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Sample records for function tests predict

  1. Do functional tests predict low back pain?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takala, E P; Viikari-Juntura, E

    2000-08-15

    A cohort of 307 nonsymptomatic workers and another cohort of 123 workers with previous episodes of low back pain were followed up for 2 years. The outcomes were measured by symptoms, medical consultations, and sick leaves due to low back disorders. To study the predictive value of a set of tests measuring the physical performance of the back in a working population. The hypothesis was that subjects with poor functional capacity are liable to back disorders. Reduced functional performance has been associated with back pain. There are few data to show whether reduced functional capacity is a cause or a consequence of pain. Mobility of the trunk in forward and side bending, maximal isokinetic trunk extension, flexion and lifting strength, and static endurance of back extension were measured. Standing balance and foot reaction time were recorded with a force plate. Clinical tests for the provocation of back or leg pain were performed. Gender, workload, age, and anthropometrics were managed as potential confounders in the analysis. Marked overlapping was seen in the measures of the subjects with different outcomes. Among the nonsymptomatic subjects, low performance in tests of mobility and standing balance was associated with future back disorders. Among workers with previous episodes of back pain, low isokinetic extension strength, poor standing balance, and positive clinical signs predicted future pain. Some associations were found between the functional tests and future low back pain. The wide variation in the results questions the value of the tests in health examinations (e.g., in screening or surveillance of low back disorders).

  2. Clinical history and biologic age predicted falls better than objective functional tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerdhem, Paul; Ringsberg, Karin A M; Akesson, Kristina; Obrant, Karl J

    2005-03-01

    Fall risk assessment is important because the consequences, such as a fracture, may be devastating. The objective of this study was to find the test or tests that best predicted falls in a population-based sample of elderly women. The fall-predictive ability of a questionnaire, a subjective estimate of biologic age and objective functional tests (gait, balance [Romberg and sway test], thigh muscle strength, and visual acuity) were compared in 984 randomly selected women, all 75 years of age. A recalled fall was the most important predictor for future falls. Only recalled falls and intake of psycho-active drugs independently predicted future falls. Women with at least five of the most important fall predictors (previous falls, conditions affecting the balance, tendency to fall, intake of psychoactive medication, inability to stand on one leg, high biologic age) had an odds ratio of 11.27 (95% confidence interval 4.61-27.60) for a fall (sensitivity 70%, specificity 79%). The more time-consuming objective functional tests were of limited importance for fall prediction. A simple clinical history, the inability to stand on one leg, and a subjective estimate of biologic age were more important as part of the fall risk assessment.

  3. A physical function test for use in the intensive care unit: validity, responsiveness, and predictive utility of the physical function ICU test (scored).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denehy, Linda; de Morton, Natalie A; Skinner, Elizabeth H; Edbrooke, Lara; Haines, Kimberley; Warrillow, Stephen; Berney, Sue

    2013-12-01

    Several tests have recently been developed to measure changes in patient strength and functional outcomes in the intensive care unit (ICU). The original Physical Function ICU Test (PFIT) demonstrates reliability and sensitivity. The aims of this study were to further develop the original PFIT, to derive an interval score (the PFIT-s), and to test the clinimetric properties of the PFIT-s. A nested cohort study was conducted. One hundred forty-four and 116 participants performed the PFIT at ICU admission and discharge, respectively. Original test components were modified using principal component analysis. Rasch analysis examined the unidimensionality of the PFIT, and an interval score was derived. Correlations tested validity, and multiple regression analyses investigated predictive ability. Responsiveness was assessed using the effect size index (ESI), and the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) was calculated. The shoulder lift component was removed. Unidimensionality of combined admission and discharge PFIT-s scores was confirmed. The PFIT-s displayed moderate convergent validity with the Timed "Up & Go" Test (r=-.60), the Six-Minute Walk Test (r=.41), and the Medical Research Council (MRC) sum score (rho=.49). The ESI of the PFIT-s was 0.82, and the MCID was 1.5 points (interval scale range=0-10). A higher admission PFIT-s score was predictive of: an MRC score of ≥48, increased likelihood of discharge home, reduced likelihood of discharge to inpatient rehabilitation, and reduced acute care hospital length of stay. Scoring of sit-to-stand assistance required is subjective, and cadence cutpoints used may not be generalizable. The PFIT-s is a safe and inexpensive test of physical function with high clinical utility. It is valid, responsive to change, and predictive of key outcomes. It is recommended that the PFIT-s be adopted to test physical function in the ICU.

  4. The predictive value of respiratory function tests for non-invasive ventilation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

    OpenAIRE

    Tilanus, T. B. M.; Groothuis, J. T.; TenBroek-Pastoor, J. M. C.; Feuth, T. B.; Heijdra, Y. F.; Slenders, J. P. L.; Doorduin, J.; Van Engelen, B. G.; Kampelmacher, M. J.; Raaphorst, J.

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) improves survival and quality of life in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. The timing of referral to a home ventilation service (HVS), which is in part based on respiratory function tests, has shown room for improvement. It is currently unknown which respiratory function test predicts an appropriate timing of the initiation of NIV. METHODS: We analysed, retrospectively, serial data of five respiratory function tests: forced vital capacity...

  5. The predictive value of respiratory function tests for non-invasive ventilation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tilanus, T B M; Groothuis, J T; TenBroek-Pastoor, J M C; Feuth, T B; Heijdra, Y F; Slenders, J P L; Doorduin, J; Van Engelen, B G; Kampelmacher, M J; Raaphorst, J

    2017-07-25

    Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) improves survival and quality of life in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. The timing of referral to a home ventilation service (HVS), which is in part based on respiratory function tests, has shown room for improvement. It is currently unknown which respiratory function test predicts an appropriate timing of the initiation of NIV. We analysed, retrospectively, serial data of five respiratory function tests: forced vital capacity (FVC), peak cough flow (PCF), maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressure (MIP and MEP) and sniff nasal inspiratory pressure (SNIP) in patients with ALS. Patients who had had at least one assessment of respiratory function and one visit at the HVS, were included. Our aim was to detect the test with the highest predictive value for the need for elective NIV in the following 3 months. We analysed time curves, currently used cut-off values for referral, and respiratory function test results between 'NIV indication' and 'no-NIV indication' patients. One hundred ten patients with ALS were included of whom 87 received an NIV indication; 11.5% had one assessment before receiving an NIV indication, 88.5% had two or more assessments. The NIV indication was based on complaints of hypoventilation and/or proven (nocturnal) hypercapnia. The five respiratory function tests showed a descending trend during disease progression, where SNIP showed the greatest decline within the latest 3 months before NIV indication (mean = -22%). PCF at the time of referral to the HVS significantly discriminated between the groups 'NIV-indication' and 'no NIV-indication yet' patients at the first HVS visit: 259 (±92) vs. 348 (±137) L/min, p = 0.019. PCF and SNIP showed the best predictive characteristics in terms of sensitivity. SNIP showed the greatest decline prior to NIV indication and PCF significantly differentiated 'NIV-indication' from 'no NIV-indication yet' patients with ALS. Currently used cut-off values might be

  6. Preseason Functional Movement Screen Component Tests Predict Severe Contact Injuries in Professional Rugby Union Players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tee, Jason C; Klingbiel, Jannie F G; Collins, Robert; Lambert, Mike I; Coopoo, Yoga

    2016-11-01

    Tee, JC, Klingbiel, JFG, Collins, R, Lambert, MI, and Coopoo, Y. Preseason Functional Movement Screen component tests predict severe contact injuries in professional rugby union players. J Strength Cond Res 30(11): 3194-3203, 2016-Rugby union is a collision sport with a relatively high risk of injury. The ability of the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) or its component tests to predict the occurrence of severe (≥28 days) injuries in professional players was assessed. Ninety FMS test observations from 62 players across 4 different time periods were compared with severe injuries sustained during 6 months after FMS testing. Mean composite FMS scores were significantly lower in players who sustained severe injury (injured 13.2 ± 1.5 vs. noninjured 14.5 ± 1.4, Effect Size = 0.83, large) because of differences in in-line lunge (ILL) and active straight leg raise scores (ASLR). Receiver-operated characteristic curves and 2 × 2 contingency tables were used to determine that ASLR (cut-off 2/3) was the injury predictor with the greatest sensitivity (0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79-1.0). Adding the ILL in combination with ASLR (ILL + ASLR) improved the specificity of the injury prediction model (ASLR specificity = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.18-0.43 vs. ASLR + ILL specificity = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.39-0.66, p ≤ 0.05). Further analysis was performed to determine whether FMS tests could predict contact and noncontact injuries. The FMS composite score and various combinations of component tests (deep squat [DS] + ILL, ILL + ASLR, and DS + ILL + ASLR) were all significant predictors of contact injury. The FMS composite score also predicted noncontact injury, but no component test or combination thereof produced a similar result. These findings indicate that low scores on various FMS component tests are risk factors for injury in professional rugby players.

  7. Liver function tests and risk prediction of incident type 2 diabetes : evaluation in two independent cohorts

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abbasi, Ali; Bakker, Stephan J. L.; Corpeleijn, Eva; van der A, Daphne L.; Gansevoort, Ron T.; Gans, Rijk O. B.; Peelen, Linda M.; van der Schouw, Yvonne T.; Stolk, Ronald P.; Navis, Gerjan; Spijkerman, Annemieke M. W.; Beulens, Joline W. J.

    2012-01-01

    Background: Liver function tests might predict the risk of type 2 diabetes. An independent study evaluating utility of these markers compared with an existing prediction model is yet lacking. Methods and Findings: We performed a case-cohort study, including random subcohort (6.5%) from 38,379

  8. Neuropsychological test performance and prediction of functional capacities among Spanish-speaking and English-speaking patients with dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loewenstein, D A; Rubert, M P; Argüelles, T; Duara, R

    1995-03-01

    Neuropsychological measures have been widely used by clinicians to assist them in making judgments regarding a cognitively impaired patient's ability to independently perform important activities of daily living. However, important questions have been raised concerning the degree to which neuropsychological instruments can predict a broad array of specific functional capacities required in the home environment. In the present study, we examined 127 English-speaking and 56 Spanish-speaking patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and determined the extent to which various neuropsychological measures and demographic variables were predictive of performance on functional measures administered within the clinical setting. Among English-speaking AD patients, Block Design and Digit-Span of the WAIS-R, as well as tests of language were among the strongest predictors of functional performance. For Spanish-speakers, Block Design, The Mini-Mental State Evaluation (MMSE) and Digit Span had the optimal predictive power. When stepwise regression was conducted on the entire sample of 183 subjects, ethnicity emerged as a statistically significant predictor variable on one of the seven functional tests (writing a check). Despite the predictive power of several of the neuropsychological measures for both groups, most of the variability in objective functional performance could not be explained in our regression models. As a result, it would appear prudent to include functional measures as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation for dementia.

  9. Accuracy of liver function tests for predicting adverse maternal and fetal outcomes in women with preeclampsia: a systematic review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thangaratinam, Shakila; Koopmans, Corine M.; Iyengar, Shalini; Zamora, Javier; Ismail, Khaled M. K.; Mol, Ben W. J.; Khan, Khalid S.

    2011-01-01

    Background. Liver function tests are routinely performed in women as part of a battery of investigations to assess severity at admission and later to guide appropriate management. Objective. To determine the accuracy with which liver function tests predict complications in women with preeclampsia by

  10. Accuracy of liver function tests for predicting adverse maternal and fetal outcomes in women with preeclampsia : a systematic review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thangaratinam, Shakila; Koopmans, Corine M.; Iyengar, Shalini; Zamora, Javier; Ismail, Khaled M. K.; Mol, Ben W. J.; Khan, Khalid S.

    Background. Liver function tests are routinely performed in women as part of a battery of investigations to assess severity at admission and later to guide appropriate management. Objective. To determine the accuracy with which liver function tests predict complications in women with preeclampsia by

  11. Rumination prospectively predicts executive functioning impairments in adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connolly, Samantha L; Wagner, Clara A; Shapero, Benjamin G; Pendergast, Laura L; Abramson, Lyn Y; Alloy, Lauren B

    2014-03-01

    The current study tested the resource allocation hypothesis, examining whether baseline rumination or depressive symptom levels prospectively predicted deficits in executive functioning in an adolescent sample. The alternative to this hypothesis was also evaluated by testing whether lower initial levels of executive functioning predicted increases in rumination or depressive symptoms at follow-up. A community sample of 200 adolescents (ages 12-13) completed measures of depressive symptoms, rumination, and executive functioning at baseline and at a follow-up session approximately 15 months later. Adolescents with higher levels of baseline rumination displayed decreases in selective attention and attentional switching at follow-up. Rumination did not predict changes in working memory or sustained and divided attention. Depressive symptoms were not found to predict significant changes in executive functioning scores at follow-up. Baseline executive functioning was not associated with change in rumination or depression over time. Findings partially support the resource allocation hypothesis that engaging in ruminative thoughts consumes cognitive resources that would otherwise be allocated towards difficult tests of executive functioning. Support was not found for the alternative hypothesis that lower levels of initial executive functioning would predict increased rumination or depressive symptoms at follow-up. Our study is the first to find support for the resource allocation hypothesis using a longitudinal design and an adolescent sample. Findings highlight the potentially detrimental effects of rumination on executive functioning during early adolescence. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Prediction of psychological functioning one year after the predictive test for Huntington's disease and impact of the test result on reproductive decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Decruyenaere, M; Evers-Kiebooms, G; Boogaerts, A; Cassiman, J J; Cloostermans, T; Demyttenaere, K; Dom, R; Fryns, J P; Van den Berghe, H

    1996-01-01

    For people at risk for Huntington's disease, the anxiety and uncertainty about the future may be very burdensome and may be an obstacle to personal decision making about important life issues, for example, procreation. For some at risk persons, this situation is the reason for requesting predictive DNA testing. The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, we want to evaluate whether knowing one's carrier status reduces anxiety and uncertainty and whether it facilitates decision making about procreation. Second, we endeavour to identify pretest predictors of psychological adaptation one year after the predictive test (psychometric evaluation of general anxiety, depression level, and ego strength). The impact of the predictive test result was assessed in 53 subjects tested, using pre- and post-test psychometric measurement and self-report data of follow up interviews. Mean anxiety and depression levels were significantly decreased one year after a good test result; there was no significant change in the case of a bad test result. The mean personality profile, including ego strength, remained unchanged one year after the test. The study further shows that the test result had a definite impact on reproductive decision making. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were used to select the best predictors of the subject's post-test reactions. The results indicate that a careful evaluation of pretest ego strength, depression level, and coping strategies may be helpful in predicting post-test reactions, independently of the carrier status. Test result (carrier/ non-carrier), gender, and age did not significantly contribute to the prediction. About one third of the variance of post-test anxiety and depression level and more than half of the variance of ego strength was explained, implying that other psychological or social aspects should also be taken into account when predicting individual post-test reactions. PMID:8880572

  13. Executive function processes predict mobility outcomes in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gothe, Neha P; Fanning, Jason; Awick, Elizabeth; Chung, David; Wójcicki, Thomas R; Olson, Erin A; Mullen, Sean P; Voss, Michelle; Erickson, Kirk I; Kramer, Arthur F; McAuley, Edward

    2014-02-01

    To examine the relationship between performance on executive function measures and subsequent mobility outcomes in community-dwelling older adults. Randomized controlled clinical trial. Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Community-dwelling older adults (N = 179; mean age 66.4). A 12-month exercise trial with two arms: an aerobic exercise group and a stretching and strengthening group. Established cognitive tests of executive function (flanker task, task switching, and a dual-task paradigm) and the Wisconsin card sort test. Mobility was assessed using the timed 8-foot up and go test and times to climb up and down a flight of stairs. Participants completed the cognitive tests at baseline and the mobility measures at baseline and after 12 months of the intervention. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine whether baseline executive function predicted postintervention functional performance after controlling for age, sex, education, cardiorespiratory fitness, and baseline mobility levels. Selective baseline executive function measurements, particularly performance on the flanker task (β = 0.15-0.17) and the Wisconsin card sort test (β = 0.11-0.16) consistently predicted mobility outcomes at 12 months. The estimates were in the expected direction, such that better baseline performance on the executive function measures predicted better performance on the timed mobility tests independent of intervention. Executive functions of inhibitory control, mental set shifting, and attentional flexibility were predictive of functional mobility. Given the literature associating mobility limitations with disability, morbidity, and mortality, these results are important for understanding the antecedents to poor mobility function that well-designed interventions to improve cognitive performance can attenuate. © 2014, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2014, The American Geriatrics Society.

  14. Preoperative prediction of inpatient recovery of function after total hip arthroplasty using performance-based tests: a prospective cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oosting, Ellen; Hoogeboom, Thomas J; Appelman-de Vries, Suzan A; Swets, Adam; Dronkers, Jaap J; van Meeteren, Nico L U

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of conventional factors, the Risk Assessment and Predictor Tool (RAPT) and performance-based functional tests as predictors of delayed recovery after total hip arthroplasty (THA). A prospective cohort study in a regional hospital in the Netherlands with 315 patients was attending for THA in 2012. The dependent variable recovery of function was assessed with the Modified Iowa Levels of Assistance scale. Delayed recovery was defined as taking more than 3 days to walk independently. Independent variables were age, sex, BMI, Charnley score, RAPT score and scores for four performance-based tests [2-minute walk test, timed up and go test (TUG), 10-meter walking test (10 mW) and hand grip strength]. Regression analysis with all variables identified older age (>70 years), Charnley score C, slow walking speed (10 mW >10.0 s) and poor functional mobility (TUG >10.5 s) as the best predictors of delayed recovery of function. This model (AUC 0.85, 95% CI 0.79-0.91) performed better than a model with conventional factors and RAPT scores, and significantly better (p = 0.04) than a model with only conventional factors (AUC 0.81, 95% CI 0.74-0.87). The combination of performance-based tests and conventional factors predicted inpatient functional recovery after THA. Two simple functional performance-based tests have a significant added value to a more conventional screening with age and comorbidities to predict recovery of functioning immediately after total hip surgery. Patients over 70 years old, with comorbidities, with a TUG score >10.5 s and a walking speed >1.0 m/s are at risk for delayed recovery of functioning. Those high risk patients need an accurate discharge plan and could benefit from targeted pre- and postoperative therapeutic exercise programs.

  15. Minimum Performance on Clinical Tests of Physical Function to Predict Walking 6,000 Steps/Day in Knee Osteoarthritis: An Observational Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Master, Hiral; Thoma, Louise M; Christiansen, Meredith B; Polakowski, Emily; Schmitt, Laura A; White, Daniel K

    2018-07-01

    Evidence of physical function difficulties, such as difficulty rising from a chair, may limit daily walking for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The purpose of this study was to identify minimum performance thresholds on clinical tests of physical function predictive to walking ≥6,000 steps/day. This benchmark is known to discriminate people with knee OA who develop functional limitation over time from those who do not. Using data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, we quantified daily walking as average steps/day from an accelerometer (Actigraph GT1M) worn for ≥10 hours/day over 1 week. Physical function was quantified using 3 performance-based clinical tests: 5 times sit-to-stand test, walking speed (tested over 20 meters), and 400-meter walk test. To identify minimum performance thresholds for daily walking, we calculated physical function values corresponding to high specificity (80-95%) to predict walking ≥6,000 steps/day. Among 1,925 participants (mean ± SD age 65.1 ± 9.1 years, mean ± SD body mass index 28.4 ± 4.8 kg/m 2 , and 55% female) with valid accelerometer data, 54.9% walked ≥6,000 steps/day. High specificity thresholds of physical function for walking ≥6,000 steps/day ranged 11.4-14.0 seconds on the 5 times sit-to-stand test, 1.13-1.26 meters/second for walking speed, or 315-349 seconds on the 400-meter walk test. Not meeting these minimum performance thresholds on clinical tests of physical function may indicate inadequate physical ability to walk ≥6,000 steps/day for people with knee OA. Rehabilitation may be indicated to address underlying impairments limiting physical function. © 2017, American College of Rheumatology.

  16. Conserved Functional Motifs and Homology Modeling to Predict Hidden Moonlighting Functional Sites

    KAUST Repository

    Wong, Aloysius Tze

    2015-06-09

    Moonlighting functional centers within proteins can provide them with hitherto unrecognized functions. Here, we review how hidden moonlighting functional centers, which we define as binding sites that have catalytic activity or regulate protein function in a novel manner, can be identified using targeted bioinformatic searches. Functional motifs used in such searches include amino acid residues that are conserved across species and many of which have been assigned functional roles based on experimental evidence. Molecules that were identified in this manner seeking cyclic mononucleotide cyclases in plants are used as examples. The strength of this computational approach is enhanced when good homology models can be developed to test the functionality of the predicted centers in silico, which, in turn, increases confidence in the ability of the identified candidates to perform the predicted functions. Computational characterization of moonlighting functional centers is not diagnostic for catalysis but serves as a rapid screening method, and highlights testable targets from a potentially large pool of candidates for subsequent in vitro and in vivo experiments required to confirm the functionality of the predicted moonlighting centers.

  17. Conserved Functional Motifs and Homology Modeling to Predict Hidden Moonlighting Functional Sites

    KAUST Repository

    Wong, Aloysius Tze; Gehring, Christoph A; Irving, Helen R.

    2015-01-01

    Moonlighting functional centers within proteins can provide them with hitherto unrecognized functions. Here, we review how hidden moonlighting functional centers, which we define as binding sites that have catalytic activity or regulate protein function in a novel manner, can be identified using targeted bioinformatic searches. Functional motifs used in such searches include amino acid residues that are conserved across species and many of which have been assigned functional roles based on experimental evidence. Molecules that were identified in this manner seeking cyclic mononucleotide cyclases in plants are used as examples. The strength of this computational approach is enhanced when good homology models can be developed to test the functionality of the predicted centers in silico, which, in turn, increases confidence in the ability of the identified candidates to perform the predicted functions. Computational characterization of moonlighting functional centers is not diagnostic for catalysis but serves as a rapid screening method, and highlights testable targets from a potentially large pool of candidates for subsequent in vitro and in vivo experiments required to confirm the functionality of the predicted moonlighting centers.

  18. Three-dimensional computed tomographic volumetry precisely predicts the postoperative pulmonary function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Keisuke; Saeki, Yusuke; Kitazawa, Shinsuke; Kobayashi, Naohiro; Kikuchi, Shinji; Goto, Yukinobu; Sakai, Mitsuaki; Sato, Yukio

    2017-11-01

    It is important to accurately predict the patient's postoperative pulmonary function. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of predictions of the postoperative residual pulmonary function obtained with three-dimensional computed tomographic (3D-CT) volumetry with that of predictions obtained with the conventional segment-counting method. Fifty-three patients scheduled to undergo lung cancer resection, pulmonary function tests, and computed tomography were enrolled in this study. The postoperative residual pulmonary function was predicted based on the segment-counting and 3D-CT volumetry methods. The predicted postoperative values were compared with the results of postoperative pulmonary function tests. Regarding the linear correlation coefficients between the predicted postoperative values and the measured values, those obtained using the 3D-CT volumetry method tended to be higher than those acquired using the segment-counting method. In addition, the variations between the predicted and measured values were smaller with the 3D-CT volumetry method than with the segment-counting method. These results were more obvious in COPD patients than in non-COPD patients. Our findings suggested that the 3D-CT volumetry was able to predict the residual pulmonary function more accurately than the segment-counting method, especially in patients with COPD. This method might lead to the selection of appropriate candidates for surgery among patients with a marginal pulmonary function.

  19. Psychometric properties and convergent and predictive validity of an executive function test battery for two-year-olds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanna eMulder

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Executive function (EF is an important predictor of numerous developmental outcomes, such as academic achievement and behavioral adjustment. Although a plethora of measurement instruments exists to assess executive function in children, only few of these are suitable for toddlers, and even fewer have undergone psychometric evaluation. The present study evaluates the psychometric properties and validity of an assessment battery for measuring EF in two-year-olds. A sample of 2437 children were administered the assessment battery at a mean age of 2;4 years (SD = 0;3 years in a large-scale field study. Measures of both hot EF (snack and gift delay tasks and cool EF (six boxes, memory for location, and visual search task were included. Confirmatory Factor Analyses showed that a two-factor hot and cool EF model fitted the data better than a one-factor model. Measurement invariance was supported across groups differing in age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES, home language, and test setting. Criterion and convergent validity were evaluated by examining relationships between EF and age, gender, SES, home language, and parent and teacher reports of children’s attention and inhibitory control. Predictive validity of the test battery was investigated by regressing children’s pre-academic skills and behavioral problems at age three on the latent hot and cool EF factors at age two years. The test battery showed satisfactory psychometric quality and criterion, convergent, and predictive validity. Whereas cool EF predicted both pre-academic skills and behavior problems one year later, hot EF predicted behavior problems only. These results show that EF can be assessed with psychometrically sound instruments in children as young as two years, and that EF tasks can be reliably applied in large scale field research. The current instruments offer new opportunities for investigating EF in early childhood, and for evaluating interventions targeted at improving

  20. Reference Values of Pulmonary Function Tests for Canadian Caucasians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Gutierrez

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available A multicentre, cross-sectional study was carried out in six centres across Canada to establish a national standard for pulmonary function tests using healthy, lifetime nonsmokers, with each centre aiming to test 10 men and 10 women from each decade from 20 to 80 years of age. Data from each centre were used to derive prediction equations for each centre, and pooled data from all centres (total: 327 women and 300 men were used to derive Canadian predicted equations. The predictive models were compared with three widely used published models for selected tests. It was found that, in general, the equations modelled for each centre could be replaced by the models obtained when pooling all data (Canadian model. Comparisons with the published references showed good agreement and similar slopes for most tests. The results suggest that pulmonary function test results obtained from different centres in Canada were comparable and that standards currently used remain valid for Canadian Caucasians.

  1. Predictability of Genetic Interactions from Functional Gene Modules

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan H. Young

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Characterizing genetic interactions is crucial to understanding cellular and organismal response to gene-level perturbations. Such knowledge can inform the selection of candidate disease therapy targets, yet experimentally determining whether genes interact is technically nontrivial and time-consuming. High-fidelity prediction of different classes of genetic interactions in multiple organisms would substantially alleviate this experimental burden. Under the hypothesis that functionally related genes tend to share common genetic interaction partners, we evaluate a computational approach to predict genetic interactions in Homo sapiens, Drosophila melanogaster, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By leveraging knowledge of functional relationships between genes, we cross-validate predictions on known genetic interactions and observe high predictive power of multiple classes of genetic interactions in all three organisms. Additionally, our method suggests high-confidence candidate interaction pairs that can be directly experimentally tested. A web application is provided for users to query genes for predicted novel genetic interaction partners. Finally, by subsampling the known yeast genetic interaction network, we found that novel genetic interactions are predictable even when knowledge of currently known interactions is minimal.

  2. Resting-State Functional Connectivity Predicts Cognitive Impairment Related to Alzheimer's Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qi Lin

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC is a promising neuromarker for cognitive decline in aging population, based on its ability to reveal functional differences associated with cognitive impairment across individuals, and because rs-fMRI may be less taxing for participants than task-based fMRI or neuropsychological tests. Here, we employ an approach that uses rs-FC to predict the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (11 items; ADAS11 scores, which measure overall cognitive functioning, in novel individuals. We applied this technique, connectome-based predictive modeling, to a heterogeneous sample of 59 subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, including normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and AD subjects. First, we built linear regression models to predict ADAS11 scores from rs-FC measured with Pearson's r correlation. The positive network model tested with leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV significantly predicted individual differences in cognitive function from rs-FC. In a second analysis, we considered other functional connectivity features, accordance and discordance, which disentangle the correlation and anticorrelation components of activity timecourses between brain areas. Using partial least square regression and LOOCV, we again built models to successfully predict ADAS11 scores in novel individuals. Our study provides promising evidence that rs-FC can reveal cognitive impairment in an aging population, although more development is needed for clinical application.

  3. A real-life, ecologically valid test of executive functioning : The executive secretarial task

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lamberts, Kirsten F.; Evans, Jonathan J.; Spikman, Jacoba M.

    2010-01-01

    A major goal of neuropsychological assessment is predicting a person's level of functioning in daily life. Making predictions about everyday executive functioning based on tests is problematic because of the contrast between demands made in the test environment and demands made in everyday life

  4. Functional leaf attributes predict litter decomposition rate in herbaceous plants

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cornelissen, J. H C; Thompson, K.

    1997-01-01

    We tested the hypothesis that functional attributes of living leaves provide a basis for predicting the decomposition rate of leaf litter. The data were obtained from standardized screening tests on 38 British herbaceous species. Graminoid monocots had physically tougher leaves with higher silicon

  5. Parametric Bayesian priors and better choice of negative examples improve protein function prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youngs, Noah; Penfold-Brown, Duncan; Drew, Kevin; Shasha, Dennis; Bonneau, Richard

    2013-05-01

    Computational biologists have demonstrated the utility of using machine learning methods to predict protein function from an integration of multiple genome-wide data types. Yet, even the best performing function prediction algorithms rely on heuristics for important components of the algorithm, such as choosing negative examples (proteins without a given function) or determining key parameters. The improper choice of negative examples, in particular, can hamper the accuracy of protein function prediction. We present a novel approach for choosing negative examples, using a parameterizable Bayesian prior computed from all observed annotation data, which also generates priors used during function prediction. We incorporate this new method into the GeneMANIA function prediction algorithm and demonstrate improved accuracy of our algorithm over current top-performing function prediction methods on the yeast and mouse proteomes across all metrics tested. Code and Data are available at: http://bonneaulab.bio.nyu.edu/funcprop.html

  6. Self-reported Physical Activity Predicts Pain Inhibitory and Facilitatory Function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naugle, Kelly M.; Riley, Joseph L.

    2013-01-01

    Considerable evidence suggests regular physical activity can reduce chronic pain symptoms. Dysfunction of endogenous facilitatory and inhibitory systems has been implicated in multiple chronic pain conditions. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between levels of physical activity and descending pain modulatory function. Purpose This study’s purpose was to determine whether self-reported levels of physical activity in healthy adults predicted 1) pain sensitivity to heat and cold stimuli, 2) pain facilitatory function as tested by temporal summation of pain (TS), and 3) pain inhibitory function as tested by conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and offset analgesia. Methods Forty-eight healthy adults (age range 18–76) completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the following pain tests: heat pain thresholds (HPT), heat pain suprathresholds, cold pressor pain (CPP), temporal summation of heat pain, conditioned pain modulation, and offset analgesia. The IPAQ measured levels of walking, moderate, vigorous and total physical activity over the past seven days. Hierarchical linear regressions were conducted to determine the relationship between each pain test and self-reported levels of physical activity, while controlling for age, sex and psychological variables. Results Self-reported total and vigorous physical activity predicted TS and CPM (p’s pain and greater CPM. The IPAQ measures did not predict any of the other pain measures. Conclusion Thus, these results suggest that healthy older and younger adults who self-report greater levels of vigorous and total physical activity exhibit enhanced descending pain modulatory function. Improved descending pain modulation may be a mechanism through which exercise reduces or prevents chronic pain symptoms. PMID:23899890

  7. Prediction of basal metabolic rate in overweight/obese and non-obese subjects and its relation to pulmonary function tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merghani, Tarig H; Alawad, Azza O; Ibrahim, Rihab M; Abdelmoniem, Asim M

    2015-08-15

    Few studies investigated the association between basal metabolic rate (BMR) and indicators of pulmonary function. This study was conducted to estimate BMR in overweight/obese and non-obese healthy subjects using four commonly used predictive equations and to investigate its relation to the indicators of lung function tests (LFT). A cross sectional study was conducted in Tabuk University, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. A total of 201 students (98 males and 103 females) participated in the study. Four different values of BMR were calculated for each participant using four different predictive equations (Harris-Benedict, Mifflin, FAO/WHO/UNU and Henry-Rees). A portable All-flow spirometer (Clement Clarke International, Harlow, UK) was used for measurements of LFT. Significantly higher values of spirometric indicators (p BMR values predicted with the four equations were significantly higher in the males compared to the females and among the overweight/obese compared to the non-obese subjects (p BMR values and the indicators of LFT was statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). Mean values of LFT indicators are not related to the estimated values of BMR. A practical calculation of BMR based on direct measurement of oxygen consumption is recommended to confirm the absence of this association.

  8. Predictive value of health-related fitness tests for self-reported mobility difficulties among high-functioning elderly men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hämäläinen, H Pauliina; Suni, Jaana H; Pasanen, Matti E; Malmberg, Jarmo J; Miilunpalo, Seppo I

    2006-06-01

    The functional independence of elderly populations deteriorates with age. Several tests of physical performance have been developed for screening elderly persons who are at risk of losing their functional independence. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether several components of health-related fitness (HRF) are valid in predicting the occurrence of self-reported mobility difficulties (MD) among high-functioning older adults. Subjects were community-dwelling men and women, born 1917-1941, who participated in the assessment of HRF [6.1-m (20-ft) walk, one-leg stand, backwards walk, trunk side-bending, dynamic back extension, one-leg squat, 1-km walk] and who were free of MD in 1996 (no difficulties in walking 2- km, n=788; no difficulties in climbing stairs, n=647). Postal questionnaires were used to assess the prevalence of MD in 1996 and the occurrence of new MD in 2002. Logistic regression analysis was used as the statistical method. Both inability to perform the backwards walk and a poorer result in it were associated with risk of walking difficulties in the logistic model, with all the statistically significant single test items included. Results of 1-km walk time and one-leg squat strength test were also associated with risk, although the squat was statistically significant only in two older birth cohorts. Regarding stair-climbing difficulties, poorer results in the 1-km walk, dynamic back extension and one-leg squat tests were associated with increased risk of MD. The backwards walk, one-leg squat, dynamic back extension and 1-km walk tests were the best predictors of MD. These tests are recommended for use in screening high-functioning older people at risk of MD, as well as to target physical activity counseling to those components of HRF that are important for functional independence.

  9. Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Zhili; Zhang, Ping; Wu, Linwei; Rocha, Andrea M; Tu, Qichao; Shi, Zhou; Wu, Bo; Qin, Yujia; Wang, Jianjun; Yan, Qingyun; Curtis, Daniel; Ning, Daliang; Van Nostrand, Joy D; Wu, Liyou; Yang, Yunfeng; Elias, Dwayne A; Watson, David B; Adams, Michael W W; Fields, Matthew W; Alm, Eric J; Hazen, Terry C; Adams, Paul D; Arkin, Adam P; Zhou, Jizhong

    2018-02-20

    Contamination from anthropogenic activities has significantly impacted Earth's biosphere. However, knowledge about how environmental contamination affects the biodiversity of groundwater microbiomes and ecosystem functioning remains very limited. Here, we used a comprehensive functional gene array to analyze groundwater microbiomes from 69 wells at the Oak Ridge Field Research Center (Oak Ridge, TN), representing a wide pH range and uranium, nitrate, and other contaminants. We hypothesized that the functional diversity of groundwater microbiomes would decrease as environmental contamination (e.g., uranium or nitrate) increased or at low or high pH, while some specific populations capable of utilizing or resistant to those contaminants would increase, and thus, such key microbial functional genes and/or populations could be used to predict groundwater contamination and ecosystem functioning. Our results indicated that functional richness/diversity decreased as uranium (but not nitrate) increased in groundwater. In addition, about 5.9% of specific key functional populations targeted by a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5) increased significantly ( P contamination and ecosystem functioning. This study indicates great potential for using microbial functional genes to predict environmental contamination and ecosystem functioning. IMPORTANCE Disentangling the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is an important but poorly understood topic in ecology. Predicting ecosystem functioning on the basis of biodiversity is even more difficult, particularly with microbial biomarkers. As an exploratory effort, this study used key microbial functional genes as biomarkers to provide predictive understanding of environmental contamination and ecosystem functioning. The results indicated that the overall functional gene richness/diversity decreased as uranium increased in groundwater, while specific key microbial guilds increased significantly as

  10. Thyroid Function Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Home » Thyroid Function Tests Leer en Español Thyroid Function Tests FUNCTION HOW DOES THE THYROID GLAND FUNCTION? ... Cancer Thyroid Nodules in Children and Adolescents Thyroid Function Tests Resources Thyroid Function Tests Brochure PDF En ...

  11. The relationship between neuropsychological tests of visuospatial function and lobar cortical thickness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zink, Davor N; Miller, Justin B; Caldwell, Jessica Z K; Bird, Christopher; Banks, Sarah J

    2018-06-01

    Tests of visuospatial function are often administered in comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations. These tests are generally considered assays of parietal lobe function; however, the neural correlates of these tests, using modern imaging techniques, are not well understood. In the current study we investigated the relationship between three commonly used tests of visuospatial function and lobar cortical thickness in each hemisphere. Data from 374 patients who underwent a neuropsychological evaluation and MRI scans in an outpatient dementia clinic were included in the analysis. We examined the relationships between cortical thickness, as assessed with Freesurfer, and performance on three tests: Judgment of Line Orientation (JoLO), Block Design (BD) from the Fourth edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised Copy Trial (BVMT-R-C) in patients who showed overall average performance on these tasks. Using a series of multiple regression models, we assessed which lobe's overall cortical thickness best predicted test performance. Among the individual lobes, JoLO performance was best predicted by cortical thickness in the right temporal lobe. BD performance was best predicted by cortical thickness in the right parietal lobe, and BVMT-R-C performance was best predicted by cortical thickness in the left parietal lobe. Performance on constructional tests of visuospatial function appears to correspond best with underlying cortical thickness of the parietal lobes, while performance on visuospatial judgment tests appears to correspond best to temporal lobe thickness. Future research using voxel-wise and connectivity techniques and including more diverse samples will help further understanding of the regions and networks involved in visuospatial tests.

  12. Predictive assessment of models for dynamic functional connectivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Søren Føns Vind; Schmidt, Mikkel Nørgaard; Madsen, Kristoffer Hougaard

    2018-01-01

    represent functional brain networks as a meta-stable process with a discrete number of states; however, there is a lack of consensus on how to perform model selection and learn the number of states, as well as a lack of understanding of how different modeling assumptions influence the estimated state......In neuroimaging, it has become evident that models of dynamic functional connectivity (dFC), which characterize how intrinsic brain organization changes over time, can provide a more detailed representation of brain function than traditional static analyses. Many dFC models in the literature...... dynamics. To address these issues, we consider a predictive likelihood approach to model assessment, where models are evaluated based on their predictive performance on held-out test data. Examining several prominent models of dFC (in their probabilistic formulations) we demonstrate our framework...

  13. Trait impulsivity predicts D-KEFS tower test performance in university students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyvers, Michael; Basch, Vanessa; Duff, Helen; Edwards, Mark S

    2015-01-01

    The present study examined a widely used self-report index of trait impulsiveness in relation to performance on a well-known neuropsychological executive function test in 70 university undergraduate students (50 women, 20 men) aged 18 to 24 years old. Participants completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe), after which they performed the Tower Test of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System. Hierarchical linear regression showed that after controlling for gender, current alcohol consumption, age at onset of weekly alcohol use, and FrSBe scores, BIS-11 significantly predicted Tower Test Achievement scores, β = -.44, p impulsiveness is associated with poorer executive cognitive performance even in a sample likely to be characterized by relatively high general cognitive functioning (i.e., university students). The results also support the role of inhibition as a key aspect of executive task performance. Elevated scores on the BIS-11 and FrSBe are known to be linked to risky drinking in young adults as confirmed in this sample; however, only BIS-11 predicted Tower Test performance.

  14. Generating linear regression model to predict motor functions by use of laser range finder during TUG.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adachi, Daiki; Nishiguchi, Shu; Fukutani, Naoto; Hotta, Takayuki; Tashiro, Yuto; Morino, Saori; Shirooka, Hidehiko; Nozaki, Yuma; Hirata, Hinako; Yamaguchi, Moe; Yorozu, Ayanori; Takahashi, Masaki; Aoyama, Tomoki

    2017-05-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate which spatial and temporal parameters of the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test are associated with motor function in elderly individuals. This study included 99 community-dwelling women aged 72.9 ± 6.3 years. Step length, step width, single support time, variability of the aforementioned parameters, gait velocity, cadence, reaction time from starting signal to first step, and minimum distance between the foot and a marker placed to 3 in front of the chair were measured using our analysis system. The 10-m walk test, five times sit-to-stand (FTSTS) test, and one-leg standing (OLS) test were used to assess motor function. Stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis was used to determine which TUG test parameters were associated with each motor function test. Finally, we calculated a predictive model for each motor function test using each regression coefficient. In stepwise linear regression analysis, step length and cadence were significantly associated with the 10-m walk test, FTSTS and OLS test. Reaction time was associated with the FTSTS test, and step width was associated with the OLS test. Each predictive model showed a strong correlation with the 10-m walk test and OLS test (P motor function test. Moreover, the TUG test time regarded as the lower extremity function and mobility has strong predictive ability in each motor function test. Copyright © 2017 The Japanese Orthopaedic Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Protein Function Prediction Based on Sequence and Structure Information

    KAUST Repository

    Smaili, Fatima Z.

    2016-05-25

    The number of available protein sequences in public databases is increasing exponentially. However, a significant fraction of these sequences lack functional annotation which is essential to our understanding of how biological systems and processes operate. In this master thesis project, we worked on inferring protein functions based on the primary protein sequence. In the approach we follow, 3D models are first constructed using I-TASSER. Functions are then deduced by structurally matching these predicted models, using global and local similarities, through three independent enzyme commission (EC) and gene ontology (GO) function libraries. The method was tested on 250 “hard” proteins, which lack homologous templates in both structure and function libraries. The results show that this method outperforms the conventional prediction methods based on sequence similarity or threading. Additionally, our method could be improved even further by incorporating protein-protein interaction information. Overall, the method we use provides an efficient approach for automated functional annotation of non-homologous proteins, starting from their sequence.

  16. Predicting functional decline and survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong, Mei-Lyn; Tan, Pei Fang; Holbrook, Joanna D

    2017-01-01

    Better predictors of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease course could enable smaller and more targeted clinical trials. Partially to address this aim, the Prize for Life foundation collected de-identified records from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis sufferers who participated in clinical trials of investigational drugs and made them available to researchers in the PRO-ACT database. In this study, time series data from PRO-ACT subjects were fitted to exponential models. Binary classes for decline in the total score of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale revised (ALSFRS-R) (fast/slow progression) and survival (high/low death risk) were derived. Data was segregated into training and test sets via cross validation. Learning algorithms were applied to the demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters in the training set to predict ALSFRS-R decline and the derived fast/slow progression and high/low death risk categories. The performance of predictive models was assessed by cross-validation in the test set using Receiver Operator Curves and root mean squared errors. A model created using a boosting algorithm containing the decline in four parameters (weight, alkaline phosphatase, albumin and creatine kinase) post baseline, was able to predict functional decline class (fast or slow) with fair accuracy (AUC = 0.82). However similar approaches to build a predictive model for decline class by baseline subject characteristics were not successful. In contrast, baseline values of total bilirubin, gamma glutamyltransferase, urine specific gravity and ALSFRS-R item score-climbing stairs were sufficient to predict survival class. Using combinations of small numbers of variables it was possible to predict classes of functional decline and survival across the 1-2 year timeframe available in PRO-ACT. These findings may have utility for design of future ALS clinical trials.

  17. CAN UPPER EXTREMITY FUNCTIONAL TESTS PREDICT THE SOFTBALL THROW FOR DISTANCE: A PREDICTIVE VALIDITY INVESTIGATION

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanney, William J.; Kolber, Morey J.; Davies, George J.; Riemann, Bryan

    2011-01-01

    Introduction: Understanding the relationships between performance tests and sport activity is important to the rehabilitation specialist. The purpose of this study was two- fold: 1) To identify if relationships exist between tests of upper body strength and power (Single Arm Seated Shot Put, Timed Push-Up, Timed Modified Pull-Up, and The Davies Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test, and the softball throw for distance), 2) To determine which variable or group of variables best predicts the performance of a sport specific task (the softball throw for distance). Methods: One hundred eighty subjects (111 females and 69 males, aged 18-45 years) performed the 5 upper extremity tests. The Pearson product moment correlation and a stepwise regression were used to determine whether relationships existed between performance on the tests and which upper extremity test result best explained the performance on the softball throw for distance. Results: There were significant correlations (r=.33 to r=.70, p=0.001) between performance on all of the tests. The modified pull-up test was the best predictor of the performance on the softball throw for distance (r2= 48.7), explaining 48.7% of variation in performance. When weight, height, and age were added to the regression equation the r2 values increased to 64.5, 66.2, and 67.5 respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that several upper extremity tests demonstrate significant relationships with one another and with the softball throw for distance. The modified pull up test was the best predictor of performance on the softball throw for distance. PMID:21712942

  18. Blind Test of Physics-Based Prediction of Protein Structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shell, M. Scott; Ozkan, S. Banu; Voelz, Vincent; Wu, Guohong Albert; Dill, Ken A.

    2009-01-01

    We report here a multiprotein blind test of a computer method to predict native protein structures based solely on an all-atom physics-based force field. We use the AMBER 96 potential function with an implicit (GB/SA) model of solvation, combined with replica-exchange molecular-dynamics simulations. Coarse conformational sampling is performed using the zipping and assembly method (ZAM), an approach that is designed to mimic the putative physical routes of protein folding. ZAM was applied to the folding of six proteins, from 76 to 112 monomers in length, in CASP7, a community-wide blind test of protein structure prediction. Because these predictions have about the same level of accuracy as typical bioinformatics methods, and do not utilize information from databases of known native structures, this work opens up the possibility of predicting the structures of membrane proteins, synthetic peptides, or other foldable polymers, for which there is little prior knowledge of native structures. This approach may also be useful for predicting physical protein folding routes, non-native conformations, and other physical properties from amino acid sequences. PMID:19186130

  19. Incorporating functional inter-relationships into protein function prediction algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kumar Vipin

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Functional classification schemes (e.g. the Gene Ontology that serve as the basis for annotation efforts in several organisms are often the source of gold standard information for computational efforts at supervised protein function prediction. While successful function prediction algorithms have been developed, few previous efforts have utilized more than the protein-to-functional class label information provided by such knowledge bases. For instance, the Gene Ontology not only captures protein annotations to a set of functional classes, but it also arranges these classes in a DAG-based hierarchy that captures rich inter-relationships between different classes. These inter-relationships present both opportunities, such as the potential for additional training examples for small classes from larger related classes, and challenges, such as a harder to learn distinction between similar GO terms, for standard classification-based approaches. Results We propose a method to enhance the performance of classification-based protein function prediction algorithms by addressing the issue of using these interrelationships between functional classes constituting functional classification schemes. Using a standard measure for evaluating the semantic similarity between nodes in an ontology, we quantify and incorporate these inter-relationships into the k-nearest neighbor classifier. We present experiments on several large genomic data sets, each of which is used for the modeling and prediction of over hundred classes from the GO Biological Process ontology. The results show that this incorporation produces more accurate predictions for a large number of the functional classes considered, and also that the classes benefitted most by this approach are those containing the fewest members. In addition, we show how our proposed framework can be used for integrating information from the entire GO hierarchy for improving the accuracy of

  20. Prediction of postoperative lung function after pulmonary resection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Koichi

    1988-01-01

    Lung scintigraphy and ordinary lung function test as well as split lung function test by using bronchospirometry was performed in 78 patients with primary lung cancer and clinical significance of ventilation and perfusion scintigraphy was evaluated. Results obtained from this study are as follows. 1) The ratio of right VC to total VC obtained by preoperative bronchospirometry was well correlated to the ratio of right lung count to the total lung count obtained by ventiration and/or perfusion scintigraphy (r = 0.84, r = 0.69). 2) Evaluation of the data obtained from the patients undergoing pneumonectomy indicated that the right and left VC obtained preoperatively by bronchospirometry have their clinical significance only in the form of left to right ratio not in the form their absolure value. 3) As to the reliability of predicting the residual vital capacity after pneumonectomy on the basis of left-to-right of lung scintigraphy, ventilation scintigraphy is more reliable than perfusion scintigraphy. 4) Irrespective of using ventilation scintigraphy or perfusion scintigraphy, Ali's formular showed high reliability in predicting the residual vital capacity as well as FEV 1.0 after lobectomy. 5) Reduction of the perfusion rate in the operated side of the lung is more marked than of the ventilation rate, resulting in a significant elevation of ventilation/perfusion ratio of the operated side of the lung. From the results descrived above, it can be said that lung ventilation and perfusion scintigraphy are very useful method to predict the residual lung function as well as the change of ventilation/perfusion ratio after pulmonary resection. (author)

  1. Platelet function testing: methods of assessment and clinical utility.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Mylotte, Darren

    2012-02-01

    Platelets play a central role in the regulation of both thrombosis and haemostasis yet tests of platelet function have, until recently, been exclusively used in the diagnosis and management of bleeding disorders. Recent advances have demonstrated the clinical utility of platelet function testing in patients with cardiovascular disease. The ex vivo measurement of response to antiplatelet therapies (aspirin and clopidogrel), by an ever-increasing array of platelet function tests, is with some assays, predictive of adverse clinical events and thus, represents an emerging area of interest for both the clinician and basic scientist. This review article will describe the advantages and disadvantages of the currently available methods of measuring platelet function and discuss both the limitations and emerging data supporting the role of platelet function studies in clinical practice.

  2. Platelet function testing: methods of assessment and clinical utility.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Mylotte, Darren

    2011-01-01

    Platelets play a central role in the regulation of both thrombosis and haemostasis yet tests of platelet function have, until recently, been exclusively used in the diagnosis and management of bleeding disorders. Recent advances have demonstrated the clinical utility of platelet function testing in patients with cardiovascular disease. The ex vivo measurement of response to antiplatelet therapies (aspirin and clopidogrel), by an ever-increasing array of platelet function tests, is with some assays, predictive of adverse clinical events and thus, represents an emerging area of interest for both the clinician and basic scientist. This review article will describe the advantages and disadvantages of the currently available methods of measuring platelet function and discuss both the limitations and emerging data supporting the role of platelet function studies in clinical practice.

  3. Predicting estuarine benthic production using functional diversity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Dolbeth

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available We considered an estuarine system having naturally low levels of diversity, but attaining considerable high production levels, and being subjected to different sorts of anthropogenic impacts and climate events to investigate the relationship between diversity and secondary production. Functional diversity measures were used to predict benthic production, which is considered as a proxy of the ecosystem provisioning services. To this end, we used a 14-year dataset on benthic invertebrate community production from a seagrass and a sandflat habitat and we adopted a sequential modeling approach, where abiotic, trait community weighted means (CWM and functional diversity indices were tested by generalized linear models (GLM, and their significant variables were then combined to produce a final model. Almost 90% of variance of the benthic production could be predicted by combining the number of locomotion types, the absolute maximum atmospheric temperature (proxy of the heat waves occurrence, the type of habitat and the mean body mass, by order of importance. This result is in agreement with the mass ratio hypothesis, where ecosystem functions/services can be chiefly predicted by the dominant trait in the community, here measured as CWM. The increase of benthic production with the number of locomotion types may be seen as greater possibility of using the resources available in the system. Such greater efficiency would increase production. The other variables were also discussed in line of the previous hypothesis and taking into account the general positive relationship obtained between production and functional diversity indices. Overall, it was concluded that traits representative of wider possibilities of using available resources and higher functional diversity are related with higher benthic production.

  4. Improving protein function prediction methods with integrated literature data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabow Aaron P

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Determining the function of uncharacterized proteins is a major challenge in the post-genomic era due to the problem's complexity and scale. Identifying a protein's function contributes to an understanding of its role in the involved pathways, its suitability as a drug target, and its potential for protein modifications. Several graph-theoretic approaches predict unidentified functions of proteins by using the functional annotations of better-characterized proteins in protein-protein interaction networks. We systematically consider the use of literature co-occurrence data, introduce a new method for quantifying the reliability of co-occurrence and test how performance differs across species. We also quantify changes in performance as the prediction algorithms annotate with increased specificity. Results We find that including information on the co-occurrence of proteins within an abstract greatly boosts performance in the Functional Flow graph-theoretic function prediction algorithm in yeast, fly and worm. This increase in performance is not simply due to the presence of additional edges since supplementing protein-protein interactions with co-occurrence data outperforms supplementing with a comparably-sized genetic interaction dataset. Through the combination of protein-protein interactions and co-occurrence data, the neighborhood around unknown proteins is quickly connected to well-characterized nodes which global prediction algorithms can exploit. Our method for quantifying co-occurrence reliability shows superior performance to the other methods, particularly at threshold values around 10% which yield the best trade off between coverage and accuracy. In contrast, the traditional way of asserting co-occurrence when at least one abstract mentions both proteins proves to be the worst method for generating co-occurrence data, introducing too many false positives. Annotating the functions with greater specificity is harder

  5. PRISM offers a comprehensive genomic approach to transcription factor function prediction

    KAUST Repository

    Wenger, A. M.; Clarke, S. L.; Guturu, H.; Chen, J.; Schaar, B. T.; McLean, C. Y.; Bejerano, G.

    2013-01-01

    The human genome encodes 1500-2000 different transcription factors (TFs). ChIP-seq is revealing the global binding profiles of a fraction of TFs in a fraction of their biological contexts. These data show that the majority of TFs bind directly next to a large number of context-relevant target genes, that most binding is distal, and that binding is context specific. Because of the effort and cost involved, ChIP-seq is seldom used in search of novel TF function. Such exploration is instead done using expression perturbation and genetic screens. Here we propose a comprehensive computational framework for transcription factor function prediction. We curate 332 high-quality nonredundant TF binding motifs that represent all major DNA binding domains, and improve cross-species conserved binding site prediction to obtain 3.3 million conserved, mostly distal, binding site predictions. We combine these with 2.4 million facts about all human and mouse gene functions, in a novel statistical framework, in search of enrichments of particular motifs next to groups of target genes of particular functions. Rigorous parameter tuning and a harsh null are used to minimize false positives. Our novel PRISM (predicting regulatory information from single motifs) approach obtains 2543 TF function predictions in a large variety of contexts, at a false discovery rate of 16%. The predictions are highly enriched for validated TF roles, and 45 of 67 (67%) tested binding site regions in five different contexts act as enhancers in functionally matched cells.

