The number of children with low back pain (LBP) has increased. However, the underlying cause of LBP remains unclear. LBP is classified on the basis of whether anteflexion or postflexion induces pain. We focused on pae...
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The number of children with low back pain (LBP) has increased. However, the underlying cause of LBP remains unclear. LBP is classified on the basis of whether anteflexion or postflexion induces pain. We focused on paediatric LBP induced by anteflexion (LBPAF) and studied its causes using a multiplelogisticregression (MLR) model. Children aged 4-15 years participated in the experiments. About 6% of children had LBPAF and all were older than 10 years of age. Participants answered a questionnaire on sports and daily life and underwent physical assessments. Thirty-six MLR models were constructed using this data. Among them, the best model with the largest mean area under the curve (AUC) for the four test datasets had the explanatory variables of sport time, finger floor distance score, and Ely test score. These variables were present in 21-33 models in all thirty-six models. The MLR model was also able to detect approximately 70% of non-LBPAFs. These three selected variables suggest that an imbalance of the anterior and posterior thigh muscles may have caused paediatric LBPAF. This imbalance has not been reported in adults with LBPAF;hence, it is a characteristic of paediatric LBPAF.
Background: Chronic histaminergic angioedema (CHA) may be classified as a separate acquired angioedema (AE) or as an endotype of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). A recent study suggested them to be independent pat...
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Background: Chronic histaminergic angioedema (CHA) may be classified as a separate acquired angioedema (AE) or as an endotype of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). A recent study suggested them to be independent pathologies. Objective: We carried out an exhaustive analysis between CHA and AE-CSU to explore the possible differentiation between them on the bases of a series of predictors. Methods: An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, and exploratory study was designed. Fifty-six CHA and 40 AE-CSU patients were included. Data were extracted from the year before and year after time of diagnosis. A predictive model was generated by logisticregression, and its discriminatory power was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: The average frequency of AE attacks per year turned out to be higher in the AE-CSU group than in the CHA group, both before (median [interquartile range] 12 [43] vs 8 [16]) and after (24.3 [51.2] vs 2 [4.25]) diagnosis, respectively. The uvula was more frequently affected in CHA. No other differences were found. However, using 7 clinical characteristics of the patients, a multiple logistic regression model was able to predict, with a specificity of 86.4%, a sensitivity of 92.3%, and an area under the curve of 95.1% (P 5 .024), that CHA and AE-CSU behaved differently. Conclusion: CHA has similar characteristics to AE-CSU, although they slightly differed in the frequency of attacks and their location. Despite its similarities, a multiple logistic regression model that used clinical and evolutionary characteristics allowed the differentiation of both pathologies and supports the idea that these 2 entities are independent. (J Allergy Clin Immunol Global 2024;3:100278.)
Cultural tourism is recognized as one of the main resources used to counteract seasonality in tourist destinations, being by its very nature non-seasonal. Moreover, according to the generally accepted stereotype, cult...
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Cultural tourism is recognized as one of the main resources used to counteract seasonality in tourist destinations, being by its very nature non-seasonal. Moreover, according to the generally accepted stereotype, cultural tourists tend to be ageing and therefore more likely to travel also during the off-peak season than younger tourists. Our data show that international cultural tourism has increased in Italy during the last 15 years, but this increase has not contributed to reducing seasonality. We have conducted a statistical analysis of the data in an attempt to explore the possible reasons behind such an unexpected finding. By comparing foreign cultural and non-cultural tourists through several socio-economic-demographic variables, our results highlight the fact that a "new (and younger) cultural tourism" is emerging in Italy. Consequently, promoting cultural tourism is just one component for effectively counteracting seasonality. Nevertheless, promotion should also focus on the dual concept of "cultural tourism/ageing tourists".
A river water quality management model under average climatic conditions may not be able to account for the extreme risk of low water quality which is more prominent under an increase in river water temperature and al...
