Category: Nevin Manimala

J Cataract Refract Surg. 2021 May 18. doi: 10.1097/j.jcrs.0000000000000702. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy of the Hill-RBF 3 formula, with and without direct measurements of total corneal power, using a heteroscedastic statistical method for analysis.

SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, consecutive case series.

METHODS: Records of consecutive patients who underwent routine cataract surgery between February 2018 and June 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The prediction accuracy of the Hill-RBF 3.0 formula was compared to the Barrett Universal II (BUII), Emmetropia Verifying Optical 2.0 (EVO), Haigis, HILL-RBF 2.0, Hoffer Q, Holladay 1, Holladay 2, Kane, Olsen, and SRK/T formulas, based on biometry measurements by swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) with standard keratometry )K(, SS-OCT with total keratometry (TK), and an optical low-coherence reflectometer (OLCR). Statistical analysis was applied according to a heteroscedastic statistical method with a standard deviation (SD) of prediction errors as the main parameter for formula performance.

RESULTS: The study included 153 eyes of 153 patients. The SD values that were obtained by HILL-RBF 3.0 (0.266-0.285D) were significantly lower compared to Hill-RBF 2.0 (0.290-0.309D), Hoffer Q (0.387-0.407D), Holladay 1 (0.367-0.385D), Holladay 2 (0.386-0.401D), and SRK/T (0.377-0.399D) formulas, P < .036. The prediction accuracy of the Hill-RBF 3.0 was similar across the SS-OCT (K), SS-OCT (TK), and OLCR methods of measurement (P > .51).

CONCLUSIONS: HILL-RBF 3.0 was more accurate than Hill-RBF 2.0 and older generation formulas and had similar prediction accuracy compared to new generation formulas. The use of total keratometry did not provide significant improvement to its prediction accuracy.

PMID:34016821 | DOI:10.1097/j.jcrs.0000000000000702

Science. 2021 May 21;372(6544):860-864. doi: 10.1126/science.abg1685.

ABSTRACT

Global vegetation over the past 18,000 years has been transformed first by the climate changes that accompanied the last deglaciation and again by increasing human pressures; however, the magnitude and patterns of rates of vegetation change are poorly understood globally. Using a compilation of 1181 fossil pollen sequences and newly developed statistical methods, we detect a worldwide acceleration in the rates of vegetation compositional change beginning between 4.6 and 2.9 thousand years ago that is globally unprecedented over the past 18,000 years in both magnitude and extent. Late Holocene rates of change equal or exceed the deglacial rates for all continents, which suggests that the scale of human effects on terrestrial ecosystems exceeds even the climate-driven transformations of the last deglaciation. The acceleration of biodiversity change demonstrated in ecological datasets from the past century began millennia ago.

PMID:34016781 | DOI:10.1126/science.abg1685

J Nucl Med. 2021 May 20:jnumed.121.262009. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.121.262009. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To compare breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), thoracal MRI, thoracal ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET)/MRI and axillary sonography for the detection of axillary lymph node metastases in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Materials and Methods: This prospective double-center study included patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer between March 2018 and December 2019. Patients underwent thoracal (¹⁸F-FDG PET/)MRI, axillary sonography, and dedicated prone breast MRI. Datasets were evaluated separately regarding nodal status (nodal+ vs. nodal-). Histopathology served as reference standard in all patients. The diagnostic performance of breast MRI, thoracal MRI, thoracal PET/MRI and axillary sonography in detecting nodal positive patients was tested by creating receiver-operating-characteristic curves (ROC) with a calculated area under the curve (AUC). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were calculated for all four modalities. A McNemar test was used to assess differences. Results: 112 female patients (mean age 53.04 ± 12.6 years) were evaluated. Thoracal PET/MRI showed the highest ROC-AUC with a value of 0.892. The AUC for breast MRI, thoracal MRI and sonography were 0.782, 0.814 and 0.834, respectively. Differences between thoracal PET/MRI and axillary sonography, thoracal MRI and breast MRI were statistically significant (PET/MRI vs. axillary sonography, P = 0.01; PET/MRI vs. thoracal MRI, P = 0.02; PET/MRI vs. breast MRI, P = 0.03). PET/MRI showed the highest sensitivity (81.8%, 36/44) (95%-CI: 67.29-91.81%) while axillary sonography had the highest specificity (98.5%, 65/66), 95%-CI: 91.84-99.96%). Conclusion: ¹⁸F-FDG PET/MRI outperforms axillary sonography, breast MRI and thoracal MRI in determining the axillary lymph node status. In a clinical setting, the combination of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/MRI and axillary sonography might be considered to provide even more accuracy in diagnosis.

