Nevin Manimala

Microsc Res Tech. 2022 Jan 8. doi: 10.1002/jemt.24049. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Several mechanical and biological factors may change the orthodontic wire frictional resistance (FR). Titanium dioxide (TiO₂ ) and silica dioxide (SiO₂ ) nanoparticle (NP) coatings may be used to improve the characteristics of materials, reducing FR between archwire and bracket. This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the FR of orthodontic wires with and without coating in both dry and wet environments and measure the surface roughness (SR). One hundred and eighty segments of rectangular Cr-Ni orthodontic wires (Morelli Co, Brazil) were divided into three groups according to the NP coating applied: TiO₂ group; SiO₂ group; and control group. The SR parameters were measured in an optical profilometer, the surface morphology was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and FR was performed in a universal testing machine in dry and wet environments (n = 30). The statistical analysis was performed using the Generalized Estimated Equations model with a Bonferroni post-test (α = 0.05). It was observed that SiO₂ NP coating decreased FR significantly when compared to the TiO₂ and control groups, in both environments (p < .001). The SiO₂ and TiO₂ groups presented statistically lower SR than the control group and were similar to each other (p < .001). The SiO₂ group presented the lower depth of Valley parameter than the TiO₂ group (p < .001). The SEM showed that the TiO₂ coating had the most heterogeneous surface morphology than the SiO₂ and control groups. The orthodontic wires with NP coating modified the FR and morphology. The SiO₂ coating reduced FR in both dry and wet environments and decreased SR.

PMID:34997799 | DOI:10.1002/jemt.24049

J Magn Reson Imaging. 2022 Jan 8. doi: 10.1002/jmri.28048. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Determining the absence or presence of peripancreatic lymph nodal metastasis (PLNM) is important to the pathologic staging, prognostication, and guidance of treatment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Computed tomography and MRI had a poor sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy in the assessment of PLNM.

PURPOSES: To develop and validate a 3 T MRI primary tumor radiomics-based nomogram from multicenter datasets for pretreatment prediction of the PLNM in PDAC patients.

STUDY TYPE: Retrospective.

SUBJECTS: A total of 251 patients (156 men and 95 women; mean age, 60.85 ± 8.23 years) with histologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from three hospitals.

FIELD STRENGTH AND SEQUENCES: A 3.0 T and fat-suppressed T1-weighted imaging.

ASSESSMENT: Quantitative imaging features were extracted from fat-suppressed T1-weighted (FS T1WI) images at the arterial phase.

STATISTICAL TESTS: Normally distributed data were compared by using t-tests, while the Mann-Whitney U test was used to evaluate non-normally distributed data. The diagnostic performances of the preoperative and postoperative nomograms were assessed in the external validation cohort with the area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). AUCs were compared with the De Long test. A p value below 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTS: The AUCs of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Rad-score were 0.868 (95% confidence level [CI]: 0.613-0.852) and 0.772 (95% CI: 0.659-0.879) in the training and internal validation cohort, respectively. The preoperative and postoperative nomograms could accurately predict PLNM in the training cohort (AUC = 0.909 and 0.851) and were validated in both the internal and external cohorts (AUC = 0.835 and 0.805, 0.808 and 0.733, respectively). DCA indicated that the two novel nomograms are of similar clinical usefulness.

DATA CONCLUSION: Pre-/postoperative nomograms and the constructed radiomics signature from primary tumor based on FS T1WI of arterial phase could serve as a potential tool to predict PLNM in patients with PDAC. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

PMID:34997795 | DOI:10.1002/jmri.28048

J Magn Reson Imaging. 2022 Jan 8. doi: 10.1002/jmri.28046. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Preferential publication of studies with positive findings can lead to overestimation of diagnostic test accuracy (i.e. publication bias). Understanding the contribution of the editorial process to publication bias could inform interventions to optimize the evidence guiding clinical decisions.

PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: To evaluate whether accuracy estimates, abstract conclusion positivity, and completeness of abstract reporting are associated with acceptance to radiology conferences and journals.

STUDY TYPE: Meta-research.

POPULATION: Abstracts submitted to radiology conferences (European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) and International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)) from 2008 to 2018 and manuscripts submitted to radiology journals (Radiology, Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging [JMRI]) from 2017 to 2018. Primary clinical studies evaluating sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic imaging test in humans with available editorial decisions were included.

ASSESSMENT: Primary variables (Youden’s index [YI > 0.8 vs. <0.8], abstract conclusion positivity [positive vs. neutral/negative], number of reported items on the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies [STARD] for Abstract guideline) and confounding variables (prospective vs. retrospective/unreported, sample size, study duration, interobserver agreement assessment, subspecialty, modality) were extracted.

STATISTICAL TESTS: Multivariable logistic regression to obtain adjusted odds ratio (OR) as a measure of the association between the primary variables and acceptance by radiology conferences and journals; 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and P-values were obtained; the threshold for statistical significance was P < 0.05.

RESULTS: A total of 1000 conference abstracts (500 ESGAR and 500 ISMRM) and 1000 journal manuscripts (505 Radiology and 495 JMRI) were included. Conference abstract acceptance was not significantly associated with YI (adjusted OR = 0.97 for YI > 0.8; CI = 0.70-1.35), conclusion positivity (OR = 1.21 for positive conclusions; CI = 0.75-1.90) or STARD for Abstracts adherence (OR = 0.96 per unit increase in reported items; CI = 0.82-1.18). Manuscripts with positive abstract conclusions were less likely to be accepted by radiology journals (OR = 0.45; CI = 0.24-0.86), while YI (OR = 0.85; CI = 0.56-1.29) and STARD for Abstracts adherence (OR = 1.06; CI = 0.87-1.30) showed no significant association. Positive conclusions were present in 86.7% of submitted conference abstracts and 90.2% of journal manuscripts.

DATA CONCLUSION: Diagnostic test accuracy studies with positive findings were not preferentially accepted by the evaluated radiology conferences or journals.

EVIDENCE LEVEL: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

PMID:34997786 | DOI:10.1002/jmri.28046

J Pineal Res. 2022 Jan 8:e12780. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12780. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Light at night in adults suppresses melatonin in a nonlinear intensity-dependent manner. In children, bright light of a single intensity before bedtime has a robust melatonin suppressing effect. To our knowledge, whether evening light of different intensities is related to melatonin suppression in young children is unknown. Healthy, good-sleeping children (n = 36; 3.0-4.9 years; 39% male) maintained a stable sleep schedule for 7 days followed by a 29.5-h in-home dim-light circadian assessment (~1.5 lux). On the final night of the protocol, children received a 1-h light exposure (randomized to one of 15 light levels, ranging 5-5000 lux, with ≥2 participants assigned to each light level) in the hour before habitual bedtime. Salivary melatonin was measured to calculate the magnitude of melatonin suppression during light exposure compared with baseline levels from the previous evening, as well as the degree of melatonin recovery 50 min after the end of light exposure. Melatonin levels were suppressed between 69.4% and 98.7% (M = 85.4 ± 7.2%) during light exposure across the full range of intensities examined. Overall, we did not observe a light intensity-dependent melatonin suppression response; however, children exposed to the lowest quartile of light intensities (5-40 lux) had an average melatonin suppression (77.5 ± 7.0%) which was significantly lower than that observed at each of the three higher quartiles of light intensities (86.4 ± 5.6%, 89.2 ± 6.3%, and 87.1 ± 5.0%, respectively). We further found that melatonin levels remained below 50% baseline for at least 50 min after the end of light exposure for the majority (62%) of participants, and recovery was not influenced by light intensity. These findings indicate that preschool-aged children are highly sensitive to light exposure in the hour before bedtime and suggest the lighting environment may play a crucial role in the development and the maintenance of behavioral sleep problems through impacts on the circadian timing system.

