Tag: statistics

World J Orthop. 2023 Oct 18;14(10):755-762. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v14.i10.755. eCollection 2023 Oct 18.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Flexible flatfoot (FFF) is a very common condition in children, but no evidence-based guidelines or assessment tools exist. Yet, surgical indication is left to the surgeon’s experience and preferences.

AIM: To develop a functional clinical score for FFF [Catania flatfoot (CTF) score] and a measure of internal consistency; to evaluate inter-observer and intra-observer reliability of the CTF Score; to provide a strong tool for proper FFF surgical indication.

METHODS: CTF is a medically compiled score of four main domains for a total of twelve items: Patient features, Pain, Clinical Parameters, and Functionality. Each item refers to a specific rate. Five experienced observers answered 10 case reports according to the CTF. To assess inter- and intra-observer reliability of the CTF score, the intra-class correlation coefficients’ (ICCs) statistics test was performed, as well as to gauge the correlation between the CTF score and the surgical or conservative treatment indication. Values of 75% were chosen as the score cut-off for surgical indication. Sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLHR), negative likelihood ratio (NLHR), positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV).

RESULTS: Overall interobserver reliability ICC was 0.87 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.846-0.892; P < 0.001]. Overall intra-observer reliability ICC was 0.883 (95%CI: 0.854-0.909; P < 0.001). A direct correlation between the CTF score and surgical treatment indication [Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.94 (P < 0.001)] was found. According to the 75% cut-off, the sensitivity was 100% (95%CI: 83.43%-100%), specificity was 85.71% (95%CI: 75.29%-92.93%), PLHR was 7 (95%CI: 3.94-12.43), NLHR was 0 (95%CI: 0-0), PPV was 75% (95%CI: 62.83%-84.19%) and NPV was 100% (95%CI: 100%-100%).

CONCLUSION: CTF represents a useful tool for orthopedic surgeons in the FFF evaluation. The CTF score is a quality questionnaire to reproduce suitable clinical research, survey studies, and clinical practice. Moreover, the 75% cut-off is an important threshold for surgical indication and helps in the decision-making process.

PMID:37970624 | PMC:PMC10642399 | DOI:10.5312/wjo.v14.i10.755

World J Hepatol. 2023 Oct 27;15(10):1127-1139. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v15.i10.1127.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is a rare genetic disease and a leading cause of inherited alterations in plasma protein metabolism (APPM).

AIM: To understand the prevalence, burden and progression of liver disease in patients with APPM including alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of anonymized patient-level claims data from a German health insurance provider (AOK PLUS). The APPM cohort comprised patients with APPM (identified using the German Modification of the International Classification of Diseases-10^th Revision [ICD-10-GM] code E88.0 between 01/01/2010-30/09/2020) and incident liver disease (ICD-10-GM codes K74, K70.2-3 and K71.7 between 01/01/2012-30/09/2020). The control cohort comprised patients without APPM but with incident liver disease. Outcomes were incidence/prevalence of liver disease in patients with APPM, demographics/baseline characteristics, diagnostic procedures, progression-free survival (PFS), disease progression and mortality.

RESULTS: Overall, 2680 and 26299 patients were included in the APPM (fibrosis, 96; cirrhosis, 2584) and control (fibrosis, 1444; cirrhosis, 24855) cohorts, respectively. Per 100000 individuals, annual incidence and prevalence of APPM and liver disease was 10-15 and 36-51, respectively. In the APPM cohort, median survival was 4.7 years [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.5-7.0] and 2.5 years (95%CI: 2.3-2.8) in patients with fibrosis and cirrhosis, respectively. A higher proportion of patients in the APPM cohort experienced disease progression (92.0%) compared with the control cohort (67.2%). Median PFS was shorter in the APPM cohort (0.9 years, 95%CI: 0.7-1.1) compared with the control cohort (3.7 years, 95%CI: 3.6-3.8; P < 0.001). Patients with cirrhosis in the control cohort had longer event-free survival for ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatic failure and esophageal/gastric varices than patients with cirrhosis in the APPM cohort (P < 0.001). Patients with fibrosis in the control cohort had longer event-free survival for ascites, cirrhosis, hepatic failure and esophageal/gastric varices than patients with fibrosis in the APPM cohort (P < 0.001). In the APPM cohort, the most common diagnostic procedures within 12 mo after the first diagnosis of liver disease were imaging procedures (66.3%) and laboratory tests (51.0%).

