ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between the red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and the severity of acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis in elderly patients.MethodsThe clinical data of 216 elderly patients with acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis admitted from January 2015 to October of 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. The severity of acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis in the elderly was evaluated by bronchiectasis severity index (BSI) score. Meanwhile, 50 elderly people receiving qualified medical examination were collected as a healthy control group in the same period. The distributions of BSI score, RDW, procalcitonin (PCT), neutrophil percentage (NEU%) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were described in the patients with different risk degree. The severity of acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis in the elderly was evaluated by BSI. The patients were divided into three groups by BSI score: a low risk group, a middle risk group, and a high risk group. The indexes were described including the distribution of stratified BSI score, RDW, PCT, NEU%, CRP at different risk levels. The correlation of each index was analyzed by Spearman correlation. The threshold value of RDW was calculated by general linear regression, and the influencing factors of BSI score were analyzed by multivariate linear regression analysis.ResultsThe higher the risk stratification, the higher the BSI score, RDW, PCT, NEU% and CRP were. RDW was positively correlated with PCT, NEU% and CRP (r values were 0.425, 0.311, 0.177, respectively, P<0.05). BSI score was positively correlated with RDW, PCT, NEU%, and CRP (r values were 0.425, 0.394, 0.650, 0.578, respectively, P<0.05). RDW was positively correlated with PSI score (r=0.425, P<0.05). The thresholds of RDW were 11.45% and 14.03%. Multiple linear regression showed that RDW, PCT, NEU% and CRP were all influential factors of BSI score and explained 52.3% of the total mutation rate.ConclusionRDW is related to the severity of acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis in the elderly, and can predict the severity of acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis in the elderly.
Objective To analyze the relationship between end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure (PETCO2) and arterial CO2 pressure (PaCO2) in invasive ventilated patients. Methods An observational study was conducted in adult patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between June 2016 and March 2017. Samples were immediately analyzed for PaCO2 using a blood gas analyzer. At the same time the arterial to end-tidal CO2 gradient was determined. Relationship in different mechanical ventilation modes, disease categories and PaO2/FiO2 were analyzed in this study. Results A total of 225 arterial blood gases were obtained from the 104 patients. In each of these modes the PETCO2 was generally lower than the PaCO2. There was a positive correlation between PaCO2 and PETCO2 regardless of different mode (r=0.70, Y=11.08+0.77X). A positive correlation was found in SIMV and SPONT modes, but not in A/C mode. The relationship between PaCO2 and PETCO2 in COPD, trauma, cerebrovascular disease and severe pneumonia patients shown a positive correlation (r value was 0.76, 0.64, 0.53, and 0.56, respectively). There was a significant correlation whether PaCO2/FiO2<200 mm Hg (r=0.69, P<0.001) or ≥200 mm Hg (r=0.71, P<0.001). Conclusions The results of this study show that PETCO2 monitoring accurately reflects PaCO2 during mechanical ventilation. A positive correlation is found in different ventilation modes, regardless of disease categories or PaCO2/FiO2.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the correlation between adenoviral infection and encephalitis in children. MethodsStudies on the correlation between adenoviral infection and encephalitis among children were retrieved in the databases of CHKD, CNKI, WanFang Data, CMCC, PubMed, Ovid, EBSCO, and Science New during 1978-2013. According to our inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature was screened. After data extraction, meta-analysis was conducted using Comprehensive Meta Analysis 2.0. ResultsA total of 18 studies were enrolled. The results of meta-analysis indicated that:the prevalence of infection of human adenovirus in children with encephalitis was p1=10.8% (95%CI 6.5% to 15.2%, P < 0.000 01). The incidence of encephalitis in children with adenoviral infection was p2=31.4% (95%CI 14.1% to 48.6%, P < 0.000 01). The results of two studies showed that, the correlation coefficients between adenoviral infection and encephalitis were OR1=2.22 (95%CI 0.32 to 14.79, P > 0.05), and OR2=1.12 (95%CI 0.14 to 9.10, P > 0.05), respectively, both with no significant difference. In addition, the subgenus B adenoviruses, including type 3 and type 7 were more associated with encephalitis, followed by type 1 and type 2 in subgenus C and type 8 in subgenus D. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that no correlation exists between adenoviral infection and encephalitis in children. However, the above conclusion needs to be verified by conducting more rationally-designed studies so as to clarify the correlation.
The correlation coefficient is a common used statistic index in the management science, sociology, psychology and nursing. The meta-analysis based on data of correlation coefficients has increased nowadays. The meta package and metafor package are the two major packages in R for performing meta-analysis and can implement many types of meta-analysis, including the meta-analysis of correlation coefficients. This article gives a brief introduction of the process to perform meta-analysis of correlation coefficients using these two packages, and compares their statistical results and functions (such as plot drawing).
ObjectiveTo systematically review the correlation of pSTAT3 overexpression and prognosis in lung cancer patients.MethodsWe searched from PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data databases to collect relevant studies about the correlation of pSTAT3 overexpression and prognosis in lung cancer patients from inception to November 2016. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.2 software.Results A total of thirteen studies were enrolled. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the overall survival (HR=1.23, 95%CI 1.04 to 1.46, P=0.02) of pSTAT3 overexpression group was shorter than that of low expression group. In terms of clinical prognostic characteristics, pSTAT3 overexpression rate in stage Ⅲ to Ⅳ group was significantly higher than stage Ⅰ to Ⅱ (OR=1.92, 95%CI 1.13 to 3.27, P=0.02). pSTAT3 overexpression rate of lung cancer patients with lymphatic node metastasis was also significantly higher than lung cancer patients without lymphatic node metastasis (OR=1.81, 95%CI 1.20 to 2.72, P=0.004). However, there was no statistical difference of pSTAT3 overexpression between well-moderately differentiation and poorly differentiation group (OR=0.82, 95%CI 0.44 to 1.53, P=0.54).ConclusionpSTAT3 overexpression is associated with poorer overall survival of lung cancer patients, as well as with more and advanced TNM grade and lymph node metastasis. It may be an indicator poor biomarker in lung cancer patients. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify above conclusion.
