Category: Statistics

Scand J Urol. 2021 Apr 7:1-5. doi: 10.1080/21681805.2021.1908419. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Minimal invasive approaches for paediatric nephrectomy include transperitoneal (TP) and retroperitoneal (RP); both having advantages and disadvantages. We aimed to ascertain if there was any difference in perioperative morbidities between these two approaches.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of laparoscopic TP and RP nephrectomies performed in our institution over 10 years from May 2009 till May 2019. Outcome measures included intraoperative complications, prolonged requirement of opioid analgesics (more than 24 h), hospital stay, incidence of wound infection and urinary tract infections. Data were analysed using Fisher’s exact test and Mann Whitney test.

RESULTS: A total of 152 nephrectomies were performed in 139 patients; 81 were TP and 71 were RP. Age ranged from 8 months to 16 years. Median hospital stay was 2 days in both groups. There were no intraoperative complications. Outcome measures were sub-categorised as follows. Requirement of opioid analgesia for more than 24 h was documented in 2 patients in each group, leading to longer hospital stay of 3 days. A febrile urinary tract infection requiring antibiotics was detected in 4; 1 in TP and 3 in RP. Wound infection requiring antibiotics occurred in 1 patient (in RP group). No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in any of the subcategories.

CONCLUSION: TP and RP nephrectomy have similar perioperative morbidity. The decision to utilise either approach should be dependent on the surgeon’s skills and experience and appropriately tailored to individual patient needs.

PMID:33825673 | DOI:10.1080/21681805.2021.1908419

West J Nurs Res. 2021 Apr 7:1939459211004591. doi: 10.1177/01939459211004591. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Consistent mindful self-care practices mitigate professional burnout and improve resilience to enable nurses provide safe and effective patient care. This study determined the levels and the influencing factors of mindful self-care of nurses in acute care settings. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 258 nurses from seven acute care hospitals using the 36-item Mindful Self-Care Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlation analyses. Nurses’ mindful self-care scores were low, and female nurses had higher levels of mindful self-care than male nurses. Statistically significant negative correlations were found between nurses’ mindful self-care levels and their age and clinical experience. Nurses’ engagement in mindful self-care is low which may negatively affect their interactions with and care of patients and their families. Therefore, a need exists to develop and evaluate more clinical-based personal and organizational strategies to enhance the mindful self-care practices of nurses.

PMID:33825565 | DOI:10.1177/01939459211004591

SLAS Discov. 2021 Apr 7:24725552211004123. doi: 10.1177/24725552211004123. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Membrane proteins are involved in different physiological functions and are the target of pharmaceutical and abuse drugs. Xenopus laevis oocytes provide a powerful heterologous expression system for functional studies of these proteins. Typical experiments investigate transport using electrophysiology and radiolabeled uptake. A two-electrode voltage clamp is suitable only for electrogenic proteins, and uptake measurements require the existence of radiolabeled substrates and adequate laboratory facilities.Recently, Dictyostelium discoideum Nramp1 and NrampB were characterized using multidisciplinary approaches. NrampB showed no measurable electrogenic activity, and it was investigated in Xenopus oocytes by acquiring confocal images of the quenching of injected fluorophore calcein.This method is adequate to measure the variation in emitted fluorescence, and thus transporter activity indirectly, but requires long experimental procedures to collect statistically consistent data. Considering that optimal expression of heterologous proteins lasts for 48-72 h, a slow acquiring process requires the use of more than one batch of oocytes to complete the experiments. Here, a novel approach to measure substrate uptake is reported. Upon injection of a fluorophore, oocytes were incubated with the substrate and the transport activity measured, evaluating fluorescence quenching in a microplate reader. The technique permits the testing of tens of oocytes in different experimental conditions simultaneously, and thus the collection of significant statistical data for each batch, saving time and animals.The method was tested with different metal transporters (SLC11), DMT1, DdNramp1, and DdNrampB, and verified with the peptide transporter PepT1 (SLC15). Comparison with traditional methods (uptake, two-electrode voltage clamp) and with quenching images acquired by fluorescence microscopy confirmed its efficacy.

