scholarly journals The Effect of Vaping and Nicotine-containing Liquids to Suppress the Immune System: A Pilot Study

Author(s):  
Sanjana Anand ◽  
Madeline Wilkerson ◽  
Robert Malkin

Aims: We present a pilot study to illustrate how the impact of vaping can be quickly and conclusively documented in a large population and appropriate subpopulations. Methods: It has been predicted that with longer duration and higher frequency of vaping, there would be a higher frequency of, a longer duration of, and more severe flu and cold symptoms — indicating a negative impact on the immune system. Studies have linked electronic cigarettes and vaping to respiratory and cardiovascular issues, drastic changes in blood pressure, and the reduced function of tissues and cells in the lungs, but only in small populations, making generalization to the entire population less convincing. A sample of 120, 18–22-year-olds in northern California were asked to complete a 14-question, two-minute, anonymous survey. Those with pre-existing respiratory ailments or a family history of respiratory ailments were excluded from the study along with those who smoke cigarettes or have smoked cigarettes in the past. The survey collected the frequency and time spent vaping and the severity, frequency, and longevity of the flu and cold symptoms. Responses were converted into numerical values and analyzed. Results: Those who vaped more often had more severe flu and cold symptoms (p<0.005). However, no strong trends were present as can be expected from a pilot study. A power analysis based on this pilot data suggests that only 667 subjects would be required to answer the short survey to reach statistical significance. Conclusion: A quick survey was created to show the negative effects of vaping on a general population. Showing effects generalizable to the entire population would require a very reasonably sized sample and could easily allow analysis of subpopulations.

Author(s):  
Khalaf Kridin ◽  
Jennifer E. Hundt ◽  
Ralf J. Ludwig ◽  
Kyle T. Amber ◽  
Dana Tzur Bitan ◽  
...  

AbstractThe association between bullous pemphigoid (BP) and melanoma is yet to be investigated. We aimed to assess assess the bidirectional association between BP and melanoma and to delineate the epidemiological features of patients with both diagnoses. A population-based cohort study was performed comparing BP patients (n = 3924) with age-, sex- and ethnicity-matched control subjects (n = 19,280) with regard to incident cases of melanoma. A case–control design was additionally adopted to estimate the risk of BP in individuals with a preexisting diagnosis of melanoma. The prevalence of preexisting melanoma was higher in patients with BP than in control subjects (1.5% vs. 1.0%, respectively; P = 0.004). A history of melanoma confers a 50% increase in the risk of subsequent BP (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.14–2.06). This risk was higher among males (OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.09–2.54) and individuals older than 80 years (OR 1.63; 95% CI 1.11–2.38), and persisted after adjustment for multiple putative confounders including PD-1/PDL-1 antagonists (adjusted OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.14–2.06). Conversely, the risk of melanoma among patients with BP was slightly elevated, but did not reach the level of statistical significance (adjusted HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.73–1.74). Patients with a dual diagnosis of BP and melanoma were older at the onset of BP and had lower body mass index. A history of melanoma is associated with a 50% increase in the incidence of subsequent BP. Physicians managing patients with both conditions should be aware of this association. Further research is warranted to reveal the underlying mechanism of these findings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faiz Ur Rehman ◽  
Muhammad Nasir

AbstractThe 2011 National Nutrition Survey of Pakistan revealed that 51% of the country’s population was consuming less than 2,100 calories a day. In the backdrop of rising food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition in Pakistan, this study aims to measure the effects of indirect taxation on health outcomes of children (<5 years). More specifically, the impact of the incidence of General Sales Tax (GST) in the province of Punjab has been estimated on a child’s height and weight. The proponents of the uniform GST argue that the tax would not affect children because most food items consumed by children are exempted from the GST. However, the opponents believe that households, especially those belonging to the lower-income group, would reallocate resources away from children in the face of higher GST. To study these effects, we utilized three different waves (2007–08, 2011 & 2014) of Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys (MICS). The results show that the tax incidence, and not the GST rate, has a significantly negative impact on children’s height-for-age Z-score (HAZ). No effect was found on the weight-for-age-z-score (WAZ). These results are robust to different specifications and exhibit considerable heterogeneity across different income groups. These findings suggest that the exemption of certain food items for children from the GST may not eliminate the negative effects of this tax on a child’s health. Thus, our study raises concerns about the long term welfare consequences of GST.


