Nevin Manimala

J Vet Intern Med. 2022 Mar 23. doi: 10.1111/jvim.16414. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Ultrasonographic gastrointestinal wall changes in dogs with acute pancreatitis (AP) are not well characterized in the literature. No detailed studies have described their prevalence, characteristics, distribution, or clinical relevance.

HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Describe the prevalence of ultrasonographic gastrointestinal wall changes in a population of dogs with AP and evaluate for associations between the presence of gastrointestinal wall changes and clinical or clinicopathological variables.

ANIMALS: Referral population of 66 client-owned dogs with AP.

METHODS: Retrospective search of clinical records to identify dogs with AP. Clinical variables, clinicopathological variables and ultrasonographic findings were reported using descriptive statistics. A binary logistic regression model was used to evaluate for associations between the presence of gastrointestinal wall changes and clinical or clinicopathological variables.

RESULTS: Sixty-six dogs were included. Forty-seven percent of dogs (95% confidence interval [CI], 35.0%-59.0%; n = 31) with AP had ultrasonographic gastrointestinal wall changes. Gastrointestinal wall changes were most common in the duodenum and identified in 71% (n = 22) of affected dogs. Of dogs with gastrointestinal wall changes, 74.2% (n = 23) had wall thickening, 61.3% (n = 19) had abnormal wall layering, and 35.5% (n = 11) had wall corrugation. In the multivariable model, only heart rate remained an independent predictor of ultrasonographic gastrointestinal wall changes (P = .02).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Ultrasonographic gastrointestinal wall changes in this population of dogs with AP were common. Increased heart rate was the only independent predictor of gastrointestinal wall changes, which might imply more severe disease. Additional studies are required to elucidate whether ultrasonographic gastrointestinal wall changes reflect disease severity in AP.

PMID:35318742 | DOI:10.1111/jvim.16414

J Clin Lab Anal. 2022 Mar 22:e24356. doi: 10.1002/jcla.24356. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The aspartate transaminase (AST)-to-alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio, which is used to measure liver injury, has been found to be associated with some chronic diseases and mortality. However, its relevance to cancer incidence resulting from population-based prospective studies has rarely been reported. In this study, we investigated the correlation of the AST/ALT ratio as a possible predictor of mortality and cancer incidence.

METHODS: A total of 9,946 participants fulfilled the inclusion criteria for a basic public health service project of the Health Checkup Program conducted by the BaiYun Community Health Service Center, Taizhou. Deceased participants and cancer incident cases were from The Taizhou Chronic Disease Information Management System. Odds ratios (ORs) and interval of quartile range (IQR) computed by logistic regression analysis and cumulative incidence rate were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier survival method and compared with log-rank test statistics.

RESULTS: Serum ALT and AST levels were both increased in patients with chronic diseases, but the ratio of AST/ALT was generally decreased. The cancer incident cases (488 new cases) had a greater baseline ratio (median =1.23, IQR: 0.96-1.54) than noncancer cases (median =1.15, IQR: 0.91-1.44). Compared to the first quartile of the AST/ALT ratio, the population in the top quartile had a higher cumulative cancer incidence rate (7.54% vs. 4.44%) during follow-up period. Furthermore, an elevated AST/ALT ratio increased the risk of all-cause mortality.

CONCLUSIONS: The ratio of AST/ALT is a potential biomarker to assess healthy conditions and long-term mortality. Especially for cancer, the AST/ALT ratio not only increases at baseline but also predicts the future development of cancer. The clinical value and potential mechanism deserve further research.

