Category: Statistics

Front Sociol. 2023 Jul 17;8:1141616. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1141616. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Promoting technology transfer is an important strategic measure for China to promote industrial innovation. However, there is little research exploring the influence of technology transfer on the green innovation efficiency (GIE) of China’s high-tech industry (HTI). From the perspective of process, green innovation in HTI is a continuous three-stage system including research and development (R&D), commercialization, and diffusion. Therefore, we measure the GIE of China’s HTI by using a three-stage network data envelopment analysis (NDEA) model considering environmental pollution and establish a series of regression models to investigate the role of the two main ways of technology transfer, domestic technology acquisition (DTA) and foreign technology introduction (FTI), in improving the GIE of HTI. The results show that the average GIE of China’s HTI is 0.7727 from 2011 to 2020. Except for Jiangsu, Guangdong, Qinghai, and Xinjiang, green innovation in HTI in other provinces in China is inefficient. DTA has significantly promoted GIE in HTI. FTI has a positive impact on the GIE of HTI but is not statistically significant. The robustness test confirmed these results. This study is helpful to understand the differences between the effects of DTA and FTI on the GIE of China’s HTI, to provide a basis for adjusting technology transfer policies.

PMID:37529708 | PMC:PMC10388581 | DOI:10.3389/fsoc.2023.1141616

ERJ Open Res. 2023 Jul 31;9(4):00158-2023. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00158-2023. eCollection 2023 Jul.

ABSTRACT

Direct healthcare costs for patients with asthma are less than half (-52%) and for patients with COPD are 41% higher if compared to those of patients with bronchiectasis. The leading expense items in bronchiectasis are hospitalisations and antibiotics. https://bit.ly/3Iq8AUP.

PMID:37529638 | PMC:PMC10388176 | DOI:10.1183/23120541.00158-2023

Arthrosc Sports Med Rehabil. 2023 Jul 20;5(4):100766. doi: 10.1016/j.asmr.2023.100766. eCollection 2023 Aug.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To compare the incidence of postoperative anterior knee pain at rest and during “knee walking” in patients who had anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) surgery with hamstring tendon (HT) grafts versus bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) grafts harvested using a minimally invasive double-incision technique with autografting of the bone harvest defects.

METHODS: Adult patients who had undergone an ACLR and had completed a questionnaire enquiring about anterior knee symptoms at a minimum of 1 year postoperatively were identified. Two groups were compared: 1) patients who had received a BPTB graft harvested using a minimally invasive double-incision technique with autografting of the bone harvest defects, and 2) patients who had received a HT graft.

RESULTS: A total of 142 adult patients were included: 88 had a BPTB graft and 54 had a HT graft. The prevalence of anterior knee pain at rest was 10% in the BPTB group and 28% in the HT group (P = .006). Overall, knee walking scores were worse in the BPTB group when compared to the HG group, but the difference in the proportions of patients who found it impossible to knee-walk was not statistically significant (17% vs 6%; P = .069).

CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that pain at rest was less in the BTPB group compared to the HT group contradicting historic literature. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between the 2 grafts when comparing the proportion of patients who found it “impossible” to knee-walk.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, retrospective comparative study.

PMID:37529626 | PMC:PMC10387569 | DOI:10.1016/j.asmr.2023.100766

Clin Med Insights Pediatr. 2023 Jul 29;17:11795565231187500. doi: 10.1177/11795565231187500. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Globally, neonatal mortality remains a serious catastrophic problem for newborns, particularly in a low-resource setting. There were no neonatal mortality trend studies in the study area.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the trends and risk factors of neonatal mortality at the neonatal intensive care unit of Felege Hiwot Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.

METHODS: An institution-based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 870 admitted neonates from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2020 in the neonatal intensive care unit by a stratified simple random sampling technique. Data were entered into EpiData and then exported to STATA 14.0 for analysis. A linear regression statistical model was used for trend analysis and binary logistic regression was carried out to identify explanatory variables of neonatal mortality.

RESULTS: Overall, neonatal mortality averagely increased by 2.1% per year throughout the 5 consecutive years. In this study, rural residency [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.26, 3.06)], birth asphyxia (AOR: 7.73, 95% CI: 4.31, 13.84), congenital deformity (AOR: 3.61, 95% CI: 1.17, 11.18), low birth weight (AOR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.23, 3.67), respiratory distress syndrome (AOR: 3.32, 95% CI: 1.97, 5.59), Ambu-bag resuscitation (AOR: 0.16, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.38), taking antibiotics (AOR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.27, 0.90), glucose (AOR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.72), and oxygen (AOR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.41) were associated with neonatal mortality.

