Tag: statistics

J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Oct 15:114754. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.114754. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Erigeron canadensis has been used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of respiratory diseases, including acute upper and lower respiratory tract infections and cough-related asthma. There is as yet no relevant experimental or clinical study in the scientific literature evaluating the efficacy of plants in these disorders.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the active ingredients in Erigeron canadensis, a complex isolated from flowering parts of a plant was tested for airway defense reflexes, in particular for cough reflexes and airway reactivity. Both were experimentally induced by a chemical irritant that simulated the inflammatory conditions of their formation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The polyphenolic polysaccharide-protein (PPP) complex was isolated from the flowering parts of Erigeron canadensis by hot alkaline extraction and a multi-stage purification process. The antitussive activity was confirmed as a decrease in the number of citric acid-induced coughs and the bronchodilator effect was verified as a decrease in specific airway resistance (sRaw) in conscious guinea pigs.

RESULTS: The dark brown Erigeron complex with a molecular weight of 38,000 g/mol contained phenolics (13.2% wt%), proteins (16.3% wt%), and uronic acids (6.3% wt%). The neutral carbohydrate part of Erigeron consisted mainly of xylose (12.1 wt%), glucose (13.3 wt%), arabinose (24.1 wt%), and galactose (41.0 wt%) residues. Arabinogalactan and 4-OMe-glucuronoxylan have been found to be the major polysaccharides in the Erigeron complex. Using a method of chemically-induced cough reflex and guinea pigs test system the Erigeron complex exhibited statistically significant, the dose-dependent antitussive activity, which was similar to that of the centrally-acting opioid agonist codeine.

CONCLUSION: Pharmacological tests have revealed a new pharmacodynamic effect of the Erigeron complex, namely an antitussive effect. Its activity was most pronounced in comparison with all previously tested compounds from other medicinal plants and approached the effect of codeine, the most potent antitussive used in clinical practice. The results provide the scientific basis for the application of this herb in traditional medicine.

PMID:34662663 | DOI:10.1016/j.jep.2021.114754

J Pediatr (Rio J). 2021 Oct 15:S0021-7557(21)00135-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jped.2021.08.005. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum Cystatin C in acute kidney injury (AKI) in neonates.

SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and WanFang Database were searched to retrieve the literature related to the diagnostic value of Cystatin C for neonatal AKI from inception to May 10, 2021. Subsequently, the quality of included studies was determined using the QUADAS-2 tool. Stata 15.0 statistical software was used to calculate the combined sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). Additionally, meta-regression analysis and subgroup analysis contributed to explore the sources of heterogeneity.

SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: Twelve articles were included. The pooled sensitivity was 0.84 (95%CI: 0.74-0.91), the pooled specificity was 0.81 (95%CI: 0.75-0.86), the pooled PLR was 4.39 (95%CI: 3.23-5.97), the pooled NLR was 0.19 (95%CI: 0.11-0.34), and the DOR was 22.58 (95%CI: 10.44-48.83). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.88 (95%CI: 0.85-0.90). And no significant publication bias was identified (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Serum Cystatin C has a good performance in predicting neonatal AKI; therefore, it can be used as a candidate biomarker after the optimal level is determined by large prospective studies.

PMID:34662539 | DOI:10.1016/j.jped.2021.08.005

J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2021 Sep 21:S0278-2391(21)01125-3. doi: 10.1016/j.joms.2021.09.015. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Since its implementation, TMJ arthrocentesis can be performed with cannulas of different diameters. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in cannula diameter for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthrocentesis on intraoperative and postoperative parameters.

METHODS: A prospective randomized clinical study was conducted using the documentation of Wilkes stage 3 patients with TMJ disorders. Patients were assigned to 2 groups using a system of computer-assisted randomization. Double puncure arthrocentesis (DPA) was performed with 21-gauge cannulas (group 1) and 18-gauge cannulas (group 2). The primary predictor variable was cannula diameter. Pain values assessed using a Likert-type (0 to10) visual analog scale (VAS) were selected as primary outcome variable. Mandibular movements including maximum mouth opening (MMO), lateral excursions (LE) and protrusion (P), were selected as secondary outcomes. Mandibular movements and pain values were recorded before treatment and at 1st day and 3rd months intervals. Descriptive, comparative, and bivariate analyses were conducted. Intraoperative complications were also recorded.

RESULTS: DPA was applied to 33 patients (29 females, 4 males). Although group 1 was found to be significantly more advantageous than group 2 in terms of pain levels (P < .05), no statistically significant difference was discovered in terms of total complication numbers and mandibular movements at the follow-up periods (P >.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Despite the limited sample size cannula thickness affects postoperative pain level significantly in conventional TMJ arthrocentesis.

