Nonparametric item response models: a comparison on recovering true scores / Modelos de resposta ao item não-paramétricos: comparando a recuperação de escores verdadeiros / Modelos de respuesta al item no-paramétricos: comparando la recuperación de puntuaciones verdaderas

Nonparametric procedures are used to add flexibility to models. Three nonparametric item response models have been proposed, but not directly compared: the Kernel smoothing (KS-IRT); the Davidian-Curve (DC-IRT); and the Bayesian semiparametric Rasch model (SP-Rasch). The main aim of the present study is to compare the performance of these procedures in recovering simulated true scores, using sum scores as benchmarks. The secondary aim is to compare their performances in terms of practical equivalence with real data. Overall, the results show that, apart from the DC-IRT, which is the model that performs the worse, all the other models give results quite similar to those when sum scores are used. These results are followed by a discussion with practical implications and recommendations for future studies.(AU)

Procedimentos não paramétricos são usados para adicionar flexibilidade aos modelos. Três modelos não paramétricos de resposta ao item foram propostos, mas não comparados diretamente: o Kernel smoothing (KS-IRT); a Curva Davidiana (DC-IRT); e o modelo semiparamétrico Rasch Bayesiano (SP-Rasch). O objetivo principal do presente estudo é comparar o desempenho desses procedimentos na recuperação de escores verdadeiros simulados, utilizando escores de soma como benchmarks. O objetivo secundário é comparar seus desempenhos em termos de equivalência prática com dados reais. De forma geral, os resultados mostram que, além do DC-IRT, que é o modelo que apresenta o pior desempenho, todos os outros modelos apresentam resultados bastante semelhantes aos de quando se usam somatórios. Esses resultados são seguidos de uma discussão com implicações práticas e recomendações para estudos futuros.(AU)

Se utilizan procedimientos no paramétricos para agregar flexibilidad a los modelos. Se propusieron tres modelos de respuesta al ítem no paramétricos, pero no se compararon directamente: Kernel smoothing (KS-IRT); la curva davidiana (DC-IRT); y el modelo bayesiano de Rasch semiparamétrico (SP-Rasch). El objetivo principal del presente estudio es comparar el desempeño de estos procedimientos en la recuperación de puntajes verdaderos simulados, utilizando puntajes de suma como puntos de referencia. El objetivo secundario es comparar su desempeño en términos de equivalencia práctica con datos reales. En general, los resultados muestran que, a excepción de DC-IRT, que es el modelo con peor desempeño, todos los otros modelos presentan resultados bastante similares a los obtenidos cuando se utilizan sumatorios. Estos resultados son seguidos por una discusión con implicaciones prácticas y recomendaciones para estudios futuros.(AU)

Multiple multi-sample testing under arbitrary covariance dependency.

Modern high-throughput biomedical devices routinely produce data on a large scale, and the analysis of high-dimensional datasets has become commonplace in biomedical studies. However, given thousands or tens of thousands of measured variables in these datasets, extracting meaningful features poses a challenge. In this article, we propose a procedure to evaluate the strength of the associations between a nominal (categorical) response variable and multiple features simultaneously. Specifically, we propose a framework of large-scale multiple testing under arbitrary correlation dependency among test statistics. First, marginal multinomial regressions are performed for each feature individually. Second, we use an approach of multiple marginal models for each baseline-category pair to establish asymptotic joint normality of the stacked vector of the marginal multinomial regression coefficients. Third, we estimate the (limiting) covariance matrix between the estimated coefficients from all marginal models. Finally, our approach approximates the realized false discovery proportion of a thresholding procedure for the marginal p-values for each baseline-category logit pair. The proposed approach offers a sensible trade-off between the expected numbers of true and false findings. Furthermore, we demonstrate a practical application of the method on hyperspectral imaging data. This dataset is obtained by a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) instrument. MALDI demonstrates tremendous potential for clinical diagnosis, particularly for cancer research. In our application, the nominal response categories represent cancer (sub-)types.