  6. PRISM offers a comprehensive genomic approach to transcription factor function prediction

    KAUST Repository

    Wenger, A. M.

    2013-02-04

    The human genome encodes 1500-2000 different transcription factors (TFs). ChIP-seq is revealing the global binding profiles of a fraction of TFs in a fraction of their biological contexts. These data show that the majority of TFs bind directly next to a large number of context-relevant target genes, that most binding is distal, and that binding is context specific. Because of the effort and cost involved, ChIP-seq is seldom used in search of novel TF function. Such exploration is instead done using expression perturbation and genetic screens. Here we propose a comprehensive computational framework for transcription factor function prediction. We curate 332 high-quality nonredundant TF binding motifs that represent all major DNA binding domains, and improve cross-species conserved binding site prediction to obtain 3.3 million conserved, mostly distal, binding site predictions. We combine these with 2.4 million facts about all human and mouse gene functions, in a novel statistical framework, in search of enrichments of particular motifs next to groups of target genes of particular functions. Rigorous parameter tuning and a harsh null are used to minimize false positives. Our novel PRISM (predicting regulatory information from single motifs) approach obtains 2543 TF function predictions in a large variety of contexts, at a false discovery rate of 16%. The predictions are highly enriched for validated TF roles, and 45 of 67 (67%) tested binding site regions in five different contexts act as enhancers in functionally matched cells.

  7. Text mining improves prediction of protein functional sites.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karin M Verspoor

    Full Text Available We present an approach that integrates protein structure analysis and text mining for protein functional site prediction, called LEAP-FS (Literature Enhanced Automated Prediction of Functional Sites. The structure analysis was carried out using Dynamics Perturbation Analysis (DPA, which predicts functional sites at control points where interactions greatly perturb protein vibrations. The text mining extracts mentions of residues in the literature, and predicts that residues mentioned are functionally important. We assessed the significance of each of these methods by analyzing their performance in finding known functional sites (specifically, small-molecule binding sites and catalytic sites in about 100,000 publicly available protein structures. The DPA predictions recapitulated many of the functional site annotations and preferentially recovered binding sites annotated as biologically relevant vs. those annotated as potentially spurious. The text-based predictions were also substantially supported by the functional site annotations: compared to other residues, residues mentioned in text were roughly six times more likely to be found in a functional site. The overlap of predictions with annotations improved when the text-based and structure-based methods agreed. Our analysis also yielded new high-quality predictions of many functional site residues that were not catalogued in the curated data sources we inspected. We conclude that both DPA and text mining independently provide valuable high-throughput protein functional site predictions, and that integrating the two methods using LEAP-FS further improves the quality of these predictions.

  8. Text Mining Improves Prediction of Protein Functional Sites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohn, Judith D.; Ravikumar, Komandur E.

    2012-01-01

    We present an approach that integrates protein structure analysis and text mining for protein functional site prediction, called LEAP-FS (Literature Enhanced Automated Prediction of Functional Sites). The structure analysis was carried out using Dynamics Perturbation Analysis (DPA), which predicts functional sites at control points where interactions greatly perturb protein vibrations. The text mining extracts mentions of residues in the literature, and predicts that residues mentioned are functionally important. We assessed the significance of each of these methods by analyzing their performance in finding known functional sites (specifically, small-molecule binding sites and catalytic sites) in about 100,000 publicly available protein structures. The DPA predictions recapitulated many of the functional site annotations and preferentially recovered binding sites annotated as biologically relevant vs. those annotated as potentially spurious. The text-based predictions were also substantially supported by the functional site annotations: compared to other residues, residues mentioned in text were roughly six times more likely to be found in a functional site. The overlap of predictions with annotations improved when the text-based and structure-based methods agreed. Our analysis also yielded new high-quality predictions of many functional site residues that were not catalogued in the curated data sources we inspected. We conclude that both DPA and text mining independently provide valuable high-throughput protein functional site predictions, and that integrating the two methods using LEAP-FS further improves the quality of these predictions. PMID:22393388

  9. NARX prediction of some rare chaotic flows: Recurrent fuzzy functions approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goudarzi, Sobhan; Jafari, Sajad; Moradi, Mohammad Hassan; Sprott, J.C.

    2016-01-01

    The nonlinear and dynamic accommodating capability of time domain models makes them a useful representation of chaotic time series for analysis, modeling and prediction. This paper is devoted to the modeling and prediction of chaotic time series with hidden attractors using a nonlinear autoregressive model with exogenous inputs (NARX) based on a novel recurrent fuzzy functions (RFFs) approach. Case studies of recently introduced chaotic systems with hidden attractors plus classical chaotic systems demonstrate that the proposed modeling methodology exhibits better prediction performance from different viewpoints (short term and long term) compared to some other existing methods. - Highlights: • A new method is proposed for prediction of chaotic time series. • This method is based on novel recurrent fuzzy functions (RFFs) approach. • Some rare chaotic flows are used as test systems. • The new method shows proper performance in short-term prediction. • It also shows proper performance in prediction of attractor's topology.

  10. NARX prediction of some rare chaotic flows: Recurrent fuzzy functions approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goudarzi, Sobhan [Biomedical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran 15875-4413 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Jafari, Sajad, E-mail: sajadjafari@aut.ac.ir [Biomedical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran 15875-4413 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Moradi, Mohammad Hassan [Biomedical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran 15875-4413 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Sprott, J.C. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)

    2016-02-15

    The nonlinear and dynamic accommodating capability of time domain models makes them a useful representation of chaotic time series for analysis, modeling and prediction. This paper is devoted to the modeling and prediction of chaotic time series with hidden attractors using a nonlinear autoregressive model with exogenous inputs (NARX) based on a novel recurrent fuzzy functions (RFFs) approach. Case studies of recently introduced chaotic systems with hidden attractors plus classical chaotic systems demonstrate that the proposed modeling methodology exhibits better prediction performance from different viewpoints (short term and long term) compared to some other existing methods. - Highlights: • A new method is proposed for prediction of chaotic time series. • This method is based on novel recurrent fuzzy functions (RFFs) approach. • Some rare chaotic flows are used as test systems. • The new method shows proper performance in short-term prediction. • It also shows proper performance in prediction of attractor's topology.

  11. Organization of intrinsic functional brain connectivity predicts decisions to reciprocate social behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cáceda, Ricardo; James, G Andrew; Gutman, David A; Kilts, Clinton D

    2015-10-01

    Reciprocation of trust exchanges is central to the development of interpersonal relationships and societal well-being. Understanding how humans make pro-social and self-centered decisions in dyadic interactions and how to predict these choices has been an area of great interest in social neuroscience. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based technology with potential clinical application is the study of resting state brain connectivity. We tested if resting state connectivity may predict choice behavior in a social context. Twenty-nine healthy adults underwent resting state fMRI before performing the Trust Game, a two person monetary exchange game. We assessed the ability of patterns of resting-state functional brain organization, demographic characteristics and a measure of moral development, the Defining Issues Test (DIT-2), to predict individuals' decisions to reciprocate money during the Trust Game. Subjects reciprocated in 74.9% of the trials. Independent component analysis identified canonical resting-state networks. Increased functional connectivity between the salience (bilateral insula/anterior cingulate) and central executive (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex/ posterior parietal cortex) networks significantly predicted the choice to reciprocate pro-social behavior (R(2) = 0.20, p = 0.015). Stepwise linear regression analysis showed that functional connectivity between these two networks (p = 0.002), age (p = 0.007) and DIT-2 personal interest schema score (p = 0.032) significantly predicted reciprocity behavior (R(2) = 0.498, p = 0.001). Intrinsic functional connectivity between neural networks in conjunction with other individual characteristics may be a valuable tool for predicting performance during social interactions. Future replication and temporal extension of these findings may bolster the understanding of decision making in clinical, financial and marketing settings. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Predicting cognitive function of the Malaysian elderly: a structural equation modelling approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foong, Hui Foh; Hamid, Tengku Aizan; Ibrahim, Rahimah; Haron, Sharifah Azizah; Shahar, Suzana

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to identify the predictors of elderly's cognitive function based on biopsychosocial and cognitive reserve perspectives. The study included 2322 community-dwelling elderly in Malaysia, randomly selected through a multi-stage proportional cluster random sampling from Peninsular Malaysia. The elderly were surveyed on socio-demographic information, biomarkers, psychosocial status, disability, and cognitive function. A biopsychosocial model of cognitive function was developed to test variables' predictive power on cognitive function. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 15.0) in conjunction with Analysis of Moment Structures Graphics (AMOS 7.0). The estimated theoretical model fitted the data well. Psychosocial stress and metabolic syndrome (MetS) negatively predicted cognitive function and psychosocial stress appeared as a main predictor. Socio-demographic characteristics, except gender, also had significant effects on cognitive function. However, disability failed to predict cognitive function. Several factors together may predict cognitive function in the Malaysian elderly population, and the variance accounted for it is large enough to be considered substantial. Key factor associated with the elderly's cognitive function seems to be psychosocial well-being. Thus, psychosocial well-being should be included in the elderly assessment, apart from medical conditions, both in clinical and community setting.

  13. Hydrological-niche models predict water plant functional group distributions in diverse wetland types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deane, David C; Nicol, Jason M; Gehrig, Susan L; Harding, Claire; Aldridge, Kane T; Goodman, Abigail M; Brookes, Justin D

    2017-06-01

    Human use of water resources threatens environmental water supplies. If resource managers are to develop policies that avoid unacceptable ecological impacts, some means to predict ecosystem response to changes in water availability is necessary. This is difficult to achieve at spatial scales relevant for water resource management because of the high natural variability in ecosystem hydrology and ecology. Water plant functional groups classify species with similar hydrological niche preferences together, allowing a qualitative means to generalize community responses to changes in hydrology. We tested the potential for functional groups in making quantitative prediction of water plant functional group distributions across diverse wetland types over a large geographical extent. We sampled wetlands covering a broad range of hydrogeomorphic and salinity conditions in South Australia, collecting both hydrological and floristic data from 687 quadrats across 28 wetland hydrological gradients. We built hydrological-niche models for eight water plant functional groups using a range of candidate models combining different surface inundation metrics. We then tested the predictive performance of top-ranked individual and averaged models for each functional group. Cross validation showed that models achieved acceptable predictive performance, with correct classification rates in the range 0.68-0.95. Model predictions can be made at any spatial scale that hydrological data are available and could be implemented in a geographical information system. We show the response of water plant functional groups to inundation is consistent enough across diverse wetland types to quantify the probability of hydrological impacts over regional spatial scales. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

  14. Dynamic prediction of cumulative incidence functions by direct binomial regression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grand, Mia K; de Witte, Theo J M; Putter, Hein

    2018-03-25

    In recent years there have been a series of advances in the field of dynamic prediction. Among those is the development of methods for dynamic prediction of the cumulative incidence function in a competing risk setting. These models enable the predictions to be updated as time progresses and more information becomes available, for example when a patient comes back for a follow-up visit after completing a year of treatment, the risk of death, and adverse events may have changed since treatment initiation. One approach to model the cumulative incidence function in competing risks is by direct binomial regression, where right censoring of the event times is handled by inverse probability of censoring weights. We extend the approach by combining it with landmarking to enable dynamic prediction of the cumulative incidence function. The proposed models are very flexible, as they allow the covariates to have complex time-varying effects, and we illustrate how to investigate possible time-varying structures using Wald tests. The models are fitted using generalized estimating equations. The method is applied to bone marrow transplant data and the performance is investigated in a simulation study. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Lifestyle Markers Predict Cognitive Function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masley, Steven C; Roetzheim, Richard; Clayton, Gwendolyn; Presby, Angela; Sundberg, Kelley; Masley, Lucas V

    2017-01-01

    Rates of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease are increasing rapidly. None of the current treatment regimens for Alzheimer's disease are effective in arresting progression. Lifestyle choices may prevent cognitive decline. This study aims to clarify which factors best predict cognitive function. This was a prospective cross-sectional analysis of 799 men and women undergoing health and cognitive testing every 1 to 3 years at an outpatient center. This study utilizes data collected from the first patient visit. Participant ages were 18 to 88 (mean = 50.7) years and the sample was 26.6% female and 73.4% male. Measurements were made of body composition, fasting laboratory and anthropometric measures, strength and aerobic fitness, nutrient and dietary intake, and carotid intimal media thickness (IMT). Each participant was tested with a computerized neurocognitive test battery. Cognitive outcomes were assessed in bivariate analyses using t-tests and correlation coefficients and in multivariable analysis (controlling for age) using multiple linear regression. The initial bivariate analyses showed better Neurocognitive Index (NCI) scores with lower age, greater fitness scores (push-up strength, VO 2 max, and exercise duration during treadmill testing), and lower fasting glucose levels. Better cognitive flexibility scores were also noted with younger age, lower systolic blood pressure, lower body fat, lower carotid IMT scores, greater fitness, and higher alcohol intake. After controlling for age, factors that remained associated with better NCI scores include no tobacco use, lower fasting glucose levels, and better fitness (aerobic and strength). Higher cognitive flexibility scores remained associated with greater aerobic and strength fitness, lower body fat, and higher intake of alcohol. Modifiable biomarkers that impact cognitive performance favorably include greater aerobic fitness and strength, lower blood sugar levels, greater alcohol intake, lower body

  16. Predictive value and construct validity of the work functioning screener-healthcare (WFS-H)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boezeman, Edwin J.; Nieuwenhuijsen, Karen; Sluiter, Judith K.

    2016-01-01

    Objectives: To test the predictive value and convergent construct validity of a 6-item work functioning screener (WFS-H). Methods: Healthcare workers (249 nurses) completed a questionnaire containing the work functioning screener (WFS-H) and a work functioning instrument (NWFQ) measuring the following: cognitive aspects of task execution and general incidents, avoidance behavior, conflicts and irritation with colleagues, impaired contact with patients and their family, and level of energy and motivation. Productivity and mental health were also measured. Negative and positive predictive values, AUC values, and sensitivity and specificity were calculated to examine the predictive value of the screener. Correlation analysis was used to examine the construct validity. Results: The screener had good predictive value, since the results showed that a negative screener score is a strong indicator of work functioning not hindered by mental health problems (negative predictive values: 94%-98%; positive predictive values: 21%-36%; AUC:.64-.82; sensitivity: 42%-76%; and specificity 85%-87%). The screener has good construct validity due to moderate, but significant (pvalue and good construct validity. Its score offers occupational health professionals a helpful preliminary insight into the work functioning of healthcare workers. PMID:27010085

  17. Predictive value and construct validity of the work functioning screener-healthcare (WFS-H).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boezeman, Edwin J; Nieuwenhuijsen, Karen; Sluiter, Judith K

    2016-05-25

    To test the predictive value and convergent construct validity of a 6-item work functioning screener (WFS-H). Healthcare workers (249 nurses) completed a questionnaire containing the work functioning screener (WFS-H) and a work functioning instrument (NWFQ) measuring the following: cognitive aspects of task execution and general incidents, avoidance behavior, conflicts and irritation with colleagues, impaired contact with patients and their family, and level of energy and motivation. Productivity and mental health were also measured. Negative and positive predictive values, AUC values, and sensitivity and specificity were calculated to examine the predictive value of the screener. Correlation analysis was used to examine the construct validity. The screener had good predictive value, since the results showed that a negative screener score is a strong indicator of work functioning not hindered by mental health problems (negative predictive values: 94%-98%; positive predictive values: 21%-36%; AUC:.64-.82; sensitivity: 42%-76%; and specificity 85%-87%). The screener has good construct validity due to moderate, but significant (ppredictive value and good construct validity. Its score offers occupational health professionals a helpful preliminary insight into the work functioning of healthcare workers.

  18. Functional Literacy Tests: A Case of Anticipatory Validity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Lorin W.; Anderson, Jo Craig

    1981-01-01

    Development of the mathematics functional literacy test (MFLT) is described, issues of predictive and content validity are discussed, and implications for educational policy are presented. Ten basic skill areas identified by the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics were used as the basis for the development of the MFLT. (RL)

  19. Should we assess climate model predictions in light of severe tests?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katzav, Joel

    2011-06-01

    According to Austro-British philosopher Karl Popper, a system of theoretical claims is scientific only if it is methodologically falsifiable, i.e., only if systematic attempts to falsify or severely test the system are being carried out [Popper, 2005, pp. 20, 62]. He holds that a test of a theoretical system is severe if and only if it is a test of the applicability of the system to a case in which the system's failure is likely in light of background knowledge, i.e., in light of scientific assumptions other than those of the system being tested [Popper, 2002, p. 150]. Popper counts the 1919 tests of general relativity's then unlikely predictions of the deflection of light in the Sun's gravitational field as severe. An implication of Popper's above condition for being a scientific theoretical system is the injunction to assess theoretical systems in light of how well they have withstood severe testing. Applying this injunction to assessing the quality of climate model predictions (CMPs), including climate model projections, would involve assigning a quality to each CMP as a function of how well it has withstood severe tests allowed by its implications for past, present, and nearfuture climate or, alternatively, as a function of how well the models that generated the CMP have withstood severe tests of their suitability for generating the CMP.

  20. Predictive capabilities of preoperative and postoperative pulmonary function tests in delayed repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tracy, T F; Bailey, P V; Sadiq, F; Noguchi, A; Silen, M L; Weber, T R

    1994-02-01

    To improve the survival of newborns with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CHD), preoperative stabilization with conventional ventilatory therapy and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) have been used. Measurements that quantify pulmonary function may allow an accurate assessment of lethal pulmonary hypoplasia and predict outcome. Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) were obtained in 20 infants preoperatively and postoperatively; these included measurements of compliance, dynamic compliance, and tidal volume. Overall survival was 75%. Six surviving infants were initially managed with ventilator therapy alone, followed by repair (group 1). The remaining 14 patients, who were moribund at presentation or whose initial ventilator therapy failed, were placed on ECMO and received repair during bypass; nine survived (group 2), and five died (group 3). Compliance, dynamic compliance, and tidal volume obtained at initial presentation and immediately preoperatively were significantly higher for group 1 as compared with groups 2 and 3. Infants whose initial compliance was greater than 0.25 mL/cm H2O/kg and initial tidal volume was greater than 3.5 mL/kg did not require ECMO. Ultimate improvement in compliance was noted in 5 of 6 patients in group 1, 8 of 8 patients in group 2, and 5 of 5 in group 3. This improvement followed an initial decline in compliance in 9 of 14 survivors, from 15% to 76%. All six patients in group 1 had tidal volumes of more than 4 mL/kg, as did 7 of 9 patients in group 2. Only one patient among the ECMO nonsurvivors (group 3) had a postoperative tidal volume of this magnitude. These data suggest that initial PFTs may predict which infants will require ECMO.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  1. Platelet Function Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Patient Resources For Health Professionals Subscribe Search Platelet Function Tests Send Us Your Feedback Choose Topic At ... Also Known As Platelet Aggregation Studies PFT Platelet Function Assay PFA Formal Name Platelet Function Tests This ...

  2. Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhili He

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Contamination from anthropogenic activities has significantly impacted Earth’s biosphere. However, knowledge about how environmental contamination affects the biodiversity of groundwater microbiomes and ecosystem functioning remains very limited. Here, we used a comprehensive functional gene array to analyze groundwater microbiomes from 69 wells at the Oak Ridge Field Research Center (Oak Ridge, TN, representing a wide pH range and uranium, nitrate, and other contaminants. We hypothesized that the functional diversity of groundwater microbiomes would decrease as environmental contamination (e.g., uranium or nitrate increased or at low or high pH, while some specific populations capable of utilizing or resistant to those contaminants would increase, and thus, such key microbial functional genes and/or populations could be used to predict groundwater contamination and ecosystem functioning. Our results indicated that functional richness/diversity decreased as uranium (but not nitrate increased in groundwater. In addition, about 5.9% of specific key functional populations targeted by a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5 increased significantly (P < 0.05 as uranium or nitrate increased, and their changes could be used to successfully predict uranium and nitrate contamination and ecosystem functioning. This study indicates great potential for using microbial functional genes to predict environmental contamination and ecosystem functioning.

  3. Correlation between HRCT and pulmonary functional tests in cystic fibrosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mastellari, Paola; Biggi, Simona; Lombardi, Alfonsa; Zompatori, Maurizio; Grzincich, Gianluigi; Pisi, Giovanna; Spaggiari, Cinzia

    2005-01-01

    Purpose. To compare the HRCT score by Oikonottlou and air trapping in expiratory scans with pulmonary functional tests and evaluate which radiological criteria are more useful to predict clinical impairment. Materials and methods. From January to September 2003, pulmonary HRCT study was performed in 37 patients (23 males), aged between 7 and 41 years, with cystic fibrosis. In the same day of CT examination they also received a complete functional evaluation. HRCT studies were evaluated by three radiologists blinded to the clinical data and were correlated with the lung function tests. Results. We obtained a high correlation (p=0.01) for two of the HRCT signs: extent of mucus plugging and mosaic perfusion pattern and all function tests. Discussion. Previous studies have demonstrated good correlation between lung function tests, in particular with FEV1 and HRCT signs. Our study differed from previous ones in that we analysed the correlation between lung function tests and with both single and combined CT criteria. Conclusion. Our results suggest that a simplified HRCT store could be useful to evaluate patients with cystic fibrosis [it

  4. Liver Function Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... digest food, store energy, and remove poisons. Liver function tests are blood tests that check to see ... as hepatitis and cirrhosis. You may have liver function tests as part of a regular checkup. Or ...

  5. Regional differences in prediction models of lung function in Germany

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schäper Christoph

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Little is known about the influencing potential of specific characteristics on lung function in different populations. The aim of this analysis was to determine whether lung function determinants differ between subpopulations within Germany and whether prediction equations developed for one subpopulation are also adequate for another subpopulation. Methods Within three studies (KORA C, SHIP-I, ECRHS-I in different areas of Germany 4059 adults performed lung function tests. The available data consisted of forced expiratory volume in one second, forced vital capacity and peak expiratory flow rate. For each study multivariate regression models were developed to predict lung function and Bland-Altman plots were established to evaluate the agreement between predicted and measured values. Results The final regression equations for FEV1 and FVC showed adjusted r-square values between 0.65 and 0.75, and for PEF they were between 0.46 and 0.61. In all studies gender, age, height and pack-years were significant determinants, each with a similar effect size. Regarding other predictors there were some, although not statistically significant, differences between the studies. Bland-Altman plots indicated that the regression models for each individual study adequately predict medium (i.e. normal but not extremely high or low lung function values in the whole study population. Conclusions Simple models with gender, age and height explain a substantial part of lung function variance whereas further determinants add less than 5% to the total explained r-squared, at least for FEV1 and FVC. Thus, for different adult subpopulations of Germany one simple model for each lung function measures is still sufficient.

  6. Application of damage functions to CTR component fluence limit predictions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simons, R.L.; Doran, D.G.

    1975-01-01

    Material behavior observed under irradiation conditions in test reactors is not always directly applicable to the design of reactor components such as CTR first wall because of differences in the damage effectiveness of test reactor and service spectra. The interpolation and, under some conditions, extrapolation of material property change data from test conditions to different neutron spectra in service conditions can be accomplished using semi-empirical damage functions. The derivation and application of damage functions to CTR conditions is reviewed. Since limited amounts of data are available for applications to CTR design spectra, considerable attention is placed on the effectiveness of various available and proposed neutron sources in determining a damage function and subsequent fluence limit prediction. Neutron sources included in this study were EBR-II, HIFR, LAMPF (Be and Cu targets), high energy deuterons incident on Be (D-Be), and 14 MeV neutrons (D-T)

  7. Kidney function tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kidney function tests are common lab tests used to evaluate how well the kidneys are working. Such tests include: ... Oh MS, Briefel G. Evaluation of renal function, water, electrolytes ... and Management by Laboratory Methods . 23rd ed. Philadelphia, ...

  8. The Trail Making test: a study of its ability to predict falls in the acute neurological in-patient population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mateen, Bilal Akhter; Bussas, Matthias; Doogan, Catherine; Waller, Denise; Saverino, Alessia; Király, Franz J; Playford, E Diane

    2018-05-01

    To determine whether tests of cognitive function and patient-reported outcome measures of motor function can be used to create a machine learning-based predictive tool for falls. Prospective cohort study. Tertiary neurological and neurosurgical center. In all, 337 in-patients receiving neurosurgical, neurological, or neurorehabilitation-based care. Binary (Y/N) for falling during the in-patient episode, the Trail Making Test (a measure of attention and executive function) and the Walk-12 (a patient-reported measure of physical function). The principal outcome was a fall during the in-patient stay ( n = 54). The Trail test was identified as the best predictor of falls. Moreover, addition of other variables, did not improve the prediction (Wilcoxon signed-rank P Test data (Wilcoxon signed-rank P test of cognitive function, the Trail Making test.

  9. ProLanGO: Protein Function Prediction Using Neural Machine Translation Based on a Recurrent Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Renzhi; Freitas, Colton; Chan, Leong; Sun, Miao; Jiang, Haiqing; Chen, Zhangxin

    2017-10-17

    With the development of next generation sequencing techniques, it is fast and cheap to determine protein sequences but relatively slow and expensive to extract useful information from protein sequences because of limitations of traditional biological experimental techniques. Protein function prediction has been a long standing challenge to fill the gap between the huge amount of protein sequences and the known function. In this paper, we propose a novel method to convert the protein function problem into a language translation problem by the new proposed protein sequence language "ProLan" to the protein function language "GOLan", and build a neural machine translation model based on recurrent neural networks to translate "ProLan" language to "GOLan" language. We blindly tested our method by attending the latest third Critical Assessment of Function Annotation (CAFA 3) in 2016, and also evaluate the performance of our methods on selected proteins whose function was released after CAFA competition. The good performance on the training and testing datasets demonstrates that our new proposed method is a promising direction for protein function prediction. In summary, we first time propose a method which converts the protein function prediction problem to a language translation problem and applies a neural machine translation model for protein function prediction.

  10. Functional test of pedotransfer functions to predict water flow and solute transport with the dual-permeability model MACRO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Moeys

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Estimating pesticide leaching risks at the regional scale requires the ability to completely parameterise a pesticide fate model using only survey data, such as soil and land-use maps. Such parameterisations usually rely on a set of lookup tables and (pedotransfer functions, relating elementary soil and site properties to model parameters. The aim of this paper is to describe and test a complete set of parameter estimation algorithms developed for the pesticide fate model MACRO, which accounts for preferential flow in soil macropores. We used tracer monitoring data from 16 lysimeter studies, carried out in three European countries, to evaluate the ability of MACRO and this "blind parameterisation" scheme to reproduce measured solute leaching at the base of each lysimeter. We focused on the prediction of early tracer breakthrough due to preferential flow, because this is critical for pesticide leaching. We then calibrated a selected number of parameters in order to assess to what extent the prediction of water and solute leaching could be improved.

    Our results show that water flow was generally reasonably well predicted (median model efficiency, ME, of 0.42. Although the general pattern of solute leaching was reproduced well by the model, the overall model efficiency was low (median ME = −0.26 due to errors in the timing and magnitude of some peaks. Preferential solute leaching at early pore volumes was also systematically underestimated. Nonetheless, the ranking of soils according to solute loads at early pore volumes was reasonably well estimated (concordance correlation coefficient, CCC, between 0.54 and 0.72. Moreover, we also found that ignoring macropore flow leads to a significant deterioration in the ability of the model to reproduce the observed leaching pattern, and especially the early breakthrough in some soils. Finally, the calibration procedure showed that improving the estimation of solute transport parameters is

  11. Functional test of pedotransfer functions to predict water flow and solute transport with the dual-permeability model MACRO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moeys, J.; Larsbo, M.; Bergström, L.; Brown, C. D.; Coquet, Y.; Jarvis, N. J.

    2012-07-01

    Estimating pesticide leaching risks at the regional scale requires the ability to completely parameterise a pesticide fate model using only survey data, such as soil and land-use maps. Such parameterisations usually rely on a set of lookup tables and (pedo)transfer functions, relating elementary soil and site properties to model parameters. The aim of this paper is to describe and test a complete set of parameter estimation algorithms developed for the pesticide fate model MACRO, which accounts for preferential flow in soil macropores. We used tracer monitoring data from 16 lysimeter studies, carried out in three European countries, to evaluate the ability of MACRO and this "blind parameterisation" scheme to reproduce measured solute leaching at the base of each lysimeter. We focused on the prediction of early tracer breakthrough due to preferential flow, because this is critical for pesticide leaching. We then calibrated a selected number of parameters in order to assess to what extent the prediction of water and solute leaching could be improved. Our results show that water flow was generally reasonably well predicted (median model efficiency, ME, of 0.42). Although the general pattern of solute leaching was reproduced well by the model, the overall model efficiency was low (median ME = -0.26) due to errors in the timing and magnitude of some peaks. Preferential solute leaching at early pore volumes was also systematically underestimated. Nonetheless, the ranking of soils according to solute loads at early pore volumes was reasonably well estimated (concordance correlation coefficient, CCC, between 0.54 and 0.72). Moreover, we also found that ignoring macropore flow leads to a significant deterioration in the ability of the model to reproduce the observed leaching pattern, and especially the early breakthrough in some soils. Finally, the calibration procedure showed that improving the estimation of solute transport parameters is probably more important than the

  12. Huntington's disease : Psychological aspects of predictive testing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Timman, Reinier

    2005-01-01

    Predictive testing for Huntington's disease appears to have long lasting psychological effects. The predictive test for Huntington's disease (HD), a hereditary disease of the nervous system, was introduced in the Netherlands in the late eighties. As adverse consequences of the test were

  13. The role of neurocognition and social context in predicting community functioning among formerly homeless seriously mentally ill persons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schutt, Russell K; Seidman, Larry J; Caplan, Brina; Martsinkiv, Anna; Goldfinger, Stephen M

    2007-11-01

    To test the influence of neurocognitive functioning on community functioning among formerly homeless persons with serious mental illness and to determine whether that influence varies with social context, independent of individual characteristics. In metropolitan Boston, 112 persons in Department of Mental Health shelters were administered a neuropsychological test battery and other measures and then randomly assigned to empowerment-oriented group homes or independent apartments, as part of a longitudinal study of the effects of housing on multiple outcomes. Subjects' case managers completed Rosen's 5-dimensional Life Skills Inventory at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months and subjects reported on their social contacts at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months. Subject characteristics are controlled in the analysis. Three dimensions of neurocognitive functioning--executive function, verbal declarative memory, and vigilance--each predicted community functioning. Better executive function predicted improved self-care and less turbulent behavior among persons living alone, better memory predicted more positive social contacts for those living in a group home, and higher levels of vigilance predicted improved communication in both housing types. Neurocognition predicts community functioning among homeless persons with severe mental illness, but in a way that varies with the social context in which community functioning occurs.

  14. Validation of Skeletal Muscle cis-Regulatory Module Predictions Reveals Nucleotide Composition Bias in Functional Enhancers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Andrew T.; Chou, Alice Yi; Arenillas, David J.; Wasserman, Wyeth W.

    2011-01-01

    We performed a genome-wide scan for muscle-specific cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) using three computational prediction programs. Based on the predictions, 339 candidate CRMs were tested in cell culture with NIH3T3 fibroblasts and C2C12 myoblasts for capacity to direct selective reporter gene expression to differentiated C2C12 myotubes. A subset of 19 CRMs validated as functional in the assay. The rate of predictive success reveals striking limitations of computational regulatory sequence analysis methods for CRM discovery. Motif-based methods performed no better than predictions based only on sequence conservation. Analysis of the properties of the functional sequences relative to inactive sequences identifies nucleotide sequence composition can be an important characteristic to incorporate in future methods for improved predictive specificity. Muscle-related TFBSs predicted within the functional sequences display greater sequence conservation than non-TFBS flanking regions. Comparison with recent MyoD and histone modification ChIP-Seq data supports the validity of the functional regions. PMID:22144875

  15. Validation of skeletal muscle cis-regulatory module predictions reveals nucleotide composition bias in functional enhancers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew T Kwon

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available We performed a genome-wide scan for muscle-specific cis-regulatory modules (CRMs using three computational prediction programs. Based on the predictions, 339 candidate CRMs were tested in cell culture with NIH3T3 fibroblasts and C2C12 myoblasts for capacity to direct selective reporter gene expression to differentiated C2C12 myotubes. A subset of 19 CRMs validated as functional in the assay. The rate of predictive success reveals striking limitations of computational regulatory sequence analysis methods for CRM discovery. Motif-based methods performed no better than predictions based only on sequence conservation. Analysis of the properties of the functional sequences relative to inactive sequences identifies nucleotide sequence composition can be an important characteristic to incorporate in future methods for improved predictive specificity. Muscle-related TFBSs predicted within the functional sequences display greater sequence conservation than non-TFBS flanking regions. Comparison with recent MyoD and histone modification ChIP-Seq data supports the validity of the functional regions.

  16. Habitual fat intake predicts memory function in younger women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward Leigh eGibson

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available High intakes of fat have been linked to greater cognitive decline in old age, but such associations may already occur in younger adults. We tested memory and learning in 38 women (25-45 years old, recruited for a larger observational study in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. These women varied in health status, though not significantly between cases (n=23 and controls (n=15. Performance on tests sensitive to medial temporal lobe function (CANTABeclipse, Cambridge Cognition Ltd., i.e. verbal memory, visuo-spatial learning and delayed pattern matching, were compared with intakes of macronutrients from 7-day diet diaries and physiological indices of metabolic syndrome. Partial correlations were adjusted for age, activity and verbal IQ (National Adult Reading Test. Greater intakes of saturated and trans fats, and higher saturated to unsaturated fat ratio (Sat:UFA, were associated with more errors on the visuo-spatial task and with poorer word recall and recognition. Unexpectedly, higher UFA intake predicted poorer performance on the word recall and recognition measures. Fasting insulin was positively correlated with poorer word recognition only, whereas higher blood total cholesterol was associated only with visuo-spatial learning errors. None of these variables predicted performance on a delayed pattern matching test. The significant nutrient-cognition relationships were tested for mediation by total energy intake: saturated and trans fat intakes, and Sat:UFA, remained significant predictors specifically of visuo-spatial learning errors, whereas total fat and UFA intakes now predicted only poorer word recall. Examination of associations separately for mono- (MUFA and polyunsaturated fats suggested that only MUFA intake was predictive of poorer word recall. Saturated and trans fats, and fasting insulin, may already be associated with cognitive deficits in younger women. The findings need extending but may have important implications for public

  17. Prediction of clinical response to drugs in ovarian cancer using the chemotherapy resistance test (CTR-test).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kischkel, Frank Christian; Meyer, Carina; Eich, Julia; Nassir, Mani; Mentze, Monika; Braicu, Ioana; Kopp-Schneider, Annette; Sehouli, Jalid

    2017-10-27

    In order to validate if the test result of the Chemotherapy Resistance Test (CTR-Test) is able to predict the resistances or sensitivities of tumors in ovarian cancer patients to drugs, the CTR-Test result and the corresponding clinical response of individual patients were correlated retrospectively. Results were compared to previous recorded correlations. The CTR-Test was performed on tumor samples from 52 ovarian cancer patients for specific chemotherapeutic drugs. Patients were treated with monotherapies or drug combinations. Resistances were classified as extreme (ER), medium (MR) or slight (SR) resistance in the CTR-Test. Combination treatment resistances were transformed by a scoring system into these classifications. Accurate sensitivity prediction was accomplished in 79% of the cases and accurate prediction of resistance in 100% of the cases in the total data set. The data set of single agent treatment and drug combination treatment were analyzed individually. Single agent treatment lead to an accurate sensitivity in 44% of the cases and the drug combination to 95% accuracy. The detection of resistances was in both cases to 100% correct. ROC curve analysis indicates that the CTR-Test result correlates with the clinical response, at least for the combination chemotherapy. Those values are similar or better than the values from a publication from 1990. Chemotherapy resistance testing in vitro via the CTR-Test is able to accurately detect resistances in ovarian cancer patients. These numbers confirm and even exceed results published in 1990. Better sensitivity detection might be caused by a higher percentage of drug combinations tested in 2012 compared to 1990. Our study confirms the functionality of the CTR-Test to plan an efficient chemotherapeutic treatment for ovarian cancer patients.

  18. On-line test of power distribution prediction system for boiling water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishizawa, Y.; Kiguchi, T.; Kobayashi, S.; Takumi, K.; Tanaka, H.; Tsutsumi, R.; Yokomi, M.

    1982-01-01

    A power distribution prediction system for boiling water reactors has been developed and its on-line performance test has proceeded at an operating commercial reactor. This system predicts the power distribution or thermal margin in advance of control rod operations and core flow rate change. This system consists of an on-line computer system, an operator's console with a color cathode-ray tube, and plant data input devices. The main functions of this system are present power distribution monitoring, power distribution prediction, and power-up trajectory prediction. The calculation method is based on a simplified nuclear thermal-hydraulic calculation, which is combined with a method of model identification to the actual reactor core state. It has been ascertained by the on-line test that the predicted power distribution (readings of traversing in-core probe) agrees with the measured data within 6% root-mean-square. The computing time required for one prediction calculation step is less than or equal to 1.5 min by an HIDIC-80 on-line computer

  19. Comparative study of biodegradability prediction of chemicals using decision trees, functional trees, and logistic regression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Guangchao; Li, Xuehua; Chen, Jingwen; Zhang, Ya-Nan; Peijnenburg, Willie J G M

    2014-12-01

    Biodegradation is the principal environmental dissipation process of chemicals. As such, it is a dominant factor determining the persistence and fate of organic chemicals in the environment, and is therefore of critical importance to chemical management and regulation. In the present study, the authors developed in silico methods assessing biodegradability based on a large heterogeneous set of 825 organic compounds, using the techniques of the C4.5 decision tree, the functional inner regression tree, and logistic regression. External validation was subsequently carried out by 2 independent test sets of 777 and 27 chemicals. As a result, the functional inner regression tree exhibited the best predictability with predictive accuracies of 81.5% and 81.0%, respectively, on the training set (825 chemicals) and test set I (777 chemicals). Performance of the developed models on the 2 test sets was subsequently compared with that of the Estimation Program Interface (EPI) Suite Biowin 5 and Biowin 6 models, which also showed a better predictability of the functional inner regression tree model. The model built in the present study exhibits a reasonable predictability compared with existing models while possessing a transparent algorithm. Interpretation of the mechanisms of biodegradation was also carried out based on the models developed. © 2014 SETAC.

  20. 21 CFR 868.1890 - Predictive pulmonary-function value calculator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Predictive pulmonary-function value calculator... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ANESTHESIOLOGY DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 868.1890 Predictive pulmonary-function value calculator. (a) Identification. A predictive pulmonary-function value calculator is...

  1. The utility of liver function tests for mortality prediction within one year in primary care using the algorithm for liver function investigations (ALFI.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David J McLernon

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Although liver function tests (LFTs are routinely measured in primary care, raised levels in patients with no obvious liver disease may trigger a range of subsequent expensive and unnecessary management plans. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a prediction model to guide decision-making by general practitioners, which estimates risk of one year all-cause mortality in patients with no obvious liver disease. METHODS: In this population-based historical cohort study, biochemistry data from patients in Tayside, Scotland, with LFTs performed in primary care were record-linked to secondary care and prescription databases to ascertain baseline characteristics, and to mortality data. Using this derivation cohort a survival model was developed to predict mortality. The model was assessed for calibration, discrimination (using the C-statistic and performance, and validated using a separate cohort of Scottish primary care practices. RESULTS: From the derivation cohort (n = 95 977, 2.7% died within one year. Predictors of mortality included: age; male gender; social deprivation; history of cancer, renal disease, stroke, ischaemic heart disease or respiratory disease; statin use; and LFTs (albumin, transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, and gamma-glutamyltransferase. The C-statistic for the final model was 0.82 (95% CI 0.80-0.84, and was similar in the validation cohort (n = 11 653 0.86 (0.79-0.90. As an example of performance, for a 10% predicted probability cut-off, sensitivity = 52.8%, specificity = 94.0%, PPV = 21.0%, NPV = 98.5%. For the model without LFTs the respective values were 43.8%, 92.8%, 15.6%, 98.1%. CONCLUSIONS: The Algorithm for Liver Function Investigations (ALFI is the first model to successfully estimate the probability of all-cause mortality in patients with no apparent liver disease having LFTs in primary care. While LFTs added to the model's discrimination and sensitivity, the

  2. Test-Anchored Vibration Response Predictions for an Acoustically Energized Curved Orthogrid Panel with Mounted Components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frady, Gregory P.; Duvall, Lowery D.; Fulcher, Clay W. G.; Laverde, Bruce T.; Hunt, Ronald A.

    2011-01-01

    rich body of vibroacoustic test data was recently generated at Marshall Space Flight Center for component-loaded curved orthogrid panels typical of launch vehicle skin structures. The test data were used to anchor computational predictions of a variety of spatially distributed responses including acceleration, strain and component interface force. Transfer functions relating the responses to the input pressure field were generated from finite element based modal solutions and test-derived damping estimates. A diffuse acoustic field model was applied to correlate the measured input sound pressures across the energized panel. This application quantifies the ability to quickly and accurately predict a variety of responses to acoustically energized skin panels with mounted components. Favorable comparisons between the measured and predicted responses were established. The validated models were used to examine vibration response sensitivities to relevant modeling parameters such as pressure patch density, mesh density, weight of the mounted component and model form. Convergence metrics include spectral densities and cumulative root-mean squared (RMS) functions for acceleration, velocity, displacement, strain and interface force. Minimum frequencies for response convergence were established as well as recommendations for modeling techniques, particularly in the early stages of a component design when accurate structural vibration requirements are needed relatively quickly. The results were compared with long-established guidelines for modeling accuracy of component-loaded panels. A theoretical basis for the Response/Pressure Transfer Function (RPTF) approach provides insight into trends observed in the response predictions and confirmed in the test data. The software developed for the RPTF method allows easy replacement of the diffuse acoustic field with other pressure fields such as a turbulent boundary layer (TBL) model suitable for vehicle ascent. Structural responses

  3. Applications of majorization and Schur functions in reliability and life testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Proschan, F.

    1975-01-01

    This is an expository paper presenting basic definitions and properties of majorization and Schur functions, and displaying a variety of applications of these concepts in reliability prediction and modelling, and in reliability inference and life testing

  4. Prediction Error During Functional and Non-Functional Action Sequences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielbo, Kristoffer Laigaard; Sørensen, Jesper

    2013-01-01

    recurrent networks were made and the results are presented in this article. The simulations show that non-functional action sequences do indeed increase prediction error, but that context representations, such as abstract goal information, can modulate the error signal considerably. It is also shown...... that the networks are sensitive to boundaries between sequences in both functional and non-functional actions....

  5. The function and failure of sensory predictions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bansal, Sonia; Ford, Judith M; Spering, Miriam

    2018-04-23

    Humans and other primates are equipped with neural mechanisms that allow them to automatically make predictions about future events, facilitating processing of expected sensations and actions. Prediction-driven control and monitoring of perceptual and motor acts are vital to normal cognitive functioning. This review provides an overview of corollary discharge mechanisms involved in predictions across sensory modalities and discusses consequences of predictive coding for cognition and behavior. Converging evidence now links impairments in corollary discharge mechanisms to neuropsychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. We review studies supporting a prediction-failure hypothesis of perceptual and cognitive disturbances. We also outline neural correlates underlying prediction function and failure, highlighting similarities across the visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems. In linking basic psychophysical and psychophysiological evidence of visual, auditory, and somatosensory prediction failures to neuropsychiatric symptoms, our review furthers our understanding of disease mechanisms. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

  6. A Modified Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test Predicts Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia Better Than Executive Function Tests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthias L. Schroeter

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD is characterized by deep alterations in behavior and personality. Although revised diagnostic criteria agree for executive dysfunction as most characteristic, impairments in social cognition are also suggested. The study aimed at identifying those neuropsychological and behavioral parameters best discriminating between bvFTD and healthy controls. Eighty six patients were diagnosed with possible or probable bvFTD according to Rascovsky et al. (2011 and compared with 43 healthy age-matched controls. Neuropsychological performance was assessed with a modified Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET, Stroop task, Trail Making Test (TMT, Hamasch-Five-Point Test (H5PT, and semantic and phonemic verbal fluency tasks. Behavior was assessed with the Apathy Evaluation Scale, Frontal Systems Behavioral Scale, and Bayer Activities of Daily Living Scale. Each test’s discriminatory power was investigated by Receiver Operating Characteristic curves calculating the area under the curve (AUC. bvFTD patients performed significantly worse than healthy controls in all neuropsychological tests. Discriminatory power (AUC was highest in behavioral questionnaires, high in verbal fluency tasks and the RMET, and lower in executive function tests such as the Stroop task, TMT and H5PT. As fluency tasks depend on several cognitive functions, not only executive functions, results suggest that the RMET discriminated better between bvFTD and control subjects than other executive tests. Social cognition should be incorporated into diagnostic criteria for bvFTD in the future, such as in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11, as already suggested in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5.

  7. Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ping; Wu, Linwei; Rocha, Andrea M.; Shi, Zhou; Wu, Bo; Qin, Yujia; Wang, Jianjun; Yan, Qingyun; Curtis, Daniel; Ning, Daliang; Van Nostrand, Joy D.; Wu, Liyou; Watson, David B.; Adams, Michael W. W.; Alm, Eric J.; Adams, Paul D.; Arkin, Adam P.

    2018-01-01

    ABSTRACT Contamination from anthropogenic activities has significantly impacted Earth’s biosphere. However, knowledge about how environmental contamination affects the biodiversity of groundwater microbiomes and ecosystem functioning remains very limited. Here, we used a comprehensive functional gene array to analyze groundwater microbiomes from 69 wells at the Oak Ridge Field Research Center (Oak Ridge, TN), representing a wide pH range and uranium, nitrate, and other contaminants. We hypothesized that the functional diversity of groundwater microbiomes would decrease as environmental contamination (e.g., uranium or nitrate) increased or at low or high pH, while some specific populations capable of utilizing or resistant to those contaminants would increase, and thus, such key microbial functional genes and/or populations could be used to predict groundwater contamination and ecosystem functioning. Our results indicated that functional richness/diversity decreased as uranium (but not nitrate) increased in groundwater. In addition, about 5.9% of specific key functional populations targeted by a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5) increased significantly (P contamination and ecosystem functioning. This study indicates great potential for using microbial functional genes to predict environmental contamination and ecosystem functioning. PMID:29463661

  8. Systematic assessment of apraxia and functional predictions from the Birmingham Cognitive Screen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bickerton, Wai-Ling; Riddoch, M Jane; Samson, Dana; Balani, Alex Bahrami; Mistry, Bejal; Humphreys, Glyn W

    2012-05-01

    The validity and functional predictive values of the apraxia tests in the Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS) were evaluated. BCoS was developed to identify patients with different forms of praxic deficit using procedures designed to be inclusive for patients with aphasia and/or spatial neglect. Observational studies were conducted from a university neuropsychological assessment centre and from acute and rehabilitation stroke care hospitals throughout an English region. Volunteers from referred patients with chronic acquired brain injuries, a consecutive hospital sample of patients within 3 months of stroke (n=635) and a population based healthy control sample (n=100) were recruited. The main outcome measures used were the Barthel Index, the Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living Scale as well as recovery from apraxia. There were high inter-rater reliabilities and correlations between the BCoS apraxia tasks and counterpart tests from the literature. The vast majority (88.3%) of the stroke survivors were able to complete the screen. Pantomime and gesture recognition tasks were more sensitive in differentiating between individuals with left hemisphere damage and right hemisphere damage whereas the Multistep Object Use test and the imitation task had higher functional correlates over and above effects of hemiplegia. Together, the initial scores of the four tasks enabled predictions with 75% accuracy, the recovery of apraxia and independence level at 9 months. As a model based assessment, BCoS offers a quick and valid way to detect apraxia and predict functional recovery. It enables early and informative assessment of most stroke patients for rehabilitation planning.

  9. Extraocular muscle function testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003397.htm Extraocular muscle function testing To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Extraocular muscle function testing examines the function of the eye muscles. ...

  10. DWI and complex brain network analysis predicts vascular cognitive impairment in spontaneous hypertensive rats undergoing executive function tests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xavier eLópez-Gil

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The identification of biomarkers of vascular cognitive impairment is urgent for its early diagnosis. The aim of this study was to detect and monitor changes in brain structure and connectivity, and to correlate them with the decline in executive function. We examined the feasibility of early diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging to predict cognitive impairment before onset in an animal model of chronic hypertension: Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats. Cognitive performance was tested in an operant conditioning paradigm that evaluated learning, memory and behavioral flexibility skills. Behavioral tests were coupled with longitudinal diffusion weighted imaging acquired with 126 diffusion gradient directions and 0.3 mm3 isometric resolution at 10, 14, 18, 22, 26 and 40 weeks after birth. Diffusion weighted imaging was analyzed in 2 different ways, by regional characterization of diffusion tensor imaging indices, and by assessing changes in structural brain network organization based on Q-Ball tractography. Already at the first evaluated times, diffusion tensor imaging scalar maps revealed significant differences in many regions, suggesting loss of integrity in white and grey matter of spontaneously hypertensive rats when compared to normotensive control rats. In addition, graph theory analysis of the structural brain network demonstrated a significant decrease of hierarchical modularity, global and local efficacy, with predictive value as shown by regional 3-fold cross validation study. Moreover, these decreases were significantly correlated with the behavioral performance deficits observed at subsequent time points, suggesting that the diffusion weighted imaging and connectivity studies can unravel neuroimaging alterations even overt signs of cognitive impairment become apparent.

  11. Roles for text mining in protein function prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verspoor, Karin M

    2014-01-01

    The Human Genome Project has provided science with a hugely valuable resource: the blueprints for life; the specification of all of the genes that make up a human. While the genes have all been identified and deciphered, it is proteins that are the workhorses of the human body: they are essential to virtually all cell functions and are the primary mechanism through which biological function is carried out. Hence in order to fully understand what happens at a molecular level in biological organisms, and eventually to enable development of treatments for diseases where some aspect of a biological system goes awry, we must understand the functions of proteins. However, experimental characterization of protein function cannot scale to the vast amount of DNA sequence data now available. Computational protein function prediction has therefore emerged as a problem at the forefront of modern biology (Radivojac et al., Nat Methods 10(13):221-227, 2013).Within the varied approaches to computational protein function prediction that have been explored, there are several that make use of biomedical literature mining. These methods take advantage of information in the published literature to associate specific proteins with specific protein functions. In this chapter, we introduce two main strategies for doing this: association of function terms, represented as Gene Ontology terms (Ashburner et al., Nat Genet 25(1):25-29, 2000), to proteins based on information in published articles, and a paradigm called LEAP-FS (Literature-Enhanced Automated Prediction of Functional Sites) in which literature mining is used to validate the predictions of an orthogonal computational protein function prediction method.

  12. Sorting Test, Tower Test and BRIEF-SR do not predict school performance of healthy adolescents in preuniversity education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annemarie eBoschloo

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Executive functions (EF such as self-monitoring, planning and organizing are known to develop through childhood and adolescence. They are of potential importance for learning and school performance. Earlier research into the relation between executive functions and school performance did not provide clear results possibly because confounding factors such as educational track, boy-girl differences and parental education were not taken into account. The present study therefore investigated the relation between executive function tests and school performance in a highly controlled sample of 173 healthy adolescents aged 12-18. Only students in the pre-university educational track were used and the performance of boys was compared to that of girls. Results showed that there was no relation between the report marks obtained and the performance on executive function tests, notably the Sorting Test and the Tower Test of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functions System (D-KEFS. Likewise, no relation was found between the report marks and the scores on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Self-Report Version (BRIEF-SR after these were controlled for grade, sex, and level of parental education.The findings indicate that executive functioning as measured with widely used instruments such as the BRIEF-SR does not predict school performance of adolescents in preuniversity education any better than a student’s grade, sex, and level of parental education. ed

  13. Endothelial function predicts progression of carotid intima-media thickness

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halcox, J.P.; Donald, A.E.; Ellins, E.

    2009-01-01

    significant after adjustment for risk factors whether entered as separate variables or as Framingham Risk Score. Further adjustment for waist circumference, triglycerides, and employment grade had no significant effect. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic endothelial function was associated with progression of preclinical...... to its impact on the evolution of the atherosclerotic substrate. Flow-mediated dilatation testing provides an integrated vascular measure that may aid the prediction of structural disease evolution and represents a potential short- to intermediate-term outcome measure for evaluation of preventive...

  14. Pressure Prediction of Coal Slurry Transportation Pipeline Based on Particle Swarm Optimization Kernel Function Extreme Learning Machine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xue-cun Yang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available For coal slurry pipeline blockage prediction problem, through the analysis of actual scene, it is determined that the pressure prediction from each measuring point is the premise of pipeline blockage prediction. Kernel function of support vector machine is introduced into extreme learning machine, the parameters are optimized by particle swarm algorithm, and blockage prediction method based on particle swarm optimization kernel function extreme learning machine (PSOKELM is put forward. The actual test data from HuangLing coal gangue power plant are used for simulation experiments and compared with support vector machine prediction model optimized by particle swarm algorithm (PSOSVM and kernel function extreme learning machine prediction model (KELM. The results prove that mean square error (MSE for the prediction model based on PSOKELM is 0.0038 and the correlation coefficient is 0.9955, which is superior to prediction model based on PSOSVM in speed and accuracy and superior to KELM prediction model in accuracy.

  15. Prediction and Assignment of Function for a Divergent N-succinyl Amino Acid Racemase

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song,L.; Kalyanaraman, C.; Fedorov, A.; Fedorov, E.; Glasner, M.; Brown, S.; Imker, H.; Babbitt, P.; Almo, S.; et al.

