Nevin Manimala

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2021 Dec 10;229:113061. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.113061. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The accurate evaluation of groundwater contamination vulnerability is essential for the management and prevention of groundwater contamination in the watershed. In this study, advanced multiple machine learning (ML) models of Radial Basis Neural Networks (RBNN), Support Vector Regression (SVR), and ensemble Random Forest Regression (RFR) were applied to determine the most accurate performance for the evaluation of groundwater contamination vulnerability. Eight vulnerability factors of DRASTIC-L were rated based on the modified DRASTIC model (MDM) and were used as input data. The adjusted vulnerability index (AVI) with nitrate values was used as output data for the modeling process. The performance of three models was verified using the statistical performance criteria of MAE, RMSE, r², and ROC/AUC values. The ensemble RFR model showed the highest performance in comparison with standalone SVR and RBNN models. Specifically, ensemble RFR kept all promising solutions during the model performance due to its flexibility and robustness, and the vulnerability map obtained by the RFR model was more accurate for predicting the most vulnerable areas to contamination. It was concluded that ensemble RFR was a robust tool to enhance the evaluation of groundwater contamination vulnerability, and that it could contribute to environmental safety against groundwater contamination.

PMID:34902776 | DOI:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.113061

Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2021 Dec 4;57:103448. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2021.103448. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Ocrelizumab maintains B-cell depletion via six-monthly dosing. Whilst this controls relapsing multiple sclerosis, it also inhibits seroconversion following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination unlike that seen following alemtuzumab and cladribine treatment. Emerging reports suggest that 1-3% B-cell repopulation facilitates seroconversion after CD20-depletion.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of B-cell repopulation levels during and after ocrelizumab treatment.

METHODS: Relapse data, lymphocyte and CD19 B-cell numbers were obtained following requests to clinical trial data-repositories. Information was extracted from the phase II ocrelizumab extension (NCT00676715) trial and the phase III cladribine tablet (NCT00213135) and alemtuzumab (NCT00530348/NCT00548405) trials obtained clinical trial data requests RESULTS: Only 3-5% of people with MS exhibit 1% B-cells at 6 months after the last infusion following 3-4 cycles of ocrelizumab, compared to 50-55% at 9 months, and 85-90% at 12 months. During this time relapses occurred at consistent disease-breakthrough rates compared to people during standard therapy. In contrast most people (90-100%) exhibited more than 1% B-cells during treatment with either cladribine or alemtuzumab.

CONCLUSIONS: Most people demonstrate B cell repletion within 3 months of the last treatment of alemtuzumab and cladribine. However, few people repopulate peripheral B-cells with standard ocrelizumab dosing. Controlled studies are warranted to examine a view that delaying the dosing interval by 3-6 months may allow more people to potentially seroconvert after vaccination.

PMID:34902760 | DOI:10.1016/j.msard.2021.103448

Geriatr Nurs. 2021 Dec 9;43:159-166. doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2021.11.016. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze dysphagia-specific quality of life and its influencing factors in aged patients with neurologic disorders, and is reported according to the STROBE checklist for observational research. The study included 120 outpatients, aged ≥65 years, diagnosed with neurologic diseases at a general hospital Neurology Department in Seoul, Korea. Data collected during a one-month (March and April 2021) questionnaire survey were statistically analyzed using SPSS. Factors related to dysphagia-specific quality of life were gender, education level, neurological diagnosis, type of diet, subjective swallowing disturbance, and affectionate support-a subscale of social support. The combined explanatory power of these factors was 42.1%. It is essential to note that the factors related to the emotional, functional, and physical domains-the subscales of dysphagia-specific quality of life-are different. Therefore, each factor should be considered when planning nursing interventions to improve dysphagia-specific quality of life.

PMID:34902750 | DOI:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2021.11.016

J Electrocardiol. 2021 Nov 30;70:39-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jelectrocard.2021.11.034. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the application value of intracavitary electrocardiogram (ECG) classification in peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) tip localization in patients with cancer.

METHODS: Using a self-control study method, 325 patients with cancer underwent intracavitary ECGs to position the tip of a PICC catheter. The P wave, QRS wave amplitude, and waveform changes of each intracavitary ECG were recorded. Chest X-ray examination was performed after the catheterization to compare the results of different intracavity ECG maps with the results of the chest X-ray.