CONCLUSION: Among patients with liver disease, those with APPM experience substantial burden and earlier liver disease progression than patients without APPM.

PMID:37970617 | PMC:PMC10642430 | DOI:10.4254/wjh.v15.i10.1127

Glob Chall. 2023 Oct 10;7(11):2300157. doi: 10.1002/gch2.202300157. eCollection 2023 Nov.

ABSTRACT

Excessive waste amounts, such as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and plastic waste, have increased simultaneously with the development of society. Despite the increased material amounts, the recycling rates are too low and those have a great potential to contribute actions toward a circular economy. A certain restricted factor for recycling is the heterogenous nature of materials, such as WEEE-included additives. This study investigates the effects of a WEEE polymer including bromine on recycling ability, analyzing its physical and mechanical features. The study demonstrates that polymer sorting is profitable for WEEE polymers from the material qualitative perspective, because various processability and material features are achieved in the study between material categories, and especially unidentified polymers have the weakest features in the studied tests. The separation of bromine concentration is also recommended because bromine-free materials have more advanced features that can be confirmed by statistical analyses. The achieved results support the idea that novel circular economy actions have the potential for effective, efficient WEEE polymer recycling processes with technological innovations, especially when all variables (e.g., recycling cycles and process parameters) are observed and it enables an option to reduce the need for virgin plastic.

PMID:37970537 | PMC:PMC10632664 | DOI:10.1002/gch2.202300157

J Anim Sci Technol. 2023 Jul;65(4):720-734. doi: 10.5187/jast.2023.e5. Epub 2023 Jul 30.

ABSTRACT

In Korea, Korea Proven Bulls (KPN) program has been well-developed. Breeding and evaluation of cows are also an essential factor to increase earnings and genetic gain. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of cow breeding value by using three methods (pedigree index [PI], pedigree-based best linear unbiased prediction [PBLUP], and genomic-BLUP [GBLUP]). The reference population (n = 16,971) was used to estimate breeding values for 481 females as a test population. The accuracy of GBLUP was 0.63, 0.66, 0.62 and 0.63 for carcass weight (CWT), eye muscle area (EMA), back-fat thickness (BFT), and marbling score (MS), respectively. As for the PBLUP method, accuracy of prediction was 0.43 for CWT, 0.45 for EMA, 0.43 for MS, and 0.44 for BFT. Accuracy of PI method was the lowest (0.28 to 0.29 for carcass traits). The increase by approximate 20% in accuracy of GBLUP method than other methods could be because genomic information may explain Mendelian sampling error that pedigree information cannot detect. Bias can cause reducing accuracy of estimated breeding value (EBV) for selected animals. Regression coefficient between true breeding value (TBV) and GBLUP EBV, PBLUP EBV, and PI EBV were 0.78, 0.625, and 0.35, respectively for CWT. This showed that genomic EBV (GEBV) is less biased than PBLUP and PI EBV in this study. In addition, number of effective chromosome segments (M_e) statistic that indicates the independent loci is one of the important factors affecting the accuracy of BLUP. The correlation between M_e and the accuracy of GBLUP is related to the genetic relationship between reference and test population. The correlations between M_e and accuracy were -0.74 in CWT, -0.75 in EMA, -0.73 in MS, and -0.75 in BF, which were strongly negative. These results proved that the estimation of genetic ability using genomic data is the most effective, and the smaller the M_e, the higher the accuracy of EBV.

PMID:37970511 | PMC:PMC10640958 | DOI:10.5187/jast.2023.e5

J Anim Sci Technol. 2023 Jul;65(4):856-864. doi: 10.5187/jast.2022.e122. Epub 2023 Jul 30.

