Tag: statistics

Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1111/sms.13945. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to establish the association and differences in a diversity of cognitive domains according to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness (MF), and speed-agility fitness (S-AF) level in a large sample of Chilean schoolchildren. 1,171 Chilean schoolchildren aged 10-14 years participated. CRF, MF, and S-AF were assessed through the ALPHA-fitness test battery. Cognition was evaluated through the NeuroCognitive Performance Test, which involved eight tests related to four main domains: cognitive flexibility (CF), working memory (WM), inhibitory control (IC), and intelligence (IN). Both global (multivariate) and individual (univariate) analyses were performed to determine the differences in cognitive functioning according to low, middle, and high fitness level. The global analyses showed a significant main effect for CRF (F_{(16, 940)} =3.08, p≤0.001) and MF groups (F_{(16, 953)} =2.30, p=0.002), but not for S-AF (F_{(16, 948)} =1.37, p=0.105). CRF shows a significant main effect in seven of eight tests, involving CF, WM, IC, and IN domains; whereas MF shows a significant main effect in five of eight tests without association with IN. SA-F shows a significant main effect only with IC. Statistical differences were found between the low- and middle/high-fitness groups but not between the middle- and high-fitness groups. At a global level, both CRF and MF seems to be associated with a higher cognitive profile in scholars; however, at an individual level, all fitness components show a favourable relationship to some cognitive domine. Then, future cognitive developing strategies should consider all fitness components, prioritizing those low-fitness schoolchildren.

PMID:33638920 | DOI:10.1111/sms.13945

J Cancer Educ. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1007/s13187-021-01970-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Men, particularly those of underserved groups, bear a disproportionate cancer burden. Knowledge about cancer and screening is associated with adherence to screening guidelines. However it is possible that a correlation exists between an individual’s education attainment and ability to gain knowledge from health education. Men were recruited from Ohio counties with significant cancer disparities and asked to participate in three education sessions. Measures included a baseline survey collecting demographic information and pre- and post-intervention knowledge assessments about each of the topics. Paired t tests were used to determine whether there were statistically significant changes in mean scores after the intervention. Repeated measures of variance (ANOVA) conducted through generalized linear models (GLM) were used to determine if scores varied significantly by educational attainment. Appalachian men, regardless of level of educational attainment, had significant increases in knowledge for all topics. African American men with at least some college education demonstrated significant increases in knowledge for all three topics, while those with no college education had significant increases for only two topics. College education had a significant effect on scores for one topic among the Appalachian men and all three topics among the African American men. The interaction between change in score and higher educational attainment was significant for only one topic among Appalachian men and no topics among African American men. Higher educational attainment was associated with greater increases in knowledge scores for only one topic among Appalachian men and no topics among African American men. Culturally tailored health educational interventions are a promising approach to reducing disparities in cancer screening and outcomes among men of underserved groups. While all groups demonstrated increases in mean knowledge scores after participating in the educational intervention, there was not a significant association between educational attainment and increases in knowledge scores. Future research is needed to explore additional approaches to delivering health education and increasing the knowledge of men with lower levels of educational attainment.

PMID:33638816 | DOI:10.1007/s13187-021-01970-y

Water Environ Res. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1002/wer.1544. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) can recover significant quantities of wastewater phosphorus. However, this resource recovery process realizes limited use largely due to process stability concerns. Research evaluated effects of anaerobic HRT (τ_AN ) and VFA concentration – critical operational parameters that can be externally controlled – on EBPR performance. Evaluated alone, τ_AN (1-4 hours) exhibited no statistical effect on effluent phosphorus. However, PHA increased with VFA loading and biomass accumulated more phosphorus. Regarding resiliency, under increasing VFA loads PAOs hydrolyzed more phosphorus to uptake/catabolize VFAs; moreover, PHA synthesis normalized to VFA loading increased with τ_AN , suggesting fermentation. Kinetically, PAOs exhibited Monod-like relationships for qPHA_AN and qVFA_AN as a function of anaerobic P release; additionally, qP_AE exhibited a Monod-like relationship with end-anaerobic PHA concentration. A culminating analysis affirmed the relationship between enhanced aerobic P uptake, and net P removal, with a parameter (Phosphorus Removal Propensity Factor) that combines influent VFA concentration with τ_AN .

PMID:33638876 | DOI:10.1002/wer.1544

BJOG. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.16683. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-associated condition with complex disease mechanisms and a risk factor for various long-term health outcomes for the mother and infant.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize evidence on the association of PE with long-term health outcomes arising in women and/or infants.

SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus and ISI Web of Science were searched from inception to July 2020.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining associations between PE and long-term health outcomes in women and their infants.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted by two independent reviewers. We re-estimated the summary effect size by random-effects and fixed-effects models, the 95% confidence interval, the 95% prediction interval, the between-study heterogeneity, any evidence of small-study effects and excess significance bias.