RESULTS: The intracavitary ECG positioning maps of the 325 patients were divided into four categories: (1) increased P wave (293 cases), accounting for 90.15% (293/325) of all cases; compared with the positioning results of the chest X-rays, the placement rate was 98.98% (290/293); (2) negative deepening of the P wave (1 case), accounting for 0.31% (1/325) of all cases and with a placement rate of 100% (1/1); (3) no change in P wave (19 cases), accounting for 5.85% (19/325) of all cases and with a placement rate of 42.11% (8/19); (4) atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter (12 cases), accounting for 3.69% (12/325) of all cases and with a placement rate of 58.33% (7/12). The four types of intracavitary ECG positioning maps had statistically significant differences (χ² = 133.924, P = 0.000).

CONCLUSION: There are four types of intracavitary ECG localization maps: increased P wave, negative deepening of the P wave, no change in P wave, and atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter. The increased P wave pattern had the highest occurrence probability and high positioning accuracy. It therefore has strong clinical application value for PICC tip localization in patients with cancer.

PMID:34902731 | DOI:10.1016/j.jelectrocard.2021.11.034

Neuroimage Clin. 2021 Dec 10;33:102908. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102908. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). One of the early underlying mechanisms in AD pathology is the accumulation of amyloid protein plaques, which are deposited in extracellular gray matter and signify the first stage in the cascade of neurodegenerative events. AD-related neurodegeneration is also evidenced as microstructural changes in white matter. In this work, we explored the correlation of white matter microstructure with amyloid load to assess amyloid-related neurodegeneration in a cohort of adults with DS.

METHODS: In this study of 96 adults with DS, the relation of white matter microstructure using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and amyloid plaque burden using [¹¹C]PiB PET were examined. The amyloid load (Aβ_L) derived from [¹¹C]PiB was used as a global measure of amyloid burden. Aβ_L and DTI measures were compared using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and corrected for imaging site and chronological age.

RESULTS: TBSS of the DTI maps showed widespread age-by-amyloid interaction with both fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). Further, diffuse negative association of FA and positive association of MD with amyloid were observed.

DISCUSSION: These findings are consistent with the white matter microstructural changes associated with AD disease progression in late onset AD in non-DS populations.

PMID:34902714 | DOI:10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102908

J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2021 Nov 28;209:114496. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114496. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Raman micro-spectroscopy technique offers a combination of relatively high spatial resolution with identification of components or mixtures of components in different sample areas, e.g. on the surface or the cross-section of a sample. This study is focused on the analysis of the tablets from pharmaceutical development with different technological parameters: (1) the manufacturing technology, (2) the particle size of the input API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and (3) the quantitative composition of the individual excipients. These three mentioned parameters represent the most frequently solved problems in the field of reverse engineering in pharmacy. The investigation aims to distinguish tablets with the above-described technological parameters with limited subjective steps by Raman microscopy. Furthermore, non-subjective methods of Raman data analysis using advanced statistical analysis have been proposed, namely Principal Component Analysis, Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy and Linear Discriminant Analysis. The methods successfully distinguished and identified even very small differences in the analysed tablets within our study and provided objective statistic evaluation of Raman maps. The information on component and particle size distribution including their small differences, which is the critical parameter in the development of the original and generic products, was obtained due to combination of these methods. Even though each of these chemometric methods evaluates the data set from a different perspective, their mutual application on the problem of Raman maps evaluation confirmed and specified results on level that would be unattainable with the use of only one them.

PMID:34902697 | DOI:10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114496

Acta Psychol (Amst). 2021 Dec 10;222:103461. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103461. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

There has been an absence of consideration regarding measurement invariance across males and females in the widely available Dark Tetrad (DT) scales which measure psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism and everyday sadism. This has resulted in criticisms of the measures, suggesting that the assessed constructs are not wholly relatable between the groups. This article documents the construction and validation of the Dark Side of Humanity Scale (DSHS), which measures dark personalities from an alternative viewpoint, determined by the constructs as they emerged from the male and female data, whilst aligning with theory and attaining invariance between sex. Across four samples (n = 2409), using a diverse range of statistical methods, including exploratory graph analysis, item response theory and confirmatory factor analysis, a divergence from the widely available DT measures emerged, whereby primary psychopathy and Machiavellianism were unified. This corroborated past research which had discussed the two constructs as being parallel. It further supported the DSHS with a shift away from the traditional DT conceptualisation. The resulting scale encompasses four factors which are sex invariant across samples and time. The first factor represents the successful psychopath, factor two addresses the grandiose form of entitlement, factor three taps into everyday sadism whilst the fourth factor pertains to narcissistic entitlement rage. Construct and external validity of the DSHS across two samples (n = 1338), as well as test-retest reliability (n = 413), was achieved. The DSHS provides an alternative approach to investigating the dark side of human nature, whilst also being sex invariant, thus making it highly suitable for use with mixed sex samples.

