The Transient IFN Response and the Delay of Adaptive Immunity Feature the Severity of COVID-19

COVID-19 patients show heterogeneous and dynamic immune features which determine the clinical outcome. Here, we built a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) dataset for dissecting these complicated immune responses through a longitudinal survey of COVID-19 patients with various categories of outcomes. The data reveals a highly fluctuating peripheral immune landscape in severe COVID-19, whereas the one in asymptomatic/mild COVID-19 is relatively steady. Then, the perturbed immune landscape in peripheral blood returned to normal state in those recovered from severe COVID-19. Importantly, the imbalance of the excessively strong innate immune response and delayed adaptive immunity in the early stage of viral infection accelerates the progression of the disease, indicated by a transient strong IFN response and weak T/B-cell specific response. The proportion of abnormal monocytes appeared early and rose further throughout the severe disease. Our data indicate that a dynamic immune landscape is associated with the progression and recovery of severe COVID-19, and have provided multiple immune biomarkers for early warning of severe COVID-19.

Life Satisfaction Development in the Transition to Adulthood: Differences by Gender and Immigrant Background

Life satisfaction is crucial for healthy development into adulthood. However, it is yet largely unknown how life satisfaction develops in the transition to adulthood. This study examined life satisfaction development in this transition and paid special attention to differences between boys, girls, children of immigrants, and nonimmigrants. Unique longitudinal data of seven waves (2010–2018) of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey Germany were used. Respondents (N = 3757, 54% girls, 78% nonimmigrants, Mage weighted = 14.6, SD = 0.6 at wave 1) were followed between ages 14 and 23 and multi-level random effect models were applied. Life satisfaction developed in a nonlinear way in the transition to adulthood (M-shape), with overall decreases between age 17 and 18 and between age 20 and 23. Girls reported lower life satisfaction levels in adolescence and more unstable trajectories than boys, where girls with immigrant backgrounds represented the least advantageous life satisfaction trajectory. Differences in life satisfaction between groups decreased from age 19 onwards.

Sexual Violence as a Key Predictor of Depressive Symptoms in Women: Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families

The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of violence on depressive symptoms in women. We analyzed panel data from the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families ( n = 6,632). Exposure to sexual violence was a significant predictor of the onset of depressive symptoms. After adjusting for all covariates, other predictors included the perception of a poor or very poor health status than normal and participants in their 40s and 50s versus participants younger than 40 years. Assessing exposure to sexual violence might be beneficial for evaluating depressive symptoms in women who are newly diagnosed with depression.

A Randomised Controlled Trial of Email Versus Mailed Invitation Letter In A National Longitudinal Survey of Physicians.

Background: Despite the low cost of using email to distribute surveys to medical practitioners, email invitations have been associated with lower response rates, potentially increasing response bias and reducing external validity. We examine if there is a difference in response rates from using email rather than a mailed invitation letter in a nationally representative longitudinal survey of qualified physicians. Methods: We use a parallel randomised controlled trial during the 11th annual wave of the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) longitudinal survey of doctors. Participants were from previous waves of MABEL and newly invited in Wave 11. The control group was invited using a mailed paper letter (including a paper survey plus instructions to complete online) and three mailed paper reminders. The intervention group was approached in the same way apart from the second reminder when they were approached by email only. The primary outcome is the response rate and the statistical analysis was blinded.Results: 18,247 doctors were randomly allocated to the control (9,125) or intervention group (9,127), with 9,108 and 9,107 included in the final analysis. Using intention to treat analysis, the response rate in the intervention group was 35.92% compared to 37.59% in the control group, a difference of -1.66 percentage points (95% CI: -3.06 to -0.26). The difference was larger for General Practitioners (-2.76 percentage points, 95% CI: -4.65 to -0.87) compared to other specialists (-0.47 percentage points, 95% CI: -2.53 to 1.60). For those who supplied an email address, the average treatment effect on the treated was higher at -2.63 percentage points (95% CI: -4.50 to -0.75) for all physicians, -3.17 percentage points (95% CI: -5.83 to -0.53) for General Practitioners, and -2.1 percentage points (95% CI: -4.75 to 0.56) for other specialists. Conclusions: For qualified physicians, using email to invite participants to complete a survey leads to lower response rates compared to a mailed letter. Lower response rates need to be traded off with the lower costs of using email rather than mailed letters.

Regression to the mean in latent change score models: an example involving breastfeeding and intelligence

Latent change score models are often used to study change over time in observational data. However, latent change score models may be susceptible to regression to the mean. In the present study, we investigate regression to the mean in the case of breastfeeding and intelligence of children. Earlier observational studies have identified a positive association between breastfeeding and child intelligence, even when adjusting for maternal intelligence. Here, we used latent change score modeling to analyze intergenerational change in intelligence, both from mothers to children and backward from children to mothers, in the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) dataset (N = 6283). When analyzing change from mothers to children, breastfeeding was found to have a positive association with intergenerational change in intelligence, whereas when analyzing backward change from children to mothers, a negative association was found. These discrepant findings highlight a hidden flexibility in the analytical space and call into question the reliability of earlier studies of breastfeeding and intelligence using observational data.

Mothers’ Behaviors and Children’s Social Confidence and Ability: Correlations from the NLSY

The understanding of shyness and social withdrawal has been built over the past half century with research looking into factors that cause this in children. However, not many mention the natural phenomenon of if children mimic social confidence from their adult figure. This study used correlation analyses to investigate the relations between parents’ behaviors and attitudes and their children’s social confidence and ability. Data were from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1986 Child and Young Adult Survey Mother Supplement. Results showed weak correlation between social confidence and outings frequency, either with family and friends or not. However, children who were spanked more frequently positively correlated with their mothers rating them to be more high strung. Furthermore, all hypotheses showed results that follow the direction of the prediction, so further investigation into the topic may show more significant correlation or a causation relationship of the variables.