Tag: statistics

Qual Life Res. 2023 May 23. doi: 10.1007/s11136-023-03435-9. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This unselected, population-based cohort study aimed to determine the level of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) at the time of diagnosis compared with a reference population and identify the demographic factors, psychosocial measures, and disease activity markers associated with HRQoL.

METHODS: Adult patients newly diagnosed with CD or UC were prospectively enrolled. HRQoL was measured using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and Norwegian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaires. Clinical significance was assessed using Cohen’s d effect size and further compared with a Norwegian reference population. Associations between HRQoL and symptom scores, demographic factors, psychosocial measures, and disease activity markers were analyzed.

RESULTS: Compared with the Norwegian reference population, patients with CD and UC reported significantly lower scores in all SF-36 dimensions, except for physical functioning. Cohen’s d effect sizes for men and women in all SF-36 dimensions were at least moderate, except for bodily pain and emotional role for men with UC and physical functioning for both sexes and diagnoses. In the multivariate regression analysis, depression subscale scores ≥ 8 on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, substantial fatigue, and high symptom scores were associated with reduced HRQoL.

CONCLUSION: Patients newly diagnosed with CD and UC reported statistically and clinically significantly lower scores in seven of the eight SF-36 dimensions than the reference population. Symptoms of depression, fatigue, and elevated symptom scores were associated with poorer HRQoL.

PMID:37219727 | DOI:10.1007/s11136-023-03435-9

Ultrasound J. 2023 May 23;15(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s13089-023-00326-5.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Although lung sliding seen by point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is known to be affected to varying degrees by different physiologic and pathologic processes, it is typically only reported qualitatively in the critical care setting. Lung sliding amplitude quantitatively expresses the amount of pleural movement seen by POCUS but its determinants in mechanically ventilated patients are largely unknown.

METHODS: This was a single-center, prospective, observational pilot study examining 40 hemithoraces in 20 adult patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Each subject had lung sliding amplitude measured in both B-mode and by pulsed wave Doppler at their bilateral lung apices and bases. Differences in lung sliding amplitude were correlated with anatomical location (apex vs base) as well as physiologic parameters including positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP), driving pressure, tidal volume and the ratio of arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO₂) to fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO₂).

RESULTS: POCUS lung sliding amplitude was significantly lower at the lung apex compared to the lung base in both B-mode (3.6 ± 2.0 mm vs 8.6 ± 4.3 mm; p < 0.001) and the pulsed wave Doppler mode (10.3 ± 4.6 cm/s vs 13.9 ± 5.5 cm/s; p < 0.001) corresponding to expected distribution of ventilation to the lung bases. Inter-rater reliability of B-mode measurements was excellent (ICC = 0.91) and distance traversed in B-mode had a significant positive correlation with pleural line velocity (r² = 0.32; p < 0.001). There was a non-statistically significant trend towards lower lung sliding amplitude for PEEP ≥ 10 cmH₂O, as well as for driving pressure ≥ 15 cmH₂O in both ultrasound modes.

CONCLUSION: POCUS lung sliding amplitude was significantly lower at the lung apex than the lung base in mechanically ventilated patients. This was true when using both B-mode and pulsed wave Doppler. Lung sliding amplitude did not correlate with PEEP, driving pressure, tidal volume or PaO₂:FiO₂ ratio. Our findings suggest that lung sliding amplitude can be quantified in mechanically ventilated patients in a physiologically predictable way and with high inter-rater reliability. A better understanding of POCUS derived lung sliding amplitude and its determinants may aid in the more accurate diagnosis of lung pathologies, including pneumothorax, and could serve as a means of further reducing radiation exposure and improving outcomes in critically ill patients.

PMID:37219721 | DOI:10.1186/s13089-023-00326-5

Mem Cognit. 2023 May 23. doi: 10.3758/s13421-023-01432-4. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Assigning stress to polysyllabic words is a crucial aspect of reading aloud in English. Previous research demonstrated that native English speakers are sensitive to word endings as probabilistic orthographic cues to stress assignment. However, little is known about if second language (L2) learners of English are sensitive to word endings as cues to lexical stress. The current study investigated whether native Chinese-speakers learning English as a second language (ESL) are sensitive to word endings as probabilistic orthographic cues to lexical stress. Our ESL learners demonstrated sensitivity to word endings as cues in a stress-assignment task and a naming task. With the increase in language proficiency, ESL learners responded more accurately in the stress-assignment task. Moreover, stress position and language proficiency moderated the strength of the sensitivity, with a trochaic bias and better proficiency leading to better sensitivity in the stress-assignment task. However, as language proficiency increased, participants’ naming speed became faster in iambic but slower in trochaic patterns, reflecting the learners’ fledgling knowledge about the specific stress patterns associated with varying orthographic cues, especially in a demanding naming task. Taken together, the evidence from our ESL learners fits in the proposed statistical learning mechanism, that is, L2 learners are able to implicitly extract statistical regularities from linguistic materials, the orthographic cues to lexical stress in our study. Stress position and language proficiency both play a role in developing this sensitivity.

