Objective To analyze the status of applying diagnostic test in imaging scientific study internationally and domestically, and to compare the application of the image diagnostic studies of our country with that of abroad. Method We hand-searched the diagnosis tests published in the "Chinese Journal of Radiology", the most influential in China, and in "Radiology’’, the most influential abroad, from 1998 to 1999 respectively. Then we evaluated each of the diagnosis tests according to the international standards. Results We searched 408 original articles in "Chinese Journal of Radiology" in which the diagnostic test articles were 12%, and 796 original articles in "Radiology" with the diagnostic test articles 23% from 1998 to 1999 respectively. In these diagnosis tests, by comparing the "Chinese journal of radiology" with the "Radiology", it was found that 19% applied blind comparison with Gold Standard, 28% calculated sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, 9% both calculated negative predictive value and positive predictive value and none calculated likelihood ratios in the former versus 64%, 57%, 33% and 26% and 3% respectivdy in the latter. Conclusions Compared with the international level, both the quality and the quantity of the diagnosis tests applied in the specialty of imaging scientific study in China are much lower and far from meeting the clinical requirement. Improving the methods of scientific study and carrying on more diagnosis tests with high qualities are of important significance in improving the diagnostic level of imaging.
The "bnma" package is a Bayesian network meta-analysis software package developed based on the R programming language. The network meta-analysis was performed utilizing JAGS software, which yielded relevant results and visual graphs. Moreover, this software package provides support for various data structures and types, while also providing the advantages of flexible utilization, user-friendly operation, and deliver of rich and accurate outcomes. In this paper, using a network meta-analysis example of different therapies for androgenetic alopecia, the operational process of conducting network meta-analysis using the "bnma" package is briefly introduced.
Objective To investigate the pathological mechanism of epileptic comorbid sleep disorder by analyzing the changes of cerebral white matter diffusion tensor in patients with sleep disorder with negative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) epilepsy based on the method of tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Methods MRI negative epilepsy patients comorbid sleep disorder who were epileptic patients treated l in China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University from January 2020 to December 2022 completed the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) tests, and those who complained of sleep disorder and PSQI index ≥11 were monitored by nighttime polysomnography (PSG) and those with objective sleep disorder confirmed by PSG were included in the epilepsy comorbid sleep disorder group. Healthy volunteers with matching gender, age, education were included in the health control group. Diffusion tensor image ( DTI) was collected for all subjects by using a 3.0T magnetic resonance scanner. Diffusion parameters were compared between the two groups using TBSS. Results This study included 36 epilepsy patients comorbid sleep disorder and 35 healthy volunteers. epilepsy patients comorbid sleep disorder showed significantly lower fraction anisotropy (FA) (P<0.05) and significantly higher mean diffusivity (MD) (P<0.05) than the health control group . Brain regions with statistical differences in FA reduction included middle peduncle of cerebellum, genu of corpus callosum, body of corpus callosum, splenium of corpus callosum, anterior corona radiata, external capsule and right posterior thalamic radiation.Brain regions with statistical differences in MD degradation included genu of corpus callosum, body of corpus callosum, anterior limb of internal capsule, anterior corona radiata, superior corona radiata, external capsule and right posterior limb of internal capsul. Conclusion Patients with epilepsy comorbidities with sleep disorders have widespread and symmetric white matter damage.The white matter damage is concentrated in the front of the brain.
The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule damage simulations with an atom level geometric model use the traversal algorithm that has the disadvantages of quite time-consuming, slow convergence and high-performance computer requirement. Therefore, this work presents a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) clustering algorithm based on the spatial distributions of energy depositions and hydroxyl radicals (·OH). The algorithm with probability and statistics can quickly get the DNA strand break yields and help to study the variation pattern of the clustered DNA damage. Firstly, we simulated the transportation of protons and secondary particles through the nucleus, as well as the ionization and excitation of water molecules by using Geant4-DNA that is the Monte Carlo simulation toolkit for radiobiology, and got the distributions of energy depositions and hydroxyl radicals. Then we used the damage probability functions to get the spatial distribution dataset of DNA damage points in a simplified geometric model. The DBSCAN clustering algorithm based on damage points density was used to determine the single-strand break (SSB) yield and double-strand break (DSB) yield. Finally, we analyzed the DNA strand break yield variation trend with particle linear energy transfer (LET) and summarized the variation pattern of damage clusters. The simulation results show that the new algorithm has a faster simulation speed than the traversal algorithm and a good precision result. The simulation results have consistency when compared to other experiments and simulations. This work achieves more precise information on clustered DNA damage induced by proton radiation at the molecular level with high speed, so that it provides an essential and powerful research method for the study of radiation biological damage mechanism.
