Treatment outcomes of new tuberculosis patients hospitalized in Kampala, Uganda: a prospective cohort study. by Bruce J Kirenga, Jonathan Levin, Irene Ayakaka, William Worodria, Nancy Reilly, Francis Mumbowa, Helen Nabanjja, Grace Nyakoojo, Kevin Fennelly, Susan Nakubulwa, Moses Joloba, Alphonse Okwera, Kathleen D Eisenach, Ruth McNerney, Alison M Elliott, Roy D Mugerwa, Peter G Smith, Jerrold J Ellner, Edward C Jones-López

“…Mortality among the HIV-infected was associated with the composite variable of CD4 and ART use, with patients with baseline CD4 below 200 cells/µL who were not on ART at a greater risk of death than those who were on ART, and low Karnofsky score (aHR = 2.02, 95% CI 1.02 - 4.01, P = 0.045).…”
Get full text

Integrating human services and criminal justice data with claims data to predict risk of opioid overdose among Medicaid beneficiaries: A machine-learning approach. by Wei-Hsuan Lo-Ciganic, Julie M Donohue, Eric G Hulsey, Susan Barnes, Yuan Li, Courtney C Kuza, Qingnan Yang, Jeanine Buchanich, James L Huang, Christina Mair, Debbie L Wilson, Walid F Gellad

“…Using a gradient boosting machine, we predicted a composite outcome (i.e., fatal or nonfatal opioid overdose constructed using medical examiner and claims data) in the subsequent month. …”
Get full text

Integration of artificial intelligence and advanced optimization techniques for continuous gas lift under restricted gas supply: A case study by Leila Zeinolabedini, Forough Ameli, Abdolhossein Hemmati-Sarapardeh

“…To this end, 154 data points constructed by a central composite design (CCD) experiment were utilized to develop neural network models. …”
Get full text

Geochemical insights into the role of metasomatic hornblendite in generating alkali basalts by Li‐Qun Dai, Zi‐Fu Zhao, Yong‐Fei Zheng

“…They also show relatively depleted Sr‐Nd‐Hf isotope compositions, with low initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7028–0.7058, positive εNd(t) values of 4.0–9.8 and εHf(t) values of 8.8–13.5 for whole‐rock, and positive εHf(t) values of 5.2–16.4 for zircon. …”
Get full text

Xylose production from sugarcane bagasse by surface response methodology Produção de xilose a partir do bagaço de cana-de-açúcar por metodologia de superfície de resposta by José E. de Paiva, Iriani R. Maldonade, Adilma R. P. Scamparini

“…The hydrolysis process was carried out to evaluate the effect of temperature and sulphuric acid concentration on the xylose production at 18, 30, and 50 min of hydrolysis. A Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was used to study two process variables, temperature (111.5; 114.0; 120.0; 126.0 and 128.5 ºC) and sulphuric acid concentration (0.20; 0.70; 1.90; 3.10 and 3.60% v v-1). …”
Get full text

Spatiotemporal prediction of alpine wetlands under multi-climate scenarios in the west of Sichuan, China by Haijun Wang, Xiangdong Kong, Onanong Phewnil, Ji Luo, Pengju Li, Xiyong Chen, Tianhui Xie

“…Methods We employed a large sample and composite supervised classification algorithms to classify alpine wetlands and generate wetland maps, based on the Google Earth Engine cloud computing platform. …”
Get full text

D-dimer serves as predictor of plastic bronchitis or necrotizing pneumonia in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia by Yanke Yue, Tiantian Lian, Lei Kang, Shuai Liu, Wenjin Geng, Meixian Xu

“…Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the best cutoff point for D-dimer in predicting PB or NP is 2.44 (mg/L) (AUC = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.76–0.95, sensitivity: 92.31%, specificity: 75.53%, P < 0.001*).ConclusionsThis study found that the elevated DD level (≥2.44 mg/L) has a predicting value for the progression of children with MPP to the composite outcome of PB or NP. However, due to the limited number of PB cases, its specific prediction for PB needs further verification.…”
Get full text

Traction force profile in children with severe perinatal outcomes delivered with a digital vacuum extraction handle: A case–control study by Stefhanie Romero, Kristina Pettersson, Khurram Yousaf, Magnus Westgren, Gunilla Ajne

“…Cases were defined as a composite of severe perinatal outcomes, including subgaleal hematoma, intracranial hemorrhage, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy 1–3, seizures or death. …”
Get full text

Quality of life in elderly ICU survivors before the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies by Anthony S David, Kevin Ariyo, Sergio Canestrini, Gareth Owen, Alex Ruck Keene, Sebastian Wolfrum

“…To address recent concerns over age-based ICU decision-making, we explored patient-assessed quality of life (QoL) in ICU survivors before the COVID-19 pandemic.Design A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies published between January 2000 and April 2020, of elderly patients admitted to ICUs.Primary and secondary outcome measures We extracted data on self-reported QoL (EQ-5D composite score), demographic and clinical variables. …”
Get full text

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version physical literacy assessment questionnaire among high school students in Gansu, China by Zilu Qu, Jiarun Wu, Yee Cheng Kueh, Dongqing Ye, Garry Kuan

“…Construct validity was evaluated through composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE), and factor correlations. …”
Get full text

Cardiac Biomarkers Predict Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE) in Incident Haemodialysis Patients: Results from a Global Federated Database by Elin Mitford Davies, Benjamin J. R. Buckley, Philip Austin, Gregory Y. H. Lip, Anirudh Rao, Garry McDowell

