Nevin Manimala

Int J Surg. 2023 Nov 8. doi: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000000860. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) has an impact on physical health and quality of life for patients, with various non-invasive methods used for relieving myofascial pain. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of different non-invasive therapeutic interventions for MPS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL Complete, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) describing the effects of any non-invasive treatments in patients with MPS. The primary outcome was pain intensity, while pressure pain threshold and pain-related disability were secondary outcomes.

RESULTS: The analysis included 40 studies. Manual therapy (MD of pain: -1.60, 95% CI: -2.17 to -1.03; MD of pressure pain threshold: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.86; MD of pain-related disability: -5.34, 95% CI: -8.09 to -2.58), laser therapy (MD of pain: -1.15, 95% CI: -1.83 to -0.46; MD of pressure pain threshold: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.46 to 1.54; MD of pain-related disability: -4.58, 95% CI: -7.80 to -1.36)，extracorporeal shock wave therapy (MD of pain: -1.61, 95% CI:-2.43 to -0.78; MD of pressure pain threshold: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.33 to 1.35; MD of pain-related disability: -5.78, 95% CI: -9.45 to -2.12), and ultrasound therapy (MD of pain: -1.54, 95% CI: -2.24 to -0.84; MD of pressure pain threshold: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.31 to 1.22) were more effective than no treatment.

CONCLUSION: Our findings support that manual therapy, laser therapy, and extracorporeal shock wave therapy could effectively reduce pain intensity, pressure pain threshold, and pain-related disability with statistical significance when compared with placebo. This finding may provide clinicians appropriate therapeutic modalities for patients with myofascial pain syndrome among different scenarios.

PMID:37939115 | DOI:10.1097/JS9.0000000000000860

Am J Epidemiol. 2023 Nov 3:kwad212. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwad212. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In a recent systematic review, Bastos et al. compared the sensitivities of saliva sampling and nasopharyngeal swabs in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection by assuming a composite reference standard defined as positive if either test is positive, and negative if both tests are negative (double negative). Even under a perfect specificity assumption, this approach ignores the double-negative results and risks overestimating the sensitivities due to residual misclassification. In this article, we first illustrate the impact of double-negative results in the estimation of the sensitivities in a single study, and then propose a two-step latent class meta-analysis method to re-evaluate both sensitivities using the same published dataset in Bastos et al. by properly including the observed double-negative results. We also conduct extensive simulation studies to compare the performance of the proposed method and Bastos et al.’s method for varied levels of prevalence and between-study heterogeneity. The results demonstrate that the sensitivities are overestimated noticeably in Bastos et al.’s method, and the proposed method provides a more accurate evaluation with nearly no bias and close to nominal coverage probability. In conclusion, double-negative results can significantly impact the estimated sensitivities when a gold standard is absent, and thus should be properly incorporated.

PMID:37939113 | DOI:10.1093/aje/kwad212

PLoS One. 2023 Nov 8;18(11):e0293305. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293305. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

This study explores the mediating effect of personality traits in the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and student academic performance. The sample comprised 175 students from a top-ranked Tamil Nadu, India university. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire as the research instrument. A descriptive research design was employed to understand the variables under investigation comprehensively. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and SPSS v25 was utilized as the statistical analysis tool. This study used the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a theoretical framework to explore the mediating effect of personality traits in the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and academic performance among university students. The study’s findings revealed essential insights into the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions, personality traits, and academic performance. The results showed that personality traits significantly mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and academic performance. This finding suggests that a student’s personality traits influence the impact of entrepreneurial intentions on academic performance. Furthermore, the study found that while entrepreneurial intentions did not have a significant direct effect on academic performance, they did have a substantial indirect effect through personality traits. This indicates that personality traits act as a crucial mechanism through which entrepreneurial intentions can influence academic performance among students.

