Pearson Correlation Coefficient Research Articles

Impact of organic and bio-fertilizer combinations on the growth and yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) ​

The present study was performed between March and June 2023 to study the effects of organic and bio-fertilizer combinations on the growth and yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench). Four nutrient combinations included T0 (Control), T1 [Jaivik Prom (100 kg/ac) + 4ml Bio NPK], T2 [Pori Potash (100 kg/ac + 4ml Bio NPK], T3 [Dharti ka Chaukidar (10 kg/ac) + 4ml Bio NPK] and T4 [Jaivik Poshak (7 kg/ac) + 4ml Bio NPK] were analyzed in this study using a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the strength and direction of linear relationships among the parameters and a heat map was generated to represent these correlations visually. The effects of organic nutritional treatments were analyzed in terms of plant growth and yield parameters. All the combinations of organic and bio-fertilizers except T1 (Jaivik Prom + Bio NPK) exhibited a positive impact on plant height, leaf area, number and yield of fruits. Similarly, the combination of Bio NPK with Pori Potash + Bio NPK (T2) and Dharti ka Chaukidar + Bio NPK (T3) was also found fruitful in promoting the growth and yield of okra. These results concluded that organic nutrients in combination with bio-fertilizers can enhance the growth and yield of vegetable crops including okra.

The Reliability and Validity of Star Performer™ a Computerized tool for Quantifying the Star Excursion Balance Test

Background The Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) is well recognized in both clinical and research settings as a reliable, valid, and responsive assessment. However, the SEBT is time consuming and inconvenient. To address this limitation, a new device called the Star Performer™ has been developed to improve the efficiency of SEBT. # Purpose To investigate the test-retest reliability of Star Performer™ device and compare its validity to traditional SEBT methods. Study Design Cross-sectional study Methods Twenty-five subjects with lower extremity injuries participated in this study. Each subject performed the SEBT twice, with approximately seven days between tests. The Star Performer™ device and a tape measure were used to record three test trials for each test direction with the average of the three reach distances being used for analysis. Test-retest reliability was evaluated by calculating the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC 3,1) between the average reaching distance for each SEBT direction across the two testing sessions. To assess the validity of the Star Performer™ device, the averaged reaching distance for each SEBT direction was compared with the measurements obtained from the tape measure. Results Seventeen females (68%) and eight males (32%) with lower extremity injuries (mean age= 23.6 years, SD=3.9, range from 19-35) participated. The Star Performer™ demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability, with ICC 3,1 values ranging from 0.85 to 0.93 for the eight SEBT directions. The minimal detectable change at the 95% confidence level (MDC95) ranged from 2.56 to 5.37% for the eight directions. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the Star Performer™ and tape measure recordings ranged from 0.90 to 0.94 for the eight directions. Conclusion This study provides evidence supporting the test-retest reliability and validity of the Star Performer™ for assessing SEBT performance. These findings suggest that Star Performer™ offers a precise and efficient approach to evaluate SEBT performance in individuals with lower extremity injuries. Level of Evidence Level 3b

Quantitative chest computed tomography: regional differences in dual-energy-derived virtual vs. true non-contrast scans.

Quantitative chest computed tomography: regional differences in dual-energy-derived virtual vs. true non-contrast scans.

The Relationship Between Learning Needs and Care Dependency in Individuals With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) significantly impacts an individual's daily life. Inhaled medications form the cornerstone of COPD treatment. To ensure the efficacy of these treatments, individuals must use their inhalers correctly. It is crucial for nurses to identify the learning needs of individuals with COPD and relate these needs to their level of care dependency, ultimately improving their quality of life. This study aimed to assess the learning needs of individuals with COPD concerning inhaler drug use and to determine their level of care dependency. The study population comprised 400 individuals diagnosed with COPD who were treated at a chest diseases hospital between May 2019 and December 2019. Data were collected through a patient information form designed by the researcher, an inhaler medication use skill assessment form, the Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADLS), the Lawton and Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (LADL) the Care Dependency Scale (CDS), and the Patient Learning Needs Scale (PLNS). Data normality was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The independent samples t-test was employed for normally distributed data, while the Mann-Whitney U-test was used for non-normally distributed data. For comparisons between multiple groups, one-way ANOVA was used for normally distributed data and the Kruskal-Wallis test for non-normally distributed data. Dependent sample t-tests were utilised to analyse within-group changes in normally distributed variables. Pearson's correlation coefficient was employed to assess the relationships between normally distributed quantitative variables. Of the study participants, 59.8% were male, 34% were in stage 2 of COPD, and 88.8% had been using inhaler medications since their diagnosis. The mean total score on the ADLS was 15.3 ± 3.6, while the mean total score on the LADL was 18.4 ± 5.2. The mean total CDS score was 67.5 ± 21.1, with a median of 79.5. The mean total importance and fulfilment scores on the PLNS were 187.1 ± 49.1 and 182.8 ± 51.7, respectively. The study revealed that individuals with COPD have unmet learning needs concerning the correct use of inhaler medications. Additionally, it was found that care dependency levels were moderate, increasing with age, COPD stage, and improper inhaler use.