    2007-01-01

    The protein databases contain many proteins with unknown function. A computational approach for predicting ligand specificity that requires only the sequence of the unknown protein would be valuable for directing experiment-based assignment of function. We focused on a family of unknown proteins in the mechanistically diverse enolase superfamily and used two approaches to assign function: (i) enzymatic assays using libraries of potential substrates, and (ii) in silico docking of the same libraries using a homology model based on the most similar (35% sequence identity) characterized protein. The results matched closely; an experimentally determined structure confirmed the predicted structure of the substrate-liganded complex. We assigned the N-succinyl arginine/lysine racemase function to the family, correcting the annotation (L-Ala-D/L-Glu epimerase) based on the function of the most similar characterized homolog. These studies establish that ligand docking to a homology model can facilitate functional assignment of unknown proteins by restricting the identities of the possible substrates that must be experimentally tested.

  16. Prediction of postoperative pulmonary function following thoracic operations. Value of ventilation-perfusion scanning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bria, W.F.; Kanarek, D.J.; Kazemi, H.

    1983-01-01

    Surgical resection of lung cancer is frequently required in patients with severely impaired lung function resulting from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Twenty patients with obstructive lung disease and cancer (mean preoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1] . 1.73 L) were studied preoperatively and postoperatively by spirometry and radionuclide perfusion, single-breath ventilation, and washout techniques to test the ability of these methods to predict preoperatively the partial loss of lung function by the resection. Postoperative FEV1 and forced vital capacity (FVC) were accurately predicted by the formula: postoperative FEV1 (or FVC) . preoperative FEV1 X percent function of regions of lung not to be resected (r . 0.88 and 0.95, respectively). Ventilation and perfusion scans are equally effective in prediction. Washout data add to the sophistication of the method by permitting the qualitative evaluation of ventilation during tidal breathing. Criteria for patients requiring the study are suggested

  17. Robust block bootstrap panel predictability tests

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Westerlund, J.; Smeekes, S.

    2013-01-01

    Most panel data studies of the predictability of returns presume that the cross-sectional units are independent, an assumption that is not realistic. As a response to this, the current paper develops block bootstrap-based panel predictability tests that are valid under very general conditions. Some

  18. Predictive Value of Whole Blood and Plasma Coagulation Tests for Intra- and Postoperative Bleeding Risk: A Systematic Review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Julie Brogaard; Hvas, Anne-Mette

    2017-01-01

    review of the existing literature assessing the ability of whole blood coagulation (thromboelastography [TEG]/thromboelastometry [ROTEM]/Sonoclot), platelet function tests, and standard plasma-based coagulation tests to predict bleeding in the perioperative setting. We searched PubMed and Embase...... value of testing in patients receiving antithrombotic medication. In general, studies reported low positive predictive values for perioperative testing, whereas negative predictive values were high. The studies yielded moderate areas under receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve (for the majority...... recommend that both whole blood and plasma-based coagulation tests are primarily used in case of bleeding and not for screening in unselected patients prior to surgery....

  19. Dose Prediction for surface nuclear explosions: case studies for Semipalatinsk and Lop Nur tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takada, Jun

    2008-01-01

    Dose prediction method RAPS after surface nuclear explosion has been developed by using the empirical dose function of USA nuclear test. This method which provides us external total dose, dose rate at any distant, at any time for any yield of nuclear explosion, is useful for radiation protection in case of nuclear events such as terrorism and nuclear war. The validity of RAPS has been confirmed by application to historical surface nuclear test explosions. The first test case study which was done for the first test explosion of the former USSR at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site on August 29th 1949, shows a good agreement with luminescence dosimetry on a brick. This dose prediction method was applied nuclear tests in Lop Nur. The results indicate dangerous nuclear radiation influences including fatal risk in the wide Uygur area. (author)

  20. Executive functioning performance predicts subjective and physiological acute stress reactivity: preliminary results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendrawan, Donny; Yamakawa, Kaori; Kimura, Motohiro; Murakami, Hiroki; Ohira, Hideki

    2012-06-01

    Individual differences in baseline executive functioning (EF) capacities have been shown to predict state anxiety during acute stressor exposure. However, no previous studies have clearly demonstrated the relationship between EF and physiological measures of stress. The present study investigated the efficacy of several well-known EF tests (letter fluency, Stroop test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) in predicting both subjective and physiological stress reactivity during acute psychosocial stress exposure. Our results show that letter fluency served as the best predictor for both types of reactivity. Specifically, the higher the letter fluency score, the lower the acute stress reactivity after controlling for the baseline stress response, as indicated by lower levels of state anxiety, negative mood, salivary cortisol, and skin conductance. Moreover, the predictive power of the letter fluency test remained significant for state anxiety and cortisol indices even after further adjustments for covariates by adding the body mass index (BMI) as a covariate. Thus, good EF performance, as reflected by high letter fluency scores, may dampen acute stress responses, which suggests that EF processes are directly associated with aspects of stress regulation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Pancreatic Exocrine Function Testing

    OpenAIRE

    Berk, J. Edward

    1982-01-01

    It is important to understand which pancreatic function tests are available and how to interpret them when evaluating patients with malabsorption. Available direct tests are the secretin stimulation test, the Lundh test meal, and measurement of serum or fecal enzymes. Indirect tests assess pancreatic exocrine function by measuring the effect of pancreatic secretion on various nutrients. These include triglycerides labeled with carbon 14, cobalamin labeled with cobalt 57 and cobalt 58, and par...

  2. Cost-Sensitive Radial Basis Function Neural Network Classifier for Software Defect Prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumudha, P; Venkatesan, R

    Effective prediction of software modules, those that are prone to defects, will enable software developers to achieve efficient allocation of resources and to concentrate on quality assurance activities. The process of software development life cycle basically includes design, analysis, implementation, testing, and release phases. Generally, software testing is a critical task in the software development process wherein it is to save time and budget by detecting defects at the earliest and deliver a product without defects to the customers. This testing phase should be carefully operated in an effective manner to release a defect-free (bug-free) software product to the customers. In order to improve the software testing process, fault prediction methods identify the software parts that are more noted to be defect-prone. This paper proposes a prediction approach based on conventional radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) and the novel adaptive dimensional biogeography based optimization (ADBBO) model. The developed ADBBO based RBFNN model is tested with five publicly available datasets from the NASA data program repository. The computed results prove the effectiveness of the proposed ADBBO-RBFNN classifier approach with respect to the considered metrics in comparison with that of the early predictors available in the literature for the same datasets.

  3. CT volumetry is superior to nuclear renography for prediction of residual kidney function in living donors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbas, Andrew S; Li, Yanhong; Zair, Murtuza; Van, Julie A; Famure, Olusegun; Dib, Martin J; Laurence, Jerome M; Kim, S Joseph; Ghanekar, Anand

    2016-09-01

    Living kidney donor evaluation commonly includes nuclear renography to assess split kidney function and computed tomography (CT) scan to evaluate anatomy. To streamline donor workup and minimize exposure to radioisotopes, we sought to assess the feasibility of using proportional kidney volume from CT volumetry in lieu of nuclear renography. We examined the correlation between techniques and assessed their ability to predict residual postoperative kidney function following live donor nephrectomy. In a cohort of 224 live kidney donors, we compared proportional kidney volume derived by CT volumetry with split kidney function derived from nuclear renography and found only modest correlation (left kidney R(2) =26.2%, right kidney R(2) =26.7%). In a subset of 88 live kidney donors with serum creatinine measured 6 months postoperatively, we compared observed estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 6 months with predicted eGFR from preoperative imaging. Compared to nuclear renography, CT volumetry more closely approximated actual observed postoperative eGFR for Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (J-test: P=.02, Cox-Pesaran test: P=.01) and Mayo formulas (J-test: P=.004, Cox-Pesaran test: Pvolumetry for estimation of split kidney function in healthy individuals with normal kidney function and morphology. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Test-retest reliability and predictive validity of the Implicit Association Test in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rae, James R; Olson, Kristina R

    2018-02-01

    The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is increasingly used in developmental research despite minimal evidence of whether children's IAT scores are reliable across time or predictive of behavior. When test-retest reliability and predictive validity have been assessed, the results have been mixed, and because these studies have differed on many factors simultaneously (lag-time between testing administrations, domain, etc.), it is difficult to discern what factors may explain variability in existing test-retest reliability and predictive validity estimates. Across five studies (total N = 519; ages 6- to 11-years-old), we manipulated two factors that have varied in previous developmental research-lag-time and domain. An internal meta-analysis of these studies revealed that, across three different methods of analyzing the data, mean test-retest (rs of .48, .38, and .34) and predictive validity (rs of .46, .20, and .10) effect sizes were significantly greater than zero. While lag-time did not moderate the magnitude of test-retest coefficients, whether we observed domain differences in test-retest reliability and predictive validity estimates was contingent on other factors, such as how we scored the IAT or whether we included estimates from a unique sample (i.e., a sample containing gender typical and gender diverse children). Recommendations are made for developmental researchers that utilize the IAT in their research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. Unit-based functional IDDT testing for aging degradation monitoring in a VLIW processor

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zhao, Yong; Kerkhoff, Hans G.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, functional unit-based IDDT testing has been applied for a 90nm VLIW processor to monitor its aging degradation. This technique can provide health data for reliability evaluation as used in e.g. prognostic software for lifetime prediction. The test-program development based on the

  6. Domains of cognitive function in early old age: which ones are predicted by pre-retirement psychosocial work characteristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabbath, Erika; Andel, Ross; Zins, Marie; Goldberg, Marcel; Berr, Claudine

    2016-01-01

    Background Psychosocial work characteristics may predict cognitive functioning after retirement. However, little research has explored specific cognitive domains associated with psychosocial work environments. Our study tested whether exposure to job demands, job control, and their combination during working life predicted post-retirement performance on eight cognitive tests. Methods We used data from French GAZEL cohort members who had undergone post-retirement cognitive testing (n=2,149). Psychosocial job characteristics were measured on average four years before retirement using Karasek’s Job Content Questionnaire (job demands, job control, demand-control combinations). We tested associations between these exposures and post-retirement performance on tests of executive function, visual-motor speed, psycho-motor speed, verbal memory, and verbal fluency using OLS regression. Results Low job control during working life was negatively associated with executive function, psychomotor speed, phonemic fluency, and semantic fluency after retirement (p’scognitive domains. In addition to work stress, associations between passive work and subsequent cognitive function may implicate lack of cognitive engagement at work as a risk factor for future cognitive difficulties. PMID:27188277

  7. SitesIdentify: a protein functional site prediction tool

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Doig Andrew J

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The rate of protein structures being deposited in the Protein Data Bank surpasses the capacity to experimentally characterise them and therefore computational methods to analyse these structures have become increasingly important. Identifying the region of the protein most likely to be involved in function is useful in order to gain information about its potential role. There are many available approaches to predict functional site, but many are not made available via a publicly-accessible application. Results Here we present a functional site prediction tool (SitesIdentify, based on combining sequence conservation information with geometry-based cleft identification, that is freely available via a web-server. We have shown that SitesIdentify compares favourably to other functional site prediction tools in a comparison of seven methods on a non-redundant set of 237 enzymes with annotated active sites. Conclusion SitesIdentify is able to produce comparable accuracy in predicting functional sites to its closest available counterpart, but in addition achieves improved accuracy for proteins with few characterised homologues. SitesIdentify is available via a webserver at http://www.manchester.ac.uk/bioinformatics/sitesidentify/

  8. Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Utility of Pulmonary Function Tests in Predicting Emphysema in Ever-Smokers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hesselbacher, Sean E.; Ross, Robert; Schabath, Matthew B.; Smith, E. O’Brian; Perusich, Sarah; Barrow, Nadia; Smithwick, Pamela; Mammen, Manoj J.; Coxson, Harvey; Krowchuk, Natasha; Corry, David B.; Kheradmand, Farrah

    2011-01-01

    Emphysema is largely an under-diagnosed medical condition that can exist in smokers in the absence of airway obstruction. We aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in assessing emphysema using quantitative CT scans as the reference standard. We enrolled 224 ever-smokers (current or former) over the age of 40. CT of thorax was used to quantify the low attenuation area (% emphysema), and to measure the standardized airway wall thickness. PFTs were used individually and in combination to predict their ability to discriminate radiographic emphysema. Significant emphysema (>7%) was detected in 122 (54%) subjects. Twenty six (21%) emphysema subjects had no evidence of airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC ratio 23% emphysema showed airflow obstruction. The sensitivity and specificity of spirometry for detecting radiographic emphysema were 79% and 75%, respectively. Standardized airway wall thickness was increased in subjects with airflow obstruction, but did not correlate with emphysema severity. In this cohort of lifetime ever-smokers, PFTs alone were inadequate for diagnosing emphysema. Airway wall thickness quantified by CT morphometry was associated with airflow limitation, but not with emphysema indicating that the heterogeneous nature of lung disease in smokers may represent distinct phenotypes. PMID:21655122

  9. The Functional Movement Screen and modified Star Excursion Balance Test as predictors of T-test agility performance in university rugby union and netball players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, Ross; Greig, Matt

    2018-05-01

    Agility is a functional requirement of many sports, challenging stability, and commonly cited as a mechanism of injury. The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) and modified Star Excursion Balance Test (mSEBT) have equivocally been associated with agility performance. The aim of the current study was to establish a hierarchical ordering of FMS and mSEBT elements in predicting T-test agility performance. Cross-sectional study design. University. Thirty-two female rugby players, 31 male rugby players and 39 female netballers MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: FMS, mSEBT, T-test performance. The predictive potential of composite FMS and mSEBT scores were weaker than when discrete elements were considered. FMS elements were better predictors of T-test performance in rugby players, whilst mSEBT elements better predicted performance in netballers. Hierarchical modelling highlighted the in-line lunge (ILL) as the primary FMS predictor, whereas mSEBT ordering was limb and sport dependent. The relationship between musculoskeletal screening tools and agility performance was sport-specific. Discrete element scores are advocated over composite scores, and hierarchical ordering of tests might highlight redundancy in screening. The prominence of the ILL in hierarchical modelling might reflect the functional demands of the T-test. Sport-specificity and limb dominance influence hierarchical ordering of musculoskeletal screens. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Unified Sequence-Based Association Tests Allowing for Multiple Functional Annotations and Meta-analysis of Noncoding Variation in Metabochip Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Zihuai; Xu, Bin; Lee, Seunggeun; Ionita-Laza, Iuliana

    2017-09-07

    Substantial progress has been made in the functional annotation of genetic variation in the human genome. Integrative analysis that incorporates such functional annotations into sequencing studies can aid the discovery of disease-associated genetic variants, especially those with unknown function and located outside protein-coding regions. Direct incorporation of one functional annotation as weight in existing dispersion and burden tests can suffer substantial loss of power when the functional annotation is not predictive of the risk status of a variant. Here, we have developed unified tests that can utilize multiple functional annotations simultaneously for integrative association analysis with efficient computational techniques. We show that the proposed tests significantly improve power when variant risk status can be predicted by functional annotations. Importantly, when functional annotations are not predictive of risk status, the proposed tests incur only minimal loss of power in relation to existing dispersion and burden tests, and under certain circumstances they can even have improved power by learning a weight that better approximates the underlying disease model in a data-adaptive manner. The tests can be constructed with summary statistics of existing dispersion and burden tests for sequencing data, therefore allowing meta-analysis of multiple studies without sharing individual-level data. We applied the proposed tests to a meta-analysis of noncoding rare variants in Metabochip data on 12,281 individuals from eight studies for lipid traits. By incorporating the Eigen functional score, we detected significant associations between noncoding rare variants in SLC22A3 and low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol, associations that are missed by standard dispersion and burden tests. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Confronting species distribution model predictions with species functional traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wittmann, Marion E; Barnes, Matthew A; Jerde, Christopher L; Jones, Lisa A; Lodge, David M

    2016-02-01

    Species distribution models are valuable tools in studies of biogeography, ecology, and climate change and have been used to inform conservation and ecosystem management. However, species distribution models typically incorporate only climatic variables and species presence data. Model development or validation rarely considers functional components of species traits or other types of biological data. We implemented a species distribution model (Maxent) to predict global climate habitat suitability for Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). We then tested the relationship between the degree of climate habitat suitability predicted by Maxent and the individual growth rates of both wild (N = 17) and stocked (N = 51) Grass Carp populations using correlation analysis. The Grass Carp Maxent model accurately reflected the global occurrence data (AUC = 0.904). Observations of Grass Carp growth rate covered six continents and ranged from 0.19 to 20.1 g day(-1). Species distribution model predictions were correlated (r = 0.5, 95% CI (0.03, 0.79)) with observed growth rates for wild Grass Carp populations but were not correlated (r = -0.26, 95% CI (-0.5, 0.012)) with stocked populations. Further, a review of the literature indicates that the few studies for other species that have previously assessed the relationship between the degree of predicted climate habitat suitability and species functional traits have also discovered significant relationships. Thus, species distribution models may provide inferences beyond just where a species may occur, providing a useful tool to understand the linkage between species distributions and underlying biological mechanisms.

  12. Predictive Cutoff Values of the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test and the Timed "Up & Go" Test for Disability Incidence in Older People Dwelling in the Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makizako, Hyuma; Shimada, Hiroyuki; Doi, Takehiko; Tsutsumimoto, Kota; Nakakubo, Sho; Hotta, Ryo; Suzuki, Takao

    2017-04-01

    Lower extremity functioning is important for maintaining activity in elderly people. Optimal cutoff points for standard measurements of lower extremity functioning would help identify elderly people who are not disabled but have a high risk of developing disability. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the optimal cutoff points of the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test and the Timed "Up & Go" Test for predicting the development of disability and (2) to examine the impact of poor performance on both tests on the prediction of the risk of disability in elderly people dwelling in the community. This was a prospective cohort study. A population of 4,335 elderly people dwelling in the community (mean age = 71.7 years; 51.6% women) participated in baseline assessments. Participants were monitored for 2 years for the development of disability. During the 2-year follow-up period, 161 participants (3.7%) developed disability. The optimal cutoff points of the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test and the Timed "Up & Go" Test for predicting the development of disability were greater than or equal to 10 seconds and greater than or equal to 9 seconds, respectively. Participants with poor performance on the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test (hazard ratio = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.11-3.20), the Timed "Up & Go" Test (hazard ratio = 2.24; 95% CI = 1.42-3.53), or both tests (hazard ratio = 2.78; 95% CI = 1.78-4.33) at the baseline assessment had a significantly higher risk of developing disability than participants who had better lower extremity functioning. All participants had good initial functioning and participated in assessments on their own. Causes of disability were not assessed. Assessments of lower extremity functioning with the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test and the Timed "Up & Go" Test, especially poor performance on both tests, were good predictors of future disability in elderly people dwelling in the community. © 2017 American Physical Therapy Association

  13. PASSPORT-seq: A Novel High-Throughput Bioassay to Functionally Test Polymorphisms in Micro-RNA Target Sites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph Ipe

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Next-generation sequencing (NGS studies have identified large numbers of genetic variants that are predicted to alter miRNA–mRNA interactions. We developed a novel high-throughput bioassay, PASSPORT-seq, that can functionally test in parallel 100s of these variants in miRNA binding sites (mirSNPs. The results are highly reproducible across both technical and biological replicates. The utility of the bioassay was demonstrated by testing 100 mirSNPs in HEK293, HepG2, and HeLa cells. The results of several of the variants were validated in all three cell lines using traditional individual luciferase assays. Fifty-five mirSNPs were functional in at least one of three cell lines (FDR ≤ 0.05; 11, 36, and 27 of them were functional in HEK293, HepG2, and HeLa cells, respectively. Only four of the variants were functional in all three cell lines, which demonstrates the cell-type specific effects of mirSNPs and the importance of testing the mirSNPs in multiple cell lines. Using PASSPORT-seq, we functionally tested 111 variants in the 3′ UTR of 17 pharmacogenes that are predicted to alter miRNA regulation. Thirty-three of the variants tested were functional in at least one cell line.

  14. Prediction of software operational reliability using testing environment factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Hoan Sung; Seong, Poong Hyun

    1995-01-01

    A number of software reliability models have been developed to estimate and to predict software reliability. However, there are no established standard models to quantify software reliability. Most models estimate the quality of software in reliability figures such as remaining faults, failure rate, or mean time to next failure at the testing phase, and they consider them ultimate indicators of software reliability. Experience shows that there is a large gap between predicted reliability during development and reliability measured during operation, which means that predicted reliability, or so-called test reliability, is not operational reliability. Customers prefer operational reliability to test reliability. In this study, we propose a method that predicts operational reliability rather than test reliability by introducing the testing environment factor that quantifies the changes in environments

  15. Quantifying confidence in density functional theory predictions of magnetic ground states

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houchins, Gregory; Viswanathan, Venkatasubramanian

    2017-10-01

    Density functional theory (DFT) simulations, at the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) level, are being routinely used for material discovery based on high-throughput descriptor-based searches. The success of descriptor-based material design relies on eliminating bad candidates and keeping good candidates for further investigation. While DFT has been widely successfully for the former, oftentimes good candidates are lost due to the uncertainty associated with the DFT-predicted material properties. Uncertainty associated with DFT predictions has gained prominence and has led to the development of exchange correlation functionals that have built-in error estimation capability. In this work, we demonstrate the use of built-in error estimation capabilities within the BEEF-vdW exchange correlation functional for quantifying the uncertainty associated with the magnetic ground state of solids. We demonstrate this approach by calculating the uncertainty estimate for the energy difference between the different magnetic states of solids and compare them against a range of GGA exchange correlation functionals as is done in many first-principles calculations of materials. We show that this estimate reasonably bounds the range of values obtained with the different GGA functionals. The estimate is determined as a postprocessing step and thus provides a computationally robust and systematic approach to estimating uncertainty associated with predictions of magnetic ground states. We define a confidence value (c-value) that incorporates all calculated magnetic states in order to quantify the concurrence of the prediction at the GGA level and argue that predictions of magnetic ground states from GGA level DFT is incomplete without an accompanying c-value. We demonstrate the utility of this method using a case study of Li-ion and Na-ion cathode materials and the c-value metric correctly identifies that GGA-level DFT will have low predictability for NaFePO4F . Further, there

  16. Application of functional IDDQ testing in a VLIW processor towards detection of aging degradation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kerkhoff, Hans G.; Zhao, Yong

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, functional IDDQ testing has been applied for a 90nm VLIW processor to effectively detect aging degradation. This technique can provide health data for reliability evaluation as used in e.g. prognostic software for lifetime prediction. The test environment for validation, implementing

  17. How to test for partially predictable chaos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wernecke, Hendrik; Sándor, Bulcsú; Gros, Claudius

    2017-04-24

    For a chaotic system pairs of initially close-by trajectories become eventually fully uncorrelated on the attracting set. This process of decorrelation can split into an initial exponential decrease and a subsequent diffusive process on the chaotic attractor causing the final loss of predictability. Both processes can be either of the same or of very different time scales. In the latter case the two trajectories linger within a finite but small distance (with respect to the overall extent of the attractor) for exceedingly long times and remain partially predictable. Standard tests for chaos widely use inter-orbital correlations as an indicator. However, testing partially predictable chaos yields mostly ambiguous results, as this type of chaos is characterized by attractors of fractally broadened braids. For a resolution we introduce a novel 0-1 indicator for chaos based on the cross-distance scaling of pairs of initially close trajectories. This test robustly discriminates chaos, including partially predictable chaos, from laminar flow. Additionally using the finite time cross-correlation of pairs of initially close trajectories, we are able to identify laminar flow as well as strong and partially predictable chaos in a 0-1 manner solely from the properties of pairs of trajectories.

  18. Functional Task Test (FTT)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, Jacob J.; Mulavara, Ajitkumar; Peters, Brian T.; Rescheke, Millard F.; Wood, Scott; Lawrence, Emily; Koffman, Igor; Ploutz-Snyder, Lori; Spiering, Barry A.; Feeback, Daniel L.; hide

    2009-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the Functional Task Test (FTT), an interdisciplinary testing regimen that has been developed to evaluate astronaut postflight functional performance and related physiological changes. The objectives of the project are: (1) to develop a set of functional tasks that represent critical mission tasks for the Constellation Program, (2) determine the ability to perform these tasks after space flight, (3) Identify the key physiological factors that contribute to functional decrements and (4) Use this information to develop targeted countermeasures.

  19. A genome-wide gene function prediction resource for Drosophila melanogaster.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Han Yan

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Predicting gene functions by integrating large-scale biological data remains a challenge for systems biology. Here we present a resource for Drosophila melanogaster gene function predictions. We trained function-specific classifiers to optimize the influence of different biological datasets for each functional category. Our model predicted GO terms and KEGG pathway memberships for Drosophila melanogaster genes with high accuracy, as affirmed by cross-validation, supporting literature evidence, and large-scale RNAi screens. The resulting resource of prioritized associations between Drosophila genes and their potential functions offers a guide for experimental investigations.

  20. Higher-order predictions for splitting functions and coefficient functions from physical evolution kernels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vogt, A; Soar, G.; Vermaseren, J.A.M.

    2010-01-01

    We have studied the physical evolution kernels for nine non-singlet observables in deep-inelastic scattering (DIS), semi-inclusive e + e - annihilation and the Drell-Yan (DY) process, and for the flavour-singlet case of the photon- and heavy-top Higgs-exchange structure functions (F 2 , F φ ) in DIS. All known contributions to these kernels show an only single-logarithmic large-x enhancement at all powers of (1-x). Conjecturing that this behaviour persists to (all) higher orders, we have predicted the highest three (DY: two) double logarithms of the higher-order non-singlet coefficient functions and of the four-loop singlet splitting functions. The coefficient-function predictions can be written as exponentiations of 1/N-suppressed contributions in Mellin-N space which, however, are less predictive than the well-known exponentiation of the ln k N terms. (orig.)

  1. Stand diameter distribution modelling and prediction based on Richards function.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ai-guo Duan

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to introduce application of the Richards equation on modelling and prediction of stand diameter distribution. The long-term repeated measurement data sets, consisted of 309 diameter frequency distributions from Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations in the southern China, were used. Also, 150 stands were used as fitting data, the other 159 stands were used for testing. Nonlinear regression method (NRM or maximum likelihood estimates method (MLEM were applied to estimate the parameters of models, and the parameter prediction method (PPM and parameter recovery method (PRM were used to predict the diameter distributions of unknown stands. Four main conclusions were obtained: (1 R distribution presented a more accurate simulation than three-parametric Weibull function; (2 the parameters p, q and r of R distribution proved to be its scale, location and shape parameters, and have a deep relationship with stand characteristics, which means the parameters of R distribution have good theoretical interpretation; (3 the ordinate of inflection point of R distribution has significant relativity with its skewness and kurtosis, and the fitted main distribution range for the cumulative diameter distribution of Chinese fir plantations was 0.4∼0.6; (4 the goodness-of-fit test showed diameter distributions of unknown stands can be well estimated by applying R distribution based on PRM or the combination of PPM and PRM under the condition that only quadratic mean DBH or plus stand age are known, and the non-rejection rates were near 80%, which are higher than the 72.33% non-rejection rate of three-parametric Weibull function based on the combination of PPM and PRM.

  2. Test-Retest Reliability and Predictive Validity of the Implicit Association Test in Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rae, James R.; Olson, Kristina R.

    2018-01-01

    The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is increasingly used in developmental research despite minimal evidence of whether children's IAT scores are reliable across time or predictive of behavior. When test-retest reliability and predictive validity have been assessed, the results have been mixed, and because these studies have differed on many…

  3. FSPP: A Tool for Genome-Wide Prediction of smORF-Encoded Peptides and Their Functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hui Li

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available smORFs are small open reading frames of less than 100 codons. Recent low throughput experiments showed a lot of smORF-encoded peptides (SEPs played crucial rule in processes such as regulation of transcription or translation, transportation through membranes and the antimicrobial activity. In order to gather more functional SEPs, it is necessary to have access to genome-wide prediction tools to give profound directions for low throughput experiments. In this study, we put forward a functional smORF-encoded peptides predictor (FSPP which tended to predict authentic SEPs and their functions in a high throughput method. FSPP used the overlap of detected SEPs from Ribo-seq and mass spectrometry as target objects. With the expression data on transcription and translation levels, FSPP built two co-expression networks. Combing co-location relations, FSPP constructed a compound network and then annotated SEPs with functions of adjacent nodes. Tested on 38 sequenced samples of 5 human cell lines, FSPP successfully predicted 856 out of 960 annotated proteins. Interestingly, FSPP also highlighted 568 functional SEPs from these samples. After comparison, the roles predicted by FSPP were consistent with known functions. These results suggest that FSPP is a reliable tool for the identification of functional small peptides. FSPP source code can be acquired at https://www.bioinfo.org/FSPP.

  4. Domains of cognitive function in early old age: which ones are predicted by pre-retirement psychosocial work characteristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabbath, Erika L; Andel, Ross; Zins, Marie; Goldberg, Marcel; Berr, Claudine

    2016-10-01

    Psychosocial work characteristics may predict cognitive functioning after retirement. However, little research has explored specific cognitive domains associated with psychosocial work environments. Our study tested whether exposure to job demands, job control and their combination during working life predicted post-retirement performance on eight cognitive tests. We used data from French GAZEL cohort members who had undergone post-retirement cognitive testing (n=2149). Psychosocial job characteristics were measured on average for 4 years before retirement using Karasek's Job Content Questionnaire (job demands, job control and demand-control combinations). We tested associations between these exposures and post-retirement performance on tests for executive function, visual-motor speed, psychomotor speed, verbal memory, and verbal fluency using ordinary least squares regression. Low job control during working life was negatively associated with executive function, psychomotor speed, phonemic fluency and semantic fluency after retirement (p'swork stress, associations between passive work and subsequent cognitive function may implicate lack of cognitive engagement at work as a risk factor for future cognitive difficulties. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  5. COPRED: prediction of fold, GO molecular function and functional residues at the domain level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    López, Daniel; Pazos, Florencio

    2013-07-15

    Only recently the first resources devoted to the functional annotation of proteins at the domain level started to appear. The next step is to develop specific methodologies for predicting function at the domain level based on these resources, and to implement them in web servers to be used by the community. In this work, we present COPRED, a web server for the concomitant prediction of fold, molecular function and functional sites at the domain level, based on a methodology for domain molecular function prediction and a resource of domain functional annotations previously developed and benchmarked. COPRED can be freely accessed at http://csbg.cnb.csic.es/copred. The interface works in all standard web browsers. WebGL (natively supported by most browsers) is required for the in-line preview and manipulation of protein 3D structures. The website includes a detailed help section and usage examples. pazos@cnb.csic.es.

  6. Pancreatic exocrine function testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goff, J.S.

    1981-01-01

    It is important to understand which pancreatic function tests are available and how to interpret them when evaluating patients with malabsorption. Available direct tests are the secretin stimulation test, the Lundh test meal, and measurement of serum or fecal enzymes. Indirect tests assess pancreatic exocrine function by measuring the effect of pancreatic secretion on various nutrients. These include triglycerides labeled with carbon 14, cobalamin labeled with cobalt 57 and cobalt 58, and para-aminobenzoic acid bound to a dipeptide. Of all these tests the secretin stimulation test is the most accurate and reliable if done by experienced personnel. However, the indirect tests are simpler to do and appear to be comparable to the secretin test at detecting pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. These indirect tests are becoming clinically available and clinicians should familiarize themselves with the strengths and weaknesses of each

  7. Cognitive functioning differentially predicts different dimensions of older drivers' on-road safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aksan, Nazan; Anderson, Steve W; Dawson, Jeffrey; Uc, Ergun; Rizzo, Matthew

    2015-02-01

    The extent to which deficits in specific cognitive domains contribute to older drivers' safety risk in complex real-world driving tasks is not well understood. We selected 148 drivers older than 70 years of age both with and without neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer disease-AD and Parkinson disease-PD) from an existing driving database of older adults. Participant assessments included on-road driving safety and cognitive functioning in visuospatial construction, speed of processing, memory, and executive functioning. The standardized on-road drive test was designed to examine multiple facets of older driver safety including navigation performance (e.g., following a route, identifying landmarks), safety errors while concurrently performing secondary navigation tasks ("on-task" safety errors), and safety errors in the absence of any secondary navigation tasks ("baseline" safety errors). The inter-correlations of these outcome measures were fair to moderate supporting their distinctiveness. Participants with diseases performed worse than the healthy aging group on all driving measures and differences between those with AD and PD were minimal. In multivariate analyses, different domains of cognitive functioning predicted distinct facets of driver safety on road. Memory and set-shifting predicted performance in navigation-related secondary tasks, speed of processing predicted on-task safety errors, and visuospatial construction predicted baseline safety errors. These findings support broad assessments of cognitive functioning to inform decisions regarding older driver safety on the road and suggest navigation performance may be useful in evaluating older driver fitness and restrictions in licensing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Functional identity and diversity of animals predict ecosystem functioning better than species-based indices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gagic, Vesna; Bartomeus, Ignasi; Jonsson, Tomas; Taylor, Astrid; Winqvist, Camilla; Fischer, Christina; Slade, Eleanor M; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Emmerson, Mark; Potts, Simon G; Tscharntke, Teja; Weisser, Wolfgang; Bommarco, Riccardo

    2015-02-22

    Drastic biodiversity declines have raised concerns about the deterioration of ecosystem functions and have motivated much recent research on the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem functioning. A functional trait framework has been proposed to improve the mechanistic understanding of this relationship, but this has rarely been tested for organisms other than plants. We analysed eight datasets, including five animal groups, to examine how well a trait-based approach, compared with a more traditional taxonomic approach, predicts seven ecosystem functions below- and above-ground. Trait-based indices consistently provided greater explanatory power than species richness or abundance. The frequency distributions of single or multiple traits in the community were the best predictors of ecosystem functioning. This implies that the ecosystem functions we investigated were underpinned by the combination of trait identities (i.e. single-trait indices) and trait complementarity (i.e. multi-trait indices) in the communities. Our study provides new insights into the general mechanisms that link biodiversity to ecosystem functioning in natural animal communities and suggests that the observed responses were due to the identity and dominance patterns of the trait composition rather than the number or abundance of species per se. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  9. Basic pulmonary function tests in pig farmers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Đuričić Slaviša M.

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION Many epidemiological and clinical studies have demonstrated an increased risk for the symptoms of respiratory disorders consistent with chronic bronchitis and asthma and alterations of pulmonary function tests in pig farmers. AIM The aim of this study was to determine basic pulmonary function values in workers in swine confinement buildings and to compare them with the same values in the control group of unexposed persons. The next aim was to examine the association between these values with duration of professional exposure, cigarette smoking, age, and sex of the examined persons. METHODS We randomly selected for examination 145 workers of both sex who had worked for at least 2 previous years in pig farms and spent at least 3 hours per day, 6 days per week in a swine confinement building. The farmers worked at 6 different farms with 12,383 pigs on average on each farms. The subject was eligible for the study if he had had no history of atopic disease nor any serious chronic disease, and no acute respiratory infection within 3 previous months. As control group we examined 156 subjects who had lived and/or worked in the same areas and had had no history of exposure to farming environment or any other known occupational air pollutants. In both groups the study comprised cigarette smokers and persons who had never smoked. Pulmonary function data were collected according to the standard protocol with a Micro Spirometer, (Micro Medical Ltd, England, UK. The registered parameters were FEV1 and FVC At least three satisfactory forced maximal expirations were performed by each subject and the best value was accepted for analyses. The results were also expressed as a percentage of predicted values and FEV1/FVCxlOO was calculated. RESULTS There were no differences in the main demographic characteristics between two examined groups (Table1. Mean duration of work in pig farming was 11.6 years (SD=8.5; range 2-40. The average values of examined

  10. Functional imaging of semantic memory predicts postoperative episodic memory functions in chronic temporal lobe epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Köylü, Bülent; Walser, Gerald; Ischebeck, Anja; Ortler, Martin; Benke, Thomas

    2008-08-05

    Medial temporal (MTL) structures have crucial functions in episodic (EM), but also in semantic memory (SM) processing. Preoperative functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity within the MTL is increasingly used to predict post-surgical memory capacities. Based on the hypothesis that EM and SM memory functions are both hosted by the MTL the present study wanted to explore the relationship between SM related activations in the MTL as assessed before and the capacity of EM functions after surgery. Patients with chronic unilateral left (n=14) and right (n=12) temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) performed a standard word list learning test pre- and postoperatively, and a fMRI procedure before the operation using a semantic decision task. SM processing caused significant bilateral MTL activations in both patient groups. While right TLE patients showed asymmetry of fMRI activation with more activation in the left MTL, left TLE patients had almost equal activation in both MTL regions. Contrasting left TLE versus right TLE patients revealed greater activity within the right MTL, whereas no significant difference was observed for the reverse contrast. Greater effect size in the MTL region ipsilateral to the seizure focus was significantly and positively correlated with preoperative EM abilities. Greater effect size in the contralateral MTL was correlated with better postoperative verbal EM, especially in left TLE patients. These results suggest that functional imaging of SM tasks may be useful to predict postoperative verbal memory in TLE. They also advocate a common neuroanatomical basis for SM and EM processes in the MTL.

  11. HPV-testing versus HPV-cytology co-testing to predict the outcome after conization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruhn, Laerke Valsøe; Andersen, Sisse Josephine; Hariri, Jalil

    2018-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of human Papillomavirus (HPV) testing alone as a prognostic tool to predict recurrent disease within a three-year follow-up period after treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)2 + . Retrospectively, 128 women with histologically verified CIN2 + who had a conization performed at Southern Jutland Hospital in Denmark between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013 were included. Histology, cytology and HPV test results were obtained for a three-year follow-up period. 4.7% (6/128) of the cases developed recurrent disease during follow-up. Of the cases without free margins, recurrent dysplasia was detected normal in 10.4% (5/48), whereas in the group with free margins it was 1.3% (1/80). The post-conization HPV test was negative in 67.2% (86/128) and Pap smear normal in 93.7% (120/128). Combining resection margins, cytology and HPV had sensitivity for prediction of recurrent dysplasia of 100%. Specificity was 45.8%, positive predictive value (PPV) 8.5% and negative predictive value (NPV) 100%. Using HPV test alone as a predictor of recurrent dysplasia gave a sensitivity of 83.3%, specificity 69.7%, PPV 11.9% and NPV 98.8%. Combining resection margin and HPV test had a sensitivity of 100%, specificity 45.9%, PPV 8.3% and NPV 100%. HPV test at six months control post-conization gave an NPV of 98.8% and can be used as a solitary test to identify women at risk for recurrent disease three years after treatment for precursor lesions. Using both resection margin and HPV test had a sensitivity of 100% and NPV 100%. Adding cytology did not increase the predictive value. © 2018 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  12. Testing intermolecular potential functions using transport property data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clifford, A.A.; Dickinson, E.; Gray, P.; Scott, A.C.

    1975-01-01

    The viscosity of hydrogen has been measured at eight temperatures from 273 to 1060K, using a capillary-flow viscometer. The results have been used to test the repulsive part of a recently formulated H 2 /H 2 intermolecular potential function, obtained from molecular-beam measurements. Agreement between the experimental and predicted values for viscosity is within 3.5%, which corresponds approximately to the combined quoted uncertainties in the two sets of data. However, if the value of the distance parameter of the potential is reduced by about 1.5%, the agreement obtained is within 0.75% over the whole temperature range. This modified potential function gives better agreement with the available higher temperature viscosities and second virial coefficients. (author)

  13. Predicting rheological behavior and baking quality of wheat flour using a GlutoPeak test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakita, Slađana; Dokić, Ljubica; Dapčević Hadnađev, Tamara; Hadnađev, Miroslav; Torbica, Aleksandra

    2018-06-01

    The purpose of this research was to gain an insight into the ability of the GlutoPeak instrument to predict flour functionality for bread making, as well as to determine which of the GlutoPeak parameters show the best potential in predicting dough rheological behavior and baking performance. Obtained results showed that GlutoPeak parameters correlated better with the indices of extensional rheological tests which consider constant dough hydration than with those which were performed at constant dough consistency. The GlutoPeak test showed that it is suitable for discriminating wheat varieties of good quality from those of poor quality, while the most discriminating index was maximum torque (MT). Moreover, MT value of 50 BU and aggregation energy value of 1,300 GPU were set as limits of wheat flour quality. The backward stepwise regression analysis revealed that a high-level prediction of indices which are highly affected by protein content (gluten content, flour water absorption, and dough tenacity) was achieved by using the GlutoPeak indices. Concerning bread quality, a moderate prediction of specific loaf volume and an intense level prediction of breadcrumb textural properties were accomplished by using the GlutoPeak parameters. The presented results indicated that the application of this quick test in wheat transformation chain for the assessment of baking quality would be useful. Baking test is considered as the most reliable method for assessing wheat-baking quality. However, baking test requires trained stuff, time, and large sample amount. These disadvantages have led to a growing demand to develop new rapid tests which would enable prediction of baked product quality with a limited flour size. Therefore, we tested the possibility of using a GlutoPeak tester to predict loaf volume and breadcrumb textural properties. Discrimination of wheat varieties according to quality with a restricted flour amount was also examined. Furthermore, we proposed the limit

  14. Predicting Changes in Macrophyte Community Structure from Functional Traits in a Freshwater Lake: A Test of Maximum Entropy Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Hui; Zhong, Jiayou; Yuan, Guixiang; Guo, Chunjing; Lou, Qian; Zhang, Wei; Xu, Jun; Ni, Leyi; Xie, Ping; Cao, Te

    2015-01-01

    Trait-based approaches have been widely applied to investigate how community dynamics respond to environmental gradients. In this study, we applied a series of maximum entropy (maxent) models incorporating functional traits to unravel the processes governing macrophyte community structure along water depth gradient in a freshwater lake. We sampled 42 plots and 1513 individual plants, and measured 16 functional traits and abundance of 17 macrophyte species. Study results showed that maxent model can be highly robust (99.8%) in predicting the species relative abundance of macrophytes with observed community-weighted mean (CWM) traits as the constraints, while relative low (about 30%) with CWM traits fitted from water depth gradient as the constraints. The measured traits showed notably distinct importance in predicting species abundances, with lowest for perennial growth form and highest for leaf dry mass content. For tuber and leaf nitrogen content, there were significant shifts in their effects on species relative abundance from positive in shallow water to negative in deep water. This result suggests that macrophyte species with tuber organ and greater leaf nitrogen content would become more abundant in shallow water, but would become less abundant in deep water. Our study highlights how functional traits distributed across gradients provide a robust path towards predictive community ecology. PMID:26167856

  15. QCD dipole predictions for DIS and diffractive structure functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Royon, C.

    1997-01-01

    The proton structure function F 2 , the gluon density F G , and the longitudinal structure function F L are derived in the QCD dipole picture of BFKL dynamics. We use a three parameter fit to describe the 1994 H1 proton structure function F 2 data in the low x, moderate Q 2 range. Without any additional parameter, the gluon density and the longitudinal structure functions are predicted. The diffractive dissociation processes are also discussed within the same framework, and a new prediction for the proton diffractive structure function is obtained

  16. Accurate prediction of the functional significance of single nucleotide polymorphisms and mutations in the ABCA1 gene.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liam R Brunham

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available The human genome contains an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 DNA variants that alter an amino acid in an encoded protein. However, our ability to predict which of these variants are functionally significant is limited. We used a bioinformatics approach to define the functional significance of genetic variation in the ABCA1 gene, a cholesterol transporter crucial for the metabolism of high density lipoprotein cholesterol. To predict the functional consequence of each coding single nucleotide polymorphism and mutation in this gene, we calculated a substitution position-specific evolutionary conservation score for each variant, which considers site-specific variation among evolutionarily related proteins. To test the bioinformatics predictions experimentally, we evaluated the biochemical consequence of these sequence variants by examining the ability of cell lines stably transfected with the ABCA1 alleles to elicit cholesterol efflux. Our bioinformatics approach correctly predicted the functional impact of greater than 94% of the naturally occurring variants we assessed. The bioinformatics predictions were significantly correlated with the degree of functional impairment of ABCA1 mutations (r2 = 0.62, p = 0.0008. These results have allowed us to define the impact of genetic variation on ABCA1 function and to suggest that the in silico evolutionary approach we used may be a useful tool in general for predicting the effects of DNA variation on gene function. In addition, our data suggest that considering patterns of positive selection, along with patterns of negative selection such as evolutionary conservation, may improve our ability to predict the functional effects of amino acid variation.

  17. Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Utility of Pulmonary Function Tests in Predicting Emphysema in Ever-Smokers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farrah Kheradmand

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Emphysema is largely an under-diagnosed medical condition that can exist in smokers in the absence of airway obstruction. We aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of pulmonary function tests (PFTs in assessing emphysema using quantitative CT scans as the reference standard. We enrolled 224 ever-smokers (current or former over the age of 40. CT of thorax was used to quantify the low attenuation area (% emphysema, and to measure the standardized airway wall thickness. PFTs were used individually and in combination to predict their ability to discriminate radiographic emphysema. Significant emphysema (>7% was detected in 122 (54% subjects. Twenty six (21% emphysema subjects had no evidence of airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC ratio 23% emphysema showed airflow obstruction. The sensitivity and specificity of spirometry for detecting radiographic emphysema were 79% and 75%, respectively. Standardized airway wall thickness was increased in subjects with airflow obstruction, but did not correlate with emphysema severity. In this cohort of lifetime ever-smokers, PFTs alone were inadequate for diagnosing emphysema. Airway wall thickness quantified by CT morphometry was associated with airflow limitation, but not with emphysema indicating that the heterogeneous nature of lung disease in smokers may represent distinct phenotypes.

  18. Gene function prediction based on Gene Ontology Hierarchy Preserving Hashing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yingwen; Fu, Guangyuan; Wang, Jun; Guo, Maozu; Yu, Guoxian

    2018-02-23

    Gene Ontology (GO) uses structured vocabularies (or terms) to describe the molecular functions, biological roles, and cellular locations of gene products in a hierarchical ontology. GO annotations associate genes with GO terms and indicate the given gene products carrying out the biological functions described by the relevant terms. However, predicting correct GO annotations for genes from a massive set of GO terms as defined by GO is a difficult challenge. To combat with this challenge, we introduce a Gene Ontology Hierarchy Preserving Hashing (HPHash) based semantic method for gene function prediction. HPHash firstly measures the taxonomic similarity between GO terms. It then uses a hierarchy preserving hashing technique to keep the hierarchical order between GO terms, and to optimize a series of hashing functions to encode massive GO terms via compact binary codes. After that, HPHash utilizes these hashing functions to project the gene-term association matrix into a low-dimensional one and performs semantic similarity based gene function prediction in the low-dimensional space. Experimental results on three model species (Homo sapiens, Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus) for interspecies gene function prediction show that HPHash performs better than other related approaches and it is robust to the number of hash functions. In addition, we also take HPHash as a plugin for BLAST based gene function prediction. From the experimental results, HPHash again significantly improves the prediction performance. The codes of HPHash are available at: http://mlda.swu.edu.cn/codes.php?name=HPHash. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. LUNG FUNCTION TESTING IN CHILDREN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matjaž Fležar

    2004-03-01

    Full Text Available Background. Lung function testing in children above five years old is standardised similarly as is in adult population (1. Nevertheless bronchial provocation testing can be more hazardous since the calibre and reactivity of childhood airway is different. We analysed the frequency of different lung function testing procedures and addressed the safety issues of bronchial provocation testing in children.Methods. We analysed lung function testing results in 517 children, older than 5 years, tested in our laboratory in threeyear period. Spirometry was done in every patient, metacholine provocation test was used as a part of diagnostic work-up in suspected asthma. In case of airway obstruction, bronchodilator test with salbutamol was used instead of a metacholine provocation test.Results. The most common procedure in children was spirometry with bronchial provocation test as a part of diagnostic work-up of obstructive syndrome (mostly asthma. 291 children required metacholine test and 153 tests were interpreted as positive. The decline in expiratory flows (forced expiratory flow in first second – FEV1 in positive tests was greater than in adult population as was the dose of metacholine, needed to induce bronchoconstriction. The compliance of children was better than in adults.Conclusions. Lung function testing in children is reliable and safe and can be done in a well-standardised laboratory that follows the regulations of such testing in adults.

  20. Fast dynamics perturbation analysis for prediction of protein functional sites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cohn Judith D

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We present a fast version of the dynamics perturbation analysis (DPA algorithm to predict functional sites in protein structures. The original DPA algorithm finds regions in proteins where interactions cause a large change in the protein conformational distribution, as measured using the relative entropy Dx. Such regions are associated with functional sites. Results The Fast DPA algorithm, which accelerates DPA calculations, is motivated by an empirical observation that Dx in a normal-modes model is highly correlated with an entropic term that only depends on the eigenvalues of the normal modes. The eigenvalues are accurately estimated using first-order perturbation theory, resulting in a N-fold reduction in the overall computational requirements of the algorithm, where N is the number of residues in the protein. The performance of the original and Fast DPA algorithms was compared using protein structures from a standard small-molecule docking test set. For nominal implementations of each algorithm, top-ranked Fast DPA predictions overlapped the true binding site 94% of the time, compared to 87% of the time for original DPA. In addition, per-protein recall statistics (fraction of binding-site residues that are among predicted residues were slightly better for Fast DPA. On the other hand, per-protein precision statistics (fraction of predicted residues that are among binding-site residues were slightly better using original DPA. Overall, the performance of Fast DPA in predicting ligand-binding-site residues was comparable to that of the original DPA algorithm. Conclusion Compared to the original DPA algorithm, the decreased run time with comparable performance makes Fast DPA well-suited for implementation on a web server and for high-throughput analysis.

  1. Lung perfusion SPECT in predicting postoperative pulmonary function in lung cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirose, Yoshiaki; Imaeda, Takeyoshi; Doi, Hidetaka; Kokubo, Mitsuharu; Sakai, Satoshi; Hirose, Hajime

    1993-01-01

    The aim of this prospective study is to evaluate the availability of preoperative perfusion SPECT in predicting postoperative pulmonary function following resection. Twenty-three patients with lung cancer who were candidates for lobectomy were investigated preoperatively with spirometry, x-ray computed tomography and 99m Tc-macroaggregated albumin SPECT. Their postoperative pulmonary functions were predicted with these examinations. The forced vital capacity and the forced expiratory volume in one second were selected as parameters for overall pulmonary function. The postoperative pulmonary function was predicted by the following formula: Predicted postoperative value=observed preoperative value x precent perfusion of the lung not to be resected. The patients were reinvestigated with spirometry at 3 months and 6 months after lobectomy, and the values obtained were statistically compared with the predicted values. Close relationships were found between predicted and observed forced vital capacity (r=0.87, p<0.001), and predicted and observed forced expiratory volume in one second (r=0.90, p<0.001). The accurate prediction of pulmonary function after lobectomy could be achieved by means of lung perfusion SPECT. (author)

  2. QCD dipole prediction for dis and diffractive structure functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Royon, CH.

    1996-01-01

    The F 2 , F G , R = F L /F T proton structure functions are derived in the QCD dipole picture of BFKL dynamics. We get a three parameter fit describing the 1994 H1 proton structure function F 2 data in the low x, moderate Q 2 range. Without any additional parameter, the gluon density and the longitudinal structure functions are predicted. The diffractive dissociation processes are also discussed, and a new prediction for the proton diffractive structure function is obtained. (author)

  3. Pain on Functional Movement Screen Tests and Injury Risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bushman, Timothy T; Grier, Tyson L; Canham-Chervak, Michelle C; Anderson, Morgan K; North, William J; Jones, Bruce H

    2015-11-01

    The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a tool intended to evaluate limitations or asymmetries of movement to detect individuals at risk for exercise- and sports-related injury. The purpose was to determine the association and predictive value of specific FMS tests with injury risk in physically active men. Soldiers aged 18-57 years completed the FMS (n = 2,476). Demographic and fitness data were collected by survey. Medical record data for any, overuse, and traumatic injury 6 months after the assessment were obtained. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value were calculated along with receiver operator characteristics to determine area under the curve (AUC). Risks, risk ratios, odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to assess injury risks. Multivariate logistic regression identified that pain on 5 of the 7 tests was associated with greater risk for any injury (OR = 1.50-3.51): deep squat, hurdle step, in-line lunge, trunk stability push-up, and rotary stability. However, FMS registered low sensitivity, PPV, and AUC for all 7 tests for the 3 injury types (2-24% sensitivity, 16-74% PPV, and 50-58% AUC). Although the presence of pain was associated with a higher risk of injury on 5 tests, a low sensitivity, PPV, and AUC were displayed. Therefore, caution is advised when implementing the FMS as a screening tool in an Army or similarly active population as it could lead to prevention and treatment resources being directed toward individuals who are not at greater risk for injury.

  4. Scoring function to predict solubility mutagenesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deutsch Christopher

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mutagenesis is commonly used to engineer proteins with desirable properties not present in the wild type (WT protein, such as increased or decreased stability, reactivity, or solubility. Experimentalists often have to choose a small subset of mutations from a large number of candidates to obtain the desired change, and computational techniques are invaluable to make the choices. While several such methods have been proposed to predict stability and reactivity mutagenesis, solubility has not received much attention. Results We use concepts from computational geometry to define a three body scoring function that predicts the change in protein solubility due to mutations. The scoring function captures both sequence and structure information. By exploring the literature, we have assembled a substantial database of 137 single- and multiple-point solubility mutations. Our database is the largest such collection with structural information known so far. We optimize the scoring function using linear programming (LP methods to derive its weights based on training. Starting with default values of 1, we find weights in the range [0,2] so that predictions of increase or decrease in solubility are optimized. We compare the LP method to the standard machine learning techniques of support vector machines (SVM and the Lasso. Using statistics for leave-one-out (LOO, 10-fold, and 3-fold cross validations (CV for training and prediction, we demonstrate that the LP method performs the best overall. For the LOOCV, the LP method has an overall accuracy of 81%. Availability Executables of programs, tables of weights, and datasets of mutants are available from the following web page: http://www.wsu.edu/~kbala/OptSolMut.html.

