Association between Laughter and Lifestyle Diseases after the Great East Japan Earthquake: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

We investigated the association between the frequency of laughter and lifestyle diseases after the Great East Japan Earthquake. We included 41,432 participants aged 30–89 years in the Fukushima Health Management Survey in fiscal year 2012 and 2013. Gender-specific, age-adjusted and multivariable odds ratios of lifestyle diseases were calculated using logistic regressions stratified by evacuation status. Those who laugh every day had significantly lower multivariable odds ratios for hypertension (HT), diabetes mellitus (DM) and heart disease (HD) for men, and HT and dyslipidemia (DL) for women compared to those who do not, especially in male evacuees. The multivariable odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of HT, DM and HD (non-evacuees vs. evacuees) for men were 1.00 (0.89–1.11) vs. 0.85 (0.74–0.96), 0.90 (0.77–1.05) vs. 0.77 (0.64–0.91) and 0.92 (0.76–1.11) vs. 0.79 (0.63–0.99), and HT and DL for women were 0.90 (0.81–1.00) vs. 0.88 (0.78–0.99) and 0.80 (0.70–0.92) vs. 0.72 (0.62–0.83), respectively. The daily frequency of laughter was associated with a lower prevalence of lifestyle disease, especially in evacuees.

Influencing factors on the severity of clinical and laboratory manifestations of carbohydrate malabsorption syndrome in early-aged children with rotavirus infection

Purpose — to determine the role of the lactase gene MCM6 allelic polymorphism 13910 C/T and the concomitant food allergy (FA) and atopic dermatitis (AD) on the formation of carbohydrate malabsorption syndrome manifestations in early-aged children with rotavirus infection (RVI). Materials and methods. 60 children aged 1–24 months with RVI were examined. The determination of single nucleotide polymorphism 13910 C/T of the MCM6 gene was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and the content of total Ig E in serum was determined by enzyme immunoassay for all children on the day of hospitalization. Total amount of carbohydrates in feces (Benedict's test) and the level of lactose in feces (Malfatti's test) were also determined in the dynamics of the disease (on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th day). The analysis of the carbohydrate malabsorption syndrome clinical and laboratory signs was carried out in subgroups depending on the genotype 13910 C/T of the MCM6 gene and concomitant allergic pathology. Results. No significant differences were found in the maximum daily frequency of diarrhea, its duration and the frequency of intestinal colic and flatulence registration in children with genotypes C/C, C/T and T/T -13910 of the MCM6 gene (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the total level of carbohydrates and lactose in feces at all stages of the disease (p>0.05 on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th). Children with concomitant FA and AD had 1.3 and 2 times higher daily frequency of liquid bowel movements during the height of the disease (p<0.05 on the 5th and 7th days, respectively), 1.3 times longer diarrhea (p<0.05), 1.6 and 1.8 times higher incidence of flatulence and intestinal colic (p<0.05). These children had 3 and 3.3 times higher Benedict's test values (p<0.01), as well as 3 and 2.5 times higher Malfatti's test values (p<0.01; p<0.05, respectively) on the 3rd and 5th days of RVI, respectively, than in patients without allergies, with a gradual decrease in this difference during the period of convalescence (p>0.05 on the 10th day). Conclusions. The allelic polymorphism 13910 C/T of the MCM6 gene does not affect the degree of oligosaccharide metabolism disorders in the intestines in early-aged children with RVI. Against the background of concomitant food allergy and atopic dermatitis in children with RVI, there are more pronounced laboratory signs of carbohydrate malabsorption, and, as a consequence, diarrhea more pronounced during the height of the disease with a higher incidence of flatulence and intestinal colic. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki declaration. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the participating institution. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies. No conflict of interest was declared by the author. Key words: rotavirus infection, early-aged children, carbohydrate malabsorption syndrome, lactase gene polymorphism, food allergy, atopic dermatitis.

