J Nephrol. 2024 Dec 20. doi: 10.1007/s40620-024-02161-w. Online ahead of print.
NO ABSTRACT
PMID:39704990 | DOI:10.1007/s40620-024-02161-w
Tag: pubmed
Clin Rheumatol. 2024 Dec 20. doi: 10.1007/s10067-024-07268-w. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate prediction models for estimating the activity index (AI) of kidney histopathology in lupus nephritis (LN) using clinical and laboratory data.
METHODS: This study used single-center data from patients with kidney biopsy-confirmed LN between January 2012 and March 2022. The development and validation datasets were temporally cut. We discriminated AI > 10 and ≤ 10 as high and mild/moderate activity status, respectively. We constructed four models for AI: Model 1 included demographic information; Model 2 additionally incorporated data of systemic conditions; Model 3 further included kidney-specific conditions; and Model 4 included all the aforementioned predictors. Logistic regression was employed in Models 1 to 3, while Model 4 utilized least absolute shrinkage and selection operator for predictor selection and model building. Internal validation was performed using 1000 bootstrap resampling, while external validation was performed in the temporal validation dataset. Both calibration and discrimination metrics were evaluated.
RESULTS: There were 160 patients in the development dataset and 70 patients in the validation dataset. In the temporal validation, all the models achieved acceptable calibration and excellent discrimination. Model 2 which contained relatively fewer predictors achieved the highest area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.86 (95% confidence interval 0.76 to 0.94).
CONCLUSION: Our Model 2 incorporating demographic and systemic indicators exhibited good performance in estimating the AI of LN. We thus provide a simple yet effective algorithm to predict AI in patients with LN, potentially aiding clinicians in non-invasively assessing disease activity and guiding treatment decisions. Key Points • We developed a prediction model (Model 2) incorporating demographic and systemic indicators to predict AI in patients with LN. • The prediction model can aid clinicians in noninvasively assessing disease activity and guiding treatment decisions.
PMID:39704985 | DOI:10.1007/s10067-024-07268-w
Ground Water. 2024 Dec 20. doi: 10.1111/gwat.13458. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Due to increasing global demand for fresh water, it is increasingly necessary to understand how aquifer pumping affects groundwater chemistry. However, comprehensive predictive relationships between pumping and groundwater quality have yet to be developed, as the available data, which are often collected over inconsistent time intervals, are poorly suited for long-term historical correlation studies. For example, we needed an adequate statistical method to better understand relationships between pumping rate and water quality in the City of Norman (OK, USA). Here we used the interval-scaled change in mean pumping rate combined with the Quadrant method to examine correlations between pumping rates and changes in trace metal concentrations. We found that correlations vary across the study area and are likely dependent on a variety of factors specific to each well. Comparing the Quadrant method to the commonly used Kendall’s tau correlation, which requires different assumptions about aquifer behavior, the methods produced similar correlations when sample sizes were large and the time interval between samples was relatively short. Sample sizes were then artificially restricted to determine correlation reproducibility. Despite being less reproducible overall, the Quadrant method was more reproducible when there were large time intervals between samples and very small sample sizes (n ~ 4), but not as reproducible as significant (p ≤ 0.1) Kendall’s tau correlations. Therefore, the Quadrant method may be useful for further investigating the effects of pumping in cases where Kendall’s tau does not produce significant correlations.
PMID:39704126 | DOI:10.1111/gwat.13458
Clin Rehabil. 2024 Dec 20:2692155241306072. doi: 10.1177/02692155241306072. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of acetic acid shockwave phonophoresis on spur morphology, foot pain, and function in patients with calcaneal spurs.
DESIGN: A double-blinded, randomised clinical trial.
SETTING: Outpatients physical therapy clinics.
PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty-seven patients with calcaneal spurs, 18-65 years old, were randomly allocated to three equal groups.
INTERVENTION: The study group (A) received acetic acid shockwave phonophoresis plus conventional physical therapy. The study group (B) received shockwave therapy plus conventional physical therapy. The control group received conventional physical therapy programme only. Interventions were applied twice a week for 3 weeks.
OUTCOME MEASURES: Calcaneal spur width, calcaneal spur length, pain intensity level, pain pressure threshold and foot and ankle ability measure activities of daily living subscale were measured at baseline, after 3 weeks of interventions and after 4 weeks of follow-up with no intervention.
RESULTS: Between-group differences were observed for calcaneal spur width and length, pain intensity, pain pressure threshold and function after 3 weeks favouring Group A (p < 0.001). Mean differences (95% CI) between study groups were -1.11 mm (-1.46, -0.77) for spur width; -1.34 mm (-1.67, -1.01) for spur length; -20.71 mm (-24.66, -16.77) for pain; 1.45 kg/cm2 (1.05, 1.85) for pain pressure threshold; and 12.16 points (9.24, 15.09) for function after 3 weeks.
