Alternative Index Research Articles

The association between adherence to alternative healthy Diet Index (AHEI) and severity, disability, duration, and frequency of migraine headache among women: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundMigraine is a common brain disorder characterized by recurrent seizures lasting between 4 and 72 h. Dietary factors can affect migraine headaches. The Alternative Healthy Diet Index (AHEI) is a measure of diet quality and adherence to healthy dietary patterns. This study aimed to assess the association of adherence to AHEI and severity, disability, duration, and frequency of migraine headaches.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 266 women who suffered from migraines were selected. Usual dietary intakes were assessed using a semi-quantitative, 147-item, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). AHEI was calculated based on FFQ. The Migraine Disability Assessments (MIDAS) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) questionnaires were used to evaluate migraine disability, severity and the pain, duration and frequency of headaches.ResultsPeople with high adherence to AHEI, compared with low adherence, had a 43% reduction in headache duration in the crude model (OR = 0.57; 95% CI 0.34, 0.97; P = 0.03), which remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders (OR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.31, 0.99; P = 0.04). No association was found between the frequency of migraine and AHEI in both crude and adjusted models (OR = 1.19; 95% CI 0.66, 2.14; P = 0.55). In addition, no significant association was found between high adherence of AHEI and odds of severe and moderate headaches (P > 0.05).ConclusionThe results of our study showed that people with high adherence of AHEI had a 43% reduction in duration of migraine. More studies are needed to evaluate and better understand this relationship.

Letter to the editor: Time to reconsider the use of Shock Index, Pediatric Adjusted in young children? Mounting evidence suggests that alternative shock indices can more accurately triage injured children.

Letter to the editor: Time to reconsider the use of Shock Index, Pediatric Adjusted in young children? Mounting evidence suggests that alternative shock indices can more accurately triage injured children.

Adherence to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Compared with the Mediterranean Diet in Relation to Risk of Prediabetes: Results from NHANES 2007-2016.

Prediabetes presents a high-risk state for the development of various diseases and is reversible by adhering to a healthy lifestyle. We conducted this analysis to explore the associations of the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) and the Alternate Mediterranean Diet Index (aMed index) with the risk of prediabetes. The data were derived from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, including 20,844 participants. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (OR) of prediabetes and 95% confidence intervals (CI) by tertile of diet quality scores were estimated using a weighted logistic regression. Compared to those in the lowest tertile, the multivariable-adjusted OR of prediabetes for the highest tertile was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.94; p for trend = 0.005) for HEI-2015 and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.76, 0.98; p for trend = 0.02) for the aMed index. After mutual adjustment, the association for HEI-2015 (p for trend = 0.03) but not for the aMed index (p for trend = 0.59) remained significant. Among the component food groups and nutrients, higher intakes of red and processed meat, sodium, and total saturated fatty acids were associated with a higher risk of prediabetes, while moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a lower risk. In conclusion, adherence to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as compared with the Mediterranean Diet, appeared to be more strongly associated with a lower risk of prediabetes among adults in the United States.

Morphometric study of sex differences and static variation in the skull of Indochinese ground squirrel, Menetes berdmorei (Rodentia: Sciuridae)

Sexual dimorphism, a common morphological phenomenon in rodents, has often been explained as the result of both sexual and natural selection. However, few studies have focused on detailed patterns of sexual dimorphism in squirrels. In this study, we investigated the patterns of sex differences and static variation in the skull of Indochinese ground squirrel (Menetes berdmorei) using linear morphometrics. A total of 24 adult skulls (15 males and 9 females) were measured, of which males showed slightly larger mean size in 19 measurements. Univariate analyses demonstrated significant differences between the sexes in few variables, while discriminant analysis indicated well distinctiveness in craniomandibular morphology. The coefficient of variation showed an inverse relationship with the mean values of skull traits. This trend might be caused by real biological phenomena, as previously reported in several studies. Although coefficient of variation tended to be larger in anterior part of the viscerocranium and smaller in posterior of the neurocranium, similar variability patterns were observed in most of the skull trails. These trends were also supported by the alternative index of the coefficient of variation and coefficients of bivariate allometry. Even though, existence of developmental factors is suggested by the patterns of variability, higher integration is denoted in major subdivisions of the skull. In conclusion, our results demonstrate a slight male-biased sexual size dimorphism in M. berdmorei. Besides, variability patterns might indicate higher morphological integration in major components of the skull.

