Category: Statistics

Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2026 Jan 1;81(1):5-7. doi: 10.1097/01.ogx.0001179548.39409.03. Epub 2026 Jan 19.

ABSTRACT

Preeclampsia affects ~8% of pregnancies and is a leading cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. From 2007 to 2019, rates of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, doubled in the United States. This trend coincides with a rise in maternal mortality, which is now the highest among high-income nations. These statistics support the need to develop risk stratification tools that help to prevent and treat preeclampsia. Efforts to develop these risk assessments have not been successful in reproductive medicine, especially for preeclampsia. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has recommended a risk-based approach using clinical and demographic factors and, for individuals at increased risk, treatment with low-dose aspirin prophylaxis (AP) starting at 12 weeks of gestation. The aim of this study was to assess the proportions of a racially and geographically diverse population classified as low, moderate, or high risk for preeclampsia according to USPSTF criteria. This was a prospective cohort study conducted at 11 medical centers across the United States or through direct recruitment via social media. Included were individuals with singleton pregnancies who were 18 years or older and enrolled in the study before 22 weeks’ gestation between July 2020 and March 2023. Participants were classified as high risk if they had at least 1 high-risk condition based on the USPSTF criteria. Participants were classified as moderate risk if they had ≥1 moderate risk factors but no high risk factors (moderate +1 risk category); this group was further subdivided into 2 categories: moderate 1 risk (defined as those with only 1 moderate risk factor) and moderate 2+ risk (those with ≥2 moderate risk factors). Those in the low-risk category had no high or moderate risk factors. AP recommendation with or without a prescription was the effect modification. The primary outcome was preeclampsia. A total of 5684 people were included in the analysis. The study population was identified as Asian (4.7%), black (21%), Hispanic (17.4%), white (48.6%), and other (8.3%). About 12% and 11% of participants were diagnosed with preeclampsia and gestational hypertension that progressed to preeclampsia, respectively. There were 18.5% in the high-risk category and 11.2% in the low-risk category. Approximately 70.3% were in the moderate +1 risk category, which was subdivided into the moderate risk 1 category (34.4%) and the moderate risk 2+ category (35.9%). While the incidence of preeclampsia varied by race, limited information was gleaned for sensitivity and specificity. A significantly increased risk of preeclampsia was observed in those with prior preeclampsia [risk ratio (RR), 1.44; 95% CI, 1.25-1.65; P<0.001] or chronic hypertension (RR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.10-1.44; P=0.001). Much of the statistical significance was lost for moderate risk factors, and none of the racial categories were associated with increased risk. About 47% of participants with ≥1 risk factor received an AP recommendation. Those with a history of preeclampsia, chronic hypertension, diabetes, or a combination of these conditions before pregnancy were more likely to receive an AP recommendation. In conclusion, the USPSTF criteria for assessing the risk of developing preeclampsia were found to be associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia. The USPSTF risk assessment, examining the moderate risk for preeclampsia, was more weakly associated, and recommendations for AP were more effectively initiated in both high- and low-risk categories. (Abstracted from JAMA Network Open. 2025;8:32521792.).

PMID:41557918 | DOI:10.1097/01.ogx.0001179548.39409.03

Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2026 Jan 1;81(1):1-2. doi: 10.1097/OGX.0000000000001488. Epub 2026 Jan 19.