CONCLUSIONS: This 5-year trend analysis revealed an increased trend of NMR, indicating more work is still needed to make progress toward meeting the SDG goal by 2030. Rural residency, birth asphyxia, congenital deformity, low birth weight, respiratory distress syndrome, Ambu-bag resuscitation, taking antibiotics, glucose, and oxygen were associated with neonatal mortality. Therefore, all stakeholders shall give due attention to reducing this timely-increasing trend of neonatal mortality.

PMID:37529621 | PMC:PMC10387765 | DOI:10.1177/11795565231187500

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Jul 17;14:1130211. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1130211. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the peak serum estradiol (E2) level during ovarian stimulation affects the cumulative live birth rate (CLBR) and obstetric outcomes in freeze-all cycles.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study involved patients who underwent their first cycle of in vitro fertilization followed by a freeze-all strategy and frozen embryo transfer cycles between January 2014 and June 2019 at a tertiary care center. Patients were categorized into four groups according to quartiles of peak serum E2 levels during ovarian stimulation (Q1-Q4). The primary outcome was CLBR. Secondary outcomes included obstetric and neonatal outcomes of singleton and twin pregnancies. Poisson or logistic regression was applied to control for potential confounders for outcome measures, as appropriate. Generalized estimating equations were used to account for multiple cycles from the same patient for the outcome of CLBR.

RESULTS: A total of 11237 patients were included in the analysis. Cumulatively, live births occurred in 8410 women (74.8%). The live birth rate (LBR) and CLBR improved as quartiles of peak E2 levels increased (49.7%, 52.1%, 54.9%, and 56.4% for LBR; 65.1%, 74.3%, 78.4%, and 81.6% for CLBR, from the lowest to the highest quartile of estradiol levels, respectively, P<0.001). Such association remained significant for CLBR after accounting for potential confounders in multivariable regression models, whereas the relationship between LBR and peak E2 levels did not reach statistical significance. In addition, no significant differences were noticed in adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes (gestational diabetes mellitus, pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia, placental disorders, preterm birth, low birthweight, and small for gestational age) amongst E2 quartiles for either singleton or twin live births, both before and after adjustment.

CONCLUSION: In freeze-all cycles, higher peak serum E2 levels during ovarian stimulation were associated with increased CLBR, without increasing the risks of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes.

PMID:37529616 | PMC:PMC10390295 | DOI:10.3389/fendo.2023.1130211

Br J Educ Psychol. 2023 Aug 1:e12629. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12629. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Socio-economic status (SES) is a powerful predictor of attainment. Research has identified multiple mechanisms that underpin the effect of SES on attainment. For example, self-regulation (processes through which individuals direct and control their attention, emotion and behaviour) has been identified as one mechanism mediating the SES attainment gap. However, previous studies have not directly tested the statistical pathways by which children from lower SES backgrounds develop low self-regulation skills and subsequently poor attainment at the end of primary school. Adding the home learning environment, which is associated with both SES and self-regulation, further fleshes out the longitudinal pathways.

AIMS: We propose and test a new model where the relationship between SES and school attainment is sequentially mediated by the family home learning environment and the child’s self-regulation.

SAMPLE: This study uses the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education data set to study 2311 English children.

METHODS: We measured SES (via socio-economic disadvantage) based on an index of low parental education, occupation and income at age 3+. The home learning environment was measured by the Home Learning Environment Index at age 3+; self-regulation was a teacher report on the Child Social Behaviour Questionnaire at age 4+ and attainment was measured via scores on national assessments of English and Maths at age 11.

RESULTS: Our measure of disadvantage predicted attainment. The home learning environment predicted children’s self-regulation skills. The relationship between disadvantage and attainment was sequentially mediated by the home learning environment and self-regulation.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that home learning environment and self-regulation may play a sequential role in perpetuating socio-economic disparities in education.

PMID:37527934 | DOI:10.1111/bjep.12629

Phytochem Anal. 2023 Aug 1. doi: 10.1002/pca.3271. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Many secondary metabolites isolated from plants have been described in the literature owing to their important biological properties and possible pharmacological applications. However, the identification of compounds present in complex plant extracts has remained a great scientific challenge, is often laborious, and requires a long research time with high financial cost.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop a method that allows the identification of secondary metabolites in plant extracts with a high degree of confidence in a short period of time.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, an ethanolic extract of Coffea arabica leaves was used to validate the proposed method. Countercurrent chromatography was chosen as the initial step for extraction fractionation using gradient elution. Resulting fractions presented a variation of compounds concentrations, allowing for statistical total correlation spectroscopy (STOCSY) calculations between liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS) and NMR across fractions.

RESULTS: The proposed method allowed the identification of 57 compounds. Of the annotated compounds, 20 were previously described in the literature for the species and 37 were reported for the first time. Among the inedited compounds, we identified flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic acids, coumarins, and terpenes.

CONCLUSION: The proposed method presents itself as a valid alternative for the study of complex extracts in an effective, fast, and reliable way that can be reproduced in the study of other extracts.

