Neural correlates of face processing associated with development of social communication in 12-month infants with familial risk of autism spectrum disorder

Background Differences in face processing in individuals with ASD is hypothesized to impact the development of social communication skills. This study aimed to characterize the neural correlates of face processing in 12-month-old infants at familial risk of developing ASD by (1) comparing face-sensitive event-related potentials (ERP) (Nc, N290, P400) between high-familial-risk infants who develop ASD (HR-ASD), high-familial-risk infants without ASD (HR-NoASD), and low-familial-risk infants (LR), and (2) evaluating how face-sensitive ERP components are associated with development of social communication skills. Methods 12-month-old infants participated in a study in which they were presented with alternating images of their mother’s face and the face of a stranger (LR = 45, HR-NoASD = 41, HR-ASD = 24) as EEG data were collected. Parent-reported and laboratory-observed social communication measures were obtained at 12 and 18 months. Group differences in ERP responses were evaluated using ANOVA, and multiple linear regressions were conducted with maternal education and outcome groups as covariates to assess relationships between ERP and behavioral measures. Results For each of the ERP components (Nc [negative-central], N290, and P400), the amplitude difference between mother and stranger (Mother-Stranger) trials was not statistically different between the three outcome groups (Nc p = 0.72, N290 p = 0.88, P400 p = 0.91). Marginal effects analyses found that within the LR group, a greater Nc Mother-Stranger response was associated with better expressive language skills on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, controlling for maternal education and outcome group effects (marginal effects dy/dx = 1.15; p < 0.01). No significant associations were observed between the Nc and language or social measures in HR-NoASD or HR-ASD groups. In contrast, specific to the HR-ASD group, amplitude difference between the Mother versus Stranger P400 response was positively associated with expressive (dy/dx = 2.1, p < 0.001) and receptive language skills at 12 months (dy/dx = 1.68, p < 0.005), and negatively associated with social affect scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (dy/dx = − 1.22, p < 0.001) at 18 months. Conclusions In 12-month-old infant siblings with subsequent ASD, increased P400 response to Mother over Stranger faces is positively associated with concurrent language and future social skills.

An economic analysis of nontraditional lending in Chapter 12 bankruptcy cases

PurposeNontraditional lenders are important credit providers for farmers. However, previous research has found that farmers who use nontraditional lenders are riskier lending opportunities. Using a unique dataset of Chapter 12 bankruptcy cases, the authors analyze the share of payment that is made or allowed by the courts on debt owed to traditional and nontraditional lenders.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a Tobit model to calculate parameter estimates and marginal effects of the impact of creditor type (traditional/nontraditional) and debt classification (secured, priority and unsecured) on the proportion of a bankruptcy claim that lenders receive or are expected to receive when a case is discharged.FindingsThe authors find that traditional lenders with secured debt receive a greater repayment than nontraditional lenders. Meanwhile, there are more than twice the number of nontraditional lenders that are owed debt in these bankruptcy claims. While this raises concern for nontraditional lenders, that is mitigated some by the level of debt that is on average about one-sixth the size of the average debt of traditional lenders. Finally, the authors show there are numerous opportunities for future research in this area using case level bankruptcy data.Originality/valueThis paper fills a research gap by focusing on the state of nontraditional lenders in Chapter 12 bankruptcy cases and their treatment in discharged cases.

Marginal Effects of Multiple Years of Volunteering on Objective and Subjective Measures of Cognition

