Tag: pubmed

IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2022 Oct 28;PP. doi: 10.1109/TMI.2022.3218074. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Simultaneously estimating brain source activity and noise has long been a challenging task in electromagnetic brain imaging using magneto- and electroencephalography. The problem is challenging not only in terms of solving the NP-hard inverse problem of reconstructing unknown brain activity across thousands of voxels from a limited number of sensors, but also for the need to simultaneously estimate the noise and interference. We present a generative model with an augmented leadfield matrix to simultaneously estimate brain source activity and sensor noise statistics in electromagnetic brain imaging (EBI). We then derive three Bayesian inference algorithms for this generative model (expectation-maximization (EBI-EM), convex bounding (EBI-Convex) and fixed-point (EBI-Mackay)) to simultaneously estimate the hyperparameters of the prior distribution for brain source activity and sensor noise. A comprehensive performance evaluation for these three algorithms is performed. Simulations consistently show that the performance of EBI-Convex and EBI-Mackay updates is superior to that of EBI-EM. In contrast to the EBI-EM algorithm, both EBI-Convex and EBI-Mackay updates are quite robust to initialization, and are computationally efficient with fast convergence in the presence of both Gaussian and real brain noise. We also demonstrate that EBI-Convex and EBI-Mackay update algorithms can reconstruct complex brain activity with only a few trials of sensor data, and for resting-state data, achieving significant improvement in source reconstruction and noise learning for electromagnetic brain imaging.

PMID:36306311 | DOI:10.1109/TMI.2022.3218074

J Neurotrauma. 2022 Oct 28. doi: 10.1089/neu.2022.0206. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Despite enormous research interest in diffusion tensor and kurtosis imaging (DTI; DKI) following mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), it remains unknown how diffusion in white matter evolves post-injury and relates to acute MTBI characteristics. This prospective cohort study aimed to characterize diffusion changes in white matter the first year after MTBI. Patients with MTBI (n=193) and matched controls (n=83) underwent 3T MRI within 72 hours and 3- and 12-months post-injury. Diffusion data were analyzed in three steps: (1) voxel-wise comparisons between the MTBI- and control group were performed with tract-based spatial statistics at each time point; (2) clusters of significant voxels identified in (1) were evaluated longitudinally with mixed effect models; (3) the MTBI group was divided into (A) complicated (with macrostructural findings on MRI) and uncomplicated MTBI, (B) long (1-24 hours) and short (< 1 hour) post-traumatic amnesia (PTA), and (C) other and no other concurrent injuries, to investigate if findings in (1) were driven mainly by aberrant diffusion in patients with a more severe injury. At 72 hours, voxel-wise comparisons revealed significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in one tract and significantly lower mean kurtosis (Kmean) in 11 tracts in the MTBI- compared to control group. At 3 months, the MTBI group had significantly higher mean diffusivity in 8 tracts compared to controls. At 12 months, FA was significantly lower in 4 tracts and Kmean in 10 tracts in patients with MTBI compared to controls. There was considerable overlap in affected tracts across time, including the corpus callosum, corona radiata, internal and external capsule, and cerebellar peduncles. Longitudinal analyses revealed that the diffusion metrics remained relatively stable throughout the first year after MTBI. The significant group*time interactions identified were driven by changes in the control- rather than the MTBI group. Further, differences identified in step 1 did not result from greater diffusion abnormalities in patients with complicated MTBI, long PTA, or other concurrent injuries, as standardized mean differences in diffusion metrics between the groups were small (0.07±0.11) and non-significant. However, follow-up voxel-wise analyses revealed that other concurrent injuries had effects on diffusion metrics, but predominantly in other metrics, and at other time points, than the effects observed in the MTBI versus control group analysis. In conclusion, patients with MTBI differed from controls in white matter integrity already 72 hours after injury. Diffusion metrics remained relatively stable throughout the first year after MTBI and were not driven by deviating diffusion in patients with a more severe MTBI.

