Tag: statistics

Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 18;15(1):30207. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-10296-4.

ABSTRACT

Climate change endangers the Carpathian region by increasing the risk of fires. In response, our study provides a harmonised dataset with twenty-seven variables and develops an interpretable machine learning-based framework for assessing fire susceptibility across all seven countries of the region. We applied a two-stage process: first, using various feature selection techniques to refine predictors before the modeling phase, and second, utilising the SHAP framework to interpret model predictions. Between these steps, advanced machine learning models were optimised and trained in the H2O environment, demonstrating high predictive accuracy. Our findings revealed eight fire susceptibility clusters. The resulting dataset, susceptibility maps, and detailed interpretative insights serve as a valuable resource for local communities and policy-makers in the region.

PMID:40826149 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-025-10296-4

BMC Res Notes. 2025 Aug 18;18(1):362. doi: 10.1186/s13104-025-07442-6.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Midwives are practitioners of midwifery and are recognized as indispensable professionals for lowering maternal mortality worldwide, particularly in low-income countries. Midwives who aren’t satisfied with their job challenge the prevention and control of maternal mortality and morbidity and had a surge in unfavorable patient outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the level of job satisfaction and its associated factors among midwives working at public health institutions in northwest Ethiopia.

METHODS: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February 1st to July 15th, 2022. A total of 422 midwives participated in the study. A simple random sampling method was used to select all eligible participants. Data were collected using a semi-structured, pretested, and self-administered questionnaire. Data version 4.6 software and SPSS 25 were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to find factors associated with midwives’ job satisfaction. The statistical association was decided based on the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) and p-value of < 0.05.

RESULTS: The prevalence of midwives’ satisfaction with their job was 46.7% (95% CI: 41.8, 52.0). Institutions followed democratic leadership (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.02, 4.40), having good relationships with their superiors (AOR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.00, 5.02), being satisfied with payment and benefits (AOR = 4.00, 95% CI: 1.45, 9.12), and safe job security (AOR = 5.66, 95% CI: 4.8, 12.68) were found to be statistically significant factors associated with midwives’ job satisfaction.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: In this study the level of midwives’ job satisfaction was low. Thus, setting strategies in exercising democratic leadership, promoting good relations with superiors, providing incentives opportunities, and ensuring work security will have significant role in improving midwives’ satisfaction with their job.

PMID:40826116 | DOI:10.1186/s13104-025-07442-6

Genome Biol. 2025 Aug 18;26(1):249. doi: 10.1186/s13059-025-03734-z.

ABSTRACT

The false discovery rate (FDR) controlling method by Benjamini and Hochberg (BH) is a popular choice in the omics fields. Here, we demonstrate that in datasets with a large degree of dependencies between features, FDR correction methods like BH can sometimes counter-intuitively report very high numbers of false positives, potentially misleading researchers. We call the attention of researchers to use suited multiple testing strategies and approaches like synthetic null data (negative control) to identify and minimize caveats related to false discoveries, as in the cases where false findings do occur, they may be numerous.

PMID:40826107 | DOI:10.1186/s13059-025-03734-z

Breast Cancer Res. 2025 Aug 18;27(1):149. doi: 10.1186/s13058-025-02098-3.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRBP) is a stress-induced mRNA-binding protein associated with clinical outcomes in a variety of human disease states. The role of CIRBP as a role as a prognostic biomarker in breast cancer (BC) has yet to be established.

FINDINGS: We describe a clinically annotated tissue micro-array cohort of 1406 hormone receptor positive (HR +) and 281 triple negative primary breast cancers (TNBC) stained by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for CIRBP. Statistical analyses were performed with the Kaplan-Meier estimator, as well as univariate and multivariate Cox proportional-hazards models. Multivariate models incorporated tumor size, lymph node status, grade and CIRBP expression levels. Co-primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). In N = 281 primary TNBCs, high levels of CIRBP expression by IHC was associated with poor prognosis in multivariate analysis (OS: adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 2.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24-3.41, P = 0.005. PFS: aHR 2.46, 95% CI 1.33-4.57, P = 0.004). However, in N = 1406 HR + primary BC, CIRBP expression was correlated with favorable prognosis (OS: aHR 0.927, 95% CI 0.88-0.98, P = 0.005. PFS: aHR 0.904, 95% CI 0.85-0.96, P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS: CIRBP expression is associated with poor prognosis in TNBC but not HR + BC patients. This finding highlights the prognostic significance of CIRBP in TNBC and suggests differential underlying mRNA targets bound and modulated by CIRBP in TNBC and HR + BC, respectively.

