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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Anti-staphylococcal responses and their relationship with HLA-DR-DQ polymorphism in granulomatosis with polyangiitis: a preliminary evidence of association with disease outcome

Clin Exp Med. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s10238-022-00865-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Chronic nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a risk factor for relapse of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), and genetic susceptibility to infections and autoimmune diseases is majorly affected by HLA genes. Previous studies have shown the association of HLA Class-II genes with GPA susceptibility. Here, we aim to assess immune responses of GPA patients against S. aureus antigens in relation to the HLA-DR-DQ genes polymorphism to determine the disease outcome. A total of 45 GPA patients and 128 healthy controls during 2010-2012 were included in this case-control study. HLA-DRB1/DQB1 allele typing was performed by polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) method. Immune responses against S. aureus antigens were investigated in 20 active vs. remitting GPA (after 6 months of cyclophosphamide and glucocorticoids) patients by Western blot. Statistical analysis was performed using χ2 test and Fisher’s exact test. We observed a significant association of DRB1*08, DRB1*16 and DQB1*04 alleles with GPA susceptibility, whereas DRB1*15, DRB1*10 and DQB1*05 alleles were suggested as protective alleles. Among S. aureus antigens, active GPA patients’ sera reacted more strongly with 34 and 24 kDa antigens of S. aureus than remitting and healthy control sera. Furthermore, we observed that the lack of DQB1*06 allele confers complete remission even in the presence of anti-S. aureus antibodies against 24 kDa protein. Our findings suggest that the presence of DQB1*06 allele and S. aureus infection may prolong active disease. Further, our study indicates the potential of using anti-staphylococcal medications for achieving remission in patients having HLA-DQB1*06 allele.

PMID:35881260 | DOI:10.1007/s10238-022-00865-6

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

The Impact of Autonomous and Controlled Sexting Motivations on Subjective Well-being and Relationship Quality

Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s10508-022-02361-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Although many studies have examined reasons for sexting among young people, few have taken into account the underlying motivations associated with different reasons and how that may be associated with divergent positive or negative outcomes. This study addressed this gap by employing Self-determination Theory to assess how autonomous and controlled motivations for sexting were related to subjective well-being and relationship quality among emerging adults. Online survey data from 267 emerging adults (72 men, 195 women) ages 18-25 who had sent sexually explicit images or videos of themselves through electronic means to a committed partner were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Autonomous and controlled motivations for sexting were significantly related to pleasant affect, with autonomous motivation predicting more pleasant affect and controlled motivation predicting less pleasant affect. Autonomous motivations for sexting were related to enhanced relationship quality, whereas controlled motivations for sexting were related to decreased relationship quality. Neither form of motivation had a statistically significant relationship with unpleasant affect or life satisfaction. These results demonstrate that the quality of motivations for sexting among emerging adults in committed relationships may contribute to different outcomes, particularly in terms of relationship quality. Implications for counselors, educators, and practitioners working with emerging adults who sext are discussed.

PMID:35881253 | DOI:10.1007/s10508-022-02361-0

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

A review of the potential of lichen substances as antifungal agents: the effects of extracts and lichen secondary metabolites on Fusarium fungi

Arch Microbiol. 2022 Jul 26;204(8):523. doi: 10.1007/s00203-022-03104-4.

ABSTRACT

The present meta-analysis provides literature data on the effect of lichen extracts and single secondary metabolites used against Fusarium spp. moulds. Lichen extracts were obtained from 51 corticolous, 17 terricolous and 18 saxicolous lichen species and 37 secondary compounds were tested against eight fungal species, i.e., Fusarium acuminatum, F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. fujikuroi, F. oxysporum, F. roseum, F. solani and F. udum. The researchers used several test methods, mostly to determine MIC and IZ. Extracts were obtained using several solvents, mainly organic ones with use of the Soxhlet apparatus. The most frequently tested species was F. oxysporum, against which lichen substances from Alectoria sarmentosa, Cladonia mitis, C. rangiferina, Flavoparmelia caperata, Hypotrachyna cirrhata, Leucodermia leucomelos, Parmotrema austrosinense, P. reticulatum, Physcia aipolia, Pseudevernia furfuracea, Roccella montagnei and Umbilicaria nylanderiana and secondary metabolites such as 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-3,6-dimethylbenzoic acid, atranorin, lecanoric and (+)-usnic acids showed the highest antifungal potential. These agencies could compete with the potential of fungicides, such as flucytosine and fluconazole. Other species have been poorly investigated. Statistical analysis of literature data showed that the fungistatic potential of lichen extracts is significantly different from individual secondary metabolites. Similarly, the potential of secondary metabolites often differs significantly from that of non-lichen substances. This meta-analysis indicates the potential of lichen substances as future anti-fusarial agents.

