Category: Statistics

Front Mol Biosci. 2025 Sep 3;12:1648421. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1648421. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Automated dilution has improved the efficiency of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) testing, however, challenges persist regarding the cost implications of repeated testing. This study proposes the concept of cost-effective optimization, which aims to further optimize testing efficiency while maintaining controllable costs, and establishes an automated process with preset dilution factors for the hCG testing.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hCG testing process at Suining Central Hospital was optimized using the Aptio™ Automation Solution (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany) integrated with Siemens Atellica® IM1600 analyzer. A novel middleware program was developed within the DataLink V2.0 (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany) to automate dilution factor assignment. Relevant data such as dilution factors, sample reception time and review time were captured for statistical purposes to analyze the accuracy, ability to shorten TAT, and economic benefits of hCG testing.

RESULTS: After 8 months of continuous improvement, implementation of automated hCG dilution attained 91.19% compliance rate with 19.7% reduction in in-laboratory TAT. The process achieved 75.60% compliance against the 90 min benchmark, while the preset dilution process generated 15.03% mean cost savings per test.

CONCLUSION: In this study, a preset dilution factor program was utilized to establish an automated dilution process, achieving accurate and rapid prediction of hCG. These strategies not only improve efficiency, but also effectively reduce costs, enabling the expansion of testing items and facilitating the implementation in laboratories. Furthermore, they also help to shorten the in-hospital TAT for patients, and improve the hospital’s service quality.

PMID:40970183 | PMC:PMC12440790 | DOI:10.3389/fmolb.2025.1648421

J Multidiscip Healthc. 2025 Sep 13;18:5801-5815. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S528778. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The demand for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is steadily rising, necessitating a comprehensive post-ACL rehabilitation plan to accelerate recovery. This study explores the comparative effects of Open Kinetic Chain (OKC), Closed Kinetic Chain (CKC), and their combined effect at a specific knee angle (60° to 90°) in post-ACL reconstruction patients.

METHODOLOGY: This clinical trial was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT) on 21-04-2020 (Ref# IRCT20200331046903N1) and conducted on 54 post-ACL reconstruction patients, randomly allocated to three groups (OKC, CKC, and Combined KC) using the lottery method. All groups underwent 16-week rehabilitation programs. Outcomes assessed were pain, range of motion (ROM), and knee function using the visual analog scale, goniometer, and Lysholm score, respectively. Statistical analysis was conducted using one-way and repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS-25.

RESULTS: The mean age was 27.25±4.16 years and BMI 25.12±4.03 kg/m². All groups showed statistically significant improvement over 16 weeks (p<0.0001). At week 16, mean pain scores were 10.56±4.38 (Group A), 9.78±3.81 (Group B), and 3.28±3.12 (Group C) (p<0.001); ROM improved to 131.83±7.35, 129.22±7.57, and 140.61±6.13, respectively (p=0.001); knee function scores reached 90.78±4.83, 91.67±4.49, and 97.50±2.15, respectively (p=0.001). All outcome measures showed significant main effects of Group and Visit, with large effect sizes and significant Group×Visit interactions. From baseline to week 16, pain decreased by 85% (Group A), 86% (Group B), and 95% (Group C); ROM increased by 73%, 72%, and 90%; knee function improved by 58%, 63%, and 72%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that the combined kinetic chain approach is most effective in improving ROM, knee function, and pain reduction following ACL reconstruction.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://irct.behdasht.gov.ir/.

PMID:40970149 | PMC:PMC12442813 | DOI:10.2147/JMDH.S528778

Front Digit Health. 2025 Sep 3;7:1590150. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1590150. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Recent findings suggest that a single gait assessment in a clinic may not reflect everyday mobility.

OBJECTIVE: We compared gait measures that best differentiated individuals with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) from age-matched healthy controls (HC) during a supervised gait test in the clinic vs. a week of unsupervised gait during daily life.

METHODS: Twenty-six individuals with SCA types 1, 2, 3, and 6, and 13 (HC) wore three Opal inertial sensors (on both feet and lower back) during a 2-minute walk in the clinic and for seven days in daily life. Seventeen gait measures were analyzed to investigate the group differences using Mann-Whitney U-tests and area under the curve (AUC).

RESULTS: Ten gait measures were significantly worse in SCA than HC for the clinic test (p < 0.003), but only 3 were worse in daily life (p < 0.003). Only a few gait measures consistently discriminated groups in both environments. Specifically, variability in Swing Time and Double Support Time had AUCs of 0.99 (p < 0.0001) and 0.96 (p < 0.0001) in the clinic, and 0.84 (p < 0.0003) and 0.80 (p < 0.002) in daily life, respectively. Clinical gait measures showed stronger correlations with clinical outcomes (ie, SARA and FARS-ADL; r = 0.50-0.77) than between daily life gait measures (r = 0.31-0.49). Gait activity in daily life was not statistically significant between the SCA and HC groups (p > 0.06).

CONCLUSIONS: Digital gait measures discriminate SCA in both environments. In-clinic measures are more sensitive, while daily life measures provide ecological validity, highlighting a trade-off and offering complementary insights.