Objective To investigate the risk factors of childhood leukaemia. Methods Questionnaire about risk factors of childhood leukaemia was devised and used. We surveyed and analyzed the relevant risk factors of 143 cases of leukaemia children in Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from May 2008 to February 2009, comparing with 108 hospitalized cases without leukaemia during the same period. The significant factors were identified by single factor analysis. Then multi-factors conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results In the single factor analysis, 12 of 26 indexes were statistically significant (Plt;0.05), while in the multi-factors logistic regression analysis, there were 8 of 12 indexes with significance (Plt;0.05), which of those are frequent infection history, house decoration, family history of cancer, maternal childbearing age, and history of contact with paint, leather shoes, radiation and pesticides. Conclusion The 8 indexes as listed above are closely related to the pathogeny of leukaemia and may be the distinguished risk factors of childhood leukaemia.
In the process of robot-assisted training for upper limb rehabilitation, a passive training strategy is usually used for stroke patients with flaccid paralysis. In order to stimulate the patient’s active rehabilitation willingness, the rehabilitation therapist will use the robot-assisted training strategy for patients who gradually have the ability to generate active force. This study proposed a motor function assessment technology for human upper-limb based on fuzzy recognition on interaction force and human-robot interaction control strategy based on assistance-as-needed. A passive training mode based on the calculated torque controller and an assisted training mode combined with the potential energy field were designed, and then the interactive force information collected by the three-dimensional force sensor during the training process was imported into the fuzzy inference system, the degree of active participation σ was proposed, and the corresponding assisted strategy algorithms were designed to realize the adaptive adjustment of the two modes. The significant correlation between the degree of active participation σ and the surface electromyography signals (sEMG) was found through the experiments, and the method had a shorter response time compared to a control strategy that only adjusted the mode through the magnitude of interaction force, making the robot safer during the training process.
ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection. MethodsMedical examination data of healthy physical examination participates who underwent carbon 14 urea breath test for detection of HP and abdominal ultrasound examination between March and June 2015 were analyzed. Cross sectional analysis was carried out. Based on the diagnostic criteria of NAFLD, the subjects were divided into two groups: NAFLD group and normal control group. HP infection was compared between the two groups. Logistics regression analysis was performed to analyze the relationship between HP infection and NAFLD. ResultsThe proportion of men, age, weight, body mass index (BMI), waistline, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, glutamyl transferase, albumin, fasting blood-glucose (GLU), total cholesterol triacylglycerol (TG), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and blood pressure were all significantly higher in the NAFLD group than the control group (P < 0.05), while height and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol were significantly lower in the NAFLD group (P < 0.05). The detection rate of NAFLD in males was higher than that in females. The detection rates of NAFLD in different age groups were significantly different, and the highest detection rate of NAFLD was in the age group of 50-59 years old (P < 0.05). The rate of HP infection was not significantly different in subjects of different ages and genders (P > 0.05). The rate of HP infection in the NAFLD group was significantly higher than those of the control group in age groups of 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 70-79 years old (P < 0.05). The logistic regression analysis revealed that age, HP infection, TG, ALT, BMI, GLU, and diastolic pressure were correlated with NAFLD (P < 0.05). ConclusionHP infection may be a risk factor in the development of NAFLD.
Objective To systematically review the association between prothrombin gene G20210A mutation and the risk of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). Methods Databases including PubMed, Springer, Google Scholar, The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2016), CNKI, WanFang Data and CBM were searched for case-control studies concerning the association between prothrombin gene G20210A mutation and cerebral venous thrombosis risk from inception to January 2016. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software and Stata 12.0 software. Results A total of 26 case-control studies were included, involving 1 361 CVT cases and 6 323 controls. The results of meta-analysis showed that: there was a significant association between prothrombin gene G20210A mutation and CVT risk (OR=4.56, 95% CI 3.51 to 5.93,P<0.000 01). Sensitivity analysis showed no significant publication bias was detected confirmed the stability of results. Subgroup analysis showed that G20210A mutation increased CVT risk in adults (OR=5.02, 95% CI 3.81 to 6.60,P<0.000 01), but not in children (OR=1.99, 95% CI 0.83 to 4.79,P=0.12). Conclusion Prothrombin gene G20210A mutation can significantly increase the CVT risk. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, the above results are needed to be validated by more high quality studies.
The radial artery pulse wave contains a wealth of physiological and pathological information about the human body, and non-invasive studies of the radial artery pulse wave can assess arterial vascular elasticity in different age groups.The piezoelectric pulse wave transducers were used to non-invasively acquire radial artery pulse waves at different contact pressures in young and middle-aged and elderly populations. The radial artery waveforms were decomposed using a triangular blood flow model fitting method to obtain forward and reflected waves and calculate reflection parameters. Finally a correlation analysis and regression analysis of the contact pressure Psensor with the reflection parameters was carried out. The results showed that the reflection parameters RM, RI and Rd had a strong negative correlation with Psensor in both types of subjects, and the correlation coefficients and slopes of the regression curves were significantly different between the two types of subjects (P<0.05). Based on the results of this study, excessive contact pressure on the transducer should be avoided when detecting radial artery reflection waves in clinical practice. The results also show that the magnitude of the slope of the regression curve between the reflection parameters and the transducer contact pressure may be a potentially useful indicator for quantifying the elastic properties of the vessel.