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A river water quality management model under average climatic conditions may not be able to account for the extreme risk of low water quality which is more prominent under an increase in river water temperature and altered river flows. A modeling framework is developed to assess the risk of river low water quality extremes by integrating a statistical downscaling model based on Canonical Correlation Analysis, risk quantification model based on Frank Archimedean Copula function and multiple logistic regression model integrated with a river water quality simulation model, QUAL2 K. The results reveal that the combination of predicted decrease in low flows of approximately 57% and increase in maximum river water temperatures of approximately 1.2 degrees C has shown an increase of about 46% in risk of low water quality conditions for the future scenarios along Tunga-Bhadra River, India. The extreme risk of low water quality is observed to increase by 50.6% for the period 2020-2040 when compared with the current extreme conditions of 4.5% and average risk conditions of about 3% for the period 1988-2005. The study captured the occurrence of extremes of low water quality with evidence of a strong link between climate and water quality impairment events.
Objective Previous studies have supported that there is a positive association between higher amounts and more frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages, by Western adolescent females, and occurrence of benign breas...
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Objective Previous studies have supported that there is a positive association between higher amounts and more frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages, by Western adolescent females, and occurrence of benign breast disease(BBD). However, few studies focus on the association between alcohol consumption and BBD among adult Asians. The aim of this study was to investigate how alcohol consumption is associated with BBD in a Chinese women population. Methods From 2014 to 2016, a cross-sectional assessment was performed in 3,757 adults in Tianjin, China. Breast thickness and nodules status were assessed by using ultrasonography, and self-reported alcohol consumption was measured by a validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire(FFQ). multiplelogisticregression analysis was used to examine the association between alcohol consumption and prevalence of BBD in 2017. Results In the present study, the prevalence of BBD in participants is 22.5%. After adjustments for potentially confounding factors, compared with women who did not drink alcohol, the odds ratios(95% confidence interval(CI)) for BBD were 1.14(0.94, 1.38) for occasional drinkers, 1.37(0.97, 1.92) for exdrinkers, and 2.95(1.22, 6.99) for daily drinkers. However, no association was found between amount of alcohol consumption and prevalence of BBD. Conclusions The study demonstrated that higher alcohol consumption frequency, but not amount of alcohol consumption, is independently associated with the higher prevalence of BBD in Chinese women.
This study examined the application of Univariate, Bivariate, and Multivariate analysis for an insightful decision making process. The study makes use of a secondary data consisting of 548 patients suffering from a st...
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This study examined the application of Univariate, Bivariate, and Multivariate analysis for an insightful decision making process. The study makes use of a secondary data consisting of 548 patients suffering from a stage III Non- Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) from Cancer data repository. Fourteen (14) attributes made up of 6 quantitative and 8 qualitative variables ranging from clinical, laboratory and socio-demographic measures such as Age (yrs), Body Mass Index (BMI), N-Staging, World Health Oganisation (WHO) performance status and so on were considered in the study. The Univariate analysis was conducted on the obtained data using statistic such as mean, median, percentages and so on to describe the pattern and distribution of the variables. The Bivariate analysis involved the use of t-test, Mann Whitnney test as well as the Chi-Square to test for significance as regards to the patients' status of being dead or alive. The Simple logisticregressionmodel (SLRM) was used to examine the patients' risk of death for each of the variables. It was found that the respective SLRM of the Age (yrs), Equivalent Radiation dose in 2-Gy fraction (Eqd 2 ) and the WHO performance status and the Treatment Method variables were respectively significant at a significance level of 0.05. However, all the SLRM with a p-value of < 0.200 were then used to compute a final multiple logistic regression model (MLRM). The MLRM was significant, 2 (15) = 54.00, p< 0.001. The model explained the 18.50% ( Nagelkerke R 2 ) of the variance in deaths of patients and 80.70% cases were correctly classified. Patients with no chemotherapy treatment are 10.989 times at risk of dying compared to the patients subjected to a concurrent treatment plan. The Area under the Curve (AUC) of the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve for the MLRM of 75.30% provides a better analysis outcome than the ROC of the SLRM of the individual quantitative variables whose highest AUC value is 65.20% indicating that MLRM
Background: Male circumcision (MC) has been demonstrated to be effective and cost-effective for HIV/AIDS prevention. Global guidance to adopt this intervention was announced in 2007 for countries with high HIV/AIDS pr...