ABSTRACT

There are a variety of microorganisms in the animal intestine, and it has been known that they play important roles in the host such as suppression of potentially pathogenic microorganisms, modulation of the gut immunity. In addition, the gut microbiota and the livestock growth performance have long been known to be related. Therefore, we evaluated the interrelation between the growth performance and the gut microbiome of the pigs from 3 different farms, with pigs of varied ages ready to be supplied to the market. When pigs reached average market weight of 118 kg, the average age of pigs in three different farms were < 180 days, about 190 days, and > 200 days, respectively. Fecal samples were collected from pigs of age of 70 days, 100 days, 130 days, and 160 days. The output data of the 16S rRNA gene sequencing by the Illumina Miseq platform was filtered and analyzed using Quantitative Insights into Microbial Ecology (QIIME)2, and the statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Analysis of Metagenomic Profiles (STAMP). The results of this study showed that the gut microbial communities shifted as pigs aged along with significant difference in the relative abundance of different phyla and genera in different age groups of pigs from each farm. Even though, there was no statistical differences among groups in terms of Chao1, the number of observed operational taxonomic units (OTUs), and the Shannon index, our results showed higher abundances of Bifidobacterium, Clostridium and Lactobacillus in the feces of pigs with rapid growth rate. These results will help us to elucidate important gut microbiota that can affect the growth performance of pigs.

PMID:37970497 | PMC:PMC10640952 | DOI:10.5187/jast.2022.e122

CJC Pediatr Congenit Heart Dis. 2022 May 6;1(3):108-118. doi: 10.1016/j.cjcpc.2022.04.005. eCollection 2022 Jun.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Exercise training programs can effectively enhance exercise capacity in adults with congenital heart disease, including Fontan patients. However, few studies have explored the impact of exercise training exclusively on paediatric Fontan cohorts. This study systematically reviews exercise capacity in paediatric Fontan patients and the impact of training programs on their cardiovascular health.

METHODS: Medline and Embase were searched for articles published between January 1990 and November 2021. Studies were included in which data could be analyzed discretely for patients who had undergone the Fontan procedure and were ≤20 years old at the time of study. Cardiopulmonary exercise parameters were extracted from all studies, and training protocols were collected from training programs.

RESULTS: The studies demonstrated that Fontan patients exhibit significantly diminished peak exercise capacity relative to healthy peers. We identified 9 training programs that exclusively studied Fontan patients ≤20 years. The programs ranged from 6 weeks to 12 months in duration, with 8 programs incorporating aerobic activity and 1 focused only on inspiratory muscle training. At least 1 measure of maximal or submaximal exercise capacity improved significantly within each program in which statistical analysis was performed, with no reported adverse events. There were 2 additional training programs in which the patients were predominantly (>65%), but not exclusively, Fontan patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results indicate that exercise training programs can safely and effectively improve at least 1 measure of exercise capacity in paediatric Fontan patients.

PMID:37970491 | PMC:PMC10642096 | DOI:10.1016/j.cjcpc.2022.04.005

World J Gastroenterol. 2023 Oct 28;29(40):5557-5565. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i40.5557.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous drainage (PCD) and endoscopic approaches have largely replaced surgical drainage as the initial approach for (peri) pancreatic fluid collections (PFC)s, while complications associated with endoscopic stent implantation are common.

AIM: To introduce a novel endoscopic therapy named endoscopic transgastric fenestration (ETGF), which involves resection of tissue by endoscopic accessory between gastric and PFCs without stent implantation, and to evaluate its efficacy and safety compared with PCD for the management of PFCs adjacent to the gastric wall.

METHODS: Patients diagnosed with PFCs adjacent to the gastric wall and who subsequently received ETGF or PCD were restrospectively enrolled. Indications for intervention were consistent with related guidelines. We analyzed patients baseline characteristics, technical and clinical success rate, recurrence and reintervention rate, procedure-related complications and adverse events.

RESULTS: Seventy-two eligible patients were retrospectively identified (ETGF = 34, PCD = 38) from October 2017 to May 2021. Patients in the ETGF group had a significantly higher clinical success rate than those in the PCD group (97.1 vs 76.3%, P = 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences regarding recurrence, reintervention and incidence of complication between the two groups. While long-term catheter drainage was very common in the PCD group.

