AbstractThis study aims to estimate the pediatric COVID‐19 vaccine uptake and the impact of social network and Biden approval. A national survey was conducted by Qualtrics from September 26 to 19 October 2022, and respondents who identified as primary guardians of children under 18 are included in this study. Findings show that parents are more likely to vaccinate children between 12 and 17 than children between 5 and 11 or below 5. The means of measures for social network and Biden approval for parents who have vaccinated children across different age groups are significantly higher than the corresponding means for parents whose children remain unvaccinated. Structural equation modeling results suggest the social network and Biden approval positively affect parents' decision to vaccinate children. The former predictor also mediates the latter on the outcome measure. The findings are significant when analyzing the sample of parents with children over five. These findings contribute to the literature and have policy implications for leveraging interventions and optimizing vaccination for children.
ObjectiveThis article evaluates the extent to which economic affluence, ecological degradation, integration into the world polity, and economic globalization each contributes to the change in environmental concern in 82 countries across seven years.MethodUsing multivariate panel regression, I have analyzed a combined data set of four waves of World Values Surveys and three waves of surveys from the International Social Survey Program.ResultsFindings reveal that exposure to ecological degradation is positively related to growing environmental concern, whereas economic affluence has a negative association. In addition, integration into the world polity does not affect environmental concern and the two indicators of economic globalization have mixed impact.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that potentially influential factors have different influence over public environmental concern. Thus, a parsimonious explanation is inadequate since there is no universalistic factor that can account for all variations in environmental concern.
Hopeananopartikkeleiden myrkyllisyys sekä sytokiinien ilmeneminen soluviljelmässä ja rotan sisäkorvassa Hopeananopartikkelit (AgNP) ovat yleisimpiä teollisesti valmistetuista metallipohjaisista nanopartikkeleista. AgNP:llä on hyvä teho bakteereita, viruksia ja sieniä vastaan ja niitä on käytetty mm. pitkittyneessä välikorvan tulehduksessa. Yleistynyt AgNP.n käyttö on herättänyt huolta näiden mahdollisista haittavaikutuksista ihmiselle. Sisäkorvapohjaisista haittavaikutuksista on toistaiseksi puutteellisesti tietoa. AgNP:n haittavaikutuksia ja myrkyllisyyttä voidaan selvittää useilla eri menetelmillä. Menetelmät ovat eivät ole standardisoituja ja siksi tulokset ovat olleet vaihtelevia. Viime aikoina erilaiset vaihtoehtoiset menetelmät (esim. solu- ja kudos viljelmät) ovat tulleet osittain korvaaman koe-eläimillä tehtyjä tutkimuksia EU:n jäsenmaissa. EU:n seitsemäs puiteohjelma sisälsi toksisuuden menetelmän standardoinnin, joista yksi oli NanoValid tutkimuskonsortio (http://www.nanovalid.eu/), johon tämä tutkimus liittyy. Aikaisemmat tukitusryhmämme tulokset osoittivat rotan sisäkorvan olevan sangen monipuolinen ja sopiva mallielin lääkeaineiden farmakologian ja myrkyllisyyden tutkimukselle. Korva toimintaa voidaan mitata hyvin tarkasti. Se sisältää eri kudoksia, kuten pintakudosta (korvakäytävän ihoa, välikorvan limakalvoa), aistinelimiä (kuuloelin, kaarikäytävät ja korvakristallielimet), aivohermoja (kuulohermon spiraaliganglio, tasapainohermon Scarpan ganglio). Sisäkorvalla on aivojen kanssa samanlainen verisuonijärjestelmä, (veri-sisäkorva este ja rajapinta), joka rajaa aineiden pääsyä sisäkorvaan ja suojaa sisäkorvan herkkää nestekiertoa eli homeostaasia. Haitallisten aineiden vaikutuksia voidaan selvittää korvakäytävän iholla, välikorvan limakalvolla ja myös sisäkorvassa. Sisäkorvan rajapintojen läpäisevyyttä voidaan selvittää käyttämällä gadolinium-pohjaisessa magneettikuvauksessa (MRI). AgNP voidaaan osoittaa korvassa mikro –tietokonetomografialla (µCT). Tämän ohella mahdolliset kuulossa ilmenevät muutokset voidaan tutkia aivorunkoaudiometrillä (ABR). Muutoksia solujen proteiinirakenteisten välisen viestinnän välittäjäaineiden (sytokiinien) erityksessä voidaan mitata vasta-ainemenetelmällä ja osoittaa konfokaalimikroskopilla. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin AgNP:n myrkyllisyyttä ensin soluviljelykokeilla BALB/c3T3 soluviljelmässä ja rotan sisäkorvan soluilla. Kulkeutumista rotan sisäkorvaan selvitettiin ruiskuttamalla välikorvaan AgNP-pohjaista liuosta eri pitoisuuksina ja kuvaamalla kulkeutumista µCT:llä. Rajapintojen läpäisevyyttä selvitettiin gadolinium-varjoaine MRI:llä. AgNP:n aiheuttamat muutokset kuulossa selvitettiin ABR:llä. Kudosreaktioita tutkittiin immunohistologisin menetelmin. AgNP aiheutti solun tyvikalvossa merkittäviä muutoksia, ja sisäkorvamuutokset olivat samanalaisia kuin munuaisissa ilmentyneet vauriot. Soluviljelmissä ilmenneet vauriot ilmenivät 1000 pienemmillä pitoisuuksilla kuin sisäkorvassa ilmenneet muutokset. Suuremmilla AgNP-pitoisuuksilla koe-eläinten kuulo heikkeni. AgNP sitoutuu solujen hyoluraanihappoon ja vaikuttaa siten eri kudoksen toimintaa. AgNP aiheuttaa myös sytokiini-reaktion, jossa CD68 sytokiinia aloitetaan tuottaa. Tämä ilmeisesti vaikuttaa TRL4 reseptorin aktivoitumiseen. A20 ja RNF11 sytokiinit ilmeisesti vaikuttavat haittaavasti sisäkorvan homeostaasiin. AgNP aktivoi myös tulehduksellisia sytokiineja. Tulokset osoittavat, että AgNP aiheutti suurempina pitoisuuksina solukuolemia sekä kudostuhoa. AgNP-pohjaisten liuosten pitoisuudet tulisi rajata ja kliiniset käyttöindikaatiota tulisi kontrolloida nykyistä tarkemmin. Nanopartikkeleiden myrkyllisyyden tutkimisessa rotan sisäkorva-malli osoittautui toimivaksi ja sitä voi suositella myös muiden teollisten nanopartikkeleiden myrkyllisyyden tutkimiseen. ; Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are one of the most prevalent metal nanoparticles. They display potent anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal activities and are reportedly efficient in treating otitis media. However, increasing applications of Ag NPs have raised concerns as to their potential adverse effects on human health. In particular, possible toxicological mechanism in the cochlea is not well documented. Currently, various methods are used to evaluate the toxicity of Ag NPs. However, they are quite complicated and vary from case to case when applied. Recently, alternative methods (e.g., tissue equivalents) have been accepted in the in vivo study for regulatory purpose in Europe. Therefore, the European Union 7th framework programme large-scale integrating project NanoValid is launched and attempts to establish the new reference methods in nanotoxicology (http://www.nanovalid.eu/). Previous studies from our group showed that the rat ear was as an excellent multifunctional model in pharmacological and toxicological research due to its unique and sophisticated structure that houses epithelia (e.g., the skin of the external ear canal and mucosa of the middle ear), sensory organs (e.g., Corti's organ, crista ampullaris, saccule maculae, and utricle maculae), neurons of the cranial nerves (e.g., spiral ganglion and Scarpa's ganglion), a vascular bed similar to the brain, and a biological barrier (the blood-inner ear barrier) that limit the entry of hazardous substances to avoid compromising the vulnerable homeostasis of the inner ear. Therefore, it is assumed that not only can the impact on the skin of the external ear canal and mucosa of the middle ear be shown but also potential hazardous effects on the sensory organs can be evaluated using gadolinium-enhanced MRI with high accuracy and sensitivity when Ag NPs cross the biological barriers and enter the inner ear. In addition, possible effects on hearing caused by Ag NPs can be studied by ABR measurements, and possible alterations in cytokine expression in the inner ear exposed to Ag NPs can be identified by immunostaining using confocal microscopy. The current study aimed to evaluate the toxicity of Ag NPs by comparing its effects on BALB/c 3T3 and rat cochlear cells. Moreover, the transportation and distribution of Ag NPs in the rat ear after transtympanic injection was demonstrated using micro CT and the impact of Ag NPs on the permeability of biological barriers in the rat ear was shown using gadolinium-enhanced MRI. Finally, the molecular mechanism of Ag NPs-induced functional change in the biological barriers in the rat cochlea was elucidated using immunohistochemistry. The outlined results suggest that the delivery concentration of Ag NPs in possible future clinical application should be tightly controlled. The rat ear model might be expanded to study other engineered nanomaterials in nanotoxicology research.
