Confidence Statements for Ordering Quantiles

This work proposes Quor, a simple yet effective nonparametric method to compare independent samples with respect to corresponding quantiles of their populations. The method is solely based on the order statistics of the samples, and independence is its only requirement. All computations are performed using exact distributions with no need for any asymptotic considerations, and yet can be run using a fast quadratic-time dynamic programming idea. Computational performance is essential in high-dimensional domains, such as gene expression data. We describe the approach and discuss on the most important assumptions, building a parallel with assumptions and properties of widely used techniques for the same problem. Experiments using real data from biomedical studies are performed to empirically compare Quor and other methods in a classification task over a selection of high-dimensional data sets

Implicating factors in the increase in cases of central precocious puberty (CPP) during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experience of a tertiary centre of pediatric endocrinology and review of the literature

Sexual development is a complex mechanism activated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Over the last one hundred years there has been a decline in the age at puberty onset in industrialised countries. Some Italian studies showed an increase in diagnoses of Central Precocious Puberty (CPP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is thus supposed that in this period there was an increased impact of factors that can influence pubertal development. Our retrospective monocentric study aimed to confirm the existence of this phenomenon and analysed possible related factors. We retrospectively evaluated clinical, laboratory, radiological and ultrasound (US) data of 154 girls referred to our Tertiary Centre of Paediatric Endocrinology from January 2019 to April 2021 for different forms of Precocious Puberty. We subdivided the cases into subgroups according to the final diagnosis: CPP, Early Puberty (EP), isolated thelarche and isolated pubarche. The observation period was subdivided into: Period 1, before lockdown (1 January 2019 - 8 March 2020) and Period 2, lockdown and the following months (9 March 2020 - 30 April 2021). Period 2 was further divided into "restrictive lockdown period" (Period 2.1) (March 2020 - 14 June 2020, in which the schools were closed) and "less restrictive lockdown period" (Period 2.2) (15 June 2020 - 30 April 2021). We analysed data regarding the use of electronic devices before and during lockdown in a group of girls with CPP diagnosed in Period 2 and we compared the data with that of a control group. Our data show an increase in the number of new diagnoses of CPP during lockdown and in the following months, compared with the previous period. We also detected a higher use of PCs and smartphones in girls with CPP diagnosed in Period 2, compared with the control group. The percentage of the presence of endometrial rhyme detected during the pelvic ultrasound was higher in girls with CPP in Period 2, compared with the previous period. Based on our data we assume there was an environmental effect on pubertal timing that calls our attention to factors such as food, use of electronic devices and stress. We will need further studies to better understand this data

Ordering Quantiles through Confidence Statements

Ranking variables according to their relevance to predict an outcome is an important task in biomedicine. For instance, such ranking can be used for selecting a smaller number of genes for then applying other sophisticated experiments only on genes identified as important. A nonparametric method called Quor is designed to provide a confidence value for the order of arbitrary quantiles of different populations using independent samples. This confidence may provide insights about possible differences among groups and yields a ranking of importance for the variables. Computations are efficient and use exact distributions with no need for asymptotic considerations. Experiments with simulated data and with multiple real -omics data sets are performed, and they show advantages and disadvantages of the method. Quor has no assumptions but independence of samples, thus it might be a better option when assumptions of other methods cannot be asserted. The software is publicly available on CRAN

Associação tabagismo-alcoolismo: introdução às grandes dependências humanas

OBJETIVO: Verificar a existência da associação tabagismo-alcoolismo em amostra da população geral e comparar uma amostra alcoolista com outra abstêmia, pareadas pela idade e sexo. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Na Unidade Sanitária Murialdo de Porto Alegre, RS numa área delimitada, com uma população estimada de 65.000 habitantes, foi feito estudo por corte transversal em que se definiu uma amostra representativa de indivíduos com 35 anos e mais. Através da Escala CAGE, identificou-se a população alcoolista que foi comparada a uma amostra aleatória de não-alcoolistas, pareada à alcoolista pela idade e sexo. Dentre 1.387 adultos com 35 anos ou mais, identificaram-se 129 indivíduos alcoolistas. Da listagem geral, selecionou-se aleatoriamente, uma amostra-controle de 129 indivíduos não-alcoolistas, criando-se, assim, dois grupos comparativos. Foram obtidos dados comparativos através de 19 itens de um questionário. As informações de caráter genérico eram pessoais ou familiares, como renda e hábito tabágico. O grau de escolaridade, ocupação, doenças e sintomas respiratórios, medida do fluxo expiratório (Pico do Fluxo) e história de alcoolismo eram exclusivas dos indivíduos com 35 anos ou mais que responderam ao questionário. RESULTADOS: Dos 129 indivíduos (9,3%) alcoolistas, 109 (84,4%) eram do sexo masculino e 20 (25,6%) do feminino. Entre alcoolistas, é maior a prevalência de fumantes (67%) se comparada com a prevalência entre os não-alcoolistas (43%) (pOBJECTIVE: To establish the existence of an association between smoking and alcoholism in a general population sample and to compare two samples of alcoholics and non alcoholics matched by age and sex. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Health Teaching Unit Murialdo - State Health Department - RS - Brazil in a limited area of 65,000 predicted population a cross-sectional study was undertaken in which adults of 35 y.o. or more were sampled. Of this sample, the alcoholics were selected by applying the CAGE Scale. A non alcoholic random sample was compared with the alcoholic one. It was identified 129 alcoholics among 1,387 adults of 35 y.o. or more. From the general list of adults a random sample of 129 non alcoholics were selected and matched to the alcoholics by age and sex. Both groups were compared. Data were obtained from a 19 item questionnaire. Answers to generic questions were obtained from all family members, such as: income and smoking habit. Specific data were obtained from the interviewed person of 35 y.o. or more, such as: schooling grade, occupation, diseases and respiratory symptoms, smoking habit, Peak Expiratory Flow and alcoholism. RESULTS: Of 129 alcoholics, 109 (84.5%) were male and 20 (15.5%) were female. The smoking prevalence among alcoholics (67%) was greater than among non alcoholics (43%) (p < .002). The kind of occupation distinguished both groups. Among alcoholics unemployment and elementary levels of occupation are more usual while among the abstemious intermediate and superior levels are more frequent (