PMID:37939091 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0293305

Bone Marrow Transplant. 2023 Nov 8. doi: 10.1038/s41409-023-02146-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only curative therapy for myelofibrosis (MF) and is recommended for patients with higher risk disease. However, there is a risk of early mortality, and optimal timing is unknown. JAK inhibitor (JAKi) therapy may offer durable improvement in symptoms, splenomegaly and quality of life. The aim of this multicentre, retrospective observational study was to compare outcomes of patients aged 70 years or below with MF in chronic phase who received upfront JAKi therapy vs. upfront HCT in dynamic international prognostic scoring system (DIPSS)-stratified categories. For the whole study cohort, median overall survival (OS) was longer for patients who received a JAKi vs. upfront HCT, 69 (95% CI 57-89) vs. 42 (95% CI 20-not reached, NR) months, respectively (p = 0.01). In patients with intermediate-2 and high-risk disease, median OS was 55 (95% CI 36-73) months with JAKi vs. 36 (95% CI 20-NR) months for HCT (p = 0.27). An upfront HCT strategy was associated with early mortality and difference in median OS was not observed in any risk group by 5 years of follow-up. Within the limitations of a retrospective observational study, we did not observe any benefit of a universal upfront HCT approach for higher-risk MF.

PMID:37938736 | DOI:10.1038/s41409-023-02146-6

Nature. 2023 Nov;623(7986):324-328. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06587-3. Epub 2023 Nov 8.

ABSTRACT

The physicochemical properties of molecular crystals, such as solubility, stability, compactability, melting behaviour and bioavailability, depend on their crystal form¹. In silico crystal form selection has recently come much closer to realization because of the development of accurate and affordable free-energy calculations^2-4. Here we redefine the state of the art, primarily by improving the accuracy of free-energy calculations, constructing a reliable experimental benchmark for solid-solid free-energy differences, quantifying statistical errors for the computed free energies and placing both hydrate crystal structures of different stoichiometries and anhydrate crystal structures on the same energy landscape, with defined error bars, as a function of temperature and relative humidity. The calculated free energies have standard errors of 1-2 kJ mol^-1 for industrially relevant compounds, and the method to place crystal structures with different hydrate stoichiometries on the same energy landscape can be extended to other multi-component systems, including solvates. These contributions reduce the gap between the needs of the experimentalist and the capabilities of modern computational tools, transforming crystal structure prediction into a more reliable and actionable procedure that can be used in combination with experimental evidence to direct crystal form selection and establish control⁵.

PMID:37938708 | DOI:10.1038/s41586-023-06587-3

ISME Commun. 2021 Dec 1;1(1):70. doi: 10.1038/s43705-021-00037-9.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:37938697 | DOI:10.1038/s43705-021-00037-9

ISME Commun. 2022 Mar 10;2(1):23. doi: 10.1038/s43705-022-00106-7.

ABSTRACT

Ecological network analyses are used to identify potential biotic interactions between microorganisms from species abundance data. These analyses are often carried out using time-series data; however, time-series networks have unique statistical challenges. Time-dependent species abundance data can lead to species co-occurrence patterns that are not a result of direct, biotic associations and may therefore result in inaccurate network predictions. Here, we describe a generalize additive model (GAM)-based data transformation that removes time-series signals from species abundance data prior to running network analyses. Validation of the transformation was carried out by generating mock, time-series datasets, with an underlying covariance structure, running network analyses on these datasets with and without our GAM transformation, and comparing the network outputs to the known covariance structure of the simulated data. The results revealed that seasonal abundance patterns substantially decreased the accuracy of the inferred networks. In addition, the GAM transformation increased the predictive power (F1 score) of inferred ecological networks on average and improved the ability of network inference methods to capture important features of network structure. This study underscores the importance of considering temporal features when carrying out network analyses and describes a simple, effective tool that can be used to improve results.

PMID:37938660 | DOI:10.1038/s43705-022-00106-7

ISME Commun. 2021 Jul 16;1(1):36. doi: 10.1038/s43705-021-00036-w.