PMID:36305387 | DOI:10.1089/neu.2022.0206

Physiother Theory Pract. 2022 Oct 28:1-8. doi: 10.1080/09593985.2022.2140023. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Trunk control is associated with gross motor development. This study examines the relationship between segmental trunk control and gross motor performance in low birth weight (LBW) infants.

METHODS: A total of 42 LBW infants and 43 normal birth weight (NBW) infants aged 3-9 months were sampled for this cross-sectional study. All infants were evaluated one time by the Segmental Assessment Trunk Control (SATCo) and the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS).

RESULTS: Statistically high and significant correlations were found between gross motor performance and segmental trunk control in all sample populations (r = 0.835; p = .001). No statistically significant difference was found regarding the segmental trunk control between the groups (p = .119). The LBW infants with atypical motor development had poorer trunk control than the LBW infants with typical development (f = 5.480; p = .001).

CONCLUSION: Our results show that LBW infants with atypical motor development had poorer trunk control than LBW infants with typical motor development. It was found that the segmental trunk controls of LBW infants were 0.398 times lower than in NBW infants.

PMID:36305353 | DOI:10.1080/09593985.2022.2140023

Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2022 Oct 24. doi: 10.55563/clinexprheumatol/20028h. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of labial salivary gland changes in female patients with Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) having different European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Sjögren’s syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI) and serological markers using conventional ultrasound and shear wave elastography (SWE).

METHODS: A total of 82 female inpatients diagnosed with SS were retrospectively examined at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from July 2020 to December 2021. The patients were divided into two groups based on the ESSDAI score: remission group (ESSDAI <5) and active group (ESSDAI ≥5). The prognosis of patients was assessed using serological markers. The ultrasound examination of bilateral labial glands was performed in all patients to analyze the quantity and area of the largest single labial gland per unit detection range (Smax). The SWE of labial glands was performed in different groups.

RESULTS: The Smax and quantity of labial glands on both sides were correlated with patient age in 82 female patients with SS. Emin, Emean and Emax of remission group based on ESSDAI were significant lower than active group (p<0.001), and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve for these three in diagnosing were 0.720, 0.728 and 0.734, respectively. The differences in Emean, Emin and Emax values of labial gland between the two groups of immunoglobulin G (IgG) <16g/L and IgG ≥16g/L were statistically significant differences (p<0.05), and the area under the ROC curve(AUC) for the three values were 0.825, 0.830, and 0.815, respectively. There were statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in Emin, Emean, and Emax of labial glands between the hypocomplementemic and non-hypocomplementemic groups, and the AUC for the three values were 0.840, 0.843, and 0.819, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Conventional ultrasound and SWE of the labial gland can reflect the disease activity and prognosis of patients with SS, and more conveniently assess the progression in the patients and provide imaging evidence.

PMID:36305348 | DOI:10.55563/clinexprheumatol/20028h

Psychother Res. 2022 Oct 28:1-13. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2022.2138790. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Prior studies of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder (BPD) have yielded heterogeneous findings on what factors differentiate individuals with or without sufficient treatment response, highlighting the need for further research.

METHOD: We investigated a sample of 105 individuals with BPD receiving a 6-month course of DBT. Participants were categorized as sufficient or insufficient responders using clinical and statistical change indices (based on emotion dysregulation, BPD symptom severity, utilization of DBT skills, and functional impairment). Sociodemographic, clinical severity, and treatment process factors were tested as potential predictors of treatment response using a machine learning approach (LASSO regression).

RESULTS: Two cross-validated LASSO regression models predicted treatment response (AUCs > .75). They suggested that higher homework completion rate, retention in treatment, and greater baseline severity were the most important predictors of DBT treatment response indicated by BPD symptom severity and utilization of DBT skills. Favorable effects of some aspects of therapeutic alliance during initial sessions were also found.

CONCLUSIONS: Future research may benefit from consolidating the criteria of treatment response, identifying clinically relevant variables, and testing the generalizability of findings to enhance knowledge of insufficient treatment response in DBT for BPD.