PMID:35318741 | DOI:10.1002/jcla.24356

Phytother Res. 2022 Mar 22. doi: 10.1002/ptr.7446. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Experimental and some clinical studies have shown beneficial effects of rosemary leaf on liver function and biochemical parameters. The present study aimed to examine the impact of rosemary leaf powder with a weight loss diet in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In a randomized double-blinded clinical trial, 110 patients were randomly assigned to receive either 4 g rosemary leaf or placebo (starch) powders for 8 weeks. In addition, all participants in the study were given weight loss diet and physical activity recommendations. Compared with baseline, alanine aminotransferase (p < .001), aspartate aminotransferase (p < .001), alkaline phosphatase (p < .001), gamma glutamyltransferase (p < .001), fasting blood glucose (p < .001), fasting insulin (p < .001), insulin resistance (p < .001), total cholesterol (p = .003), triglyceride (p < .001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p < .001), and anthropometric indices (weight, body mass index, and waist circumferences) decreased significantly in the rosemary and placebo group with weight loss. However, after 8 weeks, no significant difference between the rosemary and placebo groups was detected in the variables as mentioned above except homeostasis model assessment of β-cell dysfunction (p = .014). The findings of the current clinical trial study revealed that rosemary group did produce changes, but they were not statistically different from those produced by the diet/activity intervention alone.

PMID:35318738 | DOI:10.1002/ptr.7446

Stat Med. 2022 Mar 22. doi: 10.1002/sim.9387. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Provider profiling has been recognized as a useful tool in monitoring health care quality, facilitating inter-provider care coordination, and improving medical cost-effectiveness. Existing methods often use generalized linear models with fixed provider effects, especially when profiling dialysis facilities. As the number of providers under evaluation escalates, the computational burden becomes formidable even for specially designed workstations. To address this challenge, we introduce a serial blockwise inversion Newton algorithm exploiting the block structure of the information matrix. A shared-memory divide-and-conquer algorithm is proposed to further boost computational efficiency. In addition to the computational challenge, the current literature lacks an appropriate inferential approach to detecting providers with outlying performance especially when small providers with extreme outcomes are present. In this context, traditional score and Wald tests relying on large-sample distributions of the test statistics lead to inaccurate approximations of the small-sample properties. In light of the inferential issue, we develop an exact test of provider effects using exact finite-sample distributions, with the Poisson-binomial distribution as a special case when the outcome is binary. Simulation analyses demonstrate improved estimation and inference over existing methods. The proposed methods are applied to profiling dialysis facilities based on emergency department encounters using a dialysis patient database from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

PMID:35318706 | DOI:10.1002/sim.9387

Med Phys. 2022 Mar 22. doi: 10.1002/mp.15621. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The constrained One-Step Spectral CT Image Reconstruction (cOSSCIR) algorithm with a non-convex alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) optimizer is proposed for addressing CT metal artifacts caused by beam hardening, noise, and photon starvation. The quantitative performance of cOSSCIR is investigated through a series of photon-counting CT simulations.

METHODS: cOSSCIR directly estimates basis material maps from photon-counting data using a physics-based forward model that accounts for beam hardening. The cOSSCIR optimization framework places constraints on the basis maps, which we hypothesize will stabilize the decomposition and reduce streaks caused by noise and photon starvation. Another advantage of cOSSCIR is that the spectral data need not be registered, so that a ray can be used even if some energy window measurements are unavailable. Photon-counting CT acquisitions of a virtual pelvic phantom with low-contrast soft tissue texture and bilateral hip prostheses were simulated. Bone and water basis maps were estimated using the cOSSCIR algorithm and combined to form a virtual monoenergetic image for evaluation of metal artifacts. The cOSSCIR images were compared to a ‘two-step’ decomposition approach that first estimated basis sinograms using a maximum likelihood algorithm and then reconstructed basis maps using an iterative total variation constrained least squares optimization (MLE+TV_min ). Images were also compared to a nonspectral TV_min reconstruction of the total number of counts detected for each ray with and without Normalized Metal Artifact Reduction (NMAR) applied. The simulated metal density was increased to investigate the effects of increasing photon starvation. The quantitative error and standard deviation in regions of the phantom were compared across the investigated algorithms. The ability of cOSSCIR to reproduce the soft-tissue texture, while reducing metal artifacts, was quantitatively evaluated.

RESULTS: Noiseless simulations demonstrated convergence of the cOSSCIR and MLE+TV_min algorithms to the correct basis maps in the presence of beam hardening effects. When noise was simulated, cOSSCIR demonstrated quantitative error of -1 HU, compared to 2 HU error for the MLE+TV_min algorithm and -154 HU error for the nonspectral TV_min +NMAR algorithm. For the cOSSCIR algorithm, the standard deviation in the central iodine ROI was 20 HU, compared to 299 HU for the MLE+TV_min algorithm, 41 HU for the MLE+TV_min +Mask algorithm that excluded rays through metal, and 55 HU for the nonspectral TV_min +NMAR algorithm. Increasing levels of photon starvation did not impact the bias or standard deviation of the cOSSCIR images. cOSSCIR was able to reproduce the soft-tissue texture when an appropriate regularization constraint value was selected.