PMID:40826100 | DOI:10.1186/s13058-025-02098-3

World J Surg Oncol. 2025 Aug 18;23(1):314. doi: 10.1186/s12957-025-03961-5.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To precisely assess whether laparoscopic radical prostatectomy is safe and efficient in elderly individuals suffering from localized prostate cancer in the perioperative and short-term postoperative periods.

METHODS: A comprehensive retrospective analysis was undertaken of the clinical records pertaining to patients who underwent laparoscopic radical prostatectomy at our institution, spanning from January 2022 to November 2024. These patients were subsequently categorized into an elderly cohort (≥80 years old, n=54) and a non-elderly cohort (<80 years old, n=67) on the basis of age. Aside from that, the surgical safety and efficacy were compared between these two groups.

RESULTS: The patients were stratified into two distinct groups: the elderly cohort and the non-elderly cohort. Notably, no statistically discernible differences emerged between thesese two groups with regard to the duration of the surgical procedure [(136.9 ± 47.8) min vs. (140.5 ± 40.4) min], intraoperative blood loss [(11.9 ± 8.1) g/L vs. (12.4 ± 6.3) g/L], postoperative renal function changes [(5.6 ± 14.9) μmol/L vs. (2.3 ± 9.1) μmol/L], in dwelling catheter time [(10.0 ± 2.8) days vs. (10.4 ± 2.5) days], hospital stay [(14.8 ± 4.5) days vs. (14.5 ± 3.9) days], and hospitalization costs [(25,638.3 ± 5,389.5) yuan vs. (24,589.8 ± 4,162.5) yuan] (all P > 0.05). Nonetheless, the recovery time of intestinal function [1 (1, 2) days vs. 1 (1, 1) days] demonstrated a conspicuous difference (P < 0.05). At 6 weeks postoperatively, the tPSA levels were [(0.019 ± 0.018) ng/mL vs. (0.017 ± 0.017) ng/mL] in the two groups, with no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05).Postoperative intensive care unit transfers (all for 1 day) were 21 and 8 cases in the two groups, separately, while infection-related fever occurred in 13 and 7 cases, severally, both showing statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). No significant disparity in urinary control was detected between these two groups at the 3-month follow-up post-catheter removal (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: For elderly individuals suffering from localized prostate cancer, laparoscopic radical prostatectomy has demonstrated favorable safety and efficacy in the perioperative and short-term postoperative periods, and is deemed a feasible surgical option for patients with favorable overall physical health.

PMID:40826093 | DOI:10.1186/s12957-025-03961-5

Health Res Policy Syst. 2025 Aug 18;23(1):104. doi: 10.1186/s12961-025-01365-1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Initiatives are increasingly encouraging health and social care staff involvement in research, with evidence for patient and organisational level benefits. There is less evidence of the benefits for staff and whether this varies by type of involvement. This scoping review aimed to identify the different ways staff are involved in applied health research, the benefits experienced, and whether this varies by type of involvement. This will help to inform leaders in service organisations, funders, and researchers about how to maximise such benefits.

METHODS: The scoping review followed the JBI methodology. Four databases were searched: CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Scopus. Grey literature was identified via Google, Google Scholar and relevant websites. Records had to be UK-based, published in English between 2003 and 2023 and cover applied health and care research, health care staff involvement and report on benefits. Text was extracted from records, coded afterwards, and quality checked. The benefits were distilled by four research active health care staff. Descriptive statistics and narrative synthesis were used to report the results.