PMID:36305345 | DOI:10.1080/10503307.2022.2138790

Cartilage. 2022 Oct 28:19476035221126343. doi: 10.1177/19476035221126343. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate early radiological and clinical outcome of autologous minced cartilage treatment as a single-step treatment option in patients with a chondral or osteochondral lesion (OCL) in the knee.

DESIGN: Eighteen patients with an OCL in the knee were included. Cartilage from healthy-appearing loose bodies and/or the periphery of the defect were minced into small chips and sealed in the defect using fibrin glue. Preoperatively, and at 3 (n = 14) and 12 (n = 18) months follow-up, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed. The Magnetic Resonance Observation of Cartilage Repair Tissue (MOCART) 2.0 score was used to assess the cartilage repair tissue on MRI at 12 months. The International Knee Documentation Score, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, EuroQoL-5D, and Visual Analogue Scale pain were collected preoperatively and 12 months after surgery.

RESULTS: Three months postoperative, MRI showed complete defect filling in 11 out of 14 patients. Mean MOCART 2.0 score at 12 months was 65.0 ± 18.9 with higher scores for lateral femoral chondral lesions compared to medial femoral chondral lesions (75.8 ± 14.3, 52.5 ± 15.8 respectively, P = 0.02). Clinical and statistical significant improvements were observed in the patient-reported outcome measures at 12 months postoperatively compared to preoperatively.

CONCLUSION: Treatment of OCLs using the autologous minced cartilage procedure resulted in good cartilage repair measured by MOCART 2.0. Clinically relevant improvements were observed in the clinical scores. This study suggests autologous minced cartilage as a promising, single-step treatment for OCLs.

PMID:36305343 | DOI:10.1177/19476035221126343

Int J Eat Disord. 2022 Oct 28. doi: 10.1002/eat.23838. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Elevated glucose variability may be one mechanism that increases risk for significant psychological and physiological health conditions among individuals with binge-spectrum eating disorders (B-EDs), given the impact of eating disorder (ED) behaviors on blood glucose levels. This study aimed to characterize glucose variability among individuals with B-EDs compared with age-matched, sex-matched, and body mass index-matched controls, and investigate the association between frequency of ED behaviors and glucose variability.

METHODS: Participants were 52 individuals with B-EDs and 22 controls who wore continuous glucose monitors to measure blood glucose levels and completed ecological momentary assessment surveys to measure ED behaviors for 1 week. Independent samples t-tests compared individuals with B-EDs and controls and multiple linear regression models examined the association between ED behaviors and glucose variability.

RESULTS: Individuals with B-EDs demonstrated numerically higher glucose variability than controls (t = 1.42, p = .08, d = 0.43), although this difference was not statistically significant. When controlling for covariates, frequency of ED behaviors was significantly, positively associated with glucose variability (t = 3.17, p = .003) with medium effect size (f² = 0.25). Post hoc analyses indicated that binge eating frequency was significantly associated with glucose variability, while episodes of 5+ hours without eating were not.

DISCUSSION: Glucose variability among individuals with B-EDs appears to be positively associated with engagement in ED behaviors, particularly binge eating. Glucose variability may be an important mechanism by which adverse health outcomes occur at elevated rates in B-EDs and warrants future study.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE: This study suggests that some individuals with binge ED and bulimia nervosa may experience elevated glucose variability, a physiological symptom that is linked to a number of adverse health consequences. The degree of elevation in glucose variability is positive associated with frequency of eating disorder behaviors, especially binge eating.

