Combinational regularity analysis (CORA): An introduction for psychologists.

Increasingly, psychologists make use of modern configurational comparative methods (CCMs), such as qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and coincidence analysis (CNA), to infer regularity-theoretic causal structures from psychological data. At the same time, existing CCMs remain unable to reveal such structures in the presence of complex effects. Given the strong emphasis configurational methodology generally puts on the notion of complex causation, and the ubiquity of multieffect problems in psychological research, such as multimorbidity and polypharmacy, this limitation is severe. In this article, we introduce psychologists to combinational regularity analysis (CORA)-a new member in the family of CCMs-with which regularity-theoretic causal structures that may include complex effects can be uncovered. To this end, CORA draws on algorithms originally developed in electrical engineering for the analysis of multioutput switching circuits, which regulate the behavior of electrical signals between a set of inputs and a set of outputs. After having situated CORA within the landscape of modern CCMs, we present its technical foundations. Subsequently, we demonstrate the method's analytical and graphical capabilities by means of artificial and empirical data. To facilitate familiarization, we use the concept of the "method game" to compare CORA with QCA and CNA. Through CORA, configurational analyses of complex effects come into the analytical reach of CCMs. CORA thus represents a useful addition to the methodological toolkit of psychologists who want to analyze their data from a configurational perspective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Case-to-factor Ratios and Model Specification in Qualitative Comparative Analysis.

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is an empirical research method that has gained some popularity in the social sciences. At the same time, the literature has long been convinced that QCA is prone to committing causal fallacies when confronted with non-causal data. More specifically, beyond a certain case-to-factor ratio, the method is believed to fail in recognizing real data. To reduce that risk, some authors have proposed benchmark tables that put a limit on the number of exogenous factors given a certain number of cases. Many applied researchers looking for methodological guidance have since adhered to these tables. We argue that fears of inferential breakdown in QCA due to an "unfavorable" case-to-factor ratio are without foundation. What is more, we demonstrate that these benchmarks induce more fallacious inferences than they prevent. For valid causal inference, researchers are better off relying on the current state of knowledge in their respective fields.

Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: 2023 Update by the International Multidisciplinary Board of Experts.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered by many the pandemic of the 21st century and is associated with multiple organ damages. Among these, cardiovascular complications are responsible for an incredible burden of mortality and morbidity in Western Countries. The study of the pathological mechanisms responsible for the cardiovascular complications in DM patients is key for the development of new therapeutic strategies. The metabolic disorders caused by hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia, results in a cascade of pathomorphological changes favoring the atherosclerotic process and leading to myocardial remodeling. Parallel to this, oxidative stress, calcium overload, mitochondrial dysfunction, activation of protein kinase C signaling pathways, myocardial lipomatosis, and low-grade inflammation of the myocardium - are the main pathways responsible for the diabetic cardiomyopathy development. This review aims to appraise and discuss the pathogenetic mechanisms behind the diabetic cardiomyopathy development.

Possibilities of dapagliflozin-induced cardioprotection on doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide mode of chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy.

RATIONALE: The global burden of cardiovascular (CV) and oncological diseases continues to increase. In this regard, the prevention of CV diseases (CVD) before and after cancer treatment is an urgent and unsolved problem in medicine. For this reason, our research group aimed to investigate the possibility of dapagliflozin-related cardioprotection, using an experimental model of chronic Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) + Cyclophosphamide (AC)-mode of chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy. OBJECTIVE: The redox balance, lipid metabolism, endothelial dysfunction, and myocardial damage parameters were measured to evaluate the pathways of dapagliflozin-induced stabilization of CV homeostasis. METHODS: For this study, 80 inbred Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four equally sized groups. A model of chronic cardiotoxicity was attained by using doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide co-administration. In the case, the markers of redox-balance, cholesterol metabolism, endothelial dysfunction, myocardial alteration, and morphological examination were assessed. RESULTS: For all parameters, statistically significant deviations were obtained, emphasizing the sequel of AC-mode chemotherapy-related detergent effect on CV system (group 2). Moreover, the data obtained from dapagliflozin-treated groups (group 3) showed that this strategy provide limitation of lipid peroxidation, cholesterol metabolism and endothelial function normalization, with subsequent morphological preservation of myocardium. CONCLUSION: Dapagliflozin has a broad spectrum of pleiotropic influences, namely cholesterol-lowering, anti-inflammatory, and endothelium-stabilizing properties. These properties provide a favorable environment for the prevention of chemotherapy-related cardiomyopathy.

Cardiac Sarcoidosis: A Contemporary Concept of Forgotten Granulomatosis.

Sarcoidosis is a complex multisystem inflammatory granulomatous disease that can affect any organ, with a wide range of clinical presentations. A significant number of patients with systemic sarcoidosis may also have cardiac involvement. Clinical manifestations of cardiac sarcoidosis can include various rhythm and conduction disturbances, as well as heart failure. The structure of sarcoid granulomas is similar to that of tuberculous granulomas, but in contrast, they lack caseous necrosis. Tissue changes in sarcoidosis tissues depend on the stage of development of the disease, progressing from pathological process: macrophage-lymphocytic infiltration to epithelioid cell granuloma formation, and fibrosis. Granulomas can be found in any part of the myocardium, with the most common locations being the free wall of the left ventricle, the basal part of the interventricular septum, and the interatrial septum. Vasculopathy of the pulmonary circulation and coronary arteries is often observed. Advancements in diagnostic imaging techniques, such as computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, have facilitated the verification of cardiac sarcoidosis. This article presents an analysis of updated information on cardiac sarcoidosis by a multidisciplinary working group.

