Nevin Manimala

Radiol Imaging Cancer. 2025 Mar;7(2):e240213. doi: 10.1148/rycan.240213.

ABSTRACT

Purpose To develop deep learning (DL) radiopathomics models based on contrast-enhanced MRI and pathologic imaging to predict vessels encapsulating tumor clusters (VETC) and survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods In this retrospective, multicenter study, 578 patients with HCC (mean age [±SD], 59 years ± 10; 442 male, 136 female) were divided into the training (n = 317), internal (n = 137), and external (n = 124) test sets. DL radiomics and pathomics models were developed to predict VETC using gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR and pathologic images. Deep radiomics score (DRS) and handcrafted and deep pathomics scores were compared between the group with VETC pattern in HCC (VETC+) and group without VETC pattern in HCC (VETC-). Multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to identify independent prognostic factors, and the radiopathomics nomogram models were developed for early recurrence and progression-free survival (PFS). The prognostic power was evaluated using the concordance index (C index) and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results In the external test set, the Swin Transformer showed good performance for predicting VETC in both DL radiomics (area under the ROC curve [AUC], 0.77-0.79) and pathomics (AUC, 0.79) models. Patients with VETC+ HCC had significantly higher DRS and handcrafted and deep pathomics scores compared with patients with VETC- HCC in all datasets (all P < .001). The radiopathomics nomogram model incorporating DRS in the arterial phase and the handcrafted and deep pathomics scores achieved C indexes of 0.69, 0.60, and 0.67 for early recurrence and time-dependent AUCs of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.76, 0.91), 0.81 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.94), and 0.78 (95% CI: 0.67, 0.88) for 3-year PFS in the training, internal, and external test sets, respectively. Early recurrence and PFS rates statistically significantly differed between the high- and low-risk patients stratified by the radiopathomics nomogram model (all P < .05). Conclusion DL radiopathomics models effectively helped to predict VETC in HCC and assess the risk for early recurrence and PFS. Keywords: Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Deep Learning, MRI, Radiopathomics, Survival Supplemental material is available for this article. © RSNA, 2025.

PMID:40084948 | DOI:10.1148/rycan.240213

Rev Sci Instrum. 2025 Mar 1;96(3):033510. doi: 10.1063/5.0242943.

ABSTRACT

An efficient and stable Abel inversion method is developed using Zernike polynomials to reconstruct the local emissivity profile from line integrated data. We reconstructed emissivity for parabolic, Gaussian, and non-monotonic profiles. By leveraging Cormack’s method, we skip evaluating the integrals numerically, reducing error in reconstruction. This method is derivative-free and singularity-free. The standard deviation of the reconstructed profiles is estimated and found to be small. For a parabolic profile with n = 3, the standard deviation is 0.0887, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test yields a KS statistic value of 0.002, with a reduced chi-square value of 0.857. A chi-square test and a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test are performed to reject the null hypothesis, adding another verification layer to the efficiency of our method along with a standard deviation test.

PMID:40084934 | DOI:10.1063/5.0242943

Ecol Lett. 2025 Mar;28(3):e70094. doi: 10.1111/ele.70094.

ABSTRACT

Online portals have facilitated collecting extensive biodiversity data by naturalists, offering unprecedented coverage and resolution in space and time. Despite being the most widely available class of biodiversity data, opportunistically collected records have remained largely inaccessible to community ecologists since the imperfect and highly heterogeneous detection process can severely bias inference. We present a novel statistical approach that leverages these datasets by embedding a spatiotemporal joint species distribution model within a flexible site-occupancy framework. Our model addresses variable detection probabilities across visits and species by modelling phenological patterns and by extending the use of latent variables to characterise observer-specific detection and reporting behaviour. We apply our model to an opportunistically collected dataset on lentic odonates, encompassing over 100,000 waterbody visits in Flanders (N-Belgium), to show that the model provides insights into biological communities at high resolution, including phenology, interannual trends, environmental associations and spatiotemporal co-distributional patterns in community composition.

PMID:40084931 | DOI:10.1111/ele.70094

Int J Med Educ. 2025 Mar 13;16:52-61. doi: 10.5116/ijme.679e.091b.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To explore medical students’ self-assessed preparedness for clinical practice and attitudes towards learning communication skills, and attitudes towards patient-centeredness before and after introducing a new curriculum with a group mentorship program.

METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire-study (1-5 Likert scale) was conducted among the first class of medical students following the new curriculum (NC, n = 51) in their fifth year and the final class of students in the old curriculum (OC, n = 48) in their sixth year. The questionnaire contained questions regarding program evaluation, and statements that measured the students’ attitudes towards learning communication skills and patient-centeredness. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U-test were used.

RESULTS: NC-students (Mdn=4) scored significantly higher than the OC-students (Mdn=3), when asked how they thought the first four years of the medical curriculum had prepared them for clinical practice (U=828.5, p=.003, r=0.35). Similarly, NC-students felt more prepared for communication with patients (Mdn=4 for both groups, U=748.5, p<.001, r=0.35) and ethical reflections (Mdn=4 for both groups, U=951.5, p=0.043, r=0.20). NC-students reported significantly more positive attitudes towards learning communication skills than did OC-students. They had higher mean scores on all items regarding patient-centeredness, although these differences were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: A group-based mentorship program within the new curriculum significantly enhanced medical students’ self-assessed clinical preparedness and positively shifted their attitudes towards communication skills and patient-centeredness. More research is needed to compare medical schools with and without longitudinal group mentorship programs to assess students’ professional attitudes, and ideally, their performance in clinical practice.

PMID:40084905 | DOI:10.5116/ijme.679e.091b

J Acoust Soc Am. 2025 Mar 1;157(3):1772-1783. doi: 10.1121/10.0036129.

ABSTRACT

This study introduces the concept of activity-based acoustic situations in primary schools, which describe the everyday sound environment in classrooms. During a series of noise measurements in seven German primary schools, differences in noise parameters and subjective listening effort, as assessed by questionnaires, were investigated across the activity-based acoustic situations. Classroom noise was analyzed for sound pressure level (SPL), A-weighted SPL, loudness, and sharpness. The results showed statistically significant differences in average loudness and A-weighted SPL between the activity-based acoustic situations, with silent work yielding 55.48 dB(A), student-teacher interaction 65.13 dB(A), group work 67.44 dB(A), and breakfast break in the classroom 69.34 dB(A). All loudness parameters, SPL, A-weighted SPL, and loudness, showed higher values for first grade than for fourth grade supporting that noise levels decrease with increasing age. Subjective listening effort, as assessed by questionnaires, did not differ significantly between activity-based acoustic situations. This suggests that the questionnaire may not have been suited to evaluate subjective listening effort for the age group investigated. The present study highlights the importance of activity-based assessment of classroom noise to better represent the classroom sound environment.

PMID:40084904 | DOI:10.1121/10.0036129

Scand J Prim Health Care. 2025 Mar 14:1-9. doi: 10.1080/02813432.2025.2477150. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

MOTIVATION: Primary care centres are the first line of mental health service in Sweden responsible for individuals with mild to moderate severe symptoms of common mental disorders (CMD). The aim was to evaluate impact of sick leave and sick leave duration in patients diagnosed with CMD in primary care centres with a care manager organisation during the first and second year after implementation compared to usual care.

METHODS: Register data on sick leave (mean number of net and gross sick leave days) among patients with CMD was obtained per primary care centre from the national social insurance database MiDAS. Two measures of sick leave were used: impact of sick leave in total patient population with CMD, and sick leave duration among sick listed patients with CMD. Linear mixed-effects regression analysis was performed for cross-sectional differences and longitudinal changes between and within the two groups of primary care centres.

RESULTS: Primary care centres with care as usual had a lower proportion of sick listed patients with CMD at both year 1 and 2. Primary care centres with a care manager organisation (CMO) had significantly fewer mean number of sick leave days (net and gross days) among patients with CMD compared to centres with care as usual, indicating a lower impact of sick leave. Sick leave duration among sick listed patients did not show statistically significant differences between the two groups of primary care centres. Both groups of primary care centres increased their sick leave duration significantly from year 1 to year 2, congruent to Sweden as a whole.