Who is poor? Analysis of social representations in an Argentine sample / Quem é pobre? Análise das representações sociais em uma amostra Argentina / ¿Quién es pobre? Análisis de las representaciones sociales en una muestra argentina

Different organizations register alarming poverty rates in Argentina. However, there may be differences in who is considered poor according to these measurements and who is considered poor by society, from common sense knowledge. This work analyzes the social representations of people living in poverty in a sample of 605 Argentines, using the free-word association technique. The results suggest that the poor person is first understood as someone who suffers from hunger, a definition that corresponds to indigence according to the official entity that measures poverty and indigence in Argentina. However, while the core of the representation manifests a significant presence of elements of monetary poverty and its effects on nutrition (hunger), the peripheral system shows the deficit in various social rights, such as education, housing, work, and health. Following these results, it is argued that equating poverty with indigence would render the situation of millions of people in Argentina invisible. (AU)

Diferentes organizações registram índices alarmantes de pobreza na Argentina. No entanto, pode haver diferenças entre quem é considerado pobre de acordo com essas medidas e quem é considerado pobre na sociedade, pelo senso comum. Este trabalho analisa as representações sociais de pessoas em situação de pobreza em uma amostra de 605 argentinos/as por meio da técnica de associação de palavras. Os resultados sugerem que a pessoa que vive na pobreza é entendida principalmente como alguém que passa fome, definição que corresponde à indigência segundo o órgão oficial que mede a pobreza e a indigência na Argentina. Não obstante, enquanto no núcleo da representação se identifica a presença de elementos da pobreza monetária e seus efeitos sobre a alimentação (fome), no sistema periférico se identifica elementos relacionados à violação de direitos sociais, como educação, moradia, trabalho e saúde. Conclui-se que igualar a pobreza à indigência tornaria invisível a situação de milhões de pessoas na Argentina. (AU)

Distintos organismos registran tasas alarmantes de pobreza en Argentina. Sin embargo, pueden existir diferencias en quién es considerado pobre según estas mediciones y quiénes lo son para la sociedad, desde el sentido común. Este trabajo analiza las representaciones sociales sobre las personas en situación de pobreza en una muestra de 605 argentinos/as, administrando la técnica de asociación de palabras. Los resultados sugieren que la persona en situación de pobreza es entendida primeramente como alguien que sufre hambre, definición que corresponde a indigencia según el organismo oficial que mide la pobreza y la indigencia en Argentina. No obstante, mientras que en el núcleo de la representación social tiene una importante presencia la pobreza monetaria y sus efectos sobre la alimentación (hambre), en el sistema periférico se ubican elementos relativos a la vulneración de derechos sociales, como la educación, la vivienda, el trabajo y la salud. Se concluye que equiparar a la pobreza con la indigencia invisibilizaría la situación de millones de personas en Argentina. (AU)

Association between religion, mental health and social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic / Associação entre religião, saúde mental e distanciamento social na pandemia de Covid-19 / Asociación entre religión, salud mental y distanciamiento social en la pandemia Covid-19

This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the association of religiosity with behaviors and perceptions in the context of social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as mental health outcomes, in a university community in Central-West Brazil. A sample of 1,796 subjects responded to an online form with socio-demographic questions and the DASS-21 and PWBS scales. Religion was associated with the frequency of interactions, perceptions of the duration of the social distancing measures, changes in emotional state and history of psychological illness. The prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress was lower among people with religion and their scores in psychological well-being were higher. (AU)

Trata-se de um estudo transversal com o objetivo de analisar a associação entre religiosidade e comportamentos e percepções frente ao distanciamento social decorrente da pandemia de Covid-19 e estado de saúde mental em uma comunidade universitária do Centro-Oeste brasileiro. Participaram do estudo 1796 sujeitos, os quais responderam a um formulário online com questões sociodemográficas e às escalas DASS-21 e EBEP. Observou-se associação entre religião e frequência de interações, percepção sobre a duração do distanciamento social e mudanças no estado emocional e histórico de alterações psicológicas. Constatou-se menor prevalência de sintomas relacionados à depressão, à ansiedade e ao estresse e maiores escores de bem-estar psicológico entre aqueles com religião. (AU)

Se trata de un estudio transversal con el objetivo de analizar la asociación entre religiosidad, comportamientos y percepciones frente al distanciamiento social resultante de la pandemia Covid-19 y el estado de salud mental en una comunidad universitaria de la región Centro-Oeste de Brasil. Participaron en el estudio 1796 sujetos, que respondieron un formulario en línea con preguntas sociodemográficas y las escalas DASS-21 y EBEP. Se observó asociación entre religión y frecuencia de interacciones, la percepción de la duración del aislamiento social y los cambios en el estado emocional y el historial de cambios psicológicos. Se observó una menor prevalencia de síntomas relacionados con la depresión, la ansiedad y el estrés, y puntuaciones más altas de bienestar psicológico entre quienes profesaban una religión. (AU)

The trends for the "trend toward significance" in the pediatric literature.

