Spearman's Coefficient Research Articles

Use of digital tools for preclinical training in complete denture: A pilot study.

Advances in CAD-CAM complete dentures open up opportunities in preclinical laboratory education. A cross-over study was conducted to assess the benefit of digital training in custom tray fabrication. Hypotheses were that digital training improved conceptual skill acquisition and that assessment of digital work helps in the discrimination of students' difficulty. Third-year students were allocated either into group A and took the manual practical classes before the digital ones, or into group B (N = 154). Prior to the sessions, a motor skill test was conducted. The influence on the learning process was evaluated by comparing the groups' results to the manual lab work with a Student's t-test. The effectiveness of the assessment in discriminating manual aptitude and conceptual skill was studied through Spearman's rank coefficient between digital and manual scores in conceptual skill and with a subgroup analysis according to the results of the motor skill test. The level of significance was set up at .05. Students' satisfaction was also assessed with a questionnaire. Students in group B achieved better scores. Spearman's rank coefficient test showed a weak correlation, R = .16. For manual lab work, the most manually skilled students did significantly better. In contrast, for the digital session, the medium manually skilled students did better. More than half of the students (55%) found the manual and digital sessions complementary, without identifying any difference depending on the learning sequence. Digital training improved the students' results in the conventional practical exercise. Assessments of the digital and conventional custom trays were complementary in order to distinguish conceptual and motor skills.

Plant disease prescription recommendation based on electronic medical records and sentence embedding retrieval

BackgroundIn the era of Agri 4.0 and the popularity of Plantwise systems, the availability of Plant Electronic Medical Records has provided opportunities to extract valuable disease information and treatment knowledge. However, developing an effective prescription recommendation method based on these records presents unique challenges, such as inadequate labeling data, lack of structural and linguistic specifications, incorporation of new prescriptions, and consideration of multiple factors in practical situations.ResultsThis study proposes a plant disease prescription recommendation method called PRSER, which is based on sentence embedding retrieval. The semantic matching model is created using a pre-trained language model and a sentence embedding method with contrast learning ideas, and the constructed prescription reference database is retrieved for optimal prescription recommendations. A multi-vegetable disease dataset and a multi-fruit disease dataset are constructed to compare three pre-trained language models, four pooling types, and two loss functions. The PRSER model achieves the best semantic matching performance by combining MacBERT, CoSENT, and CLS pooling, resulting in a Pearson coefficient of 86.34% and a Spearman coefficient of 77.67%. The prescription recommendation capability of the model is also verified. PRSER performs well in closed-set testing with Top-1/Top-3/Top-5 accuracy of 88.20%/96.07%/97.70%; and slightly worse in open-set testing with Top-1/Top-3/Top-5 accuracy of 82.04%/91.50%/94.90%. Finally, a plant disease prescription recommendation system for mobile terminals is constructed and its generalization ability with incomplete inputs is verified. When only symptom information is available without environment and plant information, our model shows slightly lower accuracy with Top-1/Top-3/Top-5 accuracy of 75.24%/88.35%/91.99% in closed-set testing and Top-1/Top-3/Top-5 accuracy of 75.08%/87.54%/89.84% in open-set testing.ConclusionsThe experiments validate the effectiveness and generalization ability of the proposed approach for recommending plant disease prescriptions. This research has significant potential to facilitate the implementation of artificial intelligence in plant disease treatment, addressing the needs of farmers and advancing scientific plant disease management.

SP8.6 Postoperative recovery - is there a psychological impact? Evaluation of psychological impact following emergency surgery

Abstract Aim Undergoing ‘Emergency operation’ (EO) is a stressful event for patients however, the impact on mental health has not been studied. Study aims to evaluate the psychological impact during early postoperative period following EO using the standardised Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Methods Prospective study from hospital database. Age>18years who underwent emergency general surgical procedures between November-December 2022 were included. Procedures were classed as major(laparotomy) or moderate/minor. Patients were contacted two to four weeks postoperative to answer four questions within PHQ-4, assessing mood, anhedonia, anxiety and nervousness. Frequency of experiencing those negative emotions was graded from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly everyday). Data was analysed to identify potential factors associated with higher PHQ-4 scores. P-value<0.05 was statistically significant. Results 19 patients participated in the survey; 10(52.6%) male and 8(42.1%) female. Median age was 45±40years. Overall, nearly one-third of patients experienced some psychological impact during early postoperative period. 4(5.3%) patients reported feeling nervous, 6(31.6%) reported anxiety, 7(36.8%) reported anhedonia and 5(26.3%) reported feeling low. 2(10.5%) patients reported feeling these emotions nearly everyday. 6(31.6%) patients underwent major surgery. Higher PHQ-4 scores were found in the major group(n=6/19(31.6%), 5±8) vs non-major(n=13/19(68.4%), 3±1; p=0.051). There was a positive correlation between postoperative length of stay and PHQ-4 score (Spearman coefficient R=0.67, p=0.0016). Conclusion Psychological impact was more pronounced in patients undergoing major surgery, particularly those with protracted recovery. Although limited by sample size, study reveals the need for formal psychological support for patients undergoing EO.