CONCLUSIONS: By directly inverting photon-counting CT data into basis maps using an accurate physics-based forward model and a constrained optimization algorithm, cOSSCIR avoids metal artifacts due to beam hardening, noise, and photon starvation. The cOSSCIR algorithm demonstrated improved stability and accuracy compared to a two-step method of decomposition followed by reconstruction. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35318699 | DOI:10.1002/mp.15621

J Clin Ultrasound. 2022 Mar 22. doi: 10.1002/jcu.23198. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To describe a facilitated procedure of colorectal filling contrast ultrasonography (CFCUS) and explore its value in the diagnosis of pediatric juvenile polyps.

METHODS: One hundred and eleven children with clinical signs of colorectal polyps admitted to our hospital between May 2018 and May 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. All children underwent conventional transabdominal ultrasonography (CTUS) and CFCUS prior to undergoing colonoscopy. Pathologic findings were used as the gold standard. Chi-squared tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for the statistical analysis.

RESULTS: Forty-five children with fifty-two colorectal polyps were confirmed via pathological examination. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of CFCUS vs. CTUS were 92.3% versus 80.7%, 100% versus 100%, 100% versus 100%, and 93.3% versus 84.8%, respectively. The missed polyps were significantly smaller than the polyps detected in diameter (7.50 ± 2.12 mm vs. 19.62 ± 7.89 mm, p < 0.0001) by CTUS. A significant difference between CTUS and CFCUS was observed in the detection rate of polyps with a diameter < 1 cm (p = 0.031) and pedicles (p < 0.001). The kappa values for the assessment of Yamada’s classification between CTUS and colonoscopy and CFCUS and colonoscopy were 0.51 and 0.84, respectively. Moreover, CFCUS incidentally revealed a punctate hyperechoic area on the surface of colonic polyps in six cases, which may be suggestive of a correlation with erosion and bleeding findings.

CONCLUSION: CFCUS can increase the detection rate of polyps and pedicles, especially polyps with diameters <1 cm, and accurately evaluate Yamada’s classification, providing useful preoperative information for colonoscopy.

PMID:35318682 | DOI:10.1002/jcu.23198

J Anim Ecol. 2022 Mar 23. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13692. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Genetic adaptation to future environmental conditions is crucial to help species persist as the climate changes. Genome scans are powerful tools to understand adaptive landscapes, enabling us to correlate genetic diversity with environmental gradients while disentangling neutral from adaptive variation. However, low gene flow can lead to both local adaptation and highly structured populations, and is a major confounding factor for genome scans, resulting in an inflated number of candidate loci. Here, we compared candidate locus detection in a marine mollusc (Onithochiton neglectus), taking advantage of a natural geographic contrast in the levels of genetic structure between its populations. O. neglectus is endemic to New Zealand and distributed throughout an environmental gradient from the sub-tropical north to the subantarctic south. Due to a brooding developmental mode, populations tend to be locally isolated. However, adult hitchhiking on rafting kelp increases connectivity among southern populations. We applied two genome scans for outliers (Bayescan and PCAdapt) and two genotype-environment association (GEA) tests (BayeScEnv and RDA). To limit issues with false positives, we combined results using the geometric mean of q-values and performed association tests with random environmental variables. This novel approach is a compromise between stringent and relaxed approaches widely used before, and allowed us to classify candidate loci as low- or high-confidence. Genome scans for outliers detected a large number of significant outliers in strong and moderately structured populations. No high-confidence GEA loci were detected in the context of strong population structure. However, 86 high-confidence loci were associated predominantly with latitudinally-varying abiotic factors in the less structured southern populations. This suggests that the degree of connectivity driven by kelp-rafting over the southern scale may be insufficient to counteract local adaptation in this species. Our study supports the expectation that genome scans may be prone to errors in highly structured populations. Nonetheless, it also empirically demonstrates that careful statistical controls enable the identification of candidate loci that invite more detailed investigations. Ultimately, genome scans are valuable tools to help guide further research aiming to determine the potential of non-model species to adapt to future environments.

