Category: Statistics

Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2024 Jun 29. doi: 10.1002/ohn.876. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to assess if decreasing bottle cap size was associated with more ingestions and injuries nationally. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review.

SETTING: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database.

METHODS: The NEISS was queried for bottle cap ingestions in children 0 to 18 years old between 2002 and 2021. Demographic factors including age, race, and sex of the patient were recorded. The location where the ingestion took place and the disposition of the patient were also analyzed. Data were excluded if the narrative did not specify the ingestion of a cap of a drinking bottle.

RESULTS: A total of 415 bottle cap ingestion injuries were identified, for a national estimate of 11,683 injuries. The mean age at the time of ingestion was 10.3 ± 5.2 years and the majority of the injuries occurred in males (N = 9129, 78.4%). 46.4% (N = 5398) were Caucasian, 17.6% (N = 2046) were Black or African American, and 2.7% (N = 311) were Hispanic. 55.0% (N = 6405) of injuries occurred at an unknown location, 41.4% (N = 4781) occurred at home, and 2.8% (N = 326) occurred at school. 82.3% (N = 9584) of patients were treated in the emergency department and released, 6.9% (N = 808) were treated and admitted, 6.7% (N = 783) were treated and transferred, and 0.9% (N = 110) were held for observation. From 2002 (N = 6) to 2021 (N = 2291), there was a statistically significant increase in bottle cap ingestions (P < .001).

CONCLUSION: Plastic bottle cap ingestions have increased in children over the last 20 years, coincident with the change to smaller bottle caps.

PMID:38943452 | DOI:10.1002/ohn.876

Work. 2024 Jun 25. doi: 10.3233/WOR-230643. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In vehicles there is often limited space for seats. This might mean that reclining the back rest reduces the legroom. The second row in a cargo van has this problem and in this limited space an upright seat and a reclined seat with less legroom was developed and tested.

OBJECTIVE: The research question of this study is: Does a reclined backrest with less leg room result in the same comfort and/or discomfort as an upright backrest with more leg room?

METHODS: Twenty participants are asked to sit 45 minutes in the upright seat with 8 cm more legroom and 45 minutes in the reclined seat. Ten participants started in the upright seat and ten in the reclined. Participants had to complete a comfort and discomfort questionnaire every 15 minutes and a qualitative interview was conducted after experiencing both seats.

RESULTS: For comfort no statistically significant differences were found between both seats. For discomfort statistically significant differences were found where discomfort was lower in the reclined seat. Half of the participants preferred the upright and half the reclined seat. The interviews showed that the reclined position was more related to relaxation.

CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that a more reclined back rest results in less discomfort, but that does not lead to a clear preference of participants. The reclined position is associated with relaxing, and this study indicates that for the relaxing state the more reclined seat is preferred. For more active situations the upright posture seems better.

PMID:38943420 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-230643

Technol Health Care. 2024 Apr 30. doi: 10.3233/THC-231270. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health problem, so it is particularly important to quantitatively assess and intervene in the degree of early renal damage in CKD.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the research is to establish reference values for kidney elasticity by using real-time shear wave elastography (RT-SWE) technology to quantify Young’s modulus values in the renal cortex of normal adults. The intention is to provide a foundation for evaluating renal function and structural changes in patients with CKD. Furthermore, this research investigates the role of RT-SWE in the early detection of renal fibrosis in CKD, providing insights into its diagnostic value for detecting pathological changes at an early stage.

