Important Statistical Differences Research Articles

Comparison between bougies and stylets for simulated tracheal intubation with the C-MAC D-blade videolaryngoscope

The C-MAC D-blade is a new, highly angulated, videolaryngoscope blade designed for use in patients with difficult airways. Directing a tracheal tube into the trachea with any indirect viewing laryngoscope can be difficult, even with a good view of the laryngeal inlet. To determine which introducing strategy is most suitable for use with the C-MAC D-blade videolaryngoscope. Observational manikin study. Centre for Simulation and Patient Safety. Twenty-four anaesthetists of at least 12 months' of experience. Six tracheal tube introducer strategies (no tracheal tube introducer (TX); hockey stick stylet (SH); Gliderite stylet (SG); bougie with tube loaded distally, near its curved tip (BD); bougie with tube loaded proximally (BP); bougie unloaded until tracheal placement (BU)) for each of two laryngoscopy settings (easy and difficult) in a SimMan 3G manikin. Two intubation attempts, with a maximum time allowance of 60 s each, were allowed for all laryngoscopy setting/introducer combinations. Time to intubate in seconds. Secondary outcome was overall subjective difficulty using a visual analogue scale. In the easy laryngoscopy setting, time to intubation was [median (interquartile range): SH 8.5 sec (7 to 11); SG 10 (8 to 11.5); BD 11 (10 to 12.5); TX 11 (7 to 31.5); BP 12 (11 to 13.5); BU 13 (11 to 14.5). There was no evidence of an overall difference in introducer strategies for time to intubate (P < .025) with SG and SH found to be favourable when compared with BU, and SH was also favourable when compared with BP. In the difficult laryngoscopy setting, time to intubation was: SG 11.5 (10 to 17.5); SH 14 (12 to 22); BD 15.5 (12 to 23.5); BU 16.5 (14 to 21); BP 16.5 (15.5 to 20.5); TX 60 (26.5 to 60). There was evidence of an overall difference in introducer strategies for time to intubate (P < 0.025) with all introducers found to be favourable compared with TX. SG was found to be favourable when compared with BU and BP. In groups TX and SH, anaesthetists failed to intubate in 13 of 24 cases and 1 of 24 cases, respectively. The visual analogue scores tended to reflect intubation times, more so in the difficult setting. The differences in time to intubate in both the easy and difficult laryngoscopy settings were minor for the different introducer strategies studied. The stylet introducers tended to take less time, but this did not result in important statistical differences. When using the C-MAC D-blade videolaryngoscope for simulated tracheal intubation, stylets and bougies performed in a similar fashion.

The Importance of Recognizing Roles in Teams for Higher-Quality Work in Preschools and Schools

The authors of this article analysed the importance of recognizing roles in team work experience for work experience quality work between preschool teachers and teachers in preschools and schools. Teamwork is a complex area, which includes communication, collaboration, and reacting to stressful situations. Accordingly, it is absolutely necessary for preschool teachers and primary school teachers to have good communication skills, management of potential conflict situations, approaches to identification and management of different work situations, as well as approaches to coping with stress and working with different people. The purpose of the empirical study was therefore to analyse and compare different roles in teamwork at preschool (between preschool teacher and her assistant) and primary school, especially in first grade, where the teacher and preschool teacher work together in the classroom. During the empirical research, conducted on a population of preschool teachers and teachers in the first grade of primary school (sample size was 140), the authors found that all different roles appear as important and more or less equal; maybe some more preschool teachers and teacher seem to take on the role of team worker or implementer The authors did not observe important statistical differences considering work experience or level of education, but there are, as expected, differences considering work position.

Healing Process of Autogenous Bone Graft in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats Treated With Losartan: An Immunohistochemical and Histomorphometric Study