Purpose This study is to examine whether the term "trend toward statistical significance" is used to describe statistically nonsignificant results in biomedical literature. We examined articles published in five high-impact pediatric journals, including The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, The Journal of Pediatrics, Early Human Development, Frontiers in Pediatrics, and BMC Pediatrics to identify manuscripts where a "trend" was used to describe a statistically nonsignificant result, from January 2020 to December 2021, and, furthermore, for The Journal of Pediatrics, Early Human Development, and BMC Pediatrics from January 2010 to December 2011. We detected that a "trend toward significance" was used to describe a statistically nonsignificant result at least once in 146 articles (2.7%) during the period between 2020 and 2021 and in 97 articles (4.0%) during the period between 2010 and 2011. We found no significant difference in the proportion of published articles with inappropriate use of "trend" across journals belonging to the first quartile of impact compared to the second quartile or across journals publishing under the subscription model or open access policy compared to journals publishing solely under the open access policy, in any period. The overall proportion of the inappropriate use of "trend" declined significantly between 2010 and 2011 to 2020 and 2021 (p = 0.002, RR 0.66 95% CI 0.51-0.86). CONCLUSION: "Trend" statements were sporadically used to describe statistically nonsignificant results across pediatric literature. The inappropriate use of "trend" to describe almost significant differences could be misleading, and "trend" should be reserved only when a specific statistical test for trend has been performed, or in relation to appropriate scientific definitions. WHAT IS KNOWN: •Previously, researchers have reported inappropriate use of "trend" in articles across anaesthesia or major oncology journals. •In many cases, hypothesized results that are close but not lower than the statistical significance threshold are emphasized as "almost" significant. WHAT IS NEW: •"Trend" statements were sporadically used to describe statistically nonsignificant results across pediatric literature. •Inappropriate use of  "trend" was similar in journals with a subscription model compared to those having an open access policy and decreased within a 10-year period.

Adaptação acadêmica em universitários / Academic adaptation in university students / Adaptación académica en estudiantes universitários

O objetivo do estudo foi investigar o impacto das variáveis habilidades sociais, resolução de problemas sociais, automonitoria, autoeficácia e coping na adaptação acadêmica em estudantes de instituições de ensino superior públicas e privadas. Participaram 637 estudantes de ambos os sexos, sendo 36,5% (115) homens de instituições públicas e 22,3% (72) de instituições privadas, com idade variando entre 18 e 38 anos (M=24,7; DP=6,3), de diferentes graduações. Foram utilizados o Inventário de Resolução de Problemas Sociais, o Inventário de Habilidades Sociais, a Escala de Automonitoria, a Escala de Autoeficácia Acadêmica de Estudantes do Ensino Superior, o Inventário de Estratégias de Coping e o Questionário de Vivências Acadêmicas-reduzido. A autoeficácia na gestão acadêmica (40,9%) e a autoafirmação na expressão de afeto positivo (13,7%) apresentaram maior impacto para os estudantes de instituições públicas e privadas, podendo contribuir com possíveis intervenções no processo de adaptação ao ensino superior. Pesquisas prospectivas podem investigar questões relacionadas a dados sociodemográficos.(AU)

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the variables Social Skills, Resolution of Social Problems, Self-monitoring, Self-efficacy and Coping on Academic Adaptation in students from public and private higher education institutions. 637 students of both sexes participated, being 36.5% (115) men from public institutions and 22.3% (72) from private institutions, aged between 18 to 38 years (M = 24.7; SD = 6.3), of different grades. The Social Problem Solving Inventory, the Social Skills Inventory, the Self-Monitring Scale, the Higher Education Students' Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Coping Strategies Inventory and the Academic Experiences-Reduced Questionnaire were used. Self-efficacy in Academic Management (40.9%) and Self-affirmation in the Expression of Positive Affection (13.7%) had a greater impact on students from public and private institutions, which may contribute to possible interventions in the process of adapting to Higher Education. Prospective research can investigate issues related to sociodemographic data.(AU)

