Tag: statistics

Cancer Med. 2023 Mar 6. doi: 10.1002/cam4.5613. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To evaluate the role of Sonazoid enhanced ultrasound assistant laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation in treating liver malignancy.

METHODS: Consecutive patients are recruited. Rates of complication and postoperative length of stay are compared between the study and control groups. Progression-free survival (PFS) of colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) after ablation are compared. Complete ablation rates are compared and optimal tumor size is calculated by ROC curve analysis. Risk factors of incomplete ablation are determined by logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS: Totally 73 patients with 153 lesions were included. No significant differences in the rate of complication were found between the study and control groups. PFS of CRLM in laparoscopic, intraoperative CEUS, and laparoscopic CEUS groups are all longer than their control groups. Complete ablation rates of laparoscopic, intraoperative CEUS, and laparoscopic CEUS groups are all higher than in their control groups with statistical significance. A tumor size of 2.15 cm is determined to be the optimal cut-off with the area under the ROC curve of 0.854, 95% CI (0.764, 0.944), p = 0.001. In logistic regression analysis, tumor size [OR 20.425, 95% CI (3.136, 133.045), p = 0.002] and location of segments VII and VIII [OR 9.433, 95% CI (1.364, 65.223), p = 0.023] are calculated to be the risk factors of incomplete ablation, meanwhile, intraoperative CEUS shows to be a protective factor in univariate analysis [OR 0.110, 95% CI (0.013, 0.915), p = 0.041].

CONCLUSION: Sonazoid-enhanced ultrasound assistant laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation is safe and effective to treat liver malignancy. We should pay attention to the ablation planning of larger tumors and tumors in special locations.

PMID:36880113 | DOI:10.1002/cam4.5613

Appl Math Mech. 2023;44(3):499-514. doi: 10.1007/s10483-023-2969-9. Epub 2023 Mar 1.

ABSTRACT

Epilepsy is believed to be associated with the abnormal synchronous neuronal activity in the brain, which results from large groups or circuits of neurons. In this paper, we choose to focus on the temporal lobe epilepsy, and establish a cortex network of multiple coupled neural populations to explore the epileptic activities under electromagnetic induction. We demonstrate that the epileptic activities can be controlled and modulated by electromagnetic induction and coupling among regions. In certain regions, these two types of control are observed to show exactly reverse effects. The results show that the strong electromagnetic induction is conducive to eliminating the epileptic seizures. The coupling among regions has a conduction effect that the previous normal background activity of the region gives way to the epileptic discharge, owing to coupling with spike wave discharge regions. Overall, these results highlight the role of electromagnetic induction and coupling among the regions in controlling and modulating epileptic activities, and might provide novel insights into the treatments of epilepsy.

PMID:36880095 | PMC:PMC9976671 | DOI:10.1007/s10483-023-2969-9

Pediatr Dent. 2023 Jan 15;45(1):52-59.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the wear resistance of stainless steel crowns, (SSCs), zirconia crowns (ZRCs), and nanohybrid crowns (NHCs) using a 3D tomography method.

METHODS: Prefabricated SSCs, ZRCs, and NHCs (n equals 80) were worn for 400,000 cycles, equivalent to three years of simulated clinical wear, at 50 N and 1.2 Hz using the Leinfelder-Suzuki wear tester. Wear volume, maximum wear depth, and wear surface area were computed using a 3D superimposition method and 2D imaging software. Data were statistically analyzed using one-way analysis of variance with the least significant difference post hoc test (P<0.05).

RESULTS: After a wear simulation of three years, NHCs had a 45 percent failure rate; NHCs also had the greatest wear volume loss (0.71 mm³), maximum wear depth (0.22 mm), and wear surface area (4.45 mm²). SSCs (0.23 mm³ , 0.12 mm, 2.63 mm²) and ZRCs (0.03 mm³ , 0.08 mm, 0.20 mm ²) had less wear volume, area, and depth (P<0.001). ZRCs were the most abrasive to their antagonists (P<0.001). The NHC (against SSC wearing group) had the greatest total wear facet surface area (4.43 mm²).

