Category: Statistics

Neurol Sci. 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1007/s10072-022-06574-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Limited studies had jointly excavated the structural and functional changes in cognitive deficit in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis patients. We aimed to explore these changes in anti-NMDAR patients and their effect on cognitive function.

METHODS: Twenty-three patients and 25 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging scanning, and neuroethology tests. The significantly differentiated brain regions via the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) were defined as regions of interest (ROIs). Granger causal, functional connectivity, and tract-based spatial statistical analyses were applied to explore the functional changes in ROIs and assess the structural changes.

RESULTS: HCs outperformed patients in Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The fALFF values of right gyrus rectus (RGR) in patients were significantly reduced. The fractional anisotropy (FA) values of WM in the genu of corpus callosum and right superior corona radiata were significantly decreased and positively associated with neuroethology testing scores. The Granger causal connectivity (GCC) from the left inferior parietal lobule to RGR was significantly decreased and positively associated with inherent vigilance. Indicated by the multiple linear regression result, decreased FA value of the right superior corona radiata might be a reliable marker that reflects the cognitive impairment.

CONCLUSIONS: Significant changes in spontaneous neural activities, GCC, and WM structures in anti-NMDAR encephalitis were reported. These findings promote the understanding of underlying relationships between cerebral function, structural network alterations, and cognitive dysfunction.

PMID:36571641 | DOI:10.1007/s10072-022-06574-y

Arch Microbiol. 2022 Dec 26;205(1):40. doi: 10.1007/s00203-022-03378-8.

ABSTRACT

PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) increases the potential harm to ecosystem and human health. The fungi is considered as a powerful choice for degradation of PAHs. The researches on the effect of PAHs on fungal population in sediment/soil mostly stayed in the laboratory simulation that is based on extreme pollution. This study investigated the fungal population of the urban wetland by high-throughput sequencing in-situ micro-pollution state. Our statistical analysis revealed significant difference in the whole fungal population at the phylum among three land use types in typical urban wetland. Among them, Ascomycota was the dominant fungi at the phyla in three land use types. Fungal genus of degrading PAHs were significantly correlated with Dibenz[a, h]anthracene (P = 0.018) in ditch wetland, Total Organic Carbon (P = 0.02) and Fluoranthene (P = 0.04) in riverine wetland, and Electrical Conductivity (P = 0.018) in agricultural land. PICRUSt (Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States) suggested that 20 enzymes were present related to PAHs metabolism in three land use types. Specifically, monoxygenase, dehydrogenase, and laccase were most abundant among inferred enzymes, indicating that the urban wetland had potential for the degradation of PAHs. This study contributed to in-depth understanding of the structure and function of fungal population and provided a theoretical basis for PAHs microbial remediation in the in-situ environment.

PMID:36571638 | DOI:10.1007/s00203-022-03378-8

J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1007/s10803-022-05871-x. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder impacting 1 in 44 children and early identification of children with ASD is critical for the intervention. Several screening measures have been developed for early identification, including the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales, 6-18 years Parent Report (ASRS). The ASRS has been understudied, and the current study assessed the validity of the ASRS in a clinical sample of 490 children at a tertiary ASD-specialty clinic. Results indicated that the ASRS demonstrated favorable sensitivity, but poor specificity. True positive screening results were more likely to occur for children with a multiracial background, while they were less likely to occur for children with a high social capital. Overall, though the ASRS has clinical utility as a screening measure, it did not perform effectively to differentiate ASD from Non-ASD clinical disorders.

PMID:36571625 | DOI:10.1007/s10803-022-05871-x

Arch Dermatol Res. 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1007/s00403-022-02512-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common cause of hair loss in both genders with a higher psychological impact on females. Currently, topical minoxidil is the only FDA-approved treatment for female AGA and it needs life-long application and causes side effects. Cetirizine is an antihistamine that may be effective in hair loss treatment. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of topical cetirizine with minoxidil (group 1) versus topical minoxidil with placebo (group 2) in female patients with AGA. This was a double-blind, randomized, controlled, parallel study conducted at Dermatology Clinic, Cairo University Teaching Hospital (Kasr- Al- Ainy), Egypt. Sixty-six patients with female AGA, aged 20-50 years, Sinclair (II-IV), were randomly assigned to one of the 2 groups for 24 weeks. The trichoscopic parameters, patients’ self-assessment, side effects and global photographic assessment were evaluated. There was a statistically significant change from baseline in frontal and vertex terminal and vellus hair density (P < 0.0005) with a significant increase in vertex hair shaft thickness and average number of hairs per follicular unit in group 1 (P < 0.05). Patients reported significantly better scores in patient self-assessment in group 1 (P < 0.05). Side effects were not significantly different between groups (P > 0.05). Topical cetirizine increases hair shaft thickness and results in a higher clinical improvement from patients’ perspective with a good safety profile (NCT04481412, study start date: July 2020).