El objetivo del estudio fue investigar el impacto de las variables Habilidades sociales, Resolución de problemas sociales, Autocontrol, Autoeficacia y Afrontamiento en la adaptación académica en estudiantes de instituciones de educación superior públicas y privadas. Participaron 637 estudiantes de ambos sexos, siendo 36,5% (115) hombres de instituciones públicas y 22,3% (72) de instituciones privadas, con edades entre 18 y 38 años (M = 24,7; SD = 6,3), de diferentes grados. Se utilizaron el Inventario de Resolución de Problemas Sociales, el Inventario de Habilidades Sociales, la Escala de Autocontrol, la Escala de Autoeficacia Académica de los Estudiantes de Educación Superior, el Inventario de Estrategias de Afrontamiento y el Cuestionario de Experiencias Académicas Reducidas. La Autoeficacia en la Gestión Académica (40,9%) y la Autoafirmación en la Expresión de Afecto Positivo (13,7%) tuvieron un mayor impacto en los estudiantes de instituciones públicas y privadas, lo que puede contribuir a posibles intervenciones en el proceso de adaptación a la Educación Superior. La investigación prospectiva puede investigar cuestiones relacionadas con los datos sociodemográficos.(AU)

"Tabela falante" como estratégia de integração de dados em uma pesquisa de métodos mistos / "Tabla parlante" como estrategia de integración de datos en una investigación de métodos mixtos / "Talking table" as a data integration strategy in mixed methods research

RESUMO Objetivo relatar a utilização da tabela falante como estratégia de integração e análise de dados em estudo de abordagem mista. Método trata-se de um relato de utilização de uma estratégia metodológica de integração e análise dos dados em pesquisa de método misto. São apresentados dados de um estudo longitudinal analítico, que acompanhou 151 lactentes prematuros no primeiro ano de vida. O estudo abordou aspectos das condições de saúde dessa população e integrou dados quantitativos, coletados por meio de instrumento de avaliação de condições de saúde e dados qualitativos oriundos de entrevista semiestruturada. Resultados a integração dos dados em estudos mistos é uma exigência metodológica que requer dos pesquisadores a utilização de estratégias que possibilitem e facilitem esse processo analítico. A tabela falante, por meio da integração visual dos dados quantitativos expressos em tabelas e suas convergências e divergências analíticas com os enunciados qualitativos, favorece a leitura e interpretação integrada. Conclusão e implicações para a prática considera-se a tabela falante uma ferramenta analítica de integração de dados quantitativos e qualitativos que contribui na formulação de metainferências em pesquisas com métodos mistos.

RESUMEN Objetivo relatar el uso de la mesa parlante como estrategia de análisis e integración de datos en un estudio de enfoque mixto. Método este es un informe sobre el uso de una estrategia metodológica para la integración y el análisis de datos en la investigación de método mixto. Se presentan los datos de un estudio longitudinal analítico que siguió a 151 bebés prematuros en el primer año de vida. Nuestro estudio abordó aspectos de las condiciones de salud de esta población e integró datos cuantitativos, recolectados a través de un instrumento para evaluar las condiciones de salud y datos cualitativos de una entrevista semiestructurada. Resultados la integración de datos en estudios mixtos es un requisito metodológico que obliga a los investigadores a utilizar estrategias que habiliten y faciliten este proceso analítico. La mesa parlante, a través de la integración visual de datos cuantitativos expresados en tablas y sus convergencias y divergencias analíticas con enunciados cualitativos, favorece la lectura e interpretación integradas. Conclusión e implicaciones para la práctica: la mesa de diálogo es considerada como una herramienta analítica para la integración de datos cuantitativos y cualitativos que contribuyen a la formulación de meta-inferencias en investigaciones con métodos mixtos.

