Tag: pubmed

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2022 Aug 8. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000009521. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The 2020-2021 residency application cycle marked the first year of fully virtual integrated plastic surgery interviews. The virtual format was a double-edged sword for applicants with several advantages such as reduced costs and time lost from travel and disadvantages as the novel format introduced new stressors on top of an already demanding process. Concerns included unfair interview invitation (II) distribution, interview “hoarding,” and assessing “fit” virtually. In this study, we aimed to understand applicants’ experiences of the 2020-2021 virtual plastic surgery interview cycle.

METHODS: A survey was sent to 330 applicants in the 2020-2021 integrated plastic surgery application cycle. The survey included questions about participant demographics, pre-interview preparation, virtual interview experiences, and post-interview process. Statistical comparisons were performed on responses using SPSS.

RESULTS: Eighty-nine participants responded to the survey, representing a 27.0% response rate. Applicants received an average of 13.3 IIs (range 0-45) and attended an average of 11.4 interviews (range 0-30). Almost half (48.2%) did not feel IIs were distributed equitably and more than half (68.2%) reported that there should be a limit on the number of IIs an applicant can accept. The majority of respondents (88.1%) reported spending $500 or less on virtual interviews. Half (50.6%) participated in virtual sub-internships, of which 30.4% became significantly less interested in a program afterwards.

CONCLUSIONS: The inaugural virtual interview cycle had several advantages and disadvantages. Lessons learned from this year could be utilized towards building a more equitable, fair, and effective potential virtual cycle in years to come.

PMID:35939639 | DOI:10.1097/PRS.0000000000009521

Phytopathology. 2022 Aug 8. doi: 10.1094/PHYTO-04-22-0132-R. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Quantifying the effect of landscape composition on disease dynamics remains challenging because it depends on many factors. In this study, we used a hybrid process-based/statistical modelling approach to separate the effect of the landscape composition on the epidemiology of banana leaf streak disease (BLSD) from weather and fungicide effects. We parameterized our model with a 5-years dataset, including weekly measures of BLSD on 83 plots in Martinique. After estimating the intrinsic growth parameters of the Stage Evolution of the Disease (SED), we evaluated the dynamic effect of five fungicides. Then, we added the intra&inter-annual effect on disease dynamics using a generalized linear model. Finally, the whole model was used to assess the annual effect of the landscape on the SED for 11 plots. We evaluated the significance of the landscape composition (proportions of landscape elements in 200, 500, 800, 1000 m radius buffer zones) on the landscape effect evaluated with the model. The percentage of hedgerows in a 200 m radius buffer zone was negatively correlated to the landscape effect, i.e. it acted as a constraint against BLSD spreading and development. The proportion of managed-banana-plants in a 1000 m radius buffer zone was negatively correlated to the landscape effect, probably due to a mass effect of fungicide treatments. Inversely, the proportions of forest and the proportion unmanaged-banana-plants, both in 1000 m radius buffer zones, were positively correlated with the landscape effect. Our study provides a holistic approach of the role biotic and abiotic factors on the dynamics of BLSD.

PMID:35939624 | DOI:10.1094/PHYTO-04-22-0132-R

Biostatistics. 2022 Aug 8:kxac030. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxac030. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Though platform trials have been touted for their flexibility and streamlined use of trial resources, their statistical efficiency is not well understood. We fill this gap by establishing their greater efficiency for comparing the relative efficacy of multiple interventions over using several separate, 2-arm trials, where the relative efficacy of an arbitrary pair of interventions is evaluated by contrasting their relative risks as compared to control. In theoretical and numerical studies, we demonstrate that the inference of such a contrast using data from a platform trial enjoys identical or better precision than using data from separate trials, even when the former enrolls substantially fewer participants. This benefit is attributed to the sharing of controls among interventions under contemporaneous randomization. We further provide a novel procedure for establishing the noninferiority of a given intervention relative to the most efficacious of the other interventions under evaluation, where this procedure is adaptive in the sense that it need not be a priori known which of these other interventions is most efficacious. Our numerical studies show that this testing procedure can attain substantially better power when the data arise from a platform trial rather than multiple separate trials. Our results are illustrated using data from two monoclonal antibody trials for the prevention of HIV.

PMID:35939566 | DOI:10.1093/biostatistics/kxac030

Biostatistics. 2022 Aug 8:kxac032. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxac032. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Many scientific questions can be formulated as hypotheses about conditional correlations. For instance, in tests of cognitive and physical performance, the trade-off between speed and accuracy motivates study of the two variables together. A natural question is whether speed-accuracy coupling depends on other variables, such as sustained attention. Classical regression techniques, which posit models in terms of covariates and outcomes, are insufficient to investigate the effect of a third variable on the symmetric relationship between speed and accuracy. In response, we propose a conditional correlation model with association size, a likelihood-based statistical framework to estimate the conditional correlation between speed and accuracy as a function of additional variables. We propose novel measures of the association size, which are analogous to effect sizes on the correlation scale while adjusting for confound variables. In simulation studies, we compare likelihood-based estimators of conditional correlation to semiparametric estimators adapted from genomic studies and find that the former achieves lower bias and variance under both ideal settings and model assumption misspecification. Using neurocognitive data from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort, we demonstrate that greater sustained attention is associated with stronger speed-accuracy coupling in a complex reasoning task while controlling for age. By highlighting conditional correlations as the outcome of interest, our model provides complementary insights to traditional regression modeling and partitioned correlation analyses.

