Volume 39 (2014): Issue 1 (December 2014)

Principal Component Analysis is one of the data mining methods that can be used to analyze multidimensional datasets. The main objective of this method is a reduction of the number of studied variables with the mainte- nance of as much information as possible, uncovering the structure of the data, its visualization as well as classification of the objects within the space defined by the newly created components. PCA is very often used as a preliminary step in data preparation through the creation of independent components for further analysis. We used the PCA method as a first step in analyzing data from IVF (in vitro fertilization). The next step and main purpose of the analysis was to create models that predict pregnancy. Therefore, 805 different types of IVF cy- cles were analyzed and pregnancy was correctly classified in 61-80% of cases for different analyzed groups in obtained models.

This article concerns the problem of assessing selected body compo- sition parameters after completion of antitumor therapy and comparing them with the same parameters of healthy children. A high percentage of overweight and obesity, as well as abnormal fat distribution in convalescents with cancer shows a significant adverse effect of therapy on body composition and suggests the need for early intervention in terms of diet and exercise, which would help patients to quickly achieve the proper parameters of body composition. Two main problems will be mentioned during the presented data analysis. Firstly, in each group there was a small number of observations. Because of this, the real differences between examined subgroups may have been omitted. Secondarily, many variables are correlated and are not normally distributed. Therefore, be- side the standard statistical tests to compare two groups, principal component analysis was applied to reduce the dimensions of the attribute space and to attempt to classify two groups of patients.

This study aims at demonstrating the usefulness of the Pareto in- clusive criterion methodology for comparative analyses of fungi toxicity. The toxicity of fungi is usually measured using a scale of several ranks. In practice, the ranks of toxicity are routinely grouped into only four conventional classes of toxicity: from a class of no toxicity, low toxicity, and moderate toxicity, to a class of high toxicity. The illustrative material included the N = 61 fungi samples obtained from three species: A. ochraceus, A. niger and A. flavus. In accordance with the Pareto approach, four partial criterions of the worst toxi- city were defined, a single criterion used for each conventional class of toxicity. Finally, the odds ratios (OR) were calculated separately for each partial cri- terion, and the significance of the hypotheses OR = 1 was estimated. It was stated that A. ochraceus fungi are distinctly more toxic than the two remaining ones with respect to the all considered four partial criterions, with significance equal to p = 0.04, p = 0.04, p = 0.007 and p = 0.005, respectively. Thus, the suggested method illustrated its utility in the case under study.

The youngest population in society is recognized as that at the healthiest stage of life but is burdened by the occurrence of premature death that should be avoidable. There is a need to use adequate statistical methods in assessing the health status of the population of developmental age. The aim of the study was to analyze trends of mortality in children and adolescents by age and gender in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the years 2003-2012 by joinpoint regression and to identify the causes of mortality. The mortality rate was analysed according to gender and the age groups: 0, 1-4, 5-9, 10-14 and 15-19 years in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. The data were obtained from the Central Statistical Office for the period 2003-2012. Differences in mortality levels between age and gender subgroups were obtained by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Join- point regression was used to analyze the trends in mortality. The nomenclature of ICD-10 was used to assess the causes of mortality of children and adolescents. In the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the years 2003-2012 in the 0-19-year-old age group, the highest proportion of deaths (42.4%) occurred during the first year of life. There were differences in mortality rates between boys (8.0/10⁴) and girls (3.1/10⁴) in the 15-19-year-old age group (p < 0.01), and also between the 1-14-year-old and 15-19-year-old age groups (p < 0.01), both among boys (2.1/10⁴ vs. 8.0/10⁴) and girls (1.5/10⁴ vs. 3.1/10⁴). Monotonous trends were shown regarding total mortality rates in infants. There was a drop in the mortality rate of infant girls (AAPC = 5.3%, p < 0.05) and boys (AAPC = 4.7%, p < 0.05). Changes in the direction of the total mortality rate trend were visible in the population of boys aged 1-14 years, in which, between 2003 and 2010, a significant reduction in mortality (AAPC = 9.5%) was observed, while in the years 2010-2012 the trend was not significant. No statistical evidence was found that mortality changed among girls in the 1-14-year-old and 15-19-year-old age groups. Deaths in infancy were due to perinatal conditions and congenital mal- formations. The main causes of mortality in the 1-19-year-old age group were external causes, mainly traffic accidents and intentional self-harm. Joinpoint regression indicated a uniform decrease of mortality in the years 2003-2012 except for boys from 1-14 years old, for whom the decreasing trend was for the years 2003-2010 with subsequent stabilization. The main problems are still infant deaths due to perinatal conditions, traffic accidents and intentional self-harm in boys in the 15-19-year-old age group.

The IVF ET method is a scientifically recognized infertility treat- ment method. The problem, however, is this method’s unsatisfactory efficiency. This calls for a more thorough analysis of the information available in the treat- ment process, in order to detect the factors that have an effect on the results, as well as to effectively predict result of treatment. Classical statistical methods have proven to be inadequate in this issue. Only the use of modern methods of data mining gives hope for a more effective analysis of the collected data. This work provides an overview of the new methods used for the analysis of data on infertility treatment, and formulates a proposal for further directions for research into increasing the efficiency of the predicted result of the treatment process.

