Tag: statistics

Metallomics. 2022 Sep 6:mfac065. doi: 10.1093/mtomcs/mfac065. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Queuosine (Q) is a conserved hypermodification of the wobble base of tRNA containing GUN anticodons but the physiological consequences of Q deficiency are poorly understood in bacteria. This work combines transcriptomic, proteomic and physiological studies to characterize a Q-deficient Escherichia coli K12 MG1655 mutant. The absence of Q led to increased resistance to nickel and cobalt, and to increased sensitivity to cadmium, compared to the wild-type (WT) strain. Transcriptomic analysis of the WT and Q-deficient strains, grown in the presence and absence of nickel, revealed that the nickel transporter genes (nikABCDE) are down-regulated in the Q- mutant, even when nickel is not added. This mutant is therefore primed to resist to high nickel levels. Downstream analysis of the transcriptomic data suggested that the absence of Q triggers an atypical oxidative stress response, confirmed by the detection of slightly elevated ROS levels in the mutant, increased sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide and paraquat, and a subtle growth phenotype in a strain prone to accumulation of ROS.

PMID:36066904 | DOI:10.1093/mtomcs/mfac065

Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2022 Sep 6:gfac250. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfac250. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Urinalysis is a standard component of potential deceased kidney donor assessment in the UK. The value of albuminuria as a biomarker for organ quality is uncertain. We examined the relationship between deceased donor albuminuria and kidney utilisation, survival, and function.

METHODS: We performed a national cohort study on adult deceased donors and kidney transplant recipients between 2016 and 2020, using data from the UK Transplant Registry. We examined the influence of donor albuminuria, defined as ≥ 2 + on dipstick testing, on kidney utilisation, early graft function, graft failure, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

RESULTS: Eighteen % (1681/9309) of consented donors had albuminuria. After adjustment for confounders, kidneys from donors with albuminuria were less likely to be accepted for transplantation (74% vs 82%; OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.81). Of 9834 kidney transplants included in our study, 1550 (16%) came from donors with albuminuria. After a median follow-up of 2 years, 8% (118/1550) and 9% (706/8284) of transplants from donors with and without albuminuria failed, respectively. There was no association between donor albuminuria and graft failure (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.11). There was also no association with delayed graft function, patient survival, or eGFR at 1 or 3 years.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests reluctance in the UK to utilise kidneys from deceased donors with dipstick albuminuria but no evidence of an association with graft survival or function. This may represent a potential to expand organ utilisation without negatively impacting transplant outcomes.

PMID:36066902 | DOI:10.1093/ndt/gfac250

JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Sep 1;5(9):e2230146. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.30146.

ABSTRACT

IMPORTANCE: Comorbidities characterize the underlying health status of individuals. In the context of lung cancer screening (LCS), lung-related comorbidities may influence the observed benefits and harms.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the characteristics of individuals undergoing LCS, the LCS examination result, the cancer detection rate (CDR), and the false-positive rate (FPR) in those with and without lung-related comorbidities.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A prospective cohort study was conducted in 5 academic and community screening sites across North Carolina from January 1, 2014, to November 7, 2020. Participants included 611 individuals screened for lung cancer who completed a 1-page health history questionnaire.

EXPOSURES: Presence of at least 1 self-reported lung-related comorbidity, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, bronchiectasis, pulmonary fibrosis, silicosis, asbestosis, sarcoidosis, and tuberculosis.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The LCS examination result was determined from the radiologist’s Lung Imaging Reporting and Data System assessment (negative, 1 or 2; positive, 3 or 4). The age-adjusted CDR and FPR were calculated per 100 LCS examinations, using binary logistic regression.

