710Do exercise facilities moderate the effect of socioeconomic inequities in Body Mass Index?

Background The influence of area-level socioeconomic status (SES) on Body Mass Index (BMI) and adiposity is well known. There is an unequal distribution of exercise facilities (EF), which is dependent on area-level SES. However, is unclear whether EF intervenes on the relationship between SES and BMI. Methods BMI data were obtained from baseline of the Heart Healthy Hoods Cohort. Overall, 1,258 (40-75 years old) residents of Madrid, Spain were recruited between 2017 and 2019. Area-level SES was calculated for each census section based on 7 indicators in 4 domains: education, welfare, employment and living conditions. Availability of EF was defined as the count of EF in a 1,000m street network buffer around participants’ census sections of residence. A five-step mediation analysis was carried out to quantify the effect of EF availability. Analysis of each specific path was carried out with multilevel regression model, adjusted by sex and population density. Results Increases in SES were associated with decreases in BMI (β=-0.723, IC95% -1.003; -0.444). Alike, increases on availability of EF were associated with decreases on BMI (β=-0.09, IC95% -0.132; -0.048). Multilevel regression confirmed availability of EF was a significant moderator between SES and BMI (β=-0.566, IC95% -0.959; -0.173). Thus, the indirect effect of EF on the association between SES on diabetes was -0.258. Conclusions Availability of exercise facilities moderate socioeconomic inequities in BMI. Key messages Increasing the availability of EF in disadvantaged areas may have the potential to moderate inequities related to body size.

Seroprevalence of COVID-19 among health workers in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal (SEVID-KaV): a longitudinal cohort study

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) burden is often underestimated when relying on case-based incidence reports. Seroprevalence studies accurately estimate infectious disease burden by estimating the population that has developed antibodies following an infection. Sero-Epidemiology of COVID-19 in the Kathmandu valley (SEVID-KaV) is a longitudinal survey of hospital-based health workers in the Kathmandu valley. Between December 3-25, we sampled 800 health workers from 20 hospitals and administered a questionnaire eliciting COVID-19 related history and tested for COVID-19 IgG antibodies. We then used a probabilistic multilevel regression model with post-stratification to correct for test accuracy, the effect of hospital-based clustering, and to establish representativeness. 522 (65.2%) of the participants were female, 372 (46%) were between ages 18-29, and 7 (0.9%) were 60 or above. 287 (36%) of the participants were nurses. About 23% of the participants previously had a PCR positive infection. 321 (40.13%) individuals tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies. Adjusted for test accuracy and weighted by age, gender and occupation category, the seroprevalence was 38.17% (95% Credible Interval (CrI) 29.26%–47.82%). Posterior predictive hospital-wise seroprevalence ranged between 38.1% (95% CrI 30.7.0%– 44.1%) and 40.5% (95% CrI 34.7%–47.0%).

Pulling from the front or pushing from behind: how competency prioritisation should differ to optimise firm competitiveness

Purpose This study aims to contrast the disparities in optimal competitiveness configurations across international economies. Additionally, we analyse the competitive efficiency across firms of different performance endowments to identify distinctions and determine whether standardised or customised competitiveness configurations are optimal. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a multilevel regression model to confirm country-specific effects followed by a non-parametric “Benefit-of-the-Doubt” (BoD) method to conduct an international comparison of the competitive efficiency of top- and poor-performing firms across eight European and Latin American economies. Findings Not only are national ecosystems significant differentiators of competitive efficiency, but contras firm-level characteristics also explain these differences. It is found that more recent start-ups tend to experience significantly greater competitive efficiency. However, by separating the top-performing firms from the poor performers in each economy, it is found that the configurational outputs that potentially contribute most to competitive efficiency are not necessarily the same; while “technology” is a key factor for driving the competitive efficiency of top-performing firms, “market” drivers are most essential for improving the competitive potential of poor performers. Originality/value The configurational outputs that potentially contribute most to competitive efficiency are not necessarily universal.

Penerapan Regresi Logistik Biner Multilevel terhadap Ketepatan Waktu Lulus Mahasiswa Program Magister Sekolah Pascasarjana IPB

The study length of alumnus is one of the study achievement indicator of the university. Study length for Master Program can be divided into two categories which is pass on time (study length ≤24 months) and pass not on time (study length >24 months). In the classical regression analysis, each student are assumed to be independent. But in reality, each student are grouped into a different study programs so that the individuals who are in the same study program tend to have a similar characteristics. Multilevel regression is one of the analysis that accomodates the problem. The level used in this study are level 1 (individual student) and level 2 (study programs). The best multilevel regression model obtained is a model with random intercept and the variance is produced from study program is 0.6636. Factors that give an effect to the graduation’s timeliness are age, married status, and the source of the S2 education cost.

How accurate are citations of frequently cited papers in biomedical literature?