PMID:36571611 | DOI:10.1007/s00403-022-02512-2

Arch Dermatol Res. 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1007/s00403-022-02521-1. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Mycosis Fungoides (MF) makes up the most of the cutaneous lymphomas. As a malignant disease, the greatest diagnostical challenge is to timely differentiate MF from inflammatory diseases. Contemporary computational methods successfully identify cell nuclei in histological specimens. Deep learning methods are especially favored for such tasks. A deep learning model was used to detect nuclei Hematoxylin-Eosin(H-E) stained micrographs. Nuclear properties are extracted after detection. A multi-layer perceptron classifier is used to detect lymphocytes specifically among the detected nuclei. The comparisons for each property between MF and non-MF were carried out using statistical tests the results are compared with the findings in the literature to provide a descriptive analysis as well. Random forest classifier method is used to build a model to classify MF and non-MF lymphocytes. 10 nuclear properties were statistically significantly different between MF and non-MF specimens. MF nuclei were smaller, darker and more heterogenous. Lymphocyte detection algorithm had an average 90.5% prediction power and MF detection algorithm had an average 94.2% prediction power. This project aims to fill the gap between computational advancement and medical practice. The models could make MF diagnoses easier, more accurate and earlier. The results also challenge the manually examined and defined nuclear properties of MF with the help of data abundance and computer objectivity.

PMID:36571610 | DOI:10.1007/s00403-022-02521-1

Abdom Radiol (NY). 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1007/s00261-022-03774-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To explore the clinical value of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) radiomics in predicting primary site response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in high-risk neuroblastoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy patients were retrospectively included and separated into very good partial response (VGPR) group and non-VGPR group according to the changes in primary tumor volume. The clinical features with statistical difference between the two groups were used to construct the clinical models using a logistic regression (LR) algorithm. The radiomics models based on different radiomics features selected by Kruskal-Wallis (KW) test and recursive feature elimination (RFE) were established using support vector machine (SVM) and LR algorithms. The radiomics score (Radscore) and clinical features were integrated into the combined models. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) was used to validate the predictive performance of models in the entire dataset.

RESULTS: The optimal clinical model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.767 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.638, 0.896] and an accuracy of 0.771 after LOOCV. The AUCs of the best KW + SVM, KW + LR, RFE + SVM, and RFE + LR radiomics models were 0.816, 0.826, 0.853, and 0.850, respectively, and the corresponding AUCs after LOOCV were 0.780, 0.785, 0.755, and 0.772, respectively. The AUC and accuracy after LOOCV of the optimal combined model was 0.804 (95% CI: 0.694, 0.915) and 0.814, respectively. The Delong test showed a statistical difference in predictive performance between the optimal clinical and combined models after LOOCV (Z = 2.003, P = 0.045). The decision curve analysis showed that the combined model performs better than the clinical model.

CONCLUSION: The CECT radiomics models have a favorable predictive performance in predicting VGPR of high-risk neuroblastoma to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. When integrating radiomics features and clinical features, the predictive performance of the combined models can be further improved.

PMID:36571609 | DOI:10.1007/s00261-022-03774-0

Eur Radiol. 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1007/s00330-022-09370-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the association between the perivascular fat attenuation index (FAI) and the success of the antegrade percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO).

METHODS: This study evaluated patients with only one CTO lesion observed on conventional coronary angiography (CAG) who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) < 1 month before CAG, from 2018 to 2019. The clinical data, CCTA-based CTO lesion morphologic characteristics, and perivascular FAI of CTO lesions were recorded and analysed.

RESULTS: In total, 156 patients with CTOs were enrolled in this study. Successful antegrade PCI (A-PCI) was achieved in 105 CTO lesions (67.3%). The perivascular FAI of the failed A-PCI group was significantly lower than the successful A-PCI group (-84.76 ± 10.44 Hounsfield unit (HU) vs. -67.54 ± 9.94 HU; p < 0.001), and the cut-off value determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was -77.50 HU. Multivariable analysis revealed no statistical significance in the clinical data, FAI ≤ -77.50 HU (odds ratio (OR): 33.96), negative remodeling (OR: 4.36), severe calcification degree (OR: 4.43) and occlusion length ≥ 20.25 mm (OR: 3.89) were independent predictors of A-PCI failure. The prediction performance of combining the three morphologic characteristics (severe calcification, occlusion length ≥ 20.25 mm, and negative remodeling) with FAI ≤ -77.50 HU was better than that of the three morphologic characteristics alone (0.93 versus 0.77, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: As a non-invasive index for detecting coronary inflammation, FAI complements indicators based on coronary CTA well and may be helpful for choosing appropriate interventional strategies.