CONCLUSION: The aim of this study was to evaluate two measures of sick leave in primary care centres with a care manager organisation compared to care as usual. There were no differences in sick leave duration. Primary care centres with a care manager organisation, designed to increase accessibility and continuity for patients with CMD, seemed to facilitate the primary care centre’s possibility to offer enhanced care taking to more patients with CMD with continued lower levels of impact of sick leave compared to care as usual.

IMPLEMENTATION: This study evaluated outcomes after implementation of CMO at primary care centres.

PMID:40084899 | DOI:10.1080/02813432.2025.2477150

J Craniofac Surg. 2025 Mar 14. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000011226. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic caused, in 2020, a serious and urgent health issue worldwide, establishing social distancing rules, which changed daily life in all its aspects. Work relationships and socialization became possible only through virtual networks. As a result, there has been an extreme increase in the exposure of people in general to their own image for many hours a day through cameras and video conferencing applications. This exacerbated exposure to self-image and greater criticism regarding own appearance raised hypotheses that the pandemic state generated in the population the desire to seek improvements in appearance and, consequently, would have caused an increase in searches for aesthetic procedures on the face and upper region of the chest. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate these questions, using the virtual search trend analysis tool on the Google platform, called Google Trends. Analyzes of the main surgical and non-surgical facial aesthetic procedures carried out by dentistry professionals were done through statistical tests, tables, and observation of graphs generated by Google Trends. With the analysis of the results, a constant growth trend in searches by the public in relation to aesthetic procedures was observed, which may have been triggered by the pandemic, but is not related to it. The growth in Google searches continued after the pandemic state and some showed greater growth years after the declaration of social isolation.

PMID:40084868 | DOI:10.1097/SCS.0000000000011226

JMIR Form Res. 2025 Mar 13;9:e67999. doi: 10.2196/67999.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Pneumoconiosis prevalence is increasing in the United States, especially among coal miners. Contemporaneously with an increased need for specialized multidisciplinary care for miners, there is a shortage of experts to fulfill this need. Miners’ Wellness ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) is a digital community of practice based on interprofessional discussion for knowledge transfer. The program has been demonstrated to increase participants’ self-efficacy for clinical, medicolegal, and “soft” skills related to miners’ health.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine characteristics associated with interprofessional discussions and suggest ways to strengthen knowledge transfer.

METHODS: This mixed methods study used an exploratory sequential design. We video-recorded and transcribed ECHO sessions over 14 months from July 2018 to September 2019 and analyzed content to examine participant discussions. We focused on participants’ statements of expertise followed by other participants’ acceptance or eschewal of these statements (utterances). We conducted quantitative analyses to examine the associations of active participation in discussion (primary outcome variable, defined as any utterance). We analyzed the association of the outcome on the following predictors: (1) participant group status, (2) study time frame, (3) participant ECHO experience status, (4) concordance of participant group identity between presenter and participant, (5) video usage, and (6) attendance frequency. We used the generalized estimating equations approach for longitudinal data, logit link function for binary outcomes, and LSMEANS to examine least squares means of fixed effects.

RESULTS: We studied 23 sessions with 158 unique participants and 539 total participants, averaging 23.4 (SD 5.6) participants per session. Clinical providers, the largest participant group, constituting 36.7% (n=58) of unique participants, were the most vocal group (mean 21.74, SD 2.11 average utterances per person-session). Benefits counselors were the least vocal group, with an average utterance rate of 0.57 (SD 0.29) per person-session and constituting 8.2% (n=13) of unique participants. Thus, various participant groups exhibited different utterance rates across sessions (P=.003). Experienced participants may have dominated active participation in discussion compared to those with less or intermediate experience, but this difference was not statistically significant (P=.11). When the didactic presenter and participant were from the same participant group, active participation by the silent group participants was greater than when both were from different groups. This association was not seen in vocal group participants (interaction P=.003). Compared to those participating by audio, those participating on video tended to have higher rates of active participation, but this difference was not statistically significant (P=.11).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide insight into the mechanics of interprofessional discussion in a digital community of practice managing pneumoconiosis. Our results underscore the capacity of the novel ECHO model to leverage technology and workforce diversity to facilitate interprofessional discussions on the multidisciplinary care of miners. Future research will evaluate whether this translates into improved patient outcomes.