ABSTRACT Objective to report the use of a talking table as a data analysis and integration strategy in a mixed approach study. Method this is a report on the use of a methodological strategy for data integration and analysis in mixed methods research. Data from an analytical longitudinal study that followed 151 preterm infants in the first year of life are presented. The study addressed aspects of the health conditions of this population and integrated quantitative data, collected through an instrument to assess health conditions and qualitative data from a semi-structured interview. Results data integration in mixed studies is a methodological requirement that requires researchers to use strategies that enable and facilitate this analytical process. A talking table, through the visual integration of quantitative data expressed in tables and their analytical convergences and divergences with qualitative statements, favors integrated reading and interpretation. Conclusion and implications for practice: a talking table is considered an analytical tool for quantitative and qualitative data integration, which contribute to developing meta-inferences in mixed methods research.

Evaluación del riesgo cardiovascular en una muestra poblacional con dos tablas predictivas en La Habana / Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk in a Population Sample Using Two Predictive Tables in Havana

Introducción: Las enfermedades del corazón, cerebrovasculares y de las arterias, arteriolas y vasos capilares ocuparon el primero, tercero y séptimo lugar, respectivamente, de las principales causas de muerte en Cuba en 2017 y 2018; ello denota la necesidad de implementar acciones inmediatas que favorezcan la modificación de esos indicadores. La evaluación del riesgo cardiovascular permite identificar de forma individual y estratificar a nivel de grupos los principales factores de riesgo de estas afecciones. Objetivo: Evaluar el riesgo cardiovascular en una muestra poblacional. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio transversal, descriptivo, para la evaluación del evaluación del riesgo cardiovascular en una población del área de salud 27 de Noviembre del municipio Marianao, La Habana, en el año 2018, según las tablas predictivas de la Organización Mundial de la Salud para las Américas región A (OMS AMR A) y las de Gaziano. Se confeccionó un cuestionario para la recogida de la información socio-demográfica y antecedentes patológicos personales. Se midió la presión arterial y se calculó el índice de masa corporal. Resultados: Según las tablas predictivas de la OMS AMR A, 80, 9 por ciento presentó riesgo cardiovascular bajo. Según las tablas predictivas de Gaziano, el riesgo alto y muy alto consolidados representó el 31,5 por ciento de los individuos. Conclusiones: Las tablas predictivas de Gaziano mostraron mayor sensibilidad en la evaluación del riesgo cardiovascular de esta población que las de OMS AMR A, lo que constituye un instrumento útil y de aplicación factible en el primer nivel de atención, para su predicción a nivel individual y de un grupo poblacional(AU)

Introduction: Heart, cerebrovascular and diseases of the arteries, arterioles and capillary vessels ranked first, third and seventh, respectively, as the leading causes of death in Cuba in 2017 and 201. This denotes the need to implement immediate actions that favor the modification of such indicators. Cardiovascular risk assessment allows for individual identification and stratification, at group level, of the main risk factors for these conditions. Objective: To assess cardiovascular risk in a population sample. Methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out to assess cardiovascular risk in a population of the 27 de Noviembre health area of Marianao Municipality, Havana, in 2018, according to the predictive tables of the World Health Organization for the Americas region A (WHO AMR A) and those of Gaziano. A questionnaire was prepared for the collection of sociodemographic information and individual disease history. Blood pressure was measured and body mass index was calculated. Results: According to the WHO AMR A predictive tables, 80.9 percent presented low cardiovascular risk. According to Gaziano predictive tables, consolidated high and very high risk accounted for 31.5 percent of the individuals. Conclusions: Gaziano's predictive tables showed greater sensitivity in the assessment of cardiovascular risk in this population than those of the WHO AMR A, which makes it a useful instrument and of feasible application at the first level of care for prediction at the individual level and at the level of a population group(AU)

Statistics: an introduction to basic principles.

The essential principles of statistics as applied to surveys, studies, sampling, epidemiology, screening, and trials are described and explained.

