Despite being among the most researched topics on supercomputers, a fundamental understanding of the effects of turbulent motion on fluid flows still eludes scientists. A new approach aims to change that.
Tag: statistics
Dermatology. 2022 Feb 14:1-10. doi: 10.1159/000522053. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg type (PCDLBCL, LT) is an aggressive lymphoma variant. Anthracycline-based chemotherapy with rituximab is recommended as first-line treatment. Radiotherapy (RT) has been considered as a therapeutic option for local disease control in patients with solitary or localized lesions.
METHODS: We report the results of a retrospective analysis of PCDLBC, LT patients treated either with RT alone or with physician’s decision as first-line treatment, aiming to assess disease progression and/or first recurrence in these treatment groups.
RESULTS: We retrospectively analyzed 20 patients treated either with RT alone (n = 8) or with investigator’s choice treatment (n = 12), which included chemotherapy alone or combined with local therapy (RT and wide local excision). Complete response (CR) was achieved in 8 patients from the first group and 9 patients from the second group, with 1 treatment failure. Six patients treated with RT alone progressed with a median time to progression (TTP) of 12.5 months. In the second group, 5 patients progressed with a median TTP of 5.2 months. RT showed good local disease control in both groups without any skin relapses during the follow-up period.
CONCLUSION: RT as first-line monotherapy followed by watchful waiting did not significantly improve the overall risk of disease progression but resulted in good local disease control. After progression, RT could still easily be combined with systemic treatment. The strength of this analysis needs to be evaluated in a larger patient cohort.
PMID:35158362 | DOI:10.1159/000522053
Ophthalmologica. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1159/000522527. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Objective and purpose: To explore the relation between retinal neurodegenerative changes and vessel closure (VC) in individuals with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) in a follow-up period of 3 years.
DESIGN: 3-year prospective longitudinal study with four annual visits.
PARTICIPANTS: 74 individuals with type 2 diabetes, NPDR and ETDRS grades from 10 to 47, one eye/person. An age-matched healthy control population of 84 eyes was used as control group.
METHODS: Participants were annually examined by color fundus photography (CFP), spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and OCT-Angiography (OCTA). Vessel closure was assessed by OCTA vessel density maps. SD-OCT segmentations was performed to access central retinal thickness (CRT) and retinal neurodegeneration considered as thinning of the ganglion cell plus inner plexiform layer (GCL+IPL).
RESULTS: Type 2 diabetic individuals presented significantly higher CRT (p=0.001), GCL+IPL thinning (p=0.042), and decreased vessel density at the superficial capillary plexus (p<0.001) and full retina (p=0.001). When looking at changes occurring over the 3-year period of follow up (Table 2), there were statistically significant decreases in GCL+IPL thickness (-0.438 µm/year; p=0.038), foveal avascular zone circularity (-0.009; p=0.047), and vessel density, in superficial capillary plexus (-0.172 mm-1/year; p<0.001), deep capillary plexus (-0.350 mm-1/year; p<0.001) and full retina (-0.182 mm-1/year; p<0.001). A statistically significant association was identified between GCL+IPL thinning and decrease in deep capillary plexus vessel density (β = 0.196 [95% CI 0.037, 0.355], z = 2.410, p = 0.016), after controlling for age, gender, diabetes duration, hemoglobin A1c level, and CRT.
CONCLUSIONS: Retinal neurodegenerative changes show a steady progression during a 3-year period of follow-up in eyes with NPDR and appear to be directly associated with progression in decreased vessel density including vascular closure through preferential involvement of the deep capillary plexus. Our findings provide evidence that retinal neuropathy is linked with microvascular changes occurring in diabetic patients.
PMID:35158351 | DOI:10.1159/000522527
Kidney Blood Press Res. 2022;47(2):81-93. doi: 10.1159/000518866. Epub 2022 Jan 11.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) remains the leading cause of chronic kidney disease. Dysregulation of circulating miRNAs has been reported, suggesting their pathological roles in DKD. This study aimed to investigate differentially expressed miRNAs in the sera of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with and without albuminuria in a selected Malaysian population.
METHOD: Forty-one T2DM patients on follow-up at a community clinic were divided into normo-(NA), micro-(MIC), and macroalbuminuria (MAC) groups. Differential levels of miRNAs in 12 samples were determined using the pathway-focused (human fibrosis) miScript miRNA qPCR array and was validated in 33 samples, using the miScript custom qPCR array (CMIHS02742) (Qiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany).
RESULTS: Trends of upregulation of 3 miRNAs in the serum, namely, miR-874-3p, miR-101-3p, and miR-145-5p of T2DM patients with MAC compared to those with NA. Statistically significant upregulation of miR-874-3p (p = 0.04) and miR-101-3p (p = 0.01) was seen in validation cohort. Significant negative correlations between the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and miR-874-3p (p = 0.05), miR-101-3p (p = 0.03), and miR-145-5p (p = 0.05) as well as positive correlation between miR-874-3p and age (p = 0.03) were shown by Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis.