PMID:35939558 | DOI:10.1093/biostatistics/kxac032

Acta Oncol. 2022 Aug 8:1-11. doi: 10.1080/0284186X.2022.2106795. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with a poor prognosis that seriously threatens women’s health. There is still a lack of effective therapeutic targets for TNBC treatment. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death protein ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy for TNBC patients.

METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with chemotherapy. Literature conforming to the research content was identified according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The endpoints of efficacy were pathological complete response (pCR), event-free survival (EFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Safety outcomes included adverse events (AEs) of any grade, AEs of grade ≥3, serious AEs, and the incidence of various AEs. We obtained odds ratios (OR), hazard ratio (HR), and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the included studies. Data analysis was performed using Review Manager software (version 5.3).

RESULTS: A total of 4468 patients from eight RCTs were analyzed. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy significantly improved pCR (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.28 – 1.98, p < 0.0001), EFS (HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.48 – 0.91, p = 0.01), and OS (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.52 – 0.99, p = 0.05) in patients with TNBC compared to chemotherapy alone or placebo in combination with chemotherapy. Furthermore, we found that the pCR rate was almost identical in the PD-L1 positive group (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.26 – 2.16, p = 0.0002) and the PD-L1 negative group (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.04 – 2.33, p = 0.03). Among patients with advanced-stage TNBC, PFS (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.74 – 0.90, p < 0.0001) was longer in the combination therapy group than in the chemotherapy group. There were no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in OS (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.74 – 1.42, p = 0.87). In terms of safety, we found that the combination therapy group had a significantly higher incidence of hyperthyroidism in patients with early and advanced TNBC (OR, 5.76; 95% CI, 2.38 – 13.95, p = 0.0001) (OR, 7.86; 95% CI, 2.65 – 23.29, p = 0.0002).

CONCLUSIONS: The combination of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and chemotherapy could improve the survival and prognosis of patients with early and advanced TNBC. Combination treatment may be harmful to the thyroid; therefore, active surveillance and regular follow-up are necessary during treatment.

PMID:35939538 | DOI:10.1080/0284186X.2022.2106795

J Phys Chem Lett. 2022 Aug 8:7469-7475. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c02045. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Quantum supremacy has been recently reported for random circuit sampling on the Sycamore processor with 53 qubits. Here, we analyze the statistical properties of bit strings sampled from random quantum circuits. In contrast to classical random bit strings, bit strings sampled from Sycamore random circuits give rise to heat maps with stripe patterns at specific qubits, have more bit 1 than 0, and do not pass the NIST random number tests. The difference between the Sycamore bit strings and classical random bit strings is also demonstrated by the Marchenko-Pastur distribution and the Girko circular law of random matrices. The calculation of Wasserstein distances shows that the Sycamore bit strings are farther from bit strings sampled from Haar-measure random quantum circuits than classical random bit strings. Our results show that random matrices and Wasserstein distances could be used to analyze the performance of quantum computers.

PMID:35939529 | DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c02045

Ear Nose Throat J. 2022 Aug 8:1455613221112761. doi: 10.1177/01455613221112761. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Despite the presence of a growing body of literature suggesting cost-ineffectiveness of routine pathologic analysis of tonsillectomy specimens, little is known about common institutional policies and practice patterns of pediatric otolaryngologists. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of routine pathological evaluation of tonsillectomy specimens for uncomplicated pediatric adenotonsillectomy procedures and to evaluate opinions regarding this controversy among board-certified pediatric otolaryngologists.

METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey study sent to board-certified pediatric otolaryngologists currently practicing and registered with the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) assessing their institutions’ or practices’ current policies on sending routine tonsillectomy specimens for pathology, their experience with this practice, and their opinions on whether routine pathologic analysis should be employed. Basic statistical analysis was then conducted.

RESULTS: Respondents mostly practiced in an academic setting (68.4%), with the next most common being academically affiliated private practice (21.8%), and private practice was the least common (9.8%). Most respondents (85.1%) did not agree with routine pathologic analysis of otherwise uncomplicated pediatric tonsillectomy specimens.

