Religion in Dutch society 2005. Documentation of a national survey on religious and secular attitudes and behaviour in 2005

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Random variables with completely independent subcollections

AbstractWe investigate the algebra and geometry of the independence conditions on discrete random variables in which we consider a collection of random variables and study the condition of independence of some subcollections. We interpret independence conditions as an ideal of algebraic relations. After a change of variables, this ideal is generated by generalized 2×2 minors of multi-way tables and linear forms. In particular, let Δ be a simplicial complex on some random variables and A be the table corresponding to the product of those random variables. If A is Δ-independent table then A can be written as the entrywise sum AI+A0 where AI is a completely independent table and A0 is identically 0 in its Δ-margins.We compute the isolated components of the original ideal, showing that there is only one component that could correspond to probability distributions, and relate the algebra and geometry of the main component to that of the Segre embedding. If Δ has fewer than three facets, we are able to compute generators for the main component, show that it is Cohen–Macaulay, and give a full primary decomposition of the original ideal

Cost-effectiveness of public-health policy options in the presence of pretreatment NNRTI drug resistance in sub-Saharan Africa: a modelling study

BACKGROUND: There is concern over increasing prevalence of non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) resistance in people initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low-income and middle-income countries. We assessed the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of alternative public health responses in countries in sub-Saharan Africa where the prevalence of pretreatment drug resistance to NNRTIs is high. METHODS: The HIV Synthesis Model is an individual-based simulation model of sexual HIV transmission, progression, and the effect of ART in adults, which is based on extensive published data sources and considers specific drugs and resistance mutations. We used this model to generate multiple setting scenarios mimicking those in sub-Saharan Africa and considered the prevalence of pretreatment NNRTI drug resistance in 2017. We then compared effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of alternative policy options. We took a 20 year time horizon, used a cost effectiveness threshold of US$500 per DALY averted, and discounted DALYs and costs at 3% per year. FINDINGS: A transition to use of a dolutegravir as a first-line regimen in all new ART initiators is the option predicted to produce the most health benefits, resulting in a reduction of about 1 death per year per 100 people on ART over the next 20 years in a situation in which more than 10% of ART initiators have NNRTI resistance. The negative effect on population health of postponing the transition to dolutegravir increases substantially with higher prevalence of HIV drug resistance to NNRTI in ART initiators. Because of the reduced risk of resistance acquisition with dolutegravir-based regimens and reduced use of expensive second-line boosted protease inhibitor regimens, this policy option is also predicted to lead to a reduction of overall programme cost. INTERPRETATION: A future transition from first-line regimens containing efavirenz to regimens containing dolutegravir formulations in adult ART initiators is predicted to be effective and cost-effective in low-income settings in sub-Saharan Africa at any prevalence of pre-ART NNRTI resistance. The urgency of the transition will depend largely on the country-specific prevalence of NNRTI resistance. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organization

Distinct fecal and oral microbiota composition in human type 1 diabetes, an observational study

Objective Environmental factors driving the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D) are still largely unknown. Both animal and human studies have shown an association between altered fecal microbiota composition, impaired production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and T1D onset. However, observational evidence on SCFA and fecal and oral microbiota in adults with longstanding T1D vs healthy controls (HC) is lacking. Research design and methods We included 53 T1D patients without complications or medication and 50 HC matched for age, sex and BMI. Oral and fecal microbiota, fecal and plasma SCFA levels, markers of intestinal inflammation (fecal IgA and calprotectin) and markers of low-grade systemic inflammation were measured. Results Oral microbiota were markedly different in T1D (eg abundance of Streptococci) compared to HC. Fecal analysis showed decreased butyrate producing species in T1D and less butyryl-CoA transferase genes. Also, plasma levels of acetate and propionate were lower in T1D, with similar fecal SCFA. Finally, fecal strains Christensenella and Subdoligranulum correlated with glycemic control, inflammatory parameters and SCFA. Conclusions We conclude that T1D patients harbor a different amount of intestinal SCFA (butyrate) producers and different plasma acetate and propionate levels. Future research should disentangle cause and effect and whether supplementation of SCFA-producing bacteria or SCFA alone can have disease-modifying effects in T1D.Peer reviewe

A systematic review of high quality randomized controlled trials investigating motor skill programmes for children with developmental coordination disorder.

