The objective of this study was to evaluate health outcomes for workers subject to piece rate historically to better understand the implications of pay type in the modern-day gig economy. While piece ...rate occurring in the 1980s and 1990s predates recent platform-based employment, it introduced and normalized patterns of economic precariousness that are instrumental in the current gig economy. Evidence suggests that such pay types may result in poor health outcomes; however, cross-sector evidence of its long-term effects on US workers is lacking. This article represents the first longitudinal cross-sector analysis relating health outcomes to this performance pay type in US workers.
This is a longitudinal cohort study.
Data from six survey waves of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth collected between 1988 and 2000 are used in a random-effects logit model to predict self-reported health limitations related to piece rate, while controlling for worker, work environment, lifestyle, time, and location trends.
Pay tied to piece rate in current or prior periods significantly increases the odds of self-reported health limitations compared with salaried work (odds ratio OR: 1.4–1.8). These effects are elevated for the subgroups of low-wage (OR: 1.5–1.8), female (OR: 1.8–1.9), and non-white (OR: 2.0–2.1) workers compared with their high-wage, male, and white peers.
The results suggest that piece rate pay designed to promote efficiency may have important negative implications for worker health, especially for the most vulnerable members of the US workforce such as women, minority, and low-income workers. Given the growing popularity of performance-based pay to the gig economy, more research is needed to determine if the practice is justified from a public health perspective.
•Piece rate significantly increases the odds of self-reported health limitations compared to salaried effort.•Piece rate has the greatest negative effect on health for low-wage, female, and non-white workers.•Pay designed to promote efficiency may have important deleterious impacts on worker health, especially for vulnerable workers.
"Space--the final frontier." This preamble to a well-known television series captures the challenge encountered not only in space travel adventures, but also in the field of porous materials, which ...aims to control the size, shape and uniformity of the porous space and the atoms and molecules that define it. The past decade has seen significant advances in the ability to fabricate new porous solids with ordered structures from a wide range of different materials. This has resulted in materials with unusual properties and broadened their application range beyond the traditional use as catalysts and adsorbents. In fact, porous materials now seem set to contribute to developments in areas ranging from microelectronics to medical diagnosis.
To determine the separate and combined effects of high-protein (HP) and high-fat (HF) meals, with the same carbohydrate content, on postprandial glycemia in children using intensive insulin therapy ...(IIT).
Thirty-three subjects aged 8-17 years were given 4 test breakfasts with the same carbohydrate amount but varying protein and fat quantities: low fat (LF)/low protein (LP), LF/HP, HF/LP, and HF/HP. LF and HF meals contained 4 g and 35 g fat. LP and HP meals contained 5 g and 40 g protein. An individually standardized insulin dose was given for each meal. Postprandial glycemia was assessed by 5-h continuous glucose monitoring.
Compared with the LF/LP meal, mean glucose excursions were greater from 180 min after the LF/HP meal (2.4 mmol/L 95% CI 1.1-3.7 vs. 0.5 mmol/L -0.8 to 1.8; P = 0.02) and from 210 min after the HF/LP meal (1.8 mmol/L 0.3-3.2 vs. -0.5 mmol/L -1.9 to 0.8; P = 0.01). The HF/HP meal resulted in higher glucose excursions from 180 min to 300 min (P < 0.04) compared with all other meals. There was a reduction in the risk of hypoglycemia after the HP meals (odds ratio 0.16 95% CI 0.06-0.41; P < 0.001).
Meals high in protein or fat increase glucose excursions in youth using IIT from 3 h to 5 h postmeal. Protein and fat have an additive impact on the delayed postprandial glycemic rise. Protein had a protective effect on the development of hypoglycemia.
