Category: Statistics

Int Health. 2021 Sep 23:ihab058. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihab058. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spurred an unprecedented paradigm shift to telemedicine across healthcare fields in order to limit exposure to the virus. At the West China Hospital of Sichuan University, telemedicine has been used to perform COVID-19-related tele-education to health professionals and the general population, as well as tele-diagnosis, online treatment and internet-based drug prescription and delivery. However, many older adults could not make appointments with doctors due to difficulty using the internet-based platform. Careful attention needs to be paid by future researchers and policymakers in order to mitigate barriers older adults face when using telemedicine.

PMID:34555846 | DOI:10.1093/inthealth/ihab058

Aging (Albany NY). 2021 Sep 23;13(undefined). doi: 10.18632/aging.203564. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a lethal malignancy of the genitourinary system. Follistatin-like 3 (FSTL3), which mediates cell differentiation and growth, acts as a biomarker of tumors and participates in cancer development and progression. Presently, the FSTL3’s functions in RCC were investigated. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), Western Blot, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were conducted to verify FSTL3 expression in RCC tissues and cell lines. BrdU assay and CCK8 experiment were made to monitor cell proliferation. Transwell was implemented to examine the invasion of the cells. Flow cytometry analyzed cell apoptosis, and Western Blot evaluated the protein levels of E-cadherin, Twist, and Slug. In the meantime, the protein profiles of the GSK-3β, β-catenin, and TGF-β signaling pathways were ascertained. Moreover, the Xenograft tumor model was constructed in nude mice for measuring tumor growth in vivo. The statistics showed that FSTL3 presented an overexpression in RCC, and patients with a lower expression of FSTL3 manifested a better prognosis. Down-regulated FSTL3 hampered the proliferation, invasion, EMT, and tumor growth of RCC cells and caused cell apoptosis. On the contrary, FSTL3 overexpression enhanced the malignant behaviors of RCC cells. Furthermore, FSTL3 knockdown bolstered GSK-3β, suppressed β-catenin, and reduced BMP1-SMAD pathway activation. Inhibited β-catenin substantially mitigated FSTL3-mediated promoting functions in RCC. In short, FSTL3 functions as an oncogene in RCC by modulating the GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway.

PMID:34555811 | DOI:10.18632/aging.203564

J Phys Condens Matter. 2021 Sep 23. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ac296e. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In this work we report for the first time the appearance of non-decaying circular spin current in a magnetic ring with vanishing net magnetization, even in absence of any spin chirality. Breaking the symmetry in hopping integrals we can misalign up and down spin electronic energy levels which yields a net spin current in the magnetic quantum ring, threaded by an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) flux. Along with spin current, a net charge current also appears, and we compute both these currents using the second quantized approach. A tight-binding framework is employed to describe the magnetic ring where each site of the ring contains a finite magnetic moment. Itinerant electrons get scattered from the localized magnetic moments at different lattice sites, and the moments are arranged in such a way that the net magnetization vanishes. The interplay between magnetic moments and asymmetric hopping integrals leads to several atypical features in energy spectra, especially the existence of vanishing current carrying energy eigenstates together with the current carrying ones. The formation of such states those do not contribute any current is the artifact of different kinds of on-site energies and/or hopping integrals in different segments of the magnetic ring. The atypical signatures of energy levels are directly reflected into the charge and spin currents, and here we critically investigate the behaviors of circular currents as functions of electron filling, hopping integrals, strength of spin-moment interaction and ring size. Finally, we discuss briefly the possible experimental realization to implement our proposed magnetic system. The present analysis may provide a new route of generating persistent spin current in magnetic quantum rings with vanishing net magnetization, circumventing the use of spin-orbit coupled systems.

PMID:34555814 | DOI:10.1088/1361-648X/ac296e

Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 Sep 20;173(Pt A):112957. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112957. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Marine debris is a persistent and pervasive threat worldwide including inside marine protected areas (MPAs). To assess marine debris accumulation rates and potential impacts, we counted and evaluated trap, non-trap fishing gear, and non-fishing debris in unprotected areas and MPAs with different management boundary regulations in the Florida Keys (USA). Analyses identified that neither MPA type nor size were strong drivers of debris density and that debris densities were not statistically different between unprotected areas and MPAs. Non-fishing and non-trap fishing gear debris densities were potentially related to unexplored local differences in human behavior, while trap debris density was likely associated with oceanographic forces that transported traps into the MPAs. Overall, our results suggested that the drivers of marine debris accumulation for each debris category were different and may vary with each individual MPA, and that marine debris is not constrained by MPA boundaries.

