Study of risk factors for healthcare-associated infections in acute cardiac patients using categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA)

Using categorical principal component analysis, we aimed to determine the relationship between health care-associated infections (HAIs) and diagnostic categories (DCs) in patients with acute heart disease using data collected in the Spanish prospective ENVIN-HELICS intensive care registry over a 10-year period (2005–2015). A total of 69,876 admissions were included, of which 5597 developed HAIs. Two 2-component CATPCA models were developed. In the first model, all cases were included; the first component was determined by the duration of the invasive devices, the ICU stay, the APACHE II score and the HAIs; the second component was determined by the type of admission (medical or surgical) and by the DCs. No clear association between DCs and HAIs was found. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.899, and the variance accounted for (VAF) was 52.5%. The second model included only admissions that developed HAIs; the first component was determined by the duration of the invasive devices and the ICU stay; the second component was determined by the inflammatory response, the mortality in the ICU and the HAIs. Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.855, and VAF was 46.9%. These findings highlight the role of exposure to invasive devices in the development of HAIS in patients with acute heart disease.

Are Female Paraphilias Hiding in Plain Sight? Risqué Male–Male Erotica for Women in Sinophone and Anglophone Regions

Female-oriented male–male erotica is a genre of popular culture often know as Boys’ Love (BL), yaoi, and danmei. It is one of the largest by-and-for women sexual subcultures and a global phenomenon. With the largest data sets in the field, we ask: Which risqué sexual content do Sinophone (Chinese-speaking) and Anglophone (English-speaking) participants particularly enjoy in BL and does this differ between cultures?, and Are there sub-demographics in Sinophone and in Anglophone culture who enjoy particular forms of risqué sexual content in BL and do these forms relate also to enjoyment of particular storylines and concern with legal issues? The material studied meets the DSM-5 definition of the paraphilic, and little is known about paraphilias in women or in the general population. Using Categorical Principal Component Analysis we explored one 15-response question from our Sinophone (N = 1922) and Anglophone (N = 1715) BL fandom surveys: Which risqué sexual content do you particularly enjoy in BL? We also tested for associations with seven demographic and other BL content-related questions. Notably, the component structure was nearly replicated between the two independent samples, in order of strength: BDSM Specialist, Mechanoid/Animal Sex Specialist, Underage Sex Specialist, and Minority Paraphilia Specialist. In both samples, it was the avid BL fans and/or those who liked explicitly sexual stories, a largely overlapping demographic, who most engage the risqué content, while, for the Sinophone, this included also more non-heterosexual and/or other-gendered people. We conclude that women’s paraphilias have been largely overlooked because they might be expressed more commonly through fantasy than action, that their mass expression has awaited both the means and the market force, and that current conceptualization of, and assumptions about, paraphilias is overly modeled on that of men.

Study on the Lamb Meat Consumer Behavior in Brazil

In Brazil, the sheep market, including lamb meat consumption, is regionalized, and the consumption of lamb meat is higher in production areas; yet, consumption of lamb still remains below that of other meat livestock. The aim of this study was to identify the profile of Brazilian lamb meat consumers in order to understand their behavior in relation to food in general and on the consumption of this species. Therefore, a survey on consumer habits and preferences regarding food buying and consumption habits, their preferences in relation to the quality attributes of lamb meat, and sociodemographic characterization was performed. Data collected were analyzed by nonlinear canonic relationship analysis and categorical principal component analysis, followed by multiple factor analysis. Three consumer profiles were identified: traditional, interested, and disinterested, and a fourth group was considered independent but could not be described. Among lamb meat consumers, men with higher income seemed to be more frequent consumers than the others, and the intrinsic characteristics of meat quality, especially color and freshness, were the most important at the time of purchase. Thus, the results could be important to the industry in order to guide marketing strategies to certain niche markets.