PMID:34662553 | DOI:10.1016/j.joms.2021.09.015

J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2021 Oct 18:1-6. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2021.1988071. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hyperlipidemia is a precursor of inflammation and oxidative stress and suggested to be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm delivery. This study evaluated the association between maternal hyperlipidemia and spontaneous preterm delivery.

METHODS: This was a prospective, multicentre cohort study in which 239 pregnant women aged 20-35 years with singleton pregnancy, were consecutively recruited at estimated gestational ages of 14-18weeks. Maternal serum lipids were determined at recruitment over a 2-month period and they were followed up until 37 weeks for the subsequent 6 months. Pregnant women with medical conditions and medications that could alter serum lipid levels were excluded from the study. Demographic and baseline variables were summarized using descriptive statistics. Comparison of continuous variables was done using the student’s t-test and categorical variables were compared using the Chi square or Fisher’s exact test as appropriate. Correlation was determined using Pearson’s correlation. Odd ratios were calculated at 95% confidence interval, width of CI as 10% (0.1) and all significances are reported at p < .05.

FINDINGS: The prevalence of spontaneous preterm delivery and maternal hypercholesterolemia was 10.2% and 33.1% respectively. There was no significant association between spontaneous preterm delivery and hyperlipidemia in pregnancy (p = .102). Mean serum total cholesterol (mmol/L), LDL cholesterol (mmol/L), HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) and triglyceride (mmol/L) was 5.31 ± 0.84, 2.60 ± 0.72, 1.64 ± 0.36 and 1.23 ± 0.40 respectively in women with spontaneous preterm delivery was similar to mean values of 5.23 ± 0.98, 2.54 ± 0.82, 1.64 ± 0.49 and 1.30 ± 0.59 respectively in women with term delivery. There was no significant correlation between mean individual serum lipids, determined at 14-18weeks gestational age, and gestational age at delivery.

CONCLUSION: Serum lipid values determined early in pregnancy were observed to be similar in women with preterm and term delivery. There was no association between hyperlipidemia and spontaneous preterm delivery. There was no correlation of individual mean lipid values, determined early in pregnancy, and gestational age at delivery.

PMID:34662530 | DOI:10.1080/14767058.2021.1988071

Clin Otolaryngol. 2021 Oct 18. doi: 10.1111/coa.13878. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Assess long-term outcomes of ALA-PDT in treating recalcitrant laryngeal leukoplakia.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective Case-Control.

METHODS: We reviewed all laryngeal leukoplakia patients treated with ALA-PDT compared with angiolytic laser treatment alone (585nm PDL or 532nm KTP laser) from 2000 to 2019. Patients with laryngeal cancer (or a history of laryngeal cancer), leukoplakia previously treated with radiation and no pathologic report were excluded. Patient demographics, procedure details, and outcomes were examined including histopathologic diagnosis, procedures performed, ALA usage, recurrence of leukoplakia, and the development of cancer.

RESULTS: We identified 132 patients with laryngeal leukoplakia: 42 were treated with ALA-PDT and 90 were treated with an angiolytic laser alone (Laser group). The proportion of cases of high-grade dysplasia was 57.1% in the ALA-PDT group compared to 32.2% in the Laser group. In high-grade dysplasia cases, there was a statistically significant better recurrence-free survival (RFS) at 12 months and 60 months in those who underwent ALA-PDT 71.4% and 7.1% vs Laser 25% and 0% (P=0.01). However, for overall group there was no difference in RFS (P=0.25). Voice outcomes (Patient subjective report) improved or were stable in 75% of subjects with no serious side effects reported.

CONCLUSION: ALA-PDT for recalcitrant and high-grade dysplasia is highly effective with improved recurrence-free survival compared to laser alone. ALA-PDT may be an appropriate therapy in patients who have failed prior angiolytic laser alone.

PMID:34662496 | DOI:10.1111/coa.13878

Mol Biol Evol. 2021 Oct 18:msab306. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msab306. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The soil bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis and a significant cause of human morbidity and mortality in many tropical and sub-tropical countries. The species notoriously survives harsh environmental conditions but the genetic architecture for these adaptations remains unclear. Here we employed a powerful combination of genome-wide epistasis and co-selection studies (2,011 genomes), condition-wide transcriptome analyses (82 diverse conditions), and a gene knockout assay to uncover signals of “co-selection” – that is a combination of genetic markers that have been repeatedly selected together through B. pseudomallei evolution. These enabled us to identify 13,061 mutation pairs under co-selection in distinct genes and non-coding RNA. Genes under co-selection displayed marked expression correlation when B. pseudomallei was subjected to physical stress conditions, highlighting the conditions as one of the major evolutionary driving forces for this bacterium. We identified a putative adhesin (BPSL1661) as a hub of co-selection signals, experimentally confirmed a BPSL1661 role under nutrient deprivation, and explored the functional basis of co-selection gene network surrounding BPSL1661 in facilitating the bacterial survival under nutrient depletion. Our findings suggest that nutrient-limited conditions have been the common selection pressure acting on this species, and allelic variation of BPSL1661 may have promoted B. pseudomallei survival during harsh environmental conditions by facilitating bacterial adherence to different surfaces, cells, or living hosts.

