Category: Statistics

J Pharm Technol. 2024 Oct 27:87551225241288144. doi: 10.1177/87551225241288144. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Inpatient use of intravenous iron has been increasing. Ferric gluconate is traditionally given once daily. Twice-daily dosing provides faster iron repletion, but there are limited data to support the safety of twice-daily dosing.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the safety of twice-daily dosing for ferric gluconate compared with daily dosing.

METHODS: This was an institutional review board-approved retrospective observational study of hospitalized adult patients who received intravenous ferric gluconate 250 mg daily or twice daily between January 1 and April 3, 2022. The primary composite safety outcome included hypotension, infusion reaction, rapid response alert, or escalation in level of care. Secondary outcomes included total amount of iron received, hospital length of stay, and changes in laboratory values.

RESULTS: A total of 126 patients were included in this study, with 63 patients in each group. The primary outcome occurred in 29 patients (46%) in the twice-daily group compared with 36 patients (57.1%) in the daily group (relative risk = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.57-1.13; P = 0.212). Changes in iron, hemoglobin, and transferrin saturation were similar between the 2 groups. Median length of stay was statistically shorter in the twice-daily group (7.79 days) compared with the daily group (12.9 days; p = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective single-center study of hospitalized adult patients, those who received intravenous ferric gluconate twice daily did not experience an increased rate of a composite safety outcome of hypotension, infusion reactions, or escalation in level of care compared with those with daily dosing.

PMID:39545241 | PMC:PMC11559894 | DOI:10.1177/87551225241288144

Front Microbiol. 2024 Oct 31;15:1487978. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1487978. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the potential mechanism of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) eradication by probiotic therapy through 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology and untargeted metabolomics.

METHODS: Twenty four Hp-infected children were recruited from the Shanxi Bethune Hospital, and 24 healthy children were recruited as a blank control group. Group A: fecal samples from 24 healthy children. Group B: fecal samples of 24 children with Hp infection. Group B1 (n = 15): fecal samples of group B treated with probiotic therapy for 2 weeks. Group B2 (n = 19): fecal samples of group B treated with probiotic therapy for 4 weeks. The above fecal samples were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology and untargeted metabolomics.

RESULTS: There was no significant difference in alpha diversity and beta diversity among the four groups, but many bacteria with statistical difference were found in each group at the bacterial genus level and phylum level. LEfSe results showed that in group B, Porphyromonadaceae, Shigella and other microorganisms related to intestinal microecological dysbiosis were enriched. And in group B2, abundant characteristic microorganisms were found, namely Bacillales and Prevotella. KEGG metabolic pathway enrichment analysis showed that groups B1 and B2 were involved in 10 metabolic pathways potentially related to probiotic treatment: purine metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, alanine, aspartic acid and glutamate metabolism, glyoxylic acid and dicarboxylic acid metabolism, unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, fatty acid extension, fatty acid degradation, pyrimidine metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis.

CONCLUSION: Probiotic therapy can inhibit Hp to some extent and can relieve gastrointestinal symptoms, making it a preferred therapy for children with Hp infection and functional abdominal pain. Hp infection can reduce the diversity of intestinal microbes, resulting in the disturbance of intestinal microbiota and changes in the relative abundance of microbiota in children, while probiotic therapy can restore the diversity of intestinal microbes and intestinal microecological balance.

PMID:39545236 | PMC:PMC11560915 | DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1487978

Tex Heart Inst J. 2024 Nov 13;51(2):e238273. doi: 10.14503/THIJ-23-8273. eCollection 2024 Jul-Dec.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The appropriateness of aortic valve surgery for patients with moderate aortic valve regurgitation undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), mitral valve replacement (MVR), or both is uncertain. This study aimed to investigate the outcomes of moderate aortic valve regurgitation following these procedures.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 113 eligible participants with moderate aortic valve regurgitation who underwent CABG, MVR, or both procedures between January 2014 and January 2015 at Tehran Heart Center. Echocardiographic index data were extracted from the Tehran Heart Center data center after a 2-year follow-up to examine changes in the patients’ conditions.

RESULTS: A total of 113 patients (mean [SD] age, 64.7 [9.9] years; 78 [69.0%] female patients) were included in the study and followed up for a mean (SD) of 24 (6) months. Among those patients, 38 (33.6%) experienced improvement, with their aortic valve regurgitation downgraded to mild, while the remaining 75 (66.4%) patients maintained a moderate aortic valve regurgitation level. Notably, combined CABG and MVR procedures were associated with statistically significant improvement, with all cases downgraded to mild aortic valve regurgitation. Baseline characteristics, including diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, family history of aortic valve regurgitation, and a history of drug use, did not differ statistically significantly between patients with improved aortic valve regurgitation and patients with no changes. Echocardiographic indices related to the aorta, such as aortic valve pressure gradient, showed improvement (P < .001), and ejection fractions before and after surgery remained comparable. Changes in aortic valve regurgitation severity were found to differ statistically significantly between the various procedures (P = .001).

CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that it is not likely that moderate aortic valve regurgitation will progress after CABG or MVR. Hence, no support was found for concurrent aortic valve replacement during these procedures.

PMID:39545219 | PMC:PMC11563032 | DOI:10.14503/THIJ-23-8273

Nat Rev Neurosci. 2024 Nov 14. doi: 10.1038/s41583-024-00877-z. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:39543247 | DOI:10.1038/s41583-024-00877-z

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 15;14(1):28102. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-78852-y.

ABSTRACT

Antioxidant-rich diets serve as protective factors in preventing obesity. The composite dietary antioxidant index (CDAI) represents a novel, comprehensive metric for assessing the antioxidant capacity of diets. Our objective is to investigate the relationship between the CDAI and obesity prevalence among adults in the United States. Dietary and anthropometric information about adults aged 20 years and older were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2018. The CDAI was derived from six dietary antioxidants. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) ≥ 30 kg/m², and abdominal obesity as a waist circumference (WC, cm) ≥ 102 cm for men and ≥ 88 cm for women. The relationship between CDAI and obesity, including abdominal obesity, was analyzed using logistic regression and subgroup analyses. A total of 25,553 participants were analyzed. With higher tertiles of the CDAI, both obesity (41.28% vs. 38.62 vs. 35.09%, P < 0.001) and abdominal obesity (63.75% vs. 59.54 vs. 52.09%, P < 0.001) prevalence notably declined. Adjusting for multiple confounders, the CDAI was found to be independently linked to obesity (OR = 0.980, 95%CI = 0.971-0.989, P < 0.001) and abdominal obesity (OR = 0.972, 95%CI = 0.963-0.982, P < 0.001) risks. Subgroup analyses revealed a stronger relationship between CDAI and obesity in non-hypertensive individuals and a more significant association with abdominal obesity in women and those without hypertension. Our findings reveal a negative relationship between CDAI levels and both general and abdominal obesity. Additional extensive research is necessary to investigate CDAI’s contribution to obesity.

PMID:39543203 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-78852-y

NPJ Breast Cancer. 2024 Nov 14;10(1):98. doi: 10.1038/s41523-024-00696-6.

ABSTRACT

Surgery remains the primary treatment modality in the management of early-stage invasive breast cancer. Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered visualization platforms offer the compelling potential to aid surgeons in evaluating the tumor’s location and morphology within the breast and accordingly optimize their surgical approach. We sought to validate an AI platform that employs dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) to render three-dimensional (3D) representations of the tumor and 5 additional chest tissues, offering clear visualizations as well as functionalities for quantifying tumor morphology, tumor-to-landmark structure distances, excision volumes, and approximate surgical margins. This retrospective study assessed the visualization platform’s performance on 100 cases with ground-truth labels vetted by 2 breast-specialized radiologists. We assessed features including automatic AI-generated clinical metrics (e.g., tumor dimensions) as well as visualization tools including convex hulls at desired margins around the tumor to help visualize lumpectomy volume. The statistical performance of the platform’s automated features was robust and within the range of inter-radiologist variability. These detailed 3D tumor and surrounding multi-tissue depictions offer both qualitative and quantitative comprehension of cancer topology and may aid in formulating an optimal surgical approach for breast cancer treatment. We further establish the framework for broader data integration into the platform to enhance precision cancer care.

PMID:39543194 | DOI:10.1038/s41523-024-00696-6

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 14;14(1):28076. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79752-x.