RESULTS: Among the 611 individuals screened for lung cancer (308 men [50.4%]; mean [SD] age, 64 [6.2] years), 335 (54.8%) had at least 1 lung-related comorbidity. Individuals with vs without lung-related comorbidities were more likely to be female than male (180 of 335 [53.7%] vs 123 of 276 [44.6%]; P = .02), White vs non-White race (275 of 326 [84.4%] vs 193 of 272 [71.0%]; P < .001), and have high school or less education vs greater than a high school education (108 of 231 [46.7%] vs 64 of 208 [30.8%]; P = .001). There were no significant differences in the proportion of positive LCS examinations in those with vs without a lung-related comorbidity at baseline (37 [16.0%] vs 22 [11.1%]; P = .14) or subsequent (40 [12.3%] vs 23 [10.6%]; P = .54) LCS examination. Comparing individuals with vs without lung-related comorbidities, there was no statistically significant difference in the CDR (1.6 vs 1.9 per 100; P = .73) or FPR (13.0 vs 9.3 per 100; P = .16). Of the 17 individuals with lung cancer, 13 patients (76.5%) were diagnosed with stage I lung cancer.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings of this study suggest that individuals with self-reported lung-related comorbidities undergoing LCS were more likely to be female, of White race, and have less education than those without lung-related comorbidity. Although no statistically significant differences in the proportion of positive examinations, CDR, or FPR by self-reported lung comorbidities were noted, additional studies with larger numbers of individuals undergoing screening are needed to understand LCS outcomes in those with lung-related comorbidities.

PMID:36066893 | DOI:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.30146

Dev Psychol. 2022 Sep 5. doi: 10.1037/dev0001459. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Recruiting participants for studies of early-life longitudinal development is challenging, often resulting in practical upper bounds in sample size and missing data due to attrition. These factors pose risks for the statistical power of such studies depending on the intended analytic model. One mitigation strategy is to increase measurement precision by conducting assessments of children as close to a fixed chronological age as possible. We present analyses that illustrate how such practices are only sometimes useful, focusing on cases where temporal trajectories are analyzed using multilevel modeling approaches. Simulations were conducted using results from two studies of longitudinal development. Data were generated according to both continuous and discrete developmental processes and factorially analyzed treating time on either interval, ordinal, or categorical scales. The power to detect continuously generated developmental processes was robust to, and even benefited from, increased variability around target ages. For discrete processes, power was unaffected when modeled ordinally/categorically, but declined steadily if modeled using exact chronological age on an interval scale. Our results suggest that in many circumstances, researchers may be unnecessarily devoting resources toward minimizing age sampling variability when studying functional patterns across time. In fact, when the theoretical developmental process is continuous, increasing the age sampling variability of assessments and utilizing multilevel models in favor of latent growth curve alternatives can be associated with substantial gains rather than reductions in power. Such considerations also extend to limited equivalent formulations of other common developmental models, such as panel analysis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID:36066871 | DOI:10.1037/dev0001459

J Consult Clin Psychol. 2022 Aug;90(8):613-625. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000751.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Body image disturbance is crucial in the psychopathology of binge-eating disorder (BED). According to cognitive models of eating disorders, biased attentional processes contribute to the development and maintenance of body image concerns. Mirror exposure constitutes an effective method to improve body image. The present study investigated if stand-alone mirror exposure reduces body image concerns, eating pathology as well as body-related attention processes in BED.

METHOD: Women with BED were assigned to an intervention group (IG; four sessions of mirror exposure) or a waiting list control group (WL; 4 weeks waiting period). Prior to and after the intervention/waiting period, body image concerns, and attentional processes toward the self- and a control-body were measured using questionnaires and two eye-tracking tasks. All analyses were conducted on intent-to-treat (ITT) bases.

RESULTS: Relative to the WL, the IG reported lower levels of shape concerns and reduced eating pathology after the intervention. Furthermore, while at baseline attention for the most unattractive body part was higher for the self-body (SB) relative to the control body (CB) in both IG and WL, no such difference was found after the intervention in the IG. By contrast, in the WL attention allocation between SB and CB remained unchanged.

