Acute ischemic stroke prognostication, comparison between Glasgow Coma Score, NIHS Scale and Full Outline of UnResponsiveness Score in intensive care unit

Background: Stroke is the second most common cause of death worldwide and a frequent cause of adult disability in developed countries. No single outcome measure can describe or predict all dimensions of recovery and disability after acute stroke. Several scales have proven reliability and validity in stroke trials.Objectives: The aim of the work was to evaluate the FOUR score predictability for outcome of patients with acute ischemic stroke in comparison with the NIHSS and the GCS.Methods: 127 adult patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled. NIHSS, GCS, and FOUR score were collected at 24 and 72 h. Patients were prospectively followed up for the following outcomes; In-hospital or 30 days mortality and Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 3 months. The areas under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were compared between the three scores.Results: Twenty-five (19.7%) patients died, and seventy-two (56.7%) had unfavourable outcome. The NIHSS, the GCS, and the FOUR score were not different in predicting in-hospital mortality (AUC: 0.783, 0.779, 0.796 at 24-h and 0.973, 0.975, 0.977 at 72-h). The NIHSS, the GCS, and the FOUR score done at 24-h were not different in predicting unfavourable outcome (AUC: 0.893, 0.868, and 0.865, respectively). However, the NIHSS done at 72-h showed significantly higher AUC than the GCS score (0.958 versus 0.931, p= 0.041), and higher than the Four score (0.958 versus 0.909, p=0.011).KEYWORDS: Acute stroke; Stroke prognostication; NIHSS; CGS; FOUR score; Charlson Comorbidity  Inde

A Survey of Bayesian Statistical Approaches for Big Data

The modern era is characterised as an era of information or Big Data. This has motivated a huge literature on new methods for extracting information and insights from these data. A natural question is how these approaches differ from those that were available prior to the advent of Big Data. We present a review of published studies that present Bayesian statistical approaches specifically for Big Data and discuss the reported and perceived benefits of these approaches. We conclude by addressing the question of whether focusing only on improving computational algorithms and infrastructure will be enough to face the challenges of Big Data

Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cerebral Venous Thrombosis and Mortality

Background and purpose: Recent studies suggested an increased incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We evaluated the volume of CVT hospitalization and in-hospital mortality during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the preceding year. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study of 171 stroke centers from 49 countries. We recorded COVID-19 admission volumes, CVT hospitalization, and CVT in-hospital mortality from January 1, 2019, to May 31, 2021. CVT diagnoses were identified by International Classification of Disease-10 (ICD-10) codes or stroke databases. We additionally sought to compare the same metrics in the first 5 months of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019 and 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04934020). Results: There were 2,313 CVT admissions across the 1-year pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic year (2020); no differences in CVT volume or CVT mortality were observed. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT volumes compared to 2019 (27.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24.2 to 32.0; P<0.0001) and 2020 (41.4%; 95% CI, 37.0 to 46.0; P<0.0001). A COVID-19 diagnosis was present in 7.6% (132/1,738) of CVT hospitalizations. CVT was present in 0.04% (103/292,080) of COVID-19 hospitalizations. During the first pandemic year, CVT mortality was higher in patients who were COVID positive compared to COVID negative patients (8/53 [15.0%] vs. 41/910 [4.5%], P=0.004). There was an increase in CVT mortality during the first 5 months of pandemic years 2020 and 2021 compared to the first 5 months of the pre-pandemic year 2019 (2019 vs. 2020: 2.26% vs. 4.74%, P=0.05; 2019 vs. 2021: 2.26% vs. 4.99%, P=0.03). In the first 5 months of 2021, there were 26 cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), resulting in six deaths. Conclusions: During the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, CVT hospitalization volume and CVT in-hospital mortality did not change compared to the prior year. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with higher CVT in-hospital mortality. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT hospitalization volume and increase in CVT-related mortality, partially attributable to VITT

Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cerebral Venous Thrombosis and Mortality.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recent studies suggested an increased incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We evaluated the volume of CVT hospitalization and in-hospital mortality during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the preceding year. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study of 171 stroke centers from 49 countries. We recorded COVID-19 admission volumes, CVT hospitalization, and CVT in-hospital mortality from January 1, 2019, to May 31, 2021. CVT diagnoses were identified by International Classification of Disease-10 (ICD-10) codes or stroke databases. We additionally sought to compare the same metrics in the first 5 months of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019 and 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04934020). RESULTS: There were 2,313 CVT admissions across the 1-year pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic year (2020); no differences in CVT volume or CVT mortality were observed. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT volumes compared to 2019 (27.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24.2 to 32.0; P<0.0001) and 2020 (41.4%; 95% CI, 37.0 to 46.0; P<0.0001). A COVID-19 diagnosis was present in 7.6% (132/1,738) of CVT hospitalizations. CVT was present in 0.04% (103/292,080) of COVID-19 hospitalizations. During the first pandemic year, CVT mortality was higher in patients who were COVID positive compared to COVID negative patients (8/53 [15.0%] vs. 41/910 [4.5%], P=0.004). There was an increase in CVT mortality during the first 5 months of pandemic years 2020 and 2021 compared to the first 5 months of the pre-pandemic year 2019 (2019 vs. 2020: 2.26% vs. 4.74%, P=0.05; 2019 vs. 2021: 2.26% vs. 4.99%, P=0.03). In the first 5 months of 2021, there were 26 cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), resulting in six deaths. CONCLUSIONS: During the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, CVT hospitalization volume and CVT in-hospital mortality did not change compared to the prior year. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with higher CVT in-hospital mortality. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT hospitalization volume and increase in CVT-related mortality, partially attributable to VITT

SALT ACCLIMATION OF TRITICUM-AESTIVUM BY CHOLINE CHLORIDE - PLANT-GROWTH, MINERAL-CONTENT, AND CELL-PERMEABILITY

Seedlings of a salt sensitive line of Triticum aestivum were grown in Hoagland solution supplemented with 100 mM NaCl following a pretreatment with choline chloride (ChCl). Changes in growth, mineral content of roots and shoots, and passive permeability of the cell membrane were measured. Relative growth of ChCl pretreated plants after exposure to NaCl maximized at 0.5 mM ChCl reaching about control values. Mineral content (except Na+ and C1-) was lowered by NaCl treatment. Choline chloride pretreatment at all concentrations decreased cell membrane permeability for urea and methylurea with little effect of a subsequent NaCl treatment. The results suggested that ChCl acclimated the salt sensitive wheat cultivar (with 0.5 mM ChCl the most effective concentration). It is proposed that this acclimation involves two components: (a) modification of the membrane phospholipid composition and structure by the ChCl pretreatment, and (b) enabling of the cell metabolism to function near to normal under saline conditions after ChCl pretreatment