PMID:36305323 | DOI:10.1002/eat.23838

Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Oct 28. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03559. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Current methods of characterizing plastic debris use arbitrary, predetermined categorizations and assume that the properties of particles are independent. Here we introduce Gaussian mixture models (GMM), a technique suitable for describing non-normal multivariate distributions, as a method to identify mutually exclusive subsets of floating macroplastic and microplastic particles (latent class analysis) based on statistically defensible categories. Length, width, height and polymer type of 6,942 particles and items from the Atlantic Ocean were measured using infrared spectroscopy and image analysis. GMM revealed six underlying normal distributions based on length and width; two within each of the lines, films, and fragments categories. These classes differed significantly in polymer types. The results further showed that smaller films and fragments had a higher correlation between length and width, indicating that they were about the same size in two dimensions. In contrast, larger films and fragments showed low correlations of height with length and width. This demonstrates that larger particles show greater variability in shape and thus plastic fragmentation is associated with particle rounding. These results offer important opportunities for refinement of risk assessment and for modeling the fragmentation and distribution of plastic in the ocean. They further illustrate that GMM is a useful method to map ocean plastics, with advantages over approaches that use arbitrary categorizations and assume size independence or normal distributions.

PMID:36305282 | DOI:10.1021/acs.est.2c03559

Mycoses. 2022 Oct 28. doi: 10.1111/myc.13542. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The second wave of COVID-19 in India was followed by large number of mucormycosis cases. Indiscriminate use of immunosuppressive drugs, underlying diseases like diabetes cancers, or autoimmune diseases was thought to be the cause. However, the mortality was not as high as that seen in non-COVID mucormycosis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the detailed characteristics of T-cells for evaluating the underlying differences in the T-cell immune dysfunction in post-COVID and non-COVID mucor patients.

MATERIAL & METHOD: The study included histopathologically confirmed cases of mucor (13 post-COVID, 13 non-COVID) and 15 healthy individuals (HI). Expression of T-cell activation (CD44, HLADR, CD69, CD38) and exhaustion (CTLA, PD-1, LAG-3 and TIM-3) markers was evaluated by flow cytometry.

RESULTS: All cases showed significant depletion of T-cells compared to HI. Both post-COVID and non-COVID groups showed increased activation and exhaustion as compared to HI. Non-COVID mucor group showed significant activation of CD4+T cells for HLADR and CD38 ((P=0.025, P=0.054) and marked T-cell exhaustion in form of expression of LAG-3 on both CD4+T and CD8+T cells in comparison to post-COVID patients (P=0.011, P=0.036). Additionally, co-expression of PD-1 & LAG-3 and LAG-3 & TIM-3 on CD8+T cells was statistically significant in non-COVID mucor patients (P=0.016, P=0.027).

CONCLUSION: Immunosuppression in non-COVID mucor showed pronounced exhaustion of T-cells in comparison to post-COVID mucor cases implicating T-cell immune dysfunction is much more severe in non-COVID mucor which are in a state of continuous activation followed by extreme exhaustion leading to poorer outcome.

PMID:36305225 | DOI:10.1111/myc.13542

Orthod Craniofac Res. 2022 Oct 28. doi: 10.1111/ocr.12617. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This retrospective two-center study aimed to evaluate the occlusal outcomes in patients undergoing orthognathic surgery with clear aligners.

METHODS: A retrospective chart review and occlusal outcomes for 15 patients (10 females and 5 males) with different types of dentofacial deformities in the anteroposterior, vertical and transverse dimensions, who underwent orthognathic surgery in conjunction with clear aligners were evaluated. Weighed Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) index scores of the pretreatment and posttreatment digital models were used to assess initial complexity, final occlusal outcomes, and degree of improvement with surgery and clear aligners.

RESULTS: The mean posttreatment PAR score was 3.5±2.54 which was a statistically significant improvement from the pretreatment PAR score of 27.63±12.09, an 87% improvement was achieved. All subcategories of the PAR index showed statistically significant improvement except for midline assessment component.

CONCLUSIONS: Occlusal outcomes with aligners showed great improvement as indicated with the PAR index scores. Orthognathic surgical cases can be treated efficiently with aligners and future studies should compare occlusal outcomes between orthognathic surgical patients treated with clear aligners and those treated with fixed appliances.

PMID:36305223 | DOI:10.1111/ocr.12617