PMID:34997782 | DOI:10.1111/jpi.12780

J Environ Qual. 2022 Jan 8. doi: 10.1002/jeq2.20324. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Soilborne pests are a major obstacle that must be overcome for the production of horticultural crops. Methyl bromide was an effective pre-planting soil broad-spectrum biocide, but its use has been banned due to its role in depleting the ozone layer. As a result, sustainable alternative methods for controlling soilborne pathogens and pests are needed. Nitrous oxide emissions are of concern in crop production due to its role as a greenhouse gas. Agricultural lands are known sources for emission of this greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Emissions are related to many environmental factors as well as fertilization and fumigation practices. This study evaluated the influence of different alternatives to methyl bromide on emissions of nitrous oxide throughout a tomato production season in two locations representative of southern and northern Florida. We evaluated eight soil management practices, including: 1) untreated controls; 2) chemical soil fumigation (CSF); 3) anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) using molasses (M) + composted poultry litter (CPL) and 4-5) M + composted yard waste (CYW, at two rates); 6) Soil Symphony Amendment (SSA), a commercially available mix of microbes and nutrients; 7) CYW alone; and 8) CYW + SSA. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured throughout the entire cropping season. Emissions were highest on the day of planting (day 21), ranging from 213 to 1878 μg·m^-2 ·h^-1 , likely due to the release of N₂ O that had accumulated under the totally impermeable film (TIF) when it was punctured for planting. However, statistical significance varied between sites. Estimated cumulative emissions of N₂ O throughout the production season ranged from 1.3 to 4.8 kg N₂ O-N ha^-1 . This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34997770 | DOI:10.1002/jeq2.20324

Br J Haematol. 2022 Jan 8. doi: 10.1111/bjh.18026. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The clinical outcome of chronic myeloid leukaemia patients has vastly improved since the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment, with a significant proportion of patients able to achieve treatment-free remission. However, studies have shown that patients with the e13a2 transcript were less likely to achieve major molecular response compared to those with e14a2 transcripts. Most quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for detection of the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene do not differentiate between the two transcripts and we therefore hypothesised that technical bias linked to the qPCR assay could partially explain the discrepancy in outcomes. We designed an e14a2-specific assay and identified no difference in results compared to an e13a2 standard assay. We then demonstrated that the commercial e14a2 standards were causing a significant overestimation of the e13a2 transcripts. Finally, we reviewed patient management after the qPCR values were corrected, using our new evaluation. We concluded that despite statistically significant differences in qPCR results, there was no impact on patient management or outcome. We conclude that, at least in our institution, it would be inappropriate to perform separate assays for patients with e13a2 or e14a2.

PMID:34997766 | DOI:10.1111/bjh.18026

Biometrics. 2022 Jan 8. doi: 10.1111/biom.13621. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Stationary points embedded in the derivatives are often critical for a model to be interpretable and may be considered as key features of interest in many applications. We propose a semiparametric Bayesian model to efficiently infer the locations of stationary points of a nonparametric function, which also produces an estimate of the function. We use Gaussian processes as a flexible prior for the underlying function and impose derivative constraints to control the function’s shape via conditioning. We develop an inferential strategy that intentionally restricts estimation to the case of at least one stationary point, bypassing possible mis-specifications in the number of stationary points and avoiding the varying dimension problem that often brings in computational complexity. We illustrate the proposed methods using simulations and then apply the method to the estimation of event-related potentials (ERP) derived from electroencephalography (EEG) signals. We show how the proposed method automatically identifies characteristic components and their latencies at the individual level, which avoids the excessive averaging across subjects which is routinely done in the field to obtain smooth curves. By applying this approach to EEG data collected from younger and older adults during a speech perception task, we are able to demonstrate how the time course of speech perception processes changes with age. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34997758 | DOI:10.1111/biom.13621

Psychiatr Pol. 2021 Oct 31;55(5):1139-1155. doi: 10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/119778. Epub 2021 Oct 31.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Assessment of criterion validity and temporal stability of personality disorder diagnosis in adolescents and relationships between attachment styles and personality disorder diagnosis.