KEY POINTS: • Perivascular FAI of CTO was significantly higher in the failed A-PCI group. • The combination of FAI with other morphological predictors showed higher predictive performance of failed A-PCI for CTOs. • FAI is a good complement to indicators based on coronary CTA.

PMID:36571603 | DOI:10.1007/s00330-022-09370-6

Clin Oral Investig. 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1007/s00784-022-04823-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to compare differences among iliac bone flaps with different iliac crest orientations for the repair of mandibular defects with an aim to analyze their advantages, disadvantages, and effects.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Clinical data and computed tomography scans of all patients who underwent iliac bone flap repair of the mandible in Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology from January 2016 to April 2021 were collected. Patients were divided into the iliac crest towards alveolar process (Group A) and the iliac crest towards mandibular inferior margin (Group B). Software was used to measure corresponding indicators. The results obtained for the groups were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS: The study included 78 patients (25 and 53 in groups A and B, respectively). The symmetry of the LC-type defect was better in group A (p < 0.05). The all-bone width of the alveolar process side in group A was greater than 6 mm; in 15 cases of group B, the width was less than 6 mm (p < 0.05). The intermaxillary distance of two sites were higher in group B (p < 0.05). The bone cortical thickness was significantly thicker in group A (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: One year after the mandibular body defect was reconstructed with a vascularized iliac bone flap, the iliac crest towards alveolar process group showed better bone symmetry, width, intermaxillary distance, and cortical thickness to meet the planting requirements.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The use of an iliac crest towards alveolar process may be a better approach for mandible reconstruction.

PMID:36571588 | DOI:10.1007/s00784-022-04823-0

Ann Neurol. 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1002/ana.26588. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Polygenic variation accounts for a substantial portion of the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, but its effect on the rate of fibrillar-tau accumulation as a key driver of dementia symptoms is unclear.

METHODS: We combined the to-date largest number of genetic risk variants of AD (n = 85 lead SNPs) from recent GWAS to generate a PGS. We assessed longitudinal tau-PET, amyloid-PET, and cognition in 231 participants from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Using the PGS, together with global amyloid-PET, we predicted the rate of tau-PET increases in Braak-stage regions-of-interest and cognitive decline. We also assessed PGS-risk enrichment effects on the required sample size in clinical trials targeting tau pathology.

RESULTS: We found that a higher PGS was associated with higher rates of tau-PET accumulation, in particular at elevated amyloid-PET levels. Tau-PET increases mediated the association between PGS and faster cognitive decline. Risk enrichment through high PGS afforded sample size savings by 34%.

INTERPRETATION: Our results demonstrate that the PGS predicts faster tau progression and thus cognitive decline, showing utility to enhance statistical power in clinical trials. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:36571564 | DOI:10.1002/ana.26588

Cancer. 2022 Dec 26. doi: 10.1002/cncr.34626. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study was aimed at developing and validating a decision-making tool predictive of overall survival (OS) for patients receiving stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for spinal metastases.

METHODS: Three hundred sixty-one patients at one institution were used for the training set, and 182 at a second institution were used for external validation. Treatments most commonly involved one or three fractions of spine SBRT. Exclusion criteria included proton therapy and benign histologies.

RESULTS: The final model consisted of the following variables and scores: Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) ≥ 6 (1), time from primary diagnosis < 21 months (1), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status = 1 (1) or ECOG performance status > 1 (2), and >1 organ system involved (1). Each variable was an independent predictor of OS (p < .001), and each 1-point increase in the score was associated with a hazard ratio of 2.01 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.79-2.25; p < .0001). The concordance value was 0.75 (95% CI, 0.71-0.78). The scores were discretized into three groups-favorable (score = 0-1), intermediate (score = 2), and poor survival (score = 3-5)-with 2-year OS rates of 84% (95% CI, 79%-90%), 46% (95% CI, 36%-59%), and 21% (95% CI, 14%-32%), respectively (p < .0001 for each). In the external validation set (182 patients), the score was also predictive of OS (p < .0001). Increasing SINS<zaq;6> was predictive of decreased OS as a continuous variable (p < .0001).

CONCLUSIONS: This novel score is proposed as a decision-making tool to help to optimize patient selection for spine SBRT. SINS may be an independent predictor of OS.

PMID:36571507 | DOI:10.1002/cncr.34626