Are there Social Spillovers in Consumers’ Security Assessments of Payment Instruments?

Even though security of payments has long been identified as an important aspect of the consumer payment experience, recent literature fails to appropriately assess the extent of social spillovers among payment users. We test for the existence and importance of such spillovers by analyzing whether social influence affects consumers’ perceptions of the security of payment instruments. Based on a 2008–2014 annual panel data survey of consumers, we find strong evidence of social spillovers in payment markets: others’ perceptions of security of payment instruments exert a positive influence on one’s own payment security perceptions. The significant and robust results imply that a consumer’s assessments of security converge to his peers’ average assessment: a 10 percent change in the divergence between one’s own security rating and peers’ average rating will result in a 7 percent change in one’s own rating in the next period. The results are robust to many specifications and do not change when we control for actual fraud or crime data. Our results indicate that spillovers rather than reflection appear to be the cause, although separating the two causes is very difficult (Manski 1993). In particular, the spillovers are stronger for people who experience an exogenous shock to security perception, people who have more social interactions, and younger consumers, who are more likely to be influenced by social media. We also examine the effects of social spillovers on payment behavior (that is, on decisions regarding payment adoption and use). Our results indicate that social spillovers have a rather limited impact on payment behavior, as others’ perceptions seem to affect one’s own payment behavior mainly indirectly through the effect on one’s own perceptions

Multi-modal analysis of infant cry types characterization: Acoustics, body language and brain signals

Background: Infant crying is the first attempt babies use to communicate during their initial months of life. A misunderstanding of the cry message can compromise infant care and future neurodevelopmental process. Methods: An exploratory study collecting multimodal data (i.e., crying, electroencephalography (EEG), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), facial expressions, and body movements) from 38 healthy full-term newborns was conducted. Cry types were defined based on different conditions (i.e., hunger, sleepiness, fussiness, need to burp, and distress). Statistical analysis, Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning (DL) techniques were used to identify relevant features for cry type classification and to evaluate a robust DL algorithm named Acoustic MultiStage Interpreter (AMSI). Results: Significant differences were found across cry types based on acoustics, EEG, NIRS, facial expressions, and body movements. Acoustics and body language were identified as the most relevant ML features to support the cause of crying. The DL AMSI algorithm achieved an accuracy rate of 92%. Conclusions: This study set a precedent for cry analysis research by highlighting the complexity of newborn cry expression and strengthening the potential use of infant cry analysis as an objective, reliable, accessible, and non-invasive tool for cry interpretation, improving the infant-parent relationship and ensuring family well-being

Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency worldwide. Differences between high- and low-income settings in the availability of laparoscopic appendectomy, alternative management choices, and outcomes are poorly described. The aim was to identify variation in surgical management and outcomes of appendicitis within low-, middle-, and high-Human Development Index (HDI) countries worldwide. METHODS: This is a multicenter, international prospective cohort study. Consecutive sampling of patients undergoing emergency appendectomy over 6 months was conducted. Follow-up lasted 30 days. RESULTS: 4546 patients from 52 countries underwent appendectomy (2499 high-, 1540 middle-, and 507 low-HDI groups). Surgical site infection (SSI) rates were higher in low-HDI (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.33-4.99, p = 0.005) but not middle-HDI countries (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.76-2.52, p = 0.291), compared with high-HDI countries after adjustment. A laparoscopic approach was common in high-HDI countries (1693/2499, 67.7%), but infrequent in low-HDI (41/507, 8.1%) and middle-HDI (132/1540, 8.6%) groups. After accounting for case-mix, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71, p < 0.001) and SSIs (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33, p < 0.001). In propensity-score matched groups within low-/middle-HDI countries, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.23 95% CI 0.11-0.44) and SSI (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.09-0.45). CONCLUSION: A laparoscopic approach is associated with better outcomes and availability appears to differ by country HDI. Despite the profound clinical, operational, and financial barriers to its widespread introduction, laparoscopy could significantly improve outcomes for patients in low-resource environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02179112

How can cry acoustics associate newborns’ distress levels with neurophysiological and behavioral signals?