METHODS: Between August 2019 and December 2021, we collected a sample of 100 healthy people (55 men with an average age of 43.5 ± 15.2 years and 45 women with an average age of 41.6 ± 19.8 years) for medical evaluations at our hospital’s Department of Ultrasound Medicine. In addition, 97 individuals with CKD1-3 stage were considered. Following the removal of contraindications and relevant confounding variables, we included a final cohort of 80 individuals in the research (45 men and 35 females, with an average age of 39.1 ± 19.2 years). The RENAL mode was selected and a convex array probe S6-1 operating at a frequency of 3.5-5.5 MHz was used in the research, which made use of the French Supersonic AixPlorer ultrasonic diagnostic instrument. Renal RT-SWE elastography was performed after conventional two-dimensional and color Doppler ultrasonography. The study used RT-SWE technology to assess the mean Young’s modulus of the cortex in healthy individuals (Emean), with data analysis and comparisons based on age and gender. Furthermore, the Emean values of CKD stage 1-3 patients were determined, and analyses were performed about 24-hour urine protein quantitative (24hUTP), serum creatinine concentration (SCr), and renal biopsy pathology, specifically the degree of interstitial fibrosis.

RESULTS: Healthy group: a) The average kPa values of the left kidney (4.2 ± 2.3), right kidney (4.3 + 2.5) kPa, both kidneys’ average kPa values (4.3 ± 2.4) kPa, and the average kPa values of the left and right kidneys do not differ statistically (p= 0.986). b) There was no difference in the kPa values of healthy male and female kidneys (4.4 + 2.1 and 4.2 + 2.6, respectively. c) There was no difference in the renal kPa values of healthy adults aged 50 (4.4 ± 2.8) kPa and renal kPa of the 50-year-old population (4.2 + 2.1) kPa (p= 0.041). Case group: a) the group of patients with CKD1-3 stage and the group did not vary in their Emean values (both p< 0.05); b) There is a difference between CKD stages 1, 2, and 3 (p< 0.05), however, there is still no difference in the pyEmean value corrected for patient age between patients in stages 1 and 2 (p> 0.05).

CONCLUSION: The study reveals no significant differences in the Emean value of bilateral kidneys in normal people and no differences in the elasticity value of kidneys and gender. However, age-based differences were statistically significant. pyEmean may be useful for comparing CKD stage 1, 2, and 3 patients, and RT-SWE can assess early renal damage.

PMID:38943409 | DOI:10.3233/THC-231270

J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2024 Jun 17. doi: 10.3233/BMR-240001. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Clinical research on the management and rehabilitation of work-related upper spinal pain in bus drivers is sparse, indicating a gap in knowledge and treatment strategies. This highlights the growing need for innovative approaches to rehabilitation programs in this area.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of kinesio taping (KT) on pain, functionality, and work performance in bus drivers experiencing neck pain.

METHODS: The study involved 44 participants who were randomised into two different groups: the exercise group (n= 22) and the kinesio tape group (n= 22), with participants in both groups undertaking exercise interventions. Evaluations were made before and after 6 weeks of treatment. At the end of the 6-week, the participants’ ROM, pain evaluations and functional scales were evaluated with disability, and work functionality.

RESULTS: Neck pain severity decreased in both groups (p< 0.001 for each value), but there was no difference between the groups (p: 0.071). When disability scores were evaluated, improvement was noted in both groups (p: 0.001 for each value), but no statistically significant difference was found (p: 0.754). When the improvements in ROM values before and after the treatment were examined, the difference between the groups was recorded only in the neck extension ROM value (p: 0.011). Significant improvement was noted in all sub-steps of job performance in both groups (p< 0.05).

CONCLUSION: KT added to ergonomic training and home exercise programmes is effective in controlling work-related musculoskeletal pain in drivers with neck pain. However, the addition of KT to exercise therapy was found to be no more effective than exercise therapy alone in improving pain control, functionality and work performance.

PMID:38943382 | DOI:10.3233/BMR-240001

J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2024 Jun 16. doi: 10.3233/BMR-230287. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There are no data on the additional contribution of dry needling (DN) for trigger points (TPs) accompanying patients with cervical spondylosis (CS).

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the contribution of DN applied to concomitant active TPs in the upper trapezius muscle on the treatment outcomes of physiotherapy in CS.

