Borrowing using historical-bias power prior with empirical Bayes.

Adaptively incorporating historical information into analyses of current data can improve the precision of inference without requiring additional new observation. Unfortunately, not all borrowing methods are suitable when limited historical studies are available. When a single historical study is available, the power priors control the amount of information to borrow via specification of a weight parameter that discounts the contribution of the historical data in a likelihood combined with current data.

Morphological and Mechanical Property Differences in Trapeziometacarpal Ligaments of Healthy and Osteoarthritic Female Joints.

Purpose: To identify changes in morphological and mechanical properties in the volar ligament complex (VLC), dorsoradial ligaments (DRL), and posterior oblique ligaments (POL) in healthy and osteoarthritic female trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joints.

Methods: Twenty-four fresh-frozen female cadaveric TMCs were separated into (1) younger healthy/early-stage osteoarthritic, (2) elder healthy/early-stage osteoarthritic, and (3) advanced-stage osteoarthritic groups based on age and Eaton-Littler grading. Stress relaxation and load-to-failure testing were performed to characterize mechanical tensile properties.

Explainable deep learning and biomechanical modeling for TMJ disorder morphological risk factors.

Clarifying multifactorial musculoskeletal disorder etiologies supports risk analysis, development of targeted prevention, and treatment modalities. Deep learning enables comprehensive risk factor identification through systematic analyses of disease data sets but does not provide sufficient context for mechanistic understanding, limiting clinical applicability for etiological investigations. Conversely, multiscale biomechanical modeling can evaluate mechanistic etiology within the relevant biomechanical and physiological context.

The influence of loss to follow-up in autism screening research: Taking stock and moving forward.

Background: How best to improve the early detection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the subject of significant controversy. Some argue that universal ASD screeners are highly accurate, whereas others argue that evidence for this claim is insufficient. Relatedly, there is no clear consensus as to the optimal role of screening for making referral decisions for evaluation and treatment.

Causal mediation and sensitivity analysis for mixed-scale data.

The goal of causal mediation analysis, often described within the potential outcomes framework, is to decompose the effect of an exposure on an outcome of interest along different causal pathways. Using the assumption of sequential ignorability to attain non-parametric identification, Imai et al. (2010) proposed a flexible approach to measuring mediation effects, focusing on parametric and semiparametric normal/Bernoulli models for the outcome and mediator.

Fatalism, Social Support and Self-Management Perceptions among Rural African Americans Living with Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes.

Diabetes is a public health problem and a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Diabetes is prevalent among underserved rural populations. The purposes of this study were to perform secondary analyses of existing clinical trial data to determine whether a diabetes health promotion and disease risk reduction intervention had an effect on diabetes fatalism, social support, and perceived diabetes self-management and to provide precise estimates of the mean levels of these variables in an understudied population.

Deep historical borrowing framework to prospectively and simultaneously synthesize control information in confirmatory clinical trials with multiple endpoints.

In current clinical trial development, historical information is receiving more attention as it provides utility beyond sample size calculation. Meta-analytic-predictive (MAP) priors and robust MAP priors have been proposed for prospectively borrowing historical data on a single endpoint. To simultaneously synthesize control information from multiple endpoints in confirmatory clinical trials, we propose to approximate posterior probabilities from a Bayesian hierarchical model and estimate critical values by deep learning to construct pre-specified strategies for hypothesis testing.

Sexual dimorphisms in three-dimensional masticatory muscle attachment morphometry regulates temporomandibular joint mechanics.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders disproportionally affect females, with female to male prevalence varying from 3:1 to 8:1. Sexual dimorphisms in masticatory muscle attachment morphometry and association with craniofacial size, critical for understanding sex-differences in TMJ function, have not been reported. The objective of this study was to determine sex-specific differences in three-dimensional (3D) TMJ muscle attachment morphometry and craniofacial sizes and their impact on TMJ mechanics.

Outcomes of Osteochondral Autograft Transplantation in Pediatric Patients With Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Capitellum.

Purpose: To assess the outcomes of osteochondral autograft transplantations in the treatment of osteochondritis dissecans of the capitellum in the pediatric population.

Methods: Between 2011 and 2016, 15 patients who had undergone osteochondral autograft transplantation at a mean age of 13.7 years at surgery were identified.

Depth- and direction-dependent changes in solute transport following cross-linking with riboflavin and UVA light in ex vivo porcine cornea.

Diffusion is an important mechanism of transport for nutrients and drugs throughout the avascular corneal stroma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the depth- and direction-dependent changes in stromal transport properties and their relationship to changes in collagen structure following ultraviolet A (UVA)-riboflavin induced corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL). After cross-linking in ex vivo porcine eyes, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) was performed to measure fluorescein diffusion in the nasal-temporal (NT) and anterior-posterior (AP) directions at corneal depths of 100, 200, and 300 μm.

Acculturation and Health Beliefs: Interactions Between Host and Heritage Culture Underlie Latina/o Caregivers' Beliefs About HPV Vaccination.

