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Compliance with ethical standards:
Guarantor:
The scientific guarantor of this publication is XXX.
Conflict of interest:
The authors of this manuscript declare relationships with the following companies: XXX.
The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies, whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.
Funding:
This study has received funding by XXX.
The authors state that this work has not received any funding.
Statistics and biometry:
XXX kindly provided statistical advice for this manuscript.
One of the authors has significant statistical expertise.
No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.
Informed consent:
Only if the study is on human subjects:
Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects (patients) in this study.
Written informed consent was not required for this study because XXX.
Written informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board.
Ethical approval:
Institutional Review Board approval was obtained.
Institutional Review Board approval was not required because XXX.
Only if the study is on animals:
Approval from the institutional animal care committee was obtained.
Approval from the institutional animal care committee was not required because XXX.
Study subjects or cohorts overlap:
Some study subjects or cohorts have been previously reported in XXX.
Methodology:
· prospective / retrospective
· case-control study / cross sectional study / randomised controlled trial / diagnostic or prognostic study / observational / experimental
· multicentre study / performed at one institution