METHODS: In this prospective randomized controlled study, 70 patients with CS and active TPs in the upper trapezius muscle were included. The first group received physiotherapy for 5 days per week for 3 weeks. The second group received DN with the same program. All participants were evaluated before treatment (day 0) and at the end of treatment (day 21) in terms of pain, functional status, quality of life, anxiety/depression scores, and number of TPs.

RESULTS: 33 patients in the first group and 32 patients in the second group completed the study. While the change over time was found significant in all variables, the change was not different between groups. The group-time interaction effect was not found to be statistically significant in any variable. Percentage changes of all variables were similar between the groups.

CONCLUSION: DN treatment added to the physiotherapy did not contribute to recovery in patients with CS.

PMID:38943380 | DOI:10.3233/BMR-230287

J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2024 Jun 14. doi: 10.3233/BMR-230242. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: During the last two decades, there has been a growing interest in spinal sagittal alignment. Most published studies have focused on the role of spinopelvic parameters in patients with adult spinal deformity or in those with previous spinal fusion.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore possible association between disability related to back pain and spinopelvic parameters in the absence of coronal deformity or previous spinal surgery.

METHODS: In the setting of a larger study involving patients with low back pain (LBP), those without previous surgery or spinal deformity in the coronal plane were selected. A total of 52 patients (mean age 59 years, range 21-86, 23 men and 29 women) were found. The visual analogic scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index questionnaire (ODI) were recorded. Surgimap software was used to measure the sagittal vertical axis (SVA), pelvic tilt (PT), pelvic incidence (PI), sacral slope (SS), and lumbar lordosis (LL). Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS Statistics software. Pearson or Spearman correlation were the test of choice depending on the specific variables.

RESULTS: A statistically significant association was found between SVA and ODI (r 0.59, p< 0.03). Increased pelvic tilt was also associated with more severe disability related to back pain (r 0.48, p< 0.03). PI-LL mismatch showed moderate association with disability and severity of back pain, although this association did not reach statistical significance (r 0.52, p< 0.08).

CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that sagittal misalignment may be related with more severe disability and back pain in patients with minor or null deformity in the coronal plane.

PMID:38943379 | DOI:10.3233/BMR-230242

Breast Dis. 2024;43(1):213-221. doi: 10.3233/BD-240005.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The PI3K protein is involved in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Deregulation of this pathway through PIK3CA mutation is common in various tumors. The aim of this work is to identify hotspot mutation at exons 9 and 20 in Tunisian patients with sporadic or hereditary breast cancer.

METHODS: Hotspot mutations in exon 9 and exon 20 of the PIK3CA gene were identified by QPCR-High Resolution Melting followed by COLD-PCR and sequencing in 63 (42 sporadic cases and 21 hereditary cases) tumor tissues collected from Tunisian patient with breast cancer. MCF7, and BT20 breast cancer cell lines harboring the PIK3CA hotspot mutations E545K and H1047R in exon 9 and exon 20 respectively, were used as controls in HRM experiments.

RESULTS: PIK3CA hotspot mutations were detected in 66.7% (28 out of 42) of sporadic BC cases, and in 14.3% (3 out of 21) of hereditary BC. The E545K and the H1048Y were the most prevalent mutations identified in patients with sporadic and hereditary BC, whereas the H1047R hotspot mutation was not found in our patients. Statistical analysis showed that PIK3CA mutation associated with an aggressive behavior in patients with sporadic BC, while it’s correlated with age, tumor stage and tumor size in the group patients with hereditary breast cancer.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed a novel PIK3CA hotspot mutation in Tunisian breast cancer patients detected by HRM-COLD-PCR. Moreover, the absence of PIK3CA hotspot mutation associated with good prognosis.

PMID:38943378 | DOI:10.3233/BD-240005

Hum Brain Mapp. 2024 Jul 15;45(10):e26763. doi: 10.1002/hbm.26763.

