41 (53.9%) of 76 azithromycin-treated patients (P < 0.0001), Overall clinical success was achieved in 71 (91.0%) of 78 penicillin V-treated patients and 57 (75.0%) of 76 azithromycin-treated patients (P < 0.05). Potential drug-related adverse events were reported for 5.5 and 8.6% of the penicillin V- and azithromycin-treated patients, respectively (P = 0.6), In the present study, a once-daily (10 mg/kg), 3-day oral regimen of azithromycin was as safe as a 10-day course of penicillin but did not represent an effective alternative to penicillin for the treatment of GABHS pharyngitis, even for those children with azithromycin-susceptible strains

Hepatic Steatosis and Thyroid Function Tests in Overweight and Obese Children

Objectives. Associations between thyroid function and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are unknown in childhood. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate in 402 consecutive overweight/obese children the association between thyroid function tests and hepatic steatosis as well as metabolic variables. Methods. Hepatic steatosis was diagnosed by ultrasound after exclusion of infectious and metabolic disorders. Fasting serum samples were taken for determination of thyroid function (TSH, FT4, and FT3), along with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lipid profile, glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance (IR). Results. Eighty-eight children (21.9%) had TSH above the normal range (>4.0 mIU/L). FT3 and FT4 were within the reference intervals in all subjects. Elevated TSH was associated with increased odds of having hepatic steatosis (OR 2.10 (95% CI, 1.22–3.60)), hepatic steatosis with elevated ALT (2.42 (95% CI, 1.29–4.51)), hypertriglyceridemia, elevated total cholesterol, and IR as well as metabolic syndrome (considered as a single clinical entity), after adjustment for age, gender, pubertal status, and body mass index-SD score (or waist circumference). Conclusions. In overweight/obese children, elevated TSH concentration is a significant predictor of hepatic steatosis and lipid and glucose dysmetabolism, independently of the degree of total and visceral obesity

Synthesis of zirconia/polyethylene glycol hybrid materials by sol-gel processing and connections between structure and release kinetic of indomethacin.

Controlled and local drug delivery systems of anti-inflammatory agents are attracting an increasing attention because of their extended therapeutic effect and reduced side effects. In this work, the sol–gel process was used to synthesize zirconia/polyethylene glycol (ZrO2/PEG) hybrid materials containing indomethacin for controlled drug delivery. Different percentages of PEG were introduced in the synthesis to modulate the release kinetic and an exhaustive chemical characterization of all samples was performed to detect the relationship between their structure and release ability. Fourier transform spectroscopy and solid-state NMR show that the Zr–OH groups of the inorganic matrix bond both the ethereal oxygen atoms of the polymer and the carboxylic groups of the drug. X-ray diffraction analysis ascertains the amorphous nature of those materials. Scanning electron microscopy detects the nanostructure and the homogeneous morphology of the synthesized materials. The bioactivity was demonstrated by the formation of a hydroxyapatite layer on the surface of the samples, after soaking in a simulated body fluid. The release kinetics study, performed by HPLC UV–Vis spectroscopy, proves that the release ability depends on PEG and the drug amount and also demonstrates the indomethacin integrity after the synthetic treatment. Controlled and local drug delivery systems of anti-inflammatory agents are attracting an increasing attention because of their extended therapeutic effect and reduced side effects. In this work, the sol-gel process was used to synthesize zirconia/polyethylene glycol (ZrO2/PEG) hybrid materials containing indomethacin for controlled drug delivery. Different percentages of PEG were introduced in the synthesis to modulate the release kinetic and an exhaustive chemical characterization of all samples was performed to detect the relationship between their structure and release ability. Fourier transform spectroscopy and solid-state NMR show that the Zr-OH groups of the inorganic matrix bond both the ethereal oxygen atoms of the polymer and the carboxylic groups of the drug. X-ray diffraction analysis ascertains the amorphous nature of those materials. Scanning electron microscopy detects the nanostructure and the homogeneous morphology of the synthesized materials. The bioactivity was demonstrated by the formation of a hydroxyapatite layer on the surface of the samples, after soaking in a simulated body fluid. The release kinetics study, performed by HPLC UV-Vis spectroscopy, proves that the release ability depends on PEG and the drug amount and also demonstrates the indomethacin integrity after the synthetic treatment

Biomass burning related ozone damage on vegetation over the Amazon forest: A model sensitivity study

The HadGEM2 earth system climate model was used to assess the impact of biomass burning on surface ozone concentrations over the Amazon forest and its impact on vegetation, under present-day climate conditions. Here we consider biomass burning emissions from wildfires, deforestation fires, agricultural forest burning, and residential and commercial combustion. Simulated surface ozone concentration is evaluated against observations taken at two sites in the Brazilian Amazon forest for years 2010 to 2012. The model is able to reproduce the observed diurnal cycle of surface ozone mixing ratio at the two sites, but overestimates the magnitude of the monthly averaged hourly measurements by 5-15 ppb for each available month at one of the sites. We vary biomass burning emissions over South America by ±20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% to quantify the modelled impact of biomass burning on surface ozone concentrations and ozone damage on vegetation productivity over the Amazon forest. We used the ozone damage scheme in the "high" sensitivity mode to give an upper limit for this effect. Decreasing South American biomass burning emissions by 100% (i.e. to zero) reduces surface ozone concentrations (by about 15 ppb during the biomass burning season) and suggests a 15% increase in monthly mean net primary productivity averaged over the Amazon forest, with local increases up to 60%. The simulated impact of ozone damage from present-day biomass burning on vegetation productivity is about 230 TgC yr-1. Taking into account that uncertainty in these estimates is substantial, this ozone damage impact over the Amazon forest is of the same order of magnitude as the release of carbon dioxide due to fire in South America; in effect it potentially doubles the impact of biomass burning on the carbon cycle.This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) South AMerican Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) project grant code NE/J010057/1. The UK Met Office contribution to this project was funded by the DECC under the Hadley Centre Climate Programme contract (GA01101). The Brazilian contribution was funded by Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP, projects 08/58100-2 and 12/14437-9). We thank INPA (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia) for the coordination work of the LBA Experiment. We thank USP technicians for the support on data sampling: Alcides Ribeiro, Ana Lucia Loureiro, Fernando Morais and Fabio Jorge