PMID:34662416 | DOI:10.1093/molbev/msab306

J Community Psychol. 2021 Oct 18. doi: 10.1002/jcop.22734. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This article explores the incidence of psychosocial well-being within Lokaleng; a rural community located in the North West province of South Africa. While the community is unique, it shares similarities with many other rural communities in South Africa, such as being deprived of various resources and being impoverished, indicating a need to explore the incidence of psychosocial well-being in this community as there has been no research on this phenomenon in this community specifically. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed. A purposive sample of adult community members (n = 189) completed a battery of validated questionnaires and data were analyzed with the IBM SPSS Statistics 26 software package. The results are indicative that the sample experienced lower levels of psychosocial well-being, which supports similar findings of other South African studies that rural communities tend to report lower levels of psychosocial well-being.

PMID:34662437 | DOI:10.1002/jcop.22734

Plant Physiol. 2021 Oct 18:kiab476. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiab476. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Bicontinuous membranes in cell organelles epitomize nature’s ability to create complex functional nanostructures. Like their synthetic counterparts, these membranes are characterized by continuous membrane sheets draped onto topologically complex saddle-shaped surfaces with a periodic network-like structure. Their structure sizes, (around 50-500 nm), and fluid nature make transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the analysis method of choice to decipher their nanostructural features. Here we present a tool, SPIRE (Surface Projection Image Recognition Environment), to identify bicontinuous structures from TEM sections through interactive identification by comparison to mathematical “nodal surface” models. The prolamellar body (PLB) of plant etioplasts is a bicontinuous membrane structure with a key physiological role in chloroplast biogenesis. However, the determination of its spatial structural features has been held back by the lack of tools enabling identification and quantitative analysis of symmetric membrane conformations. Using our SPIRE tool, we achieved a robust identification of the bicontinuous diamond surface as the dominant PLB geometry in angiosperm etioplasts in contrast to earlier long-standing assertions in the literature. Our data also provide insights into membrane storage capacities of PLBs with different volume proportions and hint at the limited role of a plastid ribosome localization directly inside the PLB grid for its proper functioning. This represents an important step in understanding their as yet elusive structure-function relationship.

PMID:34662407 | DOI:10.1093/plphys/kiab476

J Infect Dis. 2021 Oct 18:jiab536. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab536. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A recurrent question is whether transient reactions to vaccines translate into better immune responses. Using clinical data from two large Phase 3 studies of the recombinant zoster vaccine, we observed a small but statistically significant association between the intensity of a frequent side-effect (pain) after vaccination and immune responses to vaccination. However, despite the statistical correlation, the impact on the immune response is so small, and the immune response in individuals without pain already sufficient, that pain cannot be a surrogate marker for an appropriate immune response. Reactogenicity cannot be used to predict immunity after vaccination.

PMID:34662415 | DOI:10.1093/infdis/jiab536

Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2021 Oct 18:ivab289. doi: 10.1093/icvts/ivab289. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Spread through air spaces (STAS) is a pattern of invasion present in some adenocarcinomas (ADC). The goal of this study was to assess the impact of STAS in patients treated with different types of surgical resections and on the clinical outcome in patients with ADC of different diameters and with different degrees of nodal involvement.

METHODS: A total of 109 patients were reviewed. Complete surgical resection with systematic nodal dissection was achieved in all patients. The median follow-up was 65 months (3-90 months).

RESULTS: STAS was observed in 70 cases (64.2%); 13 patients (18.5%) had lymph node involvement (N1 and N2). Overall survival and progression-free survival were higher in patients without STAS (P = 0.042; P = 0.027). The presence of STAS in tumours ≤2 cm was a predictor of worse progression-free survival following sublobar resection compared to major resections (P = 0.011). Sublobar resection of N0 STAS-positive tumours was associated with worse long-term survival compared to a major resection (P = 0.04). Statistical analyses showed that age >70 years and recurrence were independent variables for survival; smoking pack-years >20, sublobar resection and nodal involvement were independent variables for recurrence; and smoking pack-years >20 were independent variables for a history of cancer and pleural invasion for local recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS: STAS seems to play a role in long-term survival, particularly for patients with N0 and tumours smaller than 2 cm. Further studies are necessary to validate this hypothesis.

PMID:34662397 | DOI:10.1093/icvts/ivab289