Strange attractor in earthquake swarms near Valsad (Gujarat), India

Valsad district in south Gujarat near the western coast of the peninsular India experienced earthquake swarms since early February 1986. Seismic monitoring through a network of micro earthquake seismographs showed a well concentrated seismic activity over an area of 7 × 10 km2 with the depth of foci extending from 1 to 15 km. A total number of 21,830 earthquakes were recorded during March 1986 to June 1988. The daily frequency of earthquakes for this period was utilized to examine deterministic chaos through evaluation of dimension of strange attractor and Lyapunov exponent. The low dimension of 2.1 for the strange attractor and positive value of the largest Lyapunov exponent suggest chaotic dynamics in Valsad earthquake swarms with at least 3 parameters for earthquake predictability. The results indicate differences in the characteristics of deterministic chaos in intraplate and interplate regions of India.

Seasonal adjustment of the Spanish sales daily data

We present a procedure to perform seasonal adjustment over daily sales data. The model adjusts daily information from the Immediate Supply of Information System for Value Added Tax declaration forms compiled by the Spanish Tax Agency. The procedure performs signal extraction and forecasting at the daily frequency, by means of an unobserved components model. The daily information allows a permanently updated monitoring of the short-term economic conditions of the Spanish economy.

81. Reducing Unnecessary Blood Cultures Through Diagnostic Stewardship

Background At our institution, we learned the frequency of blood cultures was sometimes being changed from “Once” to “Daily” without a defined number of days. We hypothesized this led to unnecessary blood cultures being performed. Methods Over a 3 month period from 12/6/2019-3/6/2020, we retrospectively evaluated the charts of patients who had a blood culture frequency changed to “Daily”. We evaluated if there was an initial positive blood culture within 48 hours of the “Daily” order being placed and the number of positive, negative, or “contaminant” sets of cultures drawn with the order. Contaminant blood cultures were defined as a contaminant species, present only once in the repeat cultures, and not present in initial positive cultures. Results 95 unique orders were placed with 406 sets of cultures drawn from 89 adults. ~20% of the time (17 orders) the order was placed without an initial positive blood culture. This led to 62 sets of cultures being drawn, only 1 of which came back positive. 78/95 orders had an initial positive blood culture. The most common initial organisms were Staphylococcus aureus (SA) (38), Candida sp (10), Enterobacterales sp (10), and coagulase negative staphylococci (7). 43/78 (55%) orders with an initial positive set had positive repeat cultures. SA (26) and Candida sp (8) were most common to have positive repeats. Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) were found in 5 of the orders and contaminant species were found in 4 of the orders. 54% of the patients who had a “Daily” order placed did not have positive repeat cultures. The majority of the cultures were drawn from Surgical (40 orders) and Medical (35 orders) services. Assuming that SA and Candida sp require 48 hours of negative blood cultures to document clearance and other species require 24 hours, it was estimated that 51% of the cultures drawn using the "Daily" frequency were unnecessary. Cost savings over a year of removing the "Daily" frequency would be ~&14,000. Data from "Daily" blood culture orders drawn at Oregon Health & Science University from 12/6/2019-3/6/2020 Conclusion Unnecessary blood cultures are drawn when the frequency of blood cultures is changed to "Daily". Repeat blood cultures had the greatest utility in bloodstream infections due to SA or Candida sp, and with CLABSI where the line is still in place. These results led to a stewardship intervention to change blood culture ordering at our institution. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

CEO Exposure, Media Influence, and Stock Returns

Media-aware stock movements are well acknowledged by the behavioral finance. As the soul of a firm, CEO’s media behavior is critical to the operation of a firm. CEO’s exposure could have captured the investors’ attention and enhanced the media effect in the stock market in terms of the “eyeball economics”, or CEO’s overexposure could have attracted more attention than firm-specific news, which attenuate the media effect in the stock market due to the investors’ limited attention. This study systematically explores the role and the moderating effect of CEO’s media behavior on the relationship between media content and stock markets. Using daily frequency data for a sample of Chinese stocks, this study shows that higher CEO media exposure attenuates the media effect on stock markets, especially consumer-related stocks.

