An intuitive risk factors search algorithm: usage of the Bayesian network technique in personalized medicine

The article focuses on the application of the Bayesian networks (BN) technique to problems of personalized medicine. The simple (intuitive) algorithm of BN optimization with respect to the number of nodes using naive network topology is developed. This algorithm allows to increase the BN prediction quality and to identify the most important variables of the network. The parallel program implementing the algorithm has demonstrated good scalability with an increase in the computational cores number, and it can be applied to the large patients database containing thousands of variables. This program is applied for the prediction for the unfavorable outcome of coronary artery disease (CAD) for patients who survived the acute coronary syndrome (ACS). As a result, the quality of the predictions of the investigated networks was significantly improved and the most important risk factors were detected. The significance of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene polymorphism for the prediction of the unfavorable outcome of CAD for patients survived after ACS was revealed for the first time.     

Interview schedule development for a Sequential explanatory mixed method design: complementary-alternative medicine (CAM) study among Indonesian psychologists

Sequential explanatory mixed method design is the most frequently applied in both health and social sciences literature. It is denoted by ‘QUAN → qual’ which represents the quantitative study occurs first and has greater weight in addressing the study’s aims, and the qualitative study follows to explain quantitative results. Despite the extensive use of sequential explanatory design, there are limited references to this design. Therefore, this methodological paper attempts to fill the gap by providing an illustration in developing a sequential explanatory interview schedule based on complementary-alternative medicine (CAM) study among clinical psychologists in Indonesia. The most important step to develop sequential explanatory interview schedule was the construction of aspects and questions that were immensely grounded on the most notable quantitative results. In this study, eight aspects of interview schedule were constructed after analyses of the nationwide survey. The interview schedule then piloted among participants with fairly similar characteristics to the participants in the main interviews. This process enhanced the quality of questions through feedback from participants and improved the interviewer’s skills through familiarization with questions. It is expected that this reflection report could be adopted as a practical guideline in developing interview schedule for sequential explanatory mixed method design, particularly in the field of psychology.     

The case of vegetovascular dystonia: inventing the most common Soviet disease

ABSTRACT

The paper considers the case of vegetovascular dystonia, one of the most typical and common “Soviet” diseases. This syndrome emerged in Soviet medicine after World War II, and very quickly become a popular diagnosis among physicians. The author describes how the construct of vegetovascular dystonia was formed and developed, what changes it underwent, and what affected those changes. The concept and history of vegetovascular dystonia can provide an understanding of Soviet medicine and health science in general.     

Implementing a college mental health program – an overview of the first twelve months

Objective: To evaluate the demographics and clinical utilization patterns among college students during the initial 12 months of a novel, multi-disciplinary, collaborative, college mental health program (CMHP). Participants: Undergraduate and graduate students receiving treatment at the CMHP from Jan-Dec 2015. Methods: De-identified data was obtained via electronic health records for all students receiving care through the CMHP. Results: 1.2 FTE clinical providers treated 278 undergraduate and graduate students during the year (65.1% < age 26, 53.6% female, 49.6% caucasian). There were 1822 CMHP outpatient visits, 318 other medical visits and 103 total emergency room (ER)/inpatient visits. Ten students were identified as high utilizers of ER/inpatient services, while charges to the CMHP totaled $470,157 and total charges to the Health System were $2,378,315. Conclusions: Students with complex psychiatric/medical co-morbidities received cost effective, convenient and integrative treatment. Over time, we hope to intervene earlier and decrease ER/inpatient visits.     

Development of predictive signatures for treatment selection in precision medicine with survival outcomes

For survival endpoints in subgroup selection, a score conversion model is often used to convert the set of biomarkers for each patient into a univariate score and using the median of the univariate scores to divide the patients into biomarker‐positive and biomarker‐negative subgroups. However, this may lead to bias in patient subgroup identification regarding the 2 issues: (1) treatment is equally effective for all patients and/or there is no subgroup difference; (2) the median value of the univariate scores as a cutoff may be inappropriate if the sizes of the 2 subgroups are differ substantially. We utilize a univariate composite score method to convert the set of patient's candidate biomarkers to a univariate response score. We propose applying the likelihood ratio test (LRT) to assess homogeneity of the sampled patients to address the first issue. In the context of identification of the subgroup of responders in adaptive design to demonstrate improvement of treatment efficacy (adaptive power), we suggest that subgroup selection is carried out if the LRT is significant. For the second issue, we utilize a likelihood‐based change‐point algorithm to find an optimal cutoff. Our simulation study shows that type I error generally is controlled, while the overall adaptive power to detect treatment effects sacrifices approximately 4.5% for the simulation designs considered by performing the LRT; furthermore, the change‐point algorithm outperforms the median cutoff considerably when the subgroup sizes differ substantially.     

江苏省核医学科关于新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情防控工作的意见和建议

新型冠状病毒感染的暴发已成为全球最具挑战性的公共卫生突发事件。在我国新型冠状病毒感染的肺炎被纳入传染病防治法规定的乙类传染病,采取甲类传染病管理。核医学科作为多个临床科室的“桥梁”,在实验室检查、临床影像检查及核素治疗中扮演重要角色,是科学防控的关键部门。为切实做好疫情防控工作,保证医疗质量和医疗安全,现根据核医学学科特点和性质及新型冠状病毒肺炎流行病学和传播特点,制定江苏省核医学科防控意见和建议。     

江苏省徐州市中医文化软实力研究

中医是我国优秀的文化资源,也是文化软实力的重要组成部分,提升江苏省中医文化软实力是健康江苏建设的重要任务。文章以增强徐州市中医文化软实力,传承中医文化为目的。从知识生产力、价值吸引力和社会影响力三个维度具体分析江苏省徐州市中医文化内涵,根据《中国卫生统计年鉴》的相关数据,总结徐州市中医文化软实力的优势和不足。     

"乌日贡"大会与赫哲族民间文化遗产的抢救和保护

"乌日贡"大会是以赫哲族传统渔猎文化为背景,以表现古今赫哲人生产生活为主题,集民族民间文化体育项目为一体的综合性民族节日.在赫哲族传统渔猎文化逐渐成为濒危文化遗产之际,"乌日贡"大会无疑承载着抢救和保护文化遗产的重任.     

藏族棋文化的见证——关于在强巴敏久林宫遗址发现的藏族石刻棋盘的学术报告

文章是作者赴墨竹工卡县甲玛乡吐蕃赞普松赞干布出生地强巴敏久林宫遗址,对亲眼所见的藏族石刻棋盘进行调查研究的一篇报告文章。作者通过对藏棋的名称、规则、判定输赢的方法等作的介绍,以及对这块石刻棋盘和有关的藏族历史所作的研究,认为早在佛教传入西藏之前,藏围棋已在藏区广泛流传,是藏区喜闻乐见的一种娱乐活动,并且传播到中国西藏周边国家和地区,具有鲜明的藏民族特点。最后,作者呼吁学者加强对藏棋的研究,并殷切希望各级文物管理部门,加强对珍贵文物的保护,以免这些珍贵文物被倒卖和毁坏。     

数字化趋势下的回族古籍整理与研究

当代科学的数字化趋势给古籍整理研究带来挑战和机遇,汉古籍文献数字化成果给我们很多启示。在这一社会背景下,回族古籍整理与研究将如何面对数字化,数字化过程中会遇到哪些难题,是每个回族古籍整理研究者思考和关心的问题。本文提出并尝试着探讨这些问题,以期引起同行对回族古籍文献数字化的重视和探索。