Author(s):  
Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu

The use of terror as a ratio for resolving internal fundamental differences is not uncommon in neo-colonial societies. This is not saying that flashes of same are not recogn ised in the developed environment. The prevalence of this alternative appears as old as the political history of Nigeria. This work underscores the theoretical and historical basis of rebellion in Nigeria primarily focusing on the rise, fundamental philosophy and the vision of the Boko Haramists. The central thesis of this work is that Boko Haram activities have negative effects on Nigeria’s external image and fundamentally, it exposes the nature and dynamics of Nigeria’s security problems. The work contributes in part to the literature on this issue but significantly, it situates the problems within strategic logic which amplifies the degeneration of the problems and the incessant rebellion against the Nigerian State.


ILR Review ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine P. Dickinson ◽  
Terry R. Johnson ◽  
Richard W. West

This paper provides the first estimates of the net impact of CETA participation on the components of CETA participants' post-program earnings. Employing a sample of 1975 CETA enrollees and comparison groups drawn from the March 1978 CPS using a nearest-neighbor matching technique, the authors estimate statistically significant negative effects on men's earnings and statistically significant positive effects on women's earnings. These results stem partly from the impact of CETA participation on the likelihood of being employed after leaving the program (negative for men, positive for women), but also from a negative impact on hours worked during the year and hourly wage rate for men and a large positive impact on hours worked per week and weeks worked per year for women.


Author(s):  
Valeria Mirela Brezoczki ◽  
◽  
Emese Bonta ◽  

The paper describes a series of effects created by the impact of environmental factors on artworks in museums, as well as the way that active monitoring of these destructive agents (temperature and relative humidity) is done. Over time, artefacts exhibited within museums are subject to a series of degradations caused by external factors (air components, humidity, temperature, sunlight, bacteria, molds or fungi etc.), which can leave a negative impact on these goods with cultural value. The main observed negative effects are directly and intimate related to the deterioration of wood sculptures by the occurrence of cracks and the installation of different types of bacteria; the appearance of brownish-red spots on the surface of the paper and the increase in its reliability; various types of corrosion of artworks from different metals; color losses and cracks on paintings etc. The study brings to the fore the damaging effects produced on the different cultural works hosted within the County Art Museum - Art Center Baia Mare.


Author(s):  
Mariana Fedyk

The purpose of the academic paper lies in assessing the state of income, expenditure and savings of households under conditions of pandemic instability. The research methodology is based on the statistical analysis of data on income, resources and savings of households in Ukraine for 2010-2020. The scientific novelty involves identifying the positive and negative effects of the pandemic on the household economy. Conclusions. The positive and negative effects of the impact of spreading the pandemic on the household economy have been revealed in the research, and as a result, the decline in economic activity and the growth of unemployment in Ukraine. It has been determined that in the period of 2020 pandemic, costs decreased by 2% and resources increased by 3%. In 2020, the share of expenditures on food and non-alcoholic beverages increased from 46,6% to 48,1% in 2019, and on non-food goods and services - decreased from 41,5% to 39,8%. The population with per capita equivalent total income per month, below the actual subsistence level, was 8,9 million people in 2019 (23,1%), in 2020 – 8,8 million people (23,2%). Despite experts’ assessments of the likely increase in poverty as a result of COVID-19 spreading under two scenarios (according to the absolute criterion, it will increase from 27,2 to 43,6%; according to an absolute criterion, it will increase from 27,2 to 50,8%). It can be noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the poorest sections of the population with low incomes. It has been determined that in the context of social-economic impact of COVID-19, families who find it more difficult to diversify their own incomes are the most vulnerable ones. The following categories have been most affected by the pandemic (they will have had the largest increase in poverty compared to the baseline scenario), namely: households with three or more children; single parents with children; households with children under three; single retirees over 65 years.Along with this, thanks to the monetary policy that has ensured a stable level of inflation and return on deposits, the share of household deposits has increased the most in the last ten years to 27%. However, it is worth noting that quarantine and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a trend towards a partial flow of population resources from time deposits to card and savings accounts. After all, citizens sought to have free money in case of unforeseen expenses due to the uncertainty of the future development of events. Key words: households, income, resources, consumer expenditures, economic crisis, pandemic instability, quarantine restrictions.