Pdia3 deficiency exacerbates intestinal injury by disrupting goblet and Paneth cell function during ischemia/reperfusion.

Pdia3 deficiency exacerbates intestinal injury by disrupting goblet and Paneth cell function during ischemia/reperfusion.

Validity and reliability of Hindi version of oswestry disability index in Indian population.

Validity and reliability of Hindi version of oswestry disability index in Indian population.

Factors Associated With Social Participation Among Young and Middle-Aged Patients After Cardiac Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Study.

This study aimed to investigate the level of social participation among young and middle-aged patients after cardiac surgery and its influencing factors by using a cross-sectional design. Participants were recruited from the Department of Cardiac Surgery of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital through convenience sampling, and 237 young and middle-aged patients after cardiac surgery completed the Questionnaire on Participation and Autonomy (IPA). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple stepwise linear regression analysis. A total of 237 participants, with a mean (SD) age was 47.2 (9.2). The total score (SD) of social participation among young and middle-aged patients after cardiac surgery was 52.0 (6.7), indicating a moderately low level of social participation. The results of multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that gender, age, number of comorbidities, social support, self-efficacy, kinesiophobia, and pain were the influencing factors of social participation (p < 0.05), which variables accounted for approximately 59.6% of the variance in the social participation. The social participation among young and middle-aged patients after cardiac surgery needs to be improved. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study has been approved by the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. (registration number: ChiCTR2400083390).

VNOTES hysterectomy for patients with large uteri: Initial experience in the largest Tertiary Centre in Singapore.

vNOTES hysterectomy for patients with large uteri: Initial experience in the largest Tertiary Centre in Singapore.

Artificial intelligence-enhanced 3D gait analysis with a single consumer-grade camera.

Artificial intelligence-enhanced 3D gait analysis with a single consumer-grade camera.

Incidence and survival of patients with melanoma in Colombia.

Incidence and survival of patients with melanoma in Colombia.

Blood detection of autoimmune encephalitis based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy.

Blood detection of autoimmune encephalitis based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy.

From marker to markerless: Validating DeepLabCut for 2D sagittal plane gait analysis in adults and newly walking toddlers.

The use of 3D marker-based motion analysis systems is considered the gold standard for tracking limb movements. However, these systems are expensive, limited to laboratory settings, and difficult to apply when studying paediatric populations. Therefore, this study investigated the validity of a markerless motion tracking software, DeepLabCut, in extracting kinematics from 2D sagittal plane videos of adults and toddlers during walking. Data were obtained from fifteen toddlers performing their first independent steps and sixteen healthy adults. Participants performed overground and treadmill walking at comfortable pace. Distinct models with either 25% or 75% of participants as input were used for DeepLabCut network training. For all participants, anatomical landmarks extracted through video analysis in DeepLabCut were used to calculate lower-limb gait kinematics, which were compared to kinematics computed using a 3D marker-based system (Vicon). The 25% models performed well for adult joint angles, but not for clinical parameters or toddlers. In both populations, the 75% models showed good (≥0.60) or excellent (≥0.75) intraclass correlation coefficient absolute agreement for most time-normalized joint angles and clinical parameters. This improvement was supported by increased Pearson's correlation coefficients, decreased root mean squared errors, and increased R2 values from the 25% to the 75% models. More specifically, higher validity of DeepLabCut was found for adults compared to toddlers and treadmill compared to overground walking. Altogether, with sufficiently diverse input, DeepLabCut proved a valid tool to acquire gait kinematics in known scenarios, with the potential to study typical adult and toddler gait in more ecological and naturalistic environments.

