Category: Statistics

J Complement Integr Med. 2021 May 10. doi: 10.1515/jcim-2020-0191. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: An acquired melanin-related hyperpigmentation that occurs in sun exposure areas is Melasma which presents as gray-brown ridges and macules with prominent margins on the skin. The aim of this assay was to assess the formulation and efficacy of topical Dorema ammoniacum among Melasma patients.

METHODS: This study was a 30 days double-blind, randomized clinical trial in Melasma with a placebo group. The study was carried out on 49 patients with Melasma attending Haji Daii Nursing Center in Kermanshah, Iran. Optimized topical formulation of D. ammoniacum gum extract was prepared by evaluating the characteristics of different topical formulations of this plant. Mean Melasma severity index (MMASI) instrument was applied to assess the product effectiveness and to determine the skin stains. Patients were pursued to receive the treatment throughout the 30 days trial. This scaling was accomplished before the intervention and 30 days after the use of the herbal product. To analyze the quantitative variables, t-test and Mann-Whitney test were evaluated by SPSS 21 software, and p-value <0.05 was considered as the statistically significant.

RESULTS: The survey was performed on 40 female subjects (81.6%) and nine male subjects (18.4%) with the mean age of 32.18 ± 8.69. According to the results, the mean MSI in the drug group was significantly lower than before treatment and decreased from 86.98 ± 69.48 to 31.03 ± 32.62 (p-value <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: In compliance with findings this survey revealed a positive effect of the cream formulation of D. ammoniacum extract on Melasma. As it was represented no side effects, this formulation is appropriate for the treatment of Melasma.

PMID:33964194 | DOI:10.1515/jcim-2020-0191

J Complement Integr Med. 2021 May 10. doi: 10.1515/jcim-2020-0368. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: In Ontario, Canada, MTs are regulated and have a common scope of practice. However, diverse practice settings and approaches to care create a need for MTs to articulate their professional identity. This study sought to answer, “what common features are foundational to the professional identity of MTs in Ontario?”

METHODS: This quantitative research study was a part of a larger exploratory sequential mixed methods study. An online questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted based on previous qualitative findings. MTs in Ontario, who held an active certificate, were invited to participate. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: The analysis revealed 17 common features that were endorsed by most respondents. Participants also reported thinking of themselves as healthcare professionals, rather than service providers, a feeling that was held across practice settings. Interesting and unexpected differences were noted in statements regarding the perception of MTs, areas of profession-specific knowledge, and the establishment of the therapeutic relationship.

CONCLUSIONS: This study furthers an understanding of MTs’ identity. Specifically, MTs consider themselves to be HCPs who are confident in their knowledge and abilities, especially their communication skills. They believe in providing individualized care and empowering their patients to take charge of their own health. Despite areas of overwhelming agreement, disagreement in endorsement was seen in areas such as MTs perception of their external image, use of evidence in practice, and the establishment of professional boundaries. These areas provide an opportunity for future research to continue to develop a body of knowledge regarding MTs professionalism and identity.

PMID:33964195 | DOI:10.1515/jcim-2020-0368

Bioinformatics. 2021 May 8:btab261. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btab261. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

MOTIVATION: Simulation-based inference can bypass the limitations of statistical methods based on analytical approximations, but software allowing simulation of structured population genetic data without the classical n-coalescent approximations (such as those following from assuming large population size) are scarce or slow.

RESULTS: We present GSpace, a simulator for genomic data, based on a generation-by-generation coalescence algorithm taking into account small population size, recombination, and isolation by distance.

AVAILABILITY: Freely available at site web INRAe (http://www1.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP/software/gspace/download.html).

PMID:33964130 | DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btab261

J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2021 May 8:gbab085. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbab085. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: During the COVID-19 pandemic, stigmatization of older persons has increased in traditional and social media. It was unknown whether this negative messaging could be detrimental to the mental health of older individuals, and whether the relatively uncommon positive messaging about older individuals could benefit their mental health.

METHOD: To address these gaps, we designed age-stereotype interventions based on actual news stories that appeared during the pandemic, and divided them into negative and positive versions of what we term personified (i.e., person-based) and enumerative (i.e., number-based) age-stereotype messaging. The negative versions of the two types of messaging reflected the age stereotype of decline whereas the positive versions of the two types of messaging reflected the age stereotype of resilience.

RESULTS: As expected, the exposure of older individuals to the negative-age-stereotype-messaging interventions led to significantly worse mental health (more anxiety and less peacefulness), compared to a neutral condition; in contrast, the positive-age-stereotype-messaging interventions led to significantly better mental health (less anxiety and more peacefulness), compared to a neutral condition. The findings were equally strong for the personified and enumerative conditions. Also as expected, the interventions, which were self-irrelevant to the younger participants, did not significantly impact their mental health.