ABSTRACT

Microbial network construction and analysis is an important tool in microbial ecology. Such networks are often constructed from statistically inferred associations and may not represent ecological interactions. Hence, microbial association networks are error prone and do not necessarily reflect true community structure. We have developed anuran, a toolbox for investigation of noisy networks with null models. Such models allow researchers to generate data under the null hypothesis that all associations are random, supporting identification of nonrandom patterns in groups of association networks. This toolbox compares multiple networks to identify conserved subsets (core association networks, CANs) and other network properties that are shared across all networks. We apply anuran to a time series of fecal samples from 20 women to demonstrate the existence of CANs in a subset of the sampled individuals. Moreover, we use data from the Global Sponge Project to demonstrate that orders of sponges have a larger CAN than expected at random. In conclusion, this toolbox is a resource for investigators wanting to compare microbial networks across conditions, time series, gradients, or hosts.

PMID:37938641 | DOI:10.1038/s43705-021-00036-w

ISME Commun. 2021 Aug 16;1(1):37. doi: 10.1038/s43705-021-00038-8.

ABSTRACT

Ecological association studies often assume monotonicity such as between biodiversity and environmental properties although there is growing evidence that nonmonotonic relations dominate in nature. Here, we apply machine-learning algorithms to reveal the nonmonotonic association between microbial diversity and an anthropogenic-induced large-scale change, the browning of freshwaters, along a longitudinal gradient covering 70 boreal lakes in Scandinavia. Measures of bacterial richness and evenness (alpha-diversity) showed nonmonotonic trends in relation to environmental gradients, peaking at intermediate levels of browning. Depending on the statistical methods, variables indicative for browning could explain 5% of the variance in bacterial community composition (beta-diversity) when applying standard methods assuming monotonic relations and up to 45% with machine-learning methods taking non-monotonicity into account. This non-monotonicity observed at the community level was explained by the complex interchangeable nature of individual taxa responses as shown by a high degree of nonmonotonic responses of individual bacterial sequence variants to browning. Furthermore, the nonmonotonic models provide the position of thresholds and predict alternative bacterial diversity trajectories in boreal freshwater as a result of ongoing climate and land-use changes, which in turn will affect entire ecosystem metabolism and likely greenhouse gas production.

PMID:37938633 | DOI:10.1038/s43705-021-00038-8

Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 8;13(1):19380. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-45838-1.

ABSTRACT

Coats’ disease is an idiopathic retinal vascular disorder, known to usually occur unilaterally; however, recent studies have highlighted vascular abnormalities in the fellow unaffected eyes. This retrospective study investigated the peripheral vascular features and macular vascular structure of unaffected fellow eyes in patients with unilateral Coats’ disease using multimodal imaging tools. We analysed images of patients, including bilateral ultra-widefield imaging, fluorescein angiography (FA), ultra-widefield FA, or standard fundus photography. Available bilateral optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) images were used for macular vascular structure analysis. OCT-A parameters, including foveal avascular zone (FAZ), perfusion index, and vessel density (VD) in the superficial and deep capillary plexuses (SCP, DCP), were calculated using Image J software. The mean age at diagnosis was 34.5 ± 17.9 years. The mean final best-corrected visual acuity of the affected eyes was logMAR 0.78 ± 0.79, while that of the fellow eyes was logMAR 0.04 ± 0.12. Ten fellow eyes had microaneurysms (47.6%), two had tortuous vessel abnormalities (9.5%), and 11(52.4%) had abnormal vascular findings on FA. Although there was a trend towards larger DCP FAZ (1.201 ± 0.086 vs. 1.072 ± 0.226), and lower DCP VD (8.593 ± 1.583 vs. 10.827 ± 3.392) in the affected eyes as measured by the Cirrus machine, the difference was not statistically significant between affected and fellow eyes when measured using the Zeiss Cirrus machine (P = 0.686, P = 0.343, respectively). However, when measured with the Spectralis machine, DCP FAZ was larger in affected eyes (0.828 ± 0.426 vs. 0.254 ± 0.092, P = 0.002) and DCP VD was lower in affected eyes (6.901 ± 2.634 vs. 17.451 ± 7.207, P = 0.002) compared to the fellow eyes, while other parameters showed no significant variations. These findings indicate that there may be subtle vascular abnormalities primarily located in the peripheral regions of the unaffected fellow eyes in patients with unilateral Coats’ disease, while the macular microvasculature remains unaffected.

PMID:37938623 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-45838-1