PMID:37219718 | DOI:10.3758/s13421-023-01432-4

Clin Exp Optom. 2023 May 23:1-6. doi: 10.1080/08164622.2023.2215381. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Increased serum cystatin C may play a role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic epiretinal membrane (IERM). Physicians should be aware of this relationship and should refer patients to the ophthalmology clinic for screening.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the serum cystatin C level in patients with IERM, and its associations with visual acuity.

METHODS: Sixty-eight patients with IERM and sixty-nine controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Based on the results of optical coherence tomography, patients with IERM were divided into four stages (I, II, III and IV). Serum cystatin C was measured in all participants. Serum cystatin C levels were compared between the control group and IERM group and between the IERM group with different optical coherence tomography stages. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship between serum cystatin C and IERM stages and best corrected visual acuity.

RESULTS: Serum cystatin C level was higher in the IERM group than in the control group (P < 0.001). There were statistically significant differences in serum cystatin C among different stages of IERM (P_{I vs II} = 0.011, P_{I vs IV} < 0.001 and P_{III vs IV} = 0.040, respectively). There were significant differences in best corrected visual acuity among different stages of IERM (P_{I vs III} = 0.018, P_{I vs IV} < 0.001, P_{II vs IV} < 0.001 and P_{III vs IV} < 0.001, respectively). Regression analysis showed a positive correlation between serum cystatin C and best corrected visual acuity (t = 2.238 P = 0.029). The cut-off value of receiver operation characteristic curve of serum cystatin C for IERM was 0.775.

CONCLUSION: This study revealed that serum cystatin C may be involved in the pathogenesis of IERM and can predict its occurrence. Elevated serum cystatin C appears to be associated with the severity of the disease and relatively poor vision acuity in IERM patients.

PMID:37218573 | DOI:10.1080/08164622.2023.2215381

J Comp Eff Res. 2023 May 23:e220188. doi: 10.57264/cer-2022-0188. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Aim: With no head-to-head studies comparing the effectiveness of lanadelumab and berotralstat for prevention of hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks, this network meta-analysis (NMA) aimed to indirectly compare the effectiveness of these treatments. Materials & methods: The NMA, using the published data from Phase III trials, was performed using a frequentist weighted regression-based approach following Rücker et al. Efficacy outcomes of interest were HAE attack rate per 28 days and ≥90% reduction in monthly HAE attacks [24]. Results & conclusion: In this NMA, lanadelumab 300 mg administered every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks was associated with statistically significantly higher effectiveness versus berotralstat 150 mg once daily (q.d.) or 110 mg q.d. for both efficacy outcomes assessed.

PMID:37218553 | DOI:10.57264/cer-2022-0188

Analyst. 2023 May 23. doi: 10.1039/d2an01035f. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Mid-infrared spectroscopic imaging (MIRSI) is an emerging class of label-free techniques being leveraged for digital histopathology. Modern histopathologic identification of ovarian cancer involves tissue staining followed by morphological pattern recognition. This process is time-consuming and subjective and requires extensive expertise. This paper presents the first label-free, quantitative, and automated histological recognition of ovarian tissue subtypes using a new MIRSI technique. This optical photothermal infrared (O-PTIR) imaging technique provides a 10× enhancement in spatial resolution relative to prior instruments. It enables sub-cellular spectroscopic investigation of tissue at biochemically important fingerprint wavelengths. We demonstrate that the enhanced resolution of sub-cellular features, combined with spectroscopic information, enables reliable classification of ovarian cell subtypes achieving a classification accuracy of 0.98. Moreover, we present a statistically robust analysis from 78 patient samples with over 60 million data points. We show that sub-cellular resolution from five wavenumbers is sufficient to outperform state-of-the-art diffraction-limited techniques with up to 235 wavenumbers. We also propose two quantitative biomarkers based on the relative quantities of epithelia and stroma that exhibit efficacy in early cancer diagnosis. This paper demonstrates that combining deep learning with intrinsic biochemical MIRSI measurements enables quantitative evaluation of cancerous tissue, improving the rigor and reproducibility of histopathology.