PMID:33825579 | DOI:10.1177/24725552211004123

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2021 Apr 7:1-12. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1906626. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Recent studies have reported conflicting associations of fried-food consumption and risk of overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension, and a meta-analysis is not available. We aimed to explore the association between fried-food consumption and risk of overweight/obesity, T2DM and hypertension in adults through a meta-analysis. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science for studies published up to 17 June 2020. Pooled relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by random-effects models. In comparing the highest to lowest fried-food intake, the pooled RRs (95% CIs) were 1.16 (1.07-1.25; I² = 71.0%, P_{heterogeneity} < 0.001) for overweight/obesity (cohort: 1.19 [0.97-1.47], n = 2; cross-sectional: 1.14 [1.03-1.27], n = 9), 1.07 (0.90-1.27; 84.7%) for T2DM (cohort: 1.01 [0.89-1.15], n = 9; case-control: 2.33 [1.80-3.01], n = 1), and 1.20 (1.05-1.38; I²=91.8%) for hypertension (cohort: 1.06 [0.98-1.15], n = 8; cross-sectional: 2.16 [0.59-7.87], n = 3). Our meta-analysis indicates fried-food consumption is associated with increased risk of overweight/obesity and hypertension but not T2DM in adults, but the findings should be interpreted with caution due to high heterogeneity and unstable subgroup analyses of this meta-analysis. More studies are warranted to investigate the total fried-food consumption and these health outcomes.

PMID:33825582 | DOI:10.1080/10408398.2021.1906626

Adv Physiol Educ. 2021 Jun 1;45(2):269-275. doi: 10.1152/advan.00157.2020.

ABSTRACT

Basic medical laboratory courses (BMLCs) play an important role in medical educational courses helping the student acquire three important skills of surgical operating, collaborative learning, and problem solving. The outcome-based student assessment (OBSA) is a learning evaluation method that establishes specific evaluation points based on performance of students in three aspects: surgical operating, collaborative learning, and problem solving in the BMLC curriculum practices. The purpose of the present randomized controlled trial study is to explore the efficiency of OBSA program in BMLCs. The 233 students attending BMLCs were randomly divided into 2 groups, 118 in the OBSA group and 115 in the control group. We conducted multiple-choice examination questions (MCQs) test and two questionnaires with the method of two-sample t test for statistics. The results of MCQs in total eight BMLC blocks showed that the academic performance of the OBSA group was significantly better than that of the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the average scores of direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) and mini-experimental evaluation exercise in OBSA group were significantly higher than those in control group (P < 0.05). The majority of the medical students preferred the OBSA and considered OBSA could effectively improve their surgical operating skills (83.9%), collaborative learning skills (92.1%), and problem-solving skills (91.1%). From the above, OBSA is an effective evaluation method for the implementation of the BMLC curriculum.

PMID:33825525 | DOI:10.1152/advan.00157.2020

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2021 Apr 7:1-27. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1906624. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Wine is a high-value alcoholic beverage welcomed by consumers because of its flavor and nutritional value. The key information on wine bottle label is the basis of consumers’ choice, which also becomes a target for manufacturers to adulterate, including geographical origin, grape variety and vintage. With the improvement of wine adulteration technology, modern technological means are needed to solve the above mentioned problems. The chemical basis of wine determines the type of technique used. Detection technology can be subdivided into four groups: mass spectrometry techniques, spectroscopic techniques, chromatography techniques, and other techniques. Multivariate statistical analysis of the data was performed by means of chemometrics methods. This paper outlines a series of procedures for wine classification and identification, and classified the analytical techniques and data processing methods used in recent years with listing their principles, advantages and disadvantages to help wine researchers choose appropriate methods to meet the challenge and ensure wine traceability and authenticity.

PMID:33825545 | DOI:10.1080/10408398.2021.1906624

J Phys Chem Lett. 2021 Apr 7:3618-3624. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c00577. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

We computationally studied the photoisomerization reaction of the retinal chromophore in rhodopsin using a two-state two-mode model coupled to thermal baths. Reaction quantum yields at the steady state (10 ps and beyond) were found to be considerably different than their transient values, suggesting a weak correlation between transient and steady-state dynamics in these systems. Significantly, the steady-state quantum yield was highly sensitive to minute changes in system parameters, while transient dynamics was nearly unaffected. Correlation of such sensitivity with standard level spacing statistics of the nonadiabatic vibronic system suggests a possible origin in quantum chaos. The significance of this observation of quantum yield parametric sensitivity in biological models of vision has profound conceptual and fundamental implications.