Exploring Correlations Between Pain and Deformity in Idiopathic Scoliosis With Validated Self-reported Pain Scores, Radiographic Measurements, and Trunk Surface Topographic Measurements.

Up to 75% of patients with idiopathic scoliosis (IS) report back pain, but the exact contributors are unclear. This study seeks to assess how pain correlates with demographics, radiographic and surface topographic (ST) measurements, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in patients with IS. Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Interference (PI) and Scoliosis Research Society revised (SRS-22r) pain domain from an IRB approved prospectively collected registry containing patients 11 to 21 years old with IS were correlated (Spearman coefficients) with measurements from whole-body EOS radiography and ST scanning, PROMIS 1.0 PROMs, Trunk Appearance Perception Scale (TAPS), and SRS-22r domains. SRS-22r and PROMIS-PI were also compared between different sex, scoliosis severities, and primary curve locations with Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis tests, and if significant differences were found, included with the 5 highest univariate correlated variables into stepwise multivariate linear regression models ( P <0.05 to enter, P >0.1 to remove) predicting SRS-22r pain and PROMIS-PI. One hundred and forty-nine patients (14.5 ± 2.0y, body mass index 20.6 ± 4.1kg/m 2 , 96 (64%) female, mean major coronal curve 40 ± 19 deg, range: 10 deg, 83 deg) reported mean PROMIS-PI of 42.2 ± 10.0 and SRS-22r pain of 4.4 ± 0.6. SRS-22r self-image was the most correlated variable with both SRS-22r pain (rho=0.519) and PROMIS-PI (rho=-0.594). Five variables, none of which were ST or radiographic measures, strongly predicted SRS pain domain (R=0.711, R2=0.505, N=138). Two variables (SRS-22r self-image and SRS-22r function) were utilized by a model correlated with PROMIS-PI (R=0.687, R2=0.463, N=124). SRS-22r function and self-image domains were more strongly correlated with SRS-22r pain and PROMIS-PI than any radiographic or ST measurements. Level II-retrospective study.

The effect of smoking on the immediate effectiveness of induction chemotherapy in the combined treatment of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer

Purpose. Evaluation of the effect of smoking on the immediate effectiveness (achievement of objective response – OR) of induction chemotherapy in patients receiving combined treatment for locally advanced HPV-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx.Patients and methods. Sixty-eight patients (51 men and 17 women) with locally advanced squamous cell cancer of the oropharynx associated with papillomavirus were included in the study, which was carried out from 2021 to 2023 at the P. Hertsen Moscow Oncology Research Institute – Branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Centre, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation and the Municipal Clinical Oncological Hospital № 1 of the Department of Health of Moscow. The patients were divided into 2 equal groups, fully comparable in terms of the main characteristics (smoking history, stage, histological type, and degree of tumour differentiation). At the first stage, patients of the 1st (main) group received de-escalated induction chemotherapy: three 21-day courses according to the TR scheme (docetaxel in the dose of 75 mg/m2 + cisplatin 75 mg/m2); patients of the 2nd (control) group were treated with standard scheme (docetaxel 75 mg/m2 + cisplatin 75 mg/m2 + 5-fluorouracil 1000 mg/m2). Patients in both groups received prophylactic granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. At the second stage, standard chemoradiotherapy was carried out against the background of drug radiomodification with carboplatin. Correlation analysis was performed by calculating the Spearman coefficient with Bonferroni correction. Differences were considered reliable at p &lt; 0.05.Results. When evaluating the objective response to treatment, it was revealed that disease control was achieved in 33 (97 %) patients from group 1 and in all 34 (100 %) patients from group 2. Complete response was observed in 3 (8.8 %) patients from group 1 and 4 (11.8 %) from group 2; partial regression in 22 (64.7 %) and 24 (70.6 %); stabilisation of the tumour process in 8 (23.5 %) and 6 (17.6 %) respectively. Further analysis showed that there was no direct or inverse correlation between smoking and differentiated level of response (primary lesion, altered lymph nodes); all patients (smokers and those who had never smoked) responded equally effectively to the first stage of combined treatment, regardless of the ICT regimen.Conclusion. In our study, no statistically significant effect of smoking on the immediate effectiveness of induction chemotherapy in the combined treatment of locally advanced HPV-associated squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx regardless of the induction regimen was found. However, a longer follow-up period is needed to evaluate the effect of smoking on long-term oncological outcomes.