RESULTS: Twenty-one articles included (90 associations). Seventy-nine associations had nominally statistically significant findings (P<0.05). Sixty-five associations had large or very large heterogeneity. Evidence for small-study effects and excess-significance bias was found in 7 and 2 associations, respectively. Nine associations: Cerebrovascular disease (cohort studies), Cerebrovascular disease (overall), Cardiac disease (cohort studies), dyslipidaemia (all studies), Risk of death (late-onset PE), Fatal and non-fatal ischaemic heart disease, Cardiovascular mortality (cohort studies), Any diabetes or use of diabetic medication (unadjusted), Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (adjusted) were supported with robust evidence.

CONCLUSION: Many of meta-analyses in this research field have caveats casting doubts on their validity. Current evidence suggests an increased risk for women to develop cardiovascular-related diseases, diabetes, and dyslipidaemia after PE, while offspring exposed to PE are at higher risk for ADHD.

PMID:33638891 | DOI:10.1111/1471-0528.16683

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-13086-3. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The performance comparison studies of the autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA) and the artificial neural network (ANN) were mostly carried out between the selected model structures through trial-and-error, strongly influenced by model structure uncertainty. This research aims to make up for this inadequacy. First, a surface water quality prediction case study including eight monitoring sites in China was introduced. Second, the ARIMA and ANN’s performance was compared statistically between 6912 Seasonal ARIMA (SARIMA) and 110,592 feedforward ANN with different model structures, based on the mean square error (MSE) distributions depicted by boxplots. In a statistical view, the ANN models obtained a significantly lower median value and a more concentrated distribution of validation MSEs, which indicated lighter overfitting and better generalization ability. Furthermore, the optimal SARIMA models’ performance is inferior to even the median of the ANN models in the case study. In contrast with the previous comparisons among selected models, the statistical comparison in this study shows lower uncertainty.

PMID:33638784 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-021-13086-3

Neuroradiology. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1007/s00234-021-02678-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Tubercular meningitis (TBM) has the propensity to cause secondary vasculitis through various mechanisms leading to development of cerebrovascular complications. These vascular involvements can be detected by vessel wall imaging (VWI). In this study, we aimed to study detailed findings of vessel wall imaging in cases of tubercular meningitis.

METHODS: All consecutive patients of suspected tubercular meningitis in whom diagnosis of TBM could be made according to diagnostic criteria given by Ahuja et al. were included in the study. High-resolution MR VWI and time of flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) were done along with routine MRI sequences. Arteries up to second-order branches were studied, and statistical analyses were done with respect to stage of tubercular meningitis, infarctions and TOF MRA findings.

RESULTS: Out of all 101 cases of TBM, infarctions were found in 49 cases (48.5%), and vessel wall enhancement was seen in 67 cases (66.3%). With increasing severity of disease, more severe vascular involvement was seen on VWI. There was significant association between enhancement of individual arteries and infarctions in their territories. VWI had better sensitivity than the MRA, while MRA had better specificity than VWI for detection of vascular complications.

CONCLUSION: Tubercular vasculitis can be detected by VWI in the form of nodular or smooth segmental enhancement of vessel wall with or without stenosis. Incorporation of VWI in routine MR imaging can play a greater role in early detection and management of cerebrovascular complications which can help to improve prognosis of the disease.

PMID:33638692 | DOI:10.1007/s00234-021-02678-y

J Neurol. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1007/s00415-021-10485-x. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate, in a prospective study, high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) changes of nerve segments in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and their relationships with clinical and electrodiagnostic (EDX) characteristics.

METHODS: Twenty-three consecutive patients with CIDP were included in a 3-year follow-up (FU) study. Each patient underwent neurologic examination, EDX and HRUS study. HRUS was performed on median, ulnar and peroneal nerves, yielding a total of 319 scanned nerve segments. INCAT and MRC-sum scores, motor nerve conduction velocity (NCV), compound muscle action potential (cMAP) amplitude, and nerve cross-sectional area (NCSA) were collected at baseline and at FU end, and were used for statistical analysis. Twenty-two healthy individuals, matched to patients for age and BMI, served as controls.

RESULTS: NCSA was higher in patients than in controls (p < 0.0001) and showed significant direct correlation with disease severity, and inverse correlation with NCV and cMAP amplitude, both at baseline and at FU end. Disease duration, clinical scores and EDX were predictors of NCSA enlargement at both time points. During FU, NCSA increased in 51% of nerve segments (p = 0.006), in correlation with INCAT increase and with NCV and cMAP reduction. Considering EDX changes in subgroups that reflect the different types of nerve damage, NCSA significantly increased in those nerve segments that from normal EDX switched to prevalent myelinopathic EDX characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS: Peripheral nerve size tends to increase over time in patients with CIDP, in correlation with clinical and EDX changes, in particular in those nerve segments that undergo a predominantly demyelinating damage.

