scholarly journals The Use of Genotoxicity Endpoints as Biomarkers of Low Dose Radiation Exposure in Interventional Cardiology

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Habibi ◽  
Panagiotis K. Karyofyllis ◽  
Aggeliki Nikolakopoulou ◽  
Panagiotis Papagiannis ◽  
Pantelis Karaiskos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Estimation ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Interventional Cardiology ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Cardiac Procedures ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Radiation Induced ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Almost All

The effect of the reportedly low ionizing radiation doses, such as those very often delivered to patients in interventional cardiology, remains ambiguous. As interventional cardiac procedures may have a significant impact on total collective effective dose, there are radiation protection concerns for patients and physicians regarding potential late health effects. Given that very low doses (<100 mSv) are expected to be delivered during these procedures, the purpose of this study was to assess the potency and suitability of current genotoxicity biomarkers to detect and quantitate biological effects essential for risk estimation in interventional cardiology. Specifically, the biomarkers γ-H2AX foci, dicentric chromosomes, and micronuclei, which underpin radiation-induced DNA damage, were studied in blood lymphocytes of 25 adult patients before and after interventional cardiac procedures. Even though the mean values of all patients as a group for all three endpoints tested show increased yields relative to baseline following medical exposure, our results demonstrate that only the γ-H2AX biomarker enables detection of statistically significant differences at the individual level (p < 0.001) for almost all patients (91%). Furthermore, 24 h after exposure, residual γ-H2AX foci were still detectable in irradiated lymphocytes. Their decline was found to vary significantly among the individuals and the repair kinetics of γ-H2AX foci was found to range from 25 to 95.6% of their maximum values obtained.

Missing Data in Research on Youth and Family Programs

2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110268
Author(s):  
Jaime Ballard ◽  
Adeya Richmond ◽  
Suzanne van den Hoogenhof ◽  
Lynne Borden ◽  
Daniel Francis Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Missing Data ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Multilevel Data ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Test ◽  
The Individual

Background Multilevel data can be missing at the individual level or at a nested level, such as family, classroom, or program site. Increased knowledge of higher-level missing data is necessary to develop evaluation design and statistical methods to address it. Methods Participants included 9,514 individuals participating in 47 youth and family programs nationwide who completed multiple self-report measures before and after program participation. Data were marked as missing or not missing at the item, scale, and wave levels for both individuals and program sites. Results Site-level missing data represented a substantial portion of missing data, ranging from 0–46% of missing data at pre-test and 35–71% of missing data at post-test. Youth were the most likely to be missing data, although site-level data did not differ by the age of participants served. In this dataset youth had the most surveys to complete, so their missing data could be due to survey fatigue. Conclusions Much of the missing data for individuals can be explained by the site not administering those questions or scales. These results suggest a need for statistical methods that account for site-level missing data, and for research design methods to reduce the prevalence of site-level missing data or reduce its impact. Researchers can generate buy-in with sites during the community collaboration stage, assessing problematic items for revision or removal and need for ongoing site support, particularly at post-test. We recommend that researchers conducting multilevel data report the amount and mechanism of missing data at each level.

Cardiovascular risk estimation at the individual level

ESC CardioMed ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 846-863
Author(s):  
Yvo M. Smulders ◽  
Marie-Therese Cooney ◽  
Ian Graham
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Risk Estimation ◽  
Pharmacological Therapy ◽  
Cardiovascular Risks ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Very High ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk Estimation

The absolute benefit of any measure to prevent cardiovascular disease, be it lifestyle improvement or pharmacological therapy, depends on the baseline cardiovascular risk. This risk cannot be assessed exactly, but only be estimated because many known risk determinants cannot be accounted for in existing risk scoring systems, and because the application to an individual of risk estimates derived from populations is imprecise. Several cardiovascular risk estimation methods are available, and the European Society of Cardiology has favoured the European-based Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) system as a basis for their cardiovascular disease prevention guidelines. SCORE estimates absolute 10-year cardiovascular mortality risk. In specific circumstances, estimation of relative risk, risk age, or lifetime risk may be considered. High- and very-high-risk population are defined by SCORE risks greater than 5% and greater than 10%, respectively, or by clinical conditions conferring (very) high risk, such as existing cardiovascular disease or chronic kidney disease. The role of additional risk information on top of the information entered in SCORE is generally limited. In particular, markers of early cardiovascular damage should be collected and interpreted with caution. Absolute cardiovascular risks in young and elderly individuals are almost always low or very high, respectively, and the options for appropriate interpretation and management of these risks are discussed.