ABSTRACT

In this research, male and female athletes who won gold, silverand bronze medals at the International Weightlifting Federation Senior World Championship (between 2011 and 2023); (a) analysis of successful and unsuccessful lifts in snatch and clean and jerk techniques, (b) analysis of successful and unsuccessful lifts in 3 lift attempts in both techniques and, (c) It is aimed to investigate the lifting attempts of athletes that determine their medal rankings in snatch, clean and jerk and total. In this retrospective study, data of 3144 (1603 and 1541 for male and female, respectively) individual results obtained from the lifting performances of 528 athletes (male n = 270; female n = 258) participating in the Senior World Championship (between 2011 and 2023) in snatch and clean and jerk were analyzed. In the study, the frequencies and rates of the individuals included in the study according to different variables are presented with descriptive statistics. Various Chi-square analyzes were conducted to determine differences in distribution rates between groups. The significance level in the analyzes was determined as p < .05. It was determined that the successful lifts ratios of the athletes who achieved gold, bronze, silver medals in the light weight, middle weight and heavy weight categories of the male and female groups were higher than the unsuccessful lifts ratios in both lifting techniques (excluding silver medals in clean and jerk in lightweight for men; except bronze medals in snatch in lightweight for women). It was observed that the percentage rates in the unsuccessful lifts of athletes who achieved gold medals in both snatch and clean and jerk of the male and female groups were lower than the percentage rates in the unsuccessful lifts of athletes who took part in silver and bronze medals. It was observed that there was no significant difference between the distribution rates of successful and unsuccessful lifts distribution rates according to gender in both snatch and clean and jerk of both genders. It was observed that the successful lifts rates in both the snatch and clean and jerk of the male and female groups decreased from the 1st attempt to the 3rd attempt, and the lifting rates in the unsuccessful lifts increased. It has been observed that the lift attempts that determine the medal rankings of the groups in snatch, clean and jerk and total are the 2nd attempt and 3rd attempt. The findings can provide a comprehensive perspective on the in-competition factors that contribute to World Championship success in order to directly inform coach and athlete strategies. These findings may also be valid for national or regional champions and may include other strength-based sports with a similar structure.

PMID:39543189 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-79752-x

NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2024 Nov 14;10(1):219. doi: 10.1038/s41531-024-00831-x.

ABSTRACT

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in Parkinson’s disease (PD), with mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN) emerging as a potential marker for mitochondrial health. We investigated the links between blood mtDNA-CN and PD severity and risk using the Accelerating Medicines Partnership program for Parkinson’s Disease dataset, replicating our results in the UK Biobank. Our findings reveal that reduced blood mtDNA-CN levels are associated with heightened PD risk and increased severity of motor symptoms and olfactory dysfunction. We estimated blood cell composition using complete blood cell profile when available or RNA-sequencing data as a surrogate. After adjusting for blood cell composition, the associations between mtDNA-CN and PD risk and clinical symptoms became non-significant. Bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis also found no evidence of a direct causal relationship between blood mtDNA-CN and PD susceptibility. Hence peripheral inflammatory immune responses rather than mitochondrial dysfunction underpin these previously identified associations in PD.

PMID:39543161 | DOI:10.1038/s41531-024-00831-x

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 14;14(1):27950. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79499-5.

ABSTRACT

Self-healing hydrogels are emerging materials capable of restoring functionality after damage, making them highly suitable for biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, wound healing, and drug delivery. In this study, we synthesize and characterize a novel biodegradable, conductive, and self-healing hydrogel. The synthesis is based on a Schiff base formed between gelatin and hyaluronic acid, and the dynamic reversible Schiff base bond provides the self-healing property. To characterize and assess the self-healing behavior of the hydrogel, dynamic speckle pattern (DSP) analysis is introduced as a non-destructive, non-contact, and easy-to-implement method. Speckle patterns are formed upon scattering of laser light from a diffusive matter and includes a huge overall information about the sample, to be extracted by statistical processing. DSP analysis is employed to monitor the self-healing process of the hydrogel at both macroscopic and microscopic scales. Experimental procedure involve in situ acquisition of speckle patterns over time under controlled environmental conditions, followed by statistical analysis to evaluate the internal dynamics of the healing process. Several statistical parameters are computed for real-time monitoring of the self-healing property of the hydrogel. The findings, on the one hand, underscore the potential of Schiff base hydrogels in advanced biomedical applications where self-healing properties are critical for sustained performance and longevity. On the other hand, the introduced analysis method shows its potential to serve as an effective approach for biomaterial characterization.

PMID:39543160 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-79499-5

Nat Commun. 2024 Nov 14;15(1):9562. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53645-z.

ABSTRACT

Carbon markets play an important role in firms’ and governments’ climate strategies. Carbon crediting mechanisms allow project developers to earn carbon credits through mitigation projects. Several studies have raised concerns about environmental integrity, though a systematic evaluation is missing. We synthesized studies relying on experimental or rigorous observational methods, covering 14 studies on 2346 carbon mitigation projects and 51 studies investigating similar field interventions implemented without issuing carbon credits. The analysis covers one-fifth of the credit volume issued to date, almost 1 billion tons of CO₂e. We estimate that less than 16% of the carbon credits issued to the investigated projects constitute real emission reductions, with 11% for cookstoves, 16% for SF₆ destruction, 25% for avoided deforestation, 68% for HFC-23 abatement, and no statistically significant emission reductions from wind power and improved forest management projects. Carbon crediting mechanisms need to be reformed fundamentally to meaningfully contribute to climate change mitigation.

PMID:39543137 | DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-53645-z