Bleeding during tooth extraction in patients with chronic kidney disease: A cross-sectional pilot study.

This work measures the intra-operative bleeding in end-stage renal disease patients and assesses whether laboratory coagulation tests and nitrogenous compounds are related to a higher bleeding risk. Laboratory tests were performed on the day of surgery and some patients with thrombocytopenia and values above the normal levels of international normalised ratio (INR), thrombin time (TT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) were identified. Haemostatic time ranged from 2 to 35 min (mean of 8.51 min) after suture. Bleeding volume ranged from 0.02 to 67.06 mL (mean of 4.38 mL) and the bleeding volume per minute ranged from 0.05 to 2.10 mL/min (median of 0.6 mL/min). Only seven patients (16.27%) had abnormal bleeding (more than 0.6 mL/min). Spearman's coefficient showed weak correlations between bleeding volume (mL/min) and serum urea (r = 0.226), TT (r = 0.227), plasma urea (r = 0.148) and creatinine (r = 146), as well as very weak correlations with all other variables (r < 0.140) such as age, haemodialysis time, glycaemia, glycated haemoglobin, platelets, INR, aPTT and fibrinogen. It was not possible to associate any laboratory test or nitrogenous compounds present in the blood and saliva with an increased bleeding.

Validity and utility of blood tumor mutational burden (bTMB) is dependent on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) shed: SCRUM-Japan MONSTAR-SCREEN

BackgroundThe tumor mutational burden (TMB) is a genomic biomarker associated with the benefits from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) cancer therapy. An elevated blood TMB (bTMB) in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) represents a compelling non-invasive diagnostic approach; however, the validity and utility of this emerging biomarker across cancer types have not been examined. Patient and methodsThe blood and tissue TMB was measured in a large pan-tumor clinical cohort and the MONSTAR-SCREEN observational study (UMIN000036749) using the FoundationOne Liquid CDx and FoundationOne CDx assays. A subset of the MONSTAR-SCREEN cohort was used to evaluate the association between the bTMB and the efficacy of ICIs therapy. ResultsThe majority of cancer types showed similar prevalence of TMB≥10 mutations/megabase and bTMB≥10. There was high concordance between bTMB and TMB in blood and tissue biopsy from the same patient when the plasma tumor fraction (TF) was at least 1% (Spearman's coefficient 0.74 and > 80% sensitivity to detect TMB-high). High microsatellite instability (MSI-H) was detected by ctDNA with 79% sensitivity when TF was at least 1%, but only 6% sensitivity when TF was <1%. Among patients with bTMB≥14 and elevated TF≥10% treated with ICIs, there was a trend toward a longer progression-free survival and overall survival compared with patients with bTMB<14 and elevated TF≥10% (HR, 0.62 [95%CI, 0.39–0.98]; p = 0.04 and HR, 0.60 [95%CI, 0.34-1.1]; p = 0.05). ConclusionsOur findings suggest that an elevated bTMB is correlated with elevated TMB and represents a pragmatic biomarker for assessing ICIs benefits. The utility of this biomarker is likely to be associated with high TF levels, informing future prospective investigations.

Prognostic role of euthyroid sick syndrome in MIS-C: results from a single-center observational study.

