Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with an increased incidence of atrial fibrillation in patients with type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: The relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and atrial fibrillation (AF) in type 2 diabetes is currently unknown. We examined the relationship between NAFLD and risk of incident AF in people with type 2 diabetes. METHODS AND RESULTS: We prospectively followed for 10 years a random sample of 400 patients with type 2 diabetes, who were free from AF at baseline. A standard 12-lead electrocardiogram was undertaken annually and a diagnosis of incident AF was confirmed in affected participants by a single cardiologist. At baseline, NAFLD was defined by ultrasonographic detection of hepatic steatosis in the absence of other liver diseases. During the 10 years of follow-up, there were 42 (10.5%) incident AF cases. NAFLD was associated with an increased risk of incident AF (odds ratio [OR] 4.49, 95% CI 1.6-12.9, p<0.005). Adjustments for age, sex, hypertension and electrocardiographic features (left ventricular hypertrophy and PR interval) did not attenuate the association between NAFLD and incident AF (adjusted-OR 6.38, 95% CI 1.7-24.2, p = 0.005). Further adjustment for variables that were included in the 10-year Framingham Heart Study-derived AF risk score did not appreciably weaken this association. Other independent predictors of AF were older age, longer PR interval and left ventricular hypertrophy. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that ultrasound-diagnosed NAFLD is strongly associated with an increased incidence of AF in patients with type 2 diabetes even after adjustment for important clinical risk factors for AF

Young children's statistical literacy in modelling with data and chance

This chapter reports on eight-year-old children’s responses to data and chance investigations designed to foster their statistical literacy. Explored through the lens of modelling with data, statistical literacy involves a number of processes common to both statistics and probability, with culmination in models from which conclusions and inferences can be drawn. Specifically, consideration is given to how the students identified variation, made informal inferences, created representations, and interpreted their models that displayed the outcomes from their investigations

Comparison of stage III mucinous and serous ovarian cancer: a case-control study

Background: The purpose of this case-control study was to compare the prognoses of women with stage III mucinous ovarian carcinoma (MOC) who received maximal or optimal cytoreduction followed by paclitaxel plus carboplatin chemotherapy to those of women with stage III serous epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) treated in the similar manner. Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective review to identify patients with stage III MOC at seven gynecologic oncology departments in Turkey. Eighty-one women with MOC were included. Each case was matched to two women with stage III serous EOC in terms of age, tumor grade, substage of disease, and extent of residual disease. Survival estimates were measured using Kaplan-Meier plots. Variables predictive of outcome were analyzed using Cox regression models. Results: With a median follow-up of 54months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) for women with stage III MOC was 18.0months (95% CI; 13.8-22.1, SE: 2.13) compared to 29.0 months (95% CI; 24.04-33.95, SE: 2.52) in the serous group (p = 0.19). The 5-year overall survival rate of the MOC group was significantly lower than that of the serous EOC group (44.9% vs. 66.3%, respectively; p < 0.001). For the entire cohort, presence of multiple peritoneal implants (Hazard ratio [HR] 2.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38-4.14, p = 0.002) and mucinous histology (HR 2.28; 95% CI, 1.53-3.40, p < 0.001) were identified as independent predictors of decreased OS. Conclusion: Patients with MOC seem to be 2.3 times more likely to die of their tumors when compared to women with serous EOC