scholarly journals A comparison between video otoscopy and standard tympanometry findings in adults living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in South Africa

Author(s):  
Ben Sebothoma ◽  
Katijah Khoza-Shangase

Background: Literature suggests that there is a correlation between video otoscopy and standard tympanometry findings. However, there is limited evidence on whether these two measures are comparable in the identification of middle ear pathologies in adults living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Objective: This study aimed to determine the correlation between video otoscopy and standard tympanometry with 226 Hz probe tone in the identification of middle ear pathologies in adults living with HIV in Limpopo, South Africa. Method: A prospective, non-experimental, comparative design was employed on HIV-positive adults aged 18 years and older. All participants underwent basic audiological assessment including case history interviews, video otoscopy, tympanometry with a 226 Hz probe tone and pure tone audiometry. Two ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists independently analysed video otoscopic images and provided their reports to the researcher, and these were compared to the tympanometry results. The IBM SPSS v.24 was used for data analysis, including the use of Cohen’s kappa to determine the agreement between the two procedures. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to determine the strength of the correlation between tympanometry and video otoscopy. Results: A total of 87 adults (N = 161 ears) took part in the study. Middle ear pathology was observed in 8% (n = 13) of the sample when tympanometry was used, and this increased to 10.6% (n = 17) when video otoscopy was utilised. Kappa statistics found a good agreement (k = 0.7) between the diagnoses made by two ENTs. However, there was poor agreement (k = 0.2) between the diagnoses by video otoscopy and tympanometry. Pearson’s correlation coefficient indicated weak correlation between video otoscopy and tympanometry (r = 0.195). Conclusion: Findings from this study suggest that video otoscopy may be more accurate in the identification of middle ear pathologies in adults living with HIV when compared to tympanometry. These findings have training implications in the use of video otoscopy to ensure accuracy and reliability. Clinical implications of current findings include the use of both video otoscopy and tympanometry in a complementary manner for more sensitive identification of middle ear pathologies in this population. Lastly, tele-audiologic implications of the use of video otoscopy to increase access in resource-constrained contexts are raised.

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Daniela Platošová ◽  
Jiří Rusín ◽  
Jan Platoš ◽  
Kateřina Smutná ◽  
Roman Buryjan

The paper presents the results of a laboratory experiment of mesophilic single-stage anaerobic digestion performed to verify the possibility of early detection of process instability and reactor overload by evaluating the course of dissolved hydrogen concentration of the main intermediate. The digestion process was run in a Terrafors IS rotary drum bioreactor for 230 days. The substrate dosed on weekdays was food leftovers from the university canteen. At an average temperature of 37 °C, an organic loading of volatiles of 0.858 kg m−3 day−1 and a theoretical retention time of 259 days, biogas production of 0.617 Nm3 kg VS−1 was achieved with a CH4 content of 51.7 vol. %. The values of the established FOS/TAC stability indicator ranged from 0.26 to 11.4. The highest value was reached when the reactor was overloaded. The dissolved hydrogen concentration measured by the amperometric microsensor ranged from 0.039–0.425 mg dm−3. Data were statistically processed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The correlation of the hydrogen concentration with other parameters such as the concentration of organic acids was evaluated. The value of Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.331 and corresponded to a p-value of 0. The results confirmed a very low limit of the hydrogen concentration at which the microbial culture, especially methanogens, was already overloaded. The amperometric microsensor proved to be rather unsuitable for operational applications due to insufficient sensitivity and short service life. The newly designed ratio of dissolved hydrogen concentration to neutralizing capacity was tested but did not work significantly better than the established FOS/TAC stability indicator.


Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
F. Magnifica ◽  
F. Colagrossi ◽  
A. Aloisi ◽  
S. Politi ◽  
A. Peretti ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Almost 25%of workers in the European Union suffer from back pain, and 23%complain of muscle pain. Sixty-two percent of workers carry out repetitive operations with their hands or arms, 46%work in painful or tired positions and 35%carry or handle loads. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt and validate the Italian version of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ-I). METHODS: Translation and cultural adaptation procedures followed international guidelines. Participants were recruited from among the personnel components of the Italian Air Force, who were between 18 and 65 years old. Cronbach’s alpha and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated to assess internal consistency and stability, respectively. The CDMQ-I was administered together with the Visual Analogic Scale (VAS), and the validity was evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. RESULTS: All CDMQ-I items were either identical or similar in meaning to the original version’s items. The scale was administered twice with a retest after seven to 10 days to 66 participants. Cronbach’s alpha was higher than 0.761, and the ICC ranged between 0.737 and 0.952. Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed positive and significant correlations (p >  0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The study produced an Italian version of the CMDQ with good reliability and validity. This scale is a useful tool to investigate the frequency and intensity of musculoskeletal disorders in various categories of workers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-47
Author(s):  
Emilio Viktorov Mateev ◽  
Iva Valkova ◽  
Maya Georgieva ◽  
Alexander Zlatkov