CONCLUSIONS: Evidence was found that stand-alone mirror exposure may contribute to improving shape concerns and the reduction of eating pathology in women with BED. Furthermore, mirror exposure impacts selective body-related attention even though generalizability of results is limited by small sample size, lack of statistical power, and expectancy effects due to comparison with WL. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID:36066863 | DOI:10.1037/ccp0000751

Clin Neuropharmacol. 2022 Sep 7. doi: 10.1097/WNF.0000000000000516. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Considering autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a neurodevelopmental condition associated with immune system impairments, we aimed to evaluate the potential benefits, efficacy, tolerability, and safety of the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective trans-resveratrol (RSV) in behavioral impairments and in a set of 8 microRNAs (miR) related to the immune system in pediatric subjects with ASD.

METHODS: This is an open-label pilot trial over a 3 months (90 days) study follow-up period designed to assess the effect of 200 mg/d RSV on 5 boys aged 10 to 13 (11.8 ± 1.1) years diagnosed with ASD according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.

RESULTS: The RSV treatment significantly reduced the Aberrant Behavior Checklist total score (P = 0.042) and Irritability (P = 0.041), with no alteration in Stereotypical Behavior (P = 0.066), Hyperactivity (P = 0.068), and Lethargy/Social Withdrawal (P = 0.078) subscales. On the Clinical Global Impression scale, 3 individuals showed marked improvement in behavior; one showed mild improvement, and the other had no changes. The RSV treatment increased the miR-195-5p (P = 0.043), an important modulator of targets related to inflammatory and immunological pathways. RSV administration did not present adverse effects and did not alter clinical laboratory results.

CONCLUSIONS: RSV is a safe molecule for administrating in the pediatric population, able to modulate behavior alterations and molecules associated with the immune system, becoming a promising therapeutic strategy for large-scale studies in ASD, to investigate both behavioral and molecular approaches.

PMID:36066854 | DOI:10.1097/WNF.0000000000000516

Mem Cognit. 2022 Sep 6. doi: 10.3758/s13421-022-01335-w. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:36066845 | DOI:10.3758/s13421-022-01335-w

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Sep 6. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-22878-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Varicella (chickenpox) is a serious public health problem in China, with the most reported cases among childhood vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, and its reported incidence has increased over 20-fold since 2005. Few previous studies have explored the association of multiple meteorological factors with varicella and considered the potential confounding effects of air pollutants. It is the first study to investigate and analyze the effects of multiple meteorological factors on varicella incidence, controlling for the confounding effects of various air pollutants. Daily meteorological and air pollution data and varicella cases were collected from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020, in Lu’an, Eastern China. A combination of the quasi-Poisson generalized additive model (GAM) and distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was used to evaluate the meteorological factor-lag-varicella relationship, and the risk of varicella in extreme meteorological conditions. The maximum single-day lag effects of varicella were 1.288 (95%CI, 1.201-1.381, lag 16 day), 1.475 (95%CI, 1.152-1.889, lag 0 day), 1.307 (95%CI, 1.196-1.427, lag 16 day), 1.271 (95%CI, 0.981-1.647, lag 4 day), and 1.266 (95%CI, 1.162-1.378, lag 21 day), when mean temperature, diurnal temperature range (DTR), mean air pressure, wind speed, and sunshine hours were -5.8°C, 13.5°C, 1035.5 hPa, 6 m/s, and 0 h, respectively. At the maximum lag period, the overall effects of mean temperature and pressure on varicella showed W-shaped curves, peaked at 17.5°C (RR=2.085, 95%CI: 1.480-2.937) and 1035.5 hPa (RR=5.481, 95%CI: 1.813-16.577), while DTR showed an M-shaped curve and peaked at 4.4°C (RR=6.131, 95%CI: 1.120-33.570). Sunshine hours were positively correlated with varicella cases at the lag of 0-8 days and 0-9 days when sunshine duration exceeded 10 h. Furthermore, the lag effects of extreme meteorological factors on varicella cases were statistically significant, except for the extremely high wind speed. We found that mean temperature, mean air pressure, DTR, and sunshine hours had significant nonlinear effects on varicella incidence, which may be important predictors of varicella early warning.