Disentangling Differences in Homicide Incarceration Rates by Immigration Status: A Comparison in Texas

2020 ◽  
pp. 001112872094096
Author(s):  
Erin A. Orrick ◽  
Alexander H. Updegrove ◽  
Alex R. Piquero ◽  
Tomislav Kovandzic
Keyword(s):  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Immigrant Status ◽  
Immigration Status ◽  
Incarceration Rate ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Crime And Punishment ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Immigration And Crime

Research addressing the purported relationship between immigration and crime remains popular, but some gaps remain under-explored. One important gap involves disentangling differences in crime and punishment by immigrant status, as measured across different definitions of immigration status and in relation to U.S. natives, at the individual level. Using data from Texas, results show that native-born U.S. citizens are incarcerated for homicide at higher rates than almost all immigrant groups. While the incarceration rate for undocumented immigrants was 24% greater than the rate for all foreign-citizens, this rate was significantly less than that for U.S. citizens. Among the immigrant status classifications available in this study, all were associated with lower incarceration rates for homicide than that of U.S. citizens.

scholarly journals Social Capital Changes After COVID-19 Lockdown Among Youths in China: COVID-19 Impact on Lifestyle Change Survey (COINLICS)

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Yu ◽  
Miyang Luo ◽  
Meijing Liu ◽  
Junmin Zhou ◽  
Shujuan Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Lifestyle Change ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Educational Levels ◽  
Chinese Youth ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
The Individual

Introduction: Social capital, the effective functioning of social groups through networks of relationships, can affect mental health and may be affected by COVID-19. We aimed to examine the changes in social capital before and after the COVID-19 lockdown among the Chinese youth.Methods: A national convenience sample of 10,540 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, from the COVID-19 Impact on Lifestyle Change Survey (COINLICS), reported their demographic and social capital information before and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Social capital was retrospectively measured at four levels: individual (ISC), family (FSC), community (CSC), and society (SSC). The changes of social capital were also compared across three educational levels.Results: Overall, ISC and CSC scores generally decreased after lockdown (15.1 to 14.8 and 13.4 to 13.1, respectively), while FSC and SSC scores increased significantly (12.7 to 13.0 and 7.1 to 7.2, respectively). At the individual level, most participants showed a constant perceived social capital; more of the remaining participants showed decreased than increased ISC (30.5% vs. 17.0%) and CSC scores (28.4% vs. 19.1%), while more participants showed increased than decreased FSC (21.7% vs. 9.2%) and SSC scores (10.3% vs. 3.9%). Heterogeneities in social capital changes existed across educational levels.Conclusions: Our findings would provide health professionals and policy-makers solid evidence on the changes in social capital of youths after lockdowns, and therefore help the design of future interventions to rebuild or improve their social capital after epidemics/disasters.

scholarly journals Exploring COVID-19 lockdowns as unexpected paternity leave: One shock, diverse gender ideologies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alix Sponton
Keyword(s):  
Maternity Leave ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Gender Ideologies ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Individual ◽  
At Home

Objective: This paper analyses how men who became fathers to a newborn during a 2020 lockdown in France reacted to spending longer time at home than intended. Background: Previous research found that fathers taking longer leave are more involved at home, but men who plan these working arrangements are more oriented towards gender equality. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, fathers with diverse gender ideologies were forced to stay home with their baby. Method: 42 longitudinal interviews were conducted with 23 fathers, before and after the birth of their child. 10 of these fathers unexpectedly stopped their paid work for the first two months post-partum because of distancing measures. This group is compared with 10 others who took at most their 14 days of paid leave before returning to paid work and 3 others who deliberately planned to take a month off.  All mothers were on maternity leave. Results: Lockdowns isolated couples from the help of extended family and fathers had to assume a caregiving position. However, staying home involved different things for different fathers. For some, it meant sharing unpaid work equally. For others, it was more about bonding with the baby, whereas intensive childcare was considered the mother’s role. Conclusion: Drawing on an integrative approach, the findings suggest that changes at the institutional level, such as lockdowns, impact fathering trajectories differently depending on gender ideologies at the individual level.

“Recommended” versus “Preferred” in Design and Use of Computer Workstations

1988 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 501-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Povlotsky ◽  
Vitaly Dubrovsky
Keyword(s):  
Population Level ◽  
Computer Hardware ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Settings Approach ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Office Furniture

Due to the recent development of adjustable office furniture and elements of computer hardware, a new “preferred settings” approach to VDT workstation (VDTW) design has emerged in opposition to the traditional recommended standards. This approach studies the “recommended - preferred” controversy on the population level in terms of means, ranges, and percentiles and sets new dimensions and ranges of adjustment for the design of the VDTW components. While the VDTW's components are designed in a view of population, they are used by individuals. This paper raises the issue of studying the “recommended - preferred” controversy on the individual level in relation to the task of customizing VDTW's for individual users. Preferred individual adjustments of the experimental VDTW made by 23 subjects were compared to the respective, recommended individual adjustments. Although all recommended-preferred differences were statistically significant, almost all preferred values were either very close to the corresponding recommended values or deviated from the recommended optima without exceeding the recommended ranges. The paper discusses implications of this result for the customizing of the VDTW's for individual users.

