Tag: pubmed

Sci Rep. 2023 May 27;13(1):8609. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-35779-0.

ABSTRACT

In Statistical Process Control, many techniques exist for monitoring the stability of a process over time. In this work, we study the relationship of the response variable with explanatory variables in the form of linear profiles for detecting changes in slope and intercept of the linear quality profiles. We used the transformation of explanatory variables approach used for make the regression estimates independent of each other to have zero average. A comparative study of three phase-II methods using DEWMA statistics in monitoring and capturing undesirable deviations in the slope, intercept, and variability is also studied by applying different proposed run rules schemes i.e., R_1/1, R_2/3, R_3/3. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out on R-Software for finding the results of proposed schemes by taking various levels of shifts for intercept, slope, and standard deviation in identifying the false alarm rate of a process. The simulation results based on the average run length criterion show that the proposed run rule schemes improve the detection ability of the control structure. Among all the proposed schemes R_2/3 is found to be the best one because of its quick detection ability of false alarm rate. The proposed scheme also shows superiority in comparison to other schemes. The simulation results are further justified with a real data application.

PMID:37244943 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-35779-0

Heredity (Edinb). 2023 May 27. doi: 10.1038/s41437-023-00623-8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Several studies over recent decades have reported a lack of contemporary improvement in thoroughbred racehorse speed, despite apparent additive genetic variance and putatively strong selection. More recently, it has been shown that some phenotypic improvement is ongoing, but rates are low in general and particularly so over longer distances. Here we used pedigree-based analysis of 692,534 records from 76,960 animals to determine whether these phenotypic trends are underpinned by genetic selection responses, and to evaluate the potential for more rapid improvement. We show that thoroughbred speed in Great Britain is only weakly heritable across sprint (h² = 0.124), middle-distance (h² = 0.122) and long-distance races (h² = 0.074), but that mean predicted breeding values are nonetheless increasing across cohorts born between 1995 and 2012 (and racing from 1997 to 2014). For all three race distance categories, estimated rates of genetic improvement are statistically significant and also greater than can be explained by drift. Taken together our results show genetic improvement for thoroughbred speed is ongoing but slow, likely due to a combination of long generation times and low heritabilities. Additionally, estimates of realised selection intensities raises the possibility that the contemporary selection emerging from the collective actions of horse breeders is weaker than previously assumed, particularly over long distances. We suggest that unmodelled common environment effects may have upwardly biased estimates of heritability, and thus expected selection response, previously.

PMID:37244934 | DOI:10.1038/s41437-023-00623-8

Sci Rep. 2023 May 27;13(1):8646. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-35456-2.

ABSTRACT

This study explored the structural, optical, and dielectric properties of Pure and Mn⁺² doped ZnO nano-particles (Zn_1-xMn_xO) with x ≥ 20%, synthesized by co-precipitation method followed by annealing at 450⁰C. Different characterization techniques were conducted to characterize the as-prepared nano-particles. X-ray Diffraction analysis of the pure and Mn⁺² doped presented a hexagonal wurtzite structure and a decreased crystallite size with increasing doping concentration. Morphological analysis from SEM revealed finely dispersed spherical nanoparticles with particle size of 40-50 nm. Compositional analysis from EDX confirmed the incorporation of Mn⁺²ions in ZnO structure. The Results of UV spectroscopy showed that changing the doping concentration affects the band gap, and a red shift is observed as the doping concentration is increased. The band gap changes from 3.3 to 2.75 eV. Dielectric measurements exhibited decrease in the relative permittivity, dielectric loss factor and ac conductivity by increasing Mn concentration.

PMID:37244922 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-35456-2

Nat Commun. 2023 May 27;14(1):3071. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38862-2.

ABSTRACT

Topological metals are conducting materials with gapless band structures and nontrivial edge-localized resonances. Their discovery has proven elusive because traditional topological classification methods require band gaps to define topological robustness. Inspired by recent theoretical developments that leverage techniques from the field of C^∗-algebras to identify topological metals, here, we directly observe topological phenomena in gapless acoustic crystals and realize a general experimental technique to demonstrate their topology. Specifically, we not only observe robust boundary-localized states in a topological acoustic metal, but also re-interpret a composite operator-mathematically derived from the K-theory of the problem-as a new Hamiltonian whose physical implementation allows us to directly observe a topological spectral flow and measure the topological invariants. Our observations and experimental protocols may offer insights for discovering topological behaviour across a wide array of artificial and natural materials that lack bulk band gaps.