PMID:34016726 | DOI:10.2967/jnumed.121.262009

J Nucl Med. 2021 May 20:jnumed.120.261545. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.120.261545. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The assessment of gliomas by ¹⁸F-FDOPA PET imaging in adjunct to MRI showed high performance by combining static and dynamic features to non-invasively predict the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations and the 1p/19q co-deletion, which the World Health Organization classified as significant parameters in 2016. The current study evaluates whether other ¹⁸F-FDOPA PET radiomics features further improve performance and the contributions of each of these features to performance. Methods: Our study included seventy-two, retrospectively selected, newly diagnosed, glioma patients with ¹⁸F-FDOPA PET dynamic acquisitions. A set of 114 features, including conventional static features and dynamic features as well as other radiomics features were extracted and machine-learning models trained to predict IDH mutations and the 1p/19q co-deletion. Models were based on a machine-learning algorithm built from stable, relevant, and uncorrelated features selected by hierarchical clustering followed by a bootstrapped feature selection process. Models were assessed by comparing area under the curve (AUC) using a nested cross-validation approach. Feature importance was assessed using SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values. Results: The best models were able to predict IDH mutations (logistic regression with L2 regularization) and the 1p/19q co-deletion (support vector machine with radial basis function kernel) with an AUC of 0.831[0.790;0.873] and 0.724[0.669;0.782] respectively. For the prediction of IDH mutations, dynamic features were the most important features in the model (TTP: 35.5%). In contrast, other radiomics features were the most useful for predicting the 1p/19q co-deletion (up to 14.5% of importance for the small zone low grey level emphasis) . Conclusion: ¹⁸F-FDOPA PET is an effective tool for the non-invasive prediction of glioma molecular parameters using a full set of amino-acid PET radiomics features. The contribution of each feature set shows the importance of systematically integrating dynamic acquisition for the prediction of the IDH mutations as well as developing the use of radiomics features in routine practice for the prediction the 1p/19q co-deletion.

PMID:34016731 | DOI:10.2967/jnumed.120.261545

Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2021 May 20:ijgc-2021-002505. doi: 10.1136/ijgc-2021-002505. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the oncologic outcomes of patients with early-stage cervical carcinoma and tumor size <2 cm who underwent open or minimally invasive radical hysterectomy.

METHODS: The Pubmed/Medline, Embase, and Web-of-Science databases were queried from inception to January 2021 (PROSPERO CRD 42020207971). Observational studies reporting progression-free survival and/or overall survival for patients who had open or minimally invasive radical hysterectomy for early-stage cervical carcinoma and tumor size <2 cm were selected. Level of statistical heterogeneity was evaluated with the I² statistic. A random-effects model was used to compare progression and overall survival between the two groups and HR with 95% confidence intervals were calculated with the Der Simonian and Laird approach. Risk of bias and quality of included studies was assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.

RESULTS: A total of 10 studies that met the inclusion criteria were included encompassing 4935 patients. Of these, 2394 (48.5%) patients had minimally invasive and 2541 (51.5%) patients had open radical hysterectomy; respectively. Patients who underwent minimally invasive hysterectomy had worse progression-free survival than those who had open surgery (HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.20, 2.36, I² 26%). Based on five studies, patients who had minimally invasive (n=1808) hysterectomy had a trend towards worse overall survival than those who had open surgery (n=1853) (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.68, I² 15%).

