Abstract
Previous research has linked having an eveningness chronotype with a higher tolerance for night shift work, suggesting the ability to work nights without health consequences may partially ...depend upon having a circadian clock optimized for these times. As chronotypes entrain over time to environmental cues, it remains unclear whether higher relative eveningness among healthy night workers reflects a moderating or mediating effect of chronotype on health. We address these concerns conducting a genome-wide association study and utilizing a polygenic score (PGS) for eveningness as a time-invariant measure of chronotype. On a sample of 53 211 workers in the UK Biobank (2006–2018), we focus on the effects of night shift work on sleep duration, a channel through which night shift work adversely affects health. We ask whether a higher predisposition toward eveningness promotes night shift work tolerance. Results indicate that regular night shift work is associated with a 13-minute (3.5%) reduction in self-reported sleep per night relative to those who never work these hours (95% confidence interval CI = −17:01, −8:36). We find that eveningness has a strong protective effect on night workers: a one-SD increase in the PGS is associated with a 4-minute (28%) reduction in the night shift work sleep penalty per night (CI = 0:10, 7:04). This protective effect is pronounced for those working the longest hours. Consistent patterns are observed with an actigraphy-derived measure of sleep duration. These findings indicate that solutions to health consequences of night shift work should take individual differences in chronotype into account.
Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Children with many siblings have lower average educational attainment compared with children raised in smaller families, and this disadvantage by sibship size has been observed across many countries. ...We still know remarkably little, however, about how sibship size disadvantage has changed within countries and how such trends vary across countries. Using comparative data from 111 surveys from 26 low-fertility countries, we find an overall trend of growing sibship size disadvantage across cohorts in the majority of countries: between the 1931–1940 birth cohort and the 1971–1980 birth cohort, 16 of 26 countries showed a statistically significant increase in sibship size disadvantage in education, while only two countries showed a significant reduction in sibship size disadvantage. The disadvantage in years of education associated with having an additional sibling increased remarkably in post-socialist (0.3) and East Asian countries (0.34) and, to a lesser extent, Western European countries (0.2). In contrast, this disadvantage showed little change in Nordic countries (0.05) and even decreased in Anglo-Saxon countries (–0.11). We discuss explanations and implications of our comparative evidence in the context of the intergenerational transmission of education.
Backgound
Lenalidomide‐based regimens are commonly used for early relapse in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) receiving at least one prior line of therapy. In the ...absence of head‐to‐head comparison, matching‐adjusted indirect comparison (MAIC) was conducted to demonstrate efficacy and safety of isatuximab+carfilzomib+dexamethasone (Isa‐Kd) versus daratumumab + lenalidomide + dexamethasone (Dara‐Rd) in RRMM.
Methods
Patient‐level data from IKEMA trial (Isa‐Kd, n = 179) were matched to aggregate data from POLLUX (Dara‐Rd, n = 286). Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were generated by weighted Cox proportional hazard models. Odds ratios (OR), 95% CI, and p‐value were calculated for ≥very good partial response (≥VGPR) and treatment‐emergent adverse events (TEAEs).
Results
After matching, no significant differences were observed between Isa‐Kd and Dara‐Rd in baseline characteristics except for patients with >3 prior lines (0.0% vs. 4.9%). Isa‐Kd showed significantly better PFS (HR 95% CI: 0.46 0.24–0.86; p = 0.0155), statistically non‐significant improvement favoring Isa‐Kd in OS (0.47 0.20–1.09; 0.0798), and ≥VGPR (OR 95% CI: 1.53 0.89–2.64; p = 0.1252) than Dara‐Rd. Odds of occurrence were significantly lower for some all‐grade and grade 3/4 TEAEs with Isa‐Kd than Dara‐Rd.
Conclusion
These results support Isa‐Kd as an efficacious treatment for early relapse in non‐lenalidomide refractory patients.
Matching‐adjusted indirect comparison results for Isa‐Kd vs. Dara‐Rd: Kaplan‐Meier curves of progression‐free survival before matching and after inclusion criteria selection (A) and after matching (B); Kaplan‐Meier curves of overall survival before matching and after inclusion criteria selection (C) and after matching (D). CI, confidence interval; Dara‐Rd, daratumumab + lenalidomide + dexamethasone; HR, hazard ratio; Isa‐Kd, isatuximab + carfilzomib + dexamethasone. *Statistically significant at 0.05 level.