PMID:33825472 | DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c00577

Nano Lett. 2021 Apr 7. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04491. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Developing nanoscale electrical characterization techniques adapted to three-dimensional (3D) geometry is essential for optimization of the epitaxial structure and doping process of nano- and microwires. In this paper, we demonstrate the assessment of the depletion width as well as the doping profile at the nanoscale of individual microwire core-shell light-emitting devices by capacitance-voltage measurements. A statistical study carried out on single wires shows the consistency of the doping profile values measured for individual microwires compared to assemblies of hundreds of wires processed on the same sample. The robustness of this method is then demonstrated on four epitaxial structures with different growth and doping conditions. Finally, electron-beam-induced current and secondary electron profiles are used to validate the depletion region width and the position in the core-shell structure.

PMID:33825480 | DOI:10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04491

Genome. 2021 Apr 7:1-12. doi: 10.1139/gen-2020-0018. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

While free-living herbivorous insects are thought to harbor microbial communities composed of transient bacteria derived from their diet, recent studies indicate that insects that induce galls on plants may be involved in more intimate host-microbe relationships. We used 16S rDNA metabarcoding to survey larval microbiomes of 20 nematine sawfly species that induce bud or leaf galls on 13 Salix species. The 391 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) detected represented 69 bacterial genera in six phyla. Multi-variate statistical analyses showed that the structure of larval microbiomes is influenced by willow host species as well as by gall type. Nevertheless, a “core” microbiome composed of 58 ASVs is shared widely across the focal galler species. Within the core community, the presence of many abundant, related ASVs representing multiple distantly related bacterial taxa is reflected as a statistically significant effect of bacterial phylogeny on galler-microbe associations. Members of the core community have a variety of inferred functions, including degradation of phenolic compounds, nutrient supplementation, and production of plant hormones. Hence, our results support suggestions of intimate and diverse interactions between galling insects and microbes and add to a growing body of evidence that microbes may play a role in the induction of insect galls on plants.

PMID:33825503 | DOI:10.1139/gen-2020-0018

Radiology. 2021 Apr 6:203655. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2021203655. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Background Rapid knee MRI using combined simultaneous multislice (SMS) technique and parallel imaging (PI) acceleration can add value through reduced acquisition time but requires validation of clinical efficacy. Purpose To evaluate the performance of clinical fourfold SMS-PI-accelerated, 5-minute, five-sequence, multicontrast knee MRI protocols compared with standard twofold PI-accelerated, 10-minute knee MRI protocols. Materials and Methods Adults with painful knee conditions were prospectively enrolled from April 2018 to October 2019. Participants underwent fourfold SMS-PI-accelerated, 5-minute, turbo spin-echo (TSE) knee MRI and standard-of-care twofold PI-accelerated, 10-minute, TSE knee MRI at either 1.5 T or 3.0 T. Three radiologists independently evaluated the knee MRI studies for meniscal, tendinous, ligamentous, and osseocartilaginous injuries. Statistical analyses included k-based intermethod agreements and diagnostic performance testing. P < .05 was considered indicative of a statistically significant difference. Results A total of 252 adults were evaluated (mean age ± standard deviation, 47 years ± 17; 134 men). Among the participants, 104 (mean age, 42 years 5 18; 57 women) were in the 1.5-T arm and 148 (mean age, 46 years 5 17; 87 men) were in the 3.0-T arm. Twenty-nine participants (mean age, 38 years 5 12; 15 men) in the 1.5-T arm and 42 (mean age, 41 years 5 16; 24 men) in the 3.0-T arm underwent arthroscopy a mean of 45 days 5 31 and 45 days 5 22 after MRI, respectively. Intermethod agreements were good at 1.5 T (κ >0.71 [95% CI: 0.56, 0.83]) and very good at 3.0 T (κ >0.85 [95% CI: 0.69, 0.96]). The diagnostic performances of corresponding 5-minute and 10-minute MRI protocols were similar for 1.5 T, with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) greater than 0.78 (95% CI: 0.71, 0.84) (P > .32), and 3.0 T, with AUCs greater than 0.83 (95% CI: 0.78, 0.88) (P > .32). Conclusion Comparisons of 5-minute five-sequence simultaneous multislice- and parallel imaging (PI)-accelerated and 10-minute five-sequence PI-accelerated turbo spin-echo MRI of the knee suggest similar performances at 1.5 and 3.0 T. © RSNA, 2021 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Subhas in this issue.

PMID:33825510 | DOI:10.1148/radiol.2021203655