Euthyroid sick syndrome (ESS) is characterized by low serum levels of free triiodothyronine (fT3) with normal or low levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (fT4) and is reported in different acute clinical situations, such as sepsis, diabetic ketoacidosis and after cardiac surgery. Our aim was to evaluate the predicting role of ESS for disease severity in patients with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children (MIS-C). A single-centre observational study on consecutive patients with MIS-C. Before treatment clinical, and laboratory data were collected and, in a subset of patients, thyroid function tests were repeated 4 weeks later. Variables distribution was analyzed by Mann-Whitney U-test and correlations between different parameters were calculated by Spearman's Rho coefficient. Forty-two patients were included and 36 (85.7%) presented ESS. fT3 values were significantly lower in patients requiring intensive care, a strong direct correlation was shown between fT3 and Hb, platelet count and ejection fraction values. A significant inverse correlation was retrieved between fT3 levels and C-reactive protein, brain natriuretic peptide, IL-2 soluble receptor and S-100 protein. Subjects with severe myocardial depression (EF < 45%) had lower fT3 values than subjects with higher EF. The thyroid function tests spontaneously normalized in all subjects who repeated measurement 4 weeks after admission. ESS is a frequent and transient condition in acute phase of MIS-C. A severe reduction of fT3 must be considered as important prognostic factor for severe disease course, with subsequent relevant clinical impact in the management of these patients.

Identifying venous clinical severity score thresholds for Clinical-Etiology-Anatomy-Pathophysiology classifications of venous edema and higher.

Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS) is a widely used standard for assessing and grading the severity of chronic venous disease (CVD). Prior research highlighted its high validity in detecting and quantifying venous disease. However, there is little, if any, known about the precise thresholds at which VCSS discriminates important stages of deep venous disease. This study sought to elucidate the diagnostic accuracy, thresholds, and correlation at which VCSS detects salient CEAP (Clinical-Etiology-Anatomy-Pathophysiology) classes in deep venous disease progression. A registry of 840 patients who presented with chronic proximal venous outflow obstruction (PVOO) secondary to non-thrombotic iliac vein lesions from August 2011 to June 2021 was retrospectively analyzed. VCSS and CEAP classifications were used to evaluate preoperative symptoms. VCSS was compared to CEAP classes to determine the precise VCSS composite values at which the instrument was able to detect CEAP C3 and higher, C4 and higher, and C5 and higher. Receiver operative characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate VCSS for its ability to discriminate disease at these stages of CEAP classification. Spearman's rank coefficient was used to determine the correlation between CEAP VCSS composite as well as individual VCSS components (pain, varicose vein, edema, pigmentation, inflammation, induration, ulcer number, ulcer size, ulcer duration, compression). VCSS composite was able to detect venous edema (C3) and higher at a sensitivity of 68.9% and a specificity of 54.8% at an optimized threshold of 8.5 (AUC = 0.648; 95% C.I. = 0.575-0.721). To detect changes in skin and subcutaneous tissue from CVD (C4) and higher, an optimal threshold of 11.5 was found with a sensitivity of 51.7% and specificity of 76.5% (AUC = 0.694; 95% C.I. = 0.656-0.731). Healed venous ulcer (C4) and higher was detectable at an optimized threshold of 13.5 at a sensitivity of 67.7% and a specificity of 88.9% (AUC = 0.819; 95% C.I. = 0.766-0.873). The correlation between VCSS composites and CEAP was weak (ρ = 0.372; p < .001). Attributes of VCSS that reflect more severe venous disease correlated more closely with CEAP classes, namely pigmentation (ρ = 0.444; p < .001), inflammation (ρ = 0.348; p < .001), induration (ρ = 0.352; p < .001), number of active ulcers (ρ = 0.497; p < .001), active ulcer size (ρ = 0.485; p < .001), and ulcer duration (ρ = 0.497; p < .001). The correlation between CEAP class and the other four components of VCSS were not statistically significant. VCSS composite thresholds of 8.5, 11.5, and 13.5 are threshold values for detecting CEAP classification C3 and higher, C4 and higher, and C5 and higher, respectively. Consistent with prior work, VCSS appears to have a better ability to discriminate CVD at more severe CEAP classifications. In this registry, the correlation between VCSS and CEAP was found to be weak while components of VCSS that suggest more advanced disease exhibited the strongest correlation with CEAP.

Pain in older adults with dementia: Brazilian validation of Pain Intensity Measure for Persons with Dementia (PIMD).