CONCLUSIONS: Acetic acid shockwave phonophoresis combined with exercise clinically and statistically improves calcaneal spur width, length, pain intensity, pain pressure threshold and foot function more than shockwave therapy alone or conventional physical therapy. This method might be considered an effective, feasible, safe, non-invasive and locally applicable treatment for heel spurs.
PMID:39704113 | DOI:10.1177/02692155241306072
Plant Cell Environ. 2024 Dec 20. doi: 10.1111/pce.15322. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
The present study investigated the linkage between days to flowering (DTF) and growth habit (GH) in pigeonpea using QTL mapping, QTL-seq, and GWAS approaches. The linkage map developed here is the largest to date, spanning 1825.56 cM with 7987 SNP markers. In total, eight and four QTLs were mapped for DTF and GH, respectively, harbouring 78 pigeonpea orthologs of Arabidopsis flowering time genes. Corroboratively, QTL-seq analysis identified a single linked QTL for both traits on chromosome 3, possessing 15 genes bearing genic variants. Together, these 91 genes were clustered primarily into autonomous, photoperiod, and epigenetic pathways. Further, we identified 39 associations for DTF and 111 associations for GH through GWAS in the QTL regions. Of these, nine associations were consistent and constituted nine haplotypes (five late, two early, one each for super-early and medium duration). The involvement of multiple genes explained the range of allelic effects and the presence of multiple LD blocks. Further, the linked QTL on chromosome 3 was fine-mapped to the 0.24-Mb region with an LOD score of 8.56, explaining 36.47% of the phenotypic variance. We identified a 10-bp deletion in the first exon of TFL1 gene of the ICPL 20338 variety, which may affect its interaction with the Apetala1 and Leafy genes, resulting in determinate GH and early flowering. Further, the genic marker developed for the deletion in the TFL1 gene could be utilized as a foreground marker in marker-assisted breeding programmes to develop early-flowering pigeonpea varieties.
PMID:39704095 | DOI:10.1111/pce.15322
J Paediatr Child Health. 2024 Dec 20. doi: 10.1111/jpc.16751. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
AIM: To describe the management of neonatal hypoglycaemia within Pacific Island countries and territories by surveying practising clinicians.
METHODS: Survey questions were adapted from a similar survey conducted across Australian and New Zealand neonatal nurseries. An anonymous, electronic survey link and QR code were disseminated to clinicians via our partner organisations, Facebook and direct email. Data collected were primarily descriptive.
RESULTS: Fifty-one surveys were received from 13 Pacific Island countries. Two-thirds (69%) of respondents reported having a neonatal hypoglycaemia protocol in their nursery. The four protocols received defined hypoglycaemia as a blood glucose concentration <2.6 mmol/L. However, treatment thresholds reported varied from <1.0 mmol/L to <3.0 mmol/L. Feeding was the most common treatment. One-third of the respondents reported resource barriers to effective management, such as a lack of specialist training and limited resources.
CONCLUSIONS: There are variations in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of neonatal hypoglycaemia in the Pacific Island countries, despite consistency in the management of neonatal hypoglycaemia within the clinical protocols. Barriers to the safe and effective management of neonatal hypoglycaemia remain concerning.
PMID:39704088 | DOI:10.1111/jpc.16751
Stroke. 2024 Dec 20. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.124.048654. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We aimed to develop and validate a protein risk score for ischemic stroke (IS) risk prediction and to compare its predictive capability with IS clinical risk factors and IS polygenic risk score.
METHODS: The prospective cohort study included 53 029 participants from UKB-PPP (UK Biobank Pharmaceutical Proteomics Project). IS protein risk score was calculated as the weighted sum of proteins selected by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression. The discrimination ability of models was assessed by C statistic. IS risk factors included age, sex, smoking, waist-to-hip ratio, antihypertensive medication use, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Polygenic risk score was computed using identified susceptibility variants.
RESULTS: After exclusions, 38 060 participants from England were randomly divided into the training set and the internal validation set in a 7:3 ratio, and 4970 participants from Scotland/Wales were assigned as the external validation set. Of 43 030 participants included (mean age, 59.0 years; 54.0% female), 989 incident IS occurred during a median follow-up of 13.6 years. In the training set, IS protein risk score was constructed using 17 out of 2911 proteins. In the internal validation set, compared with the basic model (age and sex: C statistic,0.720 [95% CI, 0.691-0.749]), IS protein risk score had the highest predictive performance for IS risk (C statistic, 0.765 [95% CI, 0.736-0.793]), followed by clinical risk factors of IS (C statistic, 0.753 [95% CI, 0.725-0.781]), and IS polygenic risk score (C statistic, 0.730 [95% CI, 0.701-0.759]). The top 5 proteins with the largest absolute coefficients in the IS protein risk score, including GDF15 (growth/differentiation factor 15), PLAUR (urokinase plasminogen activator surface receptor), NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide), IGFBP4 (insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4), and BCAN (brevican core protein), contributed most of the predictive ability of the IS protein risk score, with a cumulative C statistic of 0.761 (95% CI, 0.733-0.790). These results were verified in the external validation cohort.
