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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Measuring the accuracy of gridded human population density surfaces: A case study in Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 1;16(9):e0248646. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248646. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Geospatial datasets of population are becoming more common in models used for health policy. Publicly-available maps of human population make a consistent picture from inconsistent census data, and the techniques they use to impute data makes each population map unique. Each mapping model explains its methods, but it can be difficult to know which map is appropriate for which policy work. High quality census datasets, where available, are a unique opportunity to characterize maps by comparing them with truth.

METHODS: We use census data from a bed-net mass-distribution campaign on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, conducted by the Bioko Island Malaria Elimination Program as a gold standard to evaluate LandScan (LS), WorldPop Constrained (WP-C) and WorldPop Unconstrained (WP-U), Gridded Population of the World (GPW), and the High-Resolution Settlement Layer (HRSL). Each layer is compared to the gold-standard using statistical measures to evaluate distribution, error, and bias. We investigated how map choice affects burden estimates from a malaria prevalence model.

RESULTS: Specific population layers were able to match the gold-standard distribution at different population densities. LandScan was able to most accurately capture highly urban distribution, HRSL and WP-C matched best at all other lower population densities. GPW and WP-U performed poorly everywhere. Correctly capturing empty pixels is key, and smaller pixel sizes (100 m vs 1 km) improve this. Normalizing areas based on known district populations increased performance. The use of differing population layers in a malaria model showed a disparity in results around transition points between endemicity levels.

DISCUSSION: The metrics in this paper, some of them novel in this context, characterize how these population maps differ from the gold standard census and from each other. We show that the metrics help understand the performance of a population map within a malaria model. The closest match to the census data would combine LandScan within urban areas and the HRSL for rural areas. Researchers should prefer particular maps if health calculations have a strong dependency on knowing where people are not, or if it is important to categorize variation in density within a city.

PMID:34469444 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0248646

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Characterization of Heat Exposure-Associated Escape Behaviors and HSP Gene Expression in Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius L.)

Pest Manag Sci. 2021 Sep 1. doi: 10.1002/ps.6620. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Heat can be effective for bed bug elimination. However, in some cases bed bugs survive heat treatments. The objectives of this study were to determine the behavioral responses of bed bugs to rising harborage temperatures (23.0-49.0°C) and identify which heat shock protein (HSP) genes are expressed after heat exposure. First, a custom-made copper arena and harborage were used to determine the escape behaviors of six bed bug populations. Next, HSP gene expression responses of select populations were determined after heat exposure using real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).

RESULTS: Analysis of the 25min behavioral experiment data found that harborage top temperatures associated with 25, 50 and 75% probabilities of bed bugs to flee the harborage did not differ significantly between populations. Also, the percentage of insects that escaped from heated areas and survived (4.0 &c.lstrov; 12.0%) was not different between populations. However, when specific temperatures at which successful escapes occurred were statistically compared, the Poultry House population was found to flee the harborage at statistically higher temperatures (43.6±0.5°C) than others (40.5±0.6-42.0±0.7°C). The RT-qPCR experiments revealed that the HSP70.1, HSP70.3, and Putative Small HSP genes were significantly upregulated 15min, 2h, and 4h post heat-exposure and decreased back to baseline levels by 24h.

CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that when harborage top temperatures approach 40.0-43.0°C, bed bugs will disperse in search for cooler areas. This work implicates the HSP70.1, HSP70.3, and Putative Small HSP genes in heat induced stress recovery of bed bugs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34468070 | DOI:10.1002/ps.6620

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Functioning profiles of individuals with Mucopolysaccharidosis according to the International Classification of Functioning

Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2021 Sep 1. doi: 10.23736/S1973-9087.21.06881-7. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The classification of health problems of persons with Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) may contribute to better understanding the disease impacts. The ICF is a useful tool to describe disabilities and functioning, especially in diseases with multisystemic involvement.

AIM: To identify and classify the health needs of persons with non-neuronopathic MPS according to the ICF.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Department of Physical Therapy (Federal University, Brazil).

POPULATION: Persons with non-neuronopathic MPS.