Alternative approaches for creating a wealth index: the case of Mozambique

IntroductionThe wealth index is widely used as a proxy for a household’s socioeconomic position (SEP) and living standard. This work constructs a wealth index for the Mopeia district in Mozambique...

Data-Driven Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework for Analyzing the Reliability of Bus Services

Intelligent systems have been extensively used to improve the reliability of transport services as a result of technological advances. Despite the technical and methodological achievements, public transportation companies are still facing excessive challenges in assessing the performance and reliability of the system. This study establishes a data-driven multi-criteria decision-making model for prioritizing bus routes that illustrates both operator and consumer views on bus routes. The multi-criteria fuzzy outranking process is handled by ELECTRE III and Condorcet methods. The developed model utilizes alternative indices of bus travel-time reliability to fully capture the uncertain nature of the input data. The reliability assessment framework is based on automatic vehicle location (AVL) data which works as an effective evaluation system for enhanced service reliability on different routes network-wide. Using this model, bus transport companies can set a benchmark and a reliable ranking system for their bus routes. This hybrid prioritization framework is used for characterizing and enhancing transport network efficiency. The effectiveness of the model is examined by quantifying the reliability of eight bus routes controlled by the Qazvin public transportation system, in Iran. A wide range of AVL data sources is employed within an in-depth statistical analysis based on both user and operator preferences. According to the concordance matrix results, line 18 has been found to be superior to other bus routes, and the possibility of identifying less efficient bus routes has been fulfilled.

Operationalizing resilience: A deductive fault-driven resilience index for enabling adaptation

The impact of climate change and the dynamic nature of environmental conditions underscore the critical need to enhance resilience of systems and process safety considerations. The efficacy of such efforts primarily depends on how resilience is measured. Among the myriad efforts to quantify resilience, composite indicators have emerged as promising tools. However, these indicators typically employ statistical methods to derive weights for aggregation and rely on statistical homogeneity among indicators which can limit their scope and fidelity. In this study, we propose an alternative novel resilience index derived from a system’s structure and the essential conditions for safe operation during and after disruptions. The proposed measure reflects the systems’ ability to resist and respond to failures by addressing possibilities of impact propagation to other infrastructure systems. Moreover, it eliminates the need for weights and allows for compensability among its leading indicators. Using a case study based on the on-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS) in South Florida that faces increasing risks due to rising sea levels, we investigate the validity of the proposed index and perform a comparative analysis with statistically-driven measures. Furthermore, we demonstrate the adaptation of the proposed index for decision making within a generalized optimization framework.

Climate risk and the nexus of clean energy and technology stocks

AbstractWe examine the impact of climate risks on the nexus of clean energy and technology stocks using a time-varying correlation model. We find that physical and transition climate risks are positively associated with the long-term correlation between clean energy and technology stock indices, whereas the effect of transition risk is more robust to different sample periods and alternative stock indices. On the contrary, the short-term correlation tends to decrease after shocks to physical risk, since clean energy stocks react more strongly to physical risk shocks than technology stocks.

Human Development in Districts of India, 2019–2021

This study measures, for the first time, the level of human development across 707 districts of India as they existed at the time of National Family Health Survey 2019–2021 using an alternative index of human development which uses proportions rather than averages to measure progress in the three core dimensions of human development and employs the concept of human development surface to combine the progress in the three dimensions into a single composite index of human development. The alternative human development index addresses some of the problems that are associated with the conventional human development index. District level estimates of the alternative human development index suggest that human development in India is the poorest in district Supaul of Bihar but the most advanced in district Mahe of Puducherry. The study also reveals that in 78 districts of the country, there is a marked difference in progress in the three dimensions of human development and in 231 districts, the progress is below average in all the three dimensions of human development. The study emphasises the need of estimating human development index at the district level at regular intervals to imbibe the sensitiveness to human development in development planning and programming in the country.

Validation of the Greek version of the contact lens dry eye questionnaire-8 (CLDEQ-8)