CONCLUSIONS: A simple model, including age, sex, and the IS protein risk score (or only the top 5 proteins) had a good predictive performance for IS risk.
PMID:39704077 | DOI:10.1161/STROKEAHA.124.048654
J Eval Clin Pract. 2025 Feb;31(1):e14282. doi: 10.1111/jep.14282.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to adapt the 6-Item Self-Efficacy Scale for Chronic Disease Management (SEMDC-6S) to women with endometriosis in the Turkish population and to evaluate its validity and reliability.
METHODS: This methodological study comprised of 200 women with endometriosis. The construct validity of the scale was tested using the confirmatory factor analysis methods. The reliability of the scale was tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, item-total score correlations and test-retest reliability analysis.
RESULTS: It was determined that the SEMDC-6S consisted of six items and one subscale. In the confirmatory factor analysis, the fit index values of the scale were found to be acceptable. The intraclass correlation coefficient of test-retest reliability was 0.95, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.76.
CONCLUSION: The Turkish version of the SEMDC-6S is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the self-efficacy of women with endometriosis.
PMID:39704074 | DOI:10.1111/jep.14282
Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2024 Dec 20:e013351. doi: 10.1161/CIRCEP.124.013351. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing first-time atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation can benefit from targeting non-pulmonary vein (PV) triggers. Preprocedural identification of high-risk individuals can guide planning of ablation strategy. This study aimed to create a preprocedural screening tool to identify patients at risk of non-PV triggers during first-time AF ablation.
METHODS: All patients who underwent first-time AF ablation at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania between 2018 and 2022 were identified. Those who underwent non-PV trigger provocative maneuvers or had spontaneous non-PV trigger firing were included. Non-PV triggers were defined as non-PV ectopic beats triggering AF or sustained focal atrial tachycardia that occurred spontaneously, after AF cardioversion, or after standard provocative maneuvers. The provocative maneuvers included incremental isoproterenol infusion (3, 6, 12, and 20-30 µg/min) and an atrial burst pacing protocol. Risk factors associated with non-PV triggers in a stepwise multivariable logistic regression model with backward elimination were used to create a risk score.
RESULTS: In all, 163 (8.0%) of 2038 patients had non-PV triggers during first-time AF ablation. Based on the multivariable model, we created a risk score using female sex (1 point; odds ratio [OR], 1.90 [95% CI, 1.36-2.67]), sinus node dysfunction (1 point; OR, 1.84 [95% CI, 1.04-3.24]), prior cardiac surgery (1 point; OR, 2.26 [95% CI, 1.45-3.53]), moderate to severe left atrial enlargement (2 points; OR, 3.43 [95% CI, 2.46-4.79]), and cardiac sarcoidosis/amyloidosis (4 points; OR, 7.24 [95% CI, 3.03-17.33]). Internal validation using bootstrap resampling showed an optimism-adjusted C statistic of 0.715 (95% CI, 0.678-0.751). Among all first-time AF ablations, 68.1% of procedures were low-risk for non-PV triggers (scores 0-1, 4.3% risk), 17.8% were intermediate-risk (score 2, 10.5% risk), and 14.1% were high-risk (score ≥3, 22.6% risk).
CONCLUSIONS: A preprocedural screening tool can classify patients based on their risk of non-PV triggers during first-time AF ablation. This risk score can guide operators to identify patients who would benefit most from adjunctive non-PV trigger testing. However, further validation is needed to confirm these findings.
PMID:39704068 | DOI:10.1161/CIRCEP.124.013351
J Med Virol. 2024 Dec;96(12):e70128. doi: 10.1002/jmv.70128.
ABSTRACT
The high prevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) after kidney transplantation, along with its significant morbidity, mortality, and financial burden, makes it a serious infectious complication. This retrospective observational study aimed to determine the incidence of CMV infection and recurrence in renal transplant recipients during the era of immunosuppression (IS), and to identify modifiable predictors of CMV infection. A total of 233 patients were screened for CMV disease incidence and predictors and were prospectively followed. The incidence of CMV disease was found to be 14.6% (95% CI, 11.7%-18%), with no recurrence observed. Multivariate analysis revealed that factors such as CMV serostatus and a positive B-cell crossmatch at transplantation were associated with an increased risk of CMV. Specifically, patients with a positive B-cell crossmatch had a threefold higher risk of developing CMV compared to those with a negative crossmatch (p = 0.025). This association is a novel finding and should be considered when assessing risks and complications in patients. There was a lower incidence of CMV infection among kidney transplant recipients within the first 2-5 years after transplantation. A positive B-cell crossmatch at the time of transplantation was strongly associated with an increased risk of developing CMV disease.
PMID:39704062 | DOI:10.1002/jmv.70128