2015 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Gil Avnimelech ◽  
Yaron Zelekha

There is a consensus that corruption may result in high societal costs. A growing body of research reveals the negative effects of corruption on a variety of economic indicators. This chapter presents a literature review on the impact of corruption on entrepreneurship. It allows us to suggest that one of the transition channels through which corruption has impacted growth is entrepreneurship. The main channels in which corruption impacts entrepreneurship is through reduced incentives for entrepreneurial activity and reduced trust within the system. The authors present evidence that the negative impact of an incremental increase in the level of corruption on entrepreneurship is more harmful in developed countries than in developing countries. Thus, they stress the need for more research in this area with the aim of establishing appropriate frameworks for the fight of corruption in both developing and developed countries and suggest significant gains from anti-corruption efforts, especially in developed countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mar Llorente-Marrón ◽  
Montserrat Díaz-Fernández ◽  
Paz Méndez-Rodríguez ◽  
Rosario González Arias

The study of vulnerability constitutes a central axis in research work on sustainability. Social vulnerability (SV) analyzes differences in human capacity to prepare, respond and recover from the impact of a natural hazard. Although disasters threaten all the people who suffer from them, they do not affect all members of society in the same way. Social and economic inequalities make certain groups more vulnerable. Factors such as age, sex, social class and ethnic identity increase vulnerability to a natural disaster. Ten years after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, this work deepens the relationship between natural disasters, SV and gender, exploring the unequal distribution of the SV in the face of a seismic risk. The source of statistical information has been obtained from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), developed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Multicriteria decision techniques (TOPSIS) and the differences in differences (DID) technique are used to analyze variations in gender inequality in SV as a result of the catastrophic event. The results obtained reinforce the idea of the negative impact of the disaster on the SV. Additionally, an intensification of the negative effects is observed when the household is headed by a woman, increasing the gap in SV between households headed by women and the rest of the households. The conclusions obtained show additional evidence of the negative effects caused by natural disasters on women, and important implications for disaster risk management are derived that should not be ignored.


Author(s):  
P. Havard

Abstract Low and medium level waste management means reducing the amount of waste generated during maintenance and operation of the plant, in accordance with the ALARA concept, while keeping not only the quality of the product but also the associated costs under control. All this waste is managed by ONDRAF/NIRAS, the Belgian Federal Agency responsible for waste management, including conditioning, intermediate storage and final disposal. Unfortunately, the actions taken by ONDRAF/NIRAS and the producers in order to reduce waste production have had a negative impact on waste treatment tariffs. It has become necessary to re-examine the relationship between ONDRAF/NIRAS and the producers, in order to control the costs of waste management. This problem concerns not only the treatment costs but also the disposal costs. The volume of waste has fallen from 30M3/Thwh in 1985 to 4.m3/Twh in 2000, not by chance but as the result of a new site organisation geared towards achieving this aim. This paper presents firstly the history of Belgian waste management, taking into account the impact on the associated costs, and secondly the measures that have to be taken in order to be able to decide which new technologies are necessary to go further with the objective of waste volume reduction in a new environment, namely deregulation and consequently high pressure on production costs. Finally, it presents a few conclusions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
JAIME A. TEIXEIRA DA SILVA

Abstract Only few studies in the plant tissue culture literature have examined the impact of filter paper on in vitro plant organogenesis. In this study, using a model plant, hybrid Cymbidium Twilight Moon ‘Day Light’, the impact of a single or double layer of Advantec #2 or Whatman #1 filter paper on new protocorm-like body (neo-PLB) formation on Teixeira Cymbidium (TC) medium was examined for half-PLBs (transgenic and non-transgenic), PLB-derived transverse thin cell layers (tTCLs), and PLB synseeds. In addition, the response of half-PLBs or tTCLs to two antibiotics (kanamycin and cefotaxime, commonly used in plant genetic transformation studies) was investigated either directly on gelled medium or on filter paper-overlaid medium. Filter paper negatively affected most growth and developmental parameters of all the explants tested, both transgenic and non-transgenic. A double sheet of filter paper had a significantly (P ≤ 0.05) more negative impact than a single sheet, relative to the control values (i.e., no filter paper). Kanamycin inhibited neo-PLB formation on TC medium, the negative impact being greater on a single layer than on a double layer of filter paper, i.e., filter paper buffered the growth-inhibiting characteristics of kanamycin. Up to 100 mg/l, cefotaxime showed no apparent negative effects on neo-PLBs formation and growth, although hyperhydricity was observed when filter paper was not used.


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