Direitos da criança e adolescente hospitalizados à luz da gestão da clínica / Derechos de los niños y adolescentes hospitalizados a la luz de la gestión de la clínica / Rights of hospitalized children and adolescents in light of clinic management

Resumo Objetivo Analisar o (des)cumprimento dos Direitos da Criança e Adolescente hospitalizados à luz da gestão da clínica. Métodos Pesquisa de métodos mistos, explanatória sequencial, realizada entre setembro e dezembro de 2019, em hospital universitário do Centro-Oeste do Brasil. Participaram 60 acompanhantes, oito profissionais e quatro estudantes da área da saúde, em setores de internação de crianças e adolescentes. Aplicou-se escala Likert com os vinte direitos na etapa quantitativa, e entrevista semiestruturada na qualitativa, com análise descritiva e de conteúdo, respectivamente. Os dados foram integrados por conexão e analisados à luz de princípios da gestão da clínica. Resultados Na etapa quantitativa, identificaram-se direitos com menores percentuais de cumprimento: permanecer ao lado da mãe ao nascer, receber aleitamento materno, apoio psicológico, recreação, acompanhamento do currículo escolar e morte digna. Nos resultados qualitativos identificou-se desconhecimento da resolução pelos participantes, considerando parcialmente cumpridos os direitos: não permanecer internado desnecessariamente, ter acompanhante, não ser separado da mãe ao nascer, receber aleitamento materno, não sentir dor, conhecimento da enfermidade, desfrutar de recreação e programas educacionais, receber informação, todos os recursos para cura, proteção contra maus tratos, preservação de imagem, não ser utilizado pela mídia e ter morte digna. Identificaram-se princípios da gestão da clínica limitados, exigindo estratégias de fomento no hospital. Conclusão Princípios da gestão da clínica mostraram-se fragilizados, especialmente os de orientação às necessidades de saúde e integralidade, transparência e responsabilização social..

Resumen Objetivo Analizar el (in)cumplimiento de los Derechos del Niño y del Adolescente hospitalizados a la luz de la gestión de la clínica. Métodos Investigación con métodos mixtos, explanatoria secuencial, realizada entre septiembre y diciembre de 2019, en un hospital universitario del medio oeste de Brasil. Participaron 60 acompañantes, ocho profesionales y cuatro estudiantes del área de la salud, en sectores de internación de niños y de adolescentes. Se aplicó una escala Likert con los veinte derechos en la etapa cuantitativa, y entrevista semiestructurada en la cualitativa, con análisis descriptivo y de contenido, respectivamente. Los datos se integraron por conexión y fueron analizados a la luz de principios de la gestión de la clínica. Resultados En la etapa cuantitativa, se identificaron derechos con menores porcentajes de cumplimiento: permanecer al lado de la madre al nascer, lactancia materna, apoyo psicológico, recreación, acompañamiento del currículum escolar y muerte digna. En los resultados cualitativos se identificó un desconocimiento de la resolución de parte de los participantes, considerando parcialmente cumplidos los derechos: no permanecer internado sin necesidad, tener un acompañante, no separarse de la madre en el nacimiento, lactancia materna, no sentir dolor, conocimiento de la enfermedad, disfrutar de la recreación y programas educativos, recibir información, todos los recorridos para la curación, protección contra malos tratos, preservación de la imagen, no ser utilizado por los medios y tener una muerte digna. Se identificaron principios de la gestión de la clínica limitados, exigiendo estrategias de fomento en el hospital. Conclusión Principios de la gestión de la clínica se mostraron fragilizados, especialmente los de orientación a las necesidades de salud e integralidad, transparencia y responsabilización social.

Abstract Objective To analyze the (non)compliance with the rights of hospitalized children and adolescents in light of clinic management. Methods This is a mixed methods research, sequential explanatory, carried out between September and December 2019, in a university hospital in center-western Brazil. Sixty companions, eight professionals and four health care students participated in hospitalization sectors for children and adolescents. A Likert-type scale was applied with the twenty rights in the quantitative stage, and semi-structured interviews in the qualitative stage, with descriptive and content analysis, respectively. Data were integrated by connection and analyzed in light of clinic management principles. Results In the quantitative stage, rights were identified with the lowest percentages of compliance: staying by the mother's side at birth, being breastfed, psychological support, recreation, monitoring the school curriculum and dignified death. In the qualitative results, it was identified that participants did not know about the resolution, considering that the rights were partially complied with: not being hospitalized unnecessarily, having a companion, not being separated from the mother at birth, being breastfed, not feeling pain, knowing the disease, enjoying recreation and educational programs, receiving information, all resources for healing, protection against abuse, preservation of image, not being used by the media and having a dignified death. Limited principles of clinic management were identified, requiring development strategies in the hospital. Conclusion Principles of clinic management were weakened, especially those related to health needs and comprehensiveness, transparency and social accountability.

