Tag: statistics

J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1111/jog.15257. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) is a bleeding disease that can cause fetal hydrops, a rare but life-threatening condition in which abnormal amounts of fluid accumulate in one or two areas of the fetus’s body. A case of FNAIT with fetal hydrops caused by anti-HPA-15b antibodies was involved in this study, as we investigated whether or not anti-HPA-15b antibodies can induce endothelial angiogenesis and apoptosis.

METHODS: The monoclonal antibody immobilization of platelet antigens assay (MAIPA) was used to identify anti-HPA-15b antibodies. The three groups in Tube formation and apoptosis assays were the PBS group, the AB serum IgG group, and the anti-HPA-15b serum IgG group, all reacted with HPA-15bb HUVEC.

RESULTS: The presence of anti-HPA-15b antibodies was found in this case by MAIPA assay. The OD values are 0.33 and 0.21, reacted with HPA-15bb and HPA-15ab platelets, respectively (cutoff OD value = 0.2). Quantitative analysis revealed that the length of capillary-like tube induced by anti-HPA-15b antibodies was significantly decreased over that of AB serum IgG (*p = 0.0005), but weaker than when incubated with thrombin (**p = 0.0009). The apoptosis results show a significantly increased number of apoptotic endothelial cells in the anti-HPA-15b antibody IgG group when compared with the PBS and AB serum IgG groups (*p < 0.0001, **p < 0.0001). In addition, there is no statistical difference between the PBS and AB serum groups.

CONCLUSION: Anti-HPA-15b antibodies can inhibit angiogenesis and induce apoptosis. This may associate with hydrops fetalis (HF), or fetal hydrops of FNAIT.

PMID:35388576 | DOI:10.1111/jog.15257

NMR Biomed. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1002/nbm.4738. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-based thermometry offers potential as a non-invasive method for measuring temperatures deep inside the human brain. However, DWI might be influenced by the pulsatile flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This study aimed to investigate the influence of such pulsations on DWI thermometry in healthy individuals.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 104 participants (50 men, 54 women; mean (± standard deviation) age, 44.2 ± 14.3 years; range 21-69 years) were investigated. DWI-based brain temperature (T_DWI ) was acquired at three speeds (maximum and minimum speeds of ascending flow and random timing at the cerebral aqueduct) of CSF pulsation using a 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)-based temperature (T_MRS ) at the thalamus was also obtained as a reference standard for brain temperature. The three different CSF pulsatile flows were monitored by heart rate during the scan. The difference between reference temperature and brain temperature (ΔT = T_DWI – T_MRS ) along with the three CSF speeds were statistically compared using Student’s matched pair t-test.

RESULTS: No significant difference in ΔT was evident among CSF speeds (P > 0.05). No significant linear correlation between ΔT and CSF flow speed at the cerebral aqueduct was observed.

CONCLUSION: Using DWI thermometry with clinical acquisition settings, which utilizes mean values within thresholds, no effect of CSF pulsation speed was observed in the estimation of ΔT.

PMID:35388508 | DOI:10.1002/nbm.4738

Am J Hum Biol. 2022 Apr 6:eajhb. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23750. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The secondary sex ratio (SSR, i.e., the number of male births per 100 female births) has long been proposed as a sentinel health indicator. Studies have suggested that exogenous environmental stressors reduce SSR after 3 to 6 months (via disproportionate male fetus deaths) and after 9 months (via reduced male conception). We aimed to examine whether SSR declined after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan.

METHODS: We used monthly vital statistics records collected between January 2013 and April 2021 (the -number of male and female live births, in particular). Using information reported before the pandemic struck Japan (i.e., January 2013 to January 2020), we predicted SSRs for the months after the pandemic (i.e., February 2020 to April 2021) and compared reported and predicted SSRs. We also stratified the analysis by including two groups of prefectures with different degrees of possible influence from the pandemic.

RESULTS: We observed a significant reduction in SSR during December 2020 of 102.81 (i.e., 9-10 months after the pandemic affected the country), which was below the lower bound of the 95% prediction intervals (103.12-106.33). This was the lowest SSR observed during the 100-month study period. In addition, the reduction in SSR during December 2020 was more pronounced in the more seriously affected prefectures.

CONCLUSION: In Japan, we found a significant reduction in SSR (i.e., fewer male live births) 9-10 months after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. This suggests the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was a significant population-level stressor.

PMID:35388546 | DOI:10.1002/ajhb.23750

Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1111/ppc.13075. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was conducted using a descriptive design to examine the correlation between spousal support and postpartum depression (PPD) in fathers.