Although there are several ways to assess pain in dementia, there is still a need for tools with better items to assess the presence of pain intensity in these individuals. To validate to Brazilian version of the "Pain Intensity Measure for Persons with Dementia - PIMD-p. Older adults, all demented with impaired verbal communication and exposed to potentially painful situations, were selected from an outpatient clinic and long-term care facility (LTCF). The PIMD-p was applied independently by 2 researchers (E1 and E2) on the same day. Within 14 days, the instrument was reapplied by one of the 2 researchers (E3). The pain intensity reported by participants' caregivers and LTCF nurses were recorded on a verbal numeric pain scale. For the statistical analysis, Cronbach's Alpha, Spearman's Coefficient and intraclass correlation Index were calculated. A total of 50 older individuals were selected (mean age 86 years), majority with musculoskeletal pain. The PIMD-p demonstrated good internal consistency according to Cronbach's α (0.838), excellent intra and interobserver reproducibility (0.927 and 0.970, respectively; p < 0.001), and convergent validity (strong significant correlations between reported pain intensities and pain indicators on the PIMD-p (except for expressive eyes; corr = 0.106 and p = 0.462). A ROC curve was plotted to determine the best cut-off for the PIMD-P, and a score of 7.5 predicted moderate-to-severe pain, with 77.8% sensitivity and 95.7% specificity (p < 0.001). The PIMD-p showed satisfactory psychometric properties for measuring intensity of pain in demented older adults with impaired verbal communication.

Marsupialization as an Organ Preservation Measure in Management of Odontogenic Cyst

Objective: Odontogenic cysts are a category of intra-osseous lesions that occur frequently. Marsupialization can be the maintherapeutic option for patients with large cysts or lesions to preserve crucial anatomical structures. The goal of this study was to treatindividuals with odontogenic cystic lesions conservatively using the marsupialization method.Methods: Twenty-two patients participated in this research as part of a cross-sectional study designed for statistical purposes. Thestudy included males and females between the ages of 6 and 80 with biopsy-proven odontogenic cysts.Results: After the treatment of 22 patients, data were collected and analyzed statistically. The statistical analysis was performed withthe use of Microsoft Excel and SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The Spearman coefficient was used to evaluate thecorrelation between patient age and marsupialization duration and the correlation between cyst size and marsupialization duration, while the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to illustrate the link between cyst type and marsupialization duration. Moreover, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess statistical variations between variables.Conclusions: Marsupialization is a conservative, noninvasive procedure that is effective in reducing the cyst’s size until it is fullyresolved or reaches a certain point suitable for excision by enucleation. The marsupialization treatment was also advantageous inpreserving teeth, bones, the inferior alveolar nerve, the maxillary sinus, and the nasal cavity. The main purpose of this study was topreserve the vital structures that were compromised by the different types of odontogenic cysts, and the treatment strategy successfully achieved that goal.

Performance of bacterial and mitochondrial qPCR source tracking methods: A European multi-center study

With the advent of molecular biology diagnostics, different quantitative PCR assays have been developed for use in Source Tracking (ST), with none of them showing 100% specificity and sensitivity. Most studies have been conducted at a regional level and mainly in fecal slurry rather than in animal wastewater. The use of a single molecular assay has most often proven to fall short in discriminating with precision the sources of fecal contamination. This work is a multicenter European ST study to compare bacterial and mitochondrial molecular assays and was set to evaluate the efficiency of nine previously described qPCR assays targeting human-, cow/ruminant-, pig-, and poultry-associated fecal contamination. The study was conducted in five European countries with seven fecal indicators and nine ST assays being evaluated in a total of 77 samples. Animal fecal slurry samples and human and non-human wastewater samples were analyzed. Fecal indicators measured by culture and qPCR were generally ubiquitous in the samples. The ST qPCR markers performed at high levels in terms of quantitative sensitivity and specificity demonstrating large geographical application. Sensitivity varied between 73% (PLBif) and 100% for the majority of the tested markers. On the other hand, specificity ranged from 53% (CWMit) and 97% (BacR). Animal-associated ST qPCR markers were generally detected in concentrations greater than those found for the respective human-associated qPCR markers, with mean concentration for the Bacteroides qPCR markers varying between 8.74 and 7.22 log10 GC/10 mL for the pig and human markers, respectively. Bacteroides spp. and mitochondrial DNA qPCR markers generally presented higher Spearman's rank coefficient in the pooled fecal samples tested, particularly the human fecal markers with a coefficient of 0.79. The evaluation of the performance of Bacteroides spp., mitochondrial DNA and Bifidobacterium spp. ST qPCR markers support advanced pollution monitoring of impaired aquatic environments, aiming to elaborate strategies for target-oriented water quality management.