PMID:37244911 | DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-38862-2

Sci Rep. 2023 May 27;13(1):8631. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-35405-z.

ABSTRACT

A large number of materials and various criteria fashion material selection problems as complex multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems. This paper proposes a new decision-making method called the simple ranking process (SRP) to solve complex material selection problems. The accuracy of the criteria weights has a direct impact on the outcomes of the new method. In contrast to current MCDM methods, the normalization step has been eliminated from the SRP method as a potential source of producing incorrect results. The application of the method is appropriate for situations with high levels of complexity in material selection because it only considers the ranks of alternatives in each criterion. The first scenario of vital-immaterial mediocre method (VIMM) is used as a tool to derive criteria weights based on expert assessment. The result of SRP is compared with a number of MCDM methods. In order to evaluate the findings of analytical comparison, a novel statistical measure known as compromise decision index (CDI) is proposed in this paper. CDI revealed that the MCDM methods’ outputs for solving the material selection could not be theoretically proven and requires to be evaluated through practice. As a result, the dependency analysis-an additional innovative statistical measure is introduced to demonstrate the reliability of MCDM methods by assessing its dependency on criteria weights. The findings demonstrated that SRP is extremely reliant on criteria weights and its reliability rises with the number of criteria, making it a perfect tool for solving challenging MCDM problems.

PMID:37244904 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-35405-z

Braz J Psychiatry. 2023 May 27. doi: 10.47626/1516-4446-2023-3037. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore differences in regional cortical morphometric structure between adolescents at risk for depression or with current depression.

METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional structural neuroimaging data from a sample of 150 Brazilian adolescents classified as low-risk (n=50) or high-risk for depression (n=50) or with current depression (n=50) through a vertex-based approach with measurements of cortical volume, surface area and thickness. Differences between groups in subcortical volumes and in the organization of networks of structural covariance were also explored.

RESULTS: No significant differences in brain structure between groups were observed in whole-brain vertex-wise cortical volume, surface area or thickness. Also, no significant differences in subcortical volume were observed between risk groups. In relation to the structural covariance network, there was an indication of an increase in the hippocampus betweenness centrality index in the high-risk group network compared to the low-risk and current depression group networks. However, this result was only statistically significant when applying false discovery rate correction for nodes within the affective network.

CONCLUSION: In an adolescent sample recruited using an empirically based composite risk score, no major differences in brain structure were detected according to the risk and presence of depression.

PMID:37243979 | DOI:10.47626/1516-4446-2023-3037

Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 May 27:e30452. doi: 10.1002/pbc.30452. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: We compared the prognostic value of chest radiograph (CXR)- and computed tomography (CT)-derived definition of large mediastinal adenopathy (LMA) in pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).

MATERIALS/METHODS: Total 143 patients treated for stage IIIB/IVB HL on COG AHOD0831 were included in this study. Six definitions of LMA were investigated: (i) mediastinal mass ratio on CXR (MR_CXR ) > 1/3; (ii) mediastinal mass ratio on CT (MR_CT ) > 1/3; (iii) mediastinal mass volume on CT (MV_CT ) > 200 mL; (iv) normalized mediastinal mass volume (MV_CT /thoracic diameter [TD]) > 1 mL/mm; (v) mediastinal mass diameter on CT (MD_CT ) > 10 cm; and (vi) normalized mediastinal mass diameter (MD_CT /TD) > 1/3.

RESULTS: Median age at diagnosis was 15.8 years (range: 5.2-21.3 years). In patients with a slow early response (SER) to chemotherapy, MV_CT > 200 mL, MD_CT > 10 cm, and MD_CT /TD > 1/3 were associated with worse relapse-free survival (RFS) on MVA, while MR_CXR > 1/3, MR_CT > 1/3, and MV_CT /TD > 1 mL/mm trended toward worse RFS; MD_CT /TD was the most strongly prognostic for inferior RFS, with a hazard ratio of 6.41 for MD_CT /TD > 1/3 versus ≤1/3 on MVA (p = .02).

CONCLUSION: LMA according to MV_CT > 200 mL, MD_CT > 10 cm, and MD_CT /TD > 1/3 is associated with poor prognosis in advanced-stage HL patients with SER. The normalized mediastinal diameter, MD_CT /TD > 1/3 appears to be the strongest predictor of inferior RFS.