“…Secondary outcome: Risk of each individual component of the composite outcome. Cox regression reported hazard ratios (95% CI) for the outcomes. …”
Get full text

Determinants of improvement trends in health workers' compliance with outpatient malaria case-management guidelines at health facilities with available "test and treat" commodities... by Beatrice Amboko, Kasia Stepniewska, Lucas Malla, Beatrice Machini, Philip Bejon, Robert W Snow, Dejan Zurovac

“…<h4>Results</h4>Among 9,173 febrile patients seen at 1,208 health facilities and by 1,538 health workers, a higher annual improvement trend in composite "test and treat" performance was associated with malaria endemicity-lake endemic (T-aOR = 1.67 annually; p<0.001) and highland epidemic (T-aOR = 1.35; p<0.001) zones compared to low-risk zone; with facilities stocking rapid diagnostic tests only (T-aOR = 1.49; p<0.001) compared to microscopy only services; with faith-based/non-governmental facilities compared to government-owned (T-aOR = 1.15; p = 0.036); with a daily caseload of >25 febrile patients (T-aOR = 1.46; p = 0.003); and with under-five children compared to older patients (T-aOR = 1.07; p = 0.013). …”
Get full text

Proteomics‐Based Soluble Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor Levels and Long‐Term Cardiovascular Outcomes in Survivors of Breast Cancer: A UK Biobank Study by Adithya K. Yadalam, Chang Liu, Yan V. Sun, Anant Mandawat, Arshed A. Quyyumi, Salim S. Hayek

“…We examined the association between suPAR levels and the primary composite end point of cardiovascular death or incident coronary artery disease with Fine and Gray competing‐risk regression, while accounting for the competing risk of noncardiovascular death and adjusted for clinical variables and C‐reactive protein levels. …”
Get full text

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) CD8+ T-cells that express interferon-gamma contribute to HIV associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). by Rachel D Schrier, Suzi Hong, Melanie Crescini, Ronald Ellis, Josué Pérez-Santiago, Celsa Spina, Scott Letendre, HNRP Group

“…Multivariable analyses indicated that CSF CD8+T-cell IFNγ and myeloid activation (CD163) contributed equally and independently to cognitive status and a composite variable produced the strongest correlation with NCI (r = 0.83, p = 0.0001). …”
Get full text

Assessing the determinants associated with fidelity to the 2016 world health organization antenatal care policy across states in Nigeria by Christiana Ikemeh, Adedayo O. Adeyemi, Leah M. Frerichs, Christopher M. Shea, Justin G. Trogdon

“…Fidelity was measured as the proportion of women who cumulatively adhered to five selected ANC components—timing of first ANC visit, blood pressure measurement, tetanus vaccinations, urinalysis, and blood sample test. A binary outcome variable was generated as a fidelity index by creating a composite score from all the measures of the five components, which was categorized as ‘concordant’ and ‘partial/non-concordant’. …”
Get full text

Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Propensity to Cheat Scale Validation in the Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions [version 3; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with res... by Tesfaye Semela, Samuel Assefa, Dame Taye

“…The average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability values also supported the scale’s convergent validity. …”
Get full text

Enzymatic Extraction of Sapodilla (Manilkara achras L.) Juice: Process Optimization and Characterization by Sukh Veer Singh, Rakhi Singh, Anurag Singh, Ayon Tarafdar, S. Thangalakshmi, Ashutosh Upadhyay, Barjindar P. Kaur, Ajay V. Chinchkar

“…This study was conducted to optimize the enzymatic pectolytic conditions of sapodilla fruit processing to extract maximum juice using a central composite design (CCD). The effect of processing variables on recovery of juice, total soluble solids (TSS), viscosity, clarity, and L-value along with physicochemical analysis was investigated. …”
Get full text

Exploratory analysis of the potential disconnect between objective inflammatory response and clinical response following certolizumab pegol treatment in patients with active axial... by Filip van den Bosch, Martin Rudwaleit, Helena Marzo-Ortega, Natasha de Peyrecave, Victoria Navarro-Compán, Lars Bauer, Rachel Tham, Thomas Kumke, Mindy Kim

“…Data from two independent readers over four MRI reading campaigns were pooled using a mixed model with repeated measures for each variable.Results 136 patients (radiographic axSpA [r-axSpA]: 76; non-radiographic axSpA [nr-axSpA]: 60) were included. …”
Get full text

Total bilirubin as a marker for hemolysis and outcome in patients with severe ARDS treated with veno-venous ECMO by Victoria Bünger, Mario Menk, Oliver Hunsicker, Alexander Krannich, Felix Balzer, Claudia D. Spies, Wolfgang M. Kuebler, Steffen Weber-Carstens, Jan A. Graw

“…Baseline characteristics were compared and relevant variables were included in a multivariate logistic regression model with backward variable selection. …”
Get full text

Numerical simulation of plant root system stress response to coal mining disturbances in semiarid mining areas by Ying LIU, Weihao PEI, Yong GUO, Xiaoyang CHEN, Shaogang LEI, Dongjiang PAN, Chuangang GONG, Huiling TAO, Hang CHEN

“…This study establishes a numerical model of root stress damage in the main root of plants based on FLAC3D, incorporating the quasi-cohesion and anchoring theories. By controlling variables, the model simulates the macroscopic mechanical disturbance characteristics of the plant-soil composite unit and root system under different mining conditions, root-soil layer mechanical properties, and root density and diameter. …”
Get full text