Prevalence of menopausal symptoms and severity related factors among mid-aged Paraguayan women as measured with the 10-item Cervantes Scale

Objective: To determine the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and factors related to severity in mid-aged women.Methods: Cross-sectional study in which 216 urban-living women from Asunción-Paraguay (40–60 years) were surveyed with the 10 item Cervantes Scale (CS-10) and a general questionnaire (personal and partner data).Results: Median (interquartile range [IQR]) age of the sample was 48 [9] years, 48.1% were postmenopausal, 8.8% used menopausal hormone therapy, 39.4% psychotropic drugs, 43.5% had hypertension, 6.5% diabetes, 51.9% abdominal obesity, and 89.3% had a partner (n = 193). A history of sexual abuse was present in 2.8%. Median total CS-10 score was 8.5 [9.75]. Overall, 93.3% (180/193) of women having a partner were sexually active, with a median coital frequency of 8 times per month. According to the CS-10, the three most prevalent menopausal symptoms were: aching in muscles and/or joints (70.8%), anxiety and nervousness (70.8%) and hot flashes/night sweats (54.2%). Factors associated with higher CS-10 scores were: female age and educational level, marital status, menopausal status, and marital sexual aspects. Partner educational level was inversely correlated (rho Spearman coefficient) with CS-10 total scores. However, multiple linear regression analysis found that higher total CS-10 scores (more severe menopausal symptoms) negatively correlated to coital frequency and positively correlated with peri- and postmenopausal status, parity, sedentary lifestyle and a history of sexual abuse.Conclusion: Menopausal symptoms in this mid-aged urban female Paraguayan sample were related to hormonal, sexual and other female aspects.

Validity and reliability of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire (ETDQ-7) adaptation in Bahasa Indonesia

Background: Eustachian tube dysfunction occurred in 0.9% of world’s population. An instrument called Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire (ETDQ-7) in English Language was developed as a scoring system to evaluate patients’ problems for the past month with 100% sensitivity and specificity value (p&lt;0.001). This questionnaire is proven useful internationally to evaluate patients’ complaints, disease course and to determine the therapeutic outcome. However, Indonesia has not had the adapted version of ETDQ-7. Purpose: To evaluate the validity and reliability of ETDQ-7 adapted to Bahasa Indonesia. Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study on 31 adult subjects whose primary language were Indonesian. Subjects were required to fill the questionnaire that went through cross-cultural adaptation. The data was analyzed using Spearman coefficient correlation for validity and Cronbach-α score for reliability. Result: The results showed that each ETDQ-7 question were significantly correlated to the total score of ETDQ-7 (p&lt;0.05) with r value ranging from 0.568-0.790 and Cronbach-α value is 0.801. Conclusion: ETDQ-7 adapted to Bahasa Indonesia was a valid and reliable questionnaire to determine disease progression in patients with Eustachian tube dysfunction whose primary language are Indonesian.&#x0D; Keyword: ETDQ-7, validity, reliability, Bahasa Indonesia

Low energy consumption form of the U-shaped plan office building in the Yangtze River Delta

The significance of form in green building design is well recognized, as it has a substantial impact on both energy performance and construction cost. This study investigates the impact of the U-shaped plan on the energy demand, which can be flexibly applied to irregular site forms and clustered building blocks, and is widely used in existing office buildings. Specifically, we select the U-shaped plan as the object of study and collect related case data primarily from Hangzhou and Shanghai. Using Python, we generate plans based on two lengths, two angles, and depth, which serve as basic parameters and boundary conditions. The EnergyPlus platform is utilized for dynamic simulation of the energy consumption of each model, and correlation analysis using the Spearman coefficient method identifies two planar factors (depth-length ratio and modified length) that have the most significant influence on energy consumption, including five basic parameters. Regression fitting and regression evaluation of the model further identify morphological critical information in the plan. Our research reveals that the critical interval of depth-length ratio (M1) is in (0.48, 1.02), and the critical point of the modified length (M2) is 109.38 m. Furthermore, the contour plot of M1–M2–E1 is obtained, illustrating the mutual trend between morphological parameters (M1 and M2) and annual energy use intensity, which serves as a useful aid for designing low energy consumption solutions.