Cardiovascular risk estimation at the individual level

ESC CardioMed ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 846-863
Author(s):  
Yvo M. Smulders ◽  
Marie-Therese Cooney ◽  
Ian Graham
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Risk Estimation ◽  
Pharmacological Therapy ◽  
Cardiovascular Risks ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Very High ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk Estimation

The absolute benefit of any measure to prevent cardiovascular disease, be it lifestyle improvement or pharmacological therapy, depends on the baseline cardiovascular risk. This risk cannot be assessed exactly, but only be estimated because many known risk determinants cannot be accounted for in existing risk scoring systems, and because the occurrence of cardiovascular disease is likely to depend not just on pre-existing risk factors, but also on chance. Several cardiovascular risk estimation methods are available, and the European Society of Cardiology has favoured the European-based Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) system as a basis for their cardiovascular disease prevention guidelines. SCORE estimates absolute 10-year cardiovascular mortality risk. In specific circumstances, estimation of relative risk, risk age, or lifetime risk may be considered. High- and very-high-risk population are defined by SCORE risks greater than 5% and greater than 10%, respectively, or by clinical conditions conferring high risk, such as existing cardiovascular disease or chronic kidney disease. The role of additional risk information on top of the information entered in SCORE is generally limited. In particular, markers of early cardiovascular damage should be collected and interpreted with caution. Absolute cardiovascular risks in young and elderly individuals are almost always low or very high, respectively, and the options for appropriate interpretation of these risks are discussed.

scholarly journals Disagreement and Deliberation: Evidence from Three Deliberative Mini-Publics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimmo Grönlund ◽  
Kaisa Herne ◽  
Kim Strandberg ◽  
Peter Söderlund
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Third ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Citizen Deliberation

AbstractThis article is based on three experiments in citizen deliberation. We ask whether disagreement at group level as well as at individual level influence participants’ experiences of deliberation. In all three experiments, participants discussed in small groups and answered surveys before and after deliberations. The experiments were population-based with random selection. The topic of the first deliberation was nuclear power, the second dealt with immigration, and the third concerned policies for a language spoken by a national minority. The degree of group level disagreement was subject to experimental manipulation. In the first experiment, all the participants discussed in groups with mixed opinions. In the second experiment, participants were first categorized according to their baseline views, and then randomly allocated into either mixed or like-minded groups. In the third experiment, everyone discussed in like-minded groups. A trained facilitator moderated all small group discussions in the first two experiments. In the language experiment, the participants were randomly assigned into two treatments: groups with both moderation and deliberative norms, and ‘placebo’ groups. Our dependent variables consist of participants’ self-reported experiences of being heard in the discussion, and their feelings of mutual respect. The results show that all participants—regardless of group level disagreement—tend to be satisfied with deliberation. The only exception is the first experiment, where disagreement decreased process satisfaction slightly. At the individual level, participants’ deviation from the group mean had almost no effect.

scholarly journals A Clash of Civilizations? Preferences for Religious Political Leaders in 86 Nations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Breznau ◽  
Valerie A. Lykes ◽  
MDR Evans ◽  
Jonathan Kelley
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Communist State ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Developed World

Huntington claimed that today’s major conflicts are most likely to erupt between religiously defined ‘civilizations,’ in particular between Christianity and Islam. Using World Values Surveys from 86 nations, we examine differences between Christians and Muslims in preferences for religious political leaders. The results suggest a marked difference between Muslims and Christians in attitudes toward religious politicians, with Muslims more favorable by 20 points out of 100. Adjusting for devoutness and education (at the individual level), and degree of government corruption and status as a formerly Communist state (at the national level) accounts for most of the difference. Little support is found for the clash-of-civilizations hypothesis. Instead we find a clash of individual beliefs—between the devout and the secular—and enduring differences between the more developed and the less developed world accounts for almost all of the difference between Islam and Christianity with regards to preferences for religious political leaders.

scholarly journals Satisfaction with Democracy in Perspective: Anchoring Today By Looking Back and Forward

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26
Author(s):  
Pepijn van Houwelingen ◽  
Paul Dekker
Keyword(s):  
Political Trust ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
List Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Almost All

Abstract The question of how satisfied people are with the workings of their national democracy has oft en been criticized but is still the international standard measurement of satisfaction with democracy (SWD). In this paper we explore the benefits of adding questions about remembered and expected satisfaction ‘ten years ago’ and ‘ten years from now’, as were asked in the ISSP citizenship surveys of 2004 and 2014. Based on the data from seventeen European countries, we find that national samples: ■ do not show universal ‘nostalgia’, ■ produce good guesses of past satisfaction but show no futurist insights, ■ give retrospective judgments that do not correlate well with changes in expert opinions, ■ give retrospective judgments that do not correlate well with changes in the share of the populist vote. At the individual level we find: ■ that in almost all countries expected satisfaction with democracy ten years from now is a better predictor of political trust and feelings of political efficacy than satisfaction with democracy today, ■ that in almost all countries expected satisfaction with democracy ten years from now is a better predictor of the preference for populist voting (in one national case study), we note that Poland is the only country in our sample where citizens were, in 2014, retrospectively more positive about the development of their democracy, probably due to the severe economic conditions Poland faced in 2004. Overall, we do not find evidence for the relevance of retrospective judgements, but some evidence for the relevance of prospective judgements. We recommend further research into individual changes in present satisfaction and perceptions of these changes to better understand the frames of reference of ‘satisfaction with democracy today’.

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