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which has been related to such changes as gradual bone loss and a decrease in bone mass index. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that involve hypertension and osteoporosis are not fully understood. Many patients have high blood pressure, controlled or uncontrolled, and may use at least 1 antihypertensive drug, and an understanding of the interference of hypertension with bone healing is very important when considering oral rehabilitation with implants and bone grafts. This study investigated the interference of hypertension in bone metabolism during the repair process of autogenous bone grafting and analyzed the influence of losartan, an antihypertensive drug and angiotensin II receptor antagonist, through histometric and immunohistochemical analyses by examining the protein expressions of osteocalcin, osteoprotegerin, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase, vascular endothelial growth factor, and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule. The groups studied include 24 normotensive Wistar rats and 24 spontaneously hypertensive rats divided into groups treated and not treated with losartan. Rats were subjected to block bone graft surgery in the mandible and were sacrificed at 7, 14, and 28 days. Histometric analysis was performed to evaluate the amount of bone tissue formed at the interface of the recipient bed and bone graft. The total area of formed bone tissue was outlined and calculated. Immunohistochemical analysis was semi-quantitative and the significance of the differences between groups regarding the percentage of newly formed bone tissue interface and protein expression were determined by ANOVA analysis of variance and Kruskall-Wallis followed by Tukey test or Holm Sidak to detect differences between groups. The results were considered statistically significant when P<.05. The untreated hypertensive rats showed a delay in the repair of autogenous bone block grafts compared with untreated Wistar rats. Furthermore, the use of losartan for lowering blood pressure in these animals was shown to improve the healing process, despite not showing important statistical differences.

Niveles de magnesio en pacientes VIH estadio SIDA, que cursan con tuberculosis, criptococosis, y su relación con la respuesta al tratamiento

Objetivos: Demostrar que los pacientes con virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) estadio síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida (SIDA), asociada a tuberculosis (TBC) o criptococosis, tienen hipomagnesemia, que produce una inadecuada respuesta al tratamiento. Diseño: Estudio prospectivo, longitudinal. Material y métodos: Se estudió 300 personas, divididos en seis grupos de 50 personas cada uno: pacientes VIH positivo, pacientes con tuberculosis, pacientes en estadio SIDA con TBC, pacientes en estadio SIDA con criptococosis, pacientes con enfermeda- des infecciosas agudas y una población normal (donadores de sangre). Resultados: Los valores promedio de magnesio estuvieron significativamente por debajo de los valores normales en los grupos SIDA+TBC, SIDA+criptococosis y TBC. Se aprecia que existe diferencia estadísticamente significativa en los niveles de magnesio en los grupos VIH, SIDA+TBC, SIDA+criptococosis y TBC. Con respecto a la hipomagnesemia y respuesta al tratamiento, el grupo que menos respondió al tratamiento fue el grupo de pacientes con SIDA+TBC (27%). Conclusiones: La hipomagnesemia es prevalente en los pacientes con infecciones crónicas, con diferencia significativa de los niveles de magnesio entre los grupos estudiados. El grupo VIH estadio SIDA+TBC es el que cursa con mayor anormalidad en las diferentes variables estudiadas.

Detection of IS6110 and HupB gene sequences of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and bovisin the aortic tissue of patients with Takayasu’s arteritis

BackgroundTakayasu’s arteritis (TA) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the large arteries and their branches; its etiology is still unknown. In individuals suffering from TA, arterial inflammation progresses to stenosis and/or occlusion, leading to organ damage and affecting survival. Relation of TA with Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been known, but there have been only a few systematic studies focusing on this association. The IS6110 sequence identifies the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and the HupB establishes the differences between M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. Our objective was to search the presence of IS6110 and HupB genes in aorta of patients with TA.MethodsWe analyzed aorta tissues embedded in paraffin from 5760 autopsies obtained from our institution, we divided the selected samples as cases and controls; Cases: aortic tissues of individuals with Takayasu’s arteritis. Control positive: aortic tissues (with tuberculosis disease confirmed) and control negative with other disease aortic (atherosclerosis).ResultsOf 181 selected aorta tissues, 119 fulfilled the corresponding criteria for TA, TB or atherosclerosis. Thus 33 corresponded to TA, 33 to tuberculosis (TB) and 53 to atherosclerosis. The mean age was 22 ± 13, 41 ± 19, and 57 ± 10, respectively. IS6110 and HupB sequences were detected in 70% of TA tissues, 82% in tuberculosis, and in 32% with atherosclerosis. Important statistical differences between groups with TA, tuberculosis versus atherosclerosis (p = 0.004 and 0.0001, respectively) were found.ConclusionWe identified a higher frequency of IS6110 and HupB genes in aortic tissues of TA patients. This data suggests that arterial damage could occur due to previous infection with M. tuberculosis.

