Efficient Analysis of Overdispersed Data Using an Accurate Computation of the Dirichlet Multinomial Distribution.

Modeling count data using suitable statistical distributions has been instrumental for analyzing the patterns it conveys. However, failing to address critical aspects, like overdispersion, jeopardizes the effectiveness of such an analysis. In this paper, overdispersed count data is modeled using the Dirichlet Multinomial (DM) distribution by maximizing its likelihood using a fixed-point iteration algorithm.

Assessment of cardiovascular risk and physical activity: the role of cardiac-specific biomarkers in the general population and athletes.

The first part of this Inter-Society Document describes the mechanisms involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases, particularly arterial hypertension, in adults and the elderly. It will also examine how consistent physical exercise during adolescence and adulthood can help maintain blood pressure levels and prevent progression to symptomatic heart failure. The discussion will include experimental and clinical evidence on the use of specific exercise programs for preventing and controlling cardiovascular diseases in adults and the elderly.

PSYCHOACOUSTICS-WEB: A free online tool for the estimation of auditory thresholds.

PSYCHOACOUSTICS-WEB is an online tool written in JavaScript and PHP that enables the estimation of auditory sensory thresholds via adaptive threshold tracking. The toolbox implements the transformed up-down methods proposed by Levitt (Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 49, 467-477, (1971) for a set of classic psychoacoustical tasks: frequency, intensity, and duration discrimination of pure tones; duration discrimination and gap detection of noise; and amplitude modulation detection with noise carriers. The toolbox can be used through a common web browser; it works with both fixed and mobile devices, and requires no programming skills.

Evaluation of the cardiovascular risk in patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery: role of cardiac-specific biomarkers.

Major adverse cardiovascular events are frequently observed in patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery during the peri-operative period. At this time, the possibility to predict cardiovascular events remains limited, despite the introduction of several algorithms to calculate the risk of adverse events, mainly death and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) based on the clinical history, risk factors (sex, age, lipid profile, serum creatinine) and non-invasive cardiac exams (electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, stress tests). The cardiac-specific biomarkers natriuretic peptides (NPs) and cardiac troponins (cTn) have been proposed as additional tools for risk prediction in the peri-operative period, particularly for the identification of myocardial injury in patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery.

Use of high-sensitivity cardiac troponins in the emergency department for the early rule-in and rule-out of acute myocardial infarction without persistent ST-segment elevation (NSTEMI) in Italy.

Serial measurements of cardiac troponin are recommended by international guidelines to diagnose myocardial infarction (MI) since 2000. However, some relevant differences exist between the three different international guidelines published between 2020 and 2021 for the management of patients with chest pain and no ST-segment elevation. In particular, there is no agreement on the cut-offs or absolute change values to diagnose non-ST-segment elevation MI (NSTEMI).