Secondary attack rates of COVID-19 in Norwegian families: a nation-wide register-based study

To characterize the family index case for detected SARS-CoV-2 and describe testing and secondary attack rates in the family, we used individual-level administrative data of all families and all PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 in Norway in 2020. All families with at least one parent and one child below the age of 20 who lived at the same address (N = 662,582), where at least one member, i.e. the index case, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in 2020, were included. Secondary attack rates (SAR7) were defined as the share of non-index family members with a positive PCR test within 7 days after the date when the index case tested positive. SARs were calculated separately for parent- and child-index cases, and for parent- and child-secondary cases. We identified 7548 families with an index case, comprising 26,991 individuals (12,184 parents, 14,808 children). The index was a parent in 66% of the cases. Among index children, 42% were in the age group 17–20 and only 8% in the age group 0–6. When the index was a parent, SAR7 was 24% (95% CI 24–25), whilst SAR7 was 14% (95% CI 13–15) when the index was a child. However, SAR7 was 24% (95% CI 20–28) when the index was a child aged 0–6 years and declined with increasing age of the index child. SAR7 from index parent to other parent was 35% (95% CI 33–36), and from index child to other children 12% (95% CI 11–13). SAR7 from index child aged 0–6 to parents was 27% (95% CI 22–33). The percent of non-index family members tested within 7 days after the index case, increased from about 20% in April to 80% in December, however, SAR7 stabilized at about 20% from May. We conclude that parents and older children are most often index cases for SARS-CoV-2 in families in Norway, while parents and young children more often transmit the virus within the family. This study suggests that whilst the absolute infection numbers are low for young children because of their low introduction rate, when infected, young children and parents transmit the virus to the same extent within the family.

Secondary Attack Rates of COVID-19 in Norwegian Families: A Nation-Wide Register-Based Study

To characterize the family index case for detected SARS-CoV-2 and describe testing and secondary attack rates in the family, we used individual-level administrative data of all families and all PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 in Norway in 2020. All families with at least one parent and one child below the age of 20 who lived at the same address (N=662 582), where at least one member, i.e. the index case, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in 2020, were included. Secondary attack rates (SAR7) were defined as the share of non-index family members with a positive PCR test within seven days after the date when the index case tested positive. SARs were calculated separately for parent- and child-index cases, and for parent- and child-secondary cases. We identified 7548 families with an index case, comprising 26 991 individuals (12184 parents, 14808 children). The index was a parent in 66% of the cases. Among index children, 42% were in the age group 17-20 and only 8% in the age group 0-6. When the index was a parent, SAR7 was 24% (95%CI 24 to 25), whilst SAR7 was 14% (95%CI 13 to 15) when the index was a child. However, SAR7 was 24% (95%CI 20 to 28) when the index was a child aged 0-6 years and declined with increasing age of the index child. SAR7 from index parent to other parent was 35% (95%CI 33 to 36), and from index child to other children 12% (95%CI 11 to 13). SAR7 from index child aged 0-6 to parents was 27% (95%CI 22 to 33). The percent of non-index family members tested within 7 days after the index case, increased from about 20% in April to 80% in December, however, SAR7 stabilized at about 20% from May. We conclude that parents and older children are most often index cases for SARS-CoV-2 in families in Norway, while parents and young children more often transmit the virus within the family. This study suggests that whilst the absolute infection numbers are low for young children because of their low introduction rate, when infected, young children and parents transmit the virus to the same extent within the family.

Secondary attack rates of COVID-19 in Norwegian families: A nation-wide register-based study