Предикативные прилагательные в утвердительных и отрицательных предложениях

When discussing case variation in Modern Russian predicate adjectives, scholars usually rely on data found in affirmative contexts. However, an examination of predicate adjectives in negative alongside affirmative contexts reveals important statistical differences and usage asymmetries that help understand the factors involved in case choice. The fact that case choices are differently distributed under negation has been noted by scholars, who traditionally argue that negation favors the instrumental. Examining statistical data gathered from the open web, this article updates the existing literature by showing that while the instrumental is more prominent with inanimate referents, the short nominative is significantly more prominent with animate referents. Additional usage asymmetries, such as the scarcity of the long nominative under negation, are also uncovered. Adopting the functionalist/construction-grammar perspective, I will discuss the statistical results to show how case choice is influenced by animacy—related factors such as agentive control and narrative interaction, and how specific predicate adjective constructions are adopted for structuring viewpoint.

The novel protease inhibitor SRD441 ointment is not effective in the treatment of adult subjects with atopic dermatitis: results of a randomized, vehicle‐controlled study

There is evidence that excessive protease activity in the skin is an important factor in the development of atopic dermatitis. SRD44 is a topically formulated novel protease inhibitor that selectively inhibits Staphylococcal-derived aureolysin and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). This was a double-blind, vehicle-controlled randomized trial conducted in thirteen hospital dermatology outpatient clinics in Germany (9), Bulgaria (3) and Finland (1). Ninety-three out of 103 screened adult subjects with confirmed atopic dermatitis affecting ≤ 20% of body surface area, with an IGA score of 2 or 3 at randomization were randomized following a washout period to either SRD441 ointment or matching vehicle twice daily for 28 days. The primary efficacy endpoint was the clearance of Atopic dermatitis (AD score of 0 or 1 IGA) at Day 21. Secondary endpoints included measures of SCORing Atopic Dermatitis, pruritus self-assessment, rescue medication use and occurrence of new exacerbations. A range of safety and tolerance endpoints were included. There were no significant treatment differences in IGA success rates at Day 21 (SRD441 ointment, 11.1%; vehicle ointment, 12.5%; P = 1.000). Evaluation of secondary efficacy variables revealed no clinical or important statistical differences between treatment groups. Eighteen subjects (19.4%) discontinued the study drug because of an AE (seven subjects [15.6%] in the SRD441 group and 11 subjects [22.9%] in the vehicle group). Twenty-seven subjects (60.0%) in the SRD441 group and 34 subjects (70.8%) in the vehicle group reported an adverse event (AE). SRD441 ointment did not demonstrate efficacy in the treatment of atopic dermatitis raising questions on the effectiveness of MMPs as a target for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. NCT00882245.

A multi-group structural equation model (SEM) examining asset holding effects on educational attainment by race and gender

Little is known about the processes through which parents' and children's wealth may influence children's math and reading scores. Even less is known about how these processes may vary across race and gender. In this study we analyze Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data using multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine wealth effects by gender (male/female) and race (white/black). Results suggest that there are important statistical differences across race and gender. For example, we find that children's school savings predict math scores among white children but not black children. Net worth is a positive predictor of black males' math scores but a negative predictor of black females'. In the case of income, we find that it is directly related to black females' math scores but not black males'. In general, findings suggest that liquid forms of wealth (i.e., forms of wealth that are easily converted into cash) may be better predictors of children's academic achievement than net worth.

Understanding the Occurrence of Interracial Marriage in the United States Through Differential Assimilation

American society is undergoing unprecedented cultural changes in the 21st century. This social transformation began with the civil rights movement in the 1960s. As the United States becomes more diverse, both racially and ethnically, equal access to a variety of social institutions and organizations becomes more challenging. With respect to marriage, popular media continually report the blurring of boundaries between racial and ethnic groups. As a result, there has been a tremendous increase in interracial dating and marriage over the past several decades. There are considerable differences between the occurrence of interracial dating and interracial marriage. Data suggest that there is a much higher level of interracial dating in comparison to interracial marriage. This research effort focuses on trends in interracial marriages in the United States between 1980 and 2006. Information from the U.S. Census Bureau was used to analyze changes in the number and frequency of interracial marriages in American society over a 22-year time frame. Differential assimilation is employed for understanding interracial marriage trends and distinguishing important statistical differences between marriages with a Black spouse and those interracial marriages not involving a Black spouse. This exploration provides important empirical findings for assessing the progress of assimilation in America.