PurposeContact lens discomfort (CLD) has been cited as one of the prime reasons for discontinuing contact lens wear. The CLDEQ-8 was created in 2008 to reflect status of and change in overall opinion of soft contact lenses. The purpose of this study is to examine the validity and reliability of a Greek version of the Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire-8 (CLDEQ-8), using Rasch statistical analysis. MethodsThis an observational prospective study of 150 consecutive patients who received soft contact lenses and were followed through with a single follow-up appointment up to a year following their initial one. The patients filled in the Greek versions of the CLDEQ-8, the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and a self-report item on their experience of contact lens use. The CLDEQ-8 was analyzed with Rasch analytic methodology. ResultsThe original scoring system of the CLDEQ-8 had to be altered regarding the response categories collapsing in fewer options in items b, 2b, 3b and item 5 of the original scale. The revised scoring system proved more psychometrically valid and the CLDEQ-8 had good measurement precision, category threshold order, targeting and differential item functioning for gender. Two alternative result indexes are proposed, a symptom intensity index and a symptom frequency index to address dimensionality issues that are evident with the items relating to symptom intensity versus the rest. Results from the CLDEQ-8 correlated with the OSDI total score and the self-reported experience of contact lens use. ConclusionsThe Greek version of the CLDEQ-8 is a psychometrically valid and reliable assessment tool for contact lens discomfort in Greek-speaking populations.

Treatment Detection and Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Part III Estimation Using Finger Tapping Tasks.

The validation of objective and easy-to-implement biomarkers that can monitor the effects of fast-acting drugs among Parkinson's disease (PD) patients would benefit antiparkinsonian drug development. We developed composite biomarkers to detect levodopa/carbidopa effects and to estimate PD symptom severity. For this development, we trained machine learning algorithms to select the optimal combination of finger tapping task features to predict treatment effects and disease severity. Data were collected during a placebo-controlled, crossover study with 20 PD patients. The alternate index and middle finger tapping (IMFT), alternative index finger tapping (IFT), and thumb-index finger tapping (TIFT) tasks and the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) III were performed during treatment. We trained classification algorithms to select features consisting of the MDS-UPDRS III item scores; the individual IMFT, IFT, and TIFT; and all three tapping tasks collectively to classify treatment effects. Furthermore, we trained regression algorithms to estimate the MDS-UPDRS III total score using the tapping task features individually and collectively. The IFT composite biomarker had the best classification performance (83.50% accuracy, 93.95% precision) and outperformed the MDS-UPDRS III composite biomarker (75.75% accuracy, 73.93% precision). It also achieved the best performance when the MDS-UPDRS III total score was estimated (mean absolute error: 7.87, Pearson's correlation: 0.69). We demonstrated that the IFT composite biomarker outperformed the combined tapping tasks and the MDS-UPDRS III composite biomarkers in detecting treatment effects. This provides evidence for adopting the IFT composite biomarker for detecting antiparkinsonian treatment effect in clinical trials. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Measuring circular economy transition potential for industrial wastes

The circular economy (CE) represents a paradigm shift in global production system, promoting a transition away from the linear model towards maximizing resource intensity and value addition. For industrial waste management, the transition has led to a shift from quantitative-based concept of “expansion of recycling industry” to the pursue of optimum resource recovery quality through “waste as resource”. Studies have found that relying on the traditional indicator of “recycling rate” to evaluate WM performance can be “inaccurate, misleading and contributes to wrong policy decision”. This limitation arises from the inadequacy of the quantity-based matric to assess the intricate interdisciplinary nature of CE transition. Despite substantial efforts to develop alternative assessment indices, there is currently no commonly recognized assessment index to replace “recycling rate” for evaluating industrial waste management performance, which is partly due to the lack of comprehensive WM statistics required for effective performance evaluation. To address this issue, this paper proposes the “circularity performance index (CPI), as a swift and pragmatic method for evaluating WM performance. The CPI overcomes the limitations of the recycling rate by measuring the relative efficiencies of resource recovery, taking into account environmental, social, and economic perspectives. By utilizing readily available general industrial waste statistics, the CPI provides an integrated assessment that incorporates both quantity and quality considerations. Furthermore, the CPI is applicable at various levels, from micro to macro, enabling comparisons across different sectors and regions. To demonstrate the practicality of CPI, a case study involving 27 manufacturing sectors is conducted to exemplify its applicability at national and sectoral levels. The findings reveals a weak correlation between the quantity and quality of resource recovery, providing empirical support for the limitation of “recycling rate” and highlighting the advantages of CPI in evaluating resource recovery efficiency. The outcome underscores the significance of measuring resource recovery efficiency in assessing CE transition and draws attention to external factors that influence waste recovery decision, such as availability of recycling infrastructure and the cost of recycling.