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Background: Male circumcision (MC) has been demonstrated to be effective and cost-effective for HIV/AIDS prevention. Global guidance to adopt this intervention was announced in 2007 for countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence and low MC prevalence. However, scale up of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programs in MC priority countries have been slow. Many of these countries have particular cultural barriers that impede uptake of this effective intervention. This analysis explored correlates of MC status among men and their socio-economic, health and sexual behaviour factors using DHS data (2006-2011) from 11 MC priority countries. Methods: Our analysis included univariate unadjusted analyses for individual countries and the region (by combining all countries into one dataset) and a multiple logistic regression model. Results: Individual country results vary widely but alignment was mostly found between unadjusted analyses and multiple logistic regression model. The model found that men who are of the Muslim faith, reside in urban areas, have higher or secondary education attainment, hold professional occupations, and be in the richest wealth quintile are more likely to be circumcised. Circumcision is also positively correlated with lower reports of STIs, safe sexual behaviour, and HIV/AIDS prevention knowledge. Conclusions: Since the data collected predate VMMC program launch in these countries, results can only indicate baseline associations. However, characteristics of these existing circumcision practices may be utilized for better population targeting and program management to achieve higher impact with this effective prevention strategy.
Background: Cervical cancer is the most frequent cancer of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Nevertheless, the level of women's awareness about cervical cancer is unknown. Knowledge, attitude and pr...
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Background: Cervical cancer is the most frequent cancer of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Nevertheless, the level of women's awareness about cervical cancer is unknown. Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) are important elements for designing and monitoring screening programs. The study purpose was to estimate KAP on cervical cancer and to identify associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kinshasa, DRC, including 524 women aged 16-78 years (median age 28;interquartile range 22-35). The women were interviewed at home by trained field workers using a standardized questionnaire. The women's score on knowledge, attitude and practice were dichotomized as sufficient or insufficient. We used binary and multiplelogisticregression to assess associations between obtaining sufficient scores and a series of socio-demographic factors: age, residence, marital status, education, occupation, religion, and parity. Results: The women's score on knowledge was not significantly correlated with their score on practice (Spearman's rho = 0.08;P > 0.05). Obtaining a sufficient score on knowledge was positively associated with higher education (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 7.65;95% confidence interval (95% CI) 3.31-17.66) and formal employment (adjusted OR 3.35;95% CI 1.85-6.09);it was negatively associated with being single (adjusted OR 0.44;95% CI 0.24-0.81) and living in the eastern, western and northern zone of Kinshasa compared to the city centre. The attitude score was associated with place of residence (adjusted OR for east Kinshasa: 0.49;95% CI 0.27-0.86 and for south Kinshasa: 0.48;95% CI 0.27-0.85) and with religion (adjusted OR 0.55;95% CI 0.35-0.86 for women with a religion other than Catholicism or Protestantism compared to Catholics). Regarding practice, there were negative associations between a sufficient score on practice and being single (adjusted OR 0.24;95% CI 0.13-0.41) and living in the eastern zone of the city (adjusted O
Objective. Previous studies have shown that lower serum amylase levels are associated with chronic pancreatitis. However, recently, lower serum amylase levels have been associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) and diab...
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Objective. Previous studies have shown that lower serum amylase levels are associated with chronic pancreatitis. However, recently, lower serum amylase levels have been associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) and diabetes. The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome and diabetes and serum amylase levels in Chinese asymptomatic individuals living in Hangzhou, China. Methods. Serum amylase, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT), high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels were measured in 3,728 patients from Hangzhou in China. Study participants were divided into four groups, Q1-Q4, according to serum amylase levels. Odds ratios (OR) of Q1-Q4 were calculated using multivariate logisticregression. Results. Significant differences were found in sex, age, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, gamma-GT, TG, HDL-C and FPG levels, as well as the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes among these four groups. Across Q1 to Q4, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes decreased from 28.5-15.2% and 10.1-3.6%, respectively. multiple logistic regression models following adjustment for age, gender, BMI, and gamma-GT showed that the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (OR: 1.284;95% CI: 0.909-1.813) and diabetes (OR: 2.081;95% CI: 1.230-3.523) in the Q1 was significantly higher compared to the Q4. Conclusions. Low serum amylase levels are significantly associated with an increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes in a Chinese asymptomatic population.
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