Preventivni pregledi - značajan napredak u reformi primarne zdravstvene zaštite

Service of Preventive Medical Care of Zajecar Health Center work out the preventive medical checkups in the field as a kind of organized activity which has the goal to make health care closer to it's beneficiaries. In this paper we are going to find out the results of preventive medical checkups / health control of cardiovascular system in adult population according to place of living, sex and age (29-39, 40-64, 65>) and to get an review how many of the patients have some health disturbances such as hypertension, high level of cholesterol and triglycerides and higher sugar in blood. We used the statistical test of frequency gradation in our research. In 2009, there were 5860 medical checkups done: 3432 (58,6%) patients were examined in urban areas and 2428 (41,4%) in rural areas. More than a half of the examined were the patients ages of 65 and more, one third were age of 40 to 64 and one fifth age of 29-39. Women were in majority. 67,2% of the examined had a higher blood pressure and 73,7% from that number were the patients age of 40-64. There is no statistical difference of hypertension frequency between sexes (χ2=2,190; p>0,05). 45,5 % of the examined patients had mild hypertension (140-159/90-99), 42% had moderate hypertension (160-179/100-109), the most of them were from urban area, age of 65 and more (81,6%) and 70,7% were from rural area, age of 40-64. Patients in rural areas had serious hypertension (≥180/≥110) mostly. There is statistical important difference in hypertension frequency between urban and rural population (χ2=40,589; p<0,001). One fourth of the examined patients had high cholesterol. Almost a half of the examined patients age of 29-39 and had high level of cholesterol. There is statistically important difference in frequency of high cholesterol between sexes (χ2=12,767; p<0,001). There is no statistically important difference in frequency of high cholesterol between urban and rural areas (χ2=1,862; p>0,05). High cholesterol was discovered in small number of population age of 65 and more. 18,2% of the examined had a high level of triglycerides, that is almost the same percent according the sex (χ2=0,347; p>0,05) and place of living (χ2=2,138; p>0,05). More than a half of the examined patients had a higher level of sugar in blood. There is important statistical difference in frequency of high sugar in blood between sexes (χ2=34,915; p<0,001) and between urban and rural population (χ2=60,999; p<0,001). 60,4 % of the patients with high sugar in blood had values of 6.1-7.0mmol/L. Very serious type of hyperglycemia (11.10mmol/L) was discovered in 10% of the examined, mostly in group age of 65 and more (18%). On the base of everything mentioned above, we can conclude that disturbances of cardiovascular system are more frequent among younger population, urban population and female population. There is a need to include more people in preventive medical checkups and promote health styles of living.

Fixed‐ versus random‐effects models in meta‐analysis: Model properties and an empirical comparison of differences in results

Today most conclusions about cumulative knowledge in psychology are based on meta-analysis. We first present an examination of the important statistical differences between fixed-effects (FE) and random-effects (RE) models in meta-analysis and between two different RE procedures, due to Hedges and Vevea, and to Hunter and Schmidt. The implications of these differences for the appropriate interpretation of published meta-analyses are explored by applying the two RE procedures to 68 meta-analyses from five large meta-analytic studies previously published in Psychological Bulletin. Under the assumption that the goal of research is generalizable knowledge, results indicated that the published FE confidence intervals (CIs) around mean effect sizes were on average 52% narrower than their actual width, with similar results being produced by the two RE procedures. These nominal 95% FE CIs were found to be on average 56% CIs. Because most meta-analyses in the literature use FE models, these findings suggest that the precision of meta-analysis findings in the literature has often been substantially overstated, with important consequences for research and practice.