Background Reported transmission rates of SARS-CoV-2 within families vary widely, and there are few reports on transmission from children to other family members. More knowledge is needed to guide infection control measures. Objective To characterize the family index case for detected SARS-CoV-2 and describe testing and secondary attack rates in the family. Design Register-based cohort study. Setting Individual-level administrative data of all families and all PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 in Norway in 2020. Participants All families with at least one parent and one child below the age of 20, who lived at the same address (N=662 582), where at least one member tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in 2020. Main outcome measures Secondary attack rates (SAR7) were defined as the share of non-index family members with a positive PCR test within seven days of the index case. SARs were calculated separately for parent- and child-index cases, and for parent- and child-secondary cases. Results We identified 7548 index cases, comprising 26 991 individuals, of which 12184 were parents and 14808 children. The index was a parent in 66% of the cases. Among the children, 42% of the index cases were in the age group 17-20 and only 8% 0-6 years. When the index was a parent, SAR7 was 24% (95%CI 24 to 25), whilst SAR7 was 14% (95%CI 13 to 15) when the index was a child. However, SAR7 was 24% (95%CI 20 to 28) when the index was a child aged 0-6 years and declined steeply with increasing age of the index child. SAR7 from index parent to other parents was 35% (95%CI 33 to 36), and from index child to other children 12% (95%CI 11 to 13). SAR7 from index child aged 0-6 to parents was 27% (95%CI 22 to 33). The percent of non-index family members tested within 7 days after the index case, increased from about 20% in April to 80% in December, however, SAR7 stabilized at about 20% from May. Conclusion Parents and older children are most often index cases for SARS-CoV-2 in families in Norway, while parents and young children more often transmit the virus within the families. This study suggests that whilst the absolute infection numbers are low for young children because of their low introduction rate, when infected, young children and parents transmit the virus to the same extent within the family.

The open-ended, high cadence, Kp-like geomagnetic Hp30 and Hp60 indices

<div><span><span>The new planetary open-ended Hpo index family (consisting of the half-hourly Hp30 and hourly Hp60) has been developed within the Space Weather Atmosphere Models and Indices (SWAMI) project (see http://swami-h2020.eu/</span></span>) of the H2020 European Union research activity. These new indices resemble the Kp index by having a similar derivation scheme and a nearly identical frequency distribution of index values for events with values < 9. However, they have provided a better temporal resolution than the 3-hourly Kp index. Additionally, the events with values > 9- are further subdivided using an open-ended scale (9o, 9+, 10-, 10o, 10+, 11-, ...) to better represent different levels of strong geomagnetic activity. In this study, the advantages and integrity of Hp30 and Hp60 indices are analysed and discussed. The comparison of these indices with the 3-hourly Kp index in terms of frequency distribution and correlation and with other geophysical parameters are also presented.</div><div><span><span>Near real-time indices and archive indices back to 1995 are available from GFZ under the CC BY 4.0 license including linear versions of the Hp30 and Hp60 indices, the ap30 and ap60 indices (see https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/section/geomagnetism/data-products-services/hpo-index/). Near real-time</span></span><span> plots of the Hp30, Hp60 and Kp indices for the current day and the previous six days are also provided.</span></div>

Bayesian multilevel model application on determinants of perinatal mortality in Ethiopia using 2011 and 2016 EDHS data

Perinatal mortality is the death of a fetus after the age of viability until the 7th day of life. Perinatal mortality is estimated by the addition of stillbirths plus the early neonatal mortality, which represents deaths occurring during the first 7 days after delivery. Perinatal mortality remains a great burden in Ethiopia. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the demographic and socio-economic determinant factors of perinatal mortality in Ethiopia using the 2011 and 2016 Ethiopian Demographic Health Surveys (EDHS). For data analysis, the Bayesian multilevel Model was used in this study. The study revealed that there is a regional variation in perinatal mortality and this variation was high in 2011 EDHS than in 2016 EDHS data. Factors like sex of the child, age of mother, wealth index, family size, birth order, source of drinking water, place of residence, place of delivery, and child twin were found to be the determinant factors of perinatal mortality in both 2011 and 2016 EDHS. In this study, we found that perinatal mortality variation across regions has decreased from 2011 to 2016 surveys which shows the promising progress of health intervention in the country.