PMID:34902686 | DOI:10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103461

Eur J Radiol. 2021 Nov 26;146:110074. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2021.110074. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Breast cancer gene (BRCA) 1 and 2 mutations are frequently studied gene mutations (GM); the incidence of checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK2) is increasing. We describe the imaging features of breast cancer (BC) in CHEK2 mutations, compared to BRCA 1 and 2 using mammography, ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

METHOD: Inclusion criteria were primary BC in GM carriers, treated in the same hospital. Age at diagnosis, histology, hormone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status were retrieved. Mammography descriptors were mass, asymmetry and suspicious microcalcifications. The enhancement pattern (MRI), shape and border, architectural distortion, the presence of a hyperechoic rim and cystic complex structure (US) were documented. Analyses were performed using SAS software (version 9.4). Fishers’ exact test was used to test associations between two categorical variables.

RESULTS: In 191 women, 233 malignant lesions were diagnosed (78 in BRCA1, 109 in BRCA2, 46 in CHEK2). In CHEK2 carriers, mammographically, suspicious microcalcifications (54%) were more prevalent (BRCA2 (48%) and BRCA1 carriers (33%)) (p-value = 0.057) compared to mass lesions (35%). On US, lesions were most frequently ill-defined (86%) (p = 0.579) and irregular (94.5%) (p = 0.098) compared to BRCA2 (77% and 80% resp.) and BRCA1 carriers (71% and 72% resp.). On MRI, mass lesions showed a type 3 curve in CHEK2 (67%) compared to BRCA1 (36%) and BRCA2 (50%) (p = 0.056).

CONCLUSIONS: Malignant radiological characteristics of breast cancer, more specifically suspicious microcalcifications, were more frequently seen in CHEK2 and BRCA2 compared to BRCA1 mutation carriers (without a significant difference) indicating the importance of mammography in follow-up of CHEK2 carriers.

PMID:34902667 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejrad.2021.110074

Prev Vet Med. 2021 Dec 7;199:105557. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105557. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Brucellosis is a neglected bacterial zoonotic disease with substantial economic impact on households. Pastoral communities are a potential risk group due to their way of life being closely interlinked with their large livestock herds.

METHODOLOGY: A semi-structured questionnaire survey was conducted in households in the pastoral Afar and Somali (SRS) regions. All households had people and animals serologically tested for brucellosis. Questions were related to husbandry, consumption habits, and knowledge-attitude-practice towards the disease and zoonoses. Descriptive statistics and logistic analysis were performed to assess potential risk factors for having households with positive humans and/or animals.

RESULT: 647 households were included in the survey. Herd brucellosis prevalence was 40.3 % (15.9-86.3 % in Afar; 4-72.2 % in SRS). Over half (56.3 %) of the households in Afar and 41.8 % in SRS had at least one human reactor. Nearly a quarter of the households (22.8 %), recalled abortions in goats in the last 12 months, whereas 52.5 % and 50.3 % recalled stillborn in all species and membrane retentions respectively. All respondents drank raw milk and discarded animal afterbirths in the direct surroundings with minimal protection. Risk factors for animal reactors were goat herd size, and goat abortion. There was no identified risk factor for having human reactors in households. None of the households knew about brucellosis.

CONCLUSION: Although being endemic in Afar and SRS, Brucellosis is not known by the pastoralists. Brucellosis control programs will have to be tailored to the pastoral context, accounting for their mobility, large, multi-species herds and habits.

PMID:34902652 | DOI:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105557

Schizophr Res. 2021 Dec 10;239:192-199. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2021.11.020. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The CATIE schizophrenia trial was a very influential randomized controlled trial in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Patients were followed for up to 18 months under treatment with a randomly assigned antipsychotic. The primary endpoint, time to discontinuation of treatment for any reason, is influenced by individual patient characteristics, external factors as well as effects of drug treatment. New insight is obtained by applying an innovative survival analysis based on constrained confidence partitioning (SA-C²P). Through this data-driven approach we identify homogeneous collectives of patients with similar patient characteristics differing from the study population in the primary endpoint, enabling us to predict patient individual outcome more precisely. A subgroup of patients treated with olanzapine featuring neither an anxiety disorder in the past month, drug abuse in the past five years nor hospitalizations in the past year discontinued drug therapy substantially later compared to patients meeting at least one of the named parameters. Moreover, differences in the primary outcome between second-generation antipsychotics increased compared to the original CATIE analysis when looking into this subgroup in the entire study sample. Our findings suggest that SA-C²P may assist in identifying relevant responder subgroups, probably missed by conventional statistical methods, making it a potential tool for personalized medicine.

PMID:34902651 | DOI:10.1016/j.schres.2021.11.020