DESIGN AND METHODS: The participants of the study were the fathers of infants born in the obstetrics and gynecology clinic of a state hospital affiliated with the Ministry of Health in a province in Turkey.

FINDINGS: It was determined that while the possibility of paternal PPD was lower in the early postpartum period (p < 0.001), it increased in the late postpartum period (p < 0.001). A negative statistically significant correlation was identified between the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores and the Spouse Support Scale (SSS) scores of the participants in the early postpartum period (p = 0.031). There was a highly negative significant correlation between late postpartum EPDS scores and the early (p < 0.001) and late period (p < 0.001) SSS scores. A highly negative significant correlation was observed between the mean score of the early spousal support period and the mean score of the late spousal support period (p < 0.001). In this study, spousal support decreased PPD in fathers.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study indicated the necessity of routinely screening men for PPD symptoms. Early diagnosis and spousal support would contribute to reducing early and late paternal PPD, thus protecting the family’s integrity.

PMID:35388478 | DOI:10.1111/ppc.13075

J Neurol Surg A Cent Eur Neurosurg. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1743515. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: We evaluate the feasibility of a single-stage posterior corpectomy and circumferential arthrodesis with the aid of spinal navigation for the treatment of traumatic thoracolumbar burst fractures.

METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective study. Demographics, clinical, and radiologic data of 19 patients who underwent surgery at our institution for thoracolumbar burst fractures between 2016 and 2019 were collected. All patients enrolled in the present study underwent surgery by means of posterior fixation and transpedicular corpectomy with the aid of an intraoperative image-guided neuronavigation system.

RESULTS: Postoperative correction of the vertebral height ratio was achieved in all cases, with an average increase of 23.6% (p = 0.0005). No statistical differences (p = 0.9) were found comparing 1- and 3-month postoperative CT scans, in relation to vertebral height ratio. A statistically significant difference was found between the pre- and postoperative kyphotic angles for the thoracolumbar and lumbar segments (p = 0.0018 and 0.005, respectively), but no difference was found between kyphotic angles at the 3-month follow-up. A unilateral approach was performed on 15 patients (79%), while 4 cases (21%) required a bilateral laminectomy. We did not observe any significant intraoperative complication.

CONCLUSION: Single-stage posterior corpectomy and fixation is a safe and effective approach for thoracic and lumbar burst fractures. It provides excellent 360-degree reconstruction in a single surgical stage with satisfactory results in terms of kyphosis reduction, biomechanical stability, and reduced invasiveness. Spinal navigation represents a fundamental tool to overcome some anatomical limits of the presented technique.

PMID:35388449 | DOI:10.1055/s-0042-1743515

J Anim Ecol. 2022 Apr 7. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13698. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

1. Individual decisions regarding how, why, and when organisms interact with one another and with their environment scale up to shape patterns and processes in communities. Recent evidence has firmly established the prevalence of intraspecific variation in nature and its relevance in community ecology, yet challenges associated with collecting data on large numbers of individual conspecifics and heterospecifics has hampered integration of individual variation into community ecology. 2. Nevertheless, recent technological and statistical advances in GPS-tracking, remote sensing, and behavioral ecology offer a toolbox for integrating intraspecific variation into community processes. More than simply describing where organisms go, movement data provide unique information about interactions and environmental associations from which a true individual-to-community framework can be built. 3. By linking the movement paths of both conspecifics and heterospecifics with environmental data, ecologists can now simultaneously quantify intra- and interspecific variation regarding the Eltonian (biotic interactions) and Grinnellian (environmental conditions) factors underpinning community assemblage and dynamics, yet substantial logistical and analytical challenges must be addressed for these approaches to realize their full potential. 4. Across communities, empirical integration of Eltonian and Grinnellian factors can support conservation applications and reveal metacommunity dynamics via tracking-based dispersal data. As the logistical and analytical challenges associated with multi-species tracking are surmounted, we envision a future where individual movements and their ecological and environmental signatures will bring resolution to many enduring issues in community ecology.

PMID:35388473 | DOI:10.1111/1365-2656.13698

Nuklearmedizin. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1055/a-1759-3900. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Recently, dose reference levels (DRLs) have been defined in Germany for auxiliary low-dose CT scans in hybrid SPECT/CT and PET/CT examinations, based on data from 2016/17. Here, another survey from 2020 was evaluated and compared with the new DRLs as well as with similar surveys from foreign countries.