Citations are an important, but often overlooked, part of every scientific paper. They allow the reader to trace the flow of evidence, serving as a gateway to relevant literature. Most scientists are aware of citations errors, but few appreciate the prevalence or consequences of these problems. The purpose of this study was to examine how often frequently cited papers in biomedical scientific literature are cited inaccurately. The study included an active participation of first authors of frequently cited papers; to first-hand verify the citations accuracy. The approach was to determine most cited original articles and their parent authors, that could be able to access, and identify, collect and review all citations of their original work. Findings from feasibility study, where we collected and reviewed 1,540 articles containing 2,526 citations of 14 most cited articles in which the 1st authors were affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, were further evaluated for external confirmation in an independent verification set of articles. Verification set included 4,912 citations identified in 2,995 articles that cited 13 most cited articles published by authors affiliated with the Mayo Clinic Division of Nephrology and Hypertension (Rochester, Minnesota, USA), whose research focus is hypertension and peripheral vascular disease. Most cited articles and their citations were determined according to SCOPUS database search. A citation was defined as being accurate if the cited article supported or was in accordance with the statement by citing authors. A multilevel regression model for binary data was used to determine predictors of inaccurate citations. At least one inaccurate citation was found in 11% and 15% of articles in the feasibility study and verification set, respectively, suggesting that inaccurate citations are common in biomedical literature. The main findings were similar in both sets. The most common problem was the citation of nonexistent findings (38.4%), followed by an incorrect interpretation of findings (15.4%). One fifth of inaccurate citations were due to “chains of inaccurate citations,” in which inaccurate citations appeared to have been copied from previous papers. Reviews, longer time elapsed from publication to citation, and multiple citations were associated with higher chance of citation being inaccurate. Based on these findings, several actions that authors, mentors and journals can take to reduce citation inaccuracies and maintain the integrity of the scientific literature have been proposed.

Development of a Pressure–Precipitation Transmitter

A novel method is proposed to create very long term daily precipitation data for the extreme statistics by computing very long term daily sea level pressure (SLP) with the SLP emulator (a statistical multilevel regression model) and then converting the SLP into precipitation by combining statistical downscaling methods of the analog ensemble and singular value decomposition (SVD). After a review of the SLP emulator, we present a multilevel regression model constructed for each month that is based on a time series of 1000 principal components of SLPs on global reanalysis data. Simple integration of the SLP emulator provides 100-yr daily SLP data, which are temporally interpolated into a 6-h interval. Next, the pressure–precipitation transmitter (PPT) is developed to convert 6-hourly SLP to daily precipitation. The PPT makes its first-guess estimate from a composite of time frames with analogous SLP transition patterns in the learning period. The departure of SLPs from the analog ensemble is then corrected with an SVD relationship between SLPs and precipitation. The final product showed a fairly realistic precipitation pattern, displaying temporal and spatial continuity. The annual-maximum precipitation of the estimated 100-yr data extended the tail of probability distribution of the 8-yr learning data.

The Presence of Cough and Tuberculosis: Active Case Finding Outcomes in the Philippines

The results of a tuberculosis (TB) active case finding (ACF) program, implemented by International Care Ministries (ICM) in the Philippines, were examined to understand how the presence of physical symptoms might influence ACF outcomes among extreme low-income Filipinos. ICM health staff implemented symptom screening in villages and suspected cases were referred to the closest rural health unit (RHU) for TB testing. ACF was carried out in Mindanao and the Visayas, across 16 different provinces. All participants were interviewed pre/postprogram, and screening outcomes were collected. A multilevel regression model was constructed to explore the effect of factors on the likelihood of getting tested. A total of 4635 individuals were screened; 1290 (27.8%) were symptom positive and referred. From those referred, 336 (7.2%) were tested for TB and 53 (1.1%) were TB positive. “Cough for more than two weeks” was associated with a 1.09 (95% CI 1.01, 1.15) times increase in likelihood of getting tested. The finding that the presence of cough is associated with higher rate of testing suggests that individuals in these settings might not know or believe that the lack of cough does not equate to lack of TB infection. While technologies and screening algorithms give us the ability to refine the ‘supply’ side of the TB screening, addressing the knowledge gap should improve ‘demand’.

Journey-to-Crime Distances of Residential Burglars in China Disentangled: Origin and Destination Effects

Research on journey-to-crime distance has revealed the importance of both the characteristics of the offender as well as those of target communities. However, the effect of the home community has so far been ignored. Besides, almost all journey-to-crime studies were done in Western societies, and little is known about how the distinct features of communities in major Chinese cities shape residential burglars’ travel patterns. To fill this gap, we apply a cross-classified multilevel regression model on data of 3763 burglary trips in ZG City, one of the bustling metropolises in China. This allows us to gain insight into how residential burglars’ journey-to-crime distances are shaped by their individual-level characteristics as well as those of their home and target communities. Results show that the characteristics of the home community have larger effects than those of target communities, while individual-level features are most influential. Older burglars travel over longer distances to commit their burglaries than the younger ones. Offenders who commit their burglaries in groups tend to travel further than solo offenders. Burglars who live in communities with a higher average rent, a denser road network and a higher percentage of local residents commit their burglaries at shorter distances. Communities with a denser road network attract burglars from a longer distance, whereas those with a higher percentage of local residents attract them from shorter by.