IntroductionEven though infant crying is a common phenomenon in humans' early life, it is still a challenge for researchers to properly understand it as a reflection of complex neurophysiological functions. Our study aims to determine the association between neonatal cry acoustics with neurophysiological signals and behavioral features according to different cry distress levels of newborns.MethodsMultimodal data from 25 healthy term newborns were collected simultaneously recording infant cry vocalizations, electroencephalography (EEG), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and videos of facial expressions and body movements. Statistical analysis was conducted on this dataset to identify correlations among variables during three different infant conditions (i.e., resting, cry, and distress). A Deep Learning (DL) algorithm was used to objectively and automatically evaluate the level of cry distress in infants.ResultsWe found correlations between most of the features extracted from the signals depending on the infant's arousal state, among them: fundamental frequency (F0), brain activity (delta, theta, and alpha frequency bands), cerebral and body oxygenation, heart rate, facial tension, and body rigidity. Additionally, these associations reinforce that what is occurring at an acoustic level can be characterized by behavioral and neurophysiological patterns. Finally, the DL audio model developed was able to classify the different levels of distress achieving 93% accuracy.ConclusionOur findings strengthen the potential of crying as a biomarker evidencing the physical, emotional and health status of the infant becoming a crucial tool for caregivers and clinicians

Kinases and protein phosphorylation as regulators of steroid hormone action

Although the primary signal for the activation of steroid hormone receptors is binding of hormone, there is increasing evidence that the activities of cell signaling pathways and the phosphorylation status of these transcription factors and their coregulators determine the overall response to the hormone. In some cases, enhanced cell signaling is sufficient to cause activation of receptors in medium depleted of steroids. Steroid receptors are targets for multiple kinases. Many of the phosphorylation sites contain Ser/Thr-Pro motifs implicating proline-directed kinases such as the cyclin-dependent kinases and the mitogen-activated kinases (MAPK) in receptor phosphorylation. Although some sites are constitutively phosphorylated, others are phosphorylated in response to hormone. Still others are only phosphorylated in response to specific cell signaling pathways. Phosphorylation of specific sites has been implicated not only in overall transcriptional activity, but also in nuclear localization, protein stability, and DNA binding. The studies of the roles of phosphorylation in coregulator function are more limited, but it is now well established that many of them are highly phosphorylated and that phosphorylation regulates their function. There is good evidence that some of the phosphorylation sites in the receptors and coregulators are targets of multiple signaling pathways. Individual sites have been associated both with functions that enhance the activity of the receptor, as well as with functions that inhibit activity. Thus, the specific combinations of phosphorylations of the steroid receptor combined with the expression levels and phosphorylation status of coregulators will determine the genes regulated and the biological response

TITLE PAGE α-AMINOAZAHETEROCYCLIC-METHYLGLYOXAL ADDUCTS DO NOT INHIBIT CFTR CHLORIDE CHANNEL ACTIVITY

ABSTRACT Inhibitors of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) chloride channel have potential applications in the therapy of secretory diarrheas and polycystic kidney disease. Recently, several highly polar α-aminoazaheterocyclic-methylglyoxal adducts were reported to reversibly inhibit CFTR chloride channel activity with IC50 values in the low picomolar range (Routaboul et al. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 322:1023-1035, more than 10,000-fold better than that of thiazolidionone and glycine hydrazide CFTR inhibitors identified previously by highthroughout screening. Here, we resynthesized and evaluated the α-aminoazaheterocyclicmethylglyoxal adducts of Routaboul et al. reported to have high CFTR inhibition potency (compounds 5, 7 and 8). We verified that the reported synthesis procedures produced the target compounds in high yield. However, we found that these compounds did not inhibit CFTR chloride channel function in multiple cell lines at up to 100 µM concentration, using three independent assays of CFTR function including short-circuit current analysis, whole-cell patch-clamp and YFPfluorescence quenching. As positive controls, near 100% CFTR inhibition was found by thiazolidionone and glycine hydrazide CFTR inhibitors. Our data provide direct evidence against CFTR inhibition by α-aminoazaheterocyclic-methylglyoxal adducts