METHODS: Semi-structured interviews covering all components of the ICF were conducted to know the patients’ perspectives of their health problems (patient-reported outcomes). The speeches were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by researchers to identifying meaningful concepts. Then, the concept units were linked to ICF components and the magnitude of the problem to ICF qualifiers. Data are shown by descriptive statistics and separated into two groups: children and adolescents, and adults.

RESULTS: A total of 60 different ICF categories were used to classify participants’ functioning. A total of 28 and 51 categories was necessary to classify the health problems of children and adults, respectively. Additionally, 16 categories related to contextual factors were used, of which eight and 12 were identified as facilitators by children, adolescents, and adults, respectively. The main problems were related to supportive functioning of arms or legs (b7603), pain in the body part (b2801), respiratory functions (b440), and voice functions (b310). Limitations in the activity and participation component were related to walking (d450), fine hand use (d440), washing oneself (d510), and dressing (d540). Recreation and leisure (d920) was restricted to approximately half of the studied population.

CONCLUSIONS: People with MPS face impairments of body structures and functions, activity limitations and restrictions to participation. Environmental factors may be act as facilitators of these problems.

CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: The ICF is a useful tool to classify the health problems of people with non-neuropathic MPS. The planning of rehabilitation programs needs to covers all components of functioning to provide a biopsychosocial model of care. The ICF categories may direct health professionals to more effective targets.

PMID:34468112 | DOI:10.23736/S1973-9087.21.06881-7

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Bibliometric analysis of the Doctor of Nursing Practice dissertations in the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database

J Adv Nurs. 2021 Sep 1. doi: 10.1111/jan.15006. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: To examine the distributed characteristics and explore the research themes of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) dissertations during the past two decades.

DESIGN: A descriptive statistical and visualization bibliometric analysis was conducted.

METHODS: Doctor of Nursing Practice dissertations submitted between January 2005 and June 2021 were collected from the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to calculate the distribution of the DNP dissertations by granting institution and the published year of publications. The VOSviewer 1.6.13 was used to explore the bibliometric networks and research priorities of the DNP dissertations.

RESULTS: A total of 4989 DNP dissertations from 90 universities were included in this study, all from the United States. The number of DNP dissertations showed an upward trend, with steady growth from 2005 to 2014 and rapid growth after 2015. The DNP studies focused on five areas: health care management in clinical nursing, advanced practice in nursing education and health education, public health problems, mental health care for adolescents and nurses and the older people care and long-term care.

CONCLUSION: Parallel to the numerical increase in DNP dissertations is a steady expansion in the range of research topics and scopes, which is aligned with specific specializations of the DNP. Many are interdisciplinary and employ techniques imported from the fields of public health, psychology and social sciences, resulting in nursing educators and practitioners continually broaden their subject perspectives.

IMPACT: Knowing where, when and why DNP research trends developed will help nursing educators to further develop DNP education and optimize DNP programs in the future, such as paying more attention to the nursing practice. Moreover, this study will inspire DNP students and researchers to expand their subject perspectives and broaden the research scope to solve nursing practice problems based on interdisciplinary theories and methods.

PMID:34468043 | DOI:10.1111/jan.15006

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Comparative efficacy of the bone-anchored maxillary protraction protocols for orthopedic treatment in skeletal Class III malocclusion: A Bayesian network meta-analysis

Orthod Craniofac Res. 2021 Sep 1. doi: 10.1111/ocr.12532. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To compare the treatment effects of five bone-anchored maxillary protraction protocols (BAC3E, BAMP, BARME-FM, BARME-ME, SAFM) for skeletal Class III malocclusion.

METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature search through CENTRAL, EBSCO, PubMed and Web of Science and, included the randomized controlled trials and clinical controlled trials, which met the criteria. A Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) for SNA, SNB, ANB, SN-MP and Wits appraisal was performed in R software using a random consistency model. The additional analyses included node-splitting analysis, statistical heterogeneity analysis, sensitivity analysis and ranking probability by SUCRA.