  5. Prediction of functional sites in proteins using conserved functional group analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Innis, C Axel; Anand, A Prem; Sowdhamini, R

    2004-04-02

    A detailed knowledge of a protein's functional site is an absolute prerequisite for understanding its mode of action at the molecular level. However, the rapid pace at which sequence and structural information is being accumulated for proteins greatly exceeds our ability to determine their biochemical roles experimentally. As a result, computational methods are required which allow for the efficient processing of the evolutionary information contained in this wealth of data, in particular that related to the nature and location of functionally important sites and residues. The method presented here, referred to as conserved functional group (CFG) analysis, relies on a simplified representation of the chemical groups found in amino acid side-chains to identify functional sites from a single protein structure and a number of its sequence homologues. We show that CFG analysis can fully or partially predict the location of functional sites in approximately 96% of the 470 cases tested and that, unlike other methods available, it is able to tolerate wide variations in sequence identity. In addition, we discuss its potential in a structural genomics context, where automation, scalability and efficiency are critical, and an increasing number of protein structures are determined with no prior knowledge of function. This is exemplified by our analysis of the hypothetical protein Ydde_Ecoli, whose structure was recently solved by members of the North East Structural Genomics consortium. Although the proposed active site for this protein needs to be validated experimentally, this example illustrates the scope of CFG analysis as a general tool for the identification of residues likely to play an important role in a protein's biochemical function. Thus, our method offers a convenient solution to rapidly and automatically process the vast amounts of data that are beginning to emerge from structural genomics projects.

  6. Application of radial basis function neural network to predict soil sorption partition coefficient using topological descriptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabour, Mohammad Reza; Moftakhari Anasori Movahed, Saman

    2017-02-01

    The soil sorption partition coefficient logK oc is an indispensable parameter that can be used in assessing the environmental risk of organic chemicals. In order to predict soil sorption partition coefficient for different and even unknown compounds in a fast and accurate manner, a radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) model was developed. Eight topological descriptors of 800 organic compounds were used as inputs of the model. These 800 organic compounds were chosen from a large and very diverse data set. Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN) was utilized as the function in this neural network model due to its capability to adapt very quickly. Hence, it can be used to predict logK oc for new chemicals, as well. Out of total data set, 560 organic compounds were used for training and 240 to test efficiency of the model. The obtained results indicate that the model performance is very well. The correlation coefficients (R2) for training and test sets were 0.995 and 0.933, respectively. The root-mean square errors (RMSE) were 0.2321 for training set and 0.413 for test set. As the results for both training and test set are extremely satisfactory, the proposed neural network model can be employed not only to predict logK oc of known compounds, but also to be adaptive for prediction of this value precisely for new products that enter the market each year. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Prospective detection of large prediction errors: a hypothesis testing approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruan, Dan

    2010-01-01

    Real-time motion management is important in radiotherapy. In addition to effective monitoring schemes, prediction is required to compensate for system latency, so that treatment can be synchronized with tumor motion. However, it is difficult to predict tumor motion at all times, and it is critical to determine when large prediction errors may occur. Such information can be used to pause the treatment beam or adjust monitoring/prediction schemes. In this study, we propose a hypothesis testing approach for detecting instants corresponding to potentially large prediction errors in real time. We treat the future tumor location as a random variable, and obtain its empirical probability distribution with the kernel density estimation-based method. Under the null hypothesis, the model probability is assumed to be a concentrated Gaussian centered at the prediction output. Under the alternative hypothesis, the model distribution is assumed to be non-informative uniform, which reflects the situation that the future position cannot be inferred reliably. We derive the likelihood ratio test (LRT) for this hypothesis testing problem and show that with the method of moments for estimating the null hypothesis Gaussian parameters, the LRT reduces to a simple test on the empirical variance of the predictive random variable. This conforms to the intuition to expect a (potentially) large prediction error when the estimate is associated with high uncertainty, and to expect an accurate prediction when the uncertainty level is low. We tested the proposed method on patient-derived respiratory traces. The 'ground-truth' prediction error was evaluated by comparing the prediction values with retrospective observations, and the large prediction regions were subsequently delineated by thresholding the prediction errors. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to describe the performance of the proposed hypothesis testing method. Clinical implication was represented by miss

  8. Thigh muscle volume predicted by anthropometric measurements and correlated with physical function in the older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, B B; Shih, T T F; Hsu, C Y; Yu, C W; Wei, S Y; Chen, C Y; Wu, C H; Chen, C Y

    2011-06-01

    (1) to correlate thigh muscle volume measured by magnetic resonance image (MRI) with anthropometric measurements and physical function in elderly subjects; (2) to predict MRI-measured thigh muscle volume using anthropometric measurements and physical functional status in elderly subjects. Cross-sectional, nonrandomized study. Outpatient clinic in Taiwan. Sixty-nine elderly subjects (33 men and 36 women) aged 65 and older. The anthropometric data (including body height, body weight, waist size, and thigh circumference), physical activity and function (including grip strength, bilateral quadriceps muscle power, the up and go test, chair rise, and five meters walk time) and bioelectrical impedance analysis data (including total body fat mass, fat-free mass, and predictive muscle size) were measured. MRI-measured muscle volume of both thighs was used as the reference standard. The MRI-measured thigh volume was positively correlated with all anthropometric data, quadriceps muscle power and the up and go test as well as fat-free mass and predictive muscle mass, whereas it was negatively associated with age and walk time. In predicting thigh muscle volume, the variables of age, gender, body weight, and thigh circumference were significant predictors in the linear regression model: Muscle volume (cm3) =4226.3-42.5 × Age (year)-955.7 × gender (male=1, female=2) + 45.9 × body weight(kg) + 60.0 × thigh circumference (cm) (r2 = 0.745, P estimate = 581.6 cm3). The current work provides evidence of a strong relationship between thigh muscle volume and physical function in the elderly. We also developed a prediction equation model using anthropometric measurements. This model is a simple and noninvasive method for everyday clinical practice and follow-up.

  9. 14 CFR 35.40 - Functional test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Functional test. 35.40 Section 35.40... STANDARDS: PROPELLERS Tests and Inspections § 35.40 Functional test. The variable-pitch propeller system must be subjected to the applicable functional tests of this section. The same propeller system used in...

  10. Testing properties of generic functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansson, P.; Jeuring, J.T.; Cabenda, L.; Engels, G.; Kleerekoper, J.; Mak, S.; Overeem, M.; Visser, Kees

    2007-01-01

    A datatype-generic function is a family of functions indexed by (the structure of) a type. Examples include equality tests, maps and pretty printers. Property based testing tools like QuickCheck and Gast support the de¯nition of properties and test-data generators, and they check if a

  11. Predicting Hydrologic Function With Aquatic Gene Fragments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Good, S. P.; URycki, D. R.; Crump, B. C.

    2018-03-01

    Recent advances in microbiology techniques, such as genetic sequencing, allow for rapid and cost-effective collection of large quantities of genetic information carried within water samples. Here we posit that the unique composition of aquatic DNA material within a water sample contains relevant information about hydrologic function at multiple temporal scales. In this study, machine learning was used to develop discharge prediction models trained on the relative abundance of bacterial taxa classified into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on 16S rRNA gene sequences from six large arctic rivers. We term this approach "genohydrology," and show that OTU relative abundances can be used to predict river discharge at monthly and longer timescales. Based on a single DNA sample from each river, the average Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) for predicted mean monthly discharge values throughout the year was 0.84, while the NSE for predicted discharge values across different return intervals was 0.67. These are considerable improvements over predictions based only on the area-scaled mean specific discharge of five similar rivers, which had average NSE values of 0.64 and -0.32 for seasonal and recurrence interval discharge values, respectively. The genohydrology approach demonstrates that genetic diversity within the aquatic microbiome is a large and underutilized data resource with benefits for prediction of hydrologic function.

  12. Differential Prediction Generalization in College Admissions Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguinis, Herman; Culpepper, Steven A.; Pierce, Charles A.

    2016-01-01

    We introduce the concept of "differential prediction generalization" in the context of college admissions testing. Specifically, we assess the extent to which predicted first-year college grade point average (GPA) based on high-school grade point average (HSGPA) and SAT scores depends on a student's ethnicity and gender and whether this…

  13. Pretest Predictions for Ventilation Tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Y. Sun; H. Yang; H.N. Kalia

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this calculation is to predict the temperatures of the ventilating air, waste package surface, concrete pipe walls, and insulation that will be developed during the ventilation tests involving various test conditions. The results will be used as input to the following three areas: (1) Decisions regarding testing set-up and performance. (2) Assessing how best to scale the test phenomena measured. (3) Validating numerical approach for modeling continuous ventilation. The scope of the calculation is to identify the physical mechanisms and parameters related to thermal response in the ventilation tests, and develop and describe numerical methods that can be used to calculate the effects of continuous ventilation. Sensitivity studies to assess the impact of variation of linear power densities (linear heat loads) and ventilation air flow rates are included. The calculation is limited to thermal effect only

  14. Predicting functional upstream open reading frames in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristiansson Erik

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Some upstream open reading frames (uORFs regulate gene expression (i.e., they are functional and can play key roles in keeping organisms healthy. However, how uORFs are involved in gene regulation is not yet fully understood. In order to get a complete view of how uORFs are involved in gene regulation, it is expected that a large number of experimentally verified functional uORFs are needed. Unfortunately, wet-experiments to verify that uORFs are functional are expensive. Results In this paper, a new computational approach to predicting functional uORFs in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is presented. Our approach is based on inductive logic programming and makes use of a novel combination of knowledge about biological conservation, Gene Ontology annotations and genes' responses to different conditions. Our method results in a set of simple and informative hypotheses with an estimated sensitivity of 76%. The hypotheses predict 301 further genes to have 398 novel functional uORFs. Three (RPC11, TPK1, and FOL1 of these 301 genes have been hypothesised, following wet-experiments, by a related study to have functional uORFs. A comparison with another related study suggests that eleven of the predicted functional uORFs from genes LDB17, HEM3, CIN8, BCK2, PMC1, FAS1, APP1, ACC1, CKA2, SUR1, and ATH1 are strong candidates for wet-lab experimental studies. Conclusions Learning based prediction of functional uORFs can be done with a high sensitivity. The predictions made in this study can serve as a list of candidates for subsequent wet-lab verification and might help to elucidate the regulatory roles of uORFs.

  15. Automate functional testing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ramesh Kalindri

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Currently, software engineers are increasingly turning to the option of automating functional tests, but not always have successful in this endeavor. Reasons range from low planning until over cost in the process. Some principles that can guide teams in automating these tests are described in this article.

  16. Combining Spot Sign and Intracerebral Hemorrhage Score to Estimate Functional Outcome: Analysis From the PREDICT Cohort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Hauke; Huynh, Thien J; Demchuk, Andrew M; Dowlatshahi, Dar; Rodriguez-Luna, David; Silva, Yolanda; Aviv, Richard; Dzialowski, Imanuel

    2018-06-01

    The intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) score is the most commonly used grading scale for stratifying functional outcome in patients with acute ICH. We sought to determine whether a combination of the ICH score and the computed tomographic angiography spot sign may improve outcome prediction in the cohort of a prospective multicenter hemorrhage trial. Prospectively collected data from 241 patients from the observational PREDICT study (Prediction of Hematoma Growth and Outcome in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage Using the CT-Angiography Spot Sign) were analyzed. Functional outcome at 3 months was dichotomized using the modified Rankin Scale (0-3 versus 4-6). Performance of (1) the ICH score and (2) the spot sign ICH score-a scoring scale combining ICH score and spot sign number-was tested. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that ICH score (odds ratio, 3.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.2-4.8) and spot sign number (n=1: odds ratio, 2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-7.4; n>1: odds ratio, 3.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-17.1) were independently predictive of functional outcome at 3 months with similar odds ratios. Prediction of functional outcome was not significantly different using the spot sign ICH score compared with the ICH score alone (spot sign ICH score area under curve versus ICH score area under curve: P =0.14). In the PREDICT cohort, a prognostic score adding the computed tomographic angiography-based spot sign to the established ICH score did not improve functional outcome prediction compared with the ICH score. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

  17. Predicting Freshman Grade Point Average From College Admissions Test Scores and State High School Test Scores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Koretz

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The current focus on assessing “college and career readiness” raises an empirical question: How do high school tests compare with college admissions tests in predicting performance in college? We explored this using data from the City University of New York and public colleges in Kentucky. These two systems differ in the choice of college admissions test, the stakes for students on the high school test, and demographics. We predicted freshman grade point average (FGPA from high school GPA and both college admissions and high school tests in mathematics and English. In both systems, the choice of tests had only trivial effects on the aggregate prediction of FGPA. Adding either test to an equation that included the other had only trivial effects on prediction. Although the findings suggest that the choice of test might advantage or disadvantage different students, it had no substantial effect on the over- and underprediction of FGPA for students classified by race-ethnicity or poverty.

  18. Using quantitative breath sound measurements to predict lung function following resection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keus Leendert

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Predicting postoperative lung function is important for estimating the risk of complications and long-term disability after pulmonary resection. We investigated the capability of vibration response imaging (VRI as an alternative to lung scintigraphy for prediction of postoperative lung function in patients with intrathoracic malignancies. Methods Eighty-five patients with intrathoracic malignancies, considered candidates for lung resection, were prospectively studied. The projected postoperative (ppo lung function was calculated using: perfusion scintigraphy, ventilation scintigraphy, and VRI. Two sets of assessments made: one for lobectomy and one for pneumonectomy. Clinical concordance was defined as both methods agreeing that either a patient was or was not a surgical candidate based on a ppoFEV1% and ppoDLCO% > 40%. Results Limits of agreement between scintigraphy and VRI for ppo following lobectomy were -16.47% to 15.08% (mean difference = -0.70%;95%CI = -2.51% to 1.12% and for pneumonectomy were -23.79% to 19.04% (mean difference = -2.38%;95%CI = -4.69% to -0.07%. Clinical concordance between VRI and scintigraphy was 73% for pneumonectomy and 98% for lobectomy. For patients who had surgery and postoperative lung function testing (n = 31, ppoFEV1% using scintigraphic methods correlated with measured postoperative values better than projections using VRI, (adjusted R2 = 0.32 scintigraphy; 0.20 VRI, however the difference between methods failed to reach statistical significance. Limits of agreement between measured FEV1% postoperatively and ppoFEV1% based on perfusion scintigraphy were -16.86% to 23.73% (mean difference = 3.44%;95%CI = -0.29% to 7.16%; based on VRI were -19.56% to 28.99% (mean difference = 4.72%;95%CI = 0.27% to 9.17%. Conclusions Further investigation of VRI as an alternative to lung scintigraphy for prediction of postoperative lung function is warranted.

  19. Prediction of Chemical Function: Model Development and ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Exposure Forecaster (ExpoCast) project is developing both statistical and mechanism-based computational models for predicting exposures to thousands of chemicals, including those in consumer products. The high-throughput (HT) screening-level exposures developed under ExpoCast can be combined with HT screening (HTS) bioactivity data for the risk-based prioritization of chemicals for further evaluation. The functional role (e.g. solvent, plasticizer, fragrance) that a chemical performs can drive both the types of products in which it is found and the concentration in which it is present and therefore impacting exposure potential. However, critical chemical use information (including functional role) is lacking for the majority of commercial chemicals for which exposure estimates are needed. A suite of machine-learning based models for classifying chemicals in terms of their likely functional roles in products based on structure were developed. This effort required collection, curation, and harmonization of publically-available data sources of chemical functional use information from government and industry bodies. Physicochemical and structure descriptor data were generated for chemicals with function data. Machine-learning classifier models for function were then built in a cross-validated manner from the descriptor/function data using the method of random forests. The models were applied to: 1) predict chemi

  20. Predicting gene function using hierarchical multi-label decision tree ensembles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kocev Dragi

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background S. cerevisiae, A. thaliana and M. musculus are well-studied organisms in biology and the sequencing of their genomes was completed many years ago. It is still a challenge, however, to develop methods that assign biological functions to the ORFs in these genomes automatically. Different machine learning methods have been proposed to this end, but it remains unclear which method is to be preferred in terms of predictive performance, efficiency and usability. Results We study the use of decision tree based models for predicting the multiple functions of ORFs. First, we describe an algorithm for learning hierarchical multi-label decision trees. These can simultaneously predict all the functions of an ORF, while respecting a given hierarchy of gene functions (such as FunCat or GO. We present new results obtained with this algorithm, showing that the trees found by it exhibit clearly better predictive performance than the trees found by previously described methods. Nevertheless, the predictive performance of individual trees is lower than that of some recently proposed statistical learning methods. We show that ensembles of such trees are more accurate than single trees and are competitive with state-of-the-art statistical learning and functional linkage methods. Moreover, the ensemble method is computationally efficient and easy to use. Conclusions Our results suggest that decision tree based methods are a state-of-the-art, efficient and easy-to-use approach to ORF function prediction.

  1. Springback Prediction on Slit-Ring Test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Xiaoming; Shi, Ming F.; Ren Feng; Xia, Z. Cedric

    2005-01-01

    Advanced high strength steels (AHSS) are increasingly being used in the automotive industry to reduce vehicle weight while improving vehicle crash performance. One of the concerns in manufacturing is springback control after stamping. Although computer simulation technologies have been successfully applied to predict stamping formability, they still face major challenges in springback prediction, particularly for AHSS. Springback analysis is very complicated and involves large deformation problems in the forming stage and mechanical multiplying effect during the elastic recovery after releasing a part from the die. Therefore, the predictions are very sensitive to the simulation parameters used. It is very critical in springback simulation to choose an appropriate material model, element formulation and contact algorithm. In this study, a springback benchmark test, the slit ring cup, is used in the springback simulation with commercially available finite element analysis (FEA) software, LS-DYNA. The sensitivity of seven simulation variables on springback predictions was investigated, and a set of parameters with stable simulation results was identified. Final simulations using the selected set of parameters were conducted on six different materials including two AHSS steels, two conventional high strength steels, one mild steel and an aluminum alloy. The simulation results are compared with experimental measurements for all six materials and a favorable result is achieved. Simulation errors as compared against test results falls within 10%

  2. The predictive value of respiratory function tests for non-invasive ventilation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tilanus, T.B.M.; Groothuis, J.T.; Broek-Pastoor, J.M.C. ten; Feuth, T.; Heijdra, Y.F.; Slenders, J.P.L.; Doorduin, J.; Engelen, B.G.M. van; Kampelmacher, M.J.; Raaphorst, J.

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) improves survival and quality of life in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. The timing of referral to a home ventilation service (HVS), which is in part based on respiratory function tests, has shown room for improvement. It is currently unknown

  3. The predictive value of respiratory function tests for non-invasive ventilation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tilanus, T. B. M.; Groothuis, J. T.; TenBroek-Pastoor, J. M. C.; Feuth, T. B.; Heijdra, Y. F.; Slenders, J. P. L.; Doorduin, J.; van Engelen, B. G.; Kampelmacher, M. J.; Raaphorst, J.

    2017-01-01

    Background: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) improves survival and quality of life in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. The timing of referral to a home ventilation service (HVS), which is in part based on respiratory function tests, has shown room for improvement. It is currently unknown

  4. Does functional capacity, fall risk awareness and physical activity level predict falls in older adults in different age groups?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreira, Natália Boneti; Rodacki, Andre Luiz Felix; Pereira, Gléber; Bento, Paulo Cesar Barauce

    2018-04-11

    The aims of this study were to examine whether: i) functional capacity and physical activity level differ between fallers and non-fallers older adults, by controlling for fall risk awareness; ii) functional capacity, fall risk awareness and physical activity differ between fallers and non-fallers older adults, by controlling for age; iii) variables and which may predict falls in different age groups. 1826 older adults performed a series of functional tests and reported their fall episodes, fall risk awareness and physical activity level. The overall incidence of falls was high (40.2%), and falls risk awareness scores reduced with age. The older adults with greater falls risk awareness and non-fallers presented better scores in all functional tests and physical activity level (P age groups and differed between fallers and non-fallers, irrespective of age group (P age groups (odds ranging: 1.05-1.09). Handgrip strength and balance scores predicted falls until 79 years (OR = 1.04, 95%CI = 1.01-1.06). The physical activity level predicted falls up to 70 years (OR = 1.09, 95%CI = 1.06-1.12). Functional mobility was able to predict falls up to 80 years (OR = 1.06, 95%CI = 1.01-1.08). Therefore, according to age, functional capacity, physical activity level and falls risk awareness can be a predictor of falls in older adults. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. [Interpretation and use of routine pulmonary function tests: Spirometry, static lung volumes, lung diffusion, arterial blood gas, methacholine challenge test and 6-minute walk test].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bokov, P; Delclaux, C

    2016-02-01

    Resting pulmonary function tests (PFT) include the assessment of ventilatory capacity: spirometry (forced expiratory flows and mobilisable volumes) and static volume assessment, notably using body plethysmography. Spirometry allows the potential definition of obstructive defect, while static volume assessment allows the potential definition of restrictive defect (decrease in total lung capacity) and thoracic hyperinflation (increase in static volumes). It must be kept in mind that this evaluation is incomplete and that an assessment of ventilatory demand is often warranted, especially when facing dyspnoea: evaluation of arterial blood gas (searching for respiratory insufficiency) and measurement of the transfer coefficient of the lung, allowing with the measurement of alveolar volume to calculate the diffusing capacity of the lung for CO (DLCO: assessment of alveolar-capillary wall and capillary blood volume). All these pulmonary function tests have been the subject of an Americano-European Task force (standardisation of lung function testing) published in 2005, and translated in French in 2007. Interpretative strategies for lung function tests have been recommended, which define abnormal lung function tests using the 5th and 95th percentiles of predicted values (lower and upper limits of normal values). Thus, these recommendations need to be implemented in all pulmonary function test units. A methacholine challenge test will only be performed in the presence of an intermediate pre-test probability for asthma (diagnostic uncertainty), which is an infrequent setting. The most convenient exertional test is the 6-minute walk test that allows the assessment of walking performance, the search for arterial desaturation and the quantification of dyspnoea complaint. Copyright © 2015 Société nationale française de médecine interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  6. Linear Prediction Using Refined Autocorrelation Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Shahidur Rahman

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a new technique for improving the performance of linear prediction analysis by utilizing a refined version of the autocorrelation function. Problems in analyzing voiced speech using linear prediction occur often due to the harmonic structure of the excitation source, which causes the autocorrelation function to be an aliased version of that of the vocal tract impulse response. To estimate the vocal tract characteristics accurately, however, the effect of aliasing must be eliminated. In this paper, we employ homomorphic deconvolution technique in the autocorrelation domain to eliminate the aliasing effect occurred due to periodicity. The resulted autocorrelation function of the vocal tract impulse response is found to produce significant improvement in estimating formant frequencies. The accuracy of formant estimation is verified on synthetic vowels for a wide range of pitch frequencies typical for male and female speakers. The validity of the proposed method is also illustrated by inspecting the spectral envelopes of natural speech spoken by high-pitched female speaker. The synthesis filter obtained by the current method is guaranteed to be stable, which makes the method superior to many of its alternatives.

  7. Predictive model for functional consequences of oral cavity tumour resections

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Alphen, M.J.A.; Hageman, T.A.G.; Hageman, Tijmen Antoon Geert; Smeele, L.E.; Balm, Alfonsus Jacobus Maria; Balm, A.J.M.; van der Heijden, Ferdinand; Lemke, H.U.

    2013-01-01

    The prediction of functional consequences after treatment of large oral cavity tumours is mainly based on the size and location of the tumour. However, patient specific factors play an important role in the functional outcome, making the current predictions unreliable and subjective. An objective

  8. Testing the predictive power of cognitive atypicalities in autistic children: evidence from a 3-year follow-up study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellicano, Elizabeth

    2013-08-01

    This follow-up study investigated the predictive power of early cognitive atypicalities. Specifically, it examined whether early individual differences in specific cognitive skills, including theory of mind, executive function, and central coherence, could uniquely account for variation in autistic children's behaviors-social communication, repetitive behaviors, and interests and insistence on sameness-at follow-up. Thirty-seven cognitively able children with an autism spectrum condition were assessed on tests tapping verbal and nonverbal ability, theory of mind (false-belief prediction), executive function (planning ability, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control), and central coherence (local processing) at intake and their behavioral functioning (social communication, repetitive behaviors and interests, insistence on sameness) 3 years later. Individual differences in early executive but not theory of mind skills predicted variation in children's social communication. Individual differences in children's early executive function also predicted the degree of repetitive behaviors and interests at follow-up. There were no predictive relationships between early central coherence and children's insistence on sameness. These findings challenge the notion that distinct cognitive atypicalities map on to specific behavioral features of autism. Instead, early variation in executive function plays a key role in helping to shape autistic children's emerging behaviors, including their social communication and repetitive behaviors and interests. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Functional enrichment analyses and construction of functional similarity networks with high confidence function prediction by PFP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kihara Daisuke

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A new paradigm of biological investigation takes advantage of technologies that produce large high throughput datasets, including genome sequences, interactions of proteins, and gene expression. The ability of biologists to analyze and interpret such data relies on functional annotation of the included proteins, but even in highly characterized organisms many proteins can lack the functional evidence necessary to infer their biological relevance. Results Here we have applied high confidence function predictions from our automated prediction system, PFP, to three genome sequences, Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Plasmodium falciparum (malaria. The number of annotated genes is increased by PFP to over 90% for all of the genomes. Using the large coverage of the function annotation, we introduced the functional similarity networks which represent the functional space of the proteomes. Four different functional similarity networks are constructed for each proteome, one each by considering similarity in a single Gene Ontology (GO category, i.e. Biological Process, Cellular Component, and Molecular Function, and another one by considering overall similarity with the funSim score. The functional similarity networks are shown to have higher modularity than the protein-protein interaction network. Moreover, the funSim score network is distinct from the single GO-score networks by showing a higher clustering degree exponent value and thus has a higher tendency to be hierarchical. In addition, examining function assignments to the protein-protein interaction network and local regions of genomes has identified numerous cases where subnetworks or local regions have functionally coherent proteins. These results will help interpreting interactions of proteins and gene orders in a genome. Several examples of both analyses are highlighted. Conclusion The analyses demonstrate that applying high confidence predictions from PFP

  10. Functional Performances on Admission Predict In-Hospital Falls, Injurious Falls, and Fractures in Older Patients: A Prospective Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hars, Mélany; Audet, Marie-Claude; Herrmann, François; De Chassey, Jean; Rizzoli, René; Reny, Jean-Luc; Gold, Gabriel; Ferrari, Serge; Trombetti, Andrea

    2018-05-01

    Falls are common among older inpatients and remain a great challenge for hospitals. Despite the relevance of physical impairments to falls, the prognostic value of performance-based functional measures for in-hospital falls and injurious falls remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the predictive ability and accuracy of various functional tests administered at or close to admission in a geriatric hospital to identify in-hospital fallers and injurious fallers. In this prospective study, conducted in a geriatric hospital in Geneva, Switzerland, 807 inpatients (mean age 85.0 years) were subjected to a battery of functional tests administered by physiotherapists within 3 days (interquartile range 1 to 6) of admission, including Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), simplified Tinetti, and Timed Up and Go tests. Patients were prospectively followed up for falls and injurious falls until discharge using mandatory standardized incident report forms and electronic patients' records. During a median length of hospital stay of 23 days (interquartile range 14 to 36), 329 falls occurred in 189 (23.4%) patients, including 161 injurious falls of which 24 were serious. In-hospital fallers displayed significantly poorer functional performances at admission on all tests compared with non-fallers (p performances on all functional tests predicted in-hospital falls and injurious falls (p poor functional performances, as assessed by SPPB, are independent predictors of in-hospital falls, injurious falls, and fractures in patients admitted to a geriatric hospital. These findings should help to design preventive strategies for in-hospital falls and support the adoption of objective performance-based functional measures into routine hospital practice. © 2018 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. © 2018 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

  11. Scoring protein relationships in functional interaction networks predicted from sequence data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaston K Mazandu

    Full Text Available UNLABELLED: The abundance of diverse biological data from various sources constitutes a rich source of knowledge, which has the power to advance our understanding of organisms. This requires computational methods in order to integrate and exploit these data effectively and elucidate local and genome wide functional connections between protein pairs, thus enabling functional inferences for uncharacterized proteins. These biological data are primarily in the form of sequences, which determine functions, although functional properties of a protein can often be predicted from just the domains it contains. Thus, protein sequences and domains can be used to predict protein pair-wise functional relationships, and thus contribute to the function prediction process of uncharacterized proteins in order to ensure that knowledge is gained from sequencing efforts. In this work, we introduce information-theoretic based approaches to score protein-protein functional interaction pairs predicted from protein sequence similarity and conserved protein signature matches. The proposed schemes are effective for data-driven scoring of connections between protein pairs. We applied these schemes to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteome to produce a homology-based functional network of the organism with a high confidence and coverage. We use the network for predicting functions of uncharacterised proteins. AVAILABILITY: Protein pair-wise functional relationship scores for Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain CDC1551 sequence data and python scripts to compute these scores are available at http://web.cbio.uct.ac.za/~gmazandu/scoringschemes.

  12. Combining specificity determining and conserved residues improves functional site prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gelfand Mikhail S

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Predicting the location of functionally important sites from protein sequence and/or structure is a long-standing problem in computational biology. Most current approaches make use of sequence conservation, assuming that amino acid residues conserved within a protein family are most likely to be functionally important. Most often these approaches do not consider many residues that act to define specific sub-functions within a family, or they make no distinction between residues important for function and those more relevant for maintaining structure (e.g. in the hydrophobic core. Many protein families bind and/or act on a variety of ligands, meaning that conserved residues often only bind a common ligand sub-structure or perform general catalytic activities. Results Here we present a novel method for functional site prediction based on identification of conserved positions, as well as those responsible for determining ligand specificity. We define Specificity-Determining Positions (SDPs, as those occupied by conserved residues within sub-groups of proteins in a family having a common specificity, but differ between groups, and are thus likely to account for specific recognition events. We benchmark the approach on enzyme families of known 3D structure with bound substrates, and find that in nearly all families residues predicted by SDPsite are in contact with the bound substrate, and that the addition of SDPs significantly improves functional site prediction accuracy. We apply SDPsite to various families of proteins containing known three-dimensional structures, but lacking clear functional annotations, and discusse several illustrative examples. Conclusion The results suggest a better means to predict functional details for the thousands of protein structures determined prior to a clear understanding of molecular function.

  13. Chemical Function Predictions for Tox21 Chemicals

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Random forest chemical function predictions for Tox21 chemicals in personal care products uses and "other" uses. This dataset is associated with the following...

  14. Protein-Based Urine Test Predicts Kidney Transplant Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... News Releases News Release Thursday, August 22, 2013 Protein-based urine test predicts kidney transplant outcomes NIH- ... supporting development of noninvasive tests. Levels of a protein in the urine of kidney transplant recipients can ...

  15. QCD predictions for weak neutral current structure functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Jimin

    1987-01-01

    Employing the analytic expression (to the next leading order) for non-singlet component of structure function which the author got from QCD theory and putting recent experiment result of neutral current structure function at Q 2 = 11 (GeV/C) 2 as input, the QCD prediction for neutral current structure function of their scaling violation behaviours was given

  16. Do preoperative pulmonary function indices predict morbidity after coronary artery bypass surgery?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdi Najafi

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: The reported prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD varies among different groups of cardiac surgical patients. Moreover, the prognostic value of preoperative COPD in outcome prediction is controversial. Aims: The present study assessed the morbidity in the different levels of COPD severity and the role of pulmonary function indices in predicting morbidity in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG. Settings and Design: Patients who were candidates for isolated CABG with cardiopulmonary bypass who were recruited for Tehran Heart Center-Coronary Outcome Measurement Study. Methods: Based on spirometry findings, diagnosis of COPD was considered based on Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease category as forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1]/forced vital capacity 75% predicted, mild (FEV1 60-75% predicted, moderate (FEV1 50-59% predicted, severe (FEV1<50% predicted. The preoperative pulmonary function indices were assessed as predictors, and postoperative morbidity was considered the surgical outcome. Results: This study included 566 consecutive patients. Patients with and without COPD were similar regarding baseline characteristics and clinical data. Hypertension, recent myocardial infarction, and low ejection fraction were higher in patients with different degrees of COPD than the control group while male gender was more frequent in control patients than the others. Restrictive lung disease and current cigarette smoking did not have any significant impact on postoperative complications. We found a borderline P = 0.057 with respect to respiratory failure among different patients of COPD severity so that 14.1% patients in control group, 23.5% in mild, 23.4% in moderate, and 21.9% in severe COPD categories developed respiratory failure after CABG surgery. Conclusion: Among post-CABG complications, patients with different levels of COPD based on STS definition, more frequently developed

  17. Response predictions using the observed autocorrelation function

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Ulrik Dam; H. Brodtkorb, Astrid; Jensen, Jørgen Juncher

    2018-01-01

    This article studies a procedure that facilitates short-time, deterministic predictions of the wave-induced motion of a marine vessel, where it is understood that the future motion of the vessel is calculated ahead of time. Such predictions are valuable to assist in the execution of many marine......-induced response in study. Thus, predicted (future) values ahead of time for a given time history recording are computed through a mathematical combination of the sample autocorrelation function and previous measurements recorded just prior to the moment of action. Importantly, the procedure does not need input...... show that predictions can be successfully made in a time horizon corresponding to about 8-9 wave periods ahead of current time (the moment of action)....

  18. Testing properties of generic functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansson, P.; Jeuring, J.T.; Cabenda, L.; Engels, G.; Kleerekoper, J.; Mak, S.; Overeem, M.; Visser, Kees

    2006-01-01

    Software testing is an important part of the software devel- opment process. Testing comes in many flavours: unit testing, property testing, regression testing, contract checking, etc. QuickCheck is proba- bly one of the most advanced tools for testing properties of functional programs. It

  19. ELEFUNT, Testing of Elementary Function Subroutines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cody, W.J.

    1981-01-01

    1 - Description of problem or function: ELEFUNT is a FORTRAN test package for the elementary functions. Each program is an aggressive test of one or more of the elementary function subroutines generally supplied with the support library accompanying a FORTRAN compiler. Functions tested are ALOG/ALOG10, ASIN/ACOS, ATAN, EXP, POWER, SIN/ COS, SINH/COSH, SQRT, TAN/COTAN, and TANH. 2 - Method of solution: The programs check the accuracy of the functions by using purified random arguments from appropriate intervals in carefully selected identities. They also check special properties of each function, test for the handling of special arguments, and exercise the error returns. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: The package contains one subroutine (MACHAR) for dynamic determination of parameters describing the floating-point arithmetic system of the host machine, the test programs must be modified to insert the necessary machine- dependent parameters in DATA statements, or otherwise make them available. This computing environment inquiry routine is known to malfunction when the arithmetic registers are wider than the storage registers

  20. Predictive value of plasma β2-microglobulin on human body function and senescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, X-M; Cai, R; Yang, F; Zhang, Y-Y; Wang, X-G; Fu, S-L; Zhang, J-R

    2016-06-01

    To explore the correlation between plasma β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) as senescence factor with age, heart, liver and kidney function as well as the predictive value of β2-MG in human metabolism function and senescence. 387 cases of healthy people of different ages were selected and the automatic biochemical analyzer was used to test β2-MG in plasma based on immunoturbidimetry and also all biochemical indexes. The correlation between β2-MG and age, gender and all biochemical indexes was analyzed. β2-MG was positively correlated to age, r = 0.373; and the difference was of statistical significance (p human body function and anti-senescence and have significant basic research and clinical guidance values.

  1. Predicting functional recovery after acute ankle sprain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sean R O'Connor

    Full Text Available Ankle sprains are among the most common acute musculoskeletal conditions presenting to primary care. Their clinical course is variable but there are limited recommendations on prognostic factors. Our primary aim was to identify clinical predictors of short and medium term functional recovery after ankle sprain.A secondary analysis of data from adult participants (N = 85 with an acute ankle sprain, enrolled in a randomized controlled trial was undertaken. The predictive value of variables (age, BMI, gender, injury mechanism, previous injury, weight-bearing status, medial joint line pain, pain during weight-bearing dorsiflexion and lateral hop test recorded at baseline and at 4 weeks post injury were investigated for their prognostic ability. Recovery was determined from measures of subjective ankle function at short (4 weeks and medium term (4 months follow ups. Multivariate stepwise linear regression analyses were undertaken to evaluate the association between the aforementioned variables and functional recovery.Greater age, greater injury grade and weight-bearing status at baseline were associated with lower function at 4 weeks post injury (p<0.01; adjusted R square=0.34. Greater age, weight-bearing status at baseline and non-inversion injury mechanisms were associated with lower function at 4 months (p<0.01; adjusted R square=0.20. Pain on medial palpation and pain on dorsiflexion at 4 weeks were the most valuable prognostic indicators of function at 4 months (p< 0.01; adjusted R square=0.49.The results of the present study provide further evidence that ankle sprains have a variable clinical course. Age, injury grade, mechanism and weight-bearing status at baseline provide some prognostic information for short and medium term recovery. Clinical assessment variables at 4 weeks were the strongest predictors of recovery, explaining 50% of the variance in ankle function at 4 months. Further prospective research is required to highlight the factors

  2. Bradykinesia-akinesia incoordination test: validating an online keyboard test of upper limb function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noyce, Alastair J; Nagy, Anna; Acharya, Shami; Hadavi, Shahrzad; Bestwick, Jonathan P; Fearnley, Julian; Lees, Andrew J; Giovannoni, Gavin

    2014-01-01

    The Bradykinesia Akinesia Incoordination (BRAIN) test is a computer keyboard-tapping task that was developed for use in assessing the effect of symptomatic treatment on motor function in Parkinson's disease (PD). An online version has now been designed for use in a wider clinical context and the research setting. Validation of the online BRAIN test was undertaken in 58 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 93 age-matched, non-neurological controls. Kinesia scores (KS30, number of key taps in 30 seconds), akinesia times (AT30, mean dwell time on each key in milliseconds), incoordination scores (IS30, variance of travelling time between key presses) and dysmetria scores (DS30, accuracy of key presses) were compared between groups. These parameters were correlated against total motor scores and sub-scores from the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Mean KS30, AT30 and IS30 were significantly different between PD patients and controls (p≤0.0001). Sensitivity for 85% specificity was 50% for KS30, 40% for AT30 and 29% for IS30. KS30, AT30 and IS30 correlated significantly with UPDRS total motor scores (r = -0.53, r = 0.27 and r = 0.28 respectively) and motor UPDRS sub-scores. The reliability of KS30, AT30 and DS30 was good on repeated testing. The BRAIN test is a reliable, convenient test of upper limb motor function that can be used routinely in the outpatient clinic, at home and in clinical trials. In addition, it can be used as an objective longitudinal measurement of emerging motor dysfunction for the prediction of PD in at-risk cohorts.

  3. Bradykinesia-akinesia incoordination test: validating an online keyboard test of upper limb function.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alastair J Noyce

    Full Text Available The Bradykinesia Akinesia Incoordination (BRAIN test is a computer keyboard-tapping task that was developed for use in assessing the effect of symptomatic treatment on motor function in Parkinson's disease (PD. An online version has now been designed for use in a wider clinical context and the research setting.Validation of the online BRAIN test was undertaken in 58 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD and 93 age-matched, non-neurological controls. Kinesia scores (KS30, number of key taps in 30 seconds, akinesia times (AT30, mean dwell time on each key in milliseconds, incoordination scores (IS30, variance of travelling time between key presses and dysmetria scores (DS30, accuracy of key presses were compared between groups. These parameters were correlated against total motor scores and sub-scores from the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS.Mean KS30, AT30 and IS30 were significantly different between PD patients and controls (p≤0.0001. Sensitivity for 85% specificity was 50% for KS30, 40% for AT30 and 29% for IS30. KS30, AT30 and IS30 correlated significantly with UPDRS total motor scores (r = -0.53, r = 0.27 and r = 0.28 respectively and motor UPDRS sub-scores. The reliability of KS30, AT30 and DS30 was good on repeated testing.The BRAIN test is a reliable, convenient test of upper limb motor function that can be used routinely in the outpatient clinic, at home and in clinical trials. In addition, it can be used as an objective longitudinal measurement of emerging motor dysfunction for the prediction of PD in at-risk cohorts.

  4. Testing the predictive power of nuclear mass models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mendoza-Temis, J.; Morales, I.; Barea, J.; Frank, A.; Hirsch, J.G.; Vieyra, J.C. Lopez; Van Isacker, P.; Velazquez, V.

    2008-01-01

    A number of tests are introduced which probe the ability of nuclear mass models to extrapolate. Three models are analyzed in detail: the liquid drop model, the liquid drop model plus empirical shell corrections and the Duflo-Zuker mass formula. If predicted nuclei are close to the fitted ones, average errors in predicted and fitted masses are similar. However, the challenge of predicting nuclear masses in a region stabilized by shell effects (e.g., the lead region) is far more difficult. The Duflo-Zuker mass formula emerges as a powerful predictive tool

  5. Predicting outcome of paracetamol poisoning by using 14C-aminopyrine breath test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saunders, J.B.; Wright, N.; Lewis, K.O.

    1980-01-01

    The 14 C-aminopyrine ( 14 C-amidopyrine) breath test, carried out within 24 to 36 hours of an overdosage of paracetamol, was used to predict the extent of liver damage in 30 seriously poisoned patients. Mean 14 C0 2 excretion was 4.4% in 20 healthy control subjects; 5.5% in six patients who escaped injury; and 2.9%, 1.5%, and 0.2% in those with mild to moderate (12 patients), severe (eight patients), and fatal (four patients) liver damage respectively. This test proved to be a more reliable predictor of the extent of liver damage than plasma paracetamol concentration or half life or the results of conventional liver function tests and may enable treatment of hepatic failure to be started at an early stage. (author)

  6. Ground-State Gas-Phase Structures of Inorganic Molecules Predicted by Density Functional Theory Methods

    KAUST Repository

    Minenkov, Yury

    2017-11-29

    We tested a battery of density functional theory (DFT) methods ranging from generalized gradient approximation (GGA) via meta-GGA to hybrid meta-GGA schemes as well as Møller–Plesset perturbation theory of the second order and a single and double excitation coupled-cluster (CCSD) theory for their ability to reproduce accurate gas-phase structures of di- and triatomic molecules derived from microwave spectroscopy. We obtained the most accurate molecular structures using the hybrid and hybrid meta-GGA approximations with B3PW91, APF, TPSSh, mPW1PW91, PBE0, mPW1PBE, B972, and B98 functionals, resulting in lowest errors. We recommend using these methods to predict accurate three-dimensional structures of inorganic molecules when intramolecular dispersion interactions play an insignificant role. The structures that the CCSD method predicts are of similar quality although at considerably larger computational cost. The structures that GGA and meta-GGA schemes predict are less accurate with the largest absolute errors detected with BLYP and M11-L, suggesting that these methods should not be used if accurate three-dimensional molecular structures are required. Because of numerical problems related to the integration of the exchange–correlation part of the functional and large scattering of errors, most of the Minnesota models tested, particularly MN12-L, M11, M06-L, SOGGA11, and VSXC, are also not recommended for geometry optimization. When maintaining a low computational budget is essential, the nonseparable gradient functional N12 might work within an acceptable range of error. As expected, the DFT-D3 dispersion correction had a negligible effect on the internuclear distances when combined with the functionals tested on nonweakly bonded di- and triatomic inorganic molecules. By contrast, the dispersion correction for the APF-D functional has been found to shorten the bonds significantly, up to 0.064 Å (AgI), in Ag halides, BaO, BaS, BaF, BaCl, Cu halides, and Li and

  7. Prediction of EMP cavitation threshold from other than sodium testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kambe, M.; Kamei, M.

    2002-01-01

    An experimental study has been performed to predict the cavitation threshold of electromagnetic pumps from measurements on test models using water and alcohol. Cavitation tests were carried out using water and alcohol test loop on subscale ducts of transparent acrylic resin with reference to an actual pump (1.1m 3 /min). These data were compared to those obtained from the in-sodium tests on the actual pump. The investigation revealed that the value of Thoma's dimensionless parameter: σ applied to the test model for water and alcohol is quite higher than that of corresponding σ on the actual pump. To minimize the incipient cavitation safety margin, more accurate prediction must be required. In view of this, the authors proposed the dimensionless parameter: σ T =σ/W-bare where W-bare denotes the Weber number. This parameter was confirmed to predict the cavitation threshold of electromagnetic pumps with much more accuracy than ever before. It can also be adopted to predict cavitation threshold of other FBR components. (author)

  8. Liver Function Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Liver Function Tests Clinical Trials Liver Transplant FAQs Medical Terminology Diseases of the Liver Alagille Syndrome Alcohol-Related ... the Liver The Progression of Liver Disease FAQs Medical Terminology HOW YOU CAN HELP Sponsorship Ways to Give ...

  9. Influences on the Test-Retest Reliability of Functional Connectivity MRI and its Relationship with Behavioral Utility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noble, Stephanie; Spann, Marisa N; Tokoglu, Fuyuze; Shen, Xilin; Constable, R Todd; Scheinost, Dustin

    2017-11-01

    Best practices are currently being developed for the acquisition and processing of resting-state magnetic resonance imaging data used to estimate brain functional organization-or "functional connectivity." Standards have been proposed based on test-retest reliability, but open questions remain. These include how amount of data per subject influences whole-brain reliability, the influence of increasing runs versus sessions, the spatial distribution of reliability, the reliability of multivariate methods, and, crucially, how reliability maps onto prediction of behavior. We collected a dataset of 12 extensively sampled individuals (144 min data each across 2 identically configured scanners) to assess test-retest reliability of whole-brain connectivity within the generalizability theory framework. We used Human Connectome Project data to replicate these analyses and relate reliability to behavioral prediction. Overall, the historical 5-min scan produced poor reliability averaged across connections. Increasing the number of sessions was more beneficial than increasing runs. Reliability was lowest for subcortical connections and highest for within-network cortical connections. Multivariate reliability was greater than univariate. Finally, reliability could not be used to improve prediction; these findings are among the first to underscore this distinction for functional connectivity. A comprehensive understanding of test-retest reliability, including its limitations, supports the development of best practices in the field. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  10. Predicting objective function weights from patient anatomy in prostate IMRT treatment planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Taewoo; Hammad, Muhannad; Chan, Timothy C. Y.; Craig, Tim; Sharpe, Michael B.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning typically combines multiple criteria into a single objective function by taking a weighted sum. The authors propose a statistical model that predicts objective function weights from patient anatomy for prostate IMRT treatment planning. This study provides a proof of concept for geometry-driven weight determination. Methods: A previously developed inverse optimization method (IOM) was used to generate optimal objective function weights for 24 patients using their historical treatment plans (i.e., dose distributions). These IOM weights were around 1% for each of the femoral heads, while bladder and rectum weights varied greatly between patients. A regression model was developed to predict a patient's rectum weight using the ratio of the overlap volume of the rectum and bladder with the planning target volume at a 1 cm expansion as the independent variable. The femoral head weights were fixed to 1% each and the bladder weight was calculated as one minus the rectum and femoral head weights. The model was validated using leave-one-out cross validation. Objective values and dose distributions generated through inverse planning using the predicted weights were compared to those generated using the original IOM weights, as well as an average of the IOM weights across all patients. Results: The IOM weight vectors were on average six times closer to the predicted weight vectors than to the average weight vector, usingl 2 distance. Likewise, the bladder and rectum objective values achieved by the predicted weights were more similar to the objective values achieved by the IOM weights. The difference in objective value performance between the predicted and average weights was statistically significant according to a one-sided sign test. For all patients, the difference in rectum V54.3 Gy, rectum V70.0 Gy, bladder V54.3 Gy, and bladder V70.0 Gy values between the dose distributions generated by the

  11. Testing process predictions of models of risky choice: a quantitative model comparison approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pachur, Thorsten; Hertwig, Ralph; Gigerenzer, Gerd; Brandstätter, Eduard

    2013-01-01

    This article presents a quantitative model comparison contrasting the process predictions of two prominent views on risky choice. One view assumes a trade-off between probabilities and outcomes (or non-linear functions thereof) and the separate evaluation of risky options (expectation models). Another view assumes that risky choice is based on comparative evaluation, limited search, aspiration levels, and the forgoing of trade-offs (heuristic models). We derived quantitative process predictions for a generic expectation model and for a specific heuristic model, namely the priority heuristic (Brandstätter et al., 2006), and tested them in two experiments. The focus was on two key features of the cognitive process: acquisition frequencies (i.e., how frequently individual reasons are looked up) and direction of search (i.e., gamble-wise vs. reason-wise). In Experiment 1, the priority heuristic predicted direction of search better than the expectation model (although neither model predicted the acquisition process perfectly); acquisition frequencies, however, were inconsistent with both models. Additional analyses revealed that these frequencies were primarily a function of what Rubinstein (1988) called “similarity.” In Experiment 2, the quantitative model comparison approach showed that people seemed to rely more on the priority heuristic in difficult problems, but to make more trade-offs in easy problems. This finding suggests that risky choice may be based on a mental toolbox of strategies. PMID:24151472

  12. Testing Process Predictions of Models of Risky Choice: A Quantitative Model Comparison Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thorsten ePachur

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a quantitative model comparison contrasting the process predictions of two prominent views on risky choice. One view assumes a trade-off between probabilities and outcomes (or nonlinear functions thereof and the separate evaluation of risky options (expectation models. Another view assumes that risky choice is based on comparative evaluation, limited search, aspiration levels, and the forgoing of trade-offs (heuristic models. We derived quantitative process predictions for a generic expectation model and for a specific heuristic model, namely the priority heuristic (Brandstätter, Gigerenzer, & Hertwig, 2006, and tested them in two experiments. The focus was on two key features of the cognitive process: acquisition frequencies (i.e., how frequently individual reasons are looked up and direction of search (i.e., gamble-wise vs. reason-wise. In Experiment 1, the priority heuristic predicted direction of search better than the expectation model (although neither model predicted the acquisition process perfectly; acquisition frequencies, however, were inconsistent with both models. Additional analyses revealed that these frequencies were primarily a function of what Rubinstein (1988 called similarity. In Experiment 2, the quantitative model comparison approach showed that people seemed to rely more on the priority heuristic in difficult problems, but to make more trade-offs in easy problems. This finding suggests that risky choice may be based on a mental toolbox of strategies.

  13. Functional Independence in Late-Life: Maintaining Physical Functioning in Older Adulthood Predicts Daily Life Function after Age 80.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaughan, Leslie; Leng, Xiaoyan; La Monte, Michael J; Tindle, Hilary A; Cochrane, Barbara B; Shumaker, Sally A

    2016-03-01

    We examined physical functioning (PF) trajectories (maintaining, slowly declining, and rapidly declining) spanning 15 years in older women aged 65-80 and protective factors that predicted better current levels and less decline in functional independence outcomes after age 80. Women's Health Initiative extension participants who met criteria (enrolled in either the clinical trial or observational study cohort, >80 years at the data release cutoff, PF survey data from initial enrollment to age 80, and functional independence survey data after age 80) were included in these analyses (mean [SD] age = 84.0 [1.4] years; N = 10,478). PF was measured with the SF-36 (mean = 4.9 occasions). Functional independence was measured by self-reported level of dependence in basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs and IADLs) (mean = 3.4 and 3.3 occasions). Maintaining consistent PF in older adulthood extends functional independence in ADL and IADL in late-life. Protective factors shared by ADL and IADL include maintaining PF over time, self-reported excellent or very good health, no history of hip fracture after age 55, and no history of cardiovascular disease. Better IADL function is uniquely predicted by a body mass index less than 25 and no depression. Less ADL and IADL decline is predicted by better self-reported health, and less IADL decline is uniquely predicted by having no history of hip fracture after age 55. Maintaining or improving PF and preventing injury and disease in older adulthood (ages 65-80) has far-reaching implications for improving late-life (after age 80) functional independence. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. Changes in event-related potential functional networks predict traumatic brain injury in piglets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atlan, Lorre S; Lan, Ingrid S; Smith, Colin; Margulies, Susan S

    2018-06-01

    Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of cognitive and behavioral deficits in children in the US each year. None of the current diagnostic tools, such as quantitative cognitive and balance tests, have been validated to identify mild traumatic brain injury in infants, adults and animals. In this preliminary study, we report a novel, quantitative tool that has the potential to quickly and reliably diagnose traumatic brain injury and which can track the state of the brain during recovery across multiple ages and species. Using 32 scalp electrodes, we recorded involuntary auditory event-related potentials from 22 awake four-week-old piglets one day before and one, four, and seven days after two different injury types (diffuse and focal) or sham. From these recordings, we generated event-related potential functional networks and assessed whether the patterns of the observed changes in these networks could distinguish brain-injured piglets from non-injured. Piglet brains exhibited significant changes after injury, as evaluated by five network metrics. The injury prediction algorithm developed from our analysis of the changes in the event-related potentials functional networks ultimately produced a tool with 82% predictive accuracy. This novel approach is the first application of auditory event-related potential functional networks to the prediction of traumatic brain injury. The resulting tool is a robust, objective and predictive method that offers promise for detecting mild traumatic brain injury, in particular because collecting event-related potentials data is noninvasive and inexpensive. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. A semi-supervised learning approach to predict synthetic genetic interactions by combining functional and topological properties of functional gene network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Han Kyungsook

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Genetic interaction profiles are highly informative and helpful for understanding the functional linkages between genes, and therefore have been extensively exploited for annotating gene functions and dissecting specific pathway structures. However, our understanding is rather limited to the relationship between double concurrent perturbation and various higher level phenotypic changes, e.g. those in cells, tissues or organs. Modifier screens, such as synthetic genetic arrays (SGA can help us to understand the phenotype caused by combined gene mutations. Unfortunately, exhaustive tests on all possible combined mutations in any genome are vulnerable to combinatorial explosion and are infeasible either technically or financially. Therefore, an accurate computational approach to predict genetic interaction is highly desirable, and such methods have the potential of alleviating the bottleneck on experiment design. Results In this work, we introduce a computational systems biology approach for the accurate prediction of pairwise synthetic genetic interactions (SGI. First, a high-coverage and high-precision functional gene network (FGN is constructed by integrating protein-protein interaction (PPI, protein complex and gene expression data; then, a graph-based semi-supervised learning (SSL classifier is utilized to identify SGI, where the topological properties of protein pairs in weighted FGN is used as input features of the classifier. We compare the proposed SSL method with the state-of-the-art supervised classifier, the support vector machines (SVM, on a benchmark dataset in S. cerevisiae to validate our method's ability to distinguish synthetic genetic interactions from non-interaction gene pairs. Experimental results show that the proposed method can accurately predict genetic interactions in S. cerevisiae (with a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 91%. Noticeably, the SSL method is more efficient than SVM, especially for

  16. Comparison of fecal elastase-1 and pancreatic function testing in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wali, Prateek D; Loveridge-Lenza, Beth; He, Zhaoping; Horvath, Karoly

    2012-02-01

    The fecal pancreatic elastase-1 (FE-1) test is considered a simple, noninvasive, indirect measure of pancreatic function. We aimed to evaluate the performance of the FE-1 test compared with the direct pancreatic function test (PFT) with secretin stimulation in children. Data of 70 children (6 months-17 years of age) who had both FE-1 test and PFT were analyzed. The average FE-1 concentration was 403 ± 142 μg/g. Eleven children had concentrations below 200  μg/g, 23 between 201 to 500 μg/g, and 36 were above 500 μg/g. The average pancreatic elastase activity measured on direct stimulation was 49.1 ± 38.6  μmol · min (-1)· ml(-1) and 11 children had activity below the established cutoff (10.5 μmol · min(-1) · ml(-1)). Among the 11 children with pathologic PFT, 7 had normal FE-1, 4 were in the intermediate range (201-500 μg/g), and none were in the low range (g). Among the 59 children with normal direct PFT 11 (19%) had pathologic (g) and 19 (32%) had intermediate FE-1 tests. Twenty-nine children had both normal FE-1 concentration and normal PFT, giving a negative predictive value of 80%. The correlation between pancreatic elastase activity and FE-1 concentration was poor (r = 0.190). The sensitivity of the FE-1 test was found to be 41.7%, whereas the specificity was 49.2%. The positive predictive value of the FE-1 test was only 14%. The FE-1 test is a simple, noninvasive, indirect method; however, ordering physicians should be aware of its limitations. It can give false-positive results and has low sensitivity in children with mild pancreatic insufficiency without cystic fibrosis and in those with isolated pancreatic enzyme deficiencies.