CONCLUSION: Most pediatric otolaryngologists who responded to this survey do not support routine pathological analysis of otherwise uncomplicated pediatric tonsillectomy specimens. However, the results are likely biased and should be interpreted carefully, since only a small percentage of pediatric otolaryngologists responded to the survey. Potential cost savings could be seen by patients, payers, and hospital systems with judicious use of surgical pathology, specifically in cases with concurrent signs or symptoms suspicious for malignancy.

PMID:35939505 | DOI:10.1177/01455613221112761

Semin Ophthalmol. 2022 Aug 7:1-9. doi: 10.1080/08820538.2022.2108717. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to provide an overview of reported cases of poppers maculopathy and a statistical analysis of the clinical presentations, anatomical changes and treatment and follow-up of the rare disease.

METHODS: A systematic search of CINAHL, Embase and PubMed databases was conducted, including a search of the grey literature. Data were pooled to provide a summary of the clinical characteristics and outcomes of poppers maculopathy. Studies were critically appraised using the Joanna Briggs Institute or the Authority, Accuracy, Coverage, Objectivity, Date, Significance checklists.

RESULTS: Of the 493 articles obtained, 32 were included, consisting of 113 participants with a mean age of 40.2. Most patients were male with bilateral maculopathy and presented with either vision loss or a visual disturbance. Cessation of popper use was the most common form of management prescribed. The mean VA at baseline was 0.22 (logMAR units). For those followed-up, the mean VA significantly improved from 0.24 to 0.11 (Z = -5.800, p = <0.001). Bilateral yellow foveal spots were viewed on fundoscopy in 53 patients, and a sub-foveal disturbance of the ellipsoid layer was reported on spectral domain optical coherence tomography in 89 patients. By 6 months, SD-OCT anatomical changes mostly improved or resolved.

CONCLUSION: Recreational users of poppers who develop maculopathy generally present with vision loss or a visual disturbance secondary to foveal disruption. Patients have a good visual prognosis, with cessation of poppers potentially having a role in improved outcomes. With the high prevalence of use among gay and bisexual men, awareness of related maculopathy and presenting symptoms by clinicians is important to mitigate side effects.

PMID:35938499 | DOI:10.1080/08820538.2022.2108717

J Pharm Pract. 2022 Aug 7:8971900221118232. doi: 10.1177/08971900221118232. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic care management (CCM) can significantly impact the management of chronic diseases in rural patient populations. To date, few practice models have addressed its impact on clinical outcomes and access to care in rural practice settings.

OBJECTIVE: Implement a sustainable pharmacist-led CCM practice model while tracking clinical outcomes and healthcare access at a rural, medically underserved family medicine clinic.

METHODS: This study retrospectively examined data from the clinic’s CCM program from October 2020 through May 2021 and included total clinical encounters at three- and 6-months intervals, as well as changes in clinical outcomes like A1c and systolic blood pressure (SBP) at three- and 6-months intervals.

RESULTS: Over an 8-month period, 46 patients were enrolled in pharmacist-led CCM services. Those with a CCM encounter or office visit within 3 months of enrollment showed a mean A1c reduction of 1.07% after 3 months (95% CI -1.70 to -.44, P = .0016), while those with an encounter or office visit within 6 months of enrollment displayed a mean A1c reduction of 1.64% after 6 months (95% CI -2.35 to -.92, P < .001). There was a 73.8% increase in total clinical encounters in the 6 months after CCM enrollment compared to the 6 months preceding it, signifying increased access to care.

CONCLUSION: Patients with CCM encounters or office visits within the first 3-6 months experienced statistically significant reductions in A1c. Moreover, total clinical encounters markedly increased in the 6 months after enrollment, allowing for more frequent engagement between ambulatory pharmacists and traditionally challenging rural patients.

PMID:35938485 | DOI:10.1177/08971900221118232

J Sep Sci. 2022 Aug 8. doi: 10.1002/jssc.202200222. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Hawthorn and its derived products are used worldwide as foods as well as complementary medicine. During the preparation of hawthorn, heating and thermal processing are frequently reported. The thermal processing will change the medicinal purposes and modify the efficacy of hawthorn. However, details including the chemical profile shifting and quality markers of heat-processed hawthorn have not been well understood. In the paper, we analyzed the hawthorn samples processed at different temperatures and different times by ultraviolet visible absorption spectrum and LC-MS technologies combined with multivariate statistical analysis. It was revealed for the first time that thermal processing could greatly change the ultraviolet visible absorption spectra and chemical profiles of hawthorn even with heat treatment at 130°C for 10 minutes. And the ultraviolet visible absorption spectrum, especially the ratio value (R_{A500 nm/400 nm} ), was a descriptive and qualitative indicator of heating degree for the thermal processing at the macroscopic level. Several components, such as hyperoside, chlorogenic acid, quercetin and apigenin, decreased or increased in content during the processing, and they could be utilized as the chemical quality markers. The proposed quality markers for heat-processed hawthorn will be helpful for further optimizing the processing conditions of hawthorn. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35938469 | DOI:10.1002/jssc.202200222