Summary
For the analysis of square contingency tables, it is necessary to estimate an unknown distribution with high confidence from an obtained observation. For that purpose, we need to introduce a ...statistical model that fits the data well and has parsimony. This study proposes asymmetry models based on cumulative probabilities for square contingency tables with the same row and column ordinal classifications. In the proposed models, the odds, for all i<j, that an observation will fall in row category i or below, and column category j or above, instead of row category j or above, and column category i or below, depend on only row category i or column category j. This is notwithstanding that the odds are constant without relying on row and column categories under the conditional symmetry (CS) model. The proposed models constantly hold when the CS model holds. However, the converse is not necessarily true. This study also shows that it is necessary to satisfy the extended marginal homogeneity model, in addition to the proposed models, to satisfy the CS model. These decomposition theorems explain why the CS model does not hold. The proposed models provide a better fit for application to a single data set of real‐world occupational data for father‐and‐son dyads.
For the analysis of square contingency tables, the primary objective is to estimate an unknown distribution from presented data. To achieve this objective, we generally use a statistical model that ...fits the presented data well and has a parsimony. The recently proposed quasi local odds symmetry (QLOS) model was compared to various models that represent the structure of symmetry or asymmetry, and it provided the best fit performance compared with other models for real data. However, the QLOS model has many parameters, that is, the QLOS model is not the parsimonious model. To address this issue, this study proposes a new model that is more parsimonious than the QLOS model. The proposed model is identical to the QLOS model under the specified condition; it is the asymmetry model based on the QLOS model.Moreover, we compare the proposed model with the existing models, including the QLOS model, and show that the proposed model provides better fit performance than the existing models for real datasets.
The reverse global symmetry model in square contingency tables with ordinal categories is useful for analyzing whether the probability that the sum of row and column levels is larger than the ...reference value is equal to the probability that the sum of row and column levels is smaller than the reference value. This study proposes a directional measure that represents the degree of departure from the reverse global symmetry model. There are two kinds of direction with respect to the departure from the reverse global symmetry model. The existing measure, however, cannot discriminate between the two directions of reverse global asymmetry. The proposed measure can discriminate the direction. The proposed measure is useful for comparing degrees of departure from the reverse global symmetry model in several data. This study shows advantages of the proposed measure by (i) using two artificial data, in which the existing measure has the same value, and (ii) applying to real-world data of unaided vision.
Square contingency tables with ordinal classifications are used in many disciplines that include but are not limited to data science, engineering, and medical research. This study proposes two ...original asymmetry models based on non-integer scores for the analysis of square contingency tables. The ordinal quasi-symmetry model applies to data sets that can be assigned to known ordered scores for all categories. When we assign the equally spaced score for categories, the ordinal quasi-symmetry model is equivalent to the linear diagonals-symmetry model. The ordinal quasi-symmetry model, however, is not applicable to data sets that cannot be assigned the known ordered scores for all categories. This study addresses this issue. The proposed models apply to data sets that: (i) can be assigned the known ordered scores for all except one category and (ii) cannot be assigned the known ordered scores for all categories. These two models provide a better fit than existing models for real-world data.
Countermeasures against the spread of COVID-19 have become an urgent issue in educational settings, where many group activities are necessary. Educators are key to preventing the spread of COVID-19 ...in educational settings. Infection prevention behavior requires comprehensive and complex measures such as self-restraint. disinfection care, hand washing, wearing masks and recommendation and implementation of vaccination. Improvement in the knowledge, skills, and preventive actions of educators vis-à-vis COVID-19 could allow for the continued provision of educational services while ensuring safety in educational settings. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the knowledge and preventive actions of educators regarding COVID-19 and vaccination awareness to provide appropriate support for educators. The study used data collected from 1,000 Japanese educators in January 2021 when the third wave of viral infections spread. Online surveys and multivariate linear regression analysis were used to determine age and whether respondents were being cared for by a doctor. We investigated the effects of factors on educators’ willingness to be vaccinated and changes in their behavior. This study found that factors such as age, gender, whether a respondent was under a physician’s care, and health literacy, affected the willingness of educators to receive vaccinations and engage in preventive actions. The study also suggests that the reliability of national government public relations efforts is lower than the reliability of local government public relations and that of information from family physicians, pharmacies, and mass media. It is therefore necessary to reexamine how information is disseminated by the national government and to increase the degree of trust in that information among the public. The findings of the study also revealed the importance of improving the provision of appropriate information and health literacy for the behavior of educators, not only during the initial outbreak, but also during the subsequent period of pandemic life.
This study proposes two original asymmetry models based on ordered scores for square contingency tables with the same row and column ordinal classifications. The proposed models can be applied to ...cases in which the scores of all categories are known or unknown. In the proposed models, the log odds for an observation falling in the (
)th cell instead of the (
)th cell are inversely proportional to the difference of the ordered scores corresponding to categories
and
. The asymmetry parameter of the proposed model can be useful for inferring whether the row variable is stochastically greater than the column variable or vice versa. The proposed models constantly hold when the symmetry model holds, but the converse is not necessarily true. This study also examines what is necessary for a model, in addition to the proposed models, to satisfy the symmetry model, and gives separations of the symmetry model using the proposed and marginal mean equality models. We apply real data to show the utility of the proposed models. The proposed models provide a better fit than that of the existing models.