PMID:35881248 | DOI:10.1007/s00203-022-03104-4

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Comparison of three risk stratification scores in gastroschisis neonates: gastroschisis prognostic score, gastroschisis risk stratification index and complex gastroschisis

Pediatr Surg Int. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s00383-022-05180-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to compare and evaluate the utility of three different risk stratification scores for gastroschisis neonates; simple/complex gastroschisis, gastroschisis prognostic score and risk stratification index.

METHODS: Data of neonates born with gastroschisis between the years 1993 and 2015 were collected. The national registers and patient records of four Finnish University Hospitals were retrospectively reviewed. Logistic and linear regression analysis were performed to identify independent predictors for adverse outcomes. The efficacy of these prognostic methods was further assessed using ROC-curves and DeLong (1988) test.

RESULTS: Gastroschisis risk stratification index was an acceptable predictor of in-hospital mortality, AUC 0.70, 95% CI 0.48-0.91, p = 0.049. Complex gastroschisis and gastroschisis prognostic score were able to predict short bowel syndrome, AUC 0.80, 95% CI 0.58-1.00, p = 0.012 and AUC 0.80, 95% CI 0.59-1.00, p = 0.012, respectively.

CONCLUSION: There are three easily obtainable risk stratification scores for outcome prediction in gastroschisis patients, however, their predictive ability did not have a statistical difference in the present study. The Gastroschisis risk stratification index seemed to perform moderately well in mortality prediction.

PMID:35881242 | DOI:10.1007/s00383-022-05180-5

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Prevalence of and factors associated with molar-incisor hypomineralisation in schoolchildren in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland

Clin Oral Investig. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s00784-022-04648-x. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: As prevalence of molar-incisor hypomineralisation varies considerably in different countries and regions, the aim of this study was to obtain representative epidemiological data for schoolchildren living in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A representative population of schoolchildren of three different age groups, i.e. 1st grade (mean age: 7.4 years), 6th grade (mean age: 12.6 years), and 9th grade (mean age: 15.7 years) visiting compulsory schools in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland, was examined. The presence or absence of molar-incisor hypomineralisation at time of examination was recorded as well as potential influencing factors such as age group, gender, nationality, or the children’s place of residence.

RESULTS: A total of 1252 schoolchildren could be included. On average, the prevalence of MIH in the study population was 14.8%. No statistically significant differences were found for nationality, gender, or place of residence. Although not statistically significant, children from the youngest age group had the highest while children from the oldest age group had the lowest MIH prevalence.

CONCLUSION: With a mean value of 14.8%, MIH prevalence among schoolchildren living in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland, is comparable to mean values recorded globally.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study represents the first study on MIH prevalence in Switzerland and also provides further evidence on potential influencing factors.

PMID:35881241 | DOI:10.1007/s00784-022-04648-x

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

PEEK and fiberglass intra-radicular posts: influence of resin cement and mechanical cycling on push-out bond strength

Clin Oral Investig. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s00784-022-04645-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the bond strength of four types of posts (pre-fabricated fiberglass post, fiberglass post anatomized with composite resin, milled fiberglass post, and milled polyetheretherketone (PEEK) post), and two types of resin cements (conventional and self-adhesive) by assessing immediate bond strength and post-mechanical aging at each root third.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bovine endodontically treated roots (16 groups, n = 8) were prepared and the posts were produced and luted; the specimens of aging groups were cycled (300,000 cycles under 50 N load at 1.2 Hz frequency); six slices of each root were obtained; push-out test was performed by using a universal testing machine (500 N load at 1 mm/min cross speed); fracture pattern was classified into five levels. The statistical analyses used were three-way ANOVA, Tukey’s test (for bond strength), and Fisher’s test (for fracture pattern) (α < 0.05).

RESULTS: Differences were found between the cements for posts (conventional: p < 0.001; self-adhesive: p = 0.002), whereas no difference was found for root region (p = 0.941; p = 0.056, respectively); analysis of each root showed significant differences for cements (p < 0.001), posts (p < 0.001), and mechanical cycling (p = 0.001); in terms of double interaction, differences were found for posts and mechanical cycling (p = 0.005); no other interactions were observed (double or triple); the fracture pattern showed difference between the groups for both cements.

CONCLUSIONS: Milled PEEK posts seem to be a good clinical option, but they require improvement of CAD-CAM technology and advances towards their adhesion.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Milled posts are promising and can reduce clinical time for rehabilitation of extensively destroyed teeth.

