Objective: To gain combined risk estimates for the BsmІ polymorphism in vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene associated with the risk of fractures in Caucasian population. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis and extracted 15 eligible publications by searching the databases of Medline, EMBASE and CNKI. Summary odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated by using fixed-effects mode...

Estimating and mapping mortality rates is an important step in identifying possible etiologic factors related with deaths, since the spatial distribution of mortality risks can be examined for correlations with risk factors. A main feature of mortality data is the large variability of the death rates in regions with small populations. This hinders the application of standard large-sample approa...

This paper examines the effects of information and communications technology (ICT) on international trade in emerging markets. Using panel data for 40 emerging market economies (EMEs) for a period from 1995 to 2010, we estimate fixed effects models of exports and imports with ICT as the main explanatory variable of interest. Our ICT variables include the growth of telecom investment, internatio...

Including individual as a independent random effect in the latent field is implemented the same way in INLA for all case studies in house sparrow population (Gaussian, binomial and Poisson). Note that in the Gaussian case study we have repeated measurements, i.e. possible several observation for each individual random effect, while in the binomial and Poisson cases there are only one observatio...

In this paper, we propose a method for the evaluation of relative and impact external efficiency of university studies as effects of education on the long-term income of graduates. In order to evaluate the “ceteris paribus” levels and growth we applied a multilevel longitudinal model with random effects. The variables used in our analysis refer to Human Capital studies. The Bank of Italy has co...

Most studies on optimal crossover designs are based on models that assume subject effects to be fixed effects. In this article we identify and study optimal and efficient designs for a model with random subject effects. With the number of periods not exceeding the number of treatments, we find that totally balanced designs are universally optimal for treatment effects in a large subclass of com...

T paper proposes a new methodology to infer investors’ expectations about the speed of leverage adjustment implicit in the prices of credit instruments. On average, the credit markets imply a fairly rapid annual speed of adjustment of 26% toward a firm’s predicted leverage. The speed varies considerably across partitions formed by the differential implications of the pecking order, market timin...

Widely used approaches to modeling random effects and extracting random parameters in matching-critical circuits are based upon models derived under the widely accepted premise that distributed parameter devices can be modeled with lumped parameter models. In this paper, a new stochastic approach based upon a distributed parameter model is presented that offers improvement in predicting the eff...

Anthropogenic changes in land use and the extirpation of apex predators have facilitated explosive growth of mesopredator populations. Consequently, many species have been subjected to extensive control throughout portions of their range due to their integral role as generalist predators and reservoirs of zoonotic disease. Yet, few studies have monitored the effects of landscape composition or ...

New results based on methods of population synthesis, concerning magnetic field effects on the evolution of pulsars are reported. The present study confirms that models with timescales for the magnetic field decay longer than the pulsar lifetime are in better agreement with data. These new simulations indicate that the diagram log(PṖ ) log(ts) alone cannot be used to test field decay models. Th...