ABSTRACT

In this article, we develop an analytical approach for estimating brain connectivity networks that accounts for subject heterogeneity. More specifically, we consider a novel extension of a multi-subject Bayesian vector autoregressive model that estimates group-specific directed brain connectivity networks and accounts for the effects of covariates on the network edges. We adopt a flexible approach, allowing for (possibly) nonlinear effects of the covariates on edge strength via a novel Bayesian nonparametric prior that employs a weighted mixture of Gaussian processes. For posterior inference, we achieve computational scalability by implementing a variational Bayes scheme. Our approach enables simultaneous estimation of group-specific networks and selection of relevant covariate effects. We show improved performance over competing two-stage approaches on simulated data. We apply our method on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from children with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and healthy controls to estimate the effects of age and sex on the group-level connectivities. Our results highlight differences in the distribution of parent nodes. They also suggest alteration in the relation of age, with peak edge strength in children with TBI, and differences in effective connectivity strength between males and females.

PMID:38943369 | DOI:10.1002/hbm.26763

Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2024 Jun 29. doi: 10.1111/ajo.13853. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, mitigation measures were associated with a reduction in preterm birth rates; while not clearly proven, this observation has sparked significant interest.

AIM: To understand the cause of this reduction by exploring the characteristics of preterm birth cohorts.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study where we compared women who delivered preterm in three Melbourne maternity hospitals and conceived between November 2019 and February 2020 (mitigation measures-exposed cohort) to women who delivered preterm and conceived between November 2018 and February 2019 (non-exposed cohort). We compared maternal characteristics, pregnancy complications, antenatal interventions, intrapartum care, and indications for delivery.

RESULTS: In the exposed cohort, 252/3129 women delivered preterm (8.1%), vs 298/3154 (9.4%) in the non-exposed cohort (odds ratio (OR) 0.84, 95% CI 0.70-1.00, P = 0.051). The baseline characteristic of two cohorts were comparable. Rates of spontaneous preterm labour (sPTL) without preterm pre-labour rupture of membranes (PPROM) were lower in the exposed cohort (13.1% vs 24.2%, OR 0.47, P = 0.001) while PPROM occurred more often (48.0% vs 35.6%, OR 1.67, P = 0.003). With a non-statistically significant prolongation of pregnancy in the cohort exposed to mitigation measures for both sPTL without PPROM (35.4 vs 34.9 weeks, P = 0.703) and PPROM (35.6 vs 34.9 weeks, P = 0.184). The rate of spontaneous labour after PPROM was higher in the exposed cohort compared to the non-exposed cohort (40.1% vs 24.1%, OR 2.09, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: The reduction in preterm delivery during mitigation measures may have been driven by a reduction in spontaneous labour without PPROM, which seemed to result in more PPROM later in pregnancy.

PMID:38943364 | DOI:10.1111/ajo.13853

Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Jun 29:gkae550. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkae550. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Classification of introns, which is crucial to understanding their evolution and splicing, has historically been binary and has resulted in the naming of major and minor introns that are spliced by their namesake spliceosome. However, a broad range of intron consensus sequences exist, leading us to here reclassify introns as minor, minor-like, hybrid, major-like, major and non-canonical introns in 263 species across six eukaryotic supergroups. Through intron orthology analysis, we discovered that minor-like introns are a transitory node for intron conversion across evolution. Despite close resemblance of their consensus sequences to minor introns, these introns possess an AG dinucleotide at the -1 and -2 position of the 5′ splice site, a salient feature of major introns. Through combined analysis of CoLa-seq, CLIP-seq for major and minor spliceosome components, and RNAseq from samples in which the minor spliceosome is inhibited we found that minor-like introns are also an intermediate class from a splicing mechanism perspective. Importantly, this analysis has provided insight into the sequence elements that have evolved to make minor-like introns amenable to recognition by both minor and major spliceosome components. We hope that this revised intron classification provides a new framework to study intron evolution and splicing.

PMID:38943346 | DOI:10.1093/nar/gkae550