Predictive modeling and analysis of key drivers of groundwater nitrate pollution based on machine learning

Nitrate comtamination of shallow groundwater in agricultural intensification regions is a prevalent and global environment issue affecting food security, human health, and the water ecology. Developing a prediction model for groundwater nitrate contamination is crucial for protection of groundwater resources. Machine learning modeling offer potentials to predict contamination, but often fails to adequately screen input features in complex non-linear environments before modeling. Additionally, there is a tendency to overlook the interpretable description of the relationship between major water chemistry parameters and nitrate concentration after modeling, which hinders scientific decision-making by water resource managers. In this study, a dataset consisting of hydrochemical test results from 316 groundwater samples collected between 2011 and 2015 in intensive agricultural areas of Northeast China was collected. Prior to modeling, the dataset was grouped based on land use type, vadose zones types, and thickness. Based on the grouping of data sets, self-organizing map (SOM) and Spearman's coefficients were employed to identity the correlations between water chemical parameters and nitrate concentration (NO3–-N), which provided a logical basis for selecting the key input variables. A radial basis function artificial neural network (RBF ANN) prediction model and principal components regression (PCR) models was constructed using the dataset, and particle swarm optimization algorithm was applied to determine optimal parameter combinations of the RBF ANN. After conducting modeling, the advantages and disadvantages of RBF ANN and principal components regression (PCR) models were thoroughly examined and discussed, and the primary factors that impact nitrate concentrations in groundwater were analyzed using a PCR model. The results revealed that the RBF ANN model showed greater accuracy, while the PCR model offered better interpretability. Therefore, the integration of the two models is advantageous for nitrate prediction research. Human activities, rainfall, land-use types, vadose zones types and thickness are external factors that affecting nitrate concentration, and the difference between nitrification. Denitrification, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) is internal driving factors for the change of nitrate concentration in the aquifer, and partially determine differences in the spatial distribution of aquifer nitrate concentrations under various land use types. This study provides a comprehensive approach for predicting nitrate pollution in groundwater under non-linear environmental conditions, supporting decision making in sustainable groundwater development, management, and conservation.

To evaluate responsiveness and minimal important change (MIC) for the Persian versions of FABQ, TSK, and PCS.

Fear avoidance beliefs questionnaire (FABQ), Tampa scale of kinesiophobia (TSK), and pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) are tools widely used to measure fear-avoidance beliefs, fear of movement, and pain-related catastrophic thinking in people with chronic spinal disorders. To evaluate responsiveness and minimal important change (MIC) for the Persian version of FABQ, TSK, and PCS. One hundred people with chronic non-specific neck pain participated in an intervention program including routine physiotherapy plus pain neuroscience education. They fulfilled FABQ, TSK, and PCS questionnaires at baseline and 4-week follow-up. The 7-point global rating of change (GRC) as the external anchor was also completed in follow-up by patients. Responsiveness was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and correlation analysis. According to GRC, patients were classified into two groups (improved vs. unimproved). The best cutoff or MIC was estimated via the ROC curve. Acceptable responsiveness obtained for FABQ, TSK, and PCS with the area under the curve ranging from 0.84 to 0.94 and spearman coefficient > 0.6. The MIC values reflecting improvement were 9.5, 10.5, and 12.5 points, respectively, for FABQ, TSK, and PCS. The results of this study demonstrated that the Persian version of FABQ, TSK, and PCS have sufficient responsiveness and good ability to measure meaningful clinical changes in people with patient CNNP. The MIC scores of the FABQ, TSK, and PCS can help clinicians and researchers to detect changes significant to the patient following a rehabilitation program.

Establishing Protocol-based Dose Metrics for Common Abdomen and Pelvis Computed Tomography Protocols

The majority of the existing diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) that have been established for computed tomography (CT) are based on various anatomical locations, such as the head, chest, abdomen, etc. However, DRLs are initiated to improve radiation protection by conducting a comparison of similar examinations with similar objectives. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of establishing dose baselines based on common CT protocols for patients who underwent enhanced CT abdomen and pelvis exams. Dose length product total (tDLPs), volumetric CT dose index (CTDIvol), size-specific dose estimate (SSDE), effective dose (E), and scan acquisition parameters for a total of 216 adult patients, who underwent an enhanced CT abdomen and pelvis exams over a one-year period, were obtained and retrospectively analyzed. Spearman coefficient and one-way ANOVA tests were used to check significant differences between dose metrics and the different CT protocols. The data exhibited 9 different CT protocols to acquire an enhanced CT abdomen and pelvis exam at our institute. Out of these, 4 were found more common, i.e., CT protocols were acquired for a minimum of 10 cases. Triphasic liver demonstrated the highest mean and median tDLPs across all 4 CT protocols. Triphasic liver protocol registered the highest E followed by gastric sleeve protocol with a mean of 28.7 and 24.7 mSv, respectively. Significant differences (p < 0.0001) were found between the tDLPs of anatomical location and the CT protocol. Evidently, wide variability exists across CT dose indices and patient dose metrics relying on anatomical-based dose baseline, i.e., DRLs. Patient dose optimizations require establishing dose baselines based on CT protocols rather than the anatomical location.