Strategies to Increase Prediction Accuracy in Genomic Selection of Complex Traits in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

Agronomic traits such as biomass yield and abiotic stress tolerance are genetically complex and challenging to improve through conventional breeding approaches. Genomic selection (GS) is an alternative approach in which genome-wide markers are used to determine the genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) of individuals in a population. In alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), previous results indicated that low to moderate prediction accuracy values (<70%) were obtained in complex traits, such as yield and abiotic stress resistance. There is a need to increase the prediction value in order to employ GS in breeding programs. In this paper we reviewed different statistic models and their applications in polyploid crops, such as alfalfa and potato. Specifically, we used empirical data affiliated with alfalfa yield under salt stress to investigate approaches that use DNA marker importance values derived from machine learning models, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of marker-trait association scores based on different GWASpoly models, in weighted GBLUP analyses. This approach increased prediction accuracies from 50% to more than 80% for alfalfa yield under salt stress. Finally, we expended the weighted GBLUP approach to potato and analyzed 13 phenotypic traits and obtained similar results. This is the first report on alfalfa to use variable importance and GWAS-assisted approaches to increase the prediction accuracy of GS, thus helping to select superior alfalfa lines based on their GEBVs.

Quantile estimation of semiparametric model with time-varying coefficients for panel count data.

Panel count data frequently occurs in follow-up studies, such as medical research, social sciences, reliability studies, and tumorigenicity experiences. This type data has been extensively studied by various statistical models with time-invariant regression coefficients. However, the assumption of invariant coefficients may be violated in some reality, and the temporal covariate effects would be of great interest in research studies. This motivates us to consider a more flexible time-varying coefficient model. For statistical inference of the unknown functions, the quantile regression approach based on the B-spline approximation is developed. Asymptotic results on the convergence of the estimators are provided. Some simulation studies are presented to assess the finite-sample performance of the estimators. Finally, two applications of bladder cancer data and US flight delay data are analyzed by the proposed method.

Combined mRNAs and clinical factors model on predicting prognosis in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is aggressive cancer usually diagnosed in young women with no effective prognosis prediction model to use. The present study was performed to develop a useful prognostic model for predicting overall survival (OS) for TNBC patients. METHODS: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) databases were used as training and validation data sets, respectively, in which the gene expression levels and clinical prognostic information of TNBC were collected. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between TNBC and non-TNBC (NTNBC) were identified with the thresholds of false discovery rate < 0.05 and |log2 Fold Change| > 1. DEGs in AmiGO2 and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases were retained for further study. Univariate, multivariate Cox, and logistic regression analysis were conducted for detecting DEG signature with the threshold of log-rank P < 0.05. The prognosis models of mRNA signature, clinical factors were constructed and compared. RESULTS: One five-DEG signature, including CHST4, COCH, CST9, SOX11, and TDGF1 was identified in DEG prognosis model. Stratified analysis showed that the patients aged over 60, with higher pathologic stage (III-IV) and recurrence induced a significantly lower survival rate than those aged below 60, lower pathologic stage and without recurrence. Compared with patients with low-risk scores, those presented high-risk scores demonstrated significantly lower survival rate in the subgroup aged over 60 [HR = 3.780 (1.801-7.933), P < 0.0001]. For patients who obtained a higher pathologic stage and recurrence, high-risk scores were correlated with a significantly lower survival rate than patients with low-risk scores. The five-mRNA signature combined with clinical model (AUC = 0.950) predicted better than single clinical model (AUC = 0.795) or five-mRNA signature model (AUC = 0.823). CONCLUSION: Our present study identified a prognostic prediction model (combined with five-mRNA signature and clinical factors) for TNBC patients receiving immunotherapy, which will benefit future research and clinical therapies.

Reproducibility Evaluation of Urinary Peptide Detection Using CE-MS.