Maintenance of proper health and prevention of diseases of civilization are now significant public health problems. Nutrition is an important factor in the development of youth, as well as the current and future state of health. The aim of the study was to show the benefits of the application of cluster analysis to assess the dietary habits of high school students. The survey was carried out on 1,631 eighteen-year-old students in seven randomly selected secondary schools in Bialystok using a self-prepared anonymous questionnaire. An evaluation of the time of day meals were eaten and the number of meals consumed was made for the surveyed students. The cluster analysis allowed distinguishing characteristic structures of dietary habits in the observed population. Four clusters were identified, which were characterized by relative internal homogeneity and substantial variation in terms of the number of meals during the day and the time of their consumption. The most important characteristics of cluster 1 were cumulated food ration in 2 or 3 meals and long intervals between meals. Cluster 2 was characterized by eating the recommended number of 4 or 5 meals a day. In the 3^rd cluster, students ate 3 meals a day with large intervals between them, and in the 4^th they had four meals a day while maintaining proper intervals between them. In all clusters dietary mistakes occurred, but most of them were related to clusters 1 and 3. Cluster analysis allowed for the identification of major flaws in nutrition, which may include irregular eating and skipping meals, and indicated possible connections between eating patterns and disturbances of body weight in the examined population.

In this study, the well-known CES-D depression scale was considered as a prototypical tool for assessing an individual’s inclination to respond at random. It was postulated that the set of the responses obtained from the participants of a questionnaire survey could be divided into three classes: the honest responses class; the pure random class, characterized by the same prob- ability of each admissible score; the smart random class, characterized by the same distribution of the probability of scores as in the honest responses class. A two-step classifying procedure was recommended. According to this procedure, the first step should be to separate the pure random responses from the others. As needed, at the second step the smart random responses should be separated from the honest responses. The CES-D scale consists of sixteen direct questions and four reverse questions, each question with four admissible score values, 0, 1, 2, or 3. The material for the analyses includes all of the 4 294 967 296 possible arrangements of the four scores for the sixteen direct questions, and all of the 256 arrangements of the four scores for the four reverse questions, and all of the possible 49 · 13 = 637 pairs of the possible values of the mean scores from the sixteen direct questions and from the four reverse questions, respectively. It was assumed, without loss of generality, that the honest responses to the sixteen direct questions lead to the resulting distribution: P = (8/16; 5/16; 2/16; 1/16), for a score equal to 0, 1, 2, or 3, respectively. The original iterative procedure was used to compute the exact distributions of the mean scores in the pure random class, and in the smart random class. The discriminant ability to dis- tinguish between the two classes was characterized with the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. In result, the excellent discriminant properties of the CES-D were confirmed. The area under the ROC curve was estimated equal to AUC = 0.98 with standard error SE = 0.004 for the screening of the pure random responses from all of the others, and equal to AUC = 0.87 with standard error SE = 0.006 for the purpose of distinguishing the smart random responses from the honest ones.

This article presents an overview of generally available applications for creating multimedia and interactive educational materials, such as presentations, instructional videos, self-tests and interactive repetitions. With the use of the presented tools, pilot materials were developed to support the teaching of biostatistics at a medical university. The authors conducted surveys among students of faculties of medicine in order to evaluate the materials used in terms of quality and usefulness. The article presents the analysis of the results obtained.

This article shows the organization of distance learning, particularly the idea of b-learning, combining the accomplishment of classes carried on in the traditional way and via computers. The authors present learning activities related to complementary education herein. Some of these course types may be successfully adapted to an e-learning background. The models and structure of the university virtual environment for distance learning are described. These illustrate a new approach to creating a virtual space for medical and technical studies where e-learning courses are created to be used for distance education, which allows students to be taught more effectively. The projected virtual courses for different groups of students ensure individualization of students’ work, which could be a relevant element for creating the shortest path of development of professional competencies. This paper further includes a brief overview of technologies used to build interactive elements into learning mate- rials. The authors present the use of interactive elements in medical education based on examples of certain selected games and animations.

The goal of this article is to present the possibility of using Diagnosis- Related Groups (DRG) in the hospital management process and to analyse the need for business performance management on the part of hospital management staff. The following research methods were used: literature analysis, case studies, and poll analysis. It is not possible to increase the effectiveness of operation of healthcare entities without increasing the importance of IT systems and using DRG more effectively in the management process. Training users in IT and the use of DRGs is important to achieving hospital effectiveness. The increased importance of analyses and planning in a hospital should be reflected in the organisational structure of service providers. Hospital controllers should have a similar role to those present in most companies in other industries.

Health Care Centres are institutions which, because of their specificity and character, are particularly exposed to various kinds of risk. One of the most important and most frequently used methods of risk management is the black spots method. The research material collected for the study comes from one of the hospitals in Wrocław. All hospital stays of the C22 (Face and Jaw Surgery Ward) and H05 (Injury and Orthopaedics Surgery Ward) settlement groups (DRG) were analysed - a total of 178 hospitalisations. The black spots method was used in the study, which consisted of risk identification, the ordering of threats and proposals for remedial actions. Using the black spots method, it was possible to identify adverse events that occurred during the hospitalisation of patients with H05 and C22 DRGs in the Injury and Orthopaedics Surgery Ward and Facial and Jaw Surgery Ward. In both cases, the treatment costs for patients with complications were higher than for the stays without complications.

The goal of the article is to compare methods of financing ARs and ERs based on the data from the 1^st half of 2013 and 1^st half of 2014 from the K. Jonscher 3^rd Municipal Hospital in Lodz. All the stays in the AR/ER in the 1^st half of 2013 and the 1^st half of 2014 were analysed. Based on the presented data, it can be clearly seen that the new method of financing AR/ER services proposed by the NFZ will beyond doubt have negative outcomes, and will certainly not improve the financial situation of hospitals.