DISCUSSION: This is the first-known study to experimentally demonstrate that institutional ageism, and statistics that reflect stereotypes about older individuals, can impact mental health. The results demonstrate the need for media messaging aimed at empowering older individuals during the pandemic and beyond.

PMID:33964154 | DOI:10.1093/geronb/gbab085

Int J Dent Hyg. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/idh.12509. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The use of local probiotics in the therapy of periodontitis is reflected in their ability to antagonize periodontopathogens and modulate the immune response of the host to the presence of pathogenic microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigated the use of local probiotics in the treatment of periodontitis as an adjunctive therapy to scaling and root planning (SRP).

METHODS: The study involved 80 patients diagnosed with periodontitis. All participants underwent SRP therapy. Semi-solid probiotic was then locally applied to the periodontal pocket in randomly selected patients for the test group (40 of them). The other 40 patients were in the control group. Clinical parameters including periodontal pocket depth (PPD), bleeding on probing (BOP) and plaque index (PI) were measured at baseline, and at 7 and 30 days after treatment.

RESULTS: Seven days after the applied therapy in the test and control group, there was a significant decrease in the values or BOP (p<0.001), while the values of other parameters did not show a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). One month after the therapy in both groups, there was a statistically significant difference in the values of all clinical parameters (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this pilot study, it can be said that, during periodontal treatment, topical application of probiotics in combination with SRP increases the effectiveness of conventional non-surgical therapy of periodontitis.

PMID:33964104 | DOI:10.1111/idh.12509

Mol Ecol Resour. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13415. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Adaptive genetic variation is a function of both selective and neutral forces. To accurately identify adaptive loci, it is thus critical to account for demographic history. Theory suggests that signatures of selection can be inferred using the coalescent, following the premise that genealogies of selected loci deviate from neutral expectations. Here, we build on this theory to develop an analytical framework to identify Loci under Selection via explicit Demographic models (LSD). Under this framework, signatures of selection are inferred through deviations in demographic parameters, rather than through summary statistics directly, and demographic history is accounted for explicitly. Leveraging on the property of demographic models to incorporate directionality, we show that LSD can provide information on the environment in which selection acts on a population. This can prove useful in elucidating the selective processes underlying local adaptation, by characterising genetic trade-offs and extending the concepts of antagonistic pleiotropy and conditional neutrality from ecological theory to practical application in genomic data. We implement LSD via Approximate Bayesian Computation and demonstrate, via simulations, that LSD has i) high power to identify selected loci across a large range of demographic-selection regimes, ii) outperforms commonly applied genome-scan methods under complex demographies, and iii) accurately infers the directionality of selection for identified candidates. Using the same simulations, we further characterise the behaviour of isolation-with-migration models conducive to the study of local adaptation under regimes of selection. Finally, we demonstrate an application of LSD by detecting loci and characterising genetic trade-offs underlying flower colour in Antirrhinum majus.

PMID:33964107 | DOI:10.1111/1755-0998.13415

BJU Int. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/bju.15443. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if a risk score for prostate cancer (PC) lifetime risk can be used to optimize triaging of patients with a negative prostate biopsy, but under sustained suspicion of PC.

METHODS AND PATIENTS: In this prospective clinical study, we included, and risk scored patients who had a cancer-negative transrectal ultrasound guided (TRUS) prostate biopsy, but elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA), a suspicious prostate digital rectal examination and/or a positive family history (FH) of PC. The risk score estimated individual lifetime risk of PC, based on a polygenic risk score (33 single nucleotide polymorphisms), age, and FH of PC. Patients were followed, under urologic supervision, for up to 4 years with annual controls, always including PSA measurements. Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) and/or prostate biopsy was performed at selected annual controls depending on risk score and at the urologist’s/patient’s discretion, which means that the follow-up differed based on the risk score.

RESULTS: We included 429 patients. After risk scoring, 376/429 (88%) patients were allocated to a normal-risk group (<30% PC lifetime risk) and 53/429 (12%) to a high-risk group (≥30% PC lifetime risk). The high-risk group had significantly different follow-up, with more biopsy and mpMRI sessions compared to the normal-risk group. PC was detected in 89/429 (21%) patients, with 67/376 (18%) patients diagnosed in the normal-risk group and 22/53 (42%) in the high-risk group. There was no statistically significant difference in the cumulative incidence of PC between the normal-risk group and the high-risk group after 4 years of follow-up. Currently, 67/429 (16%) patients are still being followed in this ongoing study.

CONCLUSION: In a 4-year perspective our PC lifetime risk score did not demonstrate significant prognostic value for triaging patients, with a negative TRUS-biopsy and sustained suspicion of PC.