  17. Does functional trait diversity predict aboveground biomass and productivity of tropical forests? Testing three alternative hypotheses

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Finegan, B.; Peña Claros, M.; Oliviera, de A.; Alarcón, A.; Ascarrunz, N.; Bret-Harte, M.S.; Carreño-Rocabado, G.; Casanoves, F.; Díaz, S.; Eguiguren Velepucha, P.; Fernandez, F.; Licona, J.C.; Lorenzo, L.; Salgado Negret, B.; Vaz, M.; Poorter, L.

    2015-01-01

    Tropical forests are globally important, but it is not clear whether biodiversity enhances carbon storage and sequestration in them. We tested this relationship focusing on components of functional trait biodiversity as predictors. Data are presented for three rain forests in Bolivia, Brazil and

  18. Feature Selection and the Class Imbalance Problem in Predicting Protein Function from Sequence

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Al-Shahib, A.; Breitling, R.; Gilbert, D.

    2005-01-01

    Abstract: When the standard approach to predict protein function by sequence homology fails, other alternative methods can be used that require only the amino acid sequence for predicting function. One such approach uses machine learning to predict protein function directly from amino acid sequence

  19. Does functional trait diversity predict aboveground biomass and productivity of tropical forests? Testing three alternative hypotheses

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Finegan, B.; Pena Claros, M.; Silva de Oliveira, A.; Ascarrunz, N.; Bret-Harte, M.S.; Carreño Rocabado, I.G.; Casanoves, F.; Diaz, S.; Eguiguren Velepucha, P.; Fernandez, F.; Licona, J.C.; Lorenzo, L.; Salgado Negret, B.; Vaz, M.; Poorter, L.

    2014-01-01

    1. Tropical forests are globally important, but it is not clear whether biodiversity enhances carbon storage and sequestration in them. We tested this relationship focusing on components of functional trait biodiversity as predictors. 2. Data are presented for three rain forests in Bolivia, Brazil

  20. Integrative approaches to the prediction of protein functions based on the feature selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lee Hyunju

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein function prediction has been one of the most important issues in functional genomics. With the current availability of various genomic data sets, many researchers have attempted to develop integration models that combine all available genomic data for protein function prediction. These efforts have resulted in the improvement of prediction quality and the extension of prediction coverage. However, it has also been observed that integrating more data sources does not always increase the prediction quality. Therefore, selecting data sources that highly contribute to the protein function prediction has become an important issue. Results We present systematic feature selection methods that assess the contribution of genome-wide data sets to predict protein functions and then investigate the relationship between genomic data sources and protein functions. In this study, we use ten different genomic data sources in Mus musculus, including: protein-domains, protein-protein interactions, gene expressions, phenotype ontology, phylogenetic profiles and disease data sources to predict protein functions that are labelled with Gene Ontology (GO terms. We then apply two approaches to feature selection: exhaustive search feature selection using a kernel based logistic regression (KLR, and a kernel based L1-norm regularized logistic regression (KL1LR. In the first approach, we exhaustively measure the contribution of each data set for each function based on its prediction quality. In the second approach, we use the estimated coefficients of features as measures of contribution of data sources. Our results show that the proposed methods improve the prediction quality compared to the full integration of all data sources and other filter-based feature selection methods. We also show that contributing data sources can differ depending on the protein function. Furthermore, we observe that highly contributing data sets can be similar among

  1. Robust Predictive Functional Control for Flight Vehicles Based on Nonlinear Disturbance Observer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yinhui Zhang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel robust predictive functional control based on nonlinear disturbance observer is investigated in order to address the control system design for flight vehicles with significant uncertainties, external disturbances, and measurement noise. Firstly, the nonlinear longitudinal dynamics of the flight vehicle are transformed into linear-like state-space equations with state-dependent coefficient matrices. And then the lumped disturbances are considered in the linear structure predictive model of the predictive functional control to increase the precision of the predictive output and resolve the intractable mismatched disturbance problem. As the lumped disturbances cannot be derived or measured directly, the nonlinear disturbance observer is applied to estimate the lumped disturbances, which are then introduced to the predictive functional control to replace the unknown actual lumped disturbances. Consequently, the robust predictive functional control for the flight vehicle is proposed. Compared with the existing designs, the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed flight control are illustrated and validated in various simulation conditions.

  2. Automatic single- and multi-label enzymatic function prediction by machine learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shervine Amidi

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The number of protein structures in the PDB database has been increasing more than 15-fold since 1999. The creation of computational models predicting enzymatic function is of major importance since such models provide the means to better understand the behavior of newly discovered enzymes when catalyzing chemical reactions. Until now, single-label classification has been widely performed for predicting enzymatic function limiting the application to enzymes performing unique reactions and introducing errors when multi-functional enzymes are examined. Indeed, some enzymes may be performing different reactions and can hence be directly associated with multiple enzymatic functions. In the present work, we propose a multi-label enzymatic function classification scheme that combines structural and amino acid sequence information. We investigate two fusion approaches (in the feature level and decision level and assess the methodology for general enzymatic function prediction indicated by the first digit of the enzyme commission (EC code (six main classes on 40,034 enzymes from the PDB database. The proposed single-label and multi-label models predict correctly the actual functional activities in 97.8% and 95.5% (based on Hamming-loss of the cases, respectively. Also the multi-label model predicts all possible enzymatic reactions in 85.4% of the multi-labeled enzymes when the number of reactions is unknown. Code and datasets are available at https://figshare.com/s/a63e0bafa9b71fc7cbd7.

  3. Lung function and six-minute walk test performance in individuals with sickle cell disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela G. Ohara

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD, which is characterized by a mutation in the gene encoding beta hemoglobin, causes bodily dysfunctions such as impaired pulmonary function and reduced functional capacity. Objective : To assess changes in pulmonary function and functional capacity in patients with SCD and to identify the relationships between these variables. Method: We evaluated sociodemographic, anthropometric, lung function (spirometry, respiratory (manovacuometer, peripheral muscle strength (Handgrip strength - HS and functional capacity (i.e., the six-minute walk test parameters in 21 individuals with SCD (average age of 29±6 years. Shapiro-Wilk, paired Student's, Wilcoxon, Pearson and Spearman correlation tests were used for statistical analyses, and the significance threshold was set at p<0.05. Results : A total of 47.6% of the study subjects exhibited an altered ventilation pattern, 42.8% had a restrictive ventilatory pattern (RVP and 4.8% exhibited a mixed ventilatory pattern (MVP. The observed maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP values were below the predicted values for women (64 cmH2O, and the maximum expiratory pressure (MEP values, HS values and distance walked during the 6MWT were below the predicted values for both men (103 cmH2O, 39 Kgf and 447 m, respectively and women (64 cmH2O; 27 Kgf; 405 m, respectively. Positive correlations were observed between maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV and MEP (r=0.4; p=0.046; MVV and BMI (r=0.6; p=0.003; and between HS and MIP (r=0.7; p=0.001, MEP (r=0.6; p=0.002, MVV (r=0.5; p=0.015, distance walked in the 6MWT (r=0.4; p=0.038 and BMI (r=0.6; p=0.004. Conclusions : SCD promoted changes in lung function and functional capacity, including RVPs and a reduction in the distance walked in the 6MWT when compared to the predictions. In addition, significant correlations between the variables were observed.

  4. Predicting Freshman Grade Point Average From College Admissions Test Scores and State High School Test Scores

    OpenAIRE

    Koretz, Daniel; Yu, C; Mbekeani, Preeya Pandya; Langi, M.; Dhaliwal, Tasminda Kaur; Braslow, David Arthur

    2016-01-01

    The current focus on assessing “college and career readiness” raises an empirical question: How do high school tests compare with college admissions tests in predicting performance in college? We explored this using data from the City University of New York and public colleges in Kentucky. These two systems differ in the choice of college admissions test, the stakes for students on the high school test, and demographics. We predicted freshman grade point average (FGPA) from high school GPA an...

  5. Prediction of safety critical software operational reliability from test reliability using testing environment factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Hoan Sung; Seong, Poong Hyun

    1999-01-01

    It has been a critical issue to predict the safety critical software reliability in nuclear engineering area. For many years, many researches have focused on the quantification of software reliability and there have been many models developed to quantify software reliability. Most software reliability models estimate the reliability with the failure data collected during the test assuming that the test environments well represent the operation profile. User's interest is however on the operational reliability rather than on the test reliability. The experiences show that the operational reliability is higher than the test reliability. With the assumption that the difference in reliability results from the change of environment, from testing to operation, testing environment factors comprising the aging factor and the coverage factor are developed in this paper and used to predict the ultimate operational reliability with the failure data in testing phase. It is by incorporating test environments applied beyond the operational profile into testing environment factors. The application results show that the proposed method can estimate the operational reliability accurately. (Author). 14 refs., 1 tab., 1 fig

  6. Improvement of cardiovascular risk prediction: time to review current knowledge, debates, and fundamentals on how to assess test characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romanens, Michel; Ackermann, Franz; Spence, John David; Darioli, Roger; Rodondi, Nicolas; Corti, Roberto; Noll, Georg; Schwenkglenks, Matthias; Pencina, Michael

    2010-02-01

    Cardiovascular risk assessment might be improved with the addition of emerging, new tests derived from atherosclerosis imaging, laboratory tests or functional tests. This article reviews relative risk, odds ratios, receiver-operating curves, posttest risk calculations based on likelihood ratios, the net reclassification improvement and integrated discrimination. This serves to determine whether a new test has an added clinical value on top of conventional risk testing and how this can be verified statistically. Two clinically meaningful examples serve to illustrate novel approaches. This work serves as a review and basic work for the development of new guidelines on cardiovascular risk prediction, taking into account emerging tests, to be proposed by members of the 'Taskforce on Vascular Risk Prediction' under the auspices of the Working Group 'Swiss Atherosclerosis' of the Swiss Society of Cardiology in the future.

  7. Predictive Modelling and Time: An Experiment in Temporal Archaeological Predictive Models

    OpenAIRE

    David Ebert

    2006-01-01

    One of the most common criticisms of archaeological predictive modelling is that it fails to account for temporal or functional differences in sites. However, a practical solution to temporal or functional predictive modelling has proven to be elusive. This article discusses temporal predictive modelling, focusing on the difficulties of employing temporal variables, then introduces and tests a simple methodology for the implementation of temporal modelling. The temporal models thus created ar...

  8. Predicting everyday functional abilities of dementia patients with the Mini-Mental State Examination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razani, Jill; Wong, Jennifer T; Dafaeeboini, Natalia; Edwards-Lee, Terri; Lu, Po; Alessi, Cathy; Josephson, Karen

    2009-03-01

    The Mini-Mental State Examination is a widely used cognitive screening measure. The purpose of the present study was to assess how 5 specific clusters of Mini-Mental State Examination items (ie, subscores) correlate with and predict specific areas of daily functioning in dementia patients, 61 patients with varied forms of dementia were administered the Mini-Mental State Examination and an observation-based daily functional test (the Direct Assessment of Functional Status). The results revealed that the orientation and attention subscores of the Mini-Mental State Examination correlated most significantly with most functional domains. The Mini-Mental State Examination language items correlated with all but the shopping and time orientation tasks, while the Mini-Mental State Examination recall items correlated with the Direct Assessment of Functional Status time orientation and shopping tasks. Stepwise regression analyses found that among the Mini-Mental State Examination subscores, orientation was the single, best independent predictor of daily functioning.

  9. Concomitant prediction of function and fold at the domain level with GO-based profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez, Daniel; Pazos, Florencio

    2013-01-01

    Predicting the function of newly sequenced proteins is crucial due to the pace at which these raw sequences are being obtained. Almost all resources for predicting protein function assign functional terms to whole chains, and do not distinguish which particular domain is responsible for the allocated function. This is not a limitation of the methodologies themselves but it is due to the fact that in the databases of functional annotations these methods use for transferring functional terms to new proteins, these annotations are done on a whole-chain basis. Nevertheless, domains are the basic evolutionary and often functional units of proteins. In many cases, the domains of a protein chain have distinct molecular functions, independent from each other. For that reason resources with functional annotations at the domain level, as well as methodologies for predicting function for individual domains adapted to these resources are required.We present a methodology for predicting the molecular function of individual domains, based on a previously developed database of functional annotations at the domain level. The approach, which we show outperforms a standard method based on sequence searches in assigning function, concomitantly predicts the structural fold of the domains and can give hints on the functionally important residues associated to the predicted function.

  10. The predictive value of measures of social cognition for community functioning in schizophrenia : Implications for neuropsychological assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pijnenborg, G.H M; Withaar, F.K.; Evans, J.J; van den Bosch, R.J.; Timmerman, M.E.; Brouwer, W.H.

    The objective of this study was to examine the unique contribution of social cognition to the prediction of community functioning and to explore the relevance of social cognition for clinical practice. Forty-six schizophrenia patients and 53 healthy controls were assessed with tests of social

  11. Using OCT to predict post-transplant renal function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, Peter M.; Chen, Yu; Wierwille, Jeremiah; Joh, Daniel; Alexandrov, Peter; Rogalsky, Derek; Moody, Patrick; Chen, Allen; Cooper, Matthew; Verbesey, Jennifer E.; Gong, Wei; Wang, Hsing-Wen

    2013-03-01

    The treatment of choice for patients with end-stage renal disease is kidney transplantation. However, acute tubular necrosis (ATN) induced by an ischemic insult (e.g., from prolonged ex vivo storage times, or non-heart beating cadavers) is a major factor limiting the availability of donor kidneys. In addition, ischemic induced ATN is a significant risk factor for eventual graft survival and can be difficult to discern from rejection. Currently, there are no rapid and reliable tests to determine ATN suffered by donor kidneys and whether or not donor kidneys might exhibit delayed graft function. OCT (optical coherence tomography) is a rapidly emerging imaging modality that can function as a type of "optical biopsy", providing cross-sectional images of tissue morphology in situ and in real-time. In a series of recent clinical trials, we evaluated the ability of OCT to image those features of the renal microstructure that are predictive of ATN. Specifically, we found that OCT could effectively image through the intact human renal capsule and determine the extent of acute tubular necrosis. We also found that Doppler based OCT (i.e., DOCT) revealed renal blood flow dynamics that is also reported to be a determiner of post-transplant renal function. This kind of information will allow transplant surgeons to make the most efficient use of available donor kidneys, eliminate the possible use of bad donor kidneys, provide a measure of expected post-transplant renal function, and allow better distinction between post-transplant immunological rejection and ischemic-induced acute renal failure.

  12. Disorganized Symptoms and Executive Functioning Predict Impaired Social Functioning in Subjects at Risk for Psychosis

    OpenAIRE

    Eslami, Ali; Jahshan, Carol; Cadenhead, Kristin S.

    2011-01-01

    Predictors of social functioning deficits were assessed in 22 individuals “at risk” for psychosis. Disorganized symptoms and executive functioning predicted social functioning at follow-up. Early intervention efforts that focus on social and cognitive skills are indicated in this vulnerable population.

  13. Patient-specific prediction of functional recovery after stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douiri, Abdel; Grace, Justin; Sarker, Shah-Jalal; Tilling, Kate; McKevitt, Christopher; Wolfe, Charles DA; Rudd, Anthony G

    2017-07-01

    Background and aims Clinical predictive models for stroke recovery could offer the opportunity of targeted early intervention and more specific information for patients and carers. In this study, we developed and validated a patient-specific prognostic model for monitoring recovery after stroke and assessed its clinical utility. Methods Four hundred and ninety-five patients from the population-based South London Stroke Register were included in a substudy between 2002 and 2004. Activities of daily living were assessed using Barthel Index) at one, two, three, four, six, eight, 12, 26, and 52 weeks after stroke. Penalized linear mixed models were developed to predict patients' functional recovery trajectories. An external validation cohort included 1049 newly registered stroke patients between 2005 and 2011. Prediction errors on discrimination and calibration were assessed. The potential clinical utility was evaluated using prognostic accuracy measurements and decision curve analysis. Results Predictive recovery curves showed good accuracy, with root mean squared deviation of 3 Barthel Index points and a R 2 of 83% up to one year after stroke in the external cohort. The negative predictive values of the risk of poor recovery (Barthel Index <8) at three and 12 months were also excellent, 96% (95% CI [93.6-97.4]) and 93% [90.8-95.3], respectively, with a potential clinical utility measured by likelihood ratios (LR+:17 [10.8-26.8] at three months and LR+:11 [6.5-17.2] at 12 months). Decision curve analysis showed an increased clinical benefit, particularly at threshold probabilities of above 5% for predictive risk of poor outcomes. Conclusions A recovery curves tool seems to accurately predict progression of functional recovery in poststroke patients.

  14. Structural habitat predicts functional dispersal habitat of a large carnivore: how leopards change spots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fattebert, Julien; Robinson, Hugh S; Balme, Guy; Slotow, Rob; Hunter, Luke

    2015-10-01

    Natal dispersal promotes inter-population linkage, and is key to spatial distribution of populations. Degradation of suitable landscape structures beyond the specific threshold of an individual's ability to disperse can therefore lead to disruption of functional landscape connectivity and impact metapopulation function. Because it ignores behavioral responses of individuals, structural connectivity is easier to assess than functional connectivity and is often used as a surrogate for landscape connectivity modeling. However using structural resource selection models as surrogate for modeling functional connectivity through dispersal could be erroneous. We tested how well a second-order resource selection function (RSF) models (structural connectivity), based on GPS telemetry data from resident adult leopard (Panthera pardus L.), could predict subadult habitat use during dispersal (functional connectivity). We created eight non-exclusive subsets of the subadult data based on differing definitions of dispersal to assess the predictive ability of our adult-based RSF model extrapolated over a broader landscape. Dispersing leopards used habitats in accordance with adult selection patterns, regardless of the definition of dispersal considered. We demonstrate that, for a wide-ranging apex carnivore, functional connectivity through natal dispersal corresponds to structural connectivity as modeled by a second-order RSF. Mapping of the adult-based habitat classes provides direct visualization of the potential linkages between populations, without the need to model paths between a priori starting and destination points. The use of such landscape scale RSFs may provide insight into predicting suitable dispersal habitat peninsulas in human-dominated landscapes where mitigation of human-wildlife conflict should be focused. We recommend the use of second-order RSFs for landscape conservation planning and propose a similar approach to the conservation of other wide-ranging large

  15. Predicting Protein Function via Semantic Integration of Multiple Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Guoxian; Fu, Guangyuan; Wang, Jun; Zhu, Hailong

    2016-01-01

    Determining the biological functions of proteins is one of the key challenges in the post-genomic era. The rapidly accumulated large volumes of proteomic and genomic data drives to develop computational models for automatically predicting protein function in large scale. Recent approaches focus on integrating multiple heterogeneous data sources and they often get better results than methods that use single data source alone. In this paper, we investigate how to integrate multiple biological data sources with the biological knowledge, i.e., Gene Ontology (GO), for protein function prediction. We propose a method, called SimNet, to Semantically integrate multiple functional association Networks derived from heterogenous data sources. SimNet firstly utilizes GO annotations of proteins to capture the semantic similarity between proteins and introduces a semantic kernel based on the similarity. Next, SimNet constructs a composite network, obtained as a weighted summation of individual networks, and aligns the network with the kernel to get the weights assigned to individual networks. Then, it applies a network-based classifier on the composite network to predict protein function. Experiment results on heterogenous proteomic data sources of Yeast, Human, Mouse, and Fly show that, SimNet not only achieves better (or comparable) results than other related competitive approaches, but also takes much less time. The Matlab codes of SimNet are available at https://sites.google.com/site/guoxian85/simnet.

  16. An Influence Function Method for Predicting Store Aerodynamic Characteristics during Weapon Separation,

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-05-14

    8217 AO-Ail 777 GRUMMAN AEROSPACE CORP BETHPAGE NY F/G 20/4 AN INFLUENCE FUNCTION METHOD FOR PREDICTING STORE AERODYNAMIC C--ETCCU) MAY 8 1 R MEYER, A...CENKO, S YARDS UNCLASSIFIED N ’.**~~N**n I EHEEKI j~j .25 Q~4 111110 111_L 5. AN INFLUENCE FUNCTION METHOD FOR PREDICTING STORE AERODYNAMIC...extended to their logical conclusion one is led quite naturally to consideration of an " Influence Function Method" for I predicting store aerodynamic

  17. Test of 1-D transport models, and their predictions for ITER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikkelsen, D.; Bateman, G.; Boucher, D.

    2001-01-01

    A number of proposed tokamak thermal transport models are tested by comparing their predictions with measurements from several tokamaks. The necessary data have been provided for a total of 75 discharges from C-mod, DIII-D, JET, JT-60U, T10, and TFTR. A standard prediction methodology has been developed, and three codes have been benchmarked; these 'standard' codes have been relied on for testing most of the transport models. While a wide range of physical transport processes has been tested, no single model has emerged as clearly superior to all competitors for simulating H-mode discharges. In order to winnow the field, further tests of the effect of sheared flows and of the 'stiffness' of transport are planned. Several of the models have been used to predict ITER performance, with widely varying results. With some transport models ITER's predicted fusion power depends strongly on the 'pedestal' temperature, but ∼ 1GW (Q=10) is predicted for most models if the pedestal temperature is at least 4 keV. (author)

  18. Tests of 1-D transport models, and their predictions for ITER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikkelsen, D.R.; Bateman, G.; Boucher, D.

    1999-01-01

    A number of proposed tokamak thermal transport models are tested by comparing their predictions with measurements from several tokamaks. The necessary data have been provided for a total of 75 discharges from C-mod, DIII-D, JET, JT-60U, T10, and TFTR. A standard prediction methodology has been developed, and three codes have been benchmarked; these 'standard' codes have been relied on for testing most of the transport models. While a wide range of physical transport processes has been tested, no single model has emerged as clearly superior to all competitors for simulating H-mode discharges. In order to winnow the field, further tests of the effect of sheared flows and of the 'stiffness' of transport are planned. Several of the models have been used to predict ITER performance, with widely varying results. With some transport models ITER's predicted fusion power depends strongly on the 'pedestal' temperature, but ∼ 1GW (Q=10) is predicted for most models if the pedestal temperature is at least 4 keV. (author)

  19. Prediction of postoperative pulmonary function using 99mTc-MAA perfusion lung SPECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hosokawa, Nobuyuki; Tanabe, Masatada; Satoh, Katashi; Takashima, Hitoshi; Ohkawa, Motoomi; Maeda, Masazumi; Tamai, Toyosato; Kojima, Kanji.

    1995-01-01

    In order to predict postoperative pulmonary function, 99m Tc-MAA perfusion lung SPECT and spirometry were performed preoperatively in 52 patients with resectable primary lung cancer; 44 underwent lobectomy, eight pneumonectomy. Local pulmonary function (called local effective volume) was evaluated according to the degree of radionuclide distribution of each voxel in the SPECT images. The total effective volume was defined as the sum of the local effective volume, and the residual effective volume was the total effective volume excluding loss after operation. Predicted pulmonary function (VC and FEV 1.0) was calculated by the following formula: Predicted value=preoperative value x percent of the residual effective volume. Postoperative pulmonary function was predicted in the same patients by means of 99m Tc-MAA perfusion lung planar scintigraphy and X-ray CT. The patients were reinvestigated with spirometry at one and four months after surgery, and the values were compared with the predicted values. The correlations between the predicted values using SPECT and measured postoperative pulmonary function were highly significant (VC: r=0.867, FEV1.0: r=0.864 one month after operation; VC: r=0.860, FEV1.0: r=0.907 4 months after operation). The predicted values calculated using SPECT were accurate compared with the predicted values calculated using planar scintigraphy or X-ray CT. The patients with predicted FEV1.0 of less than 0.8 liter required home oxygen therapy. This method is valuable for the prediction of postoperative pulmonary function before the surgical procedure. (author)

  20. Test bank for precalculus functions & graphs

    CERN Document Server

    Kolman, Bernard; Levitan, Michael L

    1984-01-01

    Test Bank for Precalculus: Functions & Graphs is a supplementary material for the text, Precalculus: Functions & Graphs. The book is intended for use by mathematics teachers.The book contains standard tests for each chapter in the textbook. Each set of test focuses on gauging the level of knowledge the student has achieved during the course. The answers for each chapter test and the final exam are found at the end of the book.Mathematics teachers teaching calculus will find the book extremely useful.

  1. Life prediction for high temperature low cycle fatigue of two kinds of titanium alloys based on exponential function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mu, G. Y.; Mi, X. Z.; Wang, F.

    2018-01-01

    The high temperature low cycle fatigue tests of TC4 titanium alloy and TC11 titanium alloy are carried out under strain controlled. The relationships between cyclic stress-life and strain-life are analyzed. The high temperature low cycle fatigue life prediction model of two kinds of titanium alloys is established by using Manson-Coffin method. The relationship between failure inverse number and plastic strain range presents nonlinear in the double logarithmic coordinates. Manson-Coffin method assumes that they have linear relation. Therefore, there is bound to be a certain prediction error by using the Manson-Coffin method. In order to solve this problem, a new method based on exponential function is proposed. The results show that the fatigue life of the two kinds of titanium alloys can be predicted accurately and effectively by using these two methods. Prediction accuracy is within ±1.83 times scatter zone. The life prediction capability of new methods based on exponential function proves more effective and accurate than Manson-Coffin method for two kinds of titanium alloys. The new method based on exponential function can give better fatigue life prediction results with the smaller standard deviation and scatter zone than Manson-Coffin method. The life prediction results of two methods for TC4 titanium alloy prove better than TC11 titanium alloy.

  2. Thalamic functional connectivity predicts seizure laterality in individual TLE patients: Application of a biomarker development strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel S. Barron

    2015-01-01

    No significant differences in functional connection strength in patient and control groups were observed with Mann-Whitney Tests (corrected for multiple comparisons. Notwithstanding the lack of group differences, individual patient difference scores (from control mean connection strength successfully predicted seizure onset zone as shown in ROC curves: discriminant analysis (two-dimensional predicted seizure onset zone with 85% sensitivity and 91% specificity; logistic regression (four-dimensional achieved 86% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The strongest markers in both analyses were left thalamo-hippocampal and right thalamo-entorhinal cortex functional connection strength. Thus, this study shows that thalamic functional connections are sensitive and specific markers of seizure onset laterality in individual temporal lobe epilepsy patients. This study also advances an overall strategy for the programmatic development of neuroimaging biomarkers in clinical and genetic populations: a disease model informed by coordinate-based meta-analysis was used to anatomically constrain individual patient analyses.

  3. Allocentric spatial memory testing predicts conversion from mild cognitive impairment to dementia: an initial proof-of-concept study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth A Wood

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The hippocampus is one of the first regions to exhibit neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD and knowledge of its role in allocentric spatial memory may therefore aid early diagnosis of AD. The 4 Mountains Test (4MT is a short and easily administered test of spatial memory based on the cognitive map theory of hippocampal function as derived from rodent single cell and behavioral studies. The 4MT has been shown in previous cross-sectional studies to be sensitive and specific for mild cognitive impairment due to AD. This report describes the initial results of a longitudinal study testing the hypothesis that allocentric spatial memory is predictive of conversion from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.Fifteen patients with mild cognitive impairment underwent baseline testing on the 4MT in addition to CSF amyloid/tau biomarker studies, volumetric MRI and neuropsychological assessment including the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT and Trail Making Test B (TMT-B. At 24 months, 9/15 patients had converted to AD dementia. The 4MT predicted conversion to AD with 93% accuracy (Cohen’s d = 2.52. The predictive accuracies of the comparator measures were as follows: CSF tau/β-amyloid1-42 ratio 92% (d = 1.81, RAVLT 64% (d = 0.41, TMT-B 78% (d = 1.56, and hippocampal volume 77% (d = 0.65. CSF tau levels were strongly negative correlated with 4MT scores (r = -0.71. This proof-of-concept study provides initial support for the hypothesis that allocentric spatial memory testing is a predictive cognitive marker of hippocampal neurodegeneration in pre-dementia AD. The 4MT is a brief, noninvasive, straightforward spatial memory test and is therefore ideally suited for use in routine clinical diagnostic practice. This is of particular importance given the current unmet need for simple accurate diagnostic tests for early AD and the ongoing development of potential disease-modifying therapeutic agents which may be more efficacious when given

  4. Prediction of Frequency for Simulation of Asphalt Mix Fatigue Tests Using MARS and ANN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Reza Ghanizadeh

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Fatigue life of asphalt mixes in laboratory tests is commonly determined by applying a sinusoidal or haversine waveform with specific frequency. The pavement structure and loading conditions affect the shape and the frequency of tensile response pulses at the bottom of asphalt layer. This paper introduces two methods for predicting the loading frequency in laboratory asphalt fatigue tests for better simulation of field conditions. Five thousand (5000 four-layered pavement sections were analyzed and stress and strain response pulses in both longitudinal and transverse directions was determined. After fitting the haversine function to the response pulses by the concept of equal-energy pulse, the effective length of the response pulses were determined. Two methods including Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS and Artificial Neural Network (ANN methods were then employed to predict the effective length (i.e., frequency of tensile stress and strain pulses in longitudinal and transverse directions based on haversine waveform. It is indicated that, under controlled stress and strain modes, both methods (MARS and ANN are capable of predicting the frequency of loading in HMA fatigue tests with very good accuracy. The accuracy of ANN method is, however, more than MARS method. It is furthermore shown that the results of the present study can be generalized to sinusoidal waveform by a simple equation.

  5. Functional knowledge transfer for high-accuracy prediction of under-studied biological processes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher Y Park

    Full Text Available A key challenge in genetics is identifying the functional roles of genes in pathways. Numerous functional genomics techniques (e.g. machine learning that predict protein function have been developed to address this question. These methods generally build from existing annotations of genes to pathways and thus are often unable to identify additional genes participating in processes that are not already well studied. Many of these processes are well studied in some organism, but not necessarily in an investigator's organism of interest. Sequence-based search methods (e.g. BLAST have been used to transfer such annotation information between organisms. We demonstrate that functional genomics can complement traditional sequence similarity to improve the transfer of gene annotations between organisms. Our method transfers annotations only when functionally appropriate as determined by genomic data and can be used with any prediction algorithm to combine transferred gene function knowledge with organism-specific high-throughput data to enable accurate function prediction. We show that diverse state-of-art machine learning algorithms leveraging functional knowledge transfer (FKT dramatically improve their accuracy in predicting gene-pathway membership, particularly for processes with little experimental knowledge in an organism. We also show that our method compares favorably to annotation transfer by sequence similarity. Next, we deploy FKT with state-of-the-art SVM classifier to predict novel genes to 11,000 biological processes across six diverse organisms and expand the coverage of accurate function predictions to processes that are often ignored because of a dearth of annotated genes in an organism. Finally, we perform in vivo experimental investigation in Danio rerio and confirm the regulatory role of our top predicted novel gene, wnt5b, in leftward cell migration during heart development. FKT is immediately applicable to many bioinformatics

  6. Predicting restoration of kidney function during CRRT-free intervals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heise Daniel

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Renal failure is common in critically ill patients and frequently requires continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT. CRRT is discontinued at regular intervals for routine changes of the disposable equipment or for replacing clogged filter membrane assemblies. The present study was conducted to determine if the necessity to continue CRRT could be predicted during the CRRT-free period. Materials and methods In the period from 2003 to 2006, 605 patients were treated with CRRT in our ICU. A total of 222 patients with 448 CRRT-free intervals had complete data sets and were used for analysis. Of the total CRRT-free periods, 225 served as an evaluation group. Twenty-nine parameters with an assumed influence on kidney function were analyzed with regard to their potential to predict the restoration of kidney function during the CRRT-free interval. Using univariate analysis and logistic regression, a prospective index was developed and validated in the remaining 223 CRRT-free periods to establish its prognostic strength. Results Only three parameters showed an independent influence on the restoration of kidney function during CRRT-free intervals: the number of previous CRRT cycles (medians in the two outcome groups: 1 vs. 2, the "Sequential Organ Failure Assessment"-score (means in the two outcome groups: 8.3 vs. 9.2 and urinary output after the cessation of CRRT (medians in two outcome groups: 66 ml/h vs. 10 ml/h. The prognostic index, which was calculated from these three variables, showed a satisfactory potential to predict the kidney function during the CRRT-free intervals; Receiver operating characteristic (ROC analysis revealed an area under the curve of 0.798. Conclusion Restoration of kidney function during CRRT-free periods can be predicted with an index calculated from three variables. Prospective trials in other hospitals must clarify whether our results are generally transferable to other patient populations.

  7. Cognitive function predicts listening effort performance during complex tasks in normally aging adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennine Harvey

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: This study examines whether cognitive function, as measured by the subtests of the Woodcock–Johnson III (WCJ-III assessment, predicts listening-effort performance during dual tasks across the adults of varying ages. Materials and Methods: Participants were divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 14 listeners (number of females = 11 who were 41–61 years old [mean = 53.18; standard deviation (SD = 5.97]. Group 2 consisted of 15 listeners (number of females = 9 who were 63–81 years old (mean = 72.07; SD = 5.11. Participants were administered the WCJ-III Memory for Words, Auditory Working Memory, Visual Matching, and Decision Speed subtests. All participants were tested in each of the following three dual-task experimental conditions, which were varying in complexity: (1 auditory word recognition + visual processing, (2 auditory working memory (word + visual processing, and (3 auditory working memory (sentence + visual processing in noise. Results: A repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that task complexity significantly affected the performance measures of auditory accuracy, visual accuracy, and processing speed. Linear regression revealed that the cognitive subtests of the WCJ-III test significantly predicted performance across dependent variable measures. Conclusion: Listening effort is significantly affected by task complexity, regardless of age. Performance on the WCJ-III test may predict listening effort in adults and may assist speech-language pathologist (SLPs to understand challenges faced by participants when subjected to noise.

  8. Nonparametric predictive inference for combining diagnostic tests with parametric copula

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhammad, Noryanti; Coolen, F. P. A.; Coolen-Maturi, T.

    2017-09-01

    Measuring the accuracy of diagnostic tests is crucial in many application areas including medicine and health care. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is a popular statistical tool for describing the performance of diagnostic tests. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) is often used as a measure of the overall performance of the diagnostic test. In this paper, we interest in developing strategies for combining test results in order to increase the diagnostic accuracy. We introduce nonparametric predictive inference (NPI) for combining two diagnostic test results with considering dependence structure using parametric copula. NPI is a frequentist statistical framework for inference on a future observation based on past data observations. NPI uses lower and upper probabilities to quantify uncertainty and is based on only a few modelling assumptions. While copula is a well-known statistical concept for modelling dependence of random variables. A copula is a joint distribution function whose marginals are all uniformly distributed and it can be used to model the dependence separately from the marginal distributions. In this research, we estimate the copula density using a parametric method which is maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). We investigate the performance of this proposed method via data sets from the literature and discuss results to show how our method performs for different family of copulas. Finally, we briefly outline related challenges and opportunities for future research.

  9. Protein function prediction using neighbor relativity in protein-protein interaction network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moosavi, Sobhan; Rahgozar, Masoud; Rahimi, Amir

    2013-04-01

    There is a large gap between the number of discovered proteins and the number of functionally annotated ones. Due to the high cost of determining protein function by wet-lab research, function prediction has become a major task for computational biology and bioinformatics. Some researches utilize the proteins interaction information to predict function for un-annotated proteins. In this paper, we propose a novel approach called "Neighbor Relativity Coefficient" (NRC) based on interaction network topology which estimates the functional similarity between two proteins. NRC is calculated for each pair of proteins based on their graph-based features including distance, common neighbors and the number of paths between them. In order to ascribe function to an un-annotated protein, NRC estimates a weight for each neighbor to transfer its annotation to the unknown protein. Finally, the unknown protein will be annotated by the top score transferred functions. We also investigate the effect of using different coefficients for various types of functions. The proposed method has been evaluated on Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Homo sapiens interaction networks. The performance analysis demonstrates that NRC yields better results in comparison with previous protein function prediction approaches that utilize interaction network. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Life prediction of OLED for constant-stress accelerated degradation tests using luminance decaying model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Jianping, E-mail: jpzhanglzu@163.com [College of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090 (China); Li, Wenbin [College of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090 (China); Cheng, Guoliang; Chen, Xiao [Shanghai Tianyi Electric Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201611 (China); Wu, Helen [School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Sydney 2751 (Australia); Herman Shen, M.-H. [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, OH 43210 (United States)

    2014-10-15

    In order to acquire the life information of organic light emitting diode (OLED), three groups of constant stress accelerated degradation tests are performed to obtain the luminance decaying data of samples under the condition that the luminance and the current are respectively selected as the indicator of performance degradation and the test stress. Weibull function is applied to describe the relationship between luminance decaying and time, least square method (LSM) is employed to calculate the shape parameter and scale parameter, and the life prediction of OLED is achieved. The numerical results indicate that the accelerated degradation test and the luminance decaying model reveal the luminance decaying law of OLED. The luminance decaying formula fits the test data very well, and the average error of fitting value compared with the test data is small. Furthermore, the accuracy of the OLED life predicted by luminance decaying model is high, which enable rapid estimation of OLED life and provide significant guidelines to help engineers make decisions in design and manufacturing strategy from the aspect of reliability life. - Highlights: • We gain luminance decaying data by accelerated degradation tests on OLED. • The luminance decaying model objectively reveals the decaying law of OLED luminance. • The least square method (LSM) is employed to calculate Weibull parameters. • The plan designed for accelerated degradation tests proves to be feasible. • The accuracy of the OLED life and the luminance decaying fitting formula is high.

  11. Life prediction of OLED for constant-stress accelerated degradation tests using luminance decaying model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Jianping; Li, Wenbin; Cheng, Guoliang; Chen, Xiao; Wu, Helen; Herman Shen, M.-H.

    2014-01-01

    In order to acquire the life information of organic light emitting diode (OLED), three groups of constant stress accelerated degradation tests are performed to obtain the luminance decaying data of samples under the condition that the luminance and the current are respectively selected as the indicator of performance degradation and the test stress. Weibull function is applied to describe the relationship between luminance decaying and time, least square method (LSM) is employed to calculate the shape parameter and scale parameter, and the life prediction of OLED is achieved. The numerical results indicate that the accelerated degradation test and the luminance decaying model reveal the luminance decaying law of OLED. The luminance decaying formula fits the test data very well, and the average error of fitting value compared with the test data is small. Furthermore, the accuracy of the OLED life predicted by luminance decaying model is high, which enable rapid estimation of OLED life and provide significant guidelines to help engineers make decisions in design and manufacturing strategy from the aspect of reliability life. - Highlights: • We gain luminance decaying data by accelerated degradation tests on OLED. • The luminance decaying model objectively reveals the decaying law of OLED luminance. • The least square method (LSM) is employed to calculate Weibull parameters. • The plan designed for accelerated degradation tests proves to be feasible. • The accuracy of the OLED life and the luminance decaying fitting formula is high

  12. Predictive values of thermal and electrical dental pulp tests: a clinical study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villa-Chávez, Carlos E; Patiño-Marín, Nuria; Loyola-Rodríguez, Juan P; Zavala-Alonso, Norma V; Martínez-Castañón, Gabriel A; Medina-Solís, Carlo E

    2013-08-01

    For a diagnostic test to be useful, it is necessary to determine the probability that the test will provide the correct diagnosis. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the predictive value of diagnostics. The aim of the present study was to identify the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, accuracy, and reproducibility of thermal and electrical tests of pulp sensitivity. The thermal tests studied were the 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane (cold) and hot gutta-percha (hot) tests. For the electrical test, the Analytic Technology Pulp Tester (Analytic Technology, Redmond, WA) was used. A total of 110 teeth were tested: 60 teeth with vital pulp and 50 teeth with necrotic pulps (disease prevalence of 45%). The ideal standard was established by direct pulp inspection. The sensitivities of the diagnostic tests were 0.88 for the cold test, 0.86 for the heat test, and 0.76 for the electrical test, and the specificity was 1.0 for all 3 tests. The negative predictive value was 0.90 for the cold test, 0.89 for the heat test, and 0.83 for the electrical test, and the positive predictive value was 1.0 for all 3 tests. The highest accuracy (0.94) and reproducibility (0.88) were observed for the cold test. The cold test was the most accurate method for diagnostic testing. Copyright © 2013 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Prediction of effective thermal conductivity of porous consolidated media as a function of temperature: a test example of limestones

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aurangzeb; Khan, Liaqat Ali; Maqsood, Asghari

    2007-01-01

    The thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and heat capacity per unit volume of sedimentary rocks (limestones) taken from Nammal Gorge sections, Western Salt Range, Pakistan, have been measured simultaneously using the transient plane source technique. The temperature dependence of thermal transport properties was studied in the temperature range 293 to 443 K. Different relations for the estimation of thermal conductivity are applied. A proposal for the prediction of thermal conductivity as a function of temperature is also given. It is observed that the values of effective thermal conductivity predicted by the proposed model are in agreement with the experimental thermal conductivity data within 8%. Furthermore, the errors in experimental calculations of thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and volumetric heat capacity are around 5%, 7% and 10%, respectively

  14. How to interpret liver function tests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christina Levick

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Careful interpretation of liver function tests within the clinical context can help elucidate the cause and severity of the underlying pathology. Predominantly raised alkaline phosphatase represents the cholestatic pattern of biliary pathology, whilst predominantly raised alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase represent the hepatocellular pattern of hepatocellular pathology. The severity of liver dysfunction or biliary obstruction is reflected in the bilirubin level and the degree of liver synthetic function can also be indicated by the albumin level. Beyond the liver function tests, prothrombin time provides another marker of liver synthetic function and a low platelet count suggests portal hypertension.

  15. Weaknesses in executive functioning predict the initiating of adolescents' alcohol use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peeters, Margot; Janssen, Tim; Monshouwer, Karin; Boendermaker, Wouter; Pronk, Thomas; Wiers, Reinout; Vollebergh, Wilma

    2015-12-01

    Recently, it has been suggested that impairments in executive functioning might be risk factors for the onset of alcohol use rather than a result of heavy alcohol use. In the present study, we examined whether two aspects of executive functioning, working memory and response inhibition, predicted the first alcoholic drink and first binge drinking episode in young adolescents using discrete survival analyses. Adolescents were selected from several Dutch secondary schools including both mainstream and special education (externalizing behavioral problems). Participants were 534 adolescents between 12 and 14 years at baseline. Executive functioning and alcohol use were assessed four times over a period of two years. Working memory uniquely predicted the onset of first drink (p=.01) and first binge drinking episode (p=.04) while response inhibition only uniquely predicted the initiating of the first drink (p=.01). These results suggest that the association of executive functioning and alcohol consumption found in former studies cannot simply be interpreted as an effect of alcohol consumption, as weaknesses in executive functioning, found in alcohol naïve adolescents, predict the initiating of (binge) drinking. Though, prolonged and heavy alcohol use might further weaken already existing deficiencies. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  16. Pretest Predictions for Phase II Ventilation Tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yiming Sun

    2001-01-01

    The objective of this calculation is to predict the temperatures of the ventilating air, waste package surface, and concrete pipe walls that will be developed during the Phase II ventilation tests involving various test conditions. The results will be used as inputs to validating numerical approach for modeling continuous ventilation, and be used to support the repository subsurface design. The scope of the calculation is to identify the physical mechanisms and parameters related to thermal response in the Phase II ventilation tests, and describe numerical methods that are used to calculate the effects of continuous ventilation. The calculation is limited to thermal effect only. This engineering work activity is conducted in accordance with the ''Technical Work Plan for: Subsurface Performance Testing for License Application (LA) for Fiscal Year 2001'' (CRWMS M and O 2000d). This technical work plan (TWP) includes an AP-2.21Q, ''Quality Determinations and Planning for Scientific, Engineering, and Regulatory Compliance Activities'', activity evaluation (CRWMS M and O 2000d, Addendum A) that has determined this activity is subject to the YMP quality assurance (QA) program. The calculation is developed in accordance with the AP-3.12Q procedure, ''Calculations''. Additional background information regarding this activity is contained in the ''Development Plan for Ventilation Pretest Predictive Calculation'' (DP) (CRWMS M and O 2000a)

  17. Controlled test for predictive power of Lyapunov exponents: their inability to predict epileptic seizures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Ying-Cheng; Harrison, Mary Ann F; Frei, Mark G; Osorio, Ivan

    2004-09-01

    Lyapunov exponents are a set of fundamental dynamical invariants characterizing a system's sensitive dependence on initial conditions. For more than a decade, it has been claimed that the exponents computed from electroencephalogram (EEG) or electrocorticogram (ECoG) signals can be used for prediction of epileptic seizures minutes or even tens of minutes in advance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictive power of Lyapunov exponents. Three approaches are employed. (1) We present qualitative arguments suggesting that the Lyapunov exponents generally are not useful for seizure prediction. (2) We construct a two-dimensional, nonstationary chaotic map with a parameter slowly varying in a range containing a crisis, and test whether this critical event can be predicted by monitoring the evolution of finite-time Lyapunov exponents. This can thus be regarded as a "control test" for the claimed predictive power of the exponents for seizure. We find that two major obstacles arise in this application: statistical fluctuations of the Lyapunov exponents due to finite time computation and noise from the time series. We show that increasing the amount of data in a moving window will not improve the exponents' detective power for characteristic system changes, and that the presence of small noise can ruin completely the predictive power of the exponents. (3) We report negative results obtained from ECoG signals recorded from patients with epilepsy. All these indicate firmly that, the use of Lyapunov exponents for seizure prediction is practically impossible as the brain dynamical system generating the ECoG signals is more complicated than low-dimensional chaotic systems, and is noisy. Copyright 2004 American Institute of Physics

  18. Predicting bending strength of fire-retardant-treated plywood from screw-withdrawal tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    J. E. Winandy; P. K. Lebow; W. Nelson

    This report describes the development of a test method and predictive model to estimate the residual bending strength of fire-retardant-treated plywood roof sheathing from measurement of screw-withdrawal force. The preferred test methodology is described in detail. Models were developed to predict loss in mean and lower prediction bounds for plywood bending strength as...

  19. Predicting taxonomic and functional structure of microbial communities in acid mine drainage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuang, Jialiang; Huang, Linan; He, Zhili; Chen, Linxing; Hua, Zhengshuang; Jia, Pu; Li, Shengjin; Liu, Jun; Li, Jintian; Zhou, Jizhong; Shu, Wensheng

    2016-06-01

    Predicting the dynamics of community composition and functional attributes responding to environmental changes is an essential goal in community ecology but remains a major challenge, particularly in microbial ecology. Here, by targeting a model system with low species richness, we explore the spatial distribution of taxonomic and functional structure of 40 acid mine drainage (AMD) microbial communities across Southeast China profiled by 16S ribosomal RNA pyrosequencing and a comprehensive microarray (GeoChip). Similar environmentally dependent patterns of dominant microbial lineages and key functional genes were observed regardless of the large-scale geographical isolation. Functional and phylogenetic β-diversities were significantly correlated, whereas functional metabolic potentials were strongly influenced by environmental conditions and community taxonomic structure. Using advanced modeling approaches based on artificial neural networks, we successfully predicted the taxonomic and functional dynamics with significantly higher prediction accuracies of metabolic potentials (average Bray-Curtis similarity 87.8) as compared with relative microbial abundances (similarity 66.8), implying that natural AMD microbial assemblages may be better predicted at the functional genes level rather than at taxonomic level. Furthermore, relative metabolic potentials of genes involved in many key ecological functions (for example, nitrogen and phosphate utilization, metals resistance and stress response) were extrapolated to increase under more acidic and metal-rich conditions, indicating a critical strategy of stress adaptation in these extraordinary communities. Collectively, our findings indicate that natural selection rather than geographic distance has a more crucial role in shaping the taxonomic and functional patterns of AMD microbial community that readily predicted by modeling methods and suggest that the model-based approach is essential to better understand natural

  20. Link prediction boosted psychiatry disorder classification for functional connectivity network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Weiwei; Mei, Xue; Wang, Hao; Zhou, Yu; Huang, Jiashuang

    2017-02-01

    Functional connectivity network (FCN) is an effective tool in psychiatry disorders classification, and represents cross-correlation of the regional blood oxygenation level dependent signal. However, FCN is often incomplete for suffering from missing and spurious edges. To accurate classify psychiatry disorders and health control with the incomplete FCN, we first `repair' the FCN with link prediction, and then exact the clustering coefficients as features to build a weak classifier for every FCN. Finally, we apply a boosting algorithm to combine these weak classifiers for improving classification accuracy. Our method tested by three datasets of psychiatry disorder, including Alzheimer's Disease, Schizophrenia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The experimental results show our method not only significantly improves the classification accuracy, but also efficiently reconstructs the incomplete FCN.

  1. Handgrip strength predicts functional decline at discharge in hospitalized male elderly: a hospital cohort study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen García-Peña

    Full Text Available Functional decline after hospitalization is a common adverse outcome in elderly. An easy to use, reproducible and accurate tool to identify those at risk would aid focusing interventions in those at higher risk. Handgrip strength has been shown to predict adverse outcomes in other settings. The aim of this study was to determine if handgrip strength measured upon admission to an acute care facility would predict functional decline (either incident or worsening of preexisting at discharge among older Mexican, stratified by gender. In addition, cutoff points as a function of specificity would be determined. A cohort study was conducted in two hospitals in Mexico City. The primary endpoint was functional decline on discharge, defined as a 30-point reduction in the Barthel Index score from that of the baseline score. Handgrip strength along with other variables was measured at initial assessment, including: instrumental activities of daily living, cognition, depressive symptoms, delirium, hospitalization length and quality of life. All analyses were stratified by gender. Logistic regression to test independent association between handgrip strength and functional decline was performed, along with estimation of handgrip strength test values (specificity, sensitivity, area under the curve, etc.. A total of 223 patients admitted to an acute care facility between 2007 and 2009 were recruited. A total of 55 patients (24.7% had functional decline, 23.46% in male and 25.6% in women. Multivariate analysis showed that only males with low handgrip strength had an increased risk of functional decline at discharge (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.79-0.98, p = 0.01, with a specificity of 91.3% and a cutoff point of 20.65 kg for handgrip strength. Females had not a significant association between handgrip strength and functional decline. Measurement of handgrip strength on admission to acute care facilities may identify male elderly patients at risk of having functional decline

  2. Handgrip Strength Predicts Functional Decline at Discharge in Hospitalized Male Elderly: A Hospital Cohort Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Peña, Carmen; García-Fabela, Luis C.; Gutiérrez-Robledo, Luis M.; García-González, Jose J.; Arango-Lopera, Victoria E.; Pérez-Zepeda, Mario U.