PMID:34555780 | DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112957

Environ Pollut. 2021 Sep 10;291:118140. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118140. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In this biomonitoring study, we evaluated the concentrations of 8 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 11 organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs), 33 brominated flame retardants (BFRs), 7 novel brominated and chlorinated flame retardants (novel FRs) and 30 per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) in human serum samples (n = 274). A total of 89 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were measured in blood serum samples of city policemen living in three large cities and their adjacent areas (Ostrava, Prague, and Ceske Budejovice) in the Czech Republic. All samples were collected during the year 2019 in two sampling periods (spring and autumn). The identification/quantification of PCBs, OCPs, BFRs, novel FRs and PFAS was performed by means of gas chromatography coupled to (tandem) mass spectrometry (GC-MS/(MS)) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The most frequently detected pollutants were perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), 2,2′,3,4,4′,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB 138), 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB 153), 2,2′,3,3′,4,4′,5-heptachlorobiphenyl (CB 170), 2,2′,3,4,4′,5,5′-heptachlorobiphenyl (CB 180), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p’-DDE) quantified in 100% of serum samples. In the serum samples, the concentrations of determined POPs were in the range of 0.108-900 ng g^-1 lipid weight (lw) for PCBs, 0.106-1016 ng g^-1 lw for OCPs, <0.1-618 ng g^-1 lw for FRs and <0.01-18.3 ng mL^-1 for PFAS, respectively. Locality, sampling season, and age were significantly associated with several POP concentrations. One of the important conclusions was that within the spring sampling period, statistically significant higher concentrations of CB 170 and CB 180 were observed in the samples from Ostrava (industrial area) compared to Prague and Ceske Budejovice. Older policemen had higher concentrations of five PCBs and two OCPs in blood serum.

PMID:34555793 | DOI:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118140

J Pediatr Nurs. 2021 Sep 15;61:340-345. doi: 10.1016/j.pedn.2021.09.013. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of restrictions that have been imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and contact with a COVID-19 positive individual on children and the practices adopted by parents to help their children cope with these effects.

DESIGN AND METHODS: The data for this descriptive study were collected through social media platforms. The study included 464 parents who have children between the ages of 3 and 18, use social media, and are willing to participate in the study. The Parent and Child Descriptive Characteristics Form, Assessment Form for Pandemic Effects, and Form of Parent’s Practices for Children during the Pandemic were used to collect the study data.

RESULTS: It was determined that the screen time of the children increased and their physical activity decreased during the restrictions. Following the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the children’s body weight increased by an average of 3.87 ± 2.28 kg, and according to parents, most of the children were more tense, stressed, and angrier. A statistically significant relationship was found between having had contact with an individual diagnosed with COVID-19 and compliance with regular, balanced nutrition and hygiene rules in children (p < 0.05), as well as between having been quarantined and compliance with hygiene rules in children (p < 0.05).

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Despite the relatively low case and mortality rates in children, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant health problem for children. From the study, it was determined that the COVID-19 pandemic affects the physical and psychological health of children.

PMID:34555746 | DOI:10.1016/j.pedn.2021.09.013

Epilepsy Behav. 2021 Sep 20;124:108303. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108303. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the association between telemedicine and the incidence of status epilepticus (SE) in patients with epilepsy (PWE) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic using a large population database in the United States.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of a private, cloud-based healthcare platform (Explorys Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, USA). We compared each of the previously reported risk factors for SE, such as child, male, and refractory epilepsy, using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test in two groups: PWE with SE or without SE. We determined whether telemedicine could be a risk factor for the incidence of SE using multivariate binary logistic regression analysis incorporating statistically significant variables in the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test (p < 0.05). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS: We identified 1600 PWE with SE and 61,700 PWE without SE from May 2020 to May 2021. The proportion of children, males, refractory epilepsy, and telemedicine was higher in PWE with SE than in PWE without SE (children: 21.9% vs. 17.7%, p < 0.001; male: 52.5% vs. 48.2%, p = 0.001; refractory epilepsy: 20.6% vs. 8.2%, p < 0.001; telemedicine: 42.5% vs. 23.6%, p < 0.001). The multivariate binary logistic regression model identified four significant variables as follows: child (odds ratio [OR], 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-1.50), male (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.07-1.31), refractory epilepsy (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 2.15-2.77), and telemedicine (OR, 2.29; 95% CI, 2.07-2.54).