Small dense low-density lipoprotein as biomarker in the elderly.

Small dense low-density lipoprotein as biomarker in the elderly.

Characterizing the prevalence and prognostic significance of MTAP loss in endemic nasopharyngeal cancer using immunohistochemistry (IHC) versus fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH).

6052 Background: Methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) loss has been associated with poor outcomes in various cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Homozygous deletion of the MTAP locus is one of the most frequent somatic changes in NPC, creating opportunities for therapeutic targeting. However, the concordance between MTAP IHC and FISH for detecting MTAP loss, and the prognostic impact of partial MTAP loss, has not been fully explored. This study evaluated the prevalence of MTAP loss, correlation between IHC and FISH, and association of MTAP expression with time to progression (TTP), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Methods: MTAP expression was analyzed by IHC, and locus loss was confirmed using FISH in tumors M0 (non-metastatic) NPC patients. Correlations between MTAP IHC and FISH results were analyzed to assess concordance, sensitivity, and specificity. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests compared survival distributions, while Cox proportional hazards models were applied for univariate and multivariate analyses. Subgroup analyses were performed by tumor, nodal and overall stage (AJCC 8th edition). Results: Among 175 patients, 65 (36.0%) exhibited IHC 0 and FISH-negative MTAP loss. Concordance rate between IHC 0 and FISH-negative was 94.9%. MTAP loss was significantly correlated with higher N2–3 and stage III–IVA disease (Pearson correlation coefficients: 0.81 and 0.73, respectively; p &lt; 0.0001). Based on receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis, the optimal MTAP cutoff for progression was 110. Partial MTAP loss (MTAP 0–109) was significantly associated with shorter TTP compared to MTAP 110–300 (median TTP: 4.6 years vs. 15.8 years; p = 0.04). In multivariate analysis, MTAP &lt;110 remained significant for TTP (HR = 0.65; CI 0.48-0.98 p = 0.04) after adjusting for grouped N stage. Subgroup analyses demonstrated that MTAP &lt;110 was significantly associated with shorter PFS in N2–3 patients (HR 0.5 CI 0.28-0.9 p = 0.02) and shorter TTP in stage III–IVA patients (HR 0.61 CI 0.37-1.0 p = 0.05). Conclusions: Partial MTAP loss (IHC &lt;110) is associated with worse outcomes in NPC, particularly shorter TTP and PFS, with significant prognostic value in advanced nodal and overall stage disease. High concordance between IHC and FISH supports IHC as a reliable diagnostic tool. These findings highlight MTAP expression as a potential prognostic biomarker for NPC, warranting further validation and exploration of targeted therapies.

Digital Transformations: Shaping Green Finance and Sustainable Investment

The intensive development of digital technologies and their integration into finance and investment necessitate the study of their impact on sustainable development and green finance in the context of the growing importance of environmental financial instruments. The article aims to analyse the impact of digitalisation on green finance and environmental investment. The study used several quantitative methods, including comparative analysis to assess the effectiveness of green financial instruments, analysis of statistical data to identify trends in digitalisation and the development of green finance, forecasting market changes, and correlation analysis to determine the impact of digitalisation on the development of green finance; as well as other general scientific methods of cognition, including synthesis, systematisation, and generalisation. The study's results showed that the Pearson correlation coefficient r ? 0.745 indicates a moderate positive relationship between the level of global digital transformation and the volume of green finance, confirming the primary hypothesis that digitalisation impacts increasing investment in sustainable development. The results of the study indicate that the impact of digital transformations on green finance and environmental investment is mainly characterised by the expansion of opportunities for integrating digital technologies into financial mechanisms, a systemic increase in the size of the green finance market, intensification of public policy and investment promotion, the implementation of strategies for the transition to low-carbon economies. Keywords: digital economy, digital transformations, green economy, green finance, green trade, sustainable development.