PMID:37218522 | DOI:10.1039/d2an01035f

Bratisl Lek Listy. 2023 May 23. doi: 10.4149/BLL_2023_084. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The relationship between epicardial adipose tissue and inflammatory events has been shown in many studies. Because it is an inflammatory process in coronary progression, it is aimed to examine the relationship between coronary artery disease progression and epicardial adipose tissue thickness.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our research was conducted with 50 patients (33 men, 17 women) who underwent planned or emergency coronary angiography, by evaluating the coronary artery disease progression from the coronary angiography images together with the echocardiographic epicardial adipose tissue thickness measurement. Patients were examined in two groups according to their tissue thickness, 17 patients with less than 0.55 cm were defined as group 1 and 33 patients with ≥ 0.55 were determined as group 2.

RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of gender, diabetes, age, hypertension. In addition, a significant relationship was found with epicardial adipose tissue thickness (> 0.5 cm), ejection fraction and smoking in the group with coronary progression. Patients without stenotic changes were found to be statistically significantly lower p < 0.005.

CONCLUSION: An independent relationship was found between epicardial adipose tissue and coronary artery progression. In the light of these findings, it can be concluded that epicardial adipose tissue residue is effective in the development of coronary artery stenosis and calcific-atherosclerotic changes in the coronary arteries. In the light of the information obtained, a positive correlation was determined between epicardial adipose tissue thickness and coronary artery disease (Tab. 3, Fig. 2, Ref. 15). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: coronary artery disease, epicardial adipose tissue, progression.

PMID:37218483 | DOI:10.4149/BLL_2023_084

Bratisl Lek Listy. 2023 May 23. doi: 10.4149/BLL_2023_081. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Despite known risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), the research community still tries to discover new markers that would widen our diagnostic and therapeutic approach to diabetes. Therefore, research on microRNA (miR) in diabetes thrives. This study aimed to assess the utility of miR-126, miR-146a, and miR-375 as novel diagnostic markers for T2D.

METHODS: We examined relative quantities of miR-126, miR-146a, and miR-375 in the serum of patients with established type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 68) and compared these with a control group (n = 29). We also undertook a ROC analysis of significantly changed miR to examine their use as a diagnostic test.

RESULTS: MiR-126 (p < 0.0001) and miR-146a (p = 0.0005) showed a statistically significant reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. MiR-126 also proved to be an exceptional diagnostic test in our study cohort, with high sensitivity (91 %) and specificity (97 %). We did not find any difference in our study groups’ relative quantities of miR-375.

CONCLUSION: The study proved a statistically significant reduction of miR-126 and miR-146a in patients with T2D (Tab. 4, Fig. 6, Ref. 51). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: microRNA, epigenetics, genomics, type 2 diabetes mellitus, miR-126, miR-146a and miR-375.

PMID:37218480 | DOI:10.4149/BLL_2023_081

Bratisl Lek Listy. 2023 May 23. doi: 10.4149/BLL_2023_078. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of endoscopic and surgical intervention in treating anastomotic leaks after oesophagectomy.

BACKGROUND: Anastomotic leak after oesophagectomy is a severe complication associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to analyse our experience with the management of anastomotic leak after oesophagectomy.

METHODS: A retrospective study evaluated the treatment outcome and duration of treatment in patients with anastomotic dehiscence or conduit necrosis after oesophagectomy from November 2008 to November 2021.

RESULTS: The group consists of forty-seven patients. Twenty-one (44.7 %) patients had dehiscence of the neck anastomosis, twenty patients (42.6 %) had dehiscence of the chest anastomosis, and six (12.8 %) patients had conduit necrosis. Nineteen patients with dehiscence were primarily treated by endoscopic insertion of a self-expanding metal stent with perianastomotic drainage; the other patients were primarily treated surgically. Mortality associated with anastomosis dehiscence was 27.7 % (thirteen patients). Stent use in treatment was a statistically significant parameter regarding the length of hospital stay and mortality.

CONCLUSION: Self-expanding metal stents can reduce leak-related morbidity and mortality after oesophagectomy and may be considered a cost-effective treatment alternative (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 21).

PMID:37218474 | DOI:10.4149/BLL_2023_078

ACS Nano. 2023 May 23;17(10):8837-8842. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.2c04894.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:37218415 | DOI:10.1021/acsnano.2c04894