Abstract Consumption beyond homeostatic needs, referred to here as reward-based feeding behavior, is a central contributor to the current obesity epidemic worldwide. Importantly, reward-based feeding ...can be driven by palatability, the taste and texture of the food, as well as cues associated with the consumption of palatable foods. The hypothalamic orexin system regulates both diet preference and anticipation of food rewards making it a likely target to modulate reward-based feeding behavior. In the current manuscript we hypothesized that orexin signaling mediates food-motivated behaviors and reward-based feeding behavior. We further hypothesized that orexin neurons and targets of the orexin system become activated in response to cues associated with the consumption of palatable food. Data from these studies suggest that orexin signaling promotes progressive ratio responding for palatable foods while blockade of orexin signaling attenuates reward-based feeding of a high fat diet. In addition, cues linked to the consumption of chocolate, or the receipt of a daily meal, activate the orexin system and its target regions differentially. Collectively, these data suggest that orexin signaling mediates reward-based feeding behavior and, within specific target regions, may regulate cue-induced overconsumption of palatable foods.
Adult stem cells undergo asymmetric cell divisions to produce 2 daughter cells with distinct cell fates: one capable of self-renewal and the other committed for differentiation. Misregulation of this ...delicate balance can lead to cancer and tissue degeneration. During asymmetric division of Drosophila male germline stem cells (GSCs), preexisting (old) and newly synthesized histone H3 are differentially segregated, whereas old and new histone variant H3.3 are more equally inherited. However, what underlies these distinct inheritance patterns remains unknown. Here, we report that the N-terminal tails of H3 and H3.3 are critical for their inheritance patterns, as well as GSC maintenance and proper differentiation. H3 and H3.3 differ at the 31st position in their N-termini with Alanine for H3 and Serine for H3.3. By swapping these 2 amino acids, we generated 2 mutant histones (i.e., H3A31S and H3.3S31A). Upon expressing them in the early-stage germline, we identified opposing phenotypes: overpopulation of early-stage germ cells in the H3A31S-expressing testes and significant germ cell loss in testes expressing the H3.3S31A. Asymmetric H3 inheritance is disrupted in the H3A31S-expressing GSCs, due to misincorporation of old histones between sister chromatids during DNA replication. Furthermore, H3.3S31A mutation accelerates old histone turnover in the GSCs. Finally, using a modified Chromatin Immunocleavage assay on early-stage germ cells, we found that H3A31S has enhanced occupancy at promoters and transcription starting sites compared with H3, while H3.3S31A is more enriched at transcriptionally silent intergenic regions compared to H3.3. Overall, these results suggest that the 31st amino acids for both H3 and H3.3 are critical for their proper genomic occupancy and function. Together, our findings indicate a critical role for the different amino acid composition of the N-terminal tails between H3 and H3.3 in an endogenous stem cell lineage and provide insights into the importance of proper histone inheritance in specifying cell fates and regulating cellular differentiation.
Highlights ► Regular physical exercise enhanced recognition memory and decreased stress. ► Effects were only detected in participants who exercised on the final day of testing. ► An acute, single ...bout of exercise did not affect memory. ► Improvements in memory were only apparent in BDNF Val homozygotes. ► Exercise-induced changes in cognition were not correlated with mood/anxiety.
Objective
To evaluate patient predictors of good outcome following total joint arthroplasty (TJA).
Methods
A population cohort with hip/knee arthritis (osteoarthritis OA or inflammatory arthritis) ...ages ≥55 years was recruited between 1996 and 1998 (baseline) and assessed annually for demographics, troublesome joints, health status, and overall hip/knee arthritis severity using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index (WOMAC). Survey data were linked with administrative databases to identify primary TJAs. Good outcome was defined as an improvement in WOMAC summary score greater than or equal to the minimal important difference (MID; 0.5 SD of the mean change). Logistic regression and Akaike's information criterion were used to determine the optimal number of predictors and the best model of that size. Log Poisson regression was used to determine the relative risk (RR) for a good outcome.
Results
Primary TJA was performed in 202 patients (mean age 71.0 years; 79.7% female; 82.7% with >1 troublesome hip/knee; 65.8% knee replacements). Mean improvement in WOMAC summary score was 10.2 points (SD 18.05; MID 9 points). Of these patients, 53.5% experienced a good outcome. Four predictors were optimal. The best 4‐variable model included pre‐TJA WOMAC, comorbidity, number of troublesome hips/knees, and arthritis type (C statistic 0.80). The probability of a good outcome was greater with worse (higher) pre‐TJA WOMAC summary scores (adjusted RR 1.32 per 10‐point increase; P < 0.0001), fewer troublesome hips/knees (adjusted RR 0.82 per joint; P = 0.002), OA (adjusted RR for rheumatoid arthritis versus OA 0.33; P = 0.009), and fewer comorbidities (adjusted RR per condition 0.88; P = 0.01).