CONCLUSION: Telemedicine might be associated with an increased risk of SE in PWE during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PMID:34555700 | DOI:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108303

Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2021 Sep 4;12(6):101822. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101822. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Epidemiological data often include characteristics such as spatial and/or temporal dependencies and excess zero counts, which pose modeling challenges. Excess zeros in such data may arise from imperfect detection and/or relative rareness of the disease in a given location. Here, we studied the spatio-temporal variation in annual Lyme disease cases in Virginia from 2001-2016 and modeled the disease with a spatio-temporal hierarchical Bayesian model. Using observed ecological and environmental covariates, we constructed a predictive model for the disease spread over space and time, including spatial and temporal random effects. We considered several different models and found that the negative binomial hurdle model performs the best for such epidemiological data. Among the various ecological predictors, the North-South (V component) of winds and relative humidity significantly contributed to predicting the Lyme cases. Our model results provide important insights on the spread of the disease in Virginia and the proposed modeling framework offers epidemiologists and health policymakers a useful tool for improving disease preparedness and control plans for the future.

PMID:34555712 | DOI:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101822

Physiotherapy. 2021 Apr 27;113:12-28. doi: 10.1016/j.physio.2021.04.005. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the effect of aerobic, resistance and combined exercise training in patients with ALS.

DATA SOURCE: A comprehensive systematic search of CENTRAL, CINAHL, SPORTDiscuss, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest was performed from inception to February 2021.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: The systematic review included all studies that examined the effect of exercise training in ALS patients. Meta-analysis was also carried out on randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

DATA EXTRACTION AND DATA SYNTHESIS: Data related to primary outcomes (functional ability, respiratory function, fatigue, pain, quality of life, upper-body strength, lower-body strength and Vo₂peak) and secondary outcomes (adverse events and feasibility of exercises) was extracted from all studies and systematically reviewed.

RESULTS: 16 trials including 532 patients met the inclusion criteria; of these, eight studies were included in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found a statistically significant difference in favor of exercise in functional ability (P=0.001), overall quality of life (P=0.03) and Vo₂peak (P=0.01). The included trials were generally of poor quality and had a risk of bias. However, the results of sensitivity analysis, after omitting studies with high risk of bias, showed no statistically significant difference in functional ability (P=0.05), overall quality of life (P=0.12) and Vo2peak (P=0.13). Finally, no significant difference was found in respiratory function, fatigue, pain, and upper-body and lower-body strength.

CONCLUSIONS: The safety and effectiveness of exercise therapy in ALS patients remains unclear and further high quality RCTs with larger sample size are needed. Systematic Review Registration Number PROSPERO CRD42019140011.

PMID:34555670 | DOI:10.1016/j.physio.2021.04.005

Neoplasia. 2021 Sep 20;23(10):1059-1068. doi: 10.1016/j.neo.2021.08.004. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Interferon (IFN) therapy has been the standard of care for a variety of cancers for decades due to the pleiotropic actions of IFNs against malignancies. However, little is known about the role of copy number alteration (CNA) of the IFN gene cluster, located at the 9p21.3, in cancer. This large individual patient data meta-analysis using 9937 patients obtained from cBioportal indicates that CNA of the IFN gene cluster is prevalent among 24 cancer types. Two statistical approaches showed that notably deletion of this cluster is significantly associated with increased mortality in many cancer types particularly uterus (OR = 2.71), kidney (OR = 2.26), and brain (OR = 2.08) cancers. The Cancer Genome Atlas PanCancer analysis also showed that CNA of the IFN gene cluster is significantly associated with decreased overall survival. For instance, the overall survival of patients with brain glioma reduced from 93m (diploidy) to 24m (with the CNA of the IFN gene). In conclusion, the CNA of the IFN gene cluster is associated with increased mortality and decreased overall survival in cancer. Thus, in the prospect of immunotherapy, CNA of IFN gene may be a useful biomarker to predict the prognosis of patients and also as a potential companion diagnostic test to prescribe IFN α/β therapy.

PMID:34555656 | DOI:10.1016/j.neo.2021.08.004