This study adopts a potential outcomes framework to explore how nonstandard schedules (i.e., employment during nights, evenings, and weekends) affect partnership quality (PQ). Competing theories of ...positive and negative selection are proposed based on the contention that there will be heterogeneous returns to partnerships from nonstandard schedules (in terms of penalties and benefits) that will depend on how and why partners have selected into these arrangements. Mahalanobis Distance Matching techniques are then employed to mimic blocked randomization, simulate potential outcomes and identify patterns of heterogeneous effects using a sample of 21,766 workers in co-resident partnerships included in the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2010–2017). Results indicate that after correcting for baseline selection, weekend work only negatively affects PQ for mothers, whilst nonstandard hours take their most negative effect on PQ when worked by women without children. Maternal nonstandard hour work, on the other hand, is shown to positively affect PQ. However, results suggest this positive effect may often be obscured by patterns of negative selection. That is, the mothers most commonly observed in nonstandard hours are in partnerships that stand to benefit the least. In contrast, consistent patterns of positive selection into both nonstandard days and hours are observed for men without children, demonstrating the centrality of bargaining power and household constraints for selection. Such findings highlight the need to consider complex and gendered processes of household and socioeconomic selection when studying the relationship between nonstandard schedules and outcomes relating to family cohesion.
Abstract
A wide body of research over the past 30 years links non-standard work schedules to increased work–family conflict (WFC), but often only within single country contexts. A relatively ...under-explored question is the extent to which the effects of non-standard schedules on family life might vary by country or be buffered by institutional context. Building on past research, this study uses multilevel modelling techniques on 2004 and 2010 European Social Survey data to explore whether the effects of non-standard schedules on WFC vary across 32 countries in Europe, and if so, whether this contextual variation can be explained by labour regulations and industrial relations characteristics measured at the country level. Findings show that while non-standard work hours and days are associated with increased WFC across the majority of sampled countries, the strength of this association varies significantly between countries. The strongest factor shaping the social consequences of non-standard schedules is the degree to which workers are covered under collective bargaining agreements in a country, which explains as much as 17% of the observed between-country variation in the effects of non-standard schedules on WFC. These findings highlight collective agreements as one of the central mechanisms through which family-friendly regulations on working times and conditions are generated for non-standard schedule workers across Europe. More broadly, findings suggest that when studying the social consequences of non-standard schedules, these arrangements must be contextualized in the broader institutional frameworks within which they are organized and regulated.
The past 50 years have seen the erosion of working time regulations and transitions to service-based economies throughout most of Europe. This has led to, amongst other things, a growth in the ...proportion of the labour force employed in nonstandard work schedules. These are defined as work schedules falling outside of the traditional 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday work week. Given that such work arrangements can overlap with - and, in many cases, monopolize - the hours traditionally reserved for family life, the aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive investigation into the ways in which families use and are affected by nonstandard schedules, focusing on the previously understudied but highly relevant context of the UK. Over the course of four empirical chapters, I explore the composition and occupational characteristics of nonstandard schedule workers, the effects that these schedules take on work-family balance, and the ways in which preferences and endowed traits play a large role in shaping which individuals select into and stay in these arrangements. The thesis is unique in the extensive scope with which nonstandard work schedules are studied: I move all the way from the molecular level to the individual level and then up to the country level to showcase the antecedents, consequences, and institutions relevant to the study of nonstandard work schedules and families in the UK and beyond. This thesis makes several contributions to the existing body of knowledge on nonstandard work schedules and family life. First, I show the many channels of self-, socioeconomic, and occupational selection underlying employment in nonstandard schedules, and present ways to account for these selection mechanisms when studying outcomes relating to work-family balance. Second, I highlight that the consequences of nonstandard schedules on family life are not necessarily universal, but instead depend partially on the country and institutional context in which they are studied. Third, I integrate molecular genetic data to show how the timing of one's circadian rhythm influences preferences for nonstandard work hours, suggesting that such arrangements can be advantageous - and even optimal - for certain individuals.
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