Acute High-Fat Diet Impairs Macrophage-Supported Intestinal Damage Resolution

Chronic exposure to high-fat diets (HFD) worsens intestinal disease pathology, but acute effects of HFD in tissue damage remain unclear. Here, we used short-term HFD feeding in a model of intestinal injury and found sustained damage with increased cecal dead neutrophil accumulation, along with dietary lipid accumulation. Neutrophil depletion rescued enhanced pathology. Macrophages from HFD-treated mice showed reduced capacity to engulf dead neutrophils. Macrophage clearance of dead neutrophils activates critical barrier repair and antiinflammatory pathways, including IL-10, which was lost after acute HFD feeding and intestinal injury. IL-10 overexpression restored intestinal repair after HFD feeding and intestinal injury. Macrophage exposure to lipids from the HFD prevented tethering and uptake of apoptotic cells and Il10 induction. Milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 (MFGE8) is a bridging molecule that facilitates macrophage uptake of dead cells. MFGE8 also facilitates lipid uptake, and we demonstrate that dietary lipids interfere with MFGE8-mediated macrophage apoptotic neutrophil uptake and subsequent Il10 production. Our findings demonstrate that HFD promotes intestinal pathology by interfering with macrophage clearance of dead neutrophils, leading to unresolved tissue damage

Reacciones Adversas a Medicamentos reportadas como resultado de la implementación de Atención Farmacéutica en la Farmacia Institucional DIGEMID - Ministerio de Salud de Perú

Objetivos: Determinar el resultado de la implementación de la Atención Farmacéutica en las notificaciones de sospechas de reacciones adversas de medicamentos (RAM) en los pacientes ambulatorios de la Farmacia Institucional de la DIGEMID. Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio retrospectivo, descriptivo, observacional y transversal del año 2013. Se emplearon las fichas farmacoterapéuticas de los pacientes atendidos en el año 2013. Se seleccionaron las fichas de los pacientes que tuvieron notificación de sospecha de RAM. Resultados: Se recolectó las notificaciones de sospecha de RAM de 44 pacientes ambulatorios de la Farmacia Institucional de DIGEMID y se procedió a analizar las notificaciones de la RAM. Se notificaron 77 sospecha de RAM y el mayor porcentaje fueron los de trastorno gastrointestinal (26,0%). El medicamento causante del mayor porcentaje de RAM fue carbamazepina (6,7%), siendo los medicamentos relacionados con el sistema nervioso los que presentaron más RAM (28,9%), Según la gravedad la RAM más frecuente fueron las serias (61%) y en cuanto a la categoría de la causalidad el más frecuente fue “probable” (43,1%). Conclusión: La implementación de la atención farmacéutica tuvo un resultado positivo en las notificaciones de las sospechas de RAM en la Farmacia Institucional de DIGEMID

Reacciones Adversas a Medicamentos reportadas como resultado de la implementación de Atención Farmacéutica en la Farmacia Institucional DIGEMID - Ministerio de Salud de Perú

Objetivos: Determinar el resultado de la implementación de la Atención Farmacéutica en las notificaciones de sospechas de reacciones adversas de medicamentos (RAM) en los pacientes ambulatorios de la Farmacia Institucional de la DIGEMID. Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio retrospectivo, descriptivo, observacional y transversal del año 2013. Se emplearon las fichas farmacoterapéuticas de los pacientes atendidos en el año 2013. Se seleccionaron las fichas de los pacientes que tuvieron notificación de sospecha de RAM. Resultados: Se recolectó las notificaciones de sospecha de RAM de 44 pacientes ambulatorios de la Farmacia Institucional de DIGEMID y se procedió a analizar las notificaciones de la RAM. Se notificaron 77 sospecha de RAM y el mayor porcentaje fueron los de trastorno gastrointestinal (26,0%). El medicamento causante del mayor porcentaje de RAM fue carbamazepina (6,7%), siendo los medicamentos relacionados con el sistema nervioso los que presentaron más RAM (28,9%), Según la gravedad la RAM más frecuente fueron las serias (61%) y en cuanto a la categoría de la causalidad el más frecuente fue “probable” (43,1%). Conclusión: La implementación de la atención farmacéutica tuvo un resultado positivo en las notificaciones de las sospechas de RAM en la Farmacia Institucional de DIGEMID