PMID:40970140 | PMC:PMC12440962 | DOI:10.3389/fdgth.2025.1590150

bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Jul 31:2025.07.28.667234. doi: 10.1101/2025.07.28.667234.

ABSTRACT

MOTIVATION: Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that target the envelope glycoprotein (Env) of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) have been utilized in clinical trials aimed at preventing and treating HIV-1 infections. However, the emergence of neutralization resistance to bNAbs occurs rapidly due to the high mutation rate of HIV-1. Previous studies have suggested the use of in silico methods to effectively predict the resistance of HIV-1 isolates to bNAbs. In this study, we present a novel machine learning approach called BRAVE (Bnab Resistance Analysis Via Evolutionary scale modeling 2) designed to predict HIV-1 resistance against 33 known bNAbs. This innovative tool employs a Random Forests classifier that uses a protein language model to reliably capture protein features.

RESULTS: BRAVE outperformed leading resistance prediction tools on various performance metrics, attaining the highest performance in established classification measures including accuracy, area under the curve, logarithmic loss, and F1-score. Importantly, rigorous statistical comparisons (p<0.001) show that BRAVE is significantly more accurate than state-of-the-art neutralization prediction tools. BRAVE will facilitate informed decisions of antibody usage and sequence-based monitoring of viral escape in clinical settings.

AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: BRAVE software is available for download under GitHub ( https://github.com/kiryst/BRAVE/tree/master ).

CONTACT: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID:40970138 | PMC:PMC12443041 | DOI:10.1101/2025.07.28.667234

Soc Sci. 2025 Mar;14(3). doi: 10.3390/socsci14030126. Epub 2025 Feb 21.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Death anxiety is marked by worrisome thoughts and feelings surrounding death. It can influence health care workers’ performance and increase workforce attrition, yet no study has examined death anxiety among persons who provide peer care in the correctional system.

METHODS: Two small samples of peer caregivers working in two US prisons were surveyed (N = 27). Using the 15-item Death Anxiety Scale, we first described death anxiety using descriptive statistics. We examined gender disparities using an independent sample t-test and explored the associations between death anxiety, caregiver burden, and depression using Kendalls’ Tau-b.

RESULTS: Average death anxiety for the sample was 6.30 (SD = 2.88) and while women reported greater death anxiety than men, (M = 6.82, SD = 2.77; M = 5.40, SD = 2.99, respectively), the difference was not significant (t(25) = 1.25, p = 0.111). Although death anxiety did not relate to care burden or depression, a significant relationship was found between care burden and depression for peer caregivers in this sample.

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to examine death anxiety among correctional system peer caregivers. Further research with larger samples, and across multiple jurisdictions and facility types is required as is investigation of the influence of death anxiety on care outcomes.

PMID:40970126 | PMC:PMC12442760 | DOI:10.3390/socsci14030126

Health Sci Rep. 2025 Sep 16;8(9):e71253. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.71253. eCollection 2025 Sep.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Pneumonia continues to be a leading cause of illness and death among children under five worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pneumonia is responsible for approximately 14% of all deaths among children under 5 years of age, resulting in over 740,000 fatalities annually. In Ethiopia, pneumonia represents the leading infectious cause of death within this demographic. The objective of this study was to determine factors that affect time to recovery pneumonia hospitalized outpatients.

METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted at a hospital, gathering data from patient records between September 2018 and September 2020. The data was analyzed using STATA version 14.2 and R 3.4.0 software. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve and log-rank tests were utilized to assess survival times, while the assumptions and fit of the Cox proportional hazards model were evaluated.

RESULT: An accelerated factor (γ) was utilized, accompanied by a 95% confidence interval, with a p-value of under 0.05 signifying a statistically significant association. The median recovery time overall was 5 days, with a 95% confidence interval of 4 to 6 days. Being insured ( $\gamma$ = 0.904; 95% CI (0.845-0.967)) and treatment type taken at the time of diagnosis ceftriaxone, ampicillin and combined ( $\gamma =$ 0.833; 95% CI (0.810-0.92), $\gamma =$ 0.842; 95% CI (0.759-0.933) and $\gamma =$ 0.912; 95% CI (0.842-0.986) respectively) were significant predictors for shorten the timing of recovery and Time elapsed to seek care ( $\gamma =1.256$ ; 95% CI (1.237-1.274)) were longer recovery time.

CONCLUSIONS: Children with pneumonia recover faster when their parents are insured and use of ceftriaxone, ampicillin, and combined as treatment at the time of diagnosis and Time elapsed to seek care were significant predictors for prolonged timing of recovery. Therefore, there is a need to focus especially on children with known predictors of pneumonitis in children and parents or when children become ill, caregivers should transport them right away to a medical facility.

PMID:40970112 | PMC:PMC12440800 | DOI:10.1002/hsr2.71253

Health Sci Rep. 2025 Sep 16;8(9):e71250. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.71250. eCollection 2025 Sep.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Kidney stone disease affects many people annually, impairing the quality of their life and health. Several risk factors such as family history, chronic diseases and diet have been reported to cause kidney stones. Reports and data show that there is an increasing pattern in the incidence of kidney stones.