Hidden patterns among the fatally injured pedestrians in an Iranian population: application of categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA)

Background Identifying hidden patterns and relationships among the features of the Fatal Pedestrian Road Traffic Injuries (FPRTI) can be effective in reducing pedestrian fatalities. This study is thus aimed to detect the patterns among the fatally injured pedestrians due to FPRTI in East Azerbaijan province, Iran. Methods This descriptive-analytic research was carried out based on the data of all 1782 FPRTI that occurred in East Azerbaijan, Iran from 2010 to 2019 collected by the forensic organization. Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) was performed to recognize hidden patterns in the data by extracting principal components from the set of 13 features of FPRTI. The importance of each component was assessed by using the variance accounted for (VAF) index. Results The optimum number of components to fit the CATPCA model was six which explained 71.09% of the total variation. The first and most important component with VAF = 22.04% contained the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the killed pedestrians. The second-ranked component with VAF = 12.96% was related to the injury type. The third component with VAF = 10.56% was the severity of the injury. The fourth component with VAF = 9.07% was somehow related to the knowledge and observance of the traffic rules. The fifth component with VAF = 8.63% was about the quality of medical relief and finally, the sixth component with VAF = 7.82% dealt with environmental conditions. Conclusion CATPCA revealed hidden patterns among the fatally injured pedestrians in the form of six components. The revealed patterns showed that some interactions between correlated features led to a higher mortality rate.

Socio-economic Development of Darjeeling Himalayas: Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) and Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR)

The measurement of regional development plays a crucial role in improving the quality of life of local communities. However, the process of analyzing the regional progress was challenging as regional development was presented as a multidimensional concept. Nonetheless, the study's primary objective was to understand the indicators that genuinely reflect the development process's various dimensions in the northernmost district of West Bengal, Darjeeling Himalayas. Seven dimensions of development, namely psychological well-being, health, education, governance, safety and crime, energy and environment and standard of living were identified for analyzing the socio-economic development of the Darjeeling Himalaya. A questionnaire was framed and circulated in the region for the collection of data. By applying Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA), the data collected was aggregated into the above mentioned seven dimensions of development and analyzed the relationship between these development indicators through the Ordinal Logistic Regression model (OLR). The results showed that education and governance indicators had a significant impact on the psychological wellbeing. Governance was affected by psychological wellbeing, while standard of living was affected by psychological wellbeing and health indicators in the region.

Beloved Whiskers: Management Type, Care Practices and Connections to Welfare in Domestic Cats

The quality of cat care practices depends in part on the type of management applied, which either positively or negatively impacts cat welfare. This study investigated whether the type of cat management (indoor vs. outdoor) was related to other cat care practices adopted by cat owners, associated with the quality of human-cat relationships and cat welfare. An online survey was distributed via social networks. Descriptive statistics, categorical Principal Component Analysis, Fisher’s Exact test and Chi-square test in contingency table were applied. A total of 16,302 cat owners returned the survey. Most Brazilian owners reported indoor management of their cats; this was related to owners living in apartments, more frequent use of cat care practices, and more interactions with their pets. Outdoor management was related to cats living in houses or farms, sleeping outdoors or around the neighborhood, and owners had fewer interaction with their pets. In conclusion, owners practicing indoor management seemed to be closer to their cats than owners reporting outdoor management. However, obesity and owner-reported behavioral problems were associated with indoor management.

An Epidemiological Study on the Prevalence of the Clinical Features of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Romanian People

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the clinical features of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in Romanian population through a novel online survey. The survey included categorical socio-demographic and health-related variables. A total of 1830 participants were selected for statistical data processing (a response rate of 90.9%). We determined reasonable reliability of the survey section for clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 infection (Cronbach’s Alpha 0.671). Two meaningful dimensions were identified through CATPCA (Categorical Principal Component Analysis) for the survey’s items. We separated two significant clusters of items, each measuring a distinct factor: the sociodemographic characteristics linked to social distancing and the relevant clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Next, a two-step cluster analysis helped to classify the sample group taking into consideration the similarity of subjects. The clustering revealed a three-cluster solution, with significant differences between clusters and allowed the cluster detection of a group of individuals, possibly more affected by the infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Through binomial logistic regression analysis, we identified a statistically significant prediction model for the presumptive diagnostic of some relevant clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our study validated a cost-effective model for rapid assessment of the health status of subjects, adapted to the context of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.