In recent years, capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-MS) has been increasingly applied in clinical research especially in the context of chronic and age-associated diseases, such as chronic kidney disease, heart failure and cancer. Biomarkers identified using this technique are already used for diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of these complex diseases, as well as patient stratification in clinical trials. CE-MS allows for a comprehensive assessment of small molecular weight proteins and peptides (<20 kDa) through the combination of the high resolution and reproducibility of CE and the distinct sensitivity of MS, in a high-throughput system. In this study we assessed CE-MS analytical performance with regards to its inter- and intra-day reproducibility, variability and efficiency in peptide detection, along with a characterization of the urinary peptidome content. To this end, CE-MS performance was evaluated based on 72 measurements of a standard urine sample (60 for inter- and 12 for intra-day assessment) analyzed during the second quarter of 2021. Analysis was performed per run, per peptide, as well as at the level of biomarker panels. The obtained datasets showed high correlation between the different runs, low variation of the ten highest average individual log2 signal intensities (coefficient of variation, CV < 10%) and very low variation of biomarker panels applied (CV close to 1%). The findings of the study support the analytical performance of CE-MS, underlining its value for clinical application.

Study the Effect of the Risk Factors in the Estimation of the Breast Cancer Risk Score Using Machine Learning.

OBJECTIVE: Early prediction of breast cancer is one of the most essential fields of medicine. Many studies have introduced prediction approaches to facilitate the early prediction and estimate the future occurrence based on mammography periodic tests. In the current research, we introduce a novel machine learning tool for the early prediction of breast cancer. METHODS: Three basic resources are used to identify the most essential risk factors; including the BCSC (Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium) dataset, a medical questionnaire, and multiple international breast cancer reports. The BCSC dataset has been normalized and balanced; consequently, the questionnaire and the medical reports are analyzed in order to define the degree of importance and a potential weight factor of each risk factor. These weights are used to scale risk factors and then the optimizable tree-based ML model is trained using the balanced weighted risk factors datasets. RESULTS: Three balanced versions of the BCSC dataset are used; oversampled, down-sampled and mixed datasets. Each risk factor has a weight (1, 2 or 4) assigned based on a mathematical modelling of the questionnaire and the international breast cancer reports. The experiments are applied on the weighted and non-weighted versions of the database, and they indicate that the performance increases significantly by using the weighted version of the risk factors. The tests prove that the down-weighting of the non-essential risk factor increases the accuracy and reduces errors. The overall accuracy of the weighted balanced datasets reaches 100%, 95.8% and 95.9% for down-sampled, oversampled and mixed datasets respectively. CONCLUSION: Weighting the risk factors of the BCSC dataset improves the performance by increasing the accuracy and reducing the false rejection and false discovery rates for all versions of balanced datasets. The weighting approach can also be used to improve the estimation score of breast cancer by scaling the individual scores of risk factors.

Stability of diagnostic rate in a cohort of 38,813 colorectal polyp specimens and implications for histomorphology and statistical process control.

This work sought to quantify pathologists' diagnostic bias over time in their evaluation of colorectal polyps to assess how this may impact the utility of statistical process control (SPC). All colorectal polyp specimens(CRPS) for 2011-2017 in a region were categorized using a validated free text string matching algorithm. Pathologist diagnostic rates (PDRs) for high grade dysplasia (HGD), tubular adenoma (TA_ad), villous morphology (TVA + VA), sessile serrated adenoma (SSA) and hyperplastic polyp (HP), were assessed (1) for each pathologist in yearly intervals with control charts (CCs), and (2) with a generalized linear model (GLM). The study included 64,115 CRPS. Fifteen pathologists each interpreted > 150 CRPS/year in all years and together diagnosed 38,813. The number of pathologists (of 15) with zero or one (p < 0.05) outlier in seven years, compared to their overall PDR, was 13, 9, 9, 5 and 9 for HGD, TVA + VA, TA_ad, HP and SSA respectively. The GLM confirmed, for the subset where pathologists/endoscopists saw > 600 CRPS each(total 52,760 CRPS), that pathologist, endoscopist, anatomical location and year were all strongly correlated (all p < 0.0001) with the diagnosis. The moderate PDR stability over time supports the hypothesis that diagnostic rates are amendable to calibration via SPC and outcome data.