PMID:33638679 | DOI:10.1007/s00415-021-10485-x

Brain Behav. 2021 Feb 27:e01997. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1997. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A meta-analysis was performed to examine therapeutic effects of Silexan on somatic symptoms, including insomnia/fatigue, and physical health in patients with anxiety disorders. Five randomized, placebo-controlled trials were included in this analysis: The efficacy of Silexan (80 mg/day) was investigated in patients with subthreshold anxiety disorders (three trials) and in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (two trials). Silexan was superior to placebo in terms of the mean change from baseline in the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) subscore somatic anxiety at week 10 with a standardized mean difference of -0.31 [95% Cl: -0.52 to -0.10, p = .004]. Treatment effects of silexan on somatic anxiety were independent of gender and age. Statistically significant differences were also shown for single HAMA items somatic muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, and genitourinary symptoms, indicating clinical relevance with small to medium effects of Silexan. Similar clinically meaningful effects of Silexan on SF-36 physical health, including reduced bodily pain and improved general health, and on insomnia complaints and fatigue, were demonstrated. In this meta-analysis including all placebo-controlled clinical trials in patients with anxiety disorders to date, statistically significant and clinically meaningful advantages of Silexan over placebo treatment were found in improving somatic symptoms and physical health.

PMID:33638614 | DOI:10.1002/brb3.1997

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1007/s00127-021-02045-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Homelessness is linked to poor mental health and an increased likelihood of offending. People often lose accommodation when they enter prison and struggle to find accommodation upon release leading to an increased likelihood of relapse and reoffending. The RESET intervention was developed to support prisoners with mental health needs for 12 weeks after release to coordinate their transition into the community and obtaining secure housing.

METHODS: The primary objective of the study was to assess the participants housing situation. A prospective cohort design followed up 62 prisoners with mental health needs for 9 months post-release. Data were collected at three time points regarding accommodation, reoffending and contact and engagement with services. Inferential statistics using Chi-squared tests and t tests were used to examine differences in scores between the two groups at each time point.

RESULTS: The RESET group was significantly more likely to have secure housing at all three time points being housed for approximately twice as many days than the comparison group (244 vs 129 days at 9 months: p ≤ 0.01). The RESET group also had a significantly greater level of contact with GPs and significantly more received benefits at all three time points.

CONCLUSION: This is the first study to focus on reducing homeless for recently released prisoners with mental health needs. The RESET intervention was successful in achieving its main objective; accommodating participants in permanent housing and reducing homelessness. There was also an association between receiving the intervention and greater engagement with other services. This supports the view that secure housing is important in ensuring a positive transition from prison to the community for prisoners with mental health needs.

PMID:33638649 | DOI:10.1007/s00127-021-02045-5

J Magn Reson Imaging. 2021 Feb 27. doi: 10.1002/jmri.27579. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Preoperative prediction of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status in patients with spinal bone metastases (SBM) from primary lung adenocarcinoma is potentially important for treatment decisions.

PURPOSE: To develop and validate multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiomics methods for preoperative prediction of EGFR mutation based on MRI of SBM.

STUDY TYPE: Retrospective.

POPULATION: A total of 97 preoperative patients with lumbar SBM from lung adenocarcinoma (77 in training set and 20 in validation set).

FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and T2-weighted fat-suppressed fast spin echo sequences at 3.0 T.

ASSESSMENT: Radiomics handcrafted and deep learning-based features were extracted and selected from each MRI sequence. The abilities of the features to predict EGFR mutation status were analyzed and compared. A radiomics nomogram was constructed integrating the selected features.

STATISTICAL TESTS: The Mann-Whitney U test and χ² test were employed for evaluating associations between clinical characteristics and EGFR mutation status for continuous and discrete variables, respectively. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator was used for selection of predictive features. Sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the ability of radiomics models to predict the EGFR mutation. Calibration and decision curve analysis (DCA) were performed to assess and validate nomogram results.

RESULTS: The radiomics signature comprised five handcrafted and one deep learning-based features and achieved good performance for predicting EGFR mutation status, with AUCs of 0.891 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.820-0.962, SEN = 0.913, SPE = 0.710) in the training group and 0.771 (95% CI, 0.551-0.991, SEN = 0.750, SPE = 0.875) in the validation group. DCA confirmed the potential clinical usefulness of the radiomics models.

DATA CONCLUSION: Multiparametric MRI-based radiomics is potentially clinical valuable for predicting EGFR mutation status in patients with SBM from lung adenocarcinoma.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: 2.

PMID:33638577 | DOI:10.1002/jmri.27579