CONCLUSION: Compared with PCD, ETGF has a higher clinical success rate in the management of PFCs adjacent to the gastric wall. ETGF is an alternative effective strategy for the treatment of PFCs adjacent to the gastric wall.

PMID:37970477 | PMC:PMC10642437 | DOI:10.3748/wjg.v29.i40.5557

3 Biotech. 2023 Dec;13(12):396. doi: 10.1007/s13205-023-03817-3. Epub 2023 Nov 13.

ABSTRACT

Parthenium hysterophorous, a widespread weed in India, contributes a substantial amount of lignocellulosic biomass. The key objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of producing xylanase enzyme from P. hysterophorus weed biomass using the fungus Aspergillus niger. The impact of various physiological factors was confirmed through a two-step approach: first, a one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) investigation, and subsequently, employing the RSM-based CCD method in statistical design. This research revealed that the RSM-based model led to the optimization of enzyme activity, resulting in a value of 2098.08 IU/gds for xylanase. This was achieved with an incubation time of 4.5 days, a medium pH of 6, and a cultivation temperature of 32.5 °C. Additionally, a pretreatment involving 1% NaOH and a 30-min autoclave treatment was found to alter the chemical composition of lignocellulose substrates (cellulose 43.87% and xylan 28.7%), thereby enhancing the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis. Moreover, fermentable sugars were produced by autoclave-assisted alkali pretreatment (NaOH-1.0% w/v) at rates of 219.6 ± 2.05 mg/gds^-1 by utilizing the crude xylanase from A. niger and 291.3 ± 1.2 mg/gds^-1 from commercial xylanase enzyme. Our study revealed that P. hysterophorus served as a viable and affordable substrate for fermentable sugar liberation, and xylanase is a rate-limiting enzyme in enzymatic saccharification.

PMID:37970449 | PMC:PMC10643779 | DOI:10.1007/s13205-023-03817-3

Food Sci Nutr. 2023 Aug 23;11(11):7145-7154. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.3639. eCollection 2023 Nov.

ABSTRACT

Hesperidin, as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, has beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to determine the effects of hesperidin supplementation on inflammation, oxidative stress, and lipid profile in depressed coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) patients. Eighty patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery participated in this clinical trial and were randomly divided into two groups. The intervention group received 200 mg/d pure hesperidin supplement and the second group received placebo for 12 weeks. Both groups continued their usual diet. Serum concentrations of inflammatory and stress oxidative markers (hs-CRP, P-selectin, and ox-LDL) were measured and compared at baseline and the end of the intervention. The changes in serum levels of triglyceride were significantly different between the two groups (p < .05). HDL-c significantly increased in groups but the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant (p > .05). Hesperidin did not affect FBS, other lipid parameters, hs-CRP, P-selectin, and OX-LDL (p > .05). SBP and DBP differences were not statistically significant (p > .05). After 12 weeks of intervention, hesperidin reduced serum levels of triglyceride in depressed post-CABG patients.

PMID:37970430 | PMC:PMC10630806 | DOI:10.1002/fsn3.3639

J Hum Hypertens. 2023 Nov 15. doi: 10.1038/s41371-023-00876-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases globally. Fortunately, there is a vast armamentarium of effective therapeutic options at our disposal so undiagnosed hypertension represents a missed opportunity. In a previous analysis [1] of the NFHS-4 dataset for the prevalence and risk factors for undiagnosed hypertension and its associated risk factors among Indian women aged 15-49 years, we had overestimated prevalence by inclusion of self-reported cases. We have since retracted when this anomaly was highlighted [2]. We have now re-analyzed the same database and here present these data. The current analysis shows that the overall prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was 8.05% among women aged 15-49 years in India. In rural areas, it was 7.89% compared with 8.38% for urban areas. Factors associated with undiagnosed hypertension in rural and urban areas were age, BMI, wealth quintiles, educational level, religion, caste and geographical zones. Nearly half the women aged 15-49 years in India with hypertension are unaware and this has implications for personal and reproductive health.

PMID:37968456 | DOI:10.1038/s41371-023-00876-0