PMID:36066801 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-22878-0

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Sep 6. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-22819-x. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Mass transfer of CO₂ absorption in 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) – piperazine (PZ) – monoethanolamine (MEA) was statistically investigated in terms of overall mass transfer coefficient ([Formula: see text]) and CO₂ removal percentage. The parameters of interest were lean solvent flux (A), rich gas flux (B), CO₂ loading in the lean solvent (C), and ratio of the sampling height to the total column height [Formula: see text] (D). From ANOVA, A was the most impactable parameter on both responses with three-quarters of the overall contribution. Regarding the three-level factorial design, a second-order polynomial increasing trend of [Formula: see text] was observed as C and/or D increased. Additionally, [Formula: see text] linearly increased as A increased but was not affected by B. On the other hand, the CO₂ removal percentage linearly increased as A and/or D increased but linearly decreased as B and/or C increased. Surface analysis suggested the optimum condition for both responses at a high level of A, low level of B, low level of C, and middle level of D. In this work, D was statistically investigated and included in the predictive correlation for [Formula: see text] for the first time. The main advantage of the proposed correlation over the recently reported correlations was that it did not require a measurement of CO₂ partial pressure along the column height. For each amine component in the blend, (i) AMP played a positive key role in cyclic capacity and solvent regeneration duty, (ii) PZ enhanced transfer rate, and (iii) MEA elevated total amine concentration. As a result, 1.5:1.5:3 was recommended due to (i) elevations of 68.2% [Formula: see text], 14% CO₂ removal percentage, 15.1% absorption capacity, and 66.7% cyclic capacity and (ii) reduction of 50% regeneration duty compared with 5 M MEA. With respect to the other literature-reported solvents, AMP-PZ-MEA is very competitive in terms of transfer coefficient, cyclic capacity, and solvent regeneration heat duty.

PMID:36066795 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-22819-x

J Neurooncol. 2022 Sep 6. doi: 10.1007/s11060-022-04124-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To report the results of systematic meningioma screening program implemented by French authorities in patients exposed to progestin therapies (cyproterone (CPA), nomegestrol (NA), and chlormadinone (CMA) acetate).

METHODS: We conducted a prospective monocentric study on patients who, between September 2018 and April 2021, underwent standardized MRI (injection of gadolinium, then a T2 axial FLAIR and a 3D-T1 gradient-echo sequence) for meningioma screening.

RESULTS: Of the 210 included patients, 15 (7.1%) had at least one meningioma; seven (7/15, 47%) had multiple meningiomas. Meningiomas were more frequent in older patients and after exposure to CPA (13/103, 13%) compared to NA (1/22, 4%) or CMA (1/85, 1%; P = 0.005). After CPA exposure, meningiomas were associated with longer treatment duration (median = 20 vs 7 years, P = 0.001) and higher cumulative dose (median = 91 g vs. 62 g, P = 0.014). Similarly, their multiplicity was associated with higher dose of CPA (median = 244 g vs 61 g, P = 0.027). Most meningiomas were ≤ 1 cm³ (44/58, 76%) and were convexity meningiomas (36/58, 62%). At diagnosis, patients were non-symptomatic, and all were managed conservatively. Among 14 patients with meningioma who stopped progestin exposure, meningioma burden decreased in 11 (79%) cases with no case of progression during MR follow-up.

CONCLUSION: Systematic MR screening in progestin-exposed patients uncovers small and multiple meningiomas, which can be managed conservatively, decreasing in size after progestin discontinuation. The high rate of meningiomas after CPA exposure reinforces the need for systematic screening. For NA and CMA, further studies are needed to identify patients most likely to benefit from screening.

PMID:36066786 | DOI:10.1007/s11060-022-04124-2