METHODS: 50 adolescents (46 girls and 4 boys, aged 15-17) hospitalized at the department of child and adolescent psychiatry were assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). After one year, adolescents meeting the criteria for apersonality disorder (PD) diagnosis were reassessed with the SCID-II.

RESULTS: In the first stage of assessment, diagnostic criteriafor different types of personality disorders were met by 41 adolescents (82%) (mean number of criteria = 5.9). Criteria were met most often for borderline personality disorder (BPD) (n = 26; mean number of criteria = 7.9). In the second stage of assessment, the interview was re-administered to 21 (51%) adolescents; the mean number of criteria was = 6.6. A statistically significant relationship between the number of PD diagnostic criteria in assessment one and the number of criteria in assessment two was obtained (r = 0.58; p < 0.01). 82% of the participants with PD were insecurely attached to their mothers. In the borderline group, 83% of the participants reported anxious-avoidant attachment style.

CONCLUSIONS: PD traits in adolescence, specifically BPD, are stable across one year.

PMID:34997748 | DOI:10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/119778

Psychiatr Pol. 2021 Oct 31;55(5):1121-1137. doi: 10.12740/PP/118006. Epub 2021 Oct 31.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The Indirect Self-Destructiveness Scale (ISDS) was developed as a measure of individual tendency for self-destructive behavior. The aim of the article is to propose its abbreviated version (ISDS-25) and to present the psychometric properties of this instrument.

METHODS: The analyses were carried out on aggregated data (N = 670) obtained from adult individuals. The procedure of shortening the ISDS scale took into account both statistical criteria (values of discriminatory power coefficients and factor loadings of items) and content criteria (degree of item representativeness and comprehensibility). The psychometric properties of the shortened scale were determined by analyzing its reliability and validity (factorial, convergent and differential).

RESULTS: The short version of the ISDS scale consists of 25 items and is characterized by satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.81; ω = 0.88). The obtained factorial structure (bifactor model), gender differences, and correlations with the scores of other scales confirm the tool’s theoretical validity.

CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results justify the conclusion that the short version of the Indirect Self-Destructiveness Scale (ISDS-25) faithfully reflects the original construct and can be successfully employed in empirical research on the phenomenon of chronic self-destructiveness.

PMID:34997747 | DOI:10.12740/PP/118006

Psychiatr Pol. 2021 Oct 31;55(5):1101-1119. doi: 10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/115170. Epub 2021 Oct 31.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study wasto determine the impact of synthetic cathinonesusage on depressive symptoms and oral behaviors among recreational users.

METHODS: Users of online drugs-related forums were asked to fill in a questionnaire via Google Forms Platform. The questionnaire contained questions about patterns of drugs use, the Beck Depression Inventory II, the Oral Behaviors Checklist (OBC), and questions about basic demographic data (age, gender).

RESULTS: 150 participants (75 in the study group, 75 in the control group) took part in the study. In the study group (aged 15-28), all participants used cathinones and other psychoactive substances. 42 participants used cathinones during last month. Statistical analysis showed a correlation between amount of drugs types used and level of depressive symptoms for both groups (study group and control group), as well as a statistically significantly higher mean value of the OBC scores in a group of cathinones users than in controls. Correlation between the BDI-II and OBC results was statistically significant for both the study and control groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Considering easy access to synthetic cathinones, widely spread intoxications and young age of participants of this survey the subject needs to be widely researched. Psychoactive substances can predispose to development of depression and various forms of parafunctional oral behaviors.

PMID:34997746 | DOI:10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/115170