CONCLUSION: Upregulation of previously known miRNA, namely, miR-145-5p, and possibly novel ones, namely, miR-874-3p and miR-101-3p in the serum of T2DM patients, was found in this study. There was a significant correlation between the eGFR and these miRNAs. The findings of this study have provided encouraging evidence to further investigate the putative roles of these differentially expressed miRNAs in DKD.
PMID:35158353 | DOI:10.1159/000518866
J Phys Condens Matter. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ac54e3. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
The Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT) with the long-range corrected (LC) functional is applied to the benchmark dataset of 401 valence ionization potentials (IP) of 63 small molecules of Chong, Gritsenko and Baerends (the CGB set). The vertical ionization potentials (IP) of the CGB set are estimated as negative orbital energies within the context of the Koopmans’ prediction using the LCgau-core range-separation scheme in combination with PW86-PW91 exchange-correlation functional. The range separation parameterμof the functional is tuned to minimize the error of the negative HOMO orbital energy from experimental IP. The results are compared with literature data, including ab initio IP variant of the equation-of-motion coupled cluster theory with singles and doubles (IP-EOM-CCSD), the negative orbital energies calculated by KS-DFT with the statistical averaging of orbital potential (SAOP), and those with the QTP family of functionals. The optimally tuned LC functional performs better than other functionals for the estimation of valence level IP. The mean absolute deviations (MAD) from experiment and from IP-EOM-CCSD are 0.31 eV (1.77 %) and 0.25 eV（1.46 %）, respectively. LCgau-core performs quite well even with fixedμ(not system-dependent). Aμvalue around 0.36 bohr-1gives MAD of 0.40 eV (2.42%) and 0.33 eV (1.96%) relative to experiment and IP-EOM-CCSD, respectively. The LCgau-core-PW86-PW91 functional is efficient alternative to IP-EOM-CCSD and it is reasonably accurate for outer valence orbitals. We have also examined its application to core ionization energies of C(1s), N(1s), O(1s) and F(1s). The C(1s) core ionization energies are reproduced reasonably (MAD of 46 cases is 0.76 eV (0.26 %)) but N(1s), O(1s) and F(1s) core ionization energies are predicted less accurately.
PMID:35158348 | DOI:10.1088/1361-648X/ac54e3
Seizure. 2022 Feb 5;96:79-85. doi: 10.1016/j.seizure.2022.01.019. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) is extremely difficult to control and associated with poor outcomes. Ketogenic diet (KD) has been increasingly used for SRSE treatment. Enteral ketosis induction in SRSE is sometimes unfeasible, leading to the use of parenteral KD which has limited data among children.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of KD and compare parenteral and enteral ketosis induction as treatment options in pediatric SRSE patients.
METHODS: This study is a retrospective medical record review of children < 15 years old diagnosed with SRSE who received KD as one of the treatment modalities during 2007-2021 at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thailand.
RESULTS: KD was used in 14 (77.8%) of the 18 pediatric SRSE cases whose age ranged from 2 months to 13.5 years. The leading etiologies of SRSE were immune-mediated encephalitis, infectious encephalitis, and epilepsy. Ketosis was induced via enteral route (kEN) in 8/14 and parenteral route (kPN) in 6/14 cases. The median time from the onset of SRSE to KD initiation was 6 days (IQR 4.8-9.3) with no demonstrable difference between groups. The median time to achieve significant ketosis was significantly shorter in the kPN (2 days; IQR 1.8-4) compared to the kEN group (5 days (3.3-7.8)). Nonetheless, the median time after ketosis induction to SRSE termination when anesthetic infusion was stopped was not statistically difference between the kPN (14 days; IQR 8.5-18) and the kEN group (10.5 days (5.5-15.3)). Hypertriglyceridemia was found more in the kPN (6/6, 100%) compared to the kEN group (3/8, 37.5%). All survivors (12/14) were seizure free at discharge.
CONCLUSION: Parenteral ketosis induction achieved the target ketosis quicker than enteral induction but showed no difference in efficacy and duration for SRSE termination in our study. The adverse effects were minimal and controllable. Both parenteral and enteral KD could be considered early during SRSE treatment.
PMID:35158320 | DOI:10.1016/j.seizure.2022.01.019
Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2022 Feb 1;57:102098. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2022.102098. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the influence of type D personality on quality of life in patients with lung cancer.
METHODS: A correlational, cross-sectional research design was used. A convenience sample of 136 patients with lung cancer were recruited from an outpatient pulmonology clinic. Data collection was performed using a structured questionnaire between July and August 2019. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, a one-way ANOVA, the χ2 test, an ANCOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analysis, which were performed using the SPSS WIN 25.0 program.
RESULTS: Type D personality was identified in 18.4% of the participants. Patients with type D personality had poorer quality of life and experienced more cancer stigma and more severe symptoms. Type D personality had the strongest association with quality of life among patients with lung cancer, followed by cancer stigma and symptoms. Poor quality of life was associated with non-married status and higher Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group grade.