Evaluating the prognostic utility of cell-free (cf)DNA tumor fraction (TF) in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

5052 Background: Accurate prognostication is essential for guiding treatment decisions. cfDNA TF provides a non-invasive quantitative assessment of tumor burden without the need for tissue biopsies, which are notoriously challenging to obtain in mCRPC patients. This study evaluates the utility of cfDNA TF as a prognostic biomarker in mCRPC. Methods: Patients treated for mCRPC at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute with available plasma were identified. Plasma samples underwent (epi)genomic profiling using the Guardant360 platform. TF was estimated by normalizing cancer-specific differentially methylated regions with appropriately matched control regions within each sample. The association of TF with clinical prognostic biomarkers and overall survival (OS) from the time of plasma collection was assessed. Survival analysis was performed using cox proportional hazards methodology, continuous variables were compared using Mann-Whitney test, and linear correlations were calculated using Pearson correlation coefficient. Decision tree (DT) models were developed to evaluate the benefit of incorporating clinical prognostic biomarkers with TF in predicting OS at 12 months. A 70/30 split was used to separate the training and testing cohorts and hyper-parameters were optimized for the F1 score (harmonic mean of precision and recall). Results: A total of 103 patients with mCRPC were identified (median age at plasma collection: 72; median prior lines of therapy: 3; median mTF: 3.7%). 36%, 34%, and 30% of patients had TF &lt;1%, 1-10%, and &gt;=10% respectively. Compared to patients with TF &lt;1% (median OS: 28 months), OS was significantly shorter among patients with TF 1-10% (median: 16 months; HR=2.6, p=.00032) and &gt;=10% (median: 10 months; HR=7.8, p=6.0x10-12). TF was significantly correlated with max variant allele frequency (mVAF) (rho=0.79 ,p=2.1x10-23), a traditional genomic-based cfDNA measure of tumor burden; however, on multivariable analysis, only TF (HR=5.8,p=2.8x10-9), and not mVAF (HR=0.97,p=0.95), was independently associated with worse OS. Elevated TF was associated with known poor-risk disease features, including visceral metastases, higher ECOG scores, and elevated serum markers (alkaline phosphatase, PSA, LDH). Multivariable analysis identified TF &gt; median as the strongest negatively prognostic marker for OS (HR=3.5,p=.00029). TF alone demonstrated comparable predictive accuracy for 12-month OS (F1: 0.72) to a model including all clinical prognostic markers plus TF (F1: 0.72). Decision tree models identified an optimal TF cutoff of 5.6%, with 88% (53/60) of patients with TF &lt;5.6% alive at 12 months, compared to 36% (11/42) for those with TF ≥5.6%. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that methylated tumor fraction is a robust independent non-invasive prognostic biomarker in mCRPC, outperforming traditional clinical markers and genomic metrics. Future studies should explore the integration of TF into standard prognostic workflows and its potential to guide therapeutic decisions.

Design, implementation, and validation of an OSCE to assess clinical competencies in pharmacy students in Iran; A cross-sectional study.

Design, implementation, and validation of an OSCE to assess clinical competencies in pharmacy students in Iran; A cross-sectional study.

Comprehensive analysis of lncRNA and mRNA expression in triploid rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) liver in response to chronic hypoxia.

Comprehensive analysis of lncRNA and mRNA expression in triploid rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) liver in response to chronic hypoxia.

Comparison of kinematics and kinetics between OpenCap and a marker-based motion capture system in cycling.

Comparison of kinematics and kinetics between OpenCap and a marker-based motion capture system in cycling.

The Relationship Between Moral Courage and Occupational Stress in Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study in Urmia, Iran

Due to the inherently demanding nature of their profession, nurses face significant job-related stress that can adversely affect their lives and the quality of nursing care. Moral courage may serve as a key factor influencing occupational stress among nurses. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the relationship between moral courage and occupational stress among nurses. This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024 with 120 nurses from emergency departments of educational and therapeutic hospitals in Urmia, Iran, who were selected via two-stage sampling. Data were collected through a demographic information form, Sekerka’s Moral Courage Scale, and Gray-Toft and Anderson’s Nursing Stress Scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple linear regression, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA in SPSS software version 23. The results showed the mean scores for professional moral courage and occupational stress were 85.93 ± 15.68 and 10.77 ± 0.23, respectively. Moreover, there was a significant negative relationship between moral courage and occupational stress in nurses (r = -0.33 and P&lt; 0.05). Specific dimensions of moral courage, such as moral factor, threat tolerance, and moral purpose, had a significant negative effect on occupational stress (P&lt; 0.05). These findings suggested that moral courage plays a significant role in mitigating occupational stress among nurses, which can influence their performance and, consequently, the quality of nursing care. Therefore, by fostering an environment that promotes moral courage, nursing managers can play a vital role in decreasing and mitigating the occupational stress experienced by nurses as well as enhancing the quality of care.