To identify effective motor training interventions for children with developmental coordination disorder from research graded as high quality (using objective criteria) for the purpose of informing evidence-based clinical practice.We followed the guidance for conducting systematic reviews issued by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Six OvidSP electronic databases (AMED, All EBM reviews (including Cochrane), Embase, Ovid MEDLINE, PsychARTICLES Full Text, PsycINFO) were searched systematically. We aimed to retain only randomized control trials and systematic reviews of randomized control trials, defined as the highest level of evidence by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. We searched reference lists of retained articles to identify further appropriate articles.Two reviewers critically appraised and categorized articles by effect size (including confidence intervals), inclusion of power calculations and quality using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Only studies scoring seven or more on the PEDro scale (classed by the PEDro as high reliability) were retained.No systematic reviews met our criteria for inclusion from 846 articles yielded by the systematic search. Nine randomized control trials investigating 15 interventions to improve motor skills met our inclusion criteria for 'high quality'. Nevertheless, not all included studies were adequately powered for determining an effect.Large effect sizes associated with 95 % confidence intervals suggest that 'Neuromotor Task Training', 'Task-oriented Motor Training' and 'Motor Imagery + Task Practice Training' are the most effective reported interventions for improving motor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder

Educational mismatches and skills: New empirical tests of old hypotheses

In this paper, we empirically explore how the often reported relationship between overeducation and wages can best be understood. Exploiting the newly published Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data (OECD 2013), we are able to achieve a better estimation of the classical ORU-model (Duncan and Hoffman, 1981), by controlling for heterogeneity of observable skills. Our findings suggest that 1) a considerable part of the effect of educational mismatches can be attributed to skills heterogeneity, and 2) that the extent to which skills explain educational mismatches varies by institutional contexts. These observations suggest that skills matter for explaining wage effects of education and educational mismatches, but the extent to which this is the case also depends on institutional contexts

Skill mismatch and skill use in developed countries: Evidence from the PIAAC study

In this paper we develop and test a new set of measures of skill mismatches, based on data on skill levels and skill use in the domains of literacy and numeracy from the PIAAC project. The measures we develop represent the extent of skill use relative to one’s own skill level. We test the measures by examining their relation to a number of labour market outcomes. We subsequently examine how mismatches are distributed across and within a large number of countries, and use our results to reflect on possible causes and consequences of mismatches. We find that, in general, higher skill utilization is always beneficial in terms of productivity and job satisfaction, and that "overutilization" of skills therefore points more towards a fuller use of the available human capital, rather than to a serious skill shortage. We find an asymmetry in returns between literacy and numeracy skills: although numeracy skill level appears to pay higher dividends than literacy skill level, shifts in skill utilization within skill levels have greater consequences for literacy than for numeracy. The distribution of mismatches across and within countries is broadly consistent with the expectation that skills will be used more fully under competitive market conditions with few institutional or organizational barriers. Finally, skill mismatches are only quite weakly related to educational mismatches, reflecting the heterogeneity in skill supply and demand that cross-cuts the dividing lines set by formally defined qualification levels and job titles

Educational mismatches and skills: New empirical tests of old hypotheses

In this paper, we empirically explore how the often reported relationship between overeducation and wages can best be understood. Exploiting the newly published Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data (OECD 2013), we are able to achieve a better estimation of the classical ORU-model (Duncan and Hoffman, 1981), by controlling for heterogeneity of observable skills. Our findings suggest that 1) a considerable part of the effect of educational mismatches can be attributed to skills heterogeneity, and 2) that the extent to which skills explain educational mismatches varies by institutional contexts. These observations suggest that skills matter for explaining wage effects of education and educational mismatches, but the extent to which this is the case also depends on institutional contexts