Age and gender differences in lumbar intervertebral disk strain using mechanical loading magnetic resonance imaging.

The objective of the current study was to investigate age- and gender-related differences in lumbar intervertebral disk (IVD) strain with the use of static mechanical loading and continuous three-dimensional (3D) golden-angle radial sparse parallel (GRASP) MRI. A continuous 3D-GRASP stack-of-stars trajectory of the lumbar spine was performed on a 3-T scanner with static mechanical loading. Compressed sensing reconstruction, motion deformation maps, and Lagrangian strain maps during loading and recovery in the X-, Y-, and Z-directions were calculated for segmented IVD segments from L1/L2 to L5/S1. Mean IVD height was measured at rest. Spearman coefficients were used to evaluate the associations between age and global IVD height and global IVD strain. Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare global IVD height and global IVD strain in males and females. The prospective study enrolled 20 healthy human volunteers (10 males, 10 females; age 34.6± 11.4 [mean ± SD], range 22-56 years). Significant increases in compressive strain were observed with age, as evidenced by negative correlations between age and global IVD strain during loading (ρ = -0.76, p = 0.0046) and recovery (ρ = -0.68, p = 0.0251) in the loading X-direction. There was no significant correlation between age and global IVD height, global IVD strain during loading and recovery in the Y-direction, and global IVD strain during loading and recovery in the Z-direction. There were no significant differences between males and females in global IVD height and global IVD strain during loading and recovery in the X-, Y-, and Z-directions. It was concluded that our study demonstrated the significant role aging plays in internal dynamic strains in the lumbar IVD during loading and recovery. Older healthy individuals have reduced IVD stiffness and greater IVD compression during static mechanical loading of the lumbar spine. The GRASP-MRI technique demonstrates the feasibility to identify changes in IVD mechanical properties with early IVD degeneration due to aging.

Evaluation of proton density fat fraction (PDFF) obtained from a vendor-neutral MRI sequence and MRQuantif software.

To validate the proton density fat fraction (PDFF) obtained by the MRQuantif software from 2D chemical shift encoded MR (CSE-MR) data in comparison with the histological steatosis data. This study, pooling data from 3 prospective studies spread over time between January 2007 and July 2020, analyzed 445 patients who underwent 2D CSE-MR and liver biopsy. MR derived liver iron concentration (MR-LIC) and PDFF was calculated using the MRQuantif software. The histological standard steatosis score (SS) served as reference. In order to get a value more comparable to PDFF, histomorphometry fat fraction (HFF) were centrally determined for 281 patients. Spearman correlation and the Bland and Altman method were used for comparison. Strong correlations were found between PDFF and SS (rs = 0.84, p < 0.001) or HFF (rs = 0.87, p < 0.001). Spearman's coefficients increased to 0.88 (n = 324) and 0.94 (n = 202) when selecting only the patients without liver iron overload. The Bland and Altman analysis between PDFF and HFF found a mean bias of 5.4% ± 5.7 [95% CI 4.7, 6.1]. The mean bias was 4.7% ± 3.7 [95% CI 4.2, 5.3] and 7.1% ± 8.8 [95% CI 5.2, 9.0] for the patients without and with liver iron overload, respectively. The PDFF obtained by MRQuantif from a 2D CSE-MR sequence is highly correlated with the steatosis score and very close to the fat fraction estimated by histomorphometry. Liver iron overload reduced the performance of steatosis quantification and joint quantification is recommended. This device-independent method can be particularly useful for multicenter studies. The quantification of liver steatosis using a vendor-neutral 2D chemical-shift MR sequence, processed by MRQuantif, is well correlated to steatosis score and histomorphometric fat fraction obtained from biopsy, whatever the magnetic field and the MR device used. • The PDFF measured by MRQuantif from 2D CSE-MR sequence data is highly correlated to hepatic steatosis. • Steatosis quantification performance is reduced in case of significant hepatic iron overload. • This vendor-neutral method may allow consistent estimation of PDFF in multicenter studies.