CONCLUSION: Based on a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis of studies that control for confounders, for patients with cervical cancer and tumor size <2 cm, minimally invasive radical hysterectomy was associated with worse progression-free survival than laparotomy.

PMID:34016701 | DOI:10.1136/ijgc-2021-002505

Public Health Nurs. 2021 May 20. doi: 10.1111/phn.12927. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Objective of this study is to explore the most prevalent pathologies of the population received in the Spanish coast and to know the nursing prehospital interventions required, as well as the treatments applied and their follow-ups.

DESIGN AND MEASURES: A descriptive and retrospective study.

SAMPLE: A total of 481 immigrants cared for by the Red Cross in the study period.

RESULTS: Dermatological pathologies were more frequent in men (32.1). In women, the most prevalent pathology was headache (19%). According to age, dermatological pathologies prevail in those over 18 years of age (31.9%) and in children, respiratory pathologies (42.9%). Relationships were found statistically significant between gender and type of disease and between specifying or not nursing interventions (p < .001). Age was also related to the type of diagnosis and the type of nursing interventions to be carried out (p < .001).

CONCLUSION: In general, a good state of health was considered in the migrants, concluding that knowing the pathologies or activities to be carried out according to the sociodemographic variables would help improve the quality of the assistance.

PMID:34015861 | DOI:10.1111/phn.12927

Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2021 May 20. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2020-0568-OA. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

CONTEXT.—: Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) of prostate with targeted biopsy has enhanced detection of high-grade prostatic adenocarcinoma (HG PCa). However, utility of amount of HG PCa (Gleason pattern 4/5) in mpMRI-targeted biopsies versus standard 12-core biopsies in predicting adverse outcomes on radical prostatectomy (RP) is unknown.

OBJECTIVE.—: To examine the utility of amount of HG PCa in mpMRI-targeted biopsies versus standard 12-core biopsies in predicting adverse RP outcomes.

DESIGN.—: We performed a retrospective review of prostate biopsies, which had corresponding RP, 1 or more mpMRI-targeted biopsy, and grade group 2 disease or higher. For the 169 cases identified, total millimeters of carcinoma and HG PCa, and longest length HG PCa in a single core were recorded for 12-core biopsies and each set of mpMRI-targeted biopsies. For RP specimens, Gleason grade, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle involvement, and lymph node metastasis were recorded. The main outcome studied was prostate-confined disease at RP. A logistic regression model was used to test which pre-RP variables related to this outcome.

RESULTS.—: Univariate analysis showed significant associations with adverse RP outcomes in 5 of 8 quantifiable variables; longest millimeter HG PCa in a single 12-core biopsy, highest grade group in any core, and total millimeter HG in mpMRI-targeted biopsies showed no statistical association (P = .54, P = .13, and P = .55, respectively). In multivariate analysis, total millimeter carcinoma in all cores, highest GrGrp in any core, and longest millimeter HG PCa in a single mpMRI-targeted core provided additional predictive value (P < .001, P = .004, and P = .03, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS.—: Quantitation of HG PCa in mpMRI-targeted biopsies provides additional value over 12-core biopsies alone in predicting nonorgan confined prostate cancer at RP. Linear millimeters of HG PCa in mpMRI-targeted biopsies is a significant parameter associated with higher pathologic stage and could be of value in risk models.