Friction Coefficient Characteristics of Typical Subway Brake Shoes and Brake Pads in Service

Brake pads and brake shoes are the main components of the friction pair of the subway air brake. At present, the average coefficient of friction is usually used as a criterion for evaluating the braking effect of pads and shoes. In this paper, by analyzing the braking process of the subway, it is inferred that the average friction coefficient has a poor evaluation effect under the low-speed common braking conditions, and a new alternative evaluation index, the equivalent average friction coefficient at low speed, is proposed. The conjecture is verified by the test bench test, and the feasibility of the low-speed equivalent average friction coefficient as an evaluation index under low-speed conditions is proved.

Role of A Body Shape Index (ABSI) in Clinical and Public Health Practices: A Correlational Study on Igbo Adults, Southeast Nigeria

Context: The role of A Body Shape Index (ABSI) has gained attention in both clinical and public health realms due to its potential in predicting health outcomes. This study focuses on Igbo adults in Southeast Nigeria, a population with limited ABSI-related research. Aim: It focuses solely on the relationship between ABSI and blood pressure for a healthy living in Nigeria. Research Settings and Design: The study enrolled 200 Igbo adults aged 18–25 years. Measurements including height, weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure were collected using measuring tapes, weighing scales, and blood pressure monitors. Statistical analysis employed SPSS version 20, with a significance level of P < 0.05. Results: The mean ABSI remained consistent across various age groups and genders. An explicit positive correlation between age and ABSI was observed. Despite a low area under the curve (AUC) of 0.450 in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, ABSI exhibited optimal predictive capability with a specificity of 77.00% and sensitivity of 35.7%. Conclusion: ABSI emerges as a newer and promising alternative index for blood pressure predictions. Its incorporation in clinical and public health practices can enhance disease predictability. This study provides critical insights into the applicability of ABSI within the Igbo population and underscores its potential utility in broader healthcare contexts.

Projection of drought-flood abrupt alternation in a humid subtropical region under changing climate

Drought-flood abrupt alternation events (DFAAEs) bring about detrimental impacts on economics and environment. Projection of the future change in the DFAAEs is a challenging issue. Incorporated with the datasets of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 under two Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5), we applied the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model and the drought-flood abrupt alternation index (DFAAI) to detect climate change impacts on the DFAAEs in the Poyang Lake Basin for the period from 2020 to 2099. Our results demonstrated that the projected DFAAEs would become more frequent and be mainly distributed from January to October. Among them, the drought-to-flood events mainly occur from January to July, while the flood-to-drought events mainly occur from July to October. The occurrence of the DFAAEs is more frequent, and the occurrence frequency of DFAAEs under RCP4.5 is 75. The mild DFAAEs would be the dominated events in the Poyang Lake Basin, while the moderate and extreme DFAAEs are spatially unevenly distributed. The annual maximum and minimum of DFAAI would increase, and the frequency and intensity of the DFAAEs tend to increase. The projected runoff tends to increase but spatially homogenous. The projected peak flow would delay leading to a change in the transition time of the DFAAEs' type. This study provides a future projection on DFAAEs, valuable for policy makers to mitigate flood disasters at a basin scale.

Risk spillovers connectedness between the US Fintech industry VaR, behavioral biases and macroeconomic instability factors: COVID-19 implications

PurposeThe main objective of this paper is to analyze the dynamic volatility spillovers between the investor's behavioral biases, the macroeconomic instability factors and the value at risk of the US Fintech stock market before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used the methodologies proposed by Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) and the wavelet approach.FindingsThe wavelet coherence results show that during the COVID-19 period, there was a strong co-movement among value at risk and each selected variables in the medium-run and the long-run scales. Diebold and Yilmaz's (2012) method proved that the total connectedness index raised significantly during the COVID-19 period. Moreover, the overconfidence bias and the financial stress index are the net transmitters, while the value at risk and herding behavior variables are the net receivers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study offers some important implications for investors and policymakers to explain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the risk of Fintech industry.Practical implicationsThe study findings might be useful for investors to better understand the time–frequency connectedness and the volatility spillover effects in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Future research may deal with investors' ability of constructing portfolios with another alternative index like cryptocurrencies which seems to be a safer investment.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that relies on the continuous wavelet decomposition technique and spillover volatility to examine the connectedness between investor behavioral biases, uncertainty factors, and Value at Risk of US Fintech stock markets, while taking into account the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluating population trends of juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon at low abundance in a dynamic estuarine environment (Hudson River, New York)