This study proposes a polynomial columns-parameter symmetry model for square contingency tables with the same row and column ordinal classifications. In the proposed model, the odds for all i < j ...that an observation will fall in row category i and column category j instead of row category j and column category i depend on only the value of column category j . The proposed model is original because many asymmetry models in square contingency tables depend on the both values of row and column category. The proposed model constantly holds when the columns-parameter symmetry model holds; but the converse does not necessarily hold. This study shows that it is necessary to satisfy the polynomial columns-marginal symmetry model, in addition to the columns-parameter symmetry model, to satisfy the proposed model. This decomposition theorem is useful for explaining why the proposed model does not hold. Moreover, this study shows the value of likelihood ratio chi-square statistic for testing the proposed model is equal to the sum of that for testing the decomposed two models.
Antiviral treatments targeting the coronavirus disease 2019 are urgently required. We screened a panel of already approved drugs in a cell culture model of severe acute respiratory syndrome ...coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and identified two new agents having higher antiviral potentials than the drug candidates such as remdesivir and chroloquine in VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells: the anti-inflammatory drug cepharanthine and human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitor nelfinavir. Cepharanthine inhibited SARS-CoV-2 entry through the blocking of viral binding to target cells, while nelfinavir suppressed viral replication partly by protease inhibition. Consistent with their different modes of action, synergistic effect of this combined treatment to limit SARS-CoV-2 proliferation was highlighted. Mathematical modeling in vitro antiviral activity coupled with the calculated total drug concentrations in the lung predicts that nelfinavir will shorten the period until viral clearance by 4.9 days and the combining cepharanthine/nelfinavir enhanced their predicted efficacy. These results warrant further evaluation of the potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of cepharanthine and nelfinavir.
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•Nelfinavir (NFV) inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication•Cepharanthine (CEP) inhibits SARS-CoV-2 attachment to target cells•Combination of NFV and CEP can synergistically augment antiviral activity•NFV and CEP are estimated to shorten the time to viral elimination at clinical doses
Medical Substance; Pharmaceutical Preparation; Virology;
Scrub typhus (ST) is a mite-borne rickettsiosis caused by the intracellular bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi (OTS), which is classified as a biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) pathogen. For serological tests ...of ST, mouse fibroblast cells infected with the five prevalent serotypes of OTS in Japan are generally used as antigens for indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). In this study, Spodoptera frugiperda derived insect cell line (Sf9) cells infected with recombinant type-specific antigen (rTSA)-expressing baculovirus were used for IFA. The paired serum samples of 15 ST patients, 10 rickettsiosis patients, and 10 control individuals were used. IgM and IgG titers determined by the rTSA-based IFA were correlated with those determined by the OTS-infected cell-based IFA (R2 = 0.7319 to 0.7956). Based on the criteria for serological diagnosis, such as a suitable cutoff for single serum samples (IgM ≥ 1:160) and/or a significant increase in IgG titers between paired sera (≥ 4-fold), all 15 ST patients diagnosed as positive with the OTS-infected cell-based IFA were also diagnosed as positive by the rTSA-based IFA, whereas all 10 rickettsiosis patients and 10 control individuals were not. Thus, the rTSAs, which can be prepared in BSL-2 laboratories, are efficacious for the serological diagnosis of ST.
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•Annual notifications of ST have been stable but JSF have been increasing.•While both ST and JSF occur in most of Japan, their geographic distributions differ.•ST was more common in ...spring/summer in the north and autumn/winter in the south.•Overall notification rates and fatal case reports were higher among the elderly.
This study aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of endemics of two rickettsial diseases, scrub typhus (ST) and Japanese spotted fever (JSF), in Japan.
We conducted a retrospective, descriptive epidemiological assessment of cases notified via national surveillance from 2007–2016.
Over the 10-year period, 4185 ST and 1765 JSF cases were notified; of these, 20 (0.48%) cases of ST and 16 (0.91%) cases of JSF were fatal at the time of reporting. The elderly had higher notification rates and fatalities. While the annual number of ST notifications was stable and cases were reported from a broad geographic range, the number of JSF reports increased three-fold, expanding from the southwest to the east. The seasonality of ST varied by region and was more common during spring/summer in the north and autumn/winter in the south; 78% of cases occurred during autumn/winter, mainly in the southern region. Most of the fatal ST cases occurred in the spring/summer and occurred in the northern region.
Our analysis identified seasonal and regional variations in the distribution of rickettsiosis. These variations were most likely to be related to the ecology of the vectors and etiological agents. Knowing the recent epidemiological and clinical features of ST and JSF can support clinical diagnosis and guide preventative activities against these vector-borne diseases.
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