Home Advantage and Away Disadvantage of Teams in Champions League: Is It Valid for All Teams and Against Every Opponent?

The home advantage (HA) is a robust phenomenon in soccer whereby the home team wins more games and scores more goals than the away team. Similarly, away disadvantage (AD) means that an away team loses more games or scores less goals than the home team. This study examines the HA and AD values of teams in the UEFA-Champions League, covering the seasons from 2003/2004 to 2021/2022, a total of 2,344 matches. Controlling for team ability differences, the study revealed significant variations in HA, ranging from 32.1% to 79.5%, while AD values ranged from 45.1% to 71.9%. The study further found that HA remained consistent for teams across both the group and knockout stages, while AD varied between these stages. Furthermore, the results suggest that, for certain teams, HA is predominantly manifested against weaker opponents, and the impact of opponent strength on HA and AD is limited.

Blood biomarkers in acute ischemic stroke: The prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and mean platelet volume.

BACKGROUND: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and mean platelet volume (MPV) reflect systemic inflammation, which plays an important role in the process of treating ischemic strokes. Few studies have evaluated the association between blood biomarkers and clinical outcomes in ischemic strokes in intensive care units (ICUs). OBJECTIVES: This retrospective study aims to explore the relationship between blood biomarkers and the clinical outcomes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Basic descriptive statistics of the patients admitted to the ICU with the diagnosis of AIS according to sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory findings were collected. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the cutoff point for NLR and MPV variables based on the diagnosis in statistical analyses and crosstab analyses of variables. The χ2 and Fisher's exact tests were used to assess the statistical relationship between categorical variables. In addition, the odds ratio (OR) was utilized to show the strength of the relationship between the categorical NLR, MPV and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) variables. Finally, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the medians of 2 independent groups. RESULTS: A total of 1,379 records were identified in the database search. Eighty-seven patients who met the inclusion criteria and were hospitalized in the ICU were included in the study. The optimal cutoff point was determined to be 4.0 for NLR and 9.0 for the MPV. A statistically significant relationship was found between high medians of the NLR and the MPV and unfavorable functional outcomes using a 5% significance level (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We showed that the NLR and MPV are associated with stroke severity, unfavorable functional outcomes and mortality in AIS. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms and treatment strategies of AIS. The results show that these accessible values can be used as independent predictive biomarkers.

The prediction of myometrial infiltration by three-dimensional ultrasonography in patients with endometrial carcinoma: a validation study from Ege University Hospital.

AIM: To predict the myometrial invasion with three-dimensional (3D) ultrasonography in a cohort of patients with endometrial carcinoma by a previously described technique. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The moyometrial infiltration was evaluated by 3D ultrasonography before surgery in 54 patients with endometrial carcinoma. After scanning the whole uterus by ultrasonography, three perpendicular planes were identified to find the shortest myometrial tumor-free distance to serosa (TDS) by examining the lateral, anterior, posterior, and fundal parts of the myometrium. Myometrial infiltration was also estimated by the subjective impression of the examiner. The reference standards consist of myometrial infiltration and TDS which are measured by an experienced pathologist. RESULTS: Forty-five patients (age range 45-86 years) were included for the final analysis. Myometrial invasion was ˂50% in 36 and ≥50% in 9 cases at histologic sections. The TDS which is measured with 3D ultrasonography was positively correlated with histologically measured TDS (r=0.474, p=0.001). The best cut-off value for ultrasonographically measured TDS was 9 mm with a sensitivity of 89%, specificity of 61%, positive predictive value of 36%, and negative predictive value of 96%. Subjective impression has a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 88%, positive predictive value of 69%, and negative predictive value of 100%. Cervical involvement was correctly identified in all 6 cases by subjective impression. CONCLUSION: This validation study confirms the 3D ultrasonography as a valuable tool for the evaluation of myometrial infiltration in patients with endometrial carcinoma.

Validation and adaptation of the Modified Transplant Symptom Occurrence and Symptom Distress Scale-59 Items Revised into Turkish.

