Changes in Oxidative Stress Parameters as Response to Supplementation With Vitamin E and Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Male Workers Exposed to High Level Noise

Background: The present study aimed to assess the effects of the supplementation consumption of vitamin E and Omega 3 fatty acid on the oxidative stress parameters among workers exposed to high levels of noise in an automobile parts manufacturing plant. Moreover, the effects of the exposure to noise on SOD, total oxidative stress (TAC) and MDA will be investigated. Methods: The participants were deployed into 4 groups (vitamin E (100 mg), Omega 3 fatty acids (180 mg EPA and 120 mg DHA), vitamin E+ Omega 3 and Placebo), as per the double-blind block randomization method. The oxidative stress parameters of the participants were analyzed before and after three month consumption of supplements via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The level of workers' exposure to noise, was measured according to ISO 9612. Results: Before intervention, mean MDA, SOD and TAC were 27.52 (7.46) nmol/ml, 58.84 (10.44) U/ml and 2.57 (0.67) mM respectively. After intervention, mean MDA, SOD and TAC were 24.57 (7.58) nmol/ml, 63.46 (11.02) U/ml and 2.70 (0.84) mM respectively. The use of supplement Omega 3 fatty acids had a significant decremental effect on MDA levels. The use of vitamin E alongside Omega 3 fatty acids had a significant incremental effect on SOD activity.Conclusion: Noise exposure had a decremental effect on TAC and SOD as well as an incremental effect on MDA, but this was only statistically significant for TAC. It appears that the simultaneous use of vitamin E and Omega 3 fatty acids for three months had a positive effect on the anti-oxidant performance of workers exposed to noise.

Manipulation

This chapter examines a potential distortion that personalized rules might breed: manipulation. Anticipating ways in which their personal traits might affect their legal treatment, people could make socially undesirable choices in order to qualify for more favorable commands. If, for example, one’s investment in improved technical skills leads to an increase in the personalized standards of care under tort law, the incentives to invest might be chilled. The chapter examines various forms of manipulation. It first discusses the distorted incentive to develop human capital. It then explores the possibility of “pretending”—people’s attempts to change not their underlying traits but their appearance. It also demonstrates a third problem, “arbitrage,” where people circumvent the personalized treatment by operating through agents or purchasing superior legal treatments from others. Recognizing this array of manipulative strategies, the chapter than offers two responses. It argues that the scope of the manipulation problem is minor, first because each personal trait has typically only a small incremental effect on any legal command. Second, in cases where manipulation is potentially significant, non-manipulable inputs could be used.

Short-term earnings mobility in the Canadian and German context: the role of cognitive skills

It is well-established that human capital contributes to unequal levels of earnings mobility. Individuals with higher levels of human capital, typically measured through education, earn more on average and are privy to greater levels of upward change over time. Nevertheless, other factors may have an incremental effect over education, namely cognitive ability and the skill demands of employment. To deepen insight into whether these aspects contribute to earnings mobility over a four-year period, the present study examines positional change in Canada and Germany—two contexts typified as examples of liberal and coordinated market economies. A series of descriptive indices and relative change models assess how different measures of human capital are associated with earnings mobility. The results indicate that, while individuals with higher cognitive skills experience greater earnings stability and upward mobility in both countries, there is only an incremental effect of skills on mobility in Germany once we account for educational credentials. The results also provide evidence on the role of skill demands for earnings mobility; in both countries, advanced skills at work are associated with greater short-term mobility, even while controlling for cognitive ability and other factors. Together the results showcase how longitudinal data containing detailed measures of human capital allow for deeper insight into what facilitates earnings mobility.

Incremental effect of complications on mortality and hospital costs in adult ECMO patients

Introduction: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a resource-intense modality whose usage is expanding rapidly. It is a costly endeavor and best conducted in a multidisciplinary setting. There is a growing impetus to mitigate the mortality and costs associated with ECMO. We sought to examine the impact of complications on mortality and hospital costs in patients on ECMO. Methods: Using the NIS database, we performed multivariable logistic regression to assess the influence of complications on the primary outcome, in-hospital mortality. Similarly, we performed multivariable survey linear regression analysis to evaluate the effect of the complications on hospital costs. Results: Of the 12,637 patients supported using ECMO between 2004 and 2013, 9836 (78%) developed at least one complication. The three most common complications were acute kidney injury (32.8%), bloodstream infection (31.8%), and bleeding (27.8%). An ECMO hospitalization with no complications was associated with median costs of $53,470, a single complication with costs of $97,560, two complications with costs of $139,035, and three complication with costs of $162,284. A single complication was associated with a 165% increase in odds of mortality. Two or three complications resulted in 375% or 627% higher odds of mortality, respectively. Having one, two, or three complications was associated with 24%, 38%, or 38% increase in median costs respectively (Figure 1). Complications associated with the highest median costs were central line-associated bloodstream infection $217,751; liver failure $176,201; bloodstream infection $169,529. Conclusion: In-hospital mortality and costs increase with each incremental complication in patients on ECMO. Accurate prediction and mitigation of complications is likely to improve outcomes and cost.

Do Individual Auditors Have Their Own Styles? Evidence from Clients' Financial Statement Comparability in China

In this study, we investigate whether individual auditors are associated with the comparability of their clients' financial statements, based on a sample of Chinese companies audited by 10 large audit firms. We demonstrate that individual auditors have an incremental effect on comparability, beyond the office-level effect. We also find that the style of individual auditors is stronger when they are affiliated with Big 4 audit firms (compared to non-Big 4 large audit firms) and when they are industry experts. In addition, two possible channels of enhanced comparability are identified: (i) client's accounting flexibility, which provides opportunities; and (ii) individual auditors' characteristics such as age, position, and academic degree, which affect auditors' abilities to exert influence. Our results are robust to alternative comparability and industry specialist measures, to various sampling methods, and to corrections for potential endogeneity problems.

The Incremental Effect of Students’ Engagement, over and above Emotional Intelligence, on Students’ Academic Achievement

Studies examining variations in students’ Academic Achievement (AA) have considered several factors including demographic factors such as age and gender; socio-cultural factors such as family background; university- related factors; student-related factors such as learning styles and socio-economic factors such as family income and expenditure. Two more factors that have gained prominence in the literature are the students’ Emotional Intelligence (EI) and engagement (SE). Multiple studies have reported on the separate effect that the two constructs have on students’ academic achievement. Nevertheless, to the researchers’ knowledge, few have reported on the incremental effect that engagement might have, over and above emotional intelligence, on students’ academic achievement. Thus, the aim of the current study is to fill the gap by exploring the extent to which students’ engagement can contribute to their achievement while controlling for emotional intelligence. The research is quantitative based on a survey questionnaire distributed to a sample of 100 business students with only 93 valid entries. Collected primary data were processed using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions SPSS version 24 and analyses were performed using descriptive as well as inferential methods. Research outcomes provide additional insights on the incremental effect of students’ engagement, academic achievement, over and above emotional intelligence and call for higher education institutions and policy makers to provide and/or adjust their academic and non-academic activities to reinforce a constructive and productive students’ experiences.