FINDINGS: In total, 49 records were reviewed, 42 records were from the database search and 7 from the grey literature search. Records were most commonly journal articles (n = 44), covering multiple care settings (n = 15) and mixed professional groups (n = 24), used qualitative methods (n = 22) and focussed on clinical academic roles (n = 21). Six benefits of involvement in research were distilled: personal fulfilment, general competencies/skills, connections/networks, opportunities for learning, opportunities for leading improvements in practice, and using evidence more effectively. Records that focussed on the more intensive clinical academic roles reported more examples of opportunities for leading improvements in practice, and the building of connections and social support. Non-clinical academic records more frequently reported that involvement in research provided opportunities for learning.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings support efforts to involve staff in research, with a range of benefits associated with enhanced job satisfaction, even when research involvement is in a less intense form, such as participation in a study. These findings can be used to encourage involvement, with recommendations for future research to review the benefits for social care staff, and to examine more directly the effect on staff wellbeing and retention.

PMID:40826082 | DOI:10.1186/s12961-025-01365-1

Harm Reduct J. 2025 Aug 18;22(1):141. doi: 10.1186/s12954-025-01291-z.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In 2019, the state of Maryland passed legislation requiring local detention centers to offer medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) to all incarcerated individuals who met criteria for opioid use disorder (OUD). Four years later, many facilities remain out of compliance. Beyond issues of staffing, funding, and technical support, stigma may represent a barrier to MOUD implementation.

METHODS: Using surveys and interviews among correctional professionals working in Maryland, the current exploratory study sought to identify barriers to MOUD implementation, including measures of provider-based stigma of OUD and support for MOUD.

RESULTS: Quantitative and qualitative results revealed moderately high levels of OUD-related stigma and negative attitudes toward MOUD, with multivariable modeling revealing a statistically significant relationship between provider-based stigma of OUD and support for MOUD in correctional settings.

CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that stigma may be a significant barrier to MOUD implementation in local detention centers, even in the presence of legal mandates. Further, these results reveal the need for educational and anti-stigma campaigns targeted at correctional professionals who are charged with implementing policies that may contradict their previous learning or correctional training.

PMID:40826078 | DOI:10.1186/s12954-025-01291-z

Epilepsia Open. 2025 Aug 18. doi: 10.1002/epi4.70123. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Early recurrence of epileptic seizures within the same day of emergency department (ED) admission poses clinical management challenges. While several blood-based parameters have been proposed as prognostic markers in various neurological disorders, their predictive utility in same-day seizure recurrence remains underexplored. We aimed to investigate whether inflammatory parameters derived from hemogram parameters can predict seizure recurrence within the same day in patients presenting with epileptic seizures or not.

METHODS: We included 267 patients who presented to our ED with epileptic seizures within the last 2 years. Patients were grouped into recurrence (n = 68) and non-recurrence (n = 199) cohorts. Hemogram-derived indices, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), monocyte-to-neutrophil ratio (MNR), platelet-to-neutrophil ratio (PNR), immune-platelet inflammation value (IPIV), pan-immune inflammation value (PIV), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) were calculated and compared between groups. Statistical analyses included receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve assessment for predictive accuracy.

RESULTS: NLR, PLR, SII, and SIRI values were significantly elevated in the recurrence group (p < 0.05), indicating heightened systemic inflammation. Traditional parameters such as white blood cell count (WBC), glucose, and lactate did not significantly differ. Area under the curve (AUC) values in ROC curve analyses revealed that the NLR (AUC = 0.618) and SII (AUC = 0.601) had moderate discriminative ability, although no parameter achieved a substantial predictive value (AUC ≥ 0.7).

SIGNIFICANCE: Elevated inflammatory indices, particularly NLR and SII, are associated with same-day seizure recurrence, suggesting their potential utility in ED triage. However, none demonstrated sufficient stand-alone predictive power, highlighting the need for prospective studies incorporating novel biomarkers.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: This study looked at whether certain blood test values can help predict if a person who comes to the emergency department (ED) with an epileptic seizure will have another seizure on the same day. Researchers focused on inflammation-related markers found in routine blood tests, such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII). We found that these values were higher in patients who had repeated seizures within the same day. However, while these markers showed some association with seizure recurrence, they were not accurate enough to reliably predict it on their own. These findings suggest that simple blood tests might provide helpful clues in emergency settings, but more research is needed to find stronger and more reliable indicators for early seizure recurrence.