Conclusion
In an OA cohort with a high prevalence of multiple troublesome joints and comorbidity, only half achieved a good TJA outcome, defined as improved pain and disability. A more comprehensive assessment of the benefits and risks of TJA is warranted.
ABSTRACT
We present an improved measurement of the Hubble constant (H0) using the ‘inverse distance ladder’ method, which adds the information from 207 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the Dark ...Energy Survey (DES) at redshift 0.018 < z < 0.85 to existing distance measurements of 122 low-redshift (z < 0.07) SNe Ia (Low-z) and measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs). Whereas traditional measurements of H0 with SNe Ia use a distance ladder of parallax and Cepheid variable stars, the inverse distance ladder relies on absolute distance measurements from the BAOs to calibrate the intrinsic magnitude of the SNe Ia. We find H0 = 67.8 ± 1.3 km s−1 Mpc−1 (statistical and systematic uncertainties, 68 per cent confidence). Our measurement makes minimal assumptions about the underlying cosmological model, and our analysis was blinded to reduce confirmation bias. We examine possible systematic uncertainties and all are below the statistical uncertainties. Our H0 value is consistent with estimates derived from the Cosmic Microwave Background assuming a ΛCDM universe.
Background. Until recently, Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in humans was misdiagnosed as Plasmodium malariae malaria. The objectives of the present study were to determine the geographic distribution of ...P. knowlesi malaria in the human population in Malaysia and to investigate 4 suspected fatal cases. Methods. Sensitive and specific nested polymerase chain reaction was used to identify all Plasmodium species present in (1) blood samples obtained from 960 patients with malaria who were hospitalized in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, during 2001–2006; (2) 54 P. malariae archival blood films from 15 districts in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (during 2003–2005), and 4 districts in Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia (during 2004–2005); and (3) 4 patients whose suspected cause of death was P. knowlesi malaria. For the 4 latter cases, available clinical and laboratory data were reviewed. Results. P. knowlesi DNA was detected in 266 (27.7%) of 960 of the samples from Sarawak hospitals, 41 (83.7%) of 49 from Sabah, and all 5 from Pahang. Only P. knowlesi DNA was detected in archival blood films from the 4 patients who died. All were hyperparasitemic and developed marked hepatorenal dysfunction. Conclusions. Human infection with P. knowlesi, commonly misidentified as the more benign P. malariae, are widely distributed across Malaysian Borneo and extend to Peninsular Malaysia. Because P. knowlesi replicates every 24 h, rapid diagnosis and prompt effective treatment are essential. In the absence of a specific routine diagnostic test for P. knowlesi malaria, we recommend that patients who reside in or have traveled to Southeast Asia and who have received a “P. malariae” hyperparasitemia diagnosis by microscopy receive intensive management as appropriate for severe falciparum malaria.
We explore the impact of an update to the typical approximation for the shape noise term in the analytic covariance matrix for cosmic shear experiments that assumes the absence of survey boundary and ...mask effects. We present an exact expression for the number of galaxy pairs in this term based on the survey mask, which leads to more than a factor of three increase in the shape noise on the largest measured scales for the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS-450) real-space cosmic shear data. We compare the result of this analytic expression to several alternative methods for measuring the shape noise from the data and find excellent agreement. This update to the covariance resolves any internal model tension evidenced by the previously large cosmological best-fitting χ2 for the KiDS-450 cosmic shear data. The best-fitting χ2 is reduced from 161 to 121 for 118 degrees of freedom. We also apply a correction to how the multiplicative shear calibration uncertainty is included in the covariance. This change shifts the inferred amplitude of the correlation function to higher values. In conclusion, we find that this improves agreement of the KiDS-450 cosmic shear results with Dark Energy Survey Year 1 and Planck results.
PDF