Objective To assess the completion of the under 5 mortality rate (U5MR) of Millennium Development Goals in 194 member countries of WHO, and to analyze the present situation of the global U5MR. Methods Based on the U5MR and the proportion of main causes of death in the "World Health Statistics 2015", the Millennium Development Goals of the decline of U5MR from 1990 to 2013 was assessed, the U5MR was analyzed by comparison between 2000 and 2013. Bivariate Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the correlation between mortality and the ratio of infection to non infectious diseases and GDP per person in U5MR. Results By 2013, in 194 WHO member states, the U5MR in 46 (23.71%) countries achieved the millennium development goals. Comparison between 2000 and 2013, there was significant difference between low and high mortality groups in six continents (P<0.05), there was no significant difference between the moderate death groups (P>0.05), there was no significant difference in the ratio of infection to non infectious diseases between the middle and low mortality groups (P>0.05), however there was significant difference between the high mortality groups (P<0.05). There was significant difference in the average decline of U5MR and the ratio of non infectious diseases between low and medium, middle and high mortality groups (P<0.05). The Global U5MR had significant regional differences, the highest U5MR was in Africa, the lowest U5MR was in Europe, the medium U5MR was in North America, Oceania, South America, Asia was becoming the middle level. The U5MR was highly correlated with the ratio of infection to non-infectious diseases in every country (r2000y=0.934,r2013y=0.911,P<0.05), and it was low negatively correlated with GDP per capita (r2000y=–0.443,r2013y=–0.433,P<0.05). Conclusions There is a long way to reduce global child mortality. Prevention and control should focus on Africa and Asia. Prevention and control of infectious diseases is an effective measure for middle and high mortality countries. Prevention and control of non-infectious diseases is an important measure for low mortality countries. Increasing health investment is an important means to further reduce global U5MR.
The selection of summary statistics to use in a meta-analysis is very important for the interpretation and application of its results. This paper introduces some basic concepts of summary statistics in meta-analysis. The selection of a summary statistic for a meta-analysis depends on the following factors: design of the studies being combined, type of data, consistency among the included studies, mathematical properties and ease of interpretation. For continuous data, the weighted mean difference (WMD) is recommended when all trials use the same scale to report their outcomes, while standardized mean difference (SMD) is more appropriate when trials use different scales to report their outcomes, or the means of their outcomes differ greatly. For dichotomous data, rate ratio or relative risk (RR) is bly recommended to be the summary statistics for meta-analyses of randomized trials. The use of odds ratio (OR) as the summary statistic is similar to that of RR, if the event being studied in both the intervention (exposure) and the control group is rare. There is no single measurement that is uniformly best for all meta-analyses.
This article systematically reviews the series of articles on randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology guidance published in JAMA Surgery between 2022 and 2023. It focuses on providing an overview and guidance on critical aspects such as trial implementation and oversight, participant recruitment, statistical applications, and key points in manuscript publication. The aim is to offer valuable insights and references for surgeons to conduct efficient clinical trials and successfully publish their research findings.
Patient-specific volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) quality assurance (QA) process is an important component of the implementation process of clinical radiotherapy. The tolerance limit and action limit of discrepancies between the calculated dose and the delivered radiation dose are the key parts of the VMAT QA processes as recognized by the AAPM TG-218 report, however, there is no unified standard for these two values among radiotherapy centers. In this study, based on the operational recommendations given in the AAPM TG-218 report, treatment site-specific tolerance limits and action limits of gamma pass rate in VMAT QA processes when using ArcCHECK for dose verification were established by statistical process control (SPC) methodology. The tolerance limit and action limit were calculated based on the first 25 in-control VMAT QA for each site. The individual control charts were drawn to continuously monitor the VMAT QA process with 287 VMAT plans and analyze the causes of VMAT QA out of control. The tolerance limits for brain, head and neck, abdomen and pelvic VMAT QA processes were 94.56%, 94.68%, 94.34%, and 92.97%, respectively, and the action limits were 93.82%, 92.54%, 93.23%, and 90.29%, respectively. Except for pelvic, the tolerance limits for the brain, head and neck, and abdomen were close to the universal tolerance limit of TG-218 (95%), and the action limits for all sites were higher than the universal action limit of TG-218 (90%). The out-of-control VMAT QAs were detected by the individual control chart, including one case of head and neck, two of the abdomen and two of the pelvic site. Four of them were affected by the setup error, and one was affected by the calibration of ArcCHECK. The results show that the SPC methodology can effectively monitor the IMRT/VMAT QA processes. Setting treatment site-specific tolerance limits is helpful to investigate the cause of out-of-control VMAT QA.
The WinBUGS software can be called from either R (provided R2WinBUGS as an R package) or Stata software for network meta-analysis. Unlike R, Stata software needs to create relevant ADO scripts at first which simplify operation process greatly. Similar with R, Stata software also needs to load another package when drawing network plots. This article briefly introduces how to implement network meta-analysis using Stata software by calling WinBUGS software.
Multivariate time series problems widely exist in production and life in the society. Anomaly detection has provided people with a lot of valuable information in financial, hydrological, meteorological fields, and the research areas of earthquake, video surveillance, medicine and others. In order to quickly and efficiently find exceptions in time sequence so that it can be presented in front of people in an intuitive way, we in this study combined the Riemannian manifold with statistical process control charts, based on sliding window, with a description of the covariance matrix as the time sequence, to achieve the multivariate time series of anomaly detection and its visualization. We made MA analog data flow and abnormal electrocardiogram data from MIT-BIH as experimental objects, and verified the anomaly detection method. The results showed that the method was reasonable and effective.