PMID:33964113 | DOI:10.1111/bju.15443

J Biomed Mater Res A. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.37207. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Statistical methods were used to provide insight into a polymer complex system composed of lysozyme and alginate to quantify the effects of such parameters as pH, and ionic composition of the mixing solution on the properties of the complexes including composition, particle diameter, and zeta potential. Various crosslinkers (calcium, barium, iron[III], and bovine serum albumin), were used with lysozyme for complex formation to investigate the effect of crosslinker charge density on protein release kinetics, modelled using ktⁿ . Multivariate statistical analysis showed that the kinetic parameters associated with the release were, not surprisingly highly dependent on the ionic strength of the release media, with higher ionic strength leading to faster release. The release parameter k was also shown to depend on the protein properties (size, ionic strength) while n was slightly, but not statistically dependent on the charge density of the crosslinker demonstrating that the nature of the crosslinker had minimal impact on drug release. The multivariate statistical has the potential to be used for optimization of the complexes and prediction of physical properties and degradation rates.

PMID:33964114 | DOI:10.1002/jbm.a.37207

Int Endod J. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/iej.13547. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To create an irreversible pulpitis gene signature from microarray data of healthy and inflamed dental pulps, followed by a bioinformatics approach using connectivity mapping to identify therapeutic compounds that could potentially treat pulpitis.

METHODOLOGY: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, an international public repository of genomics datasets, was searched for human microarray datasets assessing pulpitis. An irreversible pulpitis gene expression signature was generated by differential expression analysis. The statistically significant connectivity map (ssCMap) method was used to identify compounds with a highly correlating gene expression pattern. qPCR was used to validate novel pulpitis genes. An ex vivo pulpitis model was used to test the effects of the compounds identified, and the level of inflammatory cytokines was measured with qPCR, ELISA and multiplex array. Means were compared using the t-test or ANOVA with the level of significance set at p≤0.05.

RESULTS: Pulpitis gene signatures were created using differential gene expression analysis at cutoff points p=0.0001 and 0.000018. Top upregulated genes were selected as potential pulpitis biomarkers. Among these, IL8, IL6 and MMP9 were previously identified as pulpitis biomarkers. Novel up-regulated genes; chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 21 (CCL21), metallothionein 1H (MT1H) and aquaporin 9 (AQP9) were validated in the pulp tissue of teeth clinically diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis using qPCR. ssCMap analysis identified fluvastatin (Statin) and dequalinium chloride (Quaternary ammonium) as compounds with the strongest correlation to the gene signatures (p=0.0001). Fluvastatin reduced IL8, IL6, CCL21, AQP9 (p<0.001) and MMP9 (p<0.05) in the ex-vivo pulpitis model, while dequalinium chloride reduced AQP9 (p<0.001) but had no significant effect on the other biomarkers.

CONCLUSIONS: AQP9, MT1H and CCL21 were identified and validated as novel biomarkers for pulpitis. Fluvastatin and dequalinium chloride identified by the ssCMap as potential therapeutics for pulpitis reduced selected pulpitis biomarkers in an ex vivo pulpitis model. In vivo testing of these licensed drugs is warranted.

PMID:33964033 | DOI:10.1111/iej.13547

Clin Cardiol. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1002/clc.23622. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV2 has affected more than 73.8 million individuals. While SARS-CoV2 is considered a predominantly respiratory virus, we report a trend of bradycardia among hospitalized patients, particularly in association with mortality.

METHODOLOGY: The multi-center retrospective analysis consisted of 1053 COVID-19 positive patients from March to August 2020. A trend of bradycardia was noted in the study population. Absolute bradycardia and profound bradycardia was defined as a sustained heart rate < 60 BPM and < 50 BPM, respectively, on two separate occasions, a minimum of 4 h apart during hospitalization. Each bradycardic event was confirmed by two physicians and exclusion criteria included: less than 18 years old, end of life bradycardia, left AMA, or taking AV Nodal blockers. Data was fetched using a SQL program through the EMR and data was analyzed using SPSS 27.0. A logistic regression was done to study the effect of bradycardia, age, gender, and BMI on mortality in the study group.

RESULTS: 24.9% patients had absolute bradycardia while 13.0% had profound bradycardia. Patients with absolute bradycardia had an odds ratio of 6.59 (95% CI [2.83-15.36]) for mortality compared with individuals with a normal HR response. The logistic regression model explained 19.6% (Nagelkerke R² ) of variance in the mortality, correctly classified 88.6% of cases, and was statistically significant X² (5)=47.10, p < .001. For each year of age > 18, the odds of dying increased 1.048 times (95% CI [1.25-5.27]).

CONCLUSION: The incidence of absolute bradycardia was found in 24.9% of the study cohort and these individuals were found to have a significant increase in mortality.

PMID:33964035 | DOI:10.1002/clc.23622