Recently, the application of molecular docking is drastically increasing due to the rapid growth of resolved crystallographic receptors with co-crystallized ligands. However, the inability of docking softwares to correctly score the occurred interactions between ligands and receptors is still a relevant issue. This study examined the Pearson’s correlation coefficient between the experimental monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) inhibitory activity of 44 novel coumarins and the obtained GOLD 5.3 docking scores. Subsequently, optimization of the docking protocol was carried out to achieve the best possible pairwise correlation. Numerous modifications in the docking settings such as alteration in the scoring functions, size of the grid space, presence of active waters, and side-chain flexibility were conducted. Furthermore, ensemble docking simulations into two superimposed complexes were performed. The model was validated with a test set. A significant Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.8217 was obtained for the latter. In the final stage of our work, we observed the major interactions between the top-scored ligands and the active site of 1S3B.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 221-230
Author(s):  
A. Kharchenko ◽  
A. Yelinska

The work involved a molecular biological technique (ISSR-PCR) using ISSR-primer S-2, with structure (AGC) 6G. Changes in the gastric mucosa in chronic duodenal ulcer disease against the background of severe chronic atrophic gastritis have been analyzed. Noteworthy is the fact that there is a strong correlation between the degree of dysplasia of the epithelium of the gastric mucosa and the mitotic index, the Pearson's correlation coefficient rxy was 0.853, respectively. A strong and very strong correlation relationship between the indicators of the degree of dysplasia of the epithelium of the gastric mucosa by phenotypic characteristics and indicators of DNA typing of samples of the gastric mucosa, the Pearson's correlation coefficient rxy was 0.863, respectively. DNA profiles of the gastric mucosa of patients with duodenal ulcer according to the results of typing by the ISSR-PCR method ranging from 520 to 620 bp. had the character of microsatellite expansions and differed from the profile of the norm, which is evidence of precancerous changes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (11) ◽  
pp. 2353-2372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tammy M. Weckwerth ◽  
Kristy J. Weber ◽  
David D. Turner ◽  
Scott M. Spuler

AbstractA water vapor micropulse differential absorption lidar (DIAL) instrument was developed collaboratively by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Montana State University (MSU). This innovative, eye-safe, low-power, diode-laser-based system has demonstrated the ability to obtain unattended continuous observations in both day and night. Data comparisons with well-established water vapor observing systems, including radiosondes, Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometers (AERIs), microwave radiometer profilers (MWRPs), and ground-based global positioning system (GPS) receivers, show excellent agreement. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient for the DIAL and radiosondes is consistently greater than 0.6 from 300 m up to 4.5 km AGL at night and up to 3.5 km AGL during the day. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient for the DIAL and AERI is greater than 0.6 from 300 m up to 2.25 km at night and from 300 m up to 2.0 km during the day. Further comparison with the continuously operating GPS instrumentation illustrates consistent temporal trends when integrating the DIAL measurements up to 6 km AGL.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-26
Author(s):  
Olena Chykhantsova ◽  
Olga Kuprieieva

rapy in the formation of hardiness and to delve deeper into the relationship between hardiness and actual capabilities of the person. Data were collected from 380 people from Ukraine, aged between 19 and 62. The respondents completed the Wiesbaden Inventory for Positive Psychotherapy and Family Therapy (WIPPF 2.0), which was developed by N. Peseschkian in collaboration with H. Deidenbach and the Maddi Hardiness Scale. We used Pearson’s correlation coefficient to measure the statistical relationship between hardiness and personal capabilities. Also, we used regression analysis to determine the prognostic indicators for hardiness. As a result of our research, we found that the capabilities of contact, trust, hope, love, achievement, and reliability have the greatest influence on hardiness


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