DReSS: a method to quantitatively describe the influence of structural perturbations on state spaces of genetic regulatory networks

Structures of genetic regulatory networks are not fixed. These structural perturbations can cause changes to the reachability of systems’ state spaces. As system structures are related to genotypes and state spaces are related to phenotypes, it is important to study the relationship between structures and state spaces. However, there is still no method can quantitively describe the reachability differences of two state spaces caused by structural perturbations. Therefore, Difference in Reachability between State Spaces (DReSS) is proposed. DReSS index family can quantitively describe differences of reachability, attractor sets between two state spaces and can help find the key structure in a system, which may influence system’s state space significantly. First, basic properties of DReSS including non-negativity, symmetry and subadditivity are proved. Then, typical examples are shown to explain the meaning of DReSS and the differences between DReSS and traditional graph distance. Finally, differences of DReSS distribution between real biological regulatory networks and random networks are compared. Results show most structural perturbations in biological networks tend to affect reachability inside and between attractor basins rather than to affect attractor set itself when compared with random networks, which illustrates that most genotype differences tend to influence the proportion of different phenotypes and only a few ones can create new phenotypes. DReSS can provide researchers with a new insight to study the relation between genotypes and phenotypes.

Uptake of pre-symptomatic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 is age, gender, offspring and time-dependent

BackgroundGenetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants (PVs) has been available in North West England since 1995. We assessed uptake of pre-symptomatic testing in 1564 families with PVs over a 24.5year follow-up (FU) period.MethodsFirst-degree relatives (FDRs) in families with BRCA1 or BRCA2 PVs were eligible from date of index family report if unaffected by a relevant cancer and alive at report date. FDRs were censored as not having undergone a pre-symptomatic test at diagnosis of a relevant cancer, date of death, age 93 or 30/03/2019. Time to uptake of pre-symptomatic testing was assessed by Kaplan–Meier curves, by gender and children.Results2554 male and 3115 female FDRs were eligible. Overall uptake was 775 (30.3%) in men and 1935 (62.1%) in women. This increased at 15 years to 33.6% and 67.9%, and continued to rise until 24 years (p<0.001). For women, the 29-year to 39-year age group had the highest uptake at 10 years FU (72.5%; p<0.01), whereas the 50-year to 59-year age group was highest in men (37.2%; p<0.01). Women <18 years at the time of familial variant identification had lower initial uptake, but this rose to >80% by 15 years. Uptake was higher in parous women (p<0.001) and in men with daughters (p<0.0001).ConclusionUptake of BRCA1/2 pre-symptomatic testing is age, gender and time-dependent, and higher in women with children and men with daughters.

Co-movement dynamics of sustainability indices: investigating the diversification opportunities through FTSE4Good index family and Borsa Istanbul sustainability index

Purpose This study aims to investigate the international portfolio diversification opportunities provided by Turkish sustainable firms to international socially responsible investors. Design/methodology/approach The Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index (XUSRD) and FTSE4Good index family daily data for the period of 11/04/2014-12/31/2017 is used and the DCC-GARCH model is applied to explore the dynamic correlation linkages. Findings The results indicate that co-movements between XUSRD and FTSE4Good indices are time-varying and generally display a low level. While the highest average conditional correlation value was observed between XUSRD and Developed 100 index, the lowest one was between XUSRD and FTSE4Good Japan index. Research limitations/implications Since XUSRD was launched on 11/04/2014, there is no available data before this date. Additionally, because the study includes indices from the USA to Japan, it is not possible to use high-frequency stock index data due to lack of overlapping time series. Practical implications This study contributes implications for investors of sustainability assets to improve their diversification. Especially, it is identified that the diversification opportunities provided by Turkish sustainable firms are largely possible for Japanese and Australian socially responsible investors. Additionally, this research has contributions for policymakers. Originality/value Although the conventional stock market indices are widely examined in terms of their time-variant relationship, there are only a few studies in the literature focusing on sustainability indices. Socially responsible investments (SRI) are emerging as a new trend, and these investments are also in need of international portfolio diversification. Therefore, this study is expected to fill a gap in the SRI literature.

Tests for Price Indices in a Dynamic Item Universe

There is generally a need to deal with quality change and new goods in the consumer price index due to the underlying dynamic item universe. Traditionally axiomatic tests are defined for a fixed universe. We propose five tests explicitly formulated for a dynamic item universe, and motivate them both from the perspectives of a cost-of-goods index and a cost-of-living index. None of the indices that are currently available for making use of scanner data satisfies all the tests at the same time. The set of tests provides a rigorous diagnostic for whether an index is completely appropriate in a dynamic item universe, as well as pointing towards the directions of possible remedies. We thus outline a large index family that potentially can satisfy all the tests.