RESULTS: 598 articles were initially obtained; 13 articles involving 482 individuals were eventually included. Among the five bone-anchored maxillary protraction protocols, the largest increment in SNA and Wits appraisal was observed in the BAMP group and BAC3E group respectively; the SAFM, BAC3E and BAMP groups showed similar capability in terms of changes of ANB; least clockwise rotation of the mandible was found in the BARME-ME group, followed by the BAMP group; dental compensation appears to be most pronounced in the BAC3E group; intermaxillary traction seems to reduce the lingual inclination of lower incisors, even cause labial inclination.

CONCLUSIONS: The SAFM, BAMP, BAC3E groups seem to be advantageous in the improvement of the maxillo-mandibular relationship, followed by the BARME-FM and BARME-ME groups. The findings of this study should be interpreted with caution since only short-term effects were compared and the quality of evidence ranged from very low to moderate. More RCTs with high-quality and long-term investigation are needed.

PMID:34468065 | DOI:10.1111/ocr.12532

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

The relationship between brain structure and general psychopathology in preadolescents

J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2021 Sep 1. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13513. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: An emerging body of literature has indicated that broad, transdiagnostic dimensions of psychopathology are associated with alterations in brain structure across the life span. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between brain structure and broad dimensions of psychopathology in the critical preadolescent period when psychopathology is emerging.

METHODS: This study included baseline data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® (n = 11,875; age range = 9-10 years; male = 52.2%). General psychopathology, externalizing, internalizing, and thought disorder dimensions were based on a higher-order model of psychopathology and estimated using Bayesian plausible values. Outcome variables included global and regional cortical volume, thickness, and surface area.

RESULTS: Higher levels of psychopathology across all dimensions were associated with lower volume and surface area globally, as well as widespread and pervasive alterations across the majority of cortical and subcortical regions studied, after adjusting for sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, income, and maternal psychopathology. The relationships between general psychopathology and brain structure were attenuated when adjusting for cognitive functioning. There were no statistically significant relationships between psychopathology and cortical thickness in this sample of preadolescents.

CONCLUSIONS: The current study identified lower cortical volume and surface area as transdiagnostic biomarkers for general psychopathology in preadolescence. Future research may focus on whether the widespread and pervasive relationships between general psychopathology and brain structure reflect cognitive dysfunction that is a feature across a range of mental illnesses.

PMID:34468031 | DOI:10.1111/jcpp.13513

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

A Bayesian longitudinal trend analysis of count data with Gaussian processes

Biom J. 2021 Sep 1. doi: 10.1002/bimj.202000298. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The context of comparing two different groups of subjects that are measured repeatedly over time is considered. Our specific focus is on highly variable count data which have a nonnegligible frequency of zeros and have time trends that are difficult to characterize. These challenges are often present when analyzing bacteria or gene expression data sets. Traditional longitudinal data analysis methods, including generalized estimating equations, can be challenged by the features present in these types of data sets. We propose a Bayesian methodology that effectively confronts these challenges. A key feature of the methodology is the use of Gaussian processes to flexibly model the time trends. Inference procedures based on both sharp and interval null hypotheses are discussed, including for the important hypotheses that test for group differences at individual time points. The proposed methodology is illustrated with next-generation sequencing (NGS) data sets corresponding to two different experimental conditions. In particular, the method is applied to a case study containing bacteria counts of mice with chronic and nonchronic wounds to identify potential wound-healing probiotics. The methodology can be applied to similar NGS data sets comparing two groups of subjects.

PMID:34468034 | DOI:10.1002/bimj.202000298

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

The short- and long-term outcomes of pancreaticoduodenectomy for distal cholangiocarcinoma

Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. 2021 Aug 10. doi: 10.5507/bp.2021.043. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to calculate the short-term and long-term outcomes of curative-intent surgery in distal cholangiocarcinoma (DCC) patients to identify potential prognostic factors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of 32 consecutive DCC patients treated with pancreaticoduodenectomy between 2009 – 2017. The clinicopathological and histopathological data were evaluated for prognostic factors using the univariable Cox regression analysis. The Overall Survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier analysis.