ABSTRACT

Obesity is an important risk factor for adverse birth outcomes. Its prevalence has steadily increased over the past decades, with nearly half of pregnant women in the United States considered overweight or obese in 2019. A higher pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) is associated with an elevated risk of stillbirth, and obesity is associated with chronic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and other comorbidities that are independent risk factors for stillbirth and perinatal death. Because of these risks, earlier delivery for women with high BMI is being considered; however, the data on specific risks related to gestational age (GA) are limited. Currently, recommendations for women with high BMI differ across professional bodies. The Canadian Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommends delivery at 39 to 40 weeks’ gestation for women with extreme obesity and at 38 to 40 weeks’ gestation for those with chronic hypertension. In contrast, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists provide no GA-specific recommendations for obesity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between pre-pregnancy BMI and GA-specific risk of stillbirth, and whether chronic hypertension modifies these associations.This was a retrospective cohort study, using data from the National Center for Health Statistics on women who had a singleton live- or stillbirth at ≥20 weeks’ gestation between 2016 and 2017. Excluded were live births and fetal deaths at <20 or ≥43 weeks of gestation and women with missing data on pre-pregnancy BMI. The primary and secondary outcomes were stillbirth and perinatal death, respectively. The primary exposure was pre-pregnancy BMI. BMI categories included underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (18.5 to <25 kg/m2), overweight (25 to <30 kg/m2), obesity class I (30 to <35 kg/m2), obesity class II (35 to <40 kg/m2), and obesity class III (≥40 kg/m2). Chronic hypertension was evaluated as a modifier on the relationship between BMI and GA-specific stillbirth.A total of 7,365,797 women were included in the study, with 3.5% classified as underweight, 43.9% as normal weight, 26.1% as overweight, 14.5% as obesity class I, 7% as class II, and 5% as class III. Women with elevated BMI had higher rates of chronic hypertension and pre-pregnancy diabetes mellitus. They were also more likely to deliver at an earlier GA. While the stillbirth rate among those at normal weight was 3.86 per 1000 total births, the rate increased with elevated BMI both with and without hypertension. Overall, women who also had chronic hypertension had a higher stillbirth rate in all BMI categories, with the highest rate of perinatal death among underweight women (27.6 per 1000 total births).Women without hypertension saw an increase in the GA-specific risk of stillbirth and perinatal death after 37 weeks of gestation. Regardless of whether hypertension was present, the differences in the hazard ratios (HR) curve remained consistent with increasing rates in the term period for both, but were higher among those with hypertension. When stratified by BMI subgroup, the highest rates were seen among those with Class III obesity and hypertension, but the trends of increasing risk at term were seen in all groups.In conclusion, the association between pre-pregnancy BMI and stillbirth is modified when chronic hypertension is present. Overall, the absolute risks of stillbirth and perinatal death at all gestations were higher in women with elevated BMI and chronic hypertension.(Abstracted from Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2025;233:61.e1-15.).

PMID:41557915 | DOI:10.1097/OGX.0000000000001488

J Chem Phys. 2026 Jan 21;164(3):030901. doi: 10.1063/5.0302303.

ABSTRACT

A disordered quasi-liquid layer of water is thought to cover the ice surface, but many issues, such as its onset temperature, its thickness, or its actual relation to bulk liquid water, have been a matter of unsettled controversy for more than a century. In this perspective article, current computer simulations and experimental results are discussed under the light of a suitable theoretical framework. It is found that using a combination of wetting physics, the theory of intermolecular forces, statistical mechanics, and out-of-equilibrium physics, a large number of conflicting results can be reconciled and collected into a consistent description of the ice surface. This helps understand the crucial role of surface properties in a range of important applications, from the enigmatic structure of snow crystals to the slipperiness of ice.

PMID:41557470 | DOI:10.1063/5.0302303

Bioinformatics. 2026 Jan 20:btag018. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btag018. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

MOTIVATION: Microbial communities consist of thousands of microorganisms and viruses and have a tight connection with an environment, such as gut microbiota modulation of host body metabolism. However, the direct relationship between the presence of certain microorganism and the host state often remains unknown. Toolkits using reference-based approaches are limited to microbes present in databases. Reference-free methods often require enormous resources for metagenomic assembly or results in many poorly interpretable features based on k-mers.

RESULTS: Here we present MetaFX-an open-source library for feature extraction from whole-genome metagenomic sequencing data and classification of groups of samples. Using a large volume of metagenomic samples deposited in databases, MetaFX compares samples grouped by metadata criteria (e.g. disease, treatment, etc) and constructs genomic features distinct for certain types of communities. Features constructed based on statistical k-mer analysis and de Bruijn graphs partition. Those features are used in machine learning models for classification of novel samples. Extracted features can be visualised on de Bruijn graphs and annotated for providing biological insights. We demonstrate the utility of MetaFX by building classification models for 590 human gut samples with inflammatory bowel disease. Our results outperform the previous research disease prediction accuracy up to 17%, and improves classification results compared to taxonomic analysis by 9±10% on average.

AVAILABILITY: MetaFX is a feature extraction toolkit applicable for metagenomic datasets analysis and samples classification. The source code, test data, and relevant information for MetaFX are freely accessible at https://github.com/ctlab/metafx under the MIT License. Alternatively, MetaFX can be obtained via http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16949369.