AIMS: This study aimed to determine the risk factors associated with kidney stone disease in Nimroz province of Afghanistan.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: This hospital-based case-control study was conducted in Red Crescent Hospital (RCH) in Nimroz province during June-August 2021. Case was any patient with kidney stone diagnosed by ultrasonography and the control was a patient without kidney stone. Both were attending outpatient department of the target hospital at the time of data collection. The nonprobability purposive sampling technique was used. A face-to-face interview was carried out using a structured questionnaire. Bivariate and multi-variate analysis using Chi-square test, t-test, and multiple logistic regressions were performed to calculate p-values and odds ratio with 95% confidence interval.

RESULTS: A total of 378 participants were interviewed (188 cases and 190 controls). The mean of age was 34.4 with 11.5 SD. The bivariate analysis in the study revealed a statistically significant association between kidney stones and occupation, BMI, family history, kidney disease, heart disease, blood pressure, and asthma. in addition, the multiple logistic regression results showed that daily use of salt and water, weekly use of eggs and diary, and age were also associated with kidney stones after adjustment of confounders.

CONCLUSION: The risk of kidney stones was found high among those with positive family history, > 30 BMI, and chronic ill patients. Cases who used more eggs and diary on a weekly base, and drunk less water and consumed excessive salt on a daily base were also more likely to have developed kidney stones. Families and the community should be educated about the modifiable risk factors of kidney stones.

PMID:40970111 | PMC:PMC12440809 | DOI:10.1002/hsr2.71250

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2025 Sep 18. doi: 10.1007/s11356-025-36962-8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The increasing presence of recalcitrant compounds in water and wastewater, such as heavy metals, dyes, fluorides, and pharmaceuticals, challenges conventional treatment methods, which often exhibit low efficiency, high reagent consumption, or the generation of undesirable by-products. In this context, electrocoagulation emerges as a promising alternative, as it generates coagulants in situ, reduces the need for chemical additives, and demonstrates high efficiency in pollutant removal. The aim of this study was to identify the constructional and operational parameters that most influence the efficiency of transitioning from batch to continuous electrocoagulation systems. To achieve this, a scientometric review based on the PRISMA methodology was conducted, with a statistical analysis of 60 articles selected from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Results indicated that the most investigated pollutants were COD, turbidity, and apparent color, with aluminum and iron electrodes being predominant. Average removal efficiency was slightly higher in batch mode, but without a statistically significant difference compared to continuous mode (p > 0.05). Parameters such as initial pH and electrode spacing positively affected efficiency, while current density and electrode area showed a negative correlation. It is concluded that the transition from batch to continuous reactors is feasible, provided appropriate adjustments to operational and constructional parameters are made, offering practical guidance for industrial-scale applications.

PMID:40968306 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-025-36962-8

J Gen Intern Med. 2025 Sep 18. doi: 10.1007/s11606-025-09826-7. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Black patients have poorer physical function and mobility compared to White patients but utilize physical rehabilitation services less.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether racial differences exist in physical function and post-acute care facility utilization and whether neighborhood social disadvantage influences these differences.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of hospitalized patients at a large urban academic hospital.

PARTICIPANTS: We included self-identified Black or White adults who were hospitalized between January 2018 and May 2022.

MAIN MEASURES: The main exposure was self-identified race. The exposure in our secondary aim was neighborhood social disadvantage measured by the Area Deprivation Index. Neighborhood disadvantage was categorized as “more” (deciles 6-10) vs. “less” (deciles 1-5). Primary outcomes included inpatient functional measures, inpatient and post-acute physical therapy referral, and discharge location.

KEY RESULTS: Compared to White patients, Black patients had more functional impairment on admission [OR 1.52; 95% CI (1.37, 1.69)], poorer mobility change [β-0.83; 95% CI (- 1.16, 0.50)], more mobility loss [OR 1.25; 95% CI (1.12, 1.41)], but no statistically significant difference in inpatient PT referrals after adjusting for physical function. Most differences in function persisted when stratified by neighborhood disadvantage. Despite similar odds of recommendation for discharge to a PAC facility, Black patients had significantly lower odds of discharge to a facility [OR 0.53; 95% CI (0.42, 0.68). This difference persisted when stratified by more neighborhood disadvantage [OR 0.60; 95% CI (0.43, 0.85)] and less neighborhood disadvantage [OR 0.43; 95% CI (0.31, 0.61)].

CONCLUSION: In this study of patients hospitalized at a large urban academic medical center, Black patients had poorer functional outcomes yet nearly half the likelihood of discharging to a post-acute care facility compared to White patients. Race was a more consistent driver of disparities than neighborhood disadvantage. Hospital, healthcare system, and public policy changes are needed to improve discharge location appropriateness and recovery after hospitalization for vulnerable patients.

PMID:40968303 | DOI:10.1007/s11606-025-09826-7