Volunteering is conducive to older Americans’ physical and mental health; however, the effect of volunteering on cognitive health is less studied. Using four waves (2010-2016) of the Health and Retirement Study, this study examined the incremental effect of volunteering engagement on older adults’ cognitive health. We included10,718 cognitively unimpaired, community-dwelling individuals aged 51+ in 2010 and were alive through 2016. Volunteering engagement was measured by the number of times respondents participated in volunteering throughout the four waves. Objective cognition was assessed using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS), a standardized test of cognitive functioning. The TICS score was further categorized into three statuses: “No impairment,” “Cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND),” and “Dementia.” Subjective cognition referred to self-rated memory on a 5-point Likert scale. With sampling weights, ordered logit regression was performed controlling for health-related variables (e.g., health conditions, depression), SES (e.g., income, assets), contextual features (e.g., neighborhood safety, urbanicity), and sociodemographics. The average marginal effects (AMEs) were produced. Results show that more volunteering engagement significantly reduced the likelihood of CIND or dementia (OR=0.88, p&lt;0.001). Specifically, every one-time increase in volunteering increased the probability of remaining cognitively normal by 0.01 (p&lt;0.001), whereas it decreased the probability of CIND by 0.008 (p&lt;0.001) and dementia by 0.001 (p&lt;0.001). For subjective cognition, there was no significant relationship with volunteering. Our findings address gaps in literature by adding evidence of the incremental health benefits of volunteering on cognitive functioning. Differences in the findings for subjective and objective cognition warrant further investigation.

Population genetic bottleneck has only marginal effects on fitness evolution and its repeatability in dioecious C. elegans

Evolution is a key process by which populations can adapt to novel conditions, but it is not well understood how predictable this process is. Predictability is expected to depend on the ratio of deterministic and stochastic processes that contribute to evolutionary change and this ratio is modulated by the effective population size. Smaller effective populations harbor less genetic diversity and stochastic processes are generally expected to play a larger role, leading to less repeatable evolutionary trajectories. Empirical insight into the relationship between effective population size and repeatability is limited and biased towards asexual unicellular organisms. Here, we used populations of obligately outcrossing Caenorhabditis elegans to test whether fitness increase and selection response were more heterogeneous after a moderate or strong population bottleneck compared to a scenario without bottleneck. Nematodes were exposed to a novel bacterial prey and lower temperature. Population sizes after one week of growth (as a proxy of fitness) were measured before and after 15 generations of evolution. We found that replicates across all (no/moderate/strong bottleneck) treatments evolved higher fitness and no significant difference in average or maximum fitness was found among treatments. Partitioning fitness variance among effects from selection and effects from chance showed that a strong (but not a moderate) bottleneck reduced the relative contribution of selection effects to fitness variation. However, the reduced contribution from selection did not translate to a significant reduction in the repeatability of fitness evolution. Thus, although a strong bottleneck reduced the contribution of deterministic evolutionary change, we found only marginal effects on quantitative measurements of repeatability in evolution. We conclude that the extent to which evolution is predictable may not universally depend on effective population size.

The Nonlinear Impact of Institutional Quality on International Reserves: International Evidence

This paper investigates the nonlinear effect of institutional quality on the holding of international reserves by applying the two-step system generalized method of moments on data consisting of 67 countries from 1996 to 2016. The hypothesis is that the association between institutional quality and international reserves has an inverted U pattern. The coefficient sign of the institutional quality and its square term supports the hypothesis. Besides, the marginal effects suggest that the higher the institutional quality index, the lower the demand for reserves. The outputs indicate the importance of good institutional quality in reducing the overdependence on international reserves.

Utilization of Thermally Treated SiC Nanowhiskers and Superplasticizer for Cementitious Composite Production

Nanomaterials are potential candidates to improve the mechanical properties and durability of cementitious composites. SiC nanowhiskers (NWs) present exceptional mechanical properties and have already been successfully incorporated into different matrices. In this study, cementitious composites were produced with a superplasticizer (SP) and 0–1.0 wt % SiC NWs. Two different NWs were used: untreated (NT-NW) and thermally treated at 500 °C (500-NW). The rheological properties, cement hydration, mechanical properties, and microstructure were evaluated. The results showed that NWs incorporation statistically increased the yield stress of cement paste (by up to 10%) while it led to marginal effects in viscosity. NWs enhanced the early cement hydration, increasing the main heat flow peak. NWs incorporation increased the compressive strength, tensile strength, and thermal conductivity of composites by up to 56%, 66%, and 80%, respectively, while it did not statistically affect the water absorption. Scanning electron microscopy showed a good bond between NWs and cement matrix in addition to the bridging of cracks. Overall, the thermal treatment increased the specific surface area of NWs enhancing their effects on cement properties, while SP improved the NWs dispersion, increasing their beneficial effects on the hardened properties.