CONCLUSIONS: Type D personality, stigma, symptoms, and demographic and clinical factors should be considered when assessing quality of life in patients with lung cancer. Interventions that reflect these factors, including type D personality, may help enhance quality of life for patients with lung cancer in oncology nursing practice.
PMID:35158321 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejon.2022.102098
J Psychiatr Res. 2021 Dec 15;147:349-356. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.12.011. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
This study examined if lithium’s association with suicide risk varies by diagnosis. We performed separate 1:1 high-dimensional propensity score (hdPS)-matching in US Veterans with and without bipolar disorder starting lithium or valproate. Among individuals with bipolar disorder, actively receiving lithium (compared to valproate) was not associated with suicide risk. However, in intent-to-treat analyses (following all individuals with bipolar disorder starting lithium or valproate for all 365 days, regardless of whether they stopped the medication), starting lithium was significantly associated with higher one-year risks of suicide (HR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.05-2.15, p = 0.03). These intent-to-treat risks were attributable entirely to transiently elevated suicide risks observed among individuals no longer receiving lithium (significant at 180 days [HR = 6.10, CI: 1.37-27.3, p = 0.02] but not 365 days [HR = 2.05, CI: 0.88-4.79, p = 0.10]). Among individuals without bipolar disorder, depending on the analysis, actively receiving lithium was associated with nonsignificantly (HR = 0.43, CI: 0.15-1.20, p = 0.11) or significantly (HR = 0.28, CI: 0.08-0.98, p = 0.047) decreased one-year suicide risks. Study limitations included limited power, brief follow-up, and potential residual confounding. Residual confounding is suggested by the observation that more individuals diagnosed with suicidal ideation started lithium than valproate (with this difference being statistically significant for individuals with bipolar disorder, p = 0.0012). If it were possible to correct for this potential confounding, then the suicide-related risks associated with among individuals discontinuing lithium would be expected to be less, and the suicide-related benefits associated with actively receiving lithium (already statistically significant in some analyses among individuals without bipolar disorder) would be expected to increase. Further research is needed.
PMID:35158303 | DOI:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.12.011
Waste Manag. 2022 Feb 11;141:271-281. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2022.02.004. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
In this study, NASA’s VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) fire hotspots and data of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), collected between 2012 and 2018, was integrated to characterize waste fire incidents that were detected by VIIRS and reported to MSB (DaR), detected by VIIRS but not reported to MSB (DbNR) and that are reported to MSB but not detected by VIIRS (RbND). Results show that the average number of open waste fire incidents per million capita per year (AFIPMC) in Sweden, for the period 2012-2018, ranges from 2.4 to 4.7. Although a weak correlation exists (r = 0.44, P = 0.1563, one tailed) between years and number of fire incidents (MSB + VIIRS fires), a continuous increase in number of fire incidents was recorded between 2014 and 2018. It is concluded that the use of satellite data of fire anomalies, in-combination with the use of incident reports, will help in formalizing more reliable and comprehensive waste fire statistics. Another focus area of the article is to consolidate the recommendations and routines for safe storage of waste and biofuels and to present the lessons that can be learnt from past fire incidents. The article also discusses the technical, political, economic, social, and practical aspects of waste fires and provide a baseline for future research and experimentation.
PMID:35158312 | DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2022.02.004
Sleep Med. 2022 Jan 13;90:135-141. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2022.01.007. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: This retrospective non-randomized controlled cohort study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of simultaneous maxillary expansion and mandibular advancement for the management of pediatric OSAS.
PATIENTS/METHODS: The sample was composed of 94 children treated with an innovative orthopedic device to correct a Class II malocclusion associated with an OSAS. Polysomnographic recordings were performed before and after the treatment. We also included a group of 113 age-matched control patients who had the same pathologies, but who did not receive the orthopedic treatment at the time they undergone polysomnographic exams. Statistical tests evaluated the significance of the evolution of these data, both in treated and untreated control patients.
RESULTS: After nine months (±3 months) of treatment, respiratory OSAS symptoms significantly improved: the AHI significantly decreased as it became inferior to the pathological threshold (<1) for 53% of the treated patients’ sample, with a greater proportion within the youngest age group (63%). Only two patients still presented a moderate OSAS after treatment, with an AHI slightly superior to 5. This positive evolution of OSAS respiratory symptoms was not observed within the control group, highlighting the real impact of the orthopedic treatment over the children’s natural growth. However, sleep remained fragmented following the treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that simultaneous maxillary expansion and mandibular advancement induced a modification of the maxilla-mandibular anatomy, helping in the significant improvement of the respiratory OSAS symptoms. Then, considering these preliminary results, pediatric OSAS can be managed with this new orthopedic strategy, especially if it is performed early.
PMID:35158293 | DOI:10.1016/j.sleep.2022.01.007