METHODS: The survey, which had already been conducted in the Nordic countries, queried for various examinations including the following values: patient weight and height, volume CT dose index (CTDI_vol), dose length product (DLP). For each examination, statistical parameters such as the third quartile (Q3) were determined from all submitted CTDI_vol and DLP values. Additionally, for examinations comprising datasets from at least 10 systems, the third quartile (Q3-Med) of the respective median values of each system was calculated. Q3 and Q3-Med were compared with the newly published DRLs from Germany and values from similar studies from other countries.

RESULTS: Data from 15 SPECT/CT and 13 PET/CT systems from 15 nuclear medicine departments were collected. For the following examinations datasets from more than 10 systems were submitted: SPECT lung VQ, SPECT bone, SPECT&PET cardiac, PET brain, PET oncology. Especially for examinations of the thorax and heart, the new DRLs are very strict compared to this study. The CTDI_vol values for examinations of the head were lower in this study than the DRLs prescribe now.

CONCLUSIONS: For certain examination types, there is a need for dose optimization at some clinics and devices in order to take into account the new DRLs in Germany in the future.

PMID:35388444 | DOI:10.1055/a-1759-3900

J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2022 Apr 7:nlac023. doi: 10.1093/jnen/nlac023. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The hallmark alteration in α-synucleinopathies, α-synuclein, is observed not only in the brain but also in the peripheral tissues, particularly in the intestine. This suggests that endoscopic biopsies performed for colon cancer screening could facilitate the assessment of α-synuclein in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Using immunohistochemistry for α-synuclein, we assessed whether GI biopsies could be used to confirm an ongoing α-synucleinopathy. Seventy-four subjects with cerebral α-synucleinopathy in various Braak stages with concomitant GI biopsies were available for study. In 81% of the subjects, α-synuclein was seen in the mucosal/submucosal GI biopsies. Two subjects with severe cerebral α-synucleinopathy and a long delay between biopsy and death displayed no α-synuclein pathology in the gut, and 11 subjects with sparse cerebral α-synucleinopathy displayed GI α-synuclein up to 36 years prior to death. The finding that there was no GI α-synuclein in 19% of the subjects with cerebral α-synucleinopathy, and α-synuclein was observed in the gut of 11 subjects (15%) with sparse cerebral α-synucleinopathy even many years prior to death is unexpected and jeopardizes the use of assessment of α-synuclein in the peripheral tissue for confirmation of an ongoing cerebral α-synucleinopathy.

PMID:35388426 | DOI:10.1093/jnen/nlac023

Brief Bioinform. 2022 Apr 6:bbac110. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbac110. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Reproducibility of results obtained using ribonucleic acid (RNA) data across labs remains a major hurdle in cancer research. Often, molecular predictors trained on one dataset cannot be applied to another due to differences in RNA library preparation and quantification, which inhibits the validation of predictors across labs. While current RNA correction algorithms reduce these differences, they require simultaneous access to patient-level data from all datasets, which necessitates the sharing of training data for predictors when sharing predictors. Here, we describe SpinAdapt, an unsupervised RNA correction algorithm that enables the transfer of molecular models without requiring access to patient-level data. It computes data corrections only via aggregate statistics of each dataset, thereby maintaining patient data privacy. Despite an inherent trade-off between privacy and performance, SpinAdapt outperforms current correction methods, like Seurat and ComBat, on publicly available cancer studies, including TCGA and ICGC. Furthermore, SpinAdapt can correct new samples, thereby enabling unbiased evaluation on validation cohorts. We expect this novel correction paradigm to enhance research reproducibility and to preserve patient privacy.

PMID:35388408 | DOI:10.1093/bib/bbac110

Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1111/inm.12999. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disruptive effect on daily routines, especially for university students. This study aimed to compare pre-pandemic domains of students’ mental health during the pandemic lockdown. One cross-sectional study was conducted in two waves with academic students from 20 Portuguese universities, in March 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 3579) and 2 months after the first lockdown in May 2020 (n = 1228). The Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (PMHQ), the Mental Health Knowledge Questionnaire, the Mental Health-promoting knowledge, and the Psychological Vulnerability Scale were used. Statistical analyses were performed by bivariate associations and multiple linear regression models. Students were mostly women (79%), with an average age of 23.2 years (SD = 6.6), displaced from their family environment (43%), out-of-home (43%), and scholarship holders (37%). Higher scores found in the PVS were associated with decreased PMHQ in both moments (P < 0.01). These cross-sectional studies showed a slight variation in the mental health variables studied in the period before and during the COVID-19 outbreak. Being a woman, younger, out-of-home, and having a scholarship (P < 0.01) seem to increase susceptibility to mental health variation before and during the pandemic. Universities should develop strategies that promote students’ mental health.

PMID:35385603 | DOI:10.1111/inm.12999