PMID:34015819 | DOI:10.5858/arpa.2020-0568-OA

Brief Bioinform. 2021 May 20:bbab182. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbab182. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The rapid developments in gene sequencing technologies achieved in the recent decades, along with the expansion of knowledge on the three-dimensional structures of proteins, have enabled the construction of proteome-scale databases of protein models such as the Genome3D and ModBase. Nevertheless, although gene products are usually expressed as individual polypeptide chains, most biological processes are associated with either transient or stable oligomerisation. In the PDB databank, for example, ~40% of the deposited structures contain at least one homo-oligomeric interface. Unfortunately, databases of protein models are generally devoid of multimeric structures. To tackle this particular issue, we have developed ProtCHOIR, a tool that is able to generate homo-oligomeric structures in an automated fashion, providing detailed information for the input protein and output complex. ProtCHOIR requires input of either a sequence or a protomeric structure that is queried against a pre-constructed local database of homo-oligomeric structures, then extensively analyzed using well-established tools such as PSI-Blast, MAFFT, PISA and Molprobity. Finally, MODELLER is employed to achieve the construction of the homo-oligomers. The output complex is thoroughly analyzed taking into account its stereochemical quality, interfacial stabilities, hydrophobicity and conservation profile. All these data are then summarized in a user-friendly HTML report that can be saved or printed as a PDF file. The software is easily parallelizable and also outputs a comma-separated file with summary statistics that can straightforwardly be concatenated as a spreadsheet-like document for large-scale data analyses. As a proof-of-concept, we built oligomeric models for the Mabellini Mycobacterium abscessus structural proteome database. ProtCHOIR can be run as a web-service and the code can be obtained free-of-charge at http://lmdm.biof.ufrj.br/protchoir.

PMID:34015821 | DOI:10.1093/bib/bbab182

Nanotechnology. 2021 May 20. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac037f. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Demand for freshwater increases day by day as impurity increases due to the industrial, domestic and municipal waste in the water. Inappropriate disposal of coal fly ash (CFA) is not eco-friendly, therefore the need is to convert it into some beneficial material like zeolite. Zeolite-based composites with metal oxides show high cation interchange capacity, fast adsorption, and high efficiency for the removal of wastewater pollutants. In this research work, metal oxide along with zeolite (derived for CFA) was prepared. Metal oxide (WO3) and magnetite (Fe3O4) based zeolite composite was used adsorption enhanced photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye. Ternary composite (Zeolite/WO3/Fe3O4) was characterized using a Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The bandgap energy of composite was estimated using Tauc plot method from the data obtained after UV-visible spectroscopy. The behavior of composite under acidic and basic conditions was analyzed using pHpzc of the composite. Influencing parameters like pH, dye concentration, contact time, and catalyst dosage was optimized under ultraviolet irradiations (254 nm). The results show that maximum degradation was achieved with Zeolite/WO3/Fe3O4 composite under optimized conditions of pH=7, catalyst dosage =10 mg/100 mL, RhB concentration 10ppm, and time 60min. The first-order kinetic model was best fitted to the experimental data. RSM was used as a statistical tool to analyze the data.

PMID:34015775 | DOI:10.1088/1361-6528/ac037f

Bioinspir Biomim. 2021 May 20. doi: 10.1088/1748-3190/ac03a8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Fish median fins are extremely diverse, but their function is not yet fully understood. Various biological studies on fish and engineering studies on flapping foils have revealed that there are hydrodynamic interactions between fins arranged in tandem and that these interactions can lead to improved performance by the posterior fin. This performance improvement is often driven by the augmentation of a leading-edge vortex on the trailing fin. Past experimental studies have necessarily simplified fish anatomy to enable more detailed engineering analyses, but such simplifications then do not capture the complexities of an undulating fish-like body with fins attached. We present a flexible fish-like robotic model that better represents the kinematics of swimming fishes while still being simple enough to examine a range of morphologies and motion patterns. We then create statistical models that predict the individual effects of each kinematic and morphological variable. Our results demonstrate that having fins arranged in tandem on an undulating body can lead to more steady production of thrust forces determined by the distance between the fins and their relative motion. We find that these same variables also affect swimming speed. Specifically, when swimming at high frequencies, swimming speed decreases by 12-26% due to out of phase fin motion. Flow visualization reveals that variation within this range is caused in part by fin-fin flow interactions that affect leading edge vortices. Our results indicate that undulatory swimmers should optimize both the positioning and relative motion of their median fins in order to reduce force oscillations and improve overall performance while swimming.

PMID:34015781 | DOI:10.1088/1748-3190/ac03a8