CONCLUSIONS: Stainless steel crowns and zirconia crowns were the most wear-resistant materials. Based on these laboratory findings, in the primary dentition, nanohybrid crowns are not recommended as long-term restorations beyond 12 months (P=0.001).

PMID:36879372

Pediatr Dent. 2023 Jan 15;45(1):12-15.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether the postponement of dental elective procedures at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increased number of simple dental extractions, and/or decreased restorative procedures by analyzing data obtained from state-funded insurance dental claims.

METHODS: Paid dental claims collected from March 2019 to December 2019 and from March 2020 to December 2020 for children ages two to 13 years old were analyzed. Dental procedures were selected based on Current Dental Terminology (CDT) codes for simple dental extractions and restorative procedures. Statistical analyses were performed to compare the rates of procedure types between 2019 and 2020.

RESULTS: No differences in dental extractions but full-coverage restoration procedure rates per month and child were significantly lower than pre-pandemic (P=0.016).

CONCLUSION: Further study required to determine the impact of COVID-19 on pediatric restorative procedures and access to pediatric dental care in the surgical setting.

PMID:36879370

Pediatr Dent. 2023 Jan 15;45(1):24-35.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to oral health services experienced by children and evaluate variation across demographic and socioeconomic population groups.

METHODS: The data were collected from 1,745 parents/legal guardians who responded to a web-based survey regarding their children’s access to health services in 2019. Descriptive statistics and binary and multinomial logistic models were used to examine barriers to needed dental care and factors contributing to differential experiences with those barriers.

RESULTS: A quarter of children of responding parents experienced at least one barrier to oral health care, most commonly cost-related barriers. Child-guardian relationship type, having a pre-existing health condition, and dental insurance type increased the risk of encountering certain barriers two-to four-fold. Children with a diagnosed emotional, developmental, or behavioral condition (odds ratio [OR] equals 1.77, dental anxiety; OR equals 4.09, unavailability of needed services) and those with a Hispanic parent/guardian (OR equals 2.44, lack of insurance; OR equals 3.03, insurance not paying for needed services) were more likely to encounter various barriers than other children. The number of siblings, parent/guardian’s age, education level, and oral health literacy were also associated with different barriers. The likelihood of encountering multiple barriers was over three times higher for children with a pre-existing health condition (OR equals 3.56; 95 percent confidence interval equals 2.30 to 5.50).

CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the significance of cost-related barriers to oral health care and suggested disparities in access among children with disparate personal and family backgrounds.

PMID:36879369

Prostate. 2023 Mar 6. doi: 10.1002/pros.24510. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular conditions are the most prevalent comorbidity among patients with prostate cancer, regardless of treatment. Additionally, cardiovascular risk has been shown to increase following exposure to certain treatments for advanced prostate cancer. There is conflicting evidence on risk of overall and specific cardiovascular outcomes among men treated for metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). We, therefore, sought to compare incidence of serious cardiovascular events among CRPC patients treated with abiraterone acetate plus predniso(lo)ne (AAP) and enzalutamide (ENZ), the two most widely used CRPC therapies.

METHODS: Using US administrative claims data, we selected CRPC patients newly exposed to either treatment after August 31, 2012, with prior androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). We assessed incidence of hospitalization for heart failure (HHF), ischemic stroke, and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during the period 30-days after AAP or ENZ initiation to discontinuation, outcome occurrence, death, or disenrollment. We matched treatment groups on propensity-scores (PSs) to control for observed confounding to estimate the average treatment effect among the treated (AAP) using conditional Cox proportional hazards models. To account for residual bias, we calibrated our estimates against a distribution of effect estimates from 124 negative-control outcomes.