PMID:35881239 | DOI:10.1007/s00784-022-04645-0

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Training deep neural networks with noisy clinical labels: toward accurate detection of prostate cancer in US data

Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s11548-022-02707-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Ultrasound is the standard-of-care to guide the systematic biopsy of the prostate. During the biopsy procedure, up to 12 biopsy cores are randomly sampled from six zones within the prostate, where the histopathology of those cores is used to determine the presence and grade of the cancer. Histopathology reports only provide statistical information on the presence of cancer and do not normally contain fine-grain information of cancer distribution within each core. This limitation hinders the development of machine learning models to detect the presence of cancer in ultrasound so that biopsy can be more targeted to highly suspicious prostate regions.

METHODS: In this paper, we tackle this challenge in the form of training with noisy labels derived from histopathology. Noisy labels often result in the model overfitting to the training data, hence limiting its generalizability. To avoid overfitting, we focus on the generalization of the features of the model and present an iterative data label refinement algorithm to amend the labels gradually. We simultaneously train two classifiers, with the same structure, and automatically stop the training when we observe any sign of overfitting. Then, we use a confident learning approach to clean the data labels and continue with the training. This process is iteratively applied to the training data and labels until convergence.

RESULTS: We illustrate the performance of the proposed method by classifying prostate cancer using a dataset of ultrasound images from 353 biopsy cores obtained from 90 patients. We achieve area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 0.73, 0.80, 0.63, and 0.69, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Our approach is able to provide clinicians with a visualization of regions that likely contain cancerous tissue to obtain more accurate biopsy samples. The results demonstrate that our proposed method produces superior accuracy compared to the state-of-the-art methods.

PMID:35881210 | DOI:10.1007/s11548-022-02707-y

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Correction to: Efficacy of narrowband UVB phototherapy in early‑stage mycosis fungoides in Iranian patients

Lasers Med Sci. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s10103-022-03618-9. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:35881209 | DOI:10.1007/s10103-022-03618-9

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Effectiveness of multiwave locked system laser on the treatment of patients with idiopathic Bell’s palsy: a randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial

Lasers Med Sci. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s10103-022-03616-x. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of scanning and point application of multiwave locked system (MLS) laser therapy on the recovery of patients with idiopathic Bell’s palsy (IBP). A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial was carried out on 60 patients with subacute BP. Patients were randomly assigned into three groups of 20 patients each. Facial massage and facial exercises were applied to all patients. Group one received MLS laser as a manual scanning technique (10 J/cm2, area 50cm2, total energy 500 J). Group two received MLS laser using point application technique (10 J/point, 8 points, total 80 J). Group three received placebo laser. House-Brackmann scale (HBS) and facial disability index (FDI) were used to evaluate the facial recovery. Assessment was performed at baseline and after 3 and 6 weeks of treatment. Comparison within and between groups was performed statistically with significance level p < 0.05. Results showed significant improvement in the FDI and HBS after treatment in all groups. Both scanning and point application significantly improved the score of FDI and HBS more than placebo group. Scanning technique combined with facial massage and exercises had a more significant effect than the point application group or the placebo group in improving FDI and HBS scores after 3 and 6 weeks of treatment. The MLS laser is an effective physiotherapy method used for the treatment of patients with IBP. MLS laser in scanning or point application techniques was more effective than exercise alone with greater effect of scanning technique than point application technique.

PMID:35881208 | DOI:10.1007/s10103-022-03616-x

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Establishment of prediction algorithm for the Honghe minority group based on warfarin maintenance dose

Pharmacogenomics. 2022 Jul 26. doi: 10.2217/pgs-2022-0038. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Background: CYP2C9 and VKORC1 are important factors in warfarin metabolism. The authors explored the effects of these genetic polymorphisms and clinical factors on a warfarin maintenance dose and then established the prediction algorithm for Honghe minorities in China. Materials & methods: Quantitative fluorescence PCR determined the mutation frequency of CYP2C9 and VKORC1-1639 G>A alleles. The authors collected the relevant clinical factors, including age, gender, body surface area (BSA), international normalized ratio value, daily warfarin dose, comorbidity and concomitant prescriptions. Results: The mean values of BSA and international normalized ratio in Honghe minorities were lower than in Han Chinese (p = 0.00). The genotype of CYP2C9*1/*1 and VKORC11639 AA was the main allele, the mutationfrequency of VKORC1-1639 AA and the number of male of Honghe minorities were lower than that of Han Chinese (p = 0.013 and p = 0.04). The significances of the effect on actual warfarin dose value were gender, VKORC1 AA mutant, CYP2C9*1/*1, age, hypertension and BSA sequentially. Conclusion: By multiple linear regression analysis with genetic and clinical factors, the authors determined a prediction algorithm for adjusting individual dosing of warfarin in this population. Clinical trial registration number: ChiCTR2100051778.

PMID:35880564 | DOI:10.2217/pgs-2022-0038