Combinational Regularity Analysis (CORA) - a new method for uncovering complex causation in medical and health research.

BACKGROUND: Modern configurational comparative methods (CCMs) of causal inference, such as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Coincidence Analysis (CNA), have started to make inroads into medical and health research over the last decade. At the same time, these methods remain unable to process data on multi-morbidity, a situation in which at least two chronic conditions are simultaneously present. Such data require the capability to analyze complex effects. Against a background of fast-growing numbers of patients with multi-morbid diagnoses, we present a new member of the family of CCMs with which multiple conditions and their complex conjunctions can be analyzed: Combinational Regularity Analysis (CORA). METHODS: The technical heart of CORA consists of algorithms that have originally been developed in electrical engineering for the analysis of multi-output switching circuits. We have adapted these algorithms for purposes of configurational data analysis. To demonstrate CORA, we provide several example applications, both with simulated and empirical data, by means of the eponymous software package CORA. Also included in CORA is the possibility to mine configurational data and to visualize results via logic diagrams. RESULTS: For simple single-condition analyses, CORA's solution is identical with that of QCA or CNA. However, analyses of multiple conditions with CORA differ in important respects from analyses with QCA or CNA. Most importantly, CORA is presently the only configurational method able to simultaneously explain individual conditions as well as complex conjunctions of conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Through CORA, problems of multi-morbidity in particular, and configurational analyses of complex effects in general, come into the analytical reach of CCMs. Future research aims to further broaden and enhance CORA's capabilities for refining such analyses.

AC-Mode of Chemotherapy as a Trigger of Cardiac Syndrome X: A Case Study.

In the period of dynamic development of pharmacological possibilities in the modern oncology, unfortunately, the issue of cardiotoxicity of chemotherapy did not lost its urgent value. Cardiotoxicity implies structural and functional myocardial alteration, together with an increase in the concentration of highly sensitive markers of myocardial necrosis, in particular T and I troponins, and N-terminal pro-BNP, as well as with a subclinical or clinical decrease in the LVEF. It is noteworthy that cardiotoxicity is manifested not only by the development of anthracycline cardiomyopathy with a high risk of convention into heart failure. It also can cause various cardiovascular pathologies, in particular cardiac syndrome X. This study described chemotherapy-induced microvascular angina in 23-year-old otherwise heathy woman. The diagnosis is challenging for doctors, since microvascular flow may be only detected by using functional test.

Diabefit as a Modifier of Fructose-induced Impairment of Cardio-vascular System.

Today, cardiovascular diseases, due to their widespread prevalence, are among the most relevant biomedical problems in the modern world. The development of cardiovascular comorbidity among patients with diabetes mellitus is of high clinical urgency. Therefore, the study of cardiovascular risk modification among patients with diabetes mellitus is of paramount importance. In the context of the above, the data on the cardiotoxicity of fructose look very alarming since these patients usually use fructose as an affordable alternative to glucose. At the same time, it is an independent inducer of destabilization of cardiovascular homeostasis. Sixty rats were used in the experiment to study this problem. Modeling of fructose-induced overload was performed using a diabetic fructose supplement in an aqueous solution. The collection of herbs "Diabefit" was used as an infusion in addition to feeding highly enriched with fructose. The used markers which reflect the state of the heart and the blood vessels were: MDA, SOD, NO, and ET-1. MDA, ET-1, and NO concentrations demonstrated a significant increase in the fructose overload group and a significant decrease in the Diabefit group. At the same time, changes in SOD level as an indicator of the antioxidant reserve, on the contrary, implied a decrease in the group with a high fructose content and increased in the Diabefit group. All detected changes were associated with fructose-induced inhibition of SOD activity and its restoration using the Diabefit phyto-collection.

Algorithmic bias in social research: A meta-analysis.

Both the natural and the social sciences are currently facing a deep "reproducibility crisis". Two important factors in this crisis have been the selective reporting of results and methodological problems. In this article, we examine a fusion of these two factors. More specifically, we demonstrate that the uncritical import of Boolean optimization algorithms from electrical engineering into some areas of the social sciences in the late 1980s has induced algorithmic bias on a considerable scale over the last quarter century. Potentially affected are all studies that have used a method nowadays known as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). Drawing on replication material for 215 peer-reviewed QCA articles from across 109 high-profile management, political science and sociology journals, we estimate the extent this problem has assumed in empirical work. Our results suggest that one in three studies is affected, one in ten severely so. More generally, our article cautions scientists against letting methods and algorithms travel too easily across disparate disciplines without sufficient prior evaluation of their suitability for the context in hand.

A multimodal interface device for online board games designed for sight-impaired people.

Online games between remote opponents playing over computer networks are becoming a common activity of everyday life. However, computer interfaces for board games are usually based on the visual channel. For example, they require players to check their moves on a video display and interact by using pointing devices such as a mouse. Hence, they are not suitable for visually impaired people. The present paper discusses a multipurpose system that allows especially blind and deafblind people playing chess or other board games over a network, therefore reducing their disability barrier. We describe and benchmark a prototype of a special interactive haptic device for online gaming providing a dual tactile feedback. The novel interface of this proposed device is able to guarantee not only a better game experience for everyone but also an improved quality of life for sight-impaired people.