PMID:37527932 | DOI:10.1002/pca.3271

J Korean Med Sci. 2023 Jul 31;38(30):e224. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e224.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Axillary evaluation is unnecessary for pure ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS); however, it is performed because of the risk of upstaging to invasive cancer. We assessed the role of intraoperative frozen section (IOF) biopsy in reducing invasive cancer upstaging and axillary evaluation in preoperative DCIS patients.

METHODS: We reviewed patients with preoperative DCIS who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with IOF biopsy. Positive IOF biopsy findings were defined as the presence of invasive or micro-invasive cancer. The IOF biopsy and permanent pathology findings were compared.

RESULTS: Seventy-eight patients underwent BCS with IOF biopsy. Six patients showed positive IOF biopsy findings; five of these patients showed concordant permanent pathology findings. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was positive in one patient. Thirteen patients with invasive breast cancer were missed by IOF biopsy; they underwent SLNB during the second surgery. None of them had metastatic lymph nodes. The sensitivity and specificity of IOF biopsy were 27.7% and 98.3%, respectively, with 82.1% accuracy. None of the other factors showed statistically significant relationships with the permanent pathology findings, except for the IOF biopsy findings.

CONCLUSION: IOF evaluation can aid in detecting the invasiveness of tumors in patients with preoperative DCIS.

PMID:37527907 | DOI:10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e224

Stat Med. 2023 Aug 1. doi: 10.1002/sim.9853. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In modern medicine, medical tests are used for various purposes including diagnosis, disease screening, prognosis, and risk prediction. To quantify the performance of the binary medical test, we often use sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values as measures. Additionally, the $F_1$ -score, which is defined as the harmonic mean of precision (positive predictive value) and recall (sensitivity), has come to be used in the medical field due to its favorable characteristics. The $F_1$ -score has been extended for multi-class classification, and two types of $F_1$ -scores have been proposed for multi-class classification: a micro-averaged $F_1$ -score and a macro-averaged $F_1$ -score. The micro-averaged $F_1$ -score pools per-sample classifications across classes and then calculates the overall $F_1$ -score, whereas the macro-averaged $F_1$ -score computes an arithmetic mean of the $F_1$ -scores for each class. Additionally, Sokolova and Lapalme ${}^1$ gave an alternative definition of the macro-averaged $F_1$ -score as the harmonic mean of the arithmetic means of the precision and recall over classes. Although some statistical methods of inference for binary and multi-class $F_1$ -scores have been proposed, the methodology development of hypothesis testing procedure for them has not been fully progressing yet. Therefore, we aim to develop hypothesis testing procedure for comparing two $F_1$ -scores in paired study design based on the large sample multivariate central limit theorem.

PMID:37527903 | DOI:10.1002/sim.9853

BMJ Open. 2023 Aug 1;13(8):e069814. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069814.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Multimorbidity challenges healthcare systems. In Germany, coordination of healthcare for older multimorbid patients remains unstructured.This study aims to identify key themes in the healthcare of these patients and the inter-relationships between them.

DESIGN: Framework analysis of six cases based on 1-year data of primary and secondary care, patient-answered questionnaires and video material.

SETTING: Southern Germany.

PARTICIPANTS: Six multimorbid older patients participating in a randomised controlled trial that compared usual care with a local, collaborative, stepped and personalised care management approach for older people with chronic diseases (LoChro-trial). The LoChro care intervention involved a care manager who assisted participants in self-management. The primary outcome was a composite of functional health and depressive symptoms at 12 and 18 months. The LoChro-intervention had no effect on the primary outcome.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Key themes in the healthcare of older patients with multimorbidity and the inter-relationships between them.

METHODS: One-year data included diagnoses, treatment plans, examinations, assessments and discharge reports. Patient perspectives were assessed using the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care. In three cases, videos of the LoChro intervention showed patients describing their health needs. These data were evaluated by three doctors and public health researchers. Using framework analysis, recurring themes influencing the healthcare situation of multimorbid older patients and their inter-relationships were identified.

RESULTS: Participants had an average age of 77, with 13 diagnoses, taking eight medications regularly. The five key themes describing the healthcare situation of these multimorbid patients were as follows: insufficient coordination, overuse and underuse of medical care, doctor and patient roles. Each theme covered three to four subcategories. The most significant inter-relationships between these themes were a lack of coordination leading to overuse and underuse of medical care. These were characterised by redundant inpatient stays, potential prescribing omissions and missed examinations. Deficiencies in vaccinations and secondary prevention were also demonstrated.

CONCLUSION: Coordination of care for multimorbid older patients in Germany is still deficient. Future healthcare arrangements should be explored with the participation of physicians and patients.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: LoChro trial: DRKS00013904.

PMID:37527899 | DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069814