    2013-01-01

    Functional decline after hospitalization is a common adverse outcome in elderly. An easy to use, reproducible and accurate tool to identify those at risk would aid focusing interventions in those at higher risk. Handgrip strength has been shown to predict adverse outcomes in other settings. The aim of this study was to determine if handgrip strength measured upon admission to an acute care facility would predict functional decline (either incident or worsening of preexisting) at discharge among older Mexican, stratified by gender. In addition, cutoff points as a function of specificity would be determined. A cohort study was conducted in two hospitals in Mexico City. The primary endpoint was functional decline on discharge, defined as a 30-point reduction in the Barthel Index score from that of the baseline score. Handgrip strength along with other variables was measured at initial assessment, including: instrumental activities of daily living, cognition, depressive symptoms, delirium, hospitalization length and quality of life. All analyses were stratified by gender. Logistic regression to test independent association between handgrip strength and functional decline was performed, along with estimation of handgrip strength test values (specificity, sensitivity, area under the curve, etc.). A total of 223 patients admitted to an acute care facility between 2007 and 2009 were recruited. A total of 55 patients (24.7%) had functional decline, 23.46% in male and 25.6% in women. Multivariate analysis showed that only males with low handgrip strength had an increased risk of functional decline at discharge (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.79–0.98, p = 0.01), with a specificity of 91.3% and a cutoff point of 20.65 kg for handgrip strength. Females had not a significant association between handgrip strength and functional decline. Measurement of handgrip strength on admission to acute care facilities may identify male elderly patients at risk of having functional decline, and

  3. Predictive radiosensitivity tests in human lymphocytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Di Giorgio, Marina; Vallerga, Maria B.; Taja, Maria R.; Sardi, M.; Busto, E.; Mairal, L.; Roth, B.; Menendez, P.; Bonomi, M.

    2004-01-01

    Individual radiosensitivity is an inherent characteristic, associated with an abnormally increased reaction to ionising radiation of both the whole body and cells derived from body tissues. Human population is not uniform in its radiation sensitivity. Radiosensitive sub-groups exist, which would suffer an increased incidence of both deterministic and stochastic effects. Clinical studies have suggested that a large part of the spectrum of normal tissue reaction may be due to differences in individual radiosensitivity. The identification of such sub-groups should be relevant for radiation therapy and radiation protection purposes. It is suggested that DNA repair mechanisms are involved. Consequently, the characterization of DNA repair in lymphocytes through cytokinesis blocked micronucleus (MN) and alkaline single-cell microgel electrophoresis (comet) assays could be a suitable approache to evaluate individual radiosensitivity in vitro. The aims of this study were: 1) To assess the in vitro radiosensitivity of peripheral blood lymphocytes from two groups of cancer patients (prospectively and retrospectively studied), using MN and comet assays, in comparison with the clinical radiation reaction and 2) To test the predictive potential of both techniques for the identification of radiosensitivity sub-groups. 38 cancer patients receiving radiation therapy were enrolled in this study. 19 patients were evaluated prior, mid-way and on completion of treatment (prospective group) and 19 patients were evaluated about 6-18 month after radiotherapy (retrospective group). Cytogenetic data from the prospective group were analysed using a mathematical model to evaluate the attenuation of the cytogenetic effect as a function of the time between a single exposure and blood sampling, estimating a cytogenetic recovery factor k. In the retrospective group, blood samples were irradiated in vitro with 0 (control) or 2 Gy and evaluated using MN test. Cytogenetic data were analysed

  4. Predictive Accuracy of Exercise Stress Testing the Healthy Adult.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamont, Linda S.

    1981-01-01

    Exercise stress testing provides information on the aerobic capacity, heart rate, and blood pressure responses to graded exercises of a healthy adult. The reliability of exercise tests as a diagnostic procedure is discussed in relation to sensitivity and specificity and predictive accuracy. (JN)

  5. Assessment of the de Hirsch Predictive Index Tests of Reading Failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Askov, Warren; And Others

    The predictive validity and the general usability of a battery of 10 tests reported by de Hirsch, Jansky, and Langford, the de Hirsch Predictive Index Tests of reading failure, were examined. The de Hirsch battery was administered to 433 kindergarten children in six public schools. When the pupils entered first grade, the Metropolitan Readiness…

  6. Thalamic functional connectivity predicts seizure laterality in individual TLE patients: application of a biomarker development strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barron, Daniel S; Fox, Peter T; Pardoe, Heath; Lancaster, Jack; Price, Larry R; Blackmon, Karen; Berry, Kristen; Cavazos, Jose E; Kuzniecky, Ruben; Devinsky, Orrin; Thesen, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    Noninvasive markers of brain function could yield biomarkers in many neurological disorders. Disease models constrained by coordinate-based meta-analysis are likely to increase this yield. Here, we evaluate a thalamic model of temporal lobe epilepsy that we proposed in a coordinate-based meta-analysis and extended in a diffusion tractography study of an independent patient population. Specifically, we evaluated whether thalamic functional connectivity (resting-state fMRI-BOLD) with temporal lobe areas can predict seizure onset laterality, as established with intracranial EEG. Twenty-four lesional and non-lesional temporal lobe epilepsy patients were studied. No significant differences in functional connection strength in patient and control groups were observed with Mann-Whitney Tests (corrected for multiple comparisons). Notwithstanding the lack of group differences, individual patient difference scores (from control mean connection strength) successfully predicted seizure onset zone as shown in ROC curves: discriminant analysis (two-dimensional) predicted seizure onset zone with 85% sensitivity and 91% specificity; logistic regression (four-dimensional) achieved 86% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The strongest markers in both analyses were left thalamo-hippocampal and right thalamo-entorhinal cortex functional connection strength. Thus, this study shows that thalamic functional connections are sensitive and specific markers of seizure onset laterality in individual temporal lobe epilepsy patients. This study also advances an overall strategy for the programmatic development of neuroimaging biomarkers in clinical and genetic populations: a disease model informed by coordinate-based meta-analysis was used to anatomically constrain individual patient analyses.

  7. Development of laboratory acceleration test method for service life prediction of concrete structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, M. S.; Song, Y. C.; Bang, K. S.; Lee, J. S.; Kim, D. K.

    1999-01-01

    Service life prediction of nuclear power plants depends on the application of history of structures, field inspection and test, the development of laboratory acceleration tests, their analysis method and predictive model. In this study, laboratory acceleration test method for service life prediction of concrete structures and application of experimental test results are introduced. This study is concerned with environmental condition of concrete structures and is to develop the acceleration test method for durability factors of concrete structures e.g. carbonation, sulfate attack, freeze-thaw cycles and shrinkage-expansion etc

  8. An online study combining the constructs from the theory of planned behaviour and protection motivation theory in predicting intention to test for chlamydia in two testing contexts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Rachael; Pattison, Helen M; Francis, Jill J

    2016-01-01

    Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection that has potentially serious consequences unless detected and treated early. The health service in the UK offers clinic-based testing for chlamydia but uptake is low. Identifying the predictors of testing behaviours may inform interventions to increase uptake. Self-tests for chlamydia may facilitate testing and treatment in people who avoid clinic-based testing. Self-testing and being tested by a health care professional (HCP) involve two contrasting contexts that may influence testing behaviour. However, little is known about how predictors of behaviour differ as a function of context. In this study, theoretical models of behaviour were used to assess factors that may predict intention to test in two different contexts: self-testing and being tested by a HCP. Individuals searching for or reading about chlamydia testing online were recruited using Google Adwords. Participants completed an online questionnaire that addressed previous testing behaviour and measured constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Protection Motivation Theory, which propose a total of eight possible predictors of intention. The questionnaire was completed by 310 participants. Sufficient data for multiple regression were provided by 102 and 118 respondents for self-testing and testing by a HCP respectively. Intention to self-test was predicted by vulnerability and self-efficacy, with a trend-level effect for response efficacy. Intention to be tested by a HCP was predicted by vulnerability, attitude and subjective norm. Thus, intentions to carry out two testing behaviours with very similar goals can have different predictors depending on test context. We conclude that interventions to increase self-testing should be based on evidence specifically related to test context.

  9. Clinical value of CT-based preoperative software assisted lung lobe volumetry for predicting postoperative pulmonary function after lung surgery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wormanns, Dag; Beyer, Florian; Hoffknecht, Petra; Dicken, Volker; Kuhnigk, Jan-Martin; Lange, Tobias; Thomas, Michael; Heindel, Walter

    2005-04-01

    This study was aimed to evaluate a morphology-based approach for prediction of postoperative forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) after lung resection from preoperative CT scans. Fifteen Patients with surgically treated (lobectomy or pneumonectomy) bronchogenic carcinoma were enrolled in the study. A preoperative chest CT and pulmonary function tests before and after surgery were performed. CT scans were analyzed by prototype software: automated segmentation and volumetry of lung lobes was performed with minimal user interaction. Determined volumes of different lung lobes were used to predict postoperative FEV1 as percentage of the preoperative values. Predicted FEV1 values were compared to the observed postoperative values as standard of reference. Patients underwent lobectomy in twelve cases (6 upper lobes; 1 middle lobe; 5 lower lobes; 6 right side; 6 left side) and pneumonectomy in three cases. Automated calculation of predicted postoperative lung function was successful in all cases. Predicted FEV1 ranged from 54% to 95% (mean 75% +/- 11%) of the preoperative values. Two cases with obviously erroneous LFT were excluded from analysis. Mean error of predicted FEV1 was 20 +/- 160 ml, indicating absence of systematic error; mean absolute error was 7.4 +/- 3.3% respective 137 +/- 77 ml/s. The 200 ml reproducibility criterion for FEV1 was met in 11 of 13 cases (85%). In conclusion, software-assisted prediction of postoperative lung function yielded a clinically acceptable agreement with the observed postoperative values. This method might add useful information for evaluation of functional operability of patients with lung cancer.

  10. Is low cognitive functioning a predictor or consequence of major depressive disorder? A test in two longitudinal birth cohorts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaefer, Jonathan D; Scult, Matthew A; Caspi, Avshalom; Arseneault, Louise; Belsky, Daniel W; Hariri, Ahmad R; Harrington, Honalee; Houts, Renate; Ramrakha, Sandhya; Poulton, Richie; Moffitt, Terrie E

    2017-11-16

    Cognitive impairment has been identified as an important aspect of major depressive disorder (MDD). We tested two theories regarding the association between MDD and cognitive functioning using data from longitudinal cohort studies. One theory, the cognitive reserve hypothesis, suggests that higher cognitive ability in childhood decreases risk of later MDD. The second, the scarring hypothesis, instead suggests that MDD leads to persistent cognitive deficits following disorder onset. We tested both theories in the Dunedin Study, a population-representative cohort followed from birth to midlife and assessed repeatedly for both cognitive functioning and psychopathology. We also used data from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study to test whether childhood cognitive functioning predicts future MDD risk independent of family-wide and genetic risk using a discordant twin design. Contrary to both hypotheses, we found that childhood cognitive functioning did not predict future risk of MDD, nor did study members with a past history of MDD show evidence of greater cognitive decline unless MDD was accompanied by other comorbid psychiatric conditions. Our results thus suggest that low cognitive functioning is related to comorbidity, but is neither an antecedent nor an enduring consequence of MDD. Future research may benefit from considering cognitive deficits that occur during depressive episodes from a transdiagnostic perspective.

  11. Improved survival prediction from lung function data in a large population sample

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Miller, M.R.; Pedersen, O.F.; Lange, P.

    2008-01-01

    Studies relating tung function to survival commonly express lung function impairment as a percent of predicted but this retains age, height and sex bias. We have studied alternative methods of expressing forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) for predicting all cause and airway related lung disease.......1 respectively. Cut levels of lung function were used to categorise impairment and the HR for multivariate prediction of all cause and airway related lung disease mortality were 10 and 2044 respectively for the worst category of FEV1/ht(2) compared to 5 and 194 respectively for the worst category of FEV1PP....... In univariate predictions of all cause mortality the HR for FEV1/ht(2) categories was 2-4 times higher than those for FEV1PP and 3-10 times higher for airway related tung disease mortality. We conclude that FEV1/ht(2) is superior to FEV1PP for predicting survival. in a general population and this method...

  12. CONSTRUCTION COST PREDICTION USING NEURAL NETWORKS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Smita K Magdum

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Construction cost prediction is important for construction firms to compete and grow in the industry. Accurate construction cost prediction in the early stage of project is important for project feasibility studies and successful completion. There are many factors that affect the cost prediction. This paper presents construction cost prediction as multiple regression model with cost of six materials as independent variables. The objective of this paper is to develop neural networks and multilayer perceptron based model for construction cost prediction. Different models of NN and MLP are developed with varying hidden layer size and hidden nodes. Four artificial neural network models and twelve multilayer perceptron models are compared. MLP and NN give better results than statistical regression method. As compared to NN, MLP works better on training dataset but fails on testing dataset. Five activation functions are tested to identify suitable function for the problem. ‘elu' transfer function gives better results than other transfer function.

  13. Functionality of empirical model-based predictive analytics for the early detection of hemodynamic instabilty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Summers, Richard L; Pipke, Matt; Wegerich, Stephan; Conkright, Gary; Isom, Kristen C

    2014-01-01

    Background. Monitoring cardiovascular hemodynamics in the modern clinical setting is a major challenge. Increasing amounts of physiologic data must be analyzed and interpreted in the context of the individual patient’s pathology and inherent biologic variability. Certain data-driven analytical methods are currently being explored for smart monitoring of data streams from patients as a first tier automated detection system for clinical deterioration. As a prelude to human clinical trials, an empirical multivariate machine learning method called Similarity-Based Modeling (“SBM”), was tested in an In Silico experiment using data generated with the aid of a detailed computer simulator of human physiology (Quantitative Circulatory Physiology or “QCP”) which contains complex control systems with realistic integrated feedback loops. Methods. SBM is a kernel-based, multivariate machine learning method that that uses monitored clinical information to generate an empirical model of a patient’s physiologic state. This platform allows for the use of predictive analytic techniques to identify early changes in a patient’s condition that are indicative of a state of deterioration or instability. The integrity of the technique was tested through an In Silico experiment using QCP in which the output of computer simulations of a slowly evolving cardiac tamponade resulted in progressive state of cardiovascular decompensation. Simulator outputs for the variables under consideration were generated at a 2-min data rate (0.083Hz) with the tamponade introduced at a point 420 minutes into the simulation sequence. The functionality of the SBM predictive analytics methodology to identify clinical deterioration was compared to the thresholds used by conventional monitoring methods. Results. The SBM modeling method was found to closely track the normal physiologic variation as simulated by QCP. With the slow development of the tamponade, the SBM model are seen to disagree while the

  14. Experimental testing of Mackay's model for functional antagonism in the isolated costo-uterus of the rat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, P. J.; Lulich, K. M.; Paterson, J. W.

    1985-01-01

    Several key predictions of a recently developed model for functional antagonism (Mackay, 1981) were experimentally tested using the rat isolated costo-uterine preparation. In the presence of the functional antagonist fenoterol (Fen), the functional constants (KAF) for carbachol and oxotremorine (Oxo) were respectively 9.9 and 3.4 fold greater than their corresponding affinity constants (KA). According to Mackay's model for functional antagonism, the higher KAF/KA ratio for carbachol indicates that this cholinoceptor agonist has a greater efficacy than Oxo. This was confirmed by using conventional pharmacological methods. As predicted from the model of functional antagonism, the plot of KAF/KA-1 against the fraction of cholinoceptors not irreversibly blocked by phenoxybenzamine (Pbz) was linear for both carbachol and Oxo and the lines of best fit crossed the axes at a point not significantly different from the origin. The value of 4.6 for the relative efficacy of carbachol to Oxo estimated from functional antagonism studies was comparable to the value of 5.6 calculated using the method of irreversible antagonism proposed by Furchgott (1966). PMID:3840396

  15. Allocentric Spatial Memory Testing Predicts Conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia: An Initial Proof-of-Concept Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Ruth A; Moodley, Kuven K; Lever, Colin; Minati, Ludovico; Chan, Dennis

    2016-01-01

    The hippocampus is one of the first regions to exhibit neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and knowledge of its role in allocentric spatial memory may therefore aid early diagnosis of AD. The 4 Mountains Test (4MT) is a short and easily administered test of spatial memory based on the cognitive map theory of hippocampal function as derived from rodent single cell and behavioral studies. The 4MT has been shown in previous cross-sectional studies to be sensitive and specific for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD. This report describes the initial results of a longitudinal study testing the hypothesis that allocentric spatial memory is predictive of conversion from MCI to dementia. Fifteen patients with MCI underwent baseline testing on the 4MT in addition to CSF amyloid/tau biomarker studies, volumetric MRI and neuropsychological assessment including the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and Trail Making Test "B" (TMT-B). At 24 months, 9/15 patients had converted to AD dementia. The 4MT predicted conversion to AD with 93% accuracy (Cohen's d  = 2.52). The predictive accuracies of the comparator measures were as follows: CSF tau/β-amyloid 1-42 ratio 92% ( d  = 1.81), RAVLT 64% ( d  = 0.41), TMT-B 78% ( d  = 1.56), and hippocampal volume 77% ( d  = 0.65). CSF tau levels were strongly negatively correlated with 4MT scores ( r  = -0.71). This proof-of-concept study provides initial support for the hypothesis that allocentric spatial memory testing is a predictive cognitive marker of hippocampal neurodegeneration in pre-dementia AD. The 4MT is a brief, non-invasive, straightforward spatial memory test and is therefore ideally suited for use in routine clinical diagnostic practice. This is of particular importance given the current unmet need for simple accurate diagnostic tests for early AD and the ongoing development of potential disease-modifying therapeutic agents, which may be more efficacious when given earlier in

  16. Predictive factors for postoperative visual function of primary chronic rhegmatogenous retinal detachment after scleral buckling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Wei; Li, Jiu-Ke; Jin, Xiao-Hong; Dai, Yuan-Min; Li, Yu-Min

    2016-01-01

    To evaluate predictive factors for postoperative visual function of primary chronic rhegmatgenous retinal detachment (RRD) after sclera buckling (SB). Totally 48 patients (51 eyes) with primary chronic RRD were included in this prospective interventional clinical cases study, which underwent SB alone from June 2008 to December 2014. Age, sex, symptoms duration, detached extension, retinal hole position, size, type, fovea on/off, proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), baseline best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), operative duration, follow up duration, final BCVA were measured. Pearson correlation analysis, Spearman correlation analysis and multivariate linear stepwise regression were used to confirm predictive factors for better final visual acuity. Student's t-test, Wilcoxon two-sample test, Chi-square test and logistic stepwise regression were used to confirm predictive factors for better vision improvement. Baseline BCVA was 0.8313±0.6911 logMAR and final BCVA was 0.4761±0.4956 logMAR. Primary surgical success rate was 92.16% (47/51). Correlation analyses revealed shorter symptoms duration (r=0.3850, P=0.0053), less detached area (r=0.5489, Ppredictive factors were better baseline BCVA [partial R-square (PR(2))=0.5316, Ppredictive factors for better vision improvement were better baseline vision [odds ratio (OR) =50.369, P=0.0041] and longer follow up duration (OR=1.144, P=0.0067). Independent predictive factors for better visual outcome of primary chronic RRD after SB are better baseline BCVA, shorter symptoms duration, shorter operative duration and longer follow up duration, while independent predictive factors for better vision improvement after operation are better baseline vision and longer follow up duration.

  17. Prediction of ground motion from underground nuclear weapons tests as it relates to siting of a nuclear waste storage facility at NTS and compatibility with the weapons test program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vortman, L.J. IV.

    1980-04-01

    This report assumes reasonable criteria for NRC licensing of a nuclear waste storage facility at the Nevada Test Site where it would be exposed to ground motion from underground nuclear weapons tests. Prediction equations and their standard deviations have been determined from measurements on a number of nuclear weapons tests. The effect of various independent parameters on standard deviation is discussed. That the data sample is sufficiently large is shown by the fact that additional data have little effect on the standard deviation. It is also shown that coupling effects can be separated out of the other contributions to the standard deviation. An example, based on certain licensing assumptions, shows that it should be possible to have a nuclear waste storage facility in the vicinity of Timber Mountain which would be compatible with a 700 kt weapons test in the Buckboard Area if the facility were designed to withstand a peak vector acceleration of 0.75 g. The prediction equation is a log-log linear equation which predicts acceleration as a function of yield of an explosion and the distance from it

  18. IMP 2.0: a multi-species functional genomics portal for integration, visualization and prediction of protein functions and networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Aaron K; Krishnan, Arjun; Yao, Victoria; Tadych, Alicja; Troyanskaya, Olga G

    2015-07-01

    IMP (Integrative Multi-species Prediction), originally released in 2012, is an interactive web server that enables molecular biologists to interpret experimental results and to generate hypotheses in the context of a large cross-organism compendium of functional predictions and networks. The system provides biologists with a framework to analyze their candidate gene sets in the context of functional networks, expanding or refining their sets using functional relationships predicted from integrated high-throughput data. IMP 2.0 integrates updated prior knowledge and data collections from the last three years in the seven supported organisms (Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Drosophila melanogaster, Danio rerio, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and extends function prediction coverage to include human disease. IMP identifies homologs with conserved functional roles for disease knowledge transfer, allowing biologists to analyze disease contexts and predictions across all organisms. Additionally, IMP 2.0 implements a new flexible platform for experts to generate custom hypotheses about biological processes or diseases, making sophisticated data-driven methods easily accessible to researchers. IMP does not require any registration or installation and is freely available for use at http://imp.princeton.edu. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  19. Towards building a neural network model for predicting pile static load test curves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alzo’ubi A. K.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In the United Arab Emirates, Continuous Flight Auger piles are the most widely used type of deep foundation. To test the pile behaviour, the Static Load Test is routinely conducted in the field by increasing the dead load while monitoring the displacement. Although the test is reliable, it is expensive to conduct. This test is usually conducted in the UAE to verify the pile capacity and displacement as the load increase and decreases in two cycles. In this paper we will utilize the Artificial Neural Network approach to build a model that can predict a complete Static Load Pile test. We will show that by integrating the pile configuration, soil properties, and ground water table in one artificial neural network model, the Static Load Test can be predicted with confidence. We believe that based on this approach, the model is able to predict the entire pile load test from start to end. The suggested approach is an excellent tool to reduce the cost associated with such expensive tests or to predict pile’s performance ahead of the actual test.

  20. Comparison of statistical and clinical predictions of functional outcome after ischemic stroke.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Douglas D Thompson

    Full Text Available To determine whether the predictions of functional outcome after ischemic stroke made at the bedside using a doctor's clinical experience were more or less accurate than the predictions made by clinical prediction models (CPMs.A prospective cohort study of nine hundred and thirty one ischemic stroke patients recruited consecutively at the outpatient, inpatient and emergency departments of the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh between 2002 and 2005. Doctors made informal predictions of six month functional outcome on the Oxford Handicap Scale (OHS. Patients were followed up at six months with a validated postal questionnaire. For each patient we calculated the absolute predicted risk of death or dependence (OHS≥3 using five previously described CPMs. The specificity of a doctor's informal predictions of OHS≥3 at six months was good 0.96 (95% CI: 0.94 to 0.97 and similar to CPMs (range 0.94 to 0.96; however the sensitivity of both informal clinical predictions 0.44 (95% CI: 0.39 to 0.49 and clinical prediction models (range 0.38 to 0.45 was poor. The prediction of the level of disability after stroke was similar for informal clinical predictions (ordinal c-statistic 0.74 with 95% CI 0.72 to 0.76 and CPMs (range 0.69 to 0.75. No patient or clinician characteristic affected the accuracy of informal predictions, though predictions were more accurate in outpatients.CPMs are at least as good as informal clinical predictions in discriminating between good and bad functional outcome after ischemic stroke. The place of these models in clinical practice has yet to be determined.

  1. Which neuromuscular or cognitive test is the optimal screening tool to predict falls in frail community-dwelling older people?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimada, Hiroyuki; Suzukawa, Megumi; Tiedemann, Anne; Kobayashi, Kumiko; Yoshida, Hideyo; Suzuki, Takao

    2009-01-01

    The use of falls risk screening tools may aid in targeting fall prevention interventions in older individuals most likely to benefit. To determine the optimal physical or cognitive test to screen for falls risk in frail older people. This prospective cohort study involved recruitment from 213 day-care centers in Japan. The feasibility study included 3,340 ambulatory individuals aged 65 years or older enrolled in the Tsukui Ordered Useful Care for Health (TOUCH) program. The external validation study included a subsample of 455 individuals who completed all tests. Physical tests included grip strength (GS), chair stand test (CST), one-leg standing test (OLS), functional reach test (FRT), tandem walking test (TWT), 6-meter walking speed at a comfortable pace (CWS) and at maximum pace (MWS), and timed up-and-go test (TUG). The mental status questionnaire (MSQ) was used to measure cognitive function. The incidence of falls during 1 year was investigated by self-report or an interview with the participant's family and care staff. The most practicable tests were the GS and MSQ, which could be administered to more than 90% of the participants regardless of the activities of daily living status. The FRT and TWT had lower feasibility than other lower limb function tests. During the 1-year retrospective analysis of falls, 99 (21.8%) of the 455 validation study participants had fallen at least once. Fallers showed significantly poorer performance than non-fallers in the OLS (p = 0.003), TWT (p = 0.001), CWS (p = 0.013), MWS (p = 0.007), and TUG (p = 0.011). The OLS, CWS, and MWS remained significantly associated with falls when performance cut-points were determined. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the TWT was a significant and independent, yet weak predictor of falls. A weighting system which considered feasibility and validity scored the CWS (at a cut-point of 0.7 m/s) as the best test to predict risk of falls. Clinical tests of neuromuscular function can predict

  2. Clinical and functional criteria for predicting asthma in infants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu. L. Mizemitskiy

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: to determine clinical and functional criteria for predicting asthma in children who have sustained acute obstructive bronchitis in infancy. Subjects and methods. A total of 125 infants aged 2 to 36 months who had experienced 1 -2 episodes of acute obstructive bronchitis and treated at hospital were examined when bronchial obstruction syndrome was being relieved. In addition to physical examination, functional studies (computerized bronchophonography and heart rate variability assessment were used. Immunological examination included determination of the serum levels of immunoglobulin E and interleuMn-17A. The infants who had sustained acute obstructive bronchitis were followed up for 12-36 months. Results. The infants who had sustained acute obstructive bronchitis in the presence of mild perinatal CNS damage caused by hypoxia were typified by high respiratory morbidity; early-onset bronchial obstruction; long-term bronchial obstruction relief; high incidence of grade 2 respiratory failure in acute obstructive bronchitis. These patients developed asthma more often than twice and repeated episodes of bronchial obstruction. ROC analysis was used to elaborate clinical and functional criteria for predicting the development of asthma in infants. Conclusion. The proposed additional clinical and functional criteria characterizing external respiratory dysfunction and autonomic homeostatic changes contribute to the early diagnosis of asthma and substantially increase the validity of prediction of its development in children younger than 3 years, which is of great importance for goal-oriented preventive measures.

  3. Days on radiosensitivity: individual variability and predictive tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-01-01

    The radiosensitivity is a part of usual clinical observations. It is already included in the therapy protocols. however, some questions stay on its individual variability and on the difficulty to evaluate it. The point will be stocked on its origin and its usefulness in predictive medicine. Through examples on the use of predictive tests and ethical and legal questions that they raise, concrete cases will be presented by specialists such radio biologists, geneticists, immunologists, jurists and occupational physicians. (N.C.)

  4. Prediction of Lateral Ankle Sprains in Football Players Based on Clinical Tests and Body Mass Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gribble, Phillip A; Terada, Masafumi; Beard, Megan Q; Kosik, Kyle B; Lepley, Adam S; McCann, Ryan S; Pietrosimone, Brian G; Thomas, Abbey C

    2016-02-01

    The lateral ankle sprain (LAS) is the most common injury suffered in sports, especially in football. While suggested in some studies, a predictive role of clinical tests for LAS has not been established. To determine which clinical tests, focused on potentially modifiable factors of movement patterns and body mass index (BMI), could best demonstrate risk of LAS among high school and collegiate football players. Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. A total of 539 high school and collegiate football players were evaluated during the preseason with the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and Functional Movement Screen as well as BMI. Results were compared between players who did and did not suffer an LAS during the season. Logistic regression analyses and calculated odds ratios were used to determine which measures predicted risk of LAS. The LAS group performed worse on the SEBT-anterior reaching direction (SEBT-ANT) and had higher BMI as compared with the noninjured group (P football players. BMI was also significantly higher in football players who sustained an LAS. Identifying clinical tools for successful LAS injury risk prediction will be a critical step toward the creation of effective prevention programs to reduce risk of sustaining an LAS during participation in football. © 2015 The Author(s).

  5. Semen analysis and sperm function tests: How much to test?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S S Vasan

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Semen analysis as an integral part of infertility investigations is taken as a surrogate measure for male fecundity in clinical andrology, male fertility, and pregnancy risk assessments. Clearly, laboratory seminology is still very much in its infancy. In as much as the creation of a conventional semen profile will always represent the foundations of male fertility evaluation, the 5th edition of the World Health Organization (WHO manual is a definitive statement on how such assessments should be carried out and how the quality should be controlled. A major advance in this new edition of the WHO manual, resolving the most salient critique of previous editions, is the development of the first well-defined reference ranges for semen analysis based on the analysis of over 1900 recent fathers. The methodology used in the assessment of the usual variables in semen analysis is described, as are many of the less common, but very valuable, sperm function tests. Sperm function testing is used to determine if the sperm have the biologic capacity to perform the tasks necessary to reach and fertilize ova and ultimately result in live births. A variety of tests are available to evaluate different aspects of these functions. To accurately use these functional assays, the clinician must understand what the tests measure, what the indications are for the assays, and how to interpret the results to direct further testing or patient management.

  6. Nonparametric tests for equality of psychometric functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Pérez, Miguel A; Núñez-Antón, Vicente

    2017-12-07

    Many empirical studies measure psychometric functions (curves describing how observers' performance varies with stimulus magnitude) because these functions capture the effects of experimental conditions. To assess these effects, parametric curves are often fitted to the data and comparisons are carried out by testing for equality of mean parameter estimates across conditions. This approach is parametric and, thus, vulnerable to violations of the implied assumptions. Furthermore, testing for equality of means of parameters may be misleading: Psychometric functions may vary meaningfully across conditions on an observer-by-observer basis with no effect on the mean values of the estimated parameters. Alternative approaches to assess equality of psychometric functions per se are thus needed. This paper compares three nonparametric tests that are applicable in all situations of interest: The existing generalized Mantel-Haenszel test, a generalization of the Berry-Mielke test that was developed here, and a split variant of the generalized Mantel-Haenszel test also developed here. Their statistical properties (accuracy and power) are studied via simulation and the results show that all tests are indistinguishable as to accuracy but they differ non-uniformly as to power. Empirical use of the tests is illustrated via analyses of published data sets and practical recommendations are given. The computer code in MATLAB and R to conduct these tests is available as Electronic Supplemental Material.

  7. Pipeline defect prediction using long range ultrasonic testing and intelligent processing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dino Isa; Rajprasad Rajkumar

    2009-01-01

    This paper deals with efforts to improve nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques by using artificial intelligence in detecting and predicting pipeline defects such as cracks and wall thinning. The main emphasis here will be on the prediction of corrosion type defects rather than just detection after the fact. Long range ultrasonic testing will be employed, where a ring of piezoelectric transducers are used to generate torsional guided waves. Various defects such as cracks as well as corrosion under insulation (CUI) will be simulated on a test pipe. The machine learning algorithm known as the Support Vector Machine (SVM) will be used to predict and classify transducer signals using regression and large margin classification. Regression results show that the SVM is able to accurately predict future defects based on trends of previous defect. The classification performance was also exceptional showing a facility to detect defects at different depths as well as for distinguishing closely spaced defects. (author)

  8. Testing and Life Prediction for Composite Rotor Hub Flexbeams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murri, Gretchen B.

    2004-01-01

    A summary of several studies of delamination in tapered composite laminates with internal ply-drops is presented. Initial studies used 2D FE models to calculate interlaminar stresses at the ply-ending locations in linear tapered laminates under tension loading. Strain energy release rates for delamination in these laminates indicated that delamination would likely start at the juncture of the tapered and thin regions and grow unstably in both directions. Tests of glass/epoxy and graphite/epoxy linear tapered laminates under axial tension delaminated as predicted. Nonlinear tapered specimens were cut from a full-size helicopter rotor hub and were tested under combined constant axial tension and cyclic transverse bending loading to simulate the loading experienced by a rotorhub flexbeam in flight. For all the tested specimens, delamination began at the tip of the outermost dropped ply group and grew first toward the tapered region. A 2D FE model was created that duplicated the test flexbeam layup, geometry, and loading. Surface strains calculated by the model agreed very closely with the measured surface strains in the specimens. The delamination patterns observed in the tests were simulated in the model by releasing pairs of MPCs along those interfaces. Strain energy release rates associated with the delamination growth were calculated for several configurations and using two different FE analysis codes. Calculations from the codes agreed very closely. The strain energy release rate results were used with material characterization data to predict fatigue delamination onset lives for nonlinear tapered flexbeams with two different ply-dropping schemes. The predicted curves agreed well with the test data for each case studied.

  9. Prediction of postoperative respiratory function of lung cancer patients using 99mTc-MAA SPECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kokubo, Mitsuharu; Sakai, Satoshi; Miyata, Tomoyuki

    1991-01-01

    In this study, we evaluated the correlation between the predicted postoperative respiratory function using 99m Tc-MAA SPECT with chest CT and the postoperative respiratory function. 99m Tc-MAA SPECT were performed in 10 patients with lung cancer who underwent lobectomy. We measured the fractional loss in the pulmonary flow of the lobe to be resected using 99m Tc-MAA SPECT with chest CT. The value of predicted postoperative respiratory function was measured as follows: the value of predicted postoperative respiratory function=the value of preoperative respiratory function x (1-the fractional loss in the pulmonary flow of the lobe to be resected). Postoperative forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV 1.0 ) and % vital capacity (%VC) were predicted in this study, and were compared to the respiratory function at three months and six months after operation. The predicted postoperative respiratory function was highly correlated with the actually observed postoperative respiratory function. (author)

  10. Event related desynchronisation predicts functional propriospinal myoclonus

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meppelink, A. M.; Little, S.; Oswal, A.; Erro, R.; Kilner, J.; Tijssen, M. A. J.; Brown, P.; Cordovari, C.; Edwards, M.

    2016-01-01

    Objective: Recent diagnostic criteria for functional movement disorders have proposed a "laboratory supported" level of diagnostic certainty where the clinical diagnosis is supported by a positive test. For functional myoclonus the Bereitschaftspotential (BP) is generally accepted as a positive

  11. Prediction of post-operative pulmonary function after lobectomy for primary lung cancer: A comparison among counting method, effective lobar volume, and lobar collapsibility using inspiratory/expiratory CT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yabuuchi, Hidetake, E-mail: h-yabu@med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Health Sciences, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Kawanami, Satoshi, E-mail: kawanami_01@mac.com [Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Kamitani, Takeshi, E-mail: kamitani@radiol.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Yonezawa, Masato, E-mail: ymasato@radiol.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Yamasaki, Yuzo, E-mail: yyama@radiol.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Yamanouchi, Torahiko, E-mail: tora0228jp@yahoo.co.jp [Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Nagao, Michinobu, E-mail: minagao@radiol.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Okamoto, Tatsuro, E-mail: tatsuro@surg2.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Surgery and Science, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Honda, Hiroshi, E-mail: honda@radiol.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan)

    2016-11-15

    Highlights: • ΔFEV{sub 1.0} and ppoΔFEV{sub 1.0} using lobar collapsibility were strongly correlated. • ΔVC and ppoΔVC using effective lobar volume were strongly correlated. • Counting method was inferior to lobar collapsibility for prediction of ppoFEV{sub 1.0}. • Inspiratory/expiratory CT is useful to predict post-operative pulmonary function. - Abstract: Purpose: To compare the predictabilities of postoperative pulmonary function after lobectomy for primary lung cancer among counting method, effective lobar volume, and lobar collapsibility. Methods: Forty-nine patients who underwent lobectomy for primary lung cancer were enrolled. All patients underwent inspiratory/expiratory CT and pulmonary function tests 2 weeks before surgery and postoperative pulmonary function tests 6–7 months after surgery. Pulmonary function losses (ΔFEV{sub 1.0} and ΔVC) were calculated from the pulmonary function tests. Predictive postoperative pulmonary function losses (ppoΔFEV{sub 1.0} and ppoΔVC) were calculated using counting method, effective volume, and lobar collapsibility. Correlations and agreements between ΔFEV{sub 1.0} and ppoFEV{sub 1.0} and those between ΔVC and ppoΔVC were tested among three methods using Spearman’s correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plots. Results: ΔFEV{sub 1.0} and ppoΔFEV{sub 1.0insp-exp} were strongly correlated (r = 0.72), whereas ΔFEV{sub 1.0} and ppoΔFEV{sub 1.0count} and ΔFEV{sub 1.0} and Pred. ΔFEV{sub 1.0eff.vol.} were moderately correlated (r = 0.50, 0.56). ΔVC and ppoΔVC{sub eff.vol.} (r = 0.71) were strongly correlated, whereas ΔVC and ppoΔVC{sub count}, and ΔVC and ppoΔVC {sub insp-exp} were moderately correlated (r = 0.55, 0.42). Conclusions: Volumetry from inspiratory/expiratory CT data could be useful to predict postoperative pulmonary function after lobectomy for primary lung cancer.

  12. Reliability of a functional test battery evaluating functionality, proprioception, and strength in recreational athletes with functional ankle instability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sekir, U; Yildiz, Y; Hazneci, B; Ors, F; Saka, T; Aydin, T

    2008-12-01

    In contrast to the single evaluation methods used in the past, the combination of multiple tests allows one to obtain a global assessment of the ankle joint. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability of the different tests in a functional test battery. Twenty-four male recreational athletes with unilateral functional ankle instability (FAI) were recruited for this study. One component of the test battery included five different functional ability tests. These tests included a single limb hopping course, single-legged and triple-legged hop for distance, and six and cross six meter hop for time. The ankle joint position sense and one leg standing test were used for evaluation of proprioception and sensorimotor control. The isokinetic strengths of the ankle invertor and evertor muscles were evaluated at a velocity of 120 degrees /s. The reliability of the test battery was assessed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Each subject was tested two times, with an interval of 3-5 days between the test sessions. The ICCs for ankle functional and proprioceptive ability showed high reliability (ICCs ranging from 0.94 to 0.98). Additionally, isokinetic ankle joint inversion and eversion strength measurements represented good to high reliability (ICCs between 0.82 and 0.98). The functional test battery investigated in this study proved to be a reliable tool for the assessment of athletes with functional ankle instability. Therefore, clinicians may obtain reliable information from the functional test battery during the assessment of ankle joint performance in patients with functional ankle instability.

  13. Liver Function Tests in Tuberculoid Leprosy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R V Korane

    1979-01-01

    Full Text Available A total of 24 patients with untreated tuberculoid leprosy were taken up for study, They were the same group of patients in whom the authors have earlier reported involvement of liver in 85 % cases. Five healthy controls, studied also belonged to the same series. Liver function tests included prothrombin time, serum bilirubin, zinc sulphate turbidity, serum proteins and serum transaminases. No significant alterations in the liver function were observed. This is because the changes in the liver were so minimal and focal that they were not reflected in the various liver function tests.

  14. AGR-5/6/7 Irradiation Test Predictions using PARFUME

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Skerjanc, William F. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2017-09-14

    PARFUME, (PARticle FUel ModEl) a fuel performance modeling code used for high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs), was used to model the Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR)-5/6/7 irradiation test using predicted physics and thermal hydraulics data. The AGR-5/6/7 test consists of the combined fifth, sixth, and seventh planned irradiations of the AGR Fuel Development and Qualification Program. The AGR-5/6/7 test train is a multi-capsule, instrumented experiment that is designed for irradiation in the 133.4-mm diameter north east flux trap (NEFT) position of Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Each capsule contains compacts filled with uranium oxycarbide (UCO) unaltered fuel particles. This report documents the calculations performed to predict the failure probability of tristructural isotropic (TRISO)-coated fuel particles during the AGR-5/6/7 experiment. In addition, this report documents the calculated source term from the driver fuel. The calculations include modeling of the AGR-5/6/7 irradiation that is scheduled to occur from October 2017 to April 2021 over a total of 13 ATR cycles, including nine normal cycles and four Power Axial Locator Mechanism (PALM) cycle for a total between 500 – 550 effective full power days (EFPD). The irradiation conditions and material properties of the AGR-5/6/7 test predicted zero fuel particle failures in Capsules 1, 2, and 4. Fuel particle failures were predicted in Capsule 3 due to internal particle pressure. These failures were predicted in the highest temperature compacts. Capsule 5 fuel particle failures were due to inner pyrolytic carbon (IPyC) cracking causing localized stresses concentrations in the SiC layer. This capsule predicted the highest particle failures due to the lower irradiation temperature. In addition, shrinkage of the buffer and IPyC layer during irradiation resulted in formation of a buffer-IPyC gap. The two capsules at the two ends of the test train, Capsules 1 and 5 experienced the smallest buffer-IPyC gap

  15. The role of point-of-care assessment of platelet function in predicting postoperative bleeding and transfusion requirements after coronary artery bypass grafting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mishra, Pankaj Kumar; Thekkudan, Joyce; Sahajanandan, Raj; Gravenor, Mike; Lakshmanan, Suresh; Fayaz, Khazi Mohammed; Luckraz, Heyman

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVE platelet function assessment after cardiac surgery can predict postoperative blood loss, guide transfusion requirements and discriminate the need for surgical re-exploration. We conducted this study to assess the predictive value of point-of-care testing platelet function using the Multiplate® device. Patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting were prospectively recruited ( n = 84). Group A ( n = 42) patients were on anti-platelet therapy until surgery; patients in Group B ( n = 42) stopped anti-platelet treatment at least 5 days preoperatively. Multiplate® and thromboelastography (TEG) tests were performed in the perioperative period. Primary end-point was excessive bleeding (>2.5 ml/kg/h) within first 3 h postoperative. Secondary end-points included transfusion requirements, re-exploration rates, intensive care unit and in-hospital stays. Patients in Group A had excessive bleeding (59% vs. 33%, P = 0.02), higher re-exploration rates (14% vs. 0%, P function testing was the most significant predictor of excessive bleeding (odds ratio [OR]: 2.3, P = 0.08), need for blood (OR: 5.5, P functional assessment with Multiplate® was the strongest predictor for bleeding and transfusion requirements in patients on anti-platelet therapy until the time of surgery.

  16. Functional network architecture predicts psychologically mediated analgesia related to treatment in chronic knee pain patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashmi, Javeria Ali; Kong, Jian; Spaeth, Rosa; Khan, Sheraz; Kaptchuk, Ted J; Gollub, Randy L

    2014-03-12

    Placebo analgesia is an indicator of how efficiently the brain translates psychological signals conveyed by a treatment procedure into pain relief. It has been demonstrated that functional connectivity between distributed brain regions predicts placebo analgesia in chronic back pain patients. Greater network efficiency in baseline brain networks may allow better information transfer and facilitate adaptive physiological responses to psychological aspects of treatment. Here, we theorized that topological network alignments in resting state scans predict psychologically conditioned analgesic responses to acupuncture treatment in chronic knee osteoarthritis pain patients (n = 45). Analgesia was induced by building positive expectations toward acupuncture treatment with verbal suggestion and heat pain conditioning on a test site of the arm. This procedure induced significantly more analgesia after sham or real acupuncture on the test site than in a control site. The psychologically conditioned analgesia was invariant to sham versus real treatment. Efficiency of information transfer within local networks calculated with graph-theoretic measures (local efficiency and clustering coefficients) significantly predicted conditioned analgesia. Clustering coefficients in regions associated with memory, motivation, and pain modulation were closely involved in predicting analgesia. Moreover, women showed higher clustering coefficients and marginally greater pain reduction than men. Overall, analgesic response to placebo cues can be predicted from a priori resting state data by observing local network topology. Such low-cost synchronizations may represent preparatory resources that facilitate subsequent performance of brain circuits in responding to adaptive environmental cues. This suggests a potential utility of network measures in predicting placebo response for clinical use.

  17. A genomic biomarker signature can predict skin sensitizers using a cell-based in vitro alternative to animal tests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Albrekt Ann-Sofie

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Allergic contact dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease that affects a significant proportion of the population. This disease is caused by an adverse immune response towards chemical haptens, and leads to a substantial economic burden for society. Current test of sensitizing chemicals rely on animal experimentation. New legislations on the registration and use of chemicals within pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries have stimulated significant research efforts to develop alternative, human cell-based assays for the prediction of sensitization. The aim is to replace animal experiments with in vitro tests displaying a higher predictive power. Results We have developed a novel cell-based assay for the prediction of sensitizing chemicals. By analyzing the transcriptome of the human cell line MUTZ-3 after 24 h stimulation, using 20 different sensitizing chemicals, 20 non-sensitizing chemicals and vehicle controls, we have identified a biomarker signature of 200 genes with potent discriminatory ability. Using a Support Vector Machine for supervised classification, the prediction performance of the assay revealed an area under the ROC curve of 0.98. In addition, categorizing the chemicals according to the LLNA assay, this gene signature could also predict sensitizing potency. The identified markers are involved in biological pathways with immunological relevant functions, which can shed light on the process of human sensitization. Conclusions A gene signature predicting sensitization, using a human cell line in vitro, has been identified. This simple and robust cell-based assay has the potential to completely replace or drastically reduce the utilization of test systems based on experimental animals. Being based on human biology, the assay is proposed to be more accurate for predicting sensitization in humans, than the traditional animal-based tests.

  18. A genomic biomarker signature can predict skin sensitizers using a cell-based in vitro alternative to animal tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background Allergic contact dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease that affects a significant proportion of the population. This disease is caused by an adverse immune response towards chemical haptens, and leads to a substantial economic burden for society. Current test of sensitizing chemicals rely on animal experimentation. New legislations on the registration and use of chemicals within pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries have stimulated significant research efforts to develop alternative, human cell-based assays for the prediction of sensitization. The aim is to replace animal experiments with in vitro tests displaying a higher predictive power. Results We have developed a novel cell-based assay for the prediction of sensitizing chemicals. By analyzing the transcriptome of the human cell line MUTZ-3 after 24 h stimulation, using 20 different sensitizing chemicals, 20 non-sensitizing chemicals and vehicle controls, we have identified a biomarker signature of 200 genes with potent discriminatory ability. Using a Support Vector Machine for supervised classification, the prediction performance of the assay revealed an area under the ROC curve of 0.98. In addition, categorizing the chemicals according to the LLNA assay, this gene signature could also predict sensitizing potency. The identified markers are involved in biological pathways with immunological relevant functions, which can shed light on the process of human sensitization. Conclusions A gene signature predicting sensitization, using a human cell line in vitro, has been identified. This simple and robust cell-based assay has the potential to completely replace or drastically reduce the utilization of test systems based on experimental animals. Being based on human biology, the assay is proposed to be more accurate for predicting sensitization in humans, than the traditional animal-based tests. PMID:21824406

  19. "Eyeball test" of thermographic patterns for predicting a successful lateral infraclavicular block.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andreasen, Asger M; Linnet, Karen E; Asghar, Semera; Rothe, Christian; Rosenstock, Charlotte V; Lange, Kai H W; Lundstrøm, Lars H

    2017-11-01

    Increased distal skin temperature can be used to predict the success of lateral infraclavicular (LIC) block. We hypothesized that an "eyeball test" of specific infrared thermographic patterns after LIC block could be used to determine block success. In this observational study, five observers trained in four distinct thermographic patterns independently evaluated thermographic images of the hands of 40 patients at baseline and at one-minute intervals for 30 min after a LIC block. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of a positive and a negative test were estimated to evaluate the validity of specific thermographic patterns for predicting a successful block. Sensory and motor block of the musculocutaneous, radial, ulnar, and median nerves defined block success. Fleiss' kappa statistics of multiple interobserver agreements were used to evaluate reliability. As a diagnostic test, the defined specific thermographic patterns of the hand predicted a successful block with increasing accuracy over the 30-min observation period. Block success was predicted with a sensitivity of 92.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 86.8 to 96.2) and with a specificity of 84.0% (95% CI, 70.3 to 92.4) at min 30. The Fleiss' kappa for the five observers was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.77 to 0.96). We conclude that visual evaluation by an eyeball test of specific thermographic patterns of the blocked hands may be useful as a valid and reliable diagnostic test for predicting a successful LIC block.

  20. Functional connectivity between somatosensory and motor brain areas predicts individual differences in motor learning by observing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGregor, Heather R; Gribble, Paul L

    2017-08-01

    Action observation can facilitate the acquisition of novel motor skills; however, there is considerable individual variability in the extent to which observation promotes motor learning. Here we tested the hypothesis that individual differences in brain function or structure can predict subsequent observation-related gains in motor learning. Subjects underwent an anatomical MRI scan and resting-state fMRI scans to assess preobservation gray matter volume and preobservation resting-state functional connectivity (FC), respectively. On the following day, subjects observed a video of a tutor adapting her reaches to a novel force field. After observation, subjects performed reaches in a force field as a behavioral assessment of gains in motor learning resulting from observation. We found that individual differences in resting-state FC, but not gray matter volume, predicted postobservation gains in motor learning. Preobservation resting-state FC between left primary somatosensory cortex and bilateral dorsal premotor cortex, primary motor cortex, and primary somatosensory cortex and left superior parietal lobule was positively correlated with behavioral measures of postobservation motor learning. Sensory-motor resting-state FC can thus predict the extent to which observation will promote subsequent motor learning. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We show that individual differences in preobservation brain function can predict subsequent observation-related gains in motor learning. Preobservation resting-state functional connectivity within a sensory-motor network may be used as a biomarker for the extent to which observation promotes motor learning. This kind of information may be useful if observation is to be used as a way to boost neuroplasticity and sensory-motor recovery for patients undergoing rehabilitation for diseases that impair movement such as stroke. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

  1. Testing the generality of above-ground biomass allometry across plant functional types at the continent scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Keryn I; Roxburgh, Stephen H; Chave, Jerome; England, Jacqueline R; Zerihun, Ayalsew; Specht, Alison; Lewis, Tom; Bennett, Lauren T; Baker, Thomas G; Adams, Mark A; Huxtable, Dan; Montagu, Kelvin D; Falster, Daniel S; Feller, Mike; Sochacki, Stan; Ritson, Peter; Bastin, Gary; Bartle, John; Wildy, Dan; Hobbs, Trevor; Larmour, John; Waterworth, Rob; Stewart, Hugh T L; Jonson, Justin; Forrester, David I; Applegate, Grahame; Mendham, Daniel; Bradford, Matt; O'Grady, Anthony; Green, Daryl; Sudmeyer, Rob; Rance, Stan J; Turner, John; Barton, Craig; Wenk, Elizabeth H; Grove, Tim; Attiwill, Peter M; Pinkard, Elizabeth; Butler, Don; Brooksbank, Kim; Spencer, Beren; Snowdon, Peter; O'Brien, Nick; Battaglia, Michael; Cameron, David M; Hamilton, Steve; McAuthur, Geoff; Sinclair, Jenny

    2016-06-01

    Accurate ground-based estimation of the carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems is critical to quantifying the global carbon budget. Allometric models provide cost-effective methods for biomass prediction. But do such models vary with ecoregion or plant functional type? We compiled 15 054 measurements of individual tree or shrub biomass from across Australia to examine the generality of allometric models for above-ground biomass prediction. This provided a robust case study because Australia includes ecoregions ranging from arid shrublands to tropical rainforests, and has a rich history of biomass research, particularly in planted forests. Regardless of ecoregion, for five broad categories of plant functional type (shrubs; multistemmed trees; trees of the genus Eucalyptus and closely related genera; other trees of high wood density; and other trees of low wood density), relationships between biomass and stem diameter were generic. Simple power-law models explained 84-95% of the variation in biomass, with little improvement in model performance when other plant variables (height, bole wood density), or site characteristics (climate, age, management) were included. Predictions of stand-based biomass from allometric models of varying levels of generalization (species-specific, plant functional type) were validated using whole-plot harvest data from 17 contrasting stands (range: 9-356 Mg ha(-1) ). Losses in efficiency of prediction were <1% if generalized models were used in place of species-specific models. Furthermore, application of generalized multispecies models did not introduce significant bias in biomass prediction in 92% of the 53 species tested. Further, overall efficiency of stand-level biomass prediction was 99%, with a mean absolute prediction error of only 13%. Hence, for cost-effective prediction of biomass across a wide range of stands, we recommend use of generic allometric models based on plant functional types. Development of new species

  2. Water hammer prediction and control: the Green's function method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xuan, Li-Jun; Mao, Feng; Wu, Jie-Zhi

    2012-04-01

    By Green's function method we show that the water hammer (WH) can be analytically predicted for both laminar and turbulent flows (for the latter, with an eddy viscosity depending solely on the space coordinates), and thus its hazardous effect can be rationally controlled and minimized. To this end, we generalize a laminar water hammer equation of Wang et al. (J. Hydrodynamics, B2, 51, 1995) to include arbitrary initial condition and variable viscosity, and obtain its solution by Green's function method. The predicted characteristic WH behaviors by the solutions are in excellent agreement with both direct numerical simulation of the original governing equations and, by adjusting the eddy viscosity coefficient, experimentally measured turbulent flow data. Optimal WH control principle is thereby constructed and demonstrated.

  3. Integration of relational and hierarchical network information for protein function prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiang Xiaoyu

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In the current climate of high-throughput computational biology, the inference of a protein's function from related measurements, such as protein-protein interaction relations, has become a canonical task. Most existing technologies pursue this task as a classification problem, on a term-by-term basis, for each term in a database, such as the Gene Ontology (GO database, a popular rigorous vocabulary for biological functions. However, ontology structures are essentially hierarchies, with certain top to bottom annotation rules which protein function predictions should in principle follow. Currently, the most common approach to imposing these hierarchical constraints on network-based classifiers is through the use of transitive closure to predictions. Results We propose a probabilistic framework to integrate information in relational data, in the form of a protein-protein interaction network, and a hierarchically structured database of terms, in the form of the GO database, for the purpose of protein function prediction. At the heart of our framework is a factorization of local neighborhood information in the protein-protein interaction network across successive ancestral terms in the GO hierarchy. We introduce a classifier within this framework, with computationally efficient implementation, that produces GO-term predictions that naturally obey a hierarchical 'true-path' consistency from root to leaves, without the need for further post-processing. Conclusion A cross-validation study, using data from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, shows our method offers substantial improvements over both standard 'guilt-by-association' (i.e., Nearest-Neighbor and more refined Markov random field methods, whether in their original form or when post-processed to artificially impose 'true-path' consistency. Further analysis of the results indicates that these improvements are associated with increased predictive capabilities (i.e., increased

  4. The prediction of creep damage in Type 347 weld metal: part II creep fatigue tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spindler, M.W.