PMID:41557465 | DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btag018

BJS Open. 2025 Dec 29;10(1):zraf155. doi: 10.1093/bjsopen/zraf155.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare centralized the surgical care of patients with anorectal malformations from four to two centres in 2018. This retrospective review compares short-term complications after anorectal reconstruction before and after centralization.

METHODS: Hospital records of all infants in Sweden who underwent reconstruction of an anorectal malformation between 1 July 2013 and 30 June 2023 were reviewed and divided in two 5-year periods: before and after centralization. The main outcomes were unplanned readmissions and surgical procedures requiring general anaesthesia up to 90 days after reconstruction, as well as early complications classified according to the Clavien-Madadi system up to 30 days after the procedure.

RESULTS: Before centralization, 173 infants underwent anorectal reconstruction, compared with 176 infants after centralization. Patient groups were comparable with respect to associated malformations and type of anorectal malformation. Before centralization, 80 infants (46.2%) had a colostomy before the anorectal reconstruction, compared with 89 infants (50.6%) after centralization (P = 0.454). Anorectal reconstruction was performed at a median age of 61 and 47 days of age before and after centralization, respectively (P = 0.794). Unplanned readmissions up to 90 days after anorectal reconstruction were needed in 12 infants (6.9%) before centralization, compared with 22 infants (12.5%) after centralization (P = 0.104). Unplanned surgical procedures under general anaesthesia were required in 20 (11.6%) and 22 (12.5%) infants before and after centralization, respectively (P = 0.870). Complications (Clavien-Madadi grade III-V) within 30 days after anorectal reconstruction were seen in 16 (9.2%) and 12 (6.8%) infants before and after centralization, respectively (P = 0.436).

CONCLUSION: Centralization of the surgical care of patients with anorectal malformations in Sweden did not seem to have an impact on short-term complications.

PMID:41557458 | DOI:10.1093/bjsopen/zraf155

Adicciones. 2025 Dec 23;37(4):383-394. doi: 10.20882/adicciones.2464.

ABSTRACT

Wernicke’s encephalopathy (WE) is caused by thiamine deficiency (TD) whose main risk factor is alcohol use disorder. Pathogenic mechanisms associated with WE include mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. This study aims to explore the gene expression signature of certain candidate genes related to neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction and thiamine metabolism in the hippocampus from animals exposed to chronic alcohol consumption, thiamine deficiency or the combination of both. Male Wistar rats (n=42) were randomly assigned to 4 experimental groups: control (C) receiving tap water or tap water plus thiamine (0.2 g/L), chronic alcohol (CA) forced ingestion for 36 weeks, TD diet and pyrithiamine for 12 days (TDD) and CA combined with TDD. The relative gene expression of neurotrophic factors (Ptn, Mdk, Ptprz), proinflammatory molecules (Tlr4, Ccl2 and Hmgb1), mitochondrial homeostatic factors (Mfn1 and Mfn2) and thiamine metabolism (Tpk1) was analyzed in RNA isolated from the hippocampus across all experimental groups. Differences in gene expression were assessed using non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis). Ptprz mRNA levels tended to be downregulated in the TDD group compared to controls (p=0.06, non-significant) and levels were significantly decreased related to the CA+TDD group (p<0.05). TDD group showed the lowest expression levels of Ptn across all experimental groups, and this decrease was statistically significant compared to the control and CA groups (p<0.05). Our findings indicate a differential gene expression profile of the PTN-MDK-PTPRZ axis in the hippocampus of rats receiving a TD diet but not in the rest of the WE models analyzed (CA and CA+TDD).

PMID:41557452 | DOI:10.20882/adicciones.2464

Adicciones. 2025 Dec 23;37(4):311-322. doi: 10.20882/adicciones.2428.