A Randomized Study of New Sling Exercise Treatment vs Traditional Physiotherapy for Patients with Chronic Whiplash-Associated Disorders with unsettled Compensation Claims

Many patients with chronic whiplash-associated disorders have reduced neuromuscular control of the neck and head. It has been proposed that a new sling exercise therapy may promote neuromuscular control of the neck. To compare the effects of traditional physiotherapy vs traditional physiotherapy combined with a new sling exercise therapy on discomfort and function in patients with chronic whiplash-associated disorders who have unsettled compensation claims; and to investigate possible additional effects of guided, long-term home training. A randomized multi-centre trial with 4 parallel groups. A total of 214 patients were assigned randomly to 4 treatment groups, and received either traditional physiotherapy with or without home training, or new sling exercise therapy with or without home training. Outcome measures were pain, disability, psychological distress, sick leave and physical tests. A total of 171 patients (80%) completed the study. There were no important statistical or clinical differences between the groups after 4 months of treatment. There was a small statistically significant effect at 12-month follow-up in both groups with home training regarding pain during rest (p = 0.05) and reported fatigue in the final week (p = 0.02). No statistically significant differences were found between the traditional physiotherapy group and the new sling exercise group, with or without home training. Since the groups were not compared with a control group without treatment, we cannot conclude that the studied treatments are effective for patients with whiplash-associated disorder, only that they did not differ in our study.

Rinometria acústica, rinomanometria computadorizada e espirometria de doentes asmáticos com sintomas de rinite pré e pós-curso de corticóide oral

Introduction: Asthma and rhinitis frequently coexist in the same patient. It may exist a specific condition witch affects the general respiratory activity and also able to produce symptoms into upper and/ or lower airways.Purpose: To analyze the alteration and functional burst of upper and lower airways before and after oral corticoid.Methods: From July of 2000 to August of 2002, sixteen (69 % was female), acute asthmatics patients with rhinitis symptom assisted in the pneumology department, were analyzed through cross-sectional study using: symptoms questionnaire, physical examination, radiogram, spirometry, acoustic rhinometry, and rhinomanometry.Results: Sixteen patients presented compromising symptoms of the upper airways. In the spirometry, FEV1, FEV1 /FVC e FEF, presented major statistically differences. The acoustic rhinometry 25-75% presented important statistical differences in the minimal cross- sectional area 1 e 2 in the left side and total nasal volume, after medicine intervention.Conclusions: The functional evaluations upon lower and upper airways, improvements in FEV1, FEV1 / FVC e FEF, were observed through spirometry 25-75% and total nasal volume, analyzing the acoustic rhinometry after oral corticoid.Rev Port Pneumol 2005; XI (1): 35-46

CONCEPTUAL AND STATISTICAL ISSUES RELATED TO THE USE OF MOLECULAR MARKERS FOR DISTINCTNESS AND ESSENTIAL DERIVATION

An exhibition is given of old and new statistical procedures for dealing with marker information in the context of distinctness testing and assessing genetic conformity for essential derivation purposes. Conceptual issues are discussed in relation to statistical methods. It is believed that the most important statistical and conceptual difference between distinctness and conformity testing resides in the wording of null and alternative hypotheses. For distinctness testing, the null hypothesis states no difference between varieties, while the alternative implies the existence of a difference. For conformity testing, null and alternative hypothesis are non-equivalence and equivalence, respectively. The reversal of null and alternative hypothesis has rather limited statistical consequences when test statistics are distance measures. Characteristically, morphological characters form the preferred traits for assessing distinctness, while molecular markers are chosen for assessing conformity. From a statistical point of view this difference is rather immaterial. Distinctness and conformity are throughout presented as two closely related concepts, whose assessment takes place by highly comparable statistical procedures. Specific topics that are addressed in the paper are first the present positions of UPOV and ASSINSEL. Subsequently, uni- and multivariate methods for distinctness and conformity are treated, separately for genetically homogeneous and heterogeneous varieties. Lastly, the choice of markers is discussed, as are the relations between morphological, marker and pedigree information.

Snowboard traumatology: an epidemiological study.

In the past 10 years, snowboarding has become a popular winter sport among young people, and the number of accidents has increased proportionately. The incidence of traumas from snowboarding is shown to be 4 to 6 for every 1000 medical examinations, which is similar to that of downhill skiing. However, other important statistical differences exist between the two sports. This study of 106 snowboarding-related injury cases analyzes the epidemiology of these injuries in Italy. Results found that 45.1% of injuries are located in the upper limbs and that significant advantages are obtained with the introduction of guards to protect the upper limbs during descent. Serious ligament injuries to the knee are more rare in snowboarding than in downhill skiing. In both sports, injuries are more common with rigid boots, which lead to a higher incidence of injury to the upper limbs. Finally, a high percentage of injury to beginners was found in this study. Training courses for those who are considering taking up the sport of snowboarding could significantly lower their risk of trauma.