    2005-01-01

    Calculations of creep damage under conditions of strain control are often carried out using either a time fraction approach or a ductility exhaustion approach. In part I of this paper the rupture strength and creep ductility data for a Type 347 weld metal were fitted to provide the material properties that are used to calculate creep damage. Part II of this paper examines whether the time fraction approach or the ductility exhaustion approach gives the better predictions of creep damage in creep-fatigue tests on the same Type 347 weld metal. In addition, a new creep damage model, which was developed by removing some of the simplifying assumptions that are made in the ductility exhaustion approach, was used. This new creep damage model is a function of the strain rate, stress and temperature and was derived from creep and constant strain rate test data using a reverse modelling technique (see part I of this paper). It is shown that the new creep damage model gives better predictions of creep damage in the creep-fatigue tests than the time fraction and the ductility exhaustion approaches

  5. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT TESTS AND PERFORMANCE TESTS IN YOUNG ELITE MALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalo-Skok, Oliver; Serna, Jorge; Rhea, Matthew R; Marín, Pedro J

    2015-10-01

    Sprinting and jumping are two common and important components of high-level sport performance. The weight-bearing dorsiflexion test (WB-DF) and Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) are tools developed to identify athletes at risk for lower extremity injury and may be related to running and jumping performance among athletes. The purposes of the present study were: 1) to identify any relationships between functional movement tests (WB-DF and SEBT) and performance tests (jumping, sprinting and changing direction); 2) to examine any relationships between asymmetries in functional movements and performance tests. Descriptive cohort study. Fifteen elite male basketball players (age: 15.4 ± 0.9 years) were assessed during a three-week period to determine the reliability of functional screening tools and performance tests and to examine the relationships between these tests. Relative (intraclass correlation coefficient) and absolute (coefficient of variation) reliability were used to assess the reproducibility of the tests. Significant correlations were detected between certain functional movement tests and performance tests. Both left and right excursion composite scores related to slower performance times in sprint testing, demonstrating that greater dynamic reach relates to decreased quickness and acceleration among these elite basketball athletes. The various relationships between dynamic functional movement testing, speed, and jump performance provide guidance for the strength and conditioning professional when conducting and evaluating data in an effort to improve performance and reduce risk of injury. The results of the present study suggest that these functional and performance tests do not measure the same components of human movement, and could be paired as outcome measures for the clinical and sport assessment of lower extremity function. 2b.

  6. PBF/LOFT Lead Rod Test Program experiment predictions document

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Varacalle, D.J.; Cox, W.R.; Niebruegge, D.A.; Seiber, S.J.; Brake, T.E.; Driskell, W.E.; Nigg, D.W.; Tolman, E.L.

    1978-12-01

    The PBF/LOFT Lead Rod (LLR) Test Program is being conducted to provide experimental information on the behavior of nuclear fuel under normal and accident conditions in the Power Burst Facility (PBF) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The PBF/LLR tests are designed to simulate the test conditions for the LOFT Power Ascension Tests L2-3 through L2-5. The test program has been designed to provide a parametric evaluation of the LOFT fuel (center and peripheral modules) over a wide range of power. This report presents the experiment predictions for the three four-rod LOCA tests

  7. RANDOM FUNCTIONS AND INTERVAL METHOD FOR PREDICTING THE RESIDUAL RESOURCE OF BUILDING STRUCTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shmelev Gennadiy Dmitrievich

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Subject: possibility of using random functions and interval prediction method for estimating the residual life of building structures in the currently used buildings. Research objectives: coordination of ranges of values to develop predictions and random functions that characterize the processes being predicted. Materials and methods: when performing this research, the method of random functions and the method of interval prediction were used. Results: in the course of this work, the basic properties of random functions, including the properties of families of random functions, are studied. The coordination of time-varying impacts and loads on building structures is considered from the viewpoint of their influence on structures and representation of the structures’ behavior in the form of random functions. Several models of random functions are proposed for predicting individual parameters of structures. For each of the proposed models, its scope of application is defined. The article notes that the considered approach of forecasting has been used many times at various sites. In addition, the available results allowed the authors to develop a methodology for assessing the technical condition and residual life of building structures for the currently used facilities. Conclusions: we studied the possibility of using random functions and processes for the purposes of forecasting the residual service lives of structures in buildings and engineering constructions. We considered the possibility of using an interval forecasting approach to estimate changes in defining parameters of building structures and their technical condition. A comprehensive technique for forecasting the residual life of building structures using the interval approach is proposed.

  8. A weighted generalized score statistic for comparison of predictive values of diagnostic tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosinski, Andrzej S

    2013-03-15

    Positive and negative predictive values are important measures of a medical diagnostic test performance. We consider testing equality of two positive or two negative predictive values within a paired design in which all patients receive two diagnostic tests. The existing statistical tests for testing equality of predictive values are either Wald tests based on the multinomial distribution or the empirical Wald and generalized score tests within the generalized estimating equations (GEE) framework. As presented in the literature, these test statistics have considerably complex formulas without clear intuitive insight. We propose their re-formulations that are mathematically equivalent but algebraically simple and intuitive. As is clearly seen with a new re-formulation we presented, the generalized score statistic does not always reduce to the commonly used score statistic in the independent samples case. To alleviate this, we introduce a weighted generalized score (WGS) test statistic that incorporates empirical covariance matrix with newly proposed weights. This statistic is simple to compute, always reduces to the score statistic in the independent samples situation, and preserves type I error better than the other statistics as demonstrated by simulations. Thus, we believe that the proposed WGS statistic is the preferred statistic for testing equality of two predictive values and for corresponding sample size computations. The new formulas of the Wald statistics may be useful for easy computation of confidence intervals for difference of predictive values. The introduced concepts have potential to lead to development of the WGS test statistic in a general GEE setting. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. Pre-Test Analysis Predictions for the Shell Buckling Knockdown Factor Checkout Tests - TA01 and TA02

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thornburgh, Robert P.; Hilburger, Mark W.

    2011-01-01

    This report summarizes the pre-test analysis predictions for the SBKF-P2-CYL-TA01 and SBKF-P2-CYL-TA02 shell buckling tests conducted at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in support of the Shell Buckling Knockdown Factor (SBKF) Project, NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Assessment. The test article (TA) is an 8-foot-diameter aluminum-lithium (Al-Li) orthogrid cylindrical shell with similar design features as that of the proposed Ares-I and Ares-V barrel structures. In support of the testing effort, detailed structural analyses were conducted and the results were used to monitor the behavior of the TA during the testing. A summary of predicted results for each of the five load sequences is presented herein.

  10. Predictive validity of the Biomedical Admissions Test: an evaluation and case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McManus, I C; Ferguson, Eamonn; Wakeford, Richard; Powis, David; James, David

    2011-01-01

    There has been an increase in the use of pre-admission selection tests for medicine. Such tests need to show good psychometric properties. Here, we use a paper by Emery and Bell [2009. The predictive validity of the Biomedical Admissions Test for pre-clinical examination performance. Med Educ 43:557-564] as a case study to evaluate and comment on the reporting of psychometric data in the field of medical student selection (and the comments apply to many papers in the field). We highlight pitfalls when reliability data are not presented, how simple zero-order associations can lead to inaccurate conclusions about the predictive validity of a test, and how biases need to be explored and reported. We show with BMAT that it is the knowledge part of the test which does all the predictive work. We show that without evidence of incremental validity it is difficult to assess the value of any selection tests for medicine.

  11. Pulmonary function tests correlated with thoracic volumes in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ledonio, Charles Gerald T; Rosenstein, Benjamin E; Johnston, Charles E; Regelmann, Warren E; Nuckley, David J; Polly, David W

    2017-01-01

    Scoliosis deformity has been linked with deleterious changes in the thoracic cavity that affect pulmonary function. The causal relationship between spinal deformity and pulmonary function has yet to be fully defined. It has been hypothesized that deformity correction improves pulmonary function by restoring both respiratory muscle efficiency and increasing the space available to the lungs. This research aims to correlate pulmonary function and thoracic volume before and after scoliosis correction. Retrospective correlational analysis between thoracic volume modeling from plain x-rays and pulmonary function tests was conducted. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients enrolled in a multicenter database were sorted by pre-operative Total Lung Capacities (TLC) % predicted values from their Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT). Ten patients with the best and ten patients with the worst TLC values were included. Modeled thoracic volume and TLC values were compared before and 2 years after surgery. Scoliosis correction resulted in an increase in the thoracic volume for patients with the worst initial TLCs (11.7%) and those with the best initial TLCs (12.5%). The adolescents with the most severe pulmonary restriction prior to surgery strongly correlated with post-operative change in total lung capacity and thoracic volume (r 2  = 0.839; p volume in this group was 373.1 cm 3 (11.7%) which correlated with a 21.2% improvement in TLC. Scoliosis correction in adolescents was found to increase thoracic volume and is strongly correlated with improved TLC in cases with severe restrictive pulmonary function, but no correlation was found in cases with normal pulmonary function. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:175-182, 2017. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Plant functional traits predict green roof ecosystem services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundholm, Jeremy; Tran, Stephanie; Gebert, Luke

    2015-02-17

    Plants make important contributions to the services provided by engineered ecosystems such as green roofs. Ecologists use plant species traits as generic predictors of geographical distribution, interactions with other species, and ecosystem functioning, but this approach has been little used to optimize engineered ecosystems. Four plant species traits (height, individual leaf area, specific leaf area, and leaf dry matter content) were evaluated as predictors of ecosystem properties and services in a modular green roof system planted with 21 species. Six indicators of ecosystem services, incorporating thermal, hydrological, water quality, and carbon sequestration functions, were predicted by the four plant traits directly or indirectly via their effects on aggregate ecosystem properties, including canopy density and albedo. Species average height and specific leaf area were the most useful traits, predicting several services via effects on canopy density or growth rate. This study demonstrates that easily measured plant traits can be used to select species to optimize green roof performance across multiple key services.

  13. Prediction of postoperative respiratory function of lung cancer patients using quantitative lung scans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Konishi, Hiroshi

    1982-01-01

    Quantitative sup(99m)Tc-MISA inhalation scan and sup(99m)Tc-MAA perfusion scan were performed in 35 patients with lung cancer who underwent lobectomies. Quantitative 133 Xe ventilation-perfusion scans were also performed in 34 patients with lung cancer who underwent lobectomies. To predict functional loss after lobectomy, the proportion of the No. of segments in the lobe to be resected to the No. of entire segments of that lung was provided for the study. Postoperative FVC, FEVsub(1.0) and MVV were predicted in the study, and which were compared to the respiratory function at one month after operation and more than four months after operation. The predicted postoperative respiratory function was highly correlated with the actually observed postoperative respiratory function (0.7413 lt r lt 0.9278, p lt 0.001). In this study, the postoperative respiratory function was proven to be quite accurately predicted preoperatively with combination of quantitative lung scans and spirometric respiratory function. Therefore this method is useful not only for judgement of operative indication but also for choice of operative method and for counterplan of postoperative respiratory insufficiency. (J.P.N.)

  14. DIANA-microT web server: elucidating microRNA functions through target prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maragkakis, M; Reczko, M; Simossis, V A; Alexiou, P; Papadopoulos, G L; Dalamagas, T; Giannopoulos, G; Goumas, G; Koukis, E; Kourtis, K; Vergoulis, T; Koziris, N; Sellis, T; Tsanakas, P; Hatzigeorgiou, A G

    2009-07-01

    Computational microRNA (miRNA) target prediction is one of the key means for deciphering the role of miRNAs in development and disease. Here, we present the DIANA-microT web server as the user interface to the DIANA-microT 3.0 miRNA target prediction algorithm. The web server provides extensive information for predicted miRNA:target gene interactions with a user-friendly interface, providing extensive connectivity to online biological resources. Target gene and miRNA functions may be elucidated through automated bibliographic searches and functional information is accessible through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. The web server offers links to nomenclature, sequence and protein databases, and users are facilitated by being able to search for targeted genes using different nomenclatures or functional features, such as the genes possible involvement in biological pathways. The target prediction algorithm supports parameters calculated individually for each miRNA:target gene interaction and provides a signal-to-noise ratio and a precision score that helps in the evaluation of the significance of the predicted results. Using a set of miRNA targets recently identified through the pSILAC method, the performance of several computational target prediction programs was assessed. DIANA-microT 3.0 achieved there with 66% the highest ratio of correctly predicted targets over all predicted targets. The DIANA-microT web server is freely available at www.microrna.gr/microT.

  15. Validity of the Clock Drawing Test in predicting reports of driving problems in the elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Banou Evangelia

    2004-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background This study examined the use of the Folstein Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE and the Clock Drawing Test (CDT in predicting retrospective reports of driving problems among the elderly. The utility of existing scoring systems for the CDT was also examined. Methods Archival chart records of 325 patients of a geriatric outpatient clinic were reviewed, of which 162 had CDT results (including original clock drawings. T-test, correlation, and regression procedures were used to analyze the data. Results Both CDT and MMSE scores were significantly worse among non-drivers than individuals who were currently or recently driving. Among current or recent drivers, scores on both instruments correlated significantly with the total number of reported accidents or near misses, although the magnitude of the respective correlations was small. Only MMSE scores, however, significantly predicted whether or not any accidents or near misses were reported at all. Neither MMSE nor CDT scores predicted unique variance in the regressions. Conclusions The overall results suggest that both the MMSE and CDT have limited utility as potential indicators of driving problems in the elderly. The demonstrated predictive power for these instruments appears to be redundant, such that both appear to assess general cognitive function versus more specific abilities. Furthermore, the lack of robust prediction suggests that neither are sufficient to serve as stand-alone instruments on which to solely base decisions of driving capacity. Rather, individuals who evidence impairment should be provided a more thorough and comprehensive assessment than can be obtained through screening tools.

  16. AptRank: an adaptive PageRank model for protein function prediction on   bi-relational graphs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Biaobin; Kloster, Kyle; Gleich, David F; Gribskov, Michael

    2017-06-15

    Diffusion-based network models are widely used for protein function prediction using protein network data and have been shown to outperform neighborhood-based and module-based methods. Recent studies have shown that integrating the hierarchical structure of the Gene Ontology (GO) data dramatically improves prediction accuracy. However, previous methods usually either used the GO hierarchy to refine the prediction results of multiple classifiers, or flattened the hierarchy into a function-function similarity kernel. No study has taken the GO hierarchy into account together with the protein network as a two-layer network model. We first construct a Bi-relational graph (Birg) model comprised of both protein-protein association and function-function hierarchical networks. We then propose two diffusion-based methods, BirgRank and AptRank, both of which use PageRank to diffuse information on this two-layer graph model. BirgRank is a direct application of traditional PageRank with fixed decay parameters. In contrast, AptRank utilizes an adaptive diffusion mechanism to improve the performance of BirgRank. We evaluate the ability of both methods to predict protein function on yeast, fly and human protein datasets, and compare with four previous methods: GeneMANIA, TMC, ProteinRank and clusDCA. We design four different validation strategies: missing function prediction, de novo function prediction, guided function prediction and newly discovered function prediction to comprehensively evaluate predictability of all six methods. We find that both BirgRank and AptRank outperform the previous methods, especially in missing function prediction when using only 10% of the data for training. The MATLAB code is available at https://github.rcac.purdue.edu/mgribsko/aptrank . gribskov@purdue.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  17. Birth weight predicted baseline muscular efficiency, but not response of energy expenditure to calorie restriction: An empirical test of the predictive adaptive response hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Workman, Megan; Baker, Jack; Lancaster, Jane B; Mermier, Christine; Alcock, Joe

    2016-07-01

    Aiming to test the evolutionary significance of relationships linking prenatal growth conditions to adult phenotypes, this study examined whether birth size predicts energetic savings during fasting. We specifically tested a Predictive Adaptive Response (PAR) model that predicts greater energetic saving among adults who were born small. Data were collected from a convenience sample of young adults living in Albuquerque, NM (n = 34). Indirect calorimetry quantified changes in resting energy expenditure (REE) and active muscular efficiency that occurred in response to a 29-h fast. Multiple regression analyses linked birth weight to baseline and postfast metabolic values while controlling for appropriate confounders (e.g., sex, body mass). Birth weight did not moderate the relationship between body size and energy expenditure, nor did it predict the magnitude change in REE or muscular efficiency observed from baseline to after fasting. Alternative indicators of birth size were also examined (e.g., low v. normal birth weight, comparison of tertiles), with no effects found. However, baseline muscular efficiency improved by 1.1% per 725 g (S.D.) increase in birth weight (P = 0.037). Birth size did not influence the sensitivity of metabolic demands to fasting-neither at rest nor during activity. Moreover, small birth size predicted a reduction in the efficiency with which muscles convert energy expended into work accomplished. These results do not support the ascription of adaptive function to phenotypes associated with small birth size. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:484-492, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Platelet Function Tests: Preanalytical Variables, Clinical Utility, Advantages, and Disadvantages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hvas, Anne-Mette; Grove, Erik Lerkevang

    2017-01-01

    Platelet function tests are mainly used in the diagnostic work-up of platelet disorders. During the last decade, the additional use of platelet function tests to evaluate the effect of antiplatelet therapy has also emerged in an attempt to identify patients with an increased risk of arterial thrombosis. Furthermore, platelet function tests are increasingly used to measure residual effect of antiplatelet therapy prior to surgery with the aim of reducing the risk of bleeding. To a limited extend, platelet function tests are also used to evaluate hyperaggregability as a potential marker of a prothrombotic state outside the setting of antiplatelet therapy. This multifaceted use of platelet function tests and the development of simpler point-of-care tests with narrower application have increased the use of platelet function testing and also facilitated the use of platelet function tests outside the highly specialized laboratories. The present chapter describes the preanalytical variables, which should be taken into account when planning platelet function testing. Also, the most widely used platelet function tests are introduced, and their clinical utility and their relative advantages and disadvantages are discussed.

  19. On the self-serving function of an academic wooden leg: test anxiety as a self-handicapping strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, C W; Snyder, D R; Handelsman, M M

    1982-02-01

    The present study investigated the hypothesis that psychological symptoms may serve a self-protective function by providing an alternative explanation for potential failure in evaluating situations. It was hypothesized that highly test-anxious subjects would report anxiety symptoms in a pattern that reflected strategic presentation of symptoms; more specifically, it was predicted that greater reported anxiety should result when anxiety was a viable explanation for poor performance on an intelligence test and that lower reported anxiety should result when anxiety was not a viable explanation for poor performance. Analysis of state measures of self-reported anxiety supported these predictions. Further analysis indicated that when anxiety was not a viable explanation for poor test performance, high test-anxiety subjects reported reduced effort as an alternative self-protective strategy. These results are discussed in terms of traditional models of symptoms as self-protective strategies, current social psychological models of symptoms, and in reference to recent theory and research about the nature and treatment of test anxiety.

  20. Computational prediction of drug-drug interactions based on drugs functional similarities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferdousi, Reza; Safdari, Reza; Omidi, Yadollah

    2017-06-01

    Therapeutic activities of drugs are often influenced by co-administration of drugs that may cause inevitable drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and inadvertent side effects. Prediction and identification of DDIs are extremely vital for the patient safety and success of treatment modalities. A number of computational methods have been employed for the prediction of DDIs based on drugs structures and/or functions. Here, we report on a computational method for DDIs prediction based on functional similarity of drugs. The model was set based on key biological elements including carriers, transporters, enzymes and targets (CTET). The model was applied for 2189 approved drugs. For each drug, all the associated CTETs were collected, and the corresponding binary vectors were constructed to determine the DDIs. Various similarity measures were conducted to detect DDIs. Of the examined similarity methods, the inner product-based similarity measures (IPSMs) were found to provide improved prediction values. Altogether, 2,394,766 potential drug pairs interactions were studied. The model was able to predict over 250,000 unknown potential DDIs. Upon our findings, we propose the current method as a robust, yet simple and fast, universal in silico approach for identification of DDIs. We envision that this proposed method can be used as a practical technique for the detection of possible DDIs based on the functional similarities of drugs. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  1. Fungal NRPS-dependent siderophores: From function to prediction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Jens Laurids; Knudsen, Michael; Hansen, Frederik Teilfeldt

    2014-01-01

    discuss the function of siderophores in relation to fungal iron uptake mechanisms and their importance for coexistence with host organisms. The chemical nature of the major groups of siderophores and their regulation is described along with the function and architecture of the large multi-domain enzymes...... responsible for siderophore synthesis, namely the non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). Finally, we present the most recent advances in our understanding of the structural biology of fungal NRPSs and discuss opportunities for the development of a fungal NRPS prediction server...

  2. Characterization and Prediction of Chemical Functions and ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Assessing exposures from the thousands of chemicals in commerce requires quantitative information on the chemical constituents of consumer products. Unfortunately, gaps in available composition data prevent assessment of exposure to chemicals in many products. Here we propose filling these gaps via consideration of chemical functional role. We obtained function information for thousands of chemicals from public sources and used a clustering algorithm to assign chemicals into 35 harmonized function categories (e.g., plasticizers, antimicrobials, solvents). We combined these functions with weight fraction data for 4115 personal care products (PCPs) to characterize the composition of 66 different product categories (e.g., shampoos). We analyzed the combined weight fraction/function dataset using machine learning techniques to develop quantitative structure property relationship (QSPR) classifier models for 22 functions and for weight fraction, based on chemical-specific descriptors (including chemical properties). We applied these classifier models to a library of 10196 data-poor chemicals. Our predictions of chemical function and composition will inform exposure-based screening of chemicals in PCPs for combination with hazard data in risk-based evaluation frameworks. As new information becomes available, this approach can be applied to other classes of products and the chemicals they contain in order to provide essential consumer product data for use in exposure-b

  3. Does functional trait diversity predict aboveground biomass and productivity of tropical forests? Testing three alternative hypotheses

    OpenAIRE

    Finegan, B.; Pena Claros, M.; Silva de Oliveira, A.; Ascarrunz, N.; Bret-Harte, M.S.; Carreño Rocabado, I.G.; Casanoves, F.; Diaz, S.; Eguiguren Velepucha, P.; Fernandez, F.; Licona, J.C.; Lorenzo, L.; Salgado Negret, B.; Vaz, M.; Poorter, L.

    2014-01-01

    1. Tropical forests are globally important, but it is not clear whether biodiversity enhances carbon storage and sequestration in them. We tested this relationship focusing on components of functional trait biodiversity as predictors. 2. Data are presented for three rain forests in Bolivia, Brazil and Costa Rica. Initial above-ground biomass and biomass increments of survivors, recruits and survivors + recruits (total) were estimated for trees ≥10 cm d.b.h. in 62 and 21 1.0-ha plots, respecti...

  4. Evaluating the Predictive Validity of Graduate Management Admission Test Scores

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sireci, Stephen G.; Talento-Miller, Eileen

    2006-01-01

    Admissions data and first-year grade point average (GPA) data from 11 graduate management schools were analyzed to evaluate the predictive validity of Graduate Management Admission Test[R] (GMAT[R]) scores and the extent to which predictive validity held across sex and race/ethnicity. The results indicated GMAT verbal and quantitative scores had…

  5. Vestibular function testing.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Lang, E E

    2010-06-01

    Vestibular symptoms of vertigo, dizziness and dysequilibrium are common complaints which can be disabling both physically and psychologically. Routine examination of the ear nose and throat and neurological system are often normal in these patients. An accurate history and thorough clinical examination can provide a diagnosis in the majority of patients. However, in a subgroup of patients, vestibular function testing may be invaluable in arriving at a correct diagnosis and ultimately in the optimal treatment of these patients.

  6. The Metabolic Syndrome Predicts Longitudinal Changes in Clock Drawing Test Performance in Older Nondemented Hypertensive Individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viscogliosi, Giovanni; Chiriac, Iulia Maria; Andreozzi, Paola; Ettorre, Evaristo

    2016-05-01

    The present study evaluated the metabolic syndrome (MetS) as independent predictor of 1-year longitudinal changes in cognitive function. 104 stroke- and dementia-free older hypertensive subjects were studied. MetS was defined by NCEP ATP-III criteria. Cognitive function was assessed by the Clock Drawing Test (CDT); 1-year changes in cognitive function were expressed as annual changes in CDT performance. Brain magnetic resonance imaging studies (1.5T) were performed. Participants with MetS exhibited greater cognitive decline than those without (-1.78 ± 1.47 versus -0.74 ± 1.44 CDT points, t = 3.348, df = 102, p < 0.001). MetS predicted cognitive decline (β = -0.327, t = -3.059, df = 96, p = 0.003) independently of its components, age, baseline cognition, neuroimaging findings, blood pressure levels, and duration of hypertension. With the exception of systolic blood pressure, none of the individual components of MetS explained 1-year changes in CDT performance. MetS as an entity predicted accelerated 1-year decline in cognitive function, assessed by CDT, in a sample of older hypertensive subjects. Copyright © 2016 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Gender-Age-Physiology Index Stage for Predicting Future Lung Function Decline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salisbury, Margaret L; Xia, Meng; Zhou, Yueren; Murray, Susan; Tayob, Nabihah; Brown, Kevin K; Wells, Athol U; Schmidt, Shelley L; Martinez, Fernando J; Flaherty, Kevin R

    2016-02-01

    Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive lung disease with variable course. The Gender-Age-Physiology (GAP) Index and staging system uses clinical variables to stage mortality risk. It is unknown whether clinical staging predicts future decline in pulmonary function. We assessed whether the GAP stage predicts future pulmonary function decline and whether interval pulmonary function change predicts mortality after accounting for stage. Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (N = 657) were identified retrospectively at three tertiary referral centers, and baseline GAP stages were assessed. Mixed models were used to describe average trajectories of FVC and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (Dlco). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess whether declines in pulmonary function ≥ 10% in 6 months predict mortality after accounting for GAP stage. Over a 2-year period, GAP stage was not associated with differences in yearly lung function decline. After accounting for stage, a 10% decrease in FVC or Dlco over 6 months independently predicted death or transplantation (FVC hazard ratio, 1.37; Dlco hazard ratio, 1.30; both, P ≤ .03). Patients with GAP stage 2 with declining pulmonary function experienced a survival profile similar to patients with GAP stage 3, with 1-year event-free survival of 59.3% (95% CI, 49.4-67.8) vs 56.9% (95% CI, 42.2-69.1). Baseline GAP stage predicted death or lung transplantation but not the rate of future pulmonary function decline. After accounting for GAP stage, a decline of ≥ 10% over 6 months independently predicted death or lung transplantation. Copyright © 2016 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Indications and interpretation of esophageal function testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gyawali, C Prakash; de Bortoli, Nicola; Clarke, John; Marinelli, Carla; Tolone, Salvatore; Roman, Sabine; Savarino, Edoardo

    2018-05-12

    Esophageal symptoms are common, and can arise from mucosal, motor, functional, and neoplastic processes, among others. Judicious use of diagnostic testing can help define the etiology of symptoms and can direct management. Endoscopy, esophageal high-resolution manometry (HRM), ambulatory pH or pH-impedance manometry, and barium radiography are commonly used for esophageal function testing; functional lumen imaging probe is an emerging option. Recent consensus guidelines have provided direction in using test findings toward defining mechanisms of esophageal symptoms. The Chicago Classification describes hierarchical steps in diagnosing esophageal motility disorders. The Lyon Consensus characterizes conclusive evidence on esophageal testing for a diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and establishes a motor classification of GERD. Taking these recent advances into consideration, our discussion focuses primarily on the indications, technique, equipment, and interpretation of esophageal HRM and ambulatory reflux monitoring in the evaluation of esophageal symptoms, and describes indications for alternative esophageal tests. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

  9. Testing the Predictive Power of Coulomb Stress on Aftershock Sequences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woessner, J.; Lombardi, A.; Werner, M. J.; Marzocchi, W.

    2009-12-01

    Empirical and statistical models of clustered seismicity are usually strongly stochastic and perceived to be uninformative in their forecasts, since only marginal distributions are used, such as the Omori-Utsu and Gutenberg-Richter laws. In contrast, so-called physics-based aftershock models, based on seismic rate changes calculated from Coulomb stress changes and rate-and-state friction, make more specific predictions: anisotropic stress shadows and multiplicative rate changes. We test the predictive power of models based on Coulomb stress changes against statistical models, including the popular Short Term Earthquake Probabilities and Epidemic-Type Aftershock Sequences models: We score and compare retrospective forecasts on the aftershock sequences of the 1992 Landers, USA, the 1997 Colfiorito, Italy, and the 2008 Selfoss, Iceland, earthquakes. To quantify predictability, we use likelihood-based metrics that test the consistency of the forecasts with the data, including modified and existing tests used in prospective forecast experiments within the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP). Our results indicate that a statistical model performs best. Moreover, two Coulomb model classes seem unable to compete: Models based on deterministic Coulomb stress changes calculated from a given fault-slip model, and those based on fixed receiver faults. One model of Coulomb stress changes does perform well and sometimes outperforms the statistical models, but its predictive information is diluted, because of uncertainties included in the fault-slip model. Our results suggest that models based on Coulomb stress changes need to incorporate stochastic features that represent model and data uncertainty.

  10. Multiloop Integral System Test (MIST): MIST Facility Functional Specification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Habib, T.F.; Koksal, C.G.; Moskal, T.E.; Rush, G.C.; Gloudemans, J.R.

    1991-04-01

    The Multiloop Integral System Test (MIST) is part of a multiphase program started in 1983 to address small-break loss-of-coolant accidents (SBLOCAs) specific to Babcock and Wilcox designed plants. MIST is sponsored by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Babcock ampersand Wilcox Owners Group, the Electric Power Research Institute, and Babcock and Wilcox. The unique features of the Babcock and Wilcox design, specifically the hot leg U-bends and steam generators, prevented the use of existing integral system data or existing integral facilities to address the thermal-hydraulic SBLOCA questions. MIST was specifically designed and constructed for this program, and an existing facility -- the Once Through Integral System (OTIS) -- was also used. Data from MIST and OTIS are used to benchmark the adequacy of system codes, such as RELAP5 and TRAC, for predicting abnormal plant transients. The MIST Functional Specification documents as-built design features, dimensions, instrumentation, and test approach. It also presents the scaling basis for the facility and serves to define the scope of work for the facility design and construction. 13 refs., 112 figs., 38 tabs

  11. Statistical tests for equal predictive ability across multiple forecasting methods

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borup, Daniel; Thyrsgaard, Martin

    We develop a multivariate generalization of the Giacomini-White tests for equal conditional predictive ability. The tests are applicable to a mixture of nested and non-nested models, incorporate estimation uncertainty explicitly, and allow for misspecification of the forecasting model as well as ...

  12. Challenges in microbial ecology: Building predictive understanding of community function and dynamics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Widder, Stefanie; Allen, Rosalind J.; Pfeiffer, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    The importance of microbial communities (MCs) cannot be overstated. MCs underpin the biogeochemical cycles of the earth's soil, oceans and the atmosphere, and perform ecosystem functions that impact plants, animals and humans. Yet our ability to predict and manage the function of these highly...... complex, dynamically changing communities is limited. Building predictive models that link MC composition to function is a key emerging challenge in microbial ecology. Here, we argue that addressing this challenge requires close coordination of experimental data collection and method development...... is needed to achieve significant progress in our understanding of MC dynamics and function, and we make specific practical suggestions as to how this could be achieved....

  13. PFP: Automated prediction of gene ontology functional annotations with confidence scores using protein sequence data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkins, Troy; Chitale, Meghana; Luban, Stanislav; Kihara, Daisuke

    2009-02-15

    Protein function prediction is a central problem in bioinformatics, increasing in importance recently due to the rapid accumulation of biological data awaiting interpretation. Sequence data represents the bulk of this new stock and is the obvious target for consideration as input, as newly sequenced organisms often lack any other type of biological characterization. We have previously introduced PFP (Protein Function Prediction) as our sequence-based predictor of Gene Ontology (GO) functional terms. PFP interprets the results of a PSI-BLAST search by extracting and scoring individual functional attributes, searching a wide range of E-value sequence matches, and utilizing conventional data mining techniques to fill in missing information. We have shown it to be effective in predicting both specific and low-resolution functional attributes when sufficient data is unavailable. Here we describe (1) significant improvements to the PFP infrastructure, including the addition of prediction significance and confidence scores, (2) a thorough benchmark of performance and comparisons to other related prediction methods, and (3) applications of PFP predictions to genome-scale data. We applied PFP predictions to uncharacterized protein sequences from 15 organisms. Among these sequences, 60-90% could be annotated with a GO molecular function term at high confidence (>or=80%). We also applied our predictions to the protein-protein interaction network of the Malaria plasmodium (Plasmodium falciparum). High confidence GO biological process predictions (>or=90%) from PFP increased the number of fully enriched interactions in this dataset from 23% of interactions to 94%. Our benchmark comparison shows significant performance improvement of PFP relative to GOtcha, InterProScan, and PSI-BLAST predictions. This is consistent with the performance of PFP as the overall best predictor in both the AFP-SIG '05 and CASP7 function (FN) assessments. PFP is available as a web service at http

  14. The Functional Task Test (FTT): An Interdisciplinary Testing Protocol to Investigate the Factors Underlying Changes in Astronaut Functional Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Lawrence, E. L.; Arzeno, N. M.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts. S. H.; hide

    2011-01-01

    Exposure to space flight causes adaptations in multiple physiological systems including changes in sensorimotor, cardiovascular, and neuromuscular systems. These changes may affect a crewmember s ability to perform critical mission tasks immediately after landing on a planetary surface. The overall goal of this project is to determine the effects of space flight on functional tests that are representative of high priority exploration mission tasks and to identify the key underlying physiological factors that contribute to decrements in performance. To achieve this goal we developed an interdisciplinary testing protocol (Functional Task Test, FTT) that evaluates both astronaut functional performance and related physiological changes. Functional tests include ladder climbing, hatch opening, jump down, manual manipulation of objects and tool use, seat egress and obstacle avoidance, recovery from a fall and object translation tasks. Physiological measures include assessments of postural and gait control, dynamic visual acuity, fine motor control, plasma volume, orthostatic intolerance, upper- and lower-body muscle strength, power, endurance, control, and neuromuscular drive. Crewmembers perform this integrated test protocol before and after short (Shuttle) and long-duration (ISS) space flight. Data are collected on two sessions before flight, on landing day (Shuttle only) and 1, 6 and 30 days after landing. Preliminary results from both Shuttle and ISS crewmembers indicate decrement in performance of the functional tasks after both short and long-duration space flight. On-going data collection continues to improve the statistical power required to map changes in functional task performance to alterations in physiological systems. The information obtained from this study will be used to design and implement countermeasures that specifically target the physiological systems most responsible for the altered functional performance associated with space flight.

  15. Lay perceptions of predictive testing for diabetes based on DNA test results versus family history assessment: a focus group study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijdenes-Pijl, Miranda; Dondorp, Wybo J; Timmermans, Danielle Rm; Cornel, Martina C; Henneman, Lidewij

    2011-07-05

    This study assessed lay perceptions of issues related to predictive genetic testing for multifactorial diseases. These perceived issues may differ from the "classic" issues, e.g. autonomy, discrimination, and psychological harm that are considered important in predictive testing for monogenic disorders. In this study, type 2 diabetes was used as an example, and perceptions with regard to predictive testing based on DNA test results and family history assessment were compared. Eight focus group interviews were held with 45 individuals aged 35-70 years with (n = 3) and without (n = 1) a family history of diabetes, mixed groups of these two (n = 2), and diabetes patients (n = 2). All interviews were transcribed and analysed using Atlas-ti. Most participants believed in the ability of a predictive test to identify people at risk for diabetes and to motivate preventive behaviour. Different reasons underlying motivation were considered when comparing DNA test results and a family history risk assessment. A perceived drawback of DNA testing was that diabetes was considered not severe enough for this type of risk assessment. In addition, diabetes family history assessment was not considered useful by some participants, since there are also other risk factors involved, not everyone has a diabetes family history or knows their family history, and it might have a negative influence on family relations. Respect for autonomy of individuals was emphasized more with regard to DNA testing than family history assessment. Other issues such as psychological harm, discrimination, and privacy were only briefly mentioned for both tests. The results suggest that most participants believe a predictive genetic test could be used in the prevention of multifactorial disorders, such as diabetes, but indicate points to consider before both these tests are applied. These considerations differ with regard to the method of assessment (DNA test or obtaining family history) and also differ from

  16. Experimental fast reactor JOYO MK-III functional test. Primary auxiliary cooling system test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karube, Koji; Akagi, Shinji; Terano, Toshihiro; Onuki, Osamu; Ito, Hideaki; Aoki, Hiroshi; Odo, Toshihiro

    2004-03-01

    This paper describes the results of primary auxiliary cooling system, which were done as a part of JOYO MK-III function test. The aim of the tests was to confirm the operational performance of primary auxiliary EMP and the protection system including siphon breaker of primary auxiliary cooling system. The items of the tests were: (Test No.): (Test item). 1) SKS-117: EMP start up test. 2) SKS-118-1: EMP start up test when pony motor running. 3) SKS-121: Function test of siphon breaker. The results of the tests satisfied the required performance, and demonstrated successful operation of primary auxiliary cooling system. (author)

  17. Clinical and functional criteria for predicting asthma in infants

    OpenAIRE

    Yu. L. Mizemitskiy; V. A. Pavlenko; I. M. Melnikova

    2015-01-01

    Objective: to determine clinical and functional criteria for predicting asthma in children who have sustained acute obstructive bronchitis in infancy. Subjects and methods. A total of 125 infants aged 2 to 36 months who had experienced 1 -2 episodes of acute obstructive bronchitis and treated at hospital were examined when bronchial obstruction syndrome was being relieved. In addition to physical examination, functional studies (computerized bronchophonography and heart rate variability asses...

  18. Individual differences in executive function and central coherence predict developmental changes in theory of mind in autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellicano, Elizabeth

    2010-03-01

    There is strong evidence to suggest that individuals with autism show atypicalities in multiple cognitive domains, including theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF), and central coherence (CC). In this study, the longitudinal relationships among these 3 aspects of cognition in autism were investigated. Thirty-seven cognitively able children with an autism spectrum condition were assessed on tests targeting ToM (false-belief prediction), EF (planning ability, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control), and CC (local processing) at intake and again 3 years later. Time 1 EF and CC skills were longitudinally predictive of change in children's ToM test performance, independent of age, language, nonverbal intelligence, and early ToM skills. Predictive relations in the opposite direction were not significant, and there were no developmental links between EF and CC. Rather than showing problems in ToM, EF and CC as co-occurring and independent atypicalities in autism, these findings suggest that early domain-general skills play a critical role in shaping the developmental trajectory of children's ToM.

  19. Usefulness of a 50-meter round walking test for fall prediction in the elderly requiring long-term care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hachiya, Mizuki; Murata, Shin; Otao, Hiroshi; Ihara, Takehiko; Mizota, Katsuhiko; Asami, Toyoko

    2015-01-01

    [Purpose] This study aimed to verify the usefulness of a 50-m round walking test developed as an assessment method for walking ability in the elderly. [Subjects] The subjects were 166 elderly requiring long-term care individuals (mean age, 80.5 years). [Methods] In order to evaluate the factors that had affected falls in the subjects in the previous year, we performed the 50-m round walking test, functional reach test, one-leg standing test, and 5-m walking test and measured grip strength and quadriceps strength. [Results] The 50-m round walking test was selected as a variable indicating fall risk based on the results of multiple logistic regression analysis. The cutoff value of the 50-m round walking test for determining fall risk was 0.66 m/sec. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.64. The sensitivity of the cutoff value was 65.7%, the specificity was 63.6%, the positive predictive value was 55.0%, the negative predictive value was 73.3%, and the accuracy was 64.5%. [Conclusion] These results suggest that the 50-m round walking test is a potentially useful parameter for the determination of fall risk in the elderly requiring long-term care. PMID:26834327

  20. Function and Phenotype prediction through Data and Knowledge Fusion

    KAUST Repository

    Vespoor, Karen

    2016-01-01

    I will introduce the use of text mining techniques to support analysis of biological data sets, and will specifically discuss applications in protein function and phenotype prediction, as well as analysis of genetic variants that are supported

  1. Functional Testing Protocols for Commercial Building Efficiency Baseline Modeling Software

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jump, David; Price, Phillip N.; Granderson, Jessica; Sohn, Michael

    2013-09-06

    This document describes procedures for testing and validating proprietary baseline energy modeling software accuracy in predicting energy use over the period of interest, such as a month or a year. The procedures are designed according to the methodology used for public domain baselining software in another LBNL report that was (like the present report) prepared for Pacific Gas and Electric Company: ?Commercial Building Energy Baseline Modeling Software: Performance Metrics and Method Testing with Open Source Models and Implications for Proprietary Software Testing Protocols? (referred to here as the ?Model Analysis Report?). The test procedure focuses on the quality of the software?s predictions rather than on the specific algorithms used to predict energy use. In this way the software vendor is not required to divulge or share proprietary information about how their software works, while enabling stakeholders to assess its performance.

  2. Prediction and Factor Extraction of Drug Function by Analyzing Medical Records in Developing Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Min; Nohara, Yasunobu; Nakamura, Masafumi; Nakashima, Naoki

    2017-01-01

    The World Health Organization has declared Bangladesh one of 58 countries facing acute Human Resources for Health (HRH) crisis. Artificial intelligence in healthcare has been shown to be successful for diagnostics. Using machine learning to predict pharmaceutical prescriptions may solve HRH crises. In this study, we investigate a predictive model by analyzing prescription data of 4,543 subjects in Bangladesh. We predict the function of prescribed drugs, comparing three machine-learning approaches. The approaches compare whether a subject shall be prescribed medicine from the 21 most frequently prescribed drug functions. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) were selected as a way to evaluate and assess prediction models. The results show the drug function with the best prediction performance was oral hypoglycemic drugs, which has an average AUC of 0.962. To understand how the variables affect prediction, we conducted factor analysis based on tree-based algorithms and natural language processing techniques.

  3. Quantitative sensory testing predicts pregabalin efficacy in painful chronic pancreatitis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Olesen, S.S.; Graversen, C.; Bouwense, S.A.W.; Goor, H. van; Wilder-Smith, O.H.G.; Drewes, A.M.

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: A major problem in pain medicine is the lack of knowledge about which treatment suits a specific patient. We tested the ability of quantitative sensory testing to predict the analgesic effect of pregabalin and placebo in patients with chronic pancreatitis. METHODS: Sixty-four patients

  4. Executive functioning predicts reading, mathematics, and theory of mind during the elementary years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cantin, Rachelle H; Gnaedinger, Emily K; Gallaway, Kristin C; Hesson-McInnis, Matthew S; Hund, Alycia M

    2016-06-01

    The goal of this study was to specify how executive functioning components predict reading, mathematics, and theory of mind performance during the elementary years. A sample of 93 7- to 10-year-old children completed measures of working memory, inhibition, flexibility, reading, mathematics, and theory of mind. Path analysis revealed that all three executive functioning components (working memory, inhibition, and flexibility) mediated age differences in reading comprehension, whereas age predicted mathematics and theory of mind directly. In addition, reading mediated the influence of executive functioning components on mathematics and theory of mind, except that flexibility also predicted mathematics directly. These findings provide important details about the development of executive functioning, reading, mathematics, and theory of mind during the elementary years. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Testing the prediction error difference between two predictors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van de Wiel, M.A.; Berkhof, J.; van Wieringen, W.N.

    2009-01-01

    We develop an inference framework for the difference in errors between 2 prediction procedures. The 2 procedures may differ in any aspect and possibly utilize different sets of covariates. We apply training and testing on the same data set, which is accommodated by sample splitting. For each split,

  6. Platelet function testing in pediatric patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvas, Anne-Mette; Favaloro, Emmanuel J

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: Platelets play a key role in primary hemostasis and are also intricately linked to secondary hemostasis. Investigation of platelet function in children, especially in neonates, is seriously challenged by the volumes required to perform the majority of platelet function tests and due...

  7. Routine blood tests to predict liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Yung-Yu; Tung, Shui-Yi; Lee, Kamfai; Wu, Cheng-Shyong; Wei, Kuo-Liang; Shen, Chien-Heng; Chang, Te-Sheng; Lin, Yi-Hsiung

    2012-02-28

    To verify the usefulness of FibroQ for predicting fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, compared with other noninvasive tests. This retrospective cohort study included 237 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C who had undergone percutaneous liver biopsy before treatment. FibroQ, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), AST to platelet ratio index, cirrhosis discriminant score, age-platelet index (API), Pohl score, FIB-4 index, and Lok's model were calculated and compared. FibroQ, FIB-4, AAR, API and Lok's model results increased significantly as fibrosis advanced (analysis of variance test: P fibrosis score in chronic hepatitis C compared with other noninvasive tests. FibroQ is a simple and useful test for predicting significant fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

  8. Days on radiosensitivity: individual variability and predictive tests; Radiosensibilite: variabilite individuelle et tests predictifs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-07-01

    The radiosensitivity is a part of usual clinical observations. It is already included in the therapy protocols. however, some questions stay on its individual variability and on the difficulty to evaluate it. The point will be stocked on its origin and its usefulness in predictive medicine. Through examples on the use of predictive tests and ethical and legal questions that they raise, concrete cases will be presented by specialists such radio biologists, geneticists, immunologists, jurists and occupational physicians. (N.C.)

  9. A new method for predicting functional recovery of stroke patients with hemiplegia: logarithmic modelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koyama, Tetsuo; Matsumoto, Kenji; Okuno, Taiji; Domen, Kazuhisa

    2005-10-01

    To examine the validity and applicability of logarithmic modelling for predicting functional recovery of stroke patients with hemiplegia. Longitudinal postal survey. Stroke patients with hemiplegia staying in a long-term rehabilitation facility, who had been referred from acute medical service 30-60 days after onset. Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores were periodically assessed during hospitalization. For each individual, a logarithmic formula that was scaled by an interval increase in FIM scores during the initial 2-6 weeks was used for predicting functional recovery. For the study, we recruited 18 patients who showed a wide variety of disability levels on admission (FIM scores 25-107). For each patient, the predicted FIM scores derived from the logarithmic formula matched the actual change in FIM scores. The changes predicted the recovery of motor rather than cognitive functions. Regression analysis showed a close fit between logarithmic modelling and actual FIM scores (across-subject R2 = 0.945). Provided with two initial time-point samplings, logarithmic modelling allows accurate prediction of functional recovery for individuals. Because the modelling is mathematically simple, it can be widely applied in daily clinical practice.

  10. Imaging-based liver function tests. Past, present and future; Bildgestuetzte Leberfunktionstests. Stand der Technik und zukuenftige Entwicklungen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Geisel, D.; Hamm, B.; Denecke, T. [Charite, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Berlin (Germany). Dept. of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology; Luedemann, L. [Essen University Hospital (Germany). Dept. of Medical Physics

    2015-10-15

    Preoperative assessment of liver function and prediction of postoperative functional reserve are important in patients scheduled for liver resection. While determination of absolute liver function currently mostly relies on laboratory tests and clinical scores, postoperative remnant liver function is estimated volumetrically using imaging data obtained with computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Accurate estimation of hepatic function is also relevant for intensive care patients, oncologic patients, and patients with diffuse liver disease. The indocyanine green (ICG) test is still the only established test for estimating true global liver function. However, more recent tools such as the LiMAx test also allow global assessment of hepatic function. These tests are limited when liver function is inhomogeneously distributed, which is the case in such conditions as unilateral cholestasis or after portal vein embolization. Imaging-based liver function tests were first developed in nuclear medicine and, compared with laboratory tests, have the advantage of displaying the spatial distribution of liver function. Nuclear medicine scans are obtained using tracers such as 99mTc galactosyl and 99mTc mebrofenin. Liver function is typically assessed using planar scintigraphy. However, three-dimensional volumetry is possible with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT-CT). Another technique for image-based liver function estimation is Gd-EOB-enhanced MRI. While metabolization of Gd-EOB in the body is similar to that of ICG and mebrofenin, its distribution in the liver can be displayed by MRI with higher temporal and spatial resolution. Moreover, MRI-based determination of liver function can be integrated into routine preoperative imaging. This makes MRI an ideal candidate for preoperative determination of liver function, though the best pulse sequence and the parameter to be derived from the image information remain to be identified. Another

  11. An objective measure of physical function of elderly outpatients. The Physical Performance Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reuben, D B; Siu, A L

    1990-10-01

    Direct observation of physical function has the advantage of providing an objective, quantifiable measure of functional capabilities. We have developed the Physical Performance Test (PPT), which assesses multiple domains of physical function using observed performance of tasks that simulate activities of daily living of various degrees of difficulty. Two versions are presented: a nine-item scale that includes writing a sentence, simulated eating, turning 360 degrees, putting on and removing a jacket, lifting a book and putting it on a shelf, picking up a penny from the floor, a 50-foot walk test, and climbing stairs (scored as two items); and a seven-item scale that does not include stairs. The PPT can be completed in less than 10 minutes and requires only a few simple props. We then tested the validity of PPT using 183 subjects (mean age, 79 years) in six settings including four clinical practices (one of Parkinson's disease patients), a board-and-care home, and a senior citizens' apartment. The PPT was reliable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.87 and 0.79, interrater reliability = 0.99 and 0.93 for the nine-item and seven-item tests, respectively) and demonstrated concurrent validity with self-reported measures of physical function. Scores on the PPT for both scales were highly correlated (.50 to .80) with modified Rosow-Breslau, Instrumental and Basic Activities of Daily Living scales, and Tinetti gait score. Scores on the PPT were more moderately correlated with self-reported health status, cognitive status, and mental health (.24 to .47), and negatively with age (-.24 and -.18). Thus, the PPT also demonstrated construct validity. The PPT is a promising objective measurement of physical function, but its clinical and research value for screening, monitoring, and prediction will have to be determined.

  12. Predicting College Students' Positive Psychology Associated Traits with Executive Functioning Dimensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Seth

    2016-01-01

    More research is needed that investigates how positive psychology-associated traits are predicted by neurocognitive processes. Correspondingly, the purpose of this study was to ascertain how, and to what extent, four traits, namely, grit, optimism, positive affect, and life satisfaction were predicted by the executive functioning (EF) dimensions…

  13. Models for predicting objective function weights in prostate cancer IMRT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boutilier, Justin J.; Lee, Taewoo; Craig, Tim; Sharpe, Michael B.; Chan, Timothy C. Y.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To develop and evaluate the clinical applicability of advanced machine learning models that simultaneously predict multiple optimization objective function weights from patient geometry for intensity-modulated radiation therapy of prostate cancer. Methods: A previously developed inverse optimization method was applied retrospectively to determine optimal objective function weights for 315 treated patients. The authors used an overlap volume ratio (OV) of bladder and rectum for different PTV expansions and overlap volume histogram slopes (OVSR and OVSB for the rectum and bladder, respectively) as explanatory variables that quantify patient geometry. Using the optimal weights as ground truth, the authors trained and applied three prediction models: logistic regression (LR), multinomial logistic regression (MLR), and weighted K-nearest neighbor (KNN). The population average of the optimal objective function weights was also calculated. Results: The OV at 0.4 cm and OVSR at 0.1 cm features were found to be the most predictive of the weights. The authors observed comparable performance (i.e., no statistically significant difference) between LR, MLR, and KNN methodologies, with LR appearing to perform the best. All three machine learning models outperformed the population average by a statistically significant amount over a range of clinical metrics including bladder/rectum V53Gy, bladder/rectum V70Gy, and dose to the bladder, rectum, CTV, and PTV. When comparing the weights directly, the LR model predicted bladder and rectum weights that had, on average, a 73% and 74% relative improvement over the population average weights, respectively. The treatment plans resulting from the LR weights had, on average, a rectum V70Gy that was 35% closer to the clinical plan and a bladder V70Gy that was 29% closer, compared to the population average weights. Similar results were observed for all other clinical metrics. Conclusions: The authors demonstrated that the KNN and MLR

  14. Models for predicting objective function weights in prostate cancer IMRT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boutilier, Justin J., E-mail: j.boutilier@mail.utoronto.ca; Lee, Taewoo [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8 (Canada); Craig, Tim [Radiation Medicine Program, UHN Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, 610 University of Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2M9, Canada and Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, 148 - 150 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3S2 (Canada); Sharpe, Michael B. [Radiation Medicine Program, UHN Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, 610 University of Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2M9 (Canada); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, 148 - 150 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3S2 (Canada); Techna Institute for the Advancement of Technology for Health, 124 - 100 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1P5 (Canada); Chan, Timothy C. Y. [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada and Techna Institute for the Advancement of Technology for Health, 124 - 100 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1P5 (Canada)

    2015-04-15

    Purpose: To develop and evaluate the clinical applicability of advanced machine learning models that simultaneously predict multiple optimization objective function weights from patient geometry for intensity-modulated radiation therapy of prostate cancer. Methods: A previously developed inverse optimization method was applied retrospectively to determine optimal objective function weights for 315 treated patients. The authors used an overlap volume ratio (OV) of bladder and rectum for different PTV expansions and overlap volume histogram slopes (OVSR and OVSB for the rectum and bladder, respectively) as explanatory variables that quantify patient geometry. Using the optimal weights as ground truth, the authors trained and applied three prediction models: logistic regression (LR), multinomial logistic regression (MLR), and weighted K-nearest neighbor (KNN). The population average of the optimal objective function weights was also calculated. Results: The OV at 0.4 cm and OVSR at 0.1 cm features were found to be the most predictive of the weights. The authors observed comparable performance (i.e., no statistically significant difference) between LR, MLR, and KNN methodologies, with LR appearing to perform the best. All three machine learning models outperformed the population average by a statistically significant amount over a range of clinical metrics including bladder/rectum V53Gy, bladder/rectum V70Gy, and dose to the bladder, rectum, CTV, and PTV. When comparing the weights directly, the LR model predicted bladder and rectum weights that had, on average, a 73% and 74% relative improvement over the population average weights, respectively. The treatment plans resulting from the LR weights had, on average, a rectum V70Gy that was 35% closer to the clinical plan and a bladder V70Gy that was 29% closer, compared to the population average weights. Similar results were observed for all other clinical metrics. Conclusions: The authors demonstrated that the KNN and MLR

  15. A semiquantitative MRI-Score can predict loss of lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis: Preliminary results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schaefer, Juergen F.; Schmidt, Katharina; Teufel, Matthias; Fleischer, Sabrina; Gatidis, Sergios; Schaefer, Susanne; Nikolaou, Konstantin; Tsiflikas, Ilias [University Hospital of Tuebingen, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Tuebingen (Germany); Hector, Andreas; Graepler-Mainka, Ute; Riethmueller, Joachim; Hartl, Dominik [University Children' s Hospital of Tuebingen, Department of Paediatrics I, Tuebingen (Germany)

    2018-01-15

    To evaluate the applicability of a semiquantitative MRI scoring system (MR-CF-S) as a prognostic marker for clinical course of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. This observational study of a single-centre CF cohort included a group of 61 patients (mean age 12.9 ± 4.7 years) receiving morphological and functional pulmonary MRI, pulmonary function testing (PFT) and follow-up of 2 years. MRI was analysed by three raters using MR-CF-S. The inter-rater agreement, correlation of score categories with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV{sub 1}) at baseline, and the predictive value of clinical parameters, and score categories was assessed for the whole cohort and a subgroup of 40 patients with moderately impaired lung function. The inter-rater agreement of MR-CF-S was sufficient (mean intraclass correlation coefficient 0.92). MR-CF-S (-0.62; p < 0.05) and most of the categories significantly correlated with FEV{sub 1}. Differences between patients with relevant loss of FEV{sub 1} (>3%/year) and normal course were only significant for MR-CF-S (p < 0.05) but not for clinical parameters. Centrilobular opacity (CO) was the most promising score category for prediction of a decline of FEV{sub 1} (area under curve: whole cohort 0.69; subgroup 0.86). MR-CF-S is promising to predict a loss of lung function. CO seems to be a particular finding in CF patients with an abnormal course. (orig.)