Political economy theory posits decreasing economic intensity—i.e. the use of fewer materials per unit of economic growth—does not lead to a decrease in material extraction. Modernization theory suggests decreasing economic intensity may lead to a decline in the use of materials. Unequal ecological exchange theory suggests that the dominate position of developed countries in the global trade of materials allows them to protect their own environments by extracting materials elsewhere. By examining data from 95 countries between 1980 and 2009, this paper provides an empirical evaluation to theoretical statements discussed above. Findings show that economic intensity has declined markedly for decades while the total material extraction continues to increase worldwide. More developed countries enjoy an import surplus, while most materials extracted from developing countries are exported abroad. Positive associations (mediated by global trade of materials) exist between material extraction from developing countries and material consumption in developed countries.
In recent decades, rural China has witnessed a housing construction boom. In order to control the rapid growth of rural housing, both central and local governments have established quantitative restrictions on the floor numbers and total housing area; however, these have been relatively ineffective. Current research to explain this rapid growth in rural housing tends to consider independent household behavior, while social interactions among villagers are neglected. Therefore, the aim of this article is to examine the existence of peer effects in the housing size of villagers and whether they differ among different regions to better understand the influence of social interactions on individual housing behaviors, especially in the context of rural China. A spatial autoregressive model with autoregressive disturbances (SARAR) was used to analyze data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The results confirm that villagers' peer effects do exist, indicating that rural households build housing not only to satisfy their dwelling needs but also to keep up with the other villagers' housing size. Moreover, there are regional disparities in terms of peer effects in rural housing size. Among the three regional parts, the undeveloped region in the western parts showed the largest peer effects. Therefore, local governments, especially from the underdeveloped region, should pay attention to the villagers' inner motivations behind housing behavior.
Purpose: To examine multilevel predictors on American public response to COVID-19. Design: Multilevel study. Setting: A national survey was conducted by Qualtrics from August 24 to September 11, 2020. The state-level variables were constructed on data from multiple sources. Subjects: 2,440 respondents 18 years and older from all 50 states and D.C. Measures: The outcome variable is the public response to COVID-19 measured by threat perception, behavioral adjustment, and policy support. The predictors include individual-level sociodemographic factors and state-level indicators about public health conditions, political context, and economic recovery. Analysis: Multilevel structural equation modeling is used for statistical estimation. Results: People from states with more COVID-19 cases (β = 0.020, p < 0.1), mandatory face mask policies (β = 0.069, p < 0.05), and liberal governments (β = 0.002, p < 0.05) are more likely to respond while people from states whose economies have recovered closer to the pre-pandemic level are less likely to do so (β = −0.005, p < 0.05). Regarding individual-level predictors, older people (β = 0.005, p < 0.001) and people with better education (β = 0.029, p < 0.01), leaning toward the Democrat Party (β = 0.066, p < 0.001) and liberal political ideology (β = 0.094, p < 0.001), and have stronger generalized trust (β = 0.033, p < 0.001) are more likely to respond than their counterparts. Conclusion: Differences in the public response to the pandemic stem from variations in individual characteristics and contextual factors of states where people live. These findings contribute to the rapidly growing literature and have implications for public health policies.
Objectives: COVID-19 is the most challenging public health crisis in decades in the United States. It is imperative to enforce social distancing rules before any safe and effective vaccines are widely available. Policies without public support are destined to fail. This study aims to reveal factors that determine the American public support for six mitigation measures (e.g., cancel gatherings, close schools, restrict non-essential travel). Methods: Based on a nationally representative survey, this study uses Structural Equation Modelling to reveal the relationships between various factors and public support for COVID-19 mitigation. Results: 1). Democrats are more likely than Republicans to support mitigation measures; 2).Favorability towards the political leader (Biden or Trump) can slant public support for COVID-19 mitigation measures among different segments of the public.; 3). Indirect experience, rather than direct experience with COVID-19 can motivate people to support mitigation; 4). Concern for COVID-19 is a strong motivator of support for mitigation. Conclusion: Political polarization poses an enormous challenge to societal well-being during a pandemic. Indirect experience renders COVID-19 an imminent threat.