Multiple-Modality Exercise And Mind-Motor Training To Improve Cardiovascular Health And Fitness In Older Adults At Risk For Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background:The effects of multiple-modality exercise on arterial stiffening and cardiovascular fitness has not been fully explored. Objectives: To explore the influence of a 24-week multiple-modality exercise program associated with a mind-motor training in cardiovascular health and fitness in community-dwelling older adults, compared to multiple-modality exercise (M2) alone. Methods: Participants (n=127, aged 67.5 [7.3] years, 71% females) were randomized to either M4 or M2 groups. Both groups received multiple-modality exercise intervention (60 min/day, 3 days/week for 24-weeks); however, the M4 group underwent additional 15 min of mind-motor training, whereas the M2 group received 15 min of balance training. Participants were assessed at 24-weeks and after a 28-week non-contact follow-up (52-weeks). Results: at 52-weeks, the M4 group demonstrated a greater VO2max (ml/kg/min) compared to the M2 group (mean difference: 2.39, 95% CI: 0. 61 to 4.16, p=0.009). Within-group analysis indicated that the M4 group demonstrated a positive change in VO2max at 24-weeks (mean change: 1.93, 95% CI: 0.82 to 3.05, p=0.001) and 52-weeks (4.02, 95% CI: 2.71 to 5.32, p=0.001). Similarly, the M2 group increased VO2max at 24-weeks (2.28, 95% CI: 1.23 to 3.32, p Conclusion: Mind-motor training associated with multiple-modality exercise can positively impact cardiovascular fitness to the same extent as multiple-modality exercise alone

ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy for the Assessment of Biochemical Changes in Skin Due to Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Nonmelanoma skin cancers represent 95% of cutaneous neoplasms. Among them, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the more aggressive form and shows a pattern of possible metastatic profile. in this work, we used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy to assess the biochemical changes in normal skin caused by squamous cell carcinoma induced by multi-stage chemical carcinogenesis in mice. Changes in the absorption intensities and shifts were observed in the vibrational modes associated to proteins, indicating changes in secondary conformation in the neoplastic tissue. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to evaluate the potential of the technique to differentiate the spectra of neoplastic and normal skin tissue, so that the accuracy obtained for this classification was 86.4%. in this sense, attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FTIR spectroscopy provides a useful tool to complement histopathological analysis in the clinical routine for the diagnosis of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Fotonica (INCT)Produtividade em Pesquisa (PQ)IPEN CNEN SP, Ctr Lasers & Applicat, Inst Pesquisas Energet & Nucl, BR-05508000 São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Dent, BR-05508000 São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, ICT, BR-1223128 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, ICT, BR-1223128 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP, BrazilFAPESP: 05/51689-2CAPES: 071/2013-88881.068505/2014-01Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Fotonica (INCT): 573.916/2008-0Produtividade em Pesquisa (PQ): 312397/2013-5Web of Scienc

Multiple-Modality Exercise And Mind-Motor Training To Improve Mobility In Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: To investigate the effects of multiple-modality exercise with or without additional mind-motor training on mobility outcomes in older adults with subjective cognitive complaints. Methods: This was a 24-week randomized controlled trial with a 28-week no-contact follow-up. Community-dwelling older adults underwent a thrice -weekly, Multiple-Modality exercise and Mind-Motor (M4) training or Multiple-Modality (M2) exercise with an active control intervention (balance, range of motion and breathing exercises). Study outcomes included differences between groups at 24 weeks and after the no-contact follow-up (i.e., 52 weeks) in usual and dual-task (DT, i.e., serial sevens [S7] and phonemic verbal fluency [VF] tasks) gait velocity, step length and cycle time variability, as well as DT cognitive accuracy. Results: 127 participants (mean age 67.5 [7.3] years, 71% women) were randomized to either M2 (n =64) or M4 (n = 63) groups. Participants were assessed at baseline, intervention endpoint (24 weeks), and study endpoint (52 weeks). At 24 weeks, the M2 group demonstrated greater improvements in usual gait velocity, usual step length, and DT gait velocity (VF) compared to the M4 group, and no between- or within-group changes in DT accuracy were observed. At 52 weeks, the M2 group retained the gains in gait velocity and step length, whereas the M4 group demonstrated trends for improvement (p =0.052) in DT cognitive accuracy (VF). Conclusions: Our results suggest that additional mind-motor training was not effective to improve mobility outcomes. In fact, participants in the active control group experienced greater benefits as a result of the intervention