ABSTRACT

Soybeans contain different isoflavones (mainly daidzein) which work as reversible inhibitors of aldehyde-dehydrogenase-2 enzyme (ALDH2). This activity has been related in animal experiments with a reduction of cocaine use. Our aim was to carry out an open-label pilot study to evaluate the possible efficacy of soy isoflavones as natural inhibitor of ALDH2 in cocaine use disorder. Nine subjects with severe cocaine use disorder participated in a single-center, open, non-controlled trial during 12 weeks of treatment and 4 of follow-up. The Substance Use Report (SUR) showed that three subjects (33.3%) reported a cocaine consumption of less than 20% (80% non-use days) from 10 to 12 weeks of the treatment period, from two (22.2%) at baseline, although non-significant. A finding that could not be confirmed by the detection of urine metabolites of cocaine. Seven participants (77.8%) completed the study at 16 weeks and one (1.11%) at 12 weeks. Urine concentrations of isoflavones, demonstrated that eight participants (88.9%) followed the treatment along the study. The Severity Dependence Scale (SDS) score showed a significant decrease between baseline to 12 weeks, baseline to 16 weeks and 12 to 16 weeks; the Brief Substance Craving Scale (BSCS) and Cocaine Selective Severity Assessment (CSSA) decreased their values but not significantly. Significant improvements in different areas of the SF-36 scale were observed: body pain scores decreased from baseline to 16 weeks statistically significant; social function improved its scores from baseline to 12 weeks and from baseline to 16 weeks significantly; the rest of areas increased their scores but not significantly. These findings show lower ratios of cocaine use days, and high retention and adherence to treatment although the acquisition of complete abstinence was not observed. Soy isoflavones could be considered a potential treatment in future research, to be confirmed by placebo-controlled studies with adequate sample size.

PMID:41557447 | DOI:10.20882/adicciones.2428

Otol Neurotol. 2026 Jan 20. doi: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000004830. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To analyze demographic disparities in the prevalence of cochleovestibular symptoms including hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness.

METHODS: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database was queried for the prevalence of cochleovestibular symptoms among random samples of US survey participants between 1999 and 2018. Welch t test, mean difference, and χ2 analyses were performed to compare demographic differences between healthy and symptomatic patients. Multivariate logistic regression was also performed for each symptom.

RESULTS: Participants who reported having hearing loss (OR=3.93, P<0.001) or tinnitus (OR=2.04, P<0.001) were significantly older than healthy individuals. However, older age was not a risk factor for having dizziness (P=0.281). Similarly, BMI was significantly higher among participants with hearing loss (OR=1.33, P<0.001) and tinnitus (OR=1.27, P<0.001), although this was not true of dizziness (P=0.992). Men had a higher likelihood of developing hearing loss (OR=1.75, P<0.001), whereas women had a higher likelihood of developing dizziness (OR=1.73, P<0.001). No significant gender difference was evident for tinnitus (P=0.304). Black, Hispanic, and multi-racial participants were less likely than White subjects to develop hearing loss or tinnitus (all P<0.001). In contrast, the odds of developing dizziness were greater among all ethnicities other than White; however, this greater odd was only statistically significant in Hispanics (P=0.033).

CONCLUSIONS: Cochleovestibular symptoms’ prevalence varies across US demographics and racial/ethnical groups. Knowledge of these disparities, whether the result of biological or societal effects, can help identify at-risk populations. These insights can further inform health care policy decisions and improve care delivery for patients affected by these disorders.

PMID:41557436 | DOI:10.1097/MAO.0000000000004830

Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Dec 31;135(26):261901. doi: 10.1103/3pcs-dxtn.

ABSTRACT

A search for the charmless baryonic decay B^{+}→Λ[over ¯]pp[over ¯]p is performed using proton-proton collision data recorded by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb^{-1}. The branching fraction for this decay is measured for the first time relative to that of the topologically similar decay B^{+}→J/ψK^{+}, with J/ψ→Λ[over ¯]pK^{-}. The branching fraction is measured to be B(B^{+}→Λ[over ¯]pp[over ¯]p)=(2.15±0.35±0.12±0.28)×10^{-7}, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third arises from the uncertainty in the normalization channel branching fraction. The CP asymmetry is measured to be A_{CP}=(5.4±15.6±2.4)%, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic. The background-subtracted invariant-mass distributions of Λ[over ¯]p and p[over ¯]p pairs exhibit pronounced enhancements at both kinematic thresholds, in contrast to a uniform phase-space distribution.

PMID:41557403 | DOI:10.1103/3pcs-dxtn

JAMA Neurol. 2026 Jan 20. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.5329. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:41557361 | DOI:10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.5329