CONTEXT: The Modified Transplant Symptom Occurrence and Symptom Distress Scale-59 Items Revised (MTSOSD-59R) is a validated self-reported scale assessing patients' subjective experiences of adverse effects of immunosuppressants. It has been reported that the scale should be adapted and validated before it is used in patients of a different cultural (Brazilian, Dutch, German, French, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish) background. OBJECTIVE: To validate and adapt the MTSOSD-59R for use in Turkish transplant recipients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed between March 2010 and February 2011, and included 180 liver and kidney transplant recipients treated in 2 university hospitals in western Turkey. In addition, 180 healthy control participants were recruited from a community health service. Data were collected by using a demographic and clinical characteristics scale (MTSOSD-59R) and the Beck Depression Inventory. Items were translated in a culturally sensitive way by using forward-backward translation. Content validity was evaluated by using the content validity index. Ridit analysis and descriptive statistics helped to describe symptom experience in our population, and Mann Whitney U testing was used to compare patients versus healthy controls, depressed versus nondepressed patients, and male versus female patients for validity purposes. Split-half reliability analysis was used. RESULTS: The content validity index was perfect (ie, value 1.0); the Turkish translation of the MTSOSD-59R had excellent known group validity. Split-half Spearman Brown corrected reliability coefficient was 0.991 for symptom occurrence and 0.992 for symptom distress. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the Turkish scale has appropriate language, content, and construct validity. This scale can now be used to assess the symptom experience related to immunosuppressive therapy in Turkish organ transplant recipients.

An observational study on peripheral blood eosinophilia in incomplete Kawasaki disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the peripheral blood eosinophilia (PBE) in the acute stage of incomplete Kawasaki disease (iKD). METHODS: Twenty-four patients with iKD (median age; 31.5 months, range; 7-88 months) and 25 with complete Kawasaki disease (cKD) (median age; 37 months, range; 9-140 months) were evaluated between 2004 and 2010 from Izmir Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital records retrospectively. We determined the eosinophil counts and rates from the complete blood count in two study groups before the IVIG treatment and 30 febrile age-matched controls and 30 control cases with congenital heart disease (control Group 1 and 2 respectively). Kruskal-Wallis test was performed in detecting the differences of eosinophil rates and counts between four subgroups. RESULTS: In iKD group, the mean value of eosinophil rates and median value of eosinophil counts were 4.39±2.5% and 377 cells/mm(3), respectively, which did not significantly different with cKD group (mean eosinophil rates; 5.47±4.8% and median eosinophil counts 525 cells/mm(3)) (p>0.05). The median values of eosinophil cell counts and mean value of eosinophil rates were 220 cell/mm(3) and 2.83±2.65% in the control group 1 and 165 cell/mm(3) and 1.63±1.43% in the control Group 2 respectively, which were statistically significant lower compared to both study groups (p< 0.001). CONCLUSION: The rate of PBE was found significantly higher in iKD patients compared to the controls. Since the diagnosis of iKD is difficult, unexplained eosinophilia may be helpful in the presence of suggestive clinical findings of KD.

Predictors of chronic valvular disease in patients with rheumatic carditis.

This study investigated the predictors of chronic valvular disease in children with rheumatic carditis. The short- to mid-term follow-up records of 88 patients (mean age, 10.68 ± 2.5 years) with chronic rheumatic heart disease were reviewed. The mean follow-up period was 2.95 ± 1.4 years. Valvular involvement completely improved for 24 of the patients (27%) during the follow-up period. The multivariate logistic regression analysis found initial left ventricular dilation to be a significant independent risk factor associated with the persistence of either valvular involvement or mitral regurgitation. Furthermore, persistence of mitral regurgitation was found to be strongly correlated with cardiac murmur at admission. No significant correlation was detected between age, gender, severity of valvular involvements at initial evaluation, and chronic valvular disease. The majority of patients with rheumatic carditis had normal left ventricular systolic function. However, a significant proportion of patients had left ventricular dilation, reported in the medical literature to be associated with the severity of valve involvement. This study found no relation between initial severity of valve involvements and chronic valvular disease. For this reason, increased left ventricular end-diastolic diameter may be secondary to myocardial involvement independent of valvular regurgitation. The findings in this study also suggest that subclinic carditis had a better outcome than clinically evident carditis.