Combining pertinent data from multiple studies can increase the robustness of epidemiological investigations. Effective "pre-statistical" data harmonization is paramount to the streamlined conduct of collective, multi-study analysis. Harmonizing data and documenting decisions about the transformations of variables to a common set of categorical values and measurement scales are time consuming and can be error prone, particularly for numerous studies with large quantities of variables. The R package facilitates harmonization by combining multiple datasets, applying data transformation functions, and creating long and wide harmonized datasets. The user provides transformation instructions in a "harmonization sheet" that includes dataset names, variable names, and coding instructions and centrally tracks all decisions. The package performs harmonization, generates error logs as necessary, and creates summary reports of harmonized data. is poised to serve as a central feature of data preparation for the joint analysis of multiple studies.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2024.101003 | DOI Listing |
Pain
February 2025
Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
Chronic pain is a pervasive and debilitating condition with increasing implications for public health, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Despite its high prevalence, the underlying neural mechanisms and pathophysiology remain only partly understood. Since its introduction 35 years ago, brain diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged as a powerful tool to investigate changes in white matter microstructure and connectivity associated with chronic pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVis Comput Ind Biomed Art
January 2025
School of Engineering Medicine and School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Fluorescence endoscopy technology utilizes a light source of a specific wavelength to excite the fluorescence signals of biological tissues. This capability is extremely valuable for the early detection and precise diagnosis of pathological changes. Identifying a suitable experimental approach and metric for objectively and quantitatively assessing the imaging quality of fluorescence endoscopy is imperative to enhance the image evaluation criteria of fluorescence imaging technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
January 2025
Division of Clinical Geriatrics, Center for Alzheimer Research, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
Background: We sought to characterize the cognitive profile among individuals with mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies (MCI-LB) to help guide future clinical criteria.
Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis included MCI-LB studies with cognitive data from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and PsycINFO (January 1990 to March 2023). MCI-LB scores were compared to controls, MCI due to Alzheimer's disease (MCI-AD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) groups with random-effects models.
J Trauma Acute Care Surg
October 2024
From the Department of Surgery (S.W.S., C.R.C.-L., S.D., T.W.C., M.A.N., J.R., J.B.H., J.O.J.), Center for Injury Science, and Department of Epidemiology (R.L.G.), University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Avania Clinical (S.G.), Marlborough, Massachusetts; CSL Behring (A.S., J.C., S.R.S., B.G., J.R., J.D.), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Office of Institutional Review Board (A.J.M.), University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Advarra (L.G., A.H.), Columbia, Maryland; and Department of Surgery (B.J.), University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Background: The interactive media-based approach to community consultation and public disclosure (CC/PD), a key step when conducting exception from informed consent (EFIC) clinical trials, is intended to be completed in 4 months. This analysis characterizes the process, from initiation of CC/PD activities to institutional review board approval, to better understand the barriers and how these can be mitigated.
Methods: This is a retrospective post hoc analysis of data collected as part of the CC/PD campaigns conducted for a large trial involving up to 90 trauma centers in the United States.
Crit Rev Toxicol
January 2025
Syngenta, Bracknell, United Kingdom.
While progress has been made in recent years, there are still no suitable and accepted , or models that can be used to accurately predict whether a chemical substance has the intrinsic property to cause immune-mediated chemical respiratory allergy, typically manifested as allergic asthma or allergic rhinitis which represents a severe health hazard. Regulatory authorities have relied primarily on clinical evidence (case reports, clinical databases, worker exposure studies) to classify substances as respiratory sensitizers, but this evidence can lack a proven immunological mechanism which is necessary to identify substances which can cause life-long sensitization and clinically relevant allergic symptoms in the respiratory tract in an exposed population (such respiratory allergens may be considered as "true" sensitizers, in analogy to the definition of skin sensitization, and in contrast to respiratory irritants). In light of this, the European Center for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals convened a Task Force to evaluate the types of clinical methods and data sources and the implications of relying on such data for regulatory decision making from a scientific perspective.
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