RESULTS: The study comprised a total of 32 patients, with a mean age of 65.8 (± 9.0) years at the time of surgery. R0 resection was achieved in 25 (86.2%) patients, 19 (65.5%) patients received adjuvant oncological therapy. The OS rates at 1, 3 and 5 years were 62.5%, 37.5% and 21.9%, respectively. The 90-day mortality was 3/32 (9.4%) accounting for one-fourth of the first-year mortality rate. The median OS was 28.5 months. The only statistically significant prognostic factor was vascular resection, which was associated with worse OS in the univariable analysis (HR: 3.644; 95%-CI: 1.179-11.216, P=0.025). An age less than 65 years, ASA grade I/II, hospital stay of fewer than 15 days, R0 resection, lymph node ratio less than 0.2 and adjuvant oncological therapy tended to be associated with better OS but without statistically significant relevance.

CONCLUSION: The main factor directly influencing the survival of DCC patients is surgical complications. Surgical mortality comprises a significant group of patients, who die in the first year following pancreaticoduodenectomy. Vascular resection is the most important negative prognostic factor for long-term survival.

PMID:34467956 | DOI:10.5507/bp.2021.043

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Quantitative Anatomic Comparison of Microsurgical Transcranial, Endoscopic Endonasal, and Transorbital Approaches to the Spheno-Orbital Region

Oper Neurosurg (Hagerstown). 2021 Sep 1:opab310. doi: 10.1093/ons/opab310. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The spheno-orbital region (SOR) is a complex anatomic area that can be accessed with different surgical approaches.

OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively compare, in a preclinical setting, microsurgical transcranial approaches (MTAs), endoscopic endonasal transpterygoid approach (EEA), and endoscopic transorbital approaches (ETOAs) to the SOR.

METHODS: These approaches were performed in 5 specimens: EEA, ETOAs (superior eyelid and inferolateral), anterolateral MTAs (supraorbital, minipterional, pterional, pterional-transzygomatic, and frontotemporal-orbitozygomatic), and lateral MTAs (subtemporal and subtemporal transzygomatic). All specimens underwent high-resolution computed tomography; an optic neuronavigation system with dedicated software was used to quantify working volume and exposed area for each approach. Mixed linear models with random intercepts were used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS: Anterolateral MTAs offer a direct route to the greater wings (GWs) and lesser wings (LWs); only they guarantee exposure of the anterior clinoid. Lateral MTAs provide access to a large area corresponding to the GW, up to the superior orbital fissure (SOF) anteriorly and the foramen rotundum medially. ETOAs also access the GW, close to the lateral portion of SOF, but with a different angle of view as compared to lateral MTAs. Access to deep and medial structures, such as the lamina papyracea and the medial SOF, is offered only by EEA, which exposes the LW and GW only to a limited extent.

CONCLUSION: This is the first study that offers a quantitative comparison of the most used approaches to SOR. A detailed knowledge of their advantages and limitations is paramount to choose the ideal one, or their combination, in the clinical setting.

PMID:34467999 | DOI:10.1093/ons/opab310

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Time-course analysis of metabolomic and microbial responses in anaerobic digesters exposed to ammonia

Chemosphere. 2021 Jun 22;283:131309. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131309. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Omics longitudinal studies are effective experimental designs to inform on the stability and dynamics of microbial communities in response to perturbations, but time-course analytical frameworks are required to fully exploit the temporal information acquired in this context. In this study we investigate the influence of ammonia on the stability of anaerobic digestion (AD) microbiome with a new statistical framework. Ammonia can severely reduce AD performance. Understanding how it affects microbial communities development and the degradation progress is a key operational issue to propose more stable processes. Thirty batch digesters were set-up with different levels of ammonia. Microbial community structure and metabolomic profiles were monitored with 16 S-metabarcoding and GCMS (gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry). Digesters were first grouped according to similar degradation performances. Within each group, time profiles of OTUs and metabolites were modelled, then clustered into similar time trajectories, evidencing for example a syntrophic interaction between Syntrophomonas and Methanoculleus that was maintained up to 387 mg FAN/L. Metabolites resulting from organic matter fermentation, such as dehydroabietic or phytanic acid, decreased with increasing ammonia levels. Our analytical framework enabled to fully account for time variability and integrate this parameter in data analysis.

PMID:34467946 | DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131309