PMID:40824701 | DOI:10.1002/epi4.70123

Indian J Pathol Microbiol. 2025 Aug 14. doi: 10.4103/ijpm.ijpm_290_25. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Molecular subtyping of urothelial cancer of the bladder can help in identifying aggressive subtypes and aid in the prognostication of the disease. These subtypes can be broadly identified with the help of immunohistochemistry (IHC) markers reliably.

AIMS: To assess the molecular subtypes of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder using IHC markers and evaluate their association with clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival (OS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study done over 3 years in a tertiary care center. There were 109 cases of invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. In 43 cases, radical cystectomy was performed, and 66 cases underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor. CK5/6, and CK14 were used as markers of the basal subtype; GATA-3 and CK20 were used for the luminal subtype. Cases were classified into basal, luminal, double-positive, and double-negative subtypes. The association of molecular subtypes with clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. OS was analyzed for the molecular subtypes. All the relevant statistical tests were performed using IBM SPSS software version 24.0.

RESULTS: The most frequently occurring molecular subtype was luminal (GATA3+, CK5/6-) in 62% of cases. Tumors with the basal subtype showed a higher frequency of muscle invasion compared to nonbasal types and presented as high-grade tumors. The luminal subtype was significantly associated with conventional histology and lamina propria invasive tumors. The basal molecular subtype showed a mean OS of 15 (±4) months, which was significantly worse than that of nonbasal subtypes.

CONCLUSION: The basal subtype of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder behaves more aggressively in terms of grade, extent of invasion, and OS.

PMID:40824692 | DOI:10.4103/ijpm.ijpm_290_25

JAMA Pediatr. 2025 Aug 18. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.2585. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

IMPORTANCE: Previous studies have suggested that removing financial barriers to contraception could help reduce unintended pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether introduction of universal public funding for prescription contraception in Ontario (OHIP+) for individuals younger than 25 years and the amended program, which limited public funding to those without private insurance (OHIP-), is associated with changes in contraceptive dispensations.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Interrupted time-series analyses were used to evaluate whether implementation of either policy was associated with changes in monthly contraceptives dispensed. The setting included a national database on contraceptives dispensed from retail pharmacies between September 2016 and February 2020; data analysis was performed from May 2022 to 2024. Participants included Ontario females aged 15 to 24 years to whom prescriptions were dispensed (intervention) vs controls: (1) Canadian females aged 15 to 24 years, excluding Ontario, and (2) Ontario females aged 25 to 49 years.

EXPOSURES: Implementation of free prescription contraception through OHIP+ (January 2018-March 2019) and OHIP- (April 2019-February 2020).

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Monthly dispensations of intrauterine devices (IUDs) and oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) per 1000 females overall and by area-level socioeconomic status (SES).

RESULTS: After OHIP+, there was an immediate level increase in IUDs dispensed to Ontario females aged 15 to 24 years (intervention) of 0.50 (95% CI, 0.15-0.84) vs 0.03 (95% CI, -0.26 to 0.32) in Canadian females aged 15 to 24 years-a relative increase of 0.48 (95% CI, 0.02-0.91). There was an immediate level increase in OCPs dispensed to Ontario females aged 15 to 24 years of 22.3 (95% CI, 14.8-29.8) vs 7.57 (95% CI, 3.07-12.1) in those aged 25 to 49 years-a relative increase of 14.8 (95% CI, 6.15-23.4). There were no statistically significant changes in monthly dispensation trends after OHIP+ and no statistically significant changes after OHIP-. In areas with lower SES, there was a significant increase in the level for IUDs of 0.64 (95% CI, 0.02-1.26) and for OCPs of 13.2 (95% CI, 1.33-25.0) after OHIP+, and a significant decrease in the level for IUDs of 0.82 (95% CI, -1.55 to -0.09) after OHIP- in Ontario vs Canadian females aged 15 to 24 years. No statistically significant changes in IUD or OCP dispensations were observed in areas with higher SES vs controls.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Results reveal that providing comprehensive and confidential access to prescription contraceptives was associated with increased dispensations among Ontario youth.

PMID:40824678 | DOI:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.2585