PMID:37243975 | DOI:10.1002/pbc.30452

Int J Immunogenet. 2023 May 27. doi: 10.1111/iji.12623. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Behçet’s disease (BD) is a chronic auto inflammatory disorder of unknown aetiology. Recently, the dysregulation of interleukin-21 receptor (IL-21R) has been incriminated in different autoimmune and auto-inflammatory diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematous, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes. Herein, we aimed to investigate the association of two Il-21R gene polymorphisms with BD. IL-21R rs2214537 and IL-21R rs2285452 genotypings were investigated in a cohort of 110 adult patients with BD and 116 age and gender unmatched healthy controls. Genotyping was performed by mutagenically separated polymerase chain reaction with newly designed primers. IL-21R rs2285452 genotypes and alleles distribution were statistically different between patients with BD and controls. GA and AA genotypes carrying the minor A allele were more frequent in patients with BD than in healthy controls (37.3% and 11.8% vs. 23.3% and 3.4%, respectively). The minor A allele was associated with an increased BD risk (odds ratios = 2.42, 95% confidence interval = 1.214.87, p = .005). IL-21R rs2214537 GG genotype was found to be associated with susceptibility to BD in the recessive model (GG vs. CC + CG; p = .046, OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.003.650. IL-21R rs2285452 and IL-21R rs2214537 were not in linkage disequilibrium (D’ = 0.42). The AG haplotype was more frequently observed in patients with BD than in controls (0.247 vs. 0.056, p = .0001). This study for the first time reports the association of IL-21R rs2285452 and IL-21R rs2214537 with BD. Functional studies are required to elucidate the exact role of these genetic variants.

PMID:37243939 | DOI:10.1111/iji.12623

Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2023 May 27:e13066. doi: 10.1111/anec.13066. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There is ongoing controversy regarding the prognostic value of PR prolongation among individuals free of cardiovascular diseases. It is necessary to risk-stratify this population according to other electrocardiographic parameters.

METHODS: This study is based on the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Cox proportional hazard models were constructed and Kaplan-Meier method was used.

RESULTS: A total of 6188 participants (58.1 ± 13.1 years; 55% women) were included. The median frontal QRS axis of the entire study population was 37° (IQR: 11-60°). PR prolongation was present in 7.6% of the participants, of whom 61.2% had QRS axis ≤37°. In a multivariable-adjusted model, mortality risk was highest in the group with concomitant prolonged PR interval and QRS axis ≤37° (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-1.39). In models with similar adjustment where population were reclassified depending on PR prolongation and QRS axis, prolonged PR interval and QRS axis ≤37° was still associated with increased risk of mortality (HR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.03-1.36) compared with normal PR interval.

CONCLUSIONS: QRS axis is an important factor for risk stratification in population with PR prolongation. The extent to which this population with PR prolongation and QRS axis ≤37° is at higher risk of death compared with the population without PR prolongation.

PMID:37243938 | DOI:10.1111/anec.13066

Alzheimers Dement. 2023 May 27. doi: 10.1002/alz.13159. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Investigation of learning slopes in early-onset dementias has been limited. The current study aimed to highlight the sensitivity of learning slopes to discriminate disease severity in cognitively normal participants and those diagnosed with early-onset dementia with and without β-amyloid positivity METHOD: Data from 310 participants in the Longitudinal Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Study (aged 41 to 65) were used to calculate learning slope metrics. Learning slopes among diagnostic groups were compared, and the relationships of slopes with standard memory measures were determined RESULTS: Worse learning slopes were associated with more severe disease states, even after controlling for demographics, total learning, and cognitive severity. A particular metric-the learning ratio (LR)-outperformed other learning slope calculations across analyses CONCLUSIONS: Learning slopes appear to be sensitive to early-onset dementias, even when controlling for the effect of total learning and cognitive severity. The LR may be the learning measure of choice for such analyses.

HIGHLIGHTS: Learning is impaired in amyloid-positive EOAD, beyond cognitive severity scores alone. Amyloid-positive EOAD participants perform worse on learning slopes than amyloid-negative participants. Learning ratio appears to be the learning metric of choice for EOAD participants.

PMID:37243937 | DOI:10.1002/alz.13159