This study examined the interactive effects of acculturation (host culture acquisition) and enculturation (heritage culture retention) on Latina/o caregivers' beliefs about their child completing the human papillomavirus vaccine series. Participants were 161 caregiver-child dyads from Florida. Using multiple regression, caregiver knowledge and health beliefs (perceived threat, benefits, barriers, subjective norms, and self-efficacy) about series completion were predicted from caregivers' scores on acculturation, enculturation, and their interaction, controlling for sociodemographics.

Cardiovascular disease risk among rural residents living with diabetes and prediabetes: A cluster randomized trial.

Objective: Diabetes is a major health problem that is closely linked with cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death in the United States. The purpose of this analysis was to determine the effect of a culturally relevant diabetes health promotion program on diabetes knowledge and self-reported self-care behaviors.

Design: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 12 rural church settings.

Temporomandibular Joint Condyle-Disc Morphometric Sexual Dimorphisms Independent of Skull Scaling.

Purpose: Approximately 2 to 4% of the US population have been estimated to seek treatment for temporomandibular symptoms, predominately women. The study purpose was to determine whether sex-specific differences in temporomandibular morphometry result from scaling with sex differences in skull size and shape or intrinsic sex-specific differences.

Materials And Methods: A total of 22 (11 male [aged 74.

Predictors of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Completion Among Low-Income Latina/o Adolescents.

Purpose: The purpose of this longitudinal study was to identify individual and interpersonal factors associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series completion in a sample of low-income Latina/o adolescent girls and boys.

Methods: Caregiver-adolescent dyads (N = 161) were recruited from a rural Federally Qualified Health Center in southwest Florida when the adolescent (aged 11-17 years) received the first dose of HPV vaccine. Dyads completed a baseline assessment that measured demographic and cultural characteristics, past medical history, provider-patient communication, HPV knowledge, health beliefs about completing the series, and the adolescent's experience receiving the first dose.

Improving Cardiovascular Disease Knowledge among Rural Participants: The Results of a Cluster Randomized Trial.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death and disability, especially among people living in the rural, southern United States. Rural African Americans are often diagnosed with CVD earlier in life, and they bear a disproportionate burden of CVD risk factors, morbidity, and mortality. Health equity among historically underserved, rural populations can potentially be attained through culturally relevant interventions that teach people skills to stay well and avoid CVD-related risk and diagnoses.

Quantifying Baseline Fixed Charge Density in Healthy Human Cartilage Endplate: A Two-point Electrical Conductivity Method.

Study Design: Regional measurements of fixed charge densities (FCDs) of healthy human cartilage endplate (CEP) using a two-point electrical conductivity approach.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the FCDs at four different regions (central, lateral, anterior, and posterior) of human CEP, and correlate the FCDs with tissue biochemical composition.

Summary Of Background Data: The CEP, a thin layer of hyaline cartilage on the cranial and caudal surfaces of the intervertebral disc, plays an irreplaceable role in maintaining the unique physiological mechano-electrochemical environment inside the disc.

A Bayesian mixture model for missing data in marine mammal growth analysis.

Much of what is known about bottle nose dolphin () anatomy and physiology is based on necropsies from stranding events. Measurements of total body length, total body mass, and age are used to estimate growth. It is more feasible to retrieve and transport smaller animals for total body mass measurement than larger animals, introducing a systematic bias in sampling.

Promoting Heart Health Among Rural African Americans.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death for people living in the United States. African Americans bear a disproportionate burden of cardiovascular disease. Interventions designed to target multiple risk factors may facilitate elimination of cardiovascular disease health disparities.

Tensile biomechanical properties of human temporomandibular joint disc: Effects of direction, region and sex.

Approximately 30% of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders include degenerative changes to the articular disc, with sex-specific differences in prevalence and severity. Limited tensile biomechanical properties of human TMJ discs have been reported. Stress relaxation tests were conducted on TMJ disc specimens harvested bilaterally from six males and six females (68.

Region and strain-dependent diffusivities of glucose and lactate in healthy human cartilage endplate.

The cartilage endplate (CEP) is implicated as the main pathway of nutrient supply to the healthy human intervertebral disc (IVD). In this study, the diffusivities of nutrient/metabolite solutes in healthy CEP were assessed, and further correlated with tissue biochemical composition and structure. The CEPs from non-degenerated human IVD were divided into four regions: central, lateral, anterior, and posterior.

The region-dependent biomechanical and biochemical properties of bovine cartilaginous endplate.

Regional biomechanical and biochemical properties of bovine cartilaginous endplate (CEP) and its role in disc mechanics and nutrition were determined. The equilibrium aggregate modulus and hydraulic permeability between the central and lateral regions were examined by confined compression testing. Biochemical assays were conducted to quantify the amount of water, collagen, and glycosaminoglycan (GAG).

Ordinal Logic Regression: A classifier for discovering combinations of binary markers for ordinal outcomes.

In medicine, it is often useful to stratify patients according to disease risk, severity, or response to therapy. Since many diseases arise from complex gene-gene and gene-environment interactions, patient strata may be defined by combinations of genetic and environmental factors. Traditional statistical methods require specifying interactions making it difficult to identify high order interactions.