Heterogeneity in the association between youth unemployment and mental health later in life: a quantile regression analysis of longitudinal data from English schoolchildren

ObjectivesAn association between youth unemployment and poorer mental health later in life has been found in several countries. Little is known about whether this association is consistent across individuals or differs in strength. We adopt a quantile regression approach to explore heterogeneity in the association between youth unemployment and later mental health along the mental health distribution.DesignProspective longitudinal cohort of secondary schoolchildren in England followed from age 13/14 in 2004 to age 25 in 2015.SettingEngland, UK.Participants7707 participants interviewed at age 25.Primary and secondary outcome measures12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) Likert score, a measure of minor psychiatric morbidity.ResultsYouth unemployment was related to worse mental health at age 25. The association was several times stronger at deciles of GHQ representing the poorest levels of mental health. This association was only partly attenuated when adjusting for confounding variables and for current employment status. In fully adjusted models not including current employment status, marginal effects at the 50th percentile were 0.73 (95% CI −0.05 to 1.54, b=0.11) points, while marginal effects at the 90th percentile were 3.76 (95% CI 1.82 to 5.83; b=0.58) points. The results were robust to different combinations of control variables.ConclusionsThere is heterogeneity in the longitudinal association between youth unemployment and mental health, with associations more pronounced at higher levels of psychological ill health. Youth unemployment may signal clinically relevant future psychological problems among some individuals.

Awareness of HIV serostatus by sex partners of women living with HIV in North-Central Nigeria: correlates and predictive analyses

Non-communication of HIV status among sex partners is a notable hurdle in halting transmission, largely due to socio-cultural factors. This study aimed to predict the determinants of male partners’ awareness of women’s serostatus. A total of 8825 women of reproductive age living with HIV who were clients at five comprehensive HIV treatment centres in Benue State, North-Central Nigeria were surveyed between June and December 2017, and 6655 reported having a sexual partner at the time of the survey selected for analysis. A regression model was used to estimate the determinants of male partner awareness of serostatus from the perspective of women. Conditional marginal analyses were conducted to evaluate the marginal effects of identified predictors on the probability of outcomes. Partners of married women were found to have greater odds of being aware of their spouse’s serostatus (adjusted OR (aOR): 3.20; 95%CI: 2.13–4.81) than non-married partners. Similarly, the odds of male partner awareness increased with the years women had been on antiretroviral therapy (aOR: 1.13; 95%CI: 1.07–1.20). The probability of partners of married respondents being aware of their spouse’s HIV serostatus was 97%. The conditional marginal effects of being educated to primary or higher level were 1.2 (95% CI: –0.2 to 2.7) and 1.8 (95% CI: 0.09–3.4) percentage points higher respectively when compared with women with no formal education. Being unemployed or being a trader significantly decreased the probability of partners being aware of respondents’ serostatus when compared with farmers; conditional marginal effects of –6.7 (95% CI: –12.0 to –1.4) and –3.9 (95% CI: –5.7 to –2.2) percentage points, respectively. The study found that relationship status and girl-child education are factors that can improve communication of HIV status to sex partners. Policies and interventions aimed at improving the social determinants of health, and social support for healthy communications in relationships, are recommended to reduce HIV transmission between sex partners.

Trade Policy and the Marshall–Lerner Condition: Application of the Tobit Model

This paper establishes the micro-foundation for the income-price approach to export and import functions from the firm’s profit maximization problem. Following Boyd et al. (2000), we derive the Marshall–Lerner condition mathematically and analyze the effects of home and foreign trade policies, such as the minimum access and quantitative trade restriction, on the Marshall–Lerner condition. In conclusion, such trade policies make the condition theoretically difficult to hold since the marginal effects of the Tobit estimates under deterministic trade policies are always lower than the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates under no trade policies in absolute values.