PMID:35318661 | DOI:10.1111/1365-2656.13692

J Forensic Sci. 2022 Mar 22. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.15028. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The proceeding developments in next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies enable increasing discrimination power for short tandem repeat (STR) analyses and provide new possibilities for human identification. Therefore, the growing relevance and demand in forensic casework display the need for reliable validation studies and experiences with challenging DNA samples. The presented validation of the MiSeq FGx system and the ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep Kit (1) investigated sensitivity, repeatability, reproducibility, concordance, pooling variations, DNA extraction method variances, DNA mixtures, degraded, and casework samples and (2) optimized the sequencing workflow for challenging samples from human corpses by testing additional PCR purification, pooling adjustments, and adapter volume reductions. Overall results indicate the system’s reliability in concordance to traditional capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based genotyping and reproducibility of sequencing data. Genotyping success rates of 100% were obtained down to 62.5 pg DNA input concentrations. Autosomal STR (aSTR) profiles of artificially degraded samples revealed significantly lower numbers of locus and allelic dropouts than CE. However, it was observed that the system still exposed drawbacks when sequencing highly degraded and inhibited samples from human remains. Due to the lack of studies evaluating the sequencing success of samples from decomposed or skeletonised corpses, the presented optimisation studies provide valuable recommendations such as an additional PCR purification, an increase in library pooling volumes, and a reduction of adapter volumes for samples with concentrations ≥31.2 pg. Thus, this research highlights the importance of all-encompassing validation studies for implementing novel technologies in forensic casework and presents recommendations for challenging samples.

PMID:35318655 | DOI:10.1111/1556-4029.15028

Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2022 Mar 23. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.14136. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of “sperm-friendly” coital lubricants on sperm motility.

METHODS: This study compared the effects of five lubricants (Optilube®, Pre-Seed®, Yes Baby®, olive oil, and egg white) on sperm motility in 60 normozoospermic semen samples obtained from men attending a private fertility clinic. Samples were exposed to each of the lubricants, with untreated samples serving as controls, and were examined microscopically at four defined time-points from 2 to 72 h after liquefaction. Sperm motility was graded according to World Health Organization criteria.

RESULTS: With the exception of egg white, all lubricants caused significant (P < 0.001) reductions in sperm forward progression compared with untreated controls until 24 h after liquefaction. Furthermore, between-group comparisons of the commercially available lubricants revealed statistically significant differences in forward progression motility: Pre-Seed® was superior to Optilube® (P < 0.001), which in turn was superior to Yes Baby® (P < 0.001) at 2-4 h after exposure. Significance (P < 0.001) between Pre-Seed® and Yes Baby® was maintained until 24 h.

CONCLUSION: Although spermatozoa exposed to Pre-Seed® demonstrated greater motility than spermatozoa exposed to Yes Baby®, claims that these lubricants are sperm-friendly were refuted. Conversely, egg white was shown to be a sperm-friendly lubricant for couples who are trying to conceive.

PMID:35318650 | DOI:10.1002/ijgo.14136

Biometrics. 2022 Mar 22. doi: 10.1111/biom.13664. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Nonparametric feature selection for high-dimensional data is an important and challenging problem in the fields of statistics and machine learning. Most of the existing methods for feature selection focus on parametric or additive models which may suffer from model misspecification. In this paper, we propose a new framework to perform nonparametric feature selection for both regression and classification problems. Under this framework, we learn prediction functions through empirical risk minimization over a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). The space is generated by a novel tensor product kernel which depends on a set of parameters that determines the importance of the features. Computationally, we minimize the empirical risk with a penalty to estimate the prediction and kernel parameters simultaneously. The solution can be obtained by iteratively solving convex optimization problems. We study the theoretical property of the kernel feature space and prove the oracle selection property and Fisher consistency of our proposed method. Finally, we demonstrate the superior performance of our approach compared to existing methods via extensive simulation studies and applications to two real studies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35318639 | DOI:10.1111/biom.13664