AbstractEvaluating population trends in dynamic estuarine environments can be challenging, especially when survey data include a high percentage of zero observations. In fishery‐independent surveys, zeros that come from reduced susceptibility to sample gears and reduced availability of the population to the survey impact survey catchability and negatively bias relative abundance indices. A zero‐inflated negative binomial model was used to standardize a juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) relative abundance index (Hudson River, New York) that included a high proportion (42%) of zero observations and intra‐ and interannually variable covariates. Reduced susceptibility was related to low water temperature, with the percentage of zeroes increasing rapidly below 7°C. Availability was influenced by temperature and distance to salt front, as catch rates increased with temperature and peaked in mesohaline waters ~27 km downstream of the predicted salt front. An alternative index suggested significant population growth (r = 0.15; p‐value = 0.007) occurred from 2004 to 2015. The zero‐inflated model helped better understand Hudson River juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon ecology and relative trends in abundance, to better inform future management and monitoring decisions along the Atlantic Coast.

Dietary Quality and Circulating Lipidomic Profiles in 2 Cohorts of Middle-Aged and Older Male Finnish Smokers and American Populations

BackgroundHigher dietary quality is associated with lower disease risks and has not been examined extensively with lipidomic profiles. ObjectivesOur goal was to examine associations of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015, Alternate HEI-2010 (AHEI-2010), and alternate Mediterranean Diet Index (aMED) diet quality indices with serum lipidomic profiles. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of HEI-2015, AHEI-2010, and aMED with lipidomic profiles from 2 nested case-control studies within the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (n = 627) and the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study (n = 711). We used multivariable linear regression to determine associations of the indices, derived from baseline food-frequency questionnaires (Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial: 1993–2001, Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study: 1985–1988) with serum concentrations of 904 lipid species and 252 fatty acids (FAs) across 15 lipid classes and 28 total FAs, within each cohort and meta-analyzed results using fixed-effect models for lipids significant at Bonferroni-corrected threshold in common in both cohorts. ResultsAdherence to HEI-2015, AHEI-2010, or aMED was associated positively with 31, 41, and 54 lipid species and 8, 6, and 10 class-specific FAs and inversely with 2, 8, and 34 lipid species and 1, 3, and 5 class-specific FAs, respectively. Twenty-five lipid species and 5 class-specific FAs were common to all indices, predominantly triacylglycerols, FA22:6 [docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)]-containing species, and DHA. All indices were positively associated with total FA22:6. AHEI-2010 and aMED were inversely associated with total FA18:1 (oleic acid) and total FA17:0 (margaric acid), respectively. The identified lipids were most associated with components of seafood and plant proteins and unsaturated:saturated fat ratio in HEI-2015; eicosapentaenoic acid plus DHA in AHEI-2010; and fish and monounsaturated:saturated fat ratio in aMED. ConclusionsAdherence to HEI-2015, AHEI-2010, and aMED is associated with serum lipidomic profiles, mostly triacylglycerols or FA22:6-containing species, which are related to seafood and plant proteins, eicosapentaenoic acid-DHA, fish, or fat ratio index components.

Computational fluid dynamics modeling of contaminant transport with adsorption filtration inside planar-shaped air-purifying respirator canister

We performed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the contaminant transport with adsorption filtration inside a planar-shaped air-purifying respirator (APR) canister and predicted the breakthrough times of the canisters with various internal shapes. The numerical modeling of the adsorption process based on the backward differentiation formulas, which comprise the implicit method implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics, demonstrated the validity through the simulations of the fixed-bed column breakthrough test. Model parameters were estimated by applying Bayesian inference to the breakthrough test and pressure drop measurement data. Previous CFD studies assessed the filtering efficiency based on the local flow speed and mean air age; this approach replaced adsorption modeling, which is computationally expensive. We tested six planar-shaped APR canisters and observed that the dead zone near the walls in the air age field does not appear in the contaminant transport simulation with adsorption modeling. We identified that the velocity fields inside the filter determined the breakthrough distributions. Further, we confirmed that the breakthrough time was more related to the maximum flow speed inside the filter and less with local mean air age. We demonstrated the importance of simulating contaminant transport with adsorption modeling for the APR canister and reliability of the alternative indices.

Does economic freedom promote financial development? Evidence from EU countries

This study empirically investigates the relationship between economic freedom and financial development in EU countries. Using panel data covering the years 2000–2017 and employing fixed effects, random effects, and the generalised method of moments (GMM), the paper examines the effect of economic freedom on financial development. The research results demonstrate that greater economic freedom is conducive to financial development in the EU. These findings remain robust to the use of an alternative index of economic freedom. The results imply that policies which promote economic freedom are likely to raise the level of a country’s financial development.