CEO Exposure, Media Influence, and Stock Returns

Media-aware stock movements are well acknowledged by the behavioral finance. As the soul of a firm, CEO’s media behavior is critical to the operation of a firm. CEO’s exposure could have captured the investors’ attention and enhanced the media effect in the stock market in terms of the “eyeball economics”, or CEO’s overexposure could have attracted more attention than firm-specific news, which attenuate the media effect in the stock market due to the investors’ limited attention. This study systematically explores the role and the moderating effect of CEO’s media behavior on the relationship between media content and stock markets. Using daily frequency data for a sample of Chinese stocks, this study shows that higher CEO media exposure attenuates the media effect on stock markets, especially consumer-related stocks.

Arrhythmia patterns in patients with COVID-19 infection during and post hospitalization detected via a patch-based mobile cardiac telemetry system

Background Coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is the cause of the current world-wide pandemic. Cardiovascular complications occur in 20–30% of patients with COVID-19 infection including myocardial injury and arrhythmias. Current understanding of specific arrhythmia type and frequency is limited. In response to COVID-19 pandemic and overwhelmed hospital critical care and telemetry recourses, patch-based cardiac monitoring system received emergency Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for inpatient monitoring. A patch-based cardiac telemetry system has been shown to be useful for patient management during the COVID-19 pandemic and provides detailed analysis of cardiac rhythms. Purpose To analyze arrhythmia type and frequency in patients with COVID-19 infection, identifying arrhythmia patterns over time during hospitalization and after discharge. Methods A prospective cohort study during the COVID-19 pandemic was performed. We included patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection who had a patch-based mobile telemetry device placed for cardiac monitoring. A quantitative analysis including type, frequency and duration of detected arrhythmias was performed at the end of the monitoring period. Results A total of 103 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 diagnosis underwent monitoring. Quantitative reports for 59 patients were available for analysis, among those 59% were males, median age 65 (IQR 56–76) yrs. Mean wear time was 6.8±5.0 days. Arrhythmias were detected in 72.9% of patients. Majority of arrhythmias were SVT (59.3% of patients) and AF (22.0%). Episodes of AF duration &gt;30 min were detected in 12 patients. New onset AF was noted in 15.0% of patients and was significantly associated with age (OR 1.4 for 5 yrs difference; 95% CI 1.01–2.05). Brady arrhythmias (2nd degree, 3rd degree AV bock, pause≥3 seconds) were seen in 18.7% of patients. Arrhythmias were consistently detected throughout the monitoring period in 52.9%-89.5% of patients daily (Figure 1). In 9 patients who were discharged with continued patch monitoring, 3 patients (33.3%) had arrhythmic events during their outpatient monitoring period. Conclusion A majority of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection had arrhythmias detected by patch cardiac monitor. Arrhythmias were observed throughout hospitalization with a consistent daily frequency. Patients continued to exhibit cardiac arrhythmias after hospital discharge of a type similar to that seen during hospitalization. New onset AF often occurred and was associated with older age. Inpatient application of a patch cardiac telemetry with continued monitoring as outpatient is feasible and effective in detecting occult arrhythmias in patients with COVID-19 infection. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Daily frequency of arrhythmias detected

Stochastic Dynamics of the COVID-19 Case-Fatality Ratios in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines: Economic Implications for the Post-COVID-19 Era

This paper analyses the stochastic dynamics of the COVID-19 Case-Fatality Ratios (CFR) in three developing economies in East Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The sample covers the daily frequency data from April 28, 2020, to June 29, 2021. For this purpose, we utilize two unit root tests, which consider one structural break and two structural breaks. The findings reveal that the CFR follows a unit root process in Indonesia and the Philippines. However, the CFR is stationary in Malaysia. This evidence indicates that the COVID-19 has a permanent effect in Indonesia and the Philippines but temporary in Malaysia. The paper also discusses the potential economic implications of these results for the post-COVID-19 era in the related developing economies.