PMID:40080056 | DOI:10.2196/67999

Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants. 2025 Mar 13;0(0):1-36. doi: 10.11607/jomi.11225. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the survival rate and the success rate of single tooth implants placed and restored immediately after extraction in non-infected, acutely infected, and chronically infected sites in the maxillary anterior area.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients requiring single tooth replacement of a maxillary central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, and premolar regions were included in the study. Implant sites were divided into three groups based on the presence or absence of an infection: Group 1 (Control) non-infected sites (healthy periodontal and endodontic conditions); Group 2 (Test 1) acutely infected sites (presence of a periodontal or endodontic or combined abscess and/or fistula); Group 3 (Test 2) chronically infected sites ( presence of a periodontal pocket or a periapical lesion with no signs of acute inflamation). The protocol applied required: flapless extraction, thorough debridement of the alveolus, immediate placement of the implant, particulate graft material insertion around the implant, resorbable membrane insertion in the facial aspect of the implant for all those cases in which the buccal plate was compromised, and immediate insertion of a screw-retained provisional FDP out of occlusion. The following parameters were evaluated: Periodontal and Endodontic initial conditions: gingival recession, probing depth, presence of an abscess and/or a fistula, extraction reason, presence of a periapical lesion, alveolar buccal wall integrity, distance between the gingival margin and the alveolar bone crest at mid-buccal, and implant insertion torque. Implant conditions at the last follow up included survival rate and marginal bone loss. Periodontal conditions: recession, probing depth, and gingival index. Final esthetic results: pink esthetic score. Statistical analysis was also performed.

RESULTS: After a mean follow-up of 7 years (range 2 to 12 years), a total of 127 patients were treated, 143 single tooth implants were placed and immediately restored with a provisional FDP: 47 implants in Group 1 control (non-infected sites), 56 implants in Group 2 Test 1 (acutely infected sites), 40 implants in Group 3 Test 2 (chronically infected sites). A survival rate of 97.8% for Group 1, 96.4% for Group 2, and 95% for Group 3 were recorded with no statistical difference between groups (p-value 0.8). A total of 5 implants failed, one in Group 1, two in Group 2, and two in Group 3 resulting in a cumulative implant survival rate of 96.5%.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed comparable implant survival rate between single tooth implants placed and restored immediately in a non-infected, acutely infected or chronically infected site.

PMID:40080053 | DOI:10.11607/jomi.11225

Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants. 2025 Mar 13;0(0):1-24. doi: 10.11607/jomi.11269. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of subepithelial connective tissue graft (CTG) on soft tissue volume and aesthetics around implants placed in aesthetically important areas over a 4-year period.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 42 participants were divided into groups: implant+CTG (n=20) and implant only (n=22) and evaluated after 48 months using various clinical and radiographic parameters, professional aesthetic assessment, patient-centered aesthetic evaluation, and quality of life improvement measured by OHIP-14 at 12 and 48 months.

RESULTS: Eight patients were lost to follow-up, leaving 34 patients for evaluation. Intragroup comparison for the variables TTb (tissue thickness at the buccal aspect), KTW (keratinized tissue width), and BD (buccal defect) showed no statistical difference (p>0.05) in the evaluated periods. However, for PBR (proximal bone resorption), a statistical difference was observed (p<0.05). In the intergroup comparison, statistical differences (p<0.05) were observed in the variables TTb and BD in the 2 evaluated periods. In the analysis of Pink Esthetic Score/White Esthetic Score (PES/WES) and Jent index, there was no difference between or within groups in the evaluated periods. Regarding patient-centered measures, there was no difference between the groups in terms of aesthetics (VAS), but for OHIP-14, there was an intragroup difference in both groups between 12 and 48 months.

CONCLUSIONS: The association of CTG with dental implants in aesthetic areas, after a 48-month follow-up, led to an increase in TTb. Therefore, CTG is indicated due to the increase in TTb during the follow-up period. However, there were no improvements in BD, PBR, or PES/WES over time. Aesthetics and quality of life were similar between the two groups 4 years post-implant placement.

PMID:40080052 | DOI:10.11607/jomi.11269