RESULTS: The HHF analysis included 2322 (45.1%) AAP initiators and 2827 (54.9%) ENZ initiators. In this analysis, the median follow-up times among AAP and ENZ initiators (after PS matching) were 144 and 122 days, respectively. The empirically calibrated hazard ratio (HR) estimate for HHF was 2.56 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.32, 4.94). Corresponding HRs for AMI and ischemic stroke were 1.94 (95% CI: 0.90, 4.18) and 1.25 (95% CI: 0.54, 2.85), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study sought to quantify risk of HHF, AMI and ischemic stroke among CRPC patients initiating AAP relative to ENZ within a national administrative claims database. Increased risk for HHF among AAP compared to ENZ users was observed. The difference in myocardial infarction did not attain statistical significance after controlling for residual bias, and no differences were noted in ischemic stroke between the two treatments. These findings confirm labeled warnings and precautions for AAP for HHF and contribute to the comparative real-world evidence on AAP relative to ENZ.

PMID:36879362 | DOI:10.1002/pros.24510

Cytometry A. 2023 Mar 6. doi: 10.1002/cyto.a.24729. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Highly multiplexed in situ imaging cytometry assays have made it possible to study the spatial organisation of numerous cell types simultaneously. We have addressed the challenge of quantifying complex multi-cellular relationships by proposing a statistical method which clusters local indicators of spatial association. Our approach successfully identifies distinct tissue architectures in datasets generated from three state-of-the-art high-parameter assays demonstrating its value in summarising the information-rich data generated from these technologies.

PMID:36879360 | DOI:10.1002/cyto.a.24729

Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2023 Mar 6;19(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s13223-023-00773-8.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Results of studies evaluating the relationship between asthma occurrence and early life antibiotic use have been conflicting. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between occurrence of asthma in children and systemic antibiotic use in the first year of life based on an incidence density study with careful consideration of the temporal aspects of the determinant-outcome relationship.

METHODS: We conducted an incidence density study nested in a data collection project with information on 1128 mother-child pairs. Systemic antibiotic use in the first year of life was defined as excessive (≥ 4 courses) vs. non-excessive (< 4 courses) use based on information from weekly diaries. Events (cases) were defined as the first parent-reported occurrence of asthma in a child between 1 and 10 years of age. Population time ‘at risk’ was probed by sampling population moments (controls). Missing data were imputed. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the association between current first asthma occurrence (incidence density) and systemic antibiotic use in the first year of life, to evaluate effect modification and adjust for confounding.

RESULTS: Forty-seven first asthma events and 147 population moments were included. Excessive systemic antibiotic use in the first year of life showed more than twice the incidence density of asthma compared to non-excessive use (adjusted IDR [95% CI]: 2.18 [0.98, 4.87], p = 0.06). The association was more pronounced in children who have had lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in the first year of life compared to children who had no LRTIs in the first year of life (adjusted IDR [95% CI]: 5.17 [1.19, 22.52] versus 1.49 [0.54, 4.14]).

CONCLUSIONS: Excessive use of systemic antibiotics in the first year of life may play a role in the genesis of asthma in children. This effect is modified by the occurrence of LRTIs in the first year of life, with a stronger association observed in children experiencing LRTIs in the first year of life.

PMID:36879341 | DOI:10.1186/s13223-023-00773-8

Adv Rheumatol. 2023 Mar 6;63(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s42358-023-00291-6.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: BDNF has been implicated in the pathophysiology of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), especially its neuropsychiatric symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the profile of blood BDNF levels in patients with SLE.

METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for papers that compared BDNF levels in SLE patients and healthy controls (HCs). The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the quality of the included publications, and statistical analyses were carried out using R 4.0.4.

RESULTS: The final analysis included eight studies totaling 323 healthy controls and 658 SLE patients. Meta-analysis did not show statistically significant differences in blood BDNF concentrations in SLE patients compared to HCs (SMD 0.08, 95% CI [ – 1.15; 1.32], P value = 0.89). After removing outliers, there was no significant change in the results: SMD -0.3868 (95% CI [ – 1.17; 0.39], P value = 0.33. Univariate meta-regression analysis revealed that sample size, number of males, NOS score, and mean age of the SLE participants accounted for the heterogeneity of the studies (R² were 26.89%, 16.53%, 18.8%, and 49.96%, respectively).

CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our meta-analysis found no significant association between blood BDNF levels and SLE. The potential role and relevance of BDNF in SLE need to be further examined in higher quality studies.

PMID:36879337 | DOI:10.1186/s42358-023-00291-6