  16. Spatially distributed flame transfer functions for predicting combustion dynamics in lean premixed gas turbine combustors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, K.T.; Lee, J.G.; Quay, B.D.; Santavicca, D.A. [Center for Advanced Power Generation, Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (United States)

    2010-09-15

    The present paper describes a methodology to improve the accuracy of prediction of the eigenfrequencies and growth rates of self-induced instabilities and demonstrates its application to a laboratory-scale, swirl-stabilized, lean-premixed, gas turbine combustor. The influence of the spatial heat release distribution is accounted for using local flame transfer function (FTF) measurements. The two-microphone technique and CH{sup *} chemiluminescence intensity measurements are used to determine the input (inlet velocity perturbation) and the output functions (heat release oscillation), respectively, for the local flame transfer functions. The experimentally determined local flame transfer functions are superposed using the flame transfer function superposition principle, and the result is incorporated into an analytic thermoacoustic model, in order to predict the linear stability characteristics of a given system. Results show that when the flame length is not acoustically compact the model prediction calculated using the local flame transfer functions is better than the prediction made using the global flame transfer function. In the case of a flame in the compact flame regime, accurate predictions of eigenfrequencies and growth rates can be obtained using the global flame transfer function. It was also found that the general response characteristics of the local FTF (gain and phase) are qualitatively the same as those of the global FTF. (author)

  17. Gain-Scheduled Model Predictive Control of Wind Turbines using Laguerre Functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adegas, Fabiano Daher; Wisniewski, Rafal; Larsen, Lars Finn Sloth

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents a systematic approach to design gain-scheduled predictive controllers for wind turbines. The predictive control law is based on Laguerre functions to parameterize control signals and a parameter-dependent cost function that is analytically determined from turbine data....... These properties facilitate the design of speed controllers by placement of the closed-loop poles (when constraints are not active) and systematic adaptation towards changes in the operating point. Vibration control of undamped modes is achieved by imposing a certain degree of stability to the closed-loop system....... The approach can be utilized to the design of new controllers and to represent existing gain-scheduled controllers as predictive controllers. The numerical example and simulations illustrate the design of a speed controller augmented with active damping of the tower fore-aft displacement....

  18. ORIENTEERING SITUATION TESTS IN THE FUNCTION OF PREDICTING SUCCESS OF POLICE OFFICERS IN TOPOGRAPHY FIELD TRAINING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boban Milojković

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available The sample of 45 students (15 students of the I year of Police Academy – the members of orienteering section – Group 1, 15 students of the I year of Police Academy – Group 2 and 15 students of Advanced School of Interior Affairs – Group 3 has been chosen to test the degree of success in topography field training through several stages, and orienteering situation tests were used in one of these stages. The research was carried out following the completed theoretical and practical training in topography by the same teacher but according to various models. During the research, three batteries of tests were used, the tests of capability of fast and accurate reading of topographic maps in the form of perforated sections (T-1, T-2 and T-3. With regard to measuring success in solving orienteering situation tests of three tested groups based on which the educational efficiency of police members in topography field training should have been evaluated, the obtained results have shown that at a general level there were statistically important differences of total variance of the observed set of variables of tested groups at the level p = 0.000 (Willks Lambda, 0.056, F = 225.598. The results have shown that there were statistically important differences between the success in test solving with reference to groups at the level p = 0.002 and p = 0.000, respectively. Thedifferences between groups in the function of an individual test were as follows: T-1, there was a cross difference between all three groups; T-2, there was no difference between the first and second groups, but the third group differed in relation to the first and second ones; T-3, there was a cross difference between all three groups. The results of tested population by means of the stated instruments describe the level of competency of police members in topography respectively in order to individualize training, but primarily prove statistically considerable difference of the level

  19. Cognitive declines precede and predict functional declines in aging and Alzheimer's disease.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura B Zahodne

    Full Text Available To investigate the temporal ordering of cognitive and functional declines separately in older adults with or without Alzheimer's disease (AD.A community-based longitudinal study of aging and dementia in Northern Manhattan (Washington Heights/Hamilton Heights Inwood Columbia Aging Project and a multicenter, clinic-based longitudinal study of prevalent AD at Columbia University Medical Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Hôpital de la Salpêtrière in Paris, France (the Predictors Study.3,443 initially non-demented older adults (612 with eventual incident dementia and 517 patients with AD.Cognitive measures included the modified Mini-Mental State Exam and composite scores of memory and language derived from a standardized neuropsychological battery. Function was measured with the Blessed Dementia Rating Scale, completed by the participant (in the sample of non-demented older adults or an informant (in the sample of prevalent AD patients. Data were analyzed with autoregressive cross-lagged panel analysis.Cognitive scores more consistently predicted subsequent functional abilities than vice versa in non-demented older adults, participants with eventual incident dementia, and patients with prevalent AD.Cognitive declines appear to precede and cause functional declines prior to and following dementia diagnosis. Standardized neuropsychological tests are valid predictors of later functional changes in both non-demented and demented older adults.

  20. Gene-specific function prediction for non-synonymous mutations in monogenic diabetes genes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Quan Li

    Full Text Available The rapid progress of genomic technologies has been providing new opportunities to address the need of maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY molecular diagnosis. However, whether a new mutation causes MODY can be questionable. A number of in silico methods have been developed to predict functional effects of rare human mutations. The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of different bioinformatics methods in the functional prediction of nonsynonymous mutations in each MODY gene, and provides reference matrices to assist the molecular diagnosis of MODY. Our study showed that the prediction scores by different methods of the diabetes mutations were highly correlated, but were more complimentary than replacement to each other. The available in silico methods for the prediction of diabetes mutations had varied performances across different genes. Applying gene-specific thresholds defined by this study may be able to increase the performance of in silico prediction of disease-causing mutations.

  1. Simple exercise test for the prediction of relative heat tolerance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kenney, W.L.; Lewis, D.A.; Anderson, R.K.; Kamon, E.

    1986-01-01

    A medical screening exercise test is presented which accurately predicts relative heat tolerance during work in very hot environments. The test consisted of 15-20 min of exercise at a standard absolute intensity of about 600 kcal/hr (140W) with the subject wearing a vapor-barrier suit. Five minutes after the subject exercised, recovery heart rate was measured. When this heart rate is used, a physiological limit (+/- approximately 5 min) can be predicted with 95% confidence for the most intense work-heat conditions found in nuclear power stations. In addition, site health and safety personnel can establish qualification criteria for work on hot jobs, based on the test results. The test as developed can be performed in an office environment with the use of a minimum of equipment by personnel with minimal expertise and training. Total maximal test duration is about 20-25 min per person and only heart rate need be monitored (simple pulse palpation will suffice). Test modality is adaptable to any ergometer, the most readily available and least expensive of which is bench-stepping. It is recommended that this test be available for use for those persons who, based upon routine medical examination or past history, are suspected of being relatively heat intolerant

  2. Summary of functional and performance test procedures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mitzel, Jens; Gülzow, Erich; Friedrich, K. Andreas

    Different Test Modules (TM) are defined for the functional and performance characterization of a PEMFC stack. The master document TM2.00 defines requirements and methodology for parameter variation, stability and data acquisition.......Different Test Modules (TM) are defined for the functional and performance characterization of a PEMFC stack. The master document TM2.00 defines requirements and methodology for parameter variation, stability and data acquisition....

  3. Functional Movement Screen for Predicting Running Injuries in 18- to 24-Year-Old Competitive Male Runners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hotta, Takayuki; Nishiguchi, Shu; Fukutani, Naoto; Tashiro, Yuto; Adachi, Daiki; Morino, Saori; Shirooka, Hidehiko; Nozaki, Yuma; Hirata, Hinako; Yamaguchi, Moe; Aoyama, Tomoki

    2015-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the functional movement screen (FMS) could predict running injuries in competitive runners. Eighty-four competitive male runners (average age = 20.0 ± 1.1 years) participated. Each subject performed the FMS, which consisted of 7 movement tests (each score range: 0-3, total score range: 0-21), during the preseason. The incidence of running injuries (time lost because of injury ≤ 4 weeks) was investigated through a follow-up survey during the 6-month season. Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to investigate which movement tests were significantly associated with running injuries. The receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the cutoff. The mean FMS composite score was 14.1 ± 2.3. The ROC analysis determined the cutoff at 14/15 (sensitivity = 0.73, specificity = 0.54), suggesting that the composite score had a low predictability for running injuries. However, the total scores (0-6) from the deep squat (DS) and active straight leg raise (ASLR) tests (DS and ASLR), which were significant with the U-test, had relatively high predictability at the cutoff of 3/4 (sensitivity = 0.73, specificity = 0.74). Furthermore, the multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the DS and ASLR scores of ≤3 significantly influenced the incidence of running injuries after adjusting for subjects' characteristics (odds ratio = 9.7, 95% confidence interval = 2.1-44.4). Thus, the current study identified the DS and ASLR score as a more effective method than the composite score to screen the risk of running injuries in competitive male runners.

  4. An integrative approach to ortholog prediction for disease-focused and other functional studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Yanhui; Flockhart, Ian; Vinayagam, Arunachalam; Bergwitz, Clemens; Berger, Bonnie; Perrimon, Norbert; Mohr, Stephanie E

    2011-08-31

    Mapping of orthologous genes among species serves an important role in functional genomics by allowing researchers to develop hypotheses about gene function in one species based on what is known about the functions of orthologs in other species. Several tools for predicting orthologous gene relationships are available. However, these tools can give different results and identification of predicted orthologs is not always straightforward. We report a simple but effective tool, the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center Integrative Ortholog Prediction Tool (DIOPT; http://www.flyrnai.org/diopt), for rapid identification of orthologs. DIOPT integrates existing approaches, facilitating rapid identification of orthologs among human, mouse, zebrafish, C. elegans, Drosophila, and S. cerevisiae. As compared to individual tools, DIOPT shows increased sensitivity with only a modest decrease in specificity. Moreover, the flexibility built into the DIOPT graphical user interface allows researchers with different goals to appropriately 'cast a wide net' or limit results to highest confidence predictions. DIOPT also displays protein and domain alignments, including percent amino acid identity, for predicted ortholog pairs. This helps users identify the most appropriate matches among multiple possible orthologs. To facilitate using model organisms for functional analysis of human disease-associated genes, we used DIOPT to predict high-confidence orthologs of disease genes in Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) and genes in genome-wide association study (GWAS) data sets. The results are accessible through the DIOPT diseases and traits query tool (DIOPT-DIST; http://www.flyrnai.org/diopt-dist). DIOPT and DIOPT-DIST are useful resources for researchers working with model organisms, especially those who are interested in exploiting model organisms such as Drosophila to study the functions of human disease genes.

  5. Bedside Ultrasound of Quadriceps to Predict Rehospitalization and Functional Decline in Hospitalized Elders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Clara Guerreiro

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available ObjectiveTo evaluate the capacity of total anterior thigh thickness, quadriceps muscle thickness, and quadriceps contractile index, all measured by bedside ultrasound, to predict rehospitalization, functional decline, and death in elderly patients 3 months after hospital discharge. To evaluate intra and interobserver reproducibility of the dominant thigh evaluation method by point of care ultrasound.MethodsCohort study of patients aged 65 years or more admitted to a medium complexity unit in a teaching hospital in southern Brazil. Comprehensive geriatric assessment and ultrasound evaluation of the dominant thigh of each participant were performed. After 3 months of hospital discharge, telephone contact was made to evaluate the outcomes of rehospitalization or death and functional decline—assessed by the 100 points Barthel scale and defined as a decrease of five or more points.Results100 participants were included. There was no statistically significant difference between intraobserver measurements in the GEE method analysis (p > 0.05, and the mean bias obtained in Bland–Altman plots was close to zero in all four analyses performed, suggesting good intra and interobserver agreement. There was a significant correlation between the echographic measurements (quadriceps thickness and contractile index and gait speed, timed up and go, and handgrip tests. There was a significant association between contractile index (quadriceps thickness over total anterior thigh thickness multiplied by 100 lower than 60% and functional decline (relative risk 1.35; CI 95% 1.10–1.65; p = 0.003 as well as between the thickness of the quadriceps and rehospitalization or death, in both individuals with preserved walking capacity and in bedridden elders (relative risk 1.34; CI 95% 1.02–1.75; p = 0.04.ConclusionThe ultrasonographic method to evaluate thigh thickness was easily applicable and reproducible. The thickness of the quadriceps could

  6. Predicting mental disorders from hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning: a 3-year follow-up in the TRAILS study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nederhof, E; van Oort, F V A; Bouma, E M C; Laceulle, O M; Oldehinkel, A J; Ormel, J

    2015-08-01

    Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning, with cortisol as its major output hormone, has been presumed to play a key role in the development of psychopathology. Predicting affective disorders from diurnal cortisol levels has been inconclusive, whereas the predictive value of stress-induced cortisol concentrations has not been studied before. The aim of this study was to predict mental disorders over a 3-year follow-up from awakening and stress-induced cortisol concentrations. Data were used from 561 TRAILS (TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey) participants, a prospective cohort study of Dutch adolescents. Saliva samples were collected at awakening and half an hour later and during a social stress test at age 16. Mental disorders were assessed 3 years later with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). A lower cortisol awakening response (CAR) marginally significantly predicted new disorders [odds ratio (OR) 0.77, p = 0.06]. A flat recovery slope predicted disorders with a first onset after the experimental session (OR 1.27, p = 0.04). Recovery revealed smaller, non-significant ORs when predicting new onset affective or anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, or dependence disorders in three separate models, corrected for all other new onsets. Our results suggest that delayed recovery and possibly reduced CAR are indicators of a more general risk status and may be part of a common pathway to psychopathology. Delayed recovery suggests that individuals at risk for mental disorders perceived the social stress test as less controllable and less predictable.

  7. Fine-Tuning Nonhomogeneous Regression for Probabilistic Precipitation Forecasts: Unanimous Predictions, Heavy Tails, and Link Functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gebetsberger, Manuel; Messner, Jakob W.; Mayr, Georg J.

    2017-01-01

    functions for the optimization of regression coefficients for the scale parameter. These three refinements are tested for 10 stations in a small area of the European Alps for lead times from +24 to +144 h and accumulation periods of 24 and 6 h. Together, they improve probabilistic forecasts...... to obtain automatically corrected weather forecasts. This study applies the nonhomogenous regression framework as a state-of-the-art ensemble postprocessing technique to predict a full forecast distribution and improves its forecast performance with three statistical refinements. First of all, a novel split...... for precipitation amounts as well as the probability of precipitation events over the default postprocessing method. The improvements are largest for the shorter accumulation periods and shorter lead times, where the information of unanimous ensemble predictions is more important....

  8. Prediction of renal functional recovery after relief of upper urinary tract obstruction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalika, V.; Bard, R.H.; Iloreta, A.; Freeman, L.M.; Heller, S.; Blaufox, M.D.

    1981-01-01

    Renal cortical regions of interest were used prospectively to predict recoverability of renal function in 27 patients with unilateral or bilateral urinary tract obstruction. In these 27 patients 36 kidneys with short-term or long-term obstruction were studied. The 131iodine radiohippuran renogram curves were generated from areas of interest from the renal cortex and from the whole kidney. Curves generated during obstruction were evaluated qualitatively to determine if regional cortical renograms exhibited a more normal appearance than total kidney curves. After relief of obstruction renograms generated from the whole kidney were evaluated for evidence of renal functional recovery. Cortical curves obtained before relief obstruction were judged normal, with an abnormal whole kidney renogram in 20 of 36 kidneys. The whole kidney renogram improved after relief of obstruction in all 20 cases. Cortical curves for the remaining 16 kidneys before relief of obstruction had the same abnormal appearance as the whole kidney renogram. After relief of obstruction no evidence of kidney function improvement as measured by the renogram was evident in 14 kidneys. The over-all accuracy of this test of renal functional recoverability was 94 per cent. These data support the hypothesis that when cortical curves appear more normal than total kidney curves there is a strong likelihood of postoperative improvement in renal function when the obstruction is relieved. Abnormal cortical curves are associated with a poor prognosis for renal functional improvement

  9. Application of Functional Link Artificial Neural Network for Prediction of Machinery Noise in Opencast Mines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santosh Kumar Nanda

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Functional link-based neural network models were applied to predict opencast mining machineries noise. The paper analyzes the prediction capabilities of functional link neural network based noise prediction models vis-à-vis existing statistical models. In order to find the actual noise status in opencast mines, some of the popular noise prediction models, for example, ISO-9613-2, CONCAWE, VDI, and ENM, have been applied in mining and allied industries to predict the machineries noise by considering various attenuation factors. Functional link artificial neural network (FLANN, polynomial perceptron network (PPN, and Legendre neural network (LeNN were used to predict the machinery noise in opencast mines. The case study is based on data collected from an opencast coal mine of Orissa, India. From the present investigations, it could be concluded that the FLANN model give better noise prediction than the PPN and LeNN model.

  10. Can quantitative sensory testing predict responses to analgesic treatment?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grosen, K; Fischer, I W D; Olesen, A E; Drewes, A M

    2013-10-01

    The role of quantitative sensory testing (QST) in prediction of analgesic effect in humans is scarcely investigated. This updated review assesses the effectiveness in predicting analgesic effects in healthy volunteers, surgical patients and patients with chronic pain. A systematic review of English written, peer-reviewed articles was conducted using PubMed and Embase (1980-2013). Additional studies were identified by chain searching. Search terms included 'quantitative sensory testing', 'sensory testing' and 'analgesics'. Studies on the relationship between QST and response to analgesic treatment in human adults were included. Appraisal of the methodological quality of the included studies was based on evaluative criteria for prognostic studies. Fourteen studies (including 720 individuals) met the inclusion criteria. Significant correlations were observed between responses to analgesics and several QST parameters including (1) heat pain threshold in experimental human pain, (2) electrical and heat pain thresholds, pressure pain tolerance and suprathreshold heat pain in surgical patients, and (3) electrical and heat pain threshold and conditioned pain modulation in patients with chronic pain. Heterogeneity among studies was observed especially with regard to application of QST and type and use of analgesics. Although promising, the current evidence is not sufficiently robust to recommend the use of any specific QST parameter in predicting analgesic response. Future studies should focus on a range of different experimental pain modalities rather than a single static pain stimulation paradigm. © 2013 European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain Chapters.

  11. Lay perceptions of predictive testing for diabetes based on DNA test results versus family history assessment: a focus group study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cornel Martina C

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background This study assessed lay perceptions of issues related to predictive genetic testing for multifactorial diseases. These perceived issues may differ from the "classic" issues, e.g. autonomy, discrimination, and psychological harm that are considered important in predictive testing for monogenic disorders. In this study, type 2 diabetes was used as an example, and perceptions with regard to predictive testing based on DNA test results and family history assessment were compared. Methods Eight focus group interviews were held with 45 individuals aged 35-70 years with (n = 3 and without (n = 1 a family history of diabetes, mixed groups of these two (n = 2, and diabetes patients (n = 2. All interviews were transcribed and analysed using Atlas-ti. Results Most participants believed in the ability of a predictive test to identify people at risk for diabetes and to motivate preventive behaviour. Different reasons underlying motivation were considered when comparing DNA test results and a family history risk assessment. A perceived drawback of DNA testing was that diabetes was considered not severe enough for this type of risk assessment. In addition, diabetes family history assessment was not considered useful by some participants, since there are also other risk factors involved, not everyone has a diabetes family history or knows their family history, and it might have a negative influence on family relations. Respect for autonomy of individuals was emphasized more with regard to DNA testing than family history assessment. Other issues such as psychological harm, discrimination, and privacy were only briefly mentioned for both tests. Conclusion The results suggest that most participants believe a predictive genetic test could be used in the prevention of multifactorial disorders, such as diabetes, but indicate points to consider before both these tests are applied. These considerations differ with regard to the method of assessment

  12. Testing the Predictive Validity of the Hendrich II Fall Risk Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Hyesil; Park, Hyeoun-Ae

    2018-03-01

    Cumulative data on patient fall risk have been compiled in electronic medical records systems, and it is possible to test the validity of fall-risk assessment tools using these data between the times of admission and occurrence of a fall. The Hendrich II Fall Risk Model scores assessed during three time points of hospital stays were extracted and used for testing the predictive validity: (a) upon admission, (b) when the maximum fall-risk score from admission to falling or discharge, and (c) immediately before falling or discharge. Predictive validity was examined using seven predictive indicators. In addition, logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors that significantly affect the occurrence of a fall. Among the different time points, the maximum fall-risk score assessed between admission and falling or discharge showed the best predictive performance. Confusion or disorientation and having a poor ability to rise from a sitting position were significant risk factors for a fall.

  13. Safety of pulmonary function testing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Roberts, Cara; Ward, Simon; Walsted, Emil

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Pulmonary function testing (PFT) is a key investigation in the evaluation of individuals with respiratory symptoms; however, the safety of routine and specialised PFT testing has not been reported in a large data set. Using patient safety incident (PSI) records, we aimed to assess risk...... was rated using the NHS National Patient Safety Agency and any hospital admission reported. RESULTS: There were 119 PSIs reported from 186 000 PFT; that is, 0.6 PSIs per 1000 tests. Cardiopulmonary PSIs were 3.3 times more likely to occur than non-cardiopulmonary (95% CI 2.17 to 5.12). Syncope was the most...

  14. Correlation with liver scintigram, reticuloendothelial function test, plasma endotoxin level and liver function tests in chronic liver diseases. Multivariate analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ohmoto, Kenji; Yamamoto, Shinichi; Ideguchi, Seiji and others

    1989-02-01

    Liver scintigrams with Tc-99m phytate were reviewed in a total of 64 consecutive patients, comprising 28 with chronic hepatitis and 36 with liver cirrhosis. Reticuloendothelial (RES) function, plasma endotoxin (Et) levels and findings of general liver function tests were used as reference parameters to determine the diagnostic ability of liver scintigraphy. Multivariate analyses revealed that liver scintigrams had a strong correlation with RES function and Et levels in terms of morphology of the liver and hepatic and bone marrow Tc-99m uptake. General liver function tests revealed gamma globulin to be correlated with hepatic uptake and the degree of splenogemaly on liver scintigrams; and ICG levels at 15 min to be correlated with bone marrow and splenic uptake. Accuracy of liver scintigraphy was 73% for chronic hepatitis, which was inferior to general liver function tests (83%). When both modalities were combined, diangostic accuracy increased to 95%. Liver scintigraphy seems to be useful as a complementary approach. (Namekawa, K).

  15. Computation of piecewise affine terminal cost functions for model predictive control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brunner, F.D.; Lazar, M.; Allgöwer, F.; Fränzle, Martin; Lygeros, John

    2014-01-01

    This paper proposes a method for the construction of piecewise affine terminal cost functions for model predictive control (MPC). The terminal cost function is constructed on a predefined partition by solving a linear program for a given piecewise affine system, a stabilizing piecewise affine

  16. Prediction of Glucose Tolerance without an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rohit Babbar

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available IntroductionImpaired glucose tolerance (IGT is diagnosed by a standardized oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT. However, the OGTT is laborious, and when not performed, glucose tolerance cannot be determined from fasting samples retrospectively. We tested if glucose tolerance status is reasonably predictable from a combination of demographic, anthropometric, and laboratory data assessed at one time point in a fasting state.MethodsGiven a set of 22 variables selected upon clinical feasibility such as sex, age, height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, HbA1c, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, serum potassium, fasting levels of insulin, C-peptide, triglyceride, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA, proinsulin, prolactin, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, HDL, uric acid, liver transaminases, and ferritin, we used supervised machine learning to estimate glucose tolerance status in 2,337 participants of the TUEF study who were recruited before 2012. We tested the performance of 10 different machine learning classifiers on data from 929 participants in the test set who were recruited after 2012. In addition, reproducibility of IGT was analyzed in 78 participants who had 2 repeated OGTTs within 1 year.ResultsThe most accurate prediction of IGT was reached with the recursive partitioning method (accuracy = 0.78. For all classifiers, mean accuracy was 0.73 ± 0.04. The most important model variable was fasting glucose in all models. Using mean variable importance across all models, fasting glucose was followed by NEFA, triglycerides, HbA1c, and C-peptide. The accuracy of predicting IGT from a previous OGTT was 0.77.ConclusionMachine learning methods yield moderate accuracy in predicting glucose tolerance from a wide set of clinical and laboratory variables. A substitution of OGTT does not currently seem to be feasible. An important constraint could be the limited reproducibility of glucose tolerance status during a

  17. Predicting neuropsychological test performance on the basis of temporal orientation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryan, Joseph J; Glass, Laura A; Bartels, Jared M; Bergner, CariAnn M; Paolo, Anthony M

    2009-05-01

    Temporal orientation is often disrupted in the context of psychiatric or neurological disease; tests assessing this function are included in most mental status examinations. The present study examined the relationship between scores on the Temporal Orientation Scale (TOS) and performance on a battery of tests that assess memory, language, and cognitive functioning in a sample of patients with Alzheimer's disease (N = 55). Pearson-product moment correlations showed that, in all but two instances, the TOS was significantly correlated with each neuropsychological measure, p values < or = .05. Also, severely disoriented (i.e., TOS score < or = -8) patients were consistently 'impaired' on memory tests but not on tests of language and general cognitive functioning.

  18. Air trapping on HRCT in asthmatics: correlation with pulmonary function test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, Jung Hwa; Cha, Chull Hee; Park, Jai Soung; Kim, Young Beom; Lee, Hae Kyung; Choi, Deuk Lin; Kim, Kyung Ho; Park, Choon Sik

    1997-01-01

    To evaluate on the basis of the pulmonary function test the correlation between the extent of air trapping on HRCT with the severity of airway obstruction and also to identify the prognostic effect of the extent of air trapping after treatment of asthma. Thirty five patients with clinically diagnosed bronchial asthma and air trapping, as seen on HRCT, were included in this study. We quantitatively analysed on HRCT the extent of air trapping and then statistically compared this with the clinical parameters of the pulmonary function test. We classified the patients into two groups on the basis of the pulmonary function test and clinical status : Group 1 (N=35), the total number of asthmatic patients; Group 2 (N=18), relatively stable asthmatics without acute asthmatic attack who showed FEV1 of more than 80% of the predicted value. Using the functional paramenters of PEFR, one of the obijective indicators of improvement in airway obstruction, we also classified the patients into three groups on the basis of interval between treatment and clinical improvement. The result of this was as follows : group 1, asymptomatic group (initial PEFR within normal limit, N=7); group 2, early responder (improvement of PEFR within three hospital days, N=18); group 3, late responder (improvement of PEFR within fourteen hospital days should there be a number here). Using HRCT, we then statistically analysed the differences between the three groups in the extent of air trapping. Among the total of 35 asthmatics, the extent of air trapping on HRCT showed significant correlation with FEV1 (r= -0.6161, p < 0.001) and MEFR (r= -0.6012, p < 0.001). Among the relatively stable asthmatics who showed FEV1 more than 80% of the predicted value, MEFR (r= -0.7553, p < 0.001) and FEF75 (r= -0.7529, p=0.012) showed statistically significant correlation with the extent of air trapping on HRCT, but there was no significant correlation between air trapping on HRCT and FEV1. In the three groups of

  19. Air trapping on HRCT in asthmatics: correlation with pulmonary function test

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hwang, Jung Hwa; Cha, Chull Hee; Park, Jai Soung; Kim, Young Beom; Lee, Hae Kyung; Choi, Deuk Lin; Kim, Kyung Ho; Park, Choon Sik [Soonchunhyang Univ. College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1997-02-01

    To evaluate on the basis of the pulmonary function test the correlation between the extent of air trapping on HRCT with the severity of airway obstruction and also to identify the prognostic effect of the extent of air trapping after treatment of asthma. Thirty five patients with clinically diagnosed bronchial asthma and air trapping, as seen on HRCT, were included in this study. We quantitatively analysed on HRCT the extent of air trapping and then statistically compared this with the clinical parameters of the pulmonary function test. We classified the patients into two groups on the basis of the pulmonary function test and clinical status : Group 1 (N=35), the total number of asthmatic patients; Group 2 (N=18), relatively stable asthmatics without acute asthmatic attack who showed FEV1 of more than 80% of the predicted value. Using the functional paramenters of PEFR, one of the obijective indicators of improvement in airway obstruction, we also classified the patients into three groups on the basis of interval between treatment and clinical improvement. The result of this was as follows : group 1, asymptomatic group (initial PEFR within normal limit, N=7); group 2, early responder (improvement of PEFR within three hospital days, N=18); group 3, late responder (improvement of PEFR within fourteen hospital days should there be a number here). Using HRCT, we then statistically analysed the differences between the three groups in the extent of air trapping. Among the total of 35 asthmatics, the extent of air trapping on HRCT showed significant correlation with FEV1 (r= -0.6161, p < 0.001) and MEFR (r= -0.6012, p < 0.001). Among the relatively stable asthmatics who showed FEV1 more than 80% of the predicted value, MEFR (r= -0.7553, p < 0.001) and FEF75 (r= -0.7529, p=0.012) showed statistically significant correlation with the extent of air trapping on HRCT, but there was no significant correlation between air trapping on HRCT and FEV1. In the three groups of

  20. Functional and nonfunctional testing of ATM networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricardo, Manuel; Ferreira, M. E. P.; Guimaraes, Francisco E.; Mamede, J.; Henriques, M.; da Silva, Jorge A.; Carrapatoso, E.

    1995-02-01

    ATM network will support new multimedia services that will require new protocols, those services and protocols will need different test strategies and tools. In this paper, the concepts of functional and non-functional testers of ATM networks are discussed, a multimedia service and its requirements are presented and finally, a summary description of an ATM network and of the test tool that will be used to validate it are presented.

  1. DeepGO: predicting protein functions from sequence and interactions using a deep ontology-aware classifier

    KAUST Repository

    Kulmanov, Maxat

    2017-09-27

    Motivation A large number of protein sequences are becoming available through the application of novel high-throughput sequencing technologies. Experimental functional characterization of these proteins is time-consuming and expensive, and is often only done rigorously for few selected model organisms. Computational function prediction approaches have been suggested to fill this gap. The functions of proteins are classified using the Gene Ontology (GO), which contains over 40 000 classes. Additionally, proteins have multiple functions, making function prediction a large-scale, multi-class, multi-label problem. Results We have developed a novel method to predict protein function from sequence. We use deep learning to learn features from protein sequences as well as a cross-species protein–protein interaction network. Our approach specifically outputs information in the structure of the GO and utilizes the dependencies between GO classes as background information to construct a deep learning model. We evaluate our method using the standards established by the Computational Assessment of Function Annotation (CAFA) and demonstrate a significant improvement over baseline methods such as BLAST, in particular for predicting cellular locations.

  2. Memory Binding Test Predicts Incident Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mowrey, Wenzhu B; Lipton, Richard B; Katz, Mindy J; Ramratan, Wendy S; Loewenstein, David A; Zimmerman, Molly E; Buschke, Herman

    2016-07-14

    The Memory Binding Test (MBT), previously known as Memory Capacity Test, has demonstrated discriminative validity for distinguishing persons with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and dementia from cognitively normal elderly. We aimed to assess the predictive validity of the MBT for incident aMCI. In a longitudinal, community-based study of adults aged 70+, we administered the MBT to 246 cognitively normal elderly adults at baseline and followed them annually. Based on previous work, a subtle reduction in memory binding at baseline was defined by a Total Items in the Paired (TIP) condition score of ≤22 on the MBT. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the predictive validity of the MBT for incident aMCI accounting for the effects of covariates. The hazard ratio of incident aMCI was also assessed for different prediction time windows ranging from 4 to 7 years of follow-up, separately. Among 246 controls who were cognitively normal at baseline, 48 developed incident aMCI during follow-up. A baseline MBT reduction was associated with an increased risk for developing incident aMCI (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.44, 95% confidence interval: 1.30-4.56, p = 0.005). When varying the prediction window from 4-7 years, the MBT reduction remained significant for predicting incident aMCI (HR range: 2.33-3.12, p: 0.0007-0.04). Persons with poor performance on the MBT are at significantly greater risk for developing incident aMCI. High hazard ratios up to seven years of follow-up suggest that the MBT is sensitive to early disease.

  3. Consistency of test behaviour and individual difference in prescision of prediction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meijer, R.R.

    1998-01-01

    Ghiselli ((1956, 1960) argued that the precision of prediction on the basis of a test may vary for different individuals. To quantify the individual precision of prediction he compared the observed criterion scores with the expected criterion scores estimated on the basis of the total scores on a

  4. A large-scale evaluation of computational protein function prediction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Radivojac, P.; Clark, W.T.; Oron, T.R.; Schnoes, A.M.; Wittkop, T.; Kourmpetis, Y.A.I.; Dijk, van A.D.J.; Friedberg, I.

    2013-01-01

    Automated annotation of protein function is challenging. As the number of sequenced genomes rapidly grows, the overwhelming majority of protein products can only be annotated computationally. If computational predictions are to be relied upon, it is crucial that the accuracy of these methods be

  5. Comparison of muscle/lean mass measurement methods: correlation with functional and biochemical testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buehring, B; Siglinsky, E; Krueger, D; Evans, W; Hellerstein, M; Yamada, Y; Binkley, N

    2018-03-01

    DXA-measured lean mass is often used to assess muscle mass but has limitations. Thus, we compared DXA lean mass with two novel methods-bioelectric impedance spectroscopy and creatine (methyl-d3) dilution. The examined methodologies did not measure lean mass similarly and the correlation with muscle biomarkers/function varied. Muscle function tests predict adverse health outcomes better than lean mass measurement. This may reflect limitations of current mass measurement methods. Newer approaches, e.g., bioelectric impedance spectroscopy (BIS) and creatine (methyl-d3) dilution (D3-C), may more accurately assess muscle mass. We hypothesized that BIS and D3-C measured muscle mass would better correlate with function and bone/muscle biomarkers than DXA measured lean mass. Evaluations of muscle/lean mass, function, and serum biomarkers were obtained in older community-dwelling adults. Mass was assessed by DXA, BIS, and orally administered D3-C. Grip strength, timed up and go, and jump power were examined. Potential muscle/bone serum biomarkers were measured. Mass measurements were compared with functional and serum data using regression analyses; differences between techniques were determined by paired t tests. Mean (SD) age of the 112 (89F/23M) participants was 80.6 (6.0) years. The lean/muscle mass assessments were correlated (.57-.88) but differed (p Lean mass measures were unrelated to the serum biomarkers measured. These three methodologies do not similarly measure muscle/lean mass and should not be viewed as being equivalent. Functional tests assessing maximal muscle strength/power (grip strength and jump power) correlated with all mass measures whereas gait speed was not. None of the selected serum measures correlated with mass. Efforts to optimize muscle mass assessment and identify their relationships with health outcomes are needed.

  6. Performance Prediction of Centrifugal Compressor for Drop-In Testing Using Low Global Warming Potential Alternative Refrigerants and Performance Test Codes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joo Hoon Park

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available As environmental regulations to stall global warming are strengthened around the world, studies using newly developed low global warming potential (GWP alternative refrigerants are increasing. In this study, substitute refrigerants, R-1234ze (E and R-1233zd (E, were used in the centrifugal compressor of an R-134a 2-stage centrifugal chiller with a fixed rotational speed. Performance predictions and thermodynamic analyses of the centrifugal compressor for drop-in testing were performed. A performance prediction method based on the existing ASME PTC-10 performance test code was proposed. The proposed method yielded the expected operating area and operating point of the centrifugal compressor with alternative refrigerants. The thermodynamic performance of the first and second stages of the centrifugal compressor was calculated as the polytropic state. To verify the suitability of the proposed method, the drop-in test results of the two alternative refrigerants were compared. The predicted operating range based on the permissible deviation of ASME PTC-10 confirmed that the temperature difference was very small at the same efficiency. Because the drop-in test of R-1234ze (E was performed within the expected operating range, the centrifugal compressor using R-1234ze (E is considered well predicted. However, the predictions of the operating point and operating range of R-1233zd (E were lower than those of the drop-in test. The proposed performance prediction method will assist in understanding thermodynamic performance at the expected operating point and operating area of a centrifugal compressor using alternative gases based on limited design and structure information.

  7. firestar--advances in the prediction of functionally important residues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez, Gonzalo; Maietta, Paolo; Rodriguez, Jose Manuel; Valencia, Alfonso; Tress, Michael L

    2011-07-01

    firestar is a server for predicting catalytic and ligand-binding residues in protein sequences. Here, we present the important developments since the first release of firestar. Previous versions of the server required human interpretation of the results; the server is now fully automatized. firestar has been implemented as a web service and can now be run in high-throughput mode. Prediction coverage has been greatly improved with the extension of the FireDB database and the addition of alignments generated by HHsearch. Ligands in FireDB are now classified for biological relevance. Many of the changes have been motivated by the critical assessment of techniques for protein structure prediction (CASP) ligand-binding prediction experiment, which provided us with a framework to test the performance of firestar. URL: http://firedb.bioinfo.cnio.es/Php/FireStar.php.

  8. Cardiac structure and function predicts functional decline in the oldest old.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leibowitz, David; Jacobs, Jeremy M; Lande-Stessman, Irit; Gilon, Dan; Stessman, Jochanan

    2018-02-01

    Background This study examined the association between cardiac structure and function and the deterioration in activities of daily living (ADLs) in an age-homogenous, community-dwelling population of patients born in 1920-1921 over a five-year follow-up period. Design Longitudinal cohort study. Methods Patients were recruited from the Jerusalem Longitudinal Cohort Study, which has followed an age-homogenous cohort of Jerusalem residents born in 1920-1921. Patients underwent home echocardiography and were followed up for five years. Dependence was defined as needing assistance with one or more basic ADL. Standard echocardiographic assessment of cardiac structure and function, including systolic and diastolic function, was performed. Reassessment of ADLs was performed at the five-year follow-up. Results A total of 459 patients were included in the study. Of these, 362 (79%) showed a deterioration in at least one ADL at follow-up. Patients with functional deterioration had a significantly higher left ventricular mass index and left atrial volume with a lower ejection fraction. There was no significant difference between the diastolic parameters the groups in examined. When the data were examined categorically, a significantly larger percentage of patients with functional decline had an abnormal left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular hypertrophy. The association between left ventricular mass index and functional decline remained significant in all multivariate models. Conclusions In this cohort of the oldest old, an elevated left ventricular mass index, higher left atrial volumes and systolic, but not diastolic dysfunction, were predictive of functional disability.

  9. Functional tests for myocardial ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levinson, J.R.; Guiney, T.E.; Boucher, C.A.

    1991-01-01

    Functional tests for myocardial ischemia are numerous. Most depend upon a combination of either exercise or pharmacologic intervention with analysis of the electrocardiogram, of regional perfusion with radionuclide imaging, or of regional wall motion with radionuclide imaging or echocardiography. While each test has unique features, especially at the research level, they are generally quite similar in clinical practice, so the clinician is advised to concentrate on one or two in which local expertise is high.22 references

  10. Quantum algorithms for testing Boolean functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erika Andersson

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available We discuss quantum algorithms, based on the Bernstein-Vazirani algorithm, for finding which variables a Boolean function depends on. There are 2^n possible linear Boolean functions of n variables; given a linear Boolean function, the Bernstein-Vazirani quantum algorithm can deterministically identify which one of these Boolean functions we are given using just one single function query. The same quantum algorithm can also be used to learn which input variables other types of Boolean functions depend on, with a success probability that depends on the form of the Boolean function that is tested, but does not depend on the total number of input variables. We also outline a procedure to futher amplify the success probability, based on another quantum algorithm, the Grover search.

  11. Using Anisotropic 3D Minkowski Functionals for Trabecular Bone Characterization and Biomechanical Strength Prediction in Proximal Femur Specimens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagarajan, Mahesh B.; De, Titas; Lochmüller, Eva-Maria; Eckstein, Felix; Wismüller, Axel

    2017-01-01

    The ability of Anisotropic Minkowski Functionals (AMFs) to capture local anisotropy while evaluating topological properties of the underlying gray-level structures has been previously demonstrated. We evaluate the ability of this approach to characterize local structure properties of trabecular bone micro-architecture in ex vivo proximal femur specimens, as visualized on multi-detector CT, for purposes of biomechanical bone strength prediction. To this end, volumetric AMFs were computed locally for each voxel of volumes of interest (VOI) extracted from the femoral head of 146 specimens. The local anisotropy captured by such AMFs was quantified using a fractional anisotropy measure; the magnitude and direction of anisotropy at every pixel was stored in histograms that served as a feature vectors that characterized the VOIs. A linear multi-regression analysis algorithm was used to predict the failure load (FL) from the feature sets; the predicted FL was compared to the true FL determined through biomechanical testing. The prediction performance was measured by the root mean square error (RMSE) for each feature set. The best prediction performance was obtained from the fractional anisotropy histogram of AMF Euler Characteristic (RMSE = 1.01 ± 0.13), which was significantly better than MDCT-derived mean BMD (RMSE = 1.12 ± 0.16, p<0.05). We conclude that such anisotropic Minkowski Functionals can capture valuable information regarding regional trabecular bone quality and contribute to improved bone strength prediction, which is important for improving the clinical assessment of osteoporotic fracture risk. PMID:29170581

  12. Posttest TRAC-PD2/MOD1 predictions for FLECHT SEASET test 31504

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Booker, C.P.

    1982-01-01

    TRAC-PD2/MOD1 is a publicly released version of TRAC that is used primarily to analyze large-break loss-of-coolant accidents in pressurized-water reactors (PWRs). TRAC-PD2 can calculate, among other things, reflood phenomena. TRAC posttest predictions are compared with test 31504 reflood data from the Full-Length Emergency Core Heat Transfer (FLECHT) System Effects and Separate Effects Tests (SEASET) facility. A false top-down quench is predicted near the top of the core and the subcooling is underpredicted at the bottom of the core. However, the overall TRAC predictions are good, especially near the center of the core

  13. Brief implicit association test: Validity and utility in prediction of voting behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavlović Maša D.

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We employed the Brief Implicit Association Test (a recently developed short version of IAT to measure implicit political attitudes toward four political parties running for Serbian parliament. To test its criterion validity, we measured voting intention and actual voting behavior. In addition, we introduced political involvement as a potential moderator of the BIAT’s predictive and incremental validity. The BIAT demonstrated good internal and predictive validity, but lacked incremental validity over self-report measures. Predictive power of the BIAT was moderated by political involvement - the BIAT scores were stronger predictors of voting intention and behavior among voters highly involved in politics. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179018

  14. An integrative approach to ortholog prediction for disease-focused and other functional studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Perrimon Norbert

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mapping of orthologous genes among species serves an important role in functional genomics by allowing researchers to develop hypotheses about gene function in one species based on what is known about the functions of orthologs in other species. Several tools for predicting orthologous gene relationships are available. However, these tools can give different results and identification of predicted orthologs is not always straightforward. Results We report a simple but effective tool, the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center Integrative Ortholog Prediction Tool (DIOPT; http://www.flyrnai.org/diopt, for rapid identification of orthologs. DIOPT integrates existing approaches, facilitating rapid identification of orthologs among human, mouse, zebrafish, C. elegans, Drosophila, and S. cerevisiae. As compared to individual tools, DIOPT shows increased sensitivity with only a modest decrease in specificity. Moreover, the flexibility built into the DIOPT graphical user interface allows researchers with different goals to appropriately 'cast a wide net' or limit results to highest confidence predictions. DIOPT also displays protein and domain alignments, including percent amino acid identity, for predicted ortholog pairs. This helps users identify the most appropriate matches among multiple possible orthologs. To facilitate using model organisms for functional analysis of human disease-associated genes, we used DIOPT to predict high-confidence orthologs of disease genes in Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM and genes in genome-wide association study (GWAS data sets. The results are accessible through the DIOPT diseases and traits query tool (DIOPT-DIST; http://www.flyrnai.org/diopt-dist. Conclusions DIOPT and DIOPT-DIST are useful resources for researchers working with model organisms, especially those who are interested in exploiting model organisms such as Drosophila to study the functions of human disease genes.

  15. Update on endoscopic pancreatic function testing

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Tyler Stevens; Mansour A Parsi

    2011-01-01

    Hormone-stimulated pancreatic function tests (PFTs) are considered the gold standard for measuring pancreatic exocrine function. PFTs involve the administration of intravenous secretin or cholecystokinin, followed by collection and analysis of pancreatic secretions. Because exocrine function may decline in the earliest phase of pancreatic fibrosis, PFTs are considered accurate for diagnosing chronic pancreatitis. Unfortunately, these potentially valuable tests are infrequently performed except at specialized centers, because they are time consuming and complicated. To overcome these limitations, endoscopic PFT methods have been developed which include aspiration of pancreatic secretions through the suction channel of the endoscope. The secretin endoscopic pancreatic function test (ePFT) involves collection of duodenal aspirates at 15, 30, 45 and 60 min after secretin stimulation. A bicarbonate concentration greater than 80 mmol/L in any of the samples is considered a normal result. The secretin ePFT has demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity compared with various reference standards, including the "Dreiling tube" secretin PFT, endoscopic ultrasound, and surgical histology. Furthermore, a standard autoanalyzer can be used for bicarbonate analysis, which allows the secretin ePFT to be performed at any hospital. The secretin ePFT may complement imaging tests like endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in the diagnosis of early chronic pancreatitis.This paper will review the literature validating the use of ePFT in the diagnosis of exocrine insufficiency and chronic pancreatitis. Newer developments will also be discussed, including the feasibility of combined EUS/ePFT, the use of cholecystokinin alone or in combination with secretin, and the discovery of new protein and lipid pancreatic juice biomarkers which may complement traditionalfluid analysis.

  16. Predictive Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... your family Plan for the future Insurance and financial planning Transition for children Emergency preparedness Testing & Services Testing ... Support Genetic Disease Information Find a Support Group Financial Planning Who Should I Tell? Genetic Testing & Counseling Compensation ...

  17. Evaluating a variety of text-mined features for automatic protein function prediction with GOstruct.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Funk, Christopher S; Kahanda, Indika; Ben-Hur, Asa; Verspoor, Karin M

    2015-01-01

    Most computational methods that predict protein function do not take advantage of the large amount of information contained in the biomedical literature. In this work we evaluate both ontology term co-mention and bag-of-words features mined from the biomedical literature and analyze their impact in the context of a structured output support vector machine model, GOstruct. We find that even simple literature based features are useful for predicting human protein function (F-max: Molecular Function =0.408, Biological Process =0.461, Cellular Component =0.608). One advantage of using literature features is their ability to offer easy verification of automated predictions. We find through manual inspection of misclassifications that some false positive predictions could be biologically valid predictions based upon support extracted from the literature. Additionally, we present a "medium-throughput" pipeline that was used to annotate a large subset of co-mentions; we suggest that this strategy could help to speed up the rate at which proteins are curated.

  18. Prediction of software operational reliability using testing environment factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Hoan Sung; Seong, Poong Hyun

    1995-01-01

    For many years, many researches have focused on the quantification of software reliability and there are many models developed to quantify software reliability. Most software reliability models estimate the reliability with the failure data collected during the test assuming that the test environments well represent the operation profile. The experiences show that the operational reliability is higher than the test reliability User's interest is on the operational reliability rather than on the test reliability, however. With the assumption that the difference in reliability results from the change of environment, testing environment factors comprising the aging factor and the coverage factor are defined in this study to predict the ultimate operational reliability with the failure data. It is by incorporating test environments applied beyond the operational profile into testing environment factors. The application results are close to the actual data

  19. Testing projected wild bee distributions in agricultural habitats: predictive power depends on species traits and habitat type.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Leon; Carvalheiro, Luísa G; Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Jesús; Bos, Merijn; de Groot, G Arjen; Kleijn, David; Potts, Simon G; Reemer, Menno; Roberts, Stuart; Scheper, Jeroen; Biesmeijer, Jacobus C

    2015-10-01

    Species distribution models (SDM) are increasingly used to understand the factors that regulate variation in biodiversity patterns and to help plan conservation strategies. However, these models are rarely validated with independently collected data and it is unclear whether SDM performance is maintained across distinct habitats and for species with different functional traits. Highly mobile species, such as bees, can be particularly challenging to model. Here, we use independent sets of occurrence data collected systematically in several agricultural habitats to test how the predictive performance of SDMs for wild bee species depends on species traits, habitat type, and sampling technique. We used a species distribution modeling approach parametrized for the Netherlands, with presence records from 1990 to 2010 for 193 Dutch wild bees. For each species, we built a Maxent model based on 13 climate and landscape variables. We tested the predictive performance of the SDMs with independent datasets collected from orchards and arable fields across the Netherlands from 2010 to 2013, using transect surveys or pan traps. Model predictive performance depended on species traits and habitat type. Occurrence of bee species specialized in habitat and diet was better predicted than generalist bees. Predictions of habitat suitability were also more precise for habitats that are temporally more stable (orchards) than for habitats that suffer regular alterations (arable), particularly for small, solitary bees. As a conservation tool, SDMs are best suited to modeling rarer, specialist species than more generalist and will work best in long-term stable habitats. The variability of complex, short-term habitats is difficult to capture in such models and historical land use generally has low thematic resolution. To improve SDMs' usefulness, models require explanatory variables and collection data that include detailed landscape characteristics, for example, variability of crops and

  20. Modelling and prediction for chaotic fir laser attractor using rational function neural network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, S

    2001-02-01

    Many real-world systems such as irregular ECG signal, volatility of currency exchange rate and heated fluid reaction exhibit highly complex nonlinear characteristic known as chaos. These chaotic systems cannot be retreated satisfactorily using linear system theory due to its high dimensionality and irregularity. This research focuses on prediction and modelling of chaotic FIR (Far InfraRed) laser system for which the underlying equations are not given. This paper proposed a method for prediction and modelling a chaotic FIR laser time series using rational function neural network. Three network architectures, TDNN (Time Delayed Neural Network), RBF (radial basis function) network and the RF (rational function) network, are also presented. Comparisons between these networks performance show the improvements introduced by the RF network in terms of a decrement in network complexity and better ability of predictability.

  1. Final technical report. Can microbial functional traits predict the response and resilience of decomposition to global change?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Allison, Steven D. [Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)

    2015-09-24

    The role of specific micro-organisms in the carbon cycle, and their responses to environmental change, are unknown in most ecosystems. This knowledge gap limits scientists’ ability to predict how important ecosystem processes, like soil carbon storage and loss, will change with climate and other environmental factors. The investigators addressed this knowledge gap by transplanting microbial communities from different environments into new environments and measuring the response of community composition and carbon cycling over time. Using state-of-the-art sequencing techniques, computational tools, and nanotechnology, the investigators showed that microbial communities on decomposing plant material shift dramatically with natural and experimentally-imposed drought. Microbial communities also shifted in response to added nitrogen, but the effects were smaller. These changes had implications for carbon cycling, with lower rates of carbon loss under drought conditions, and changes in the efficiency of decomposition with nitrogen addition. Even when transplanted into the same conditions, microbial communities from different environments remained distinct in composition and functioning for up to one year. Changes in functioning were related to differences in enzyme gene content across different microbial groups. Computational approaches developed for this project allowed the conclusions to be tested more broadly in other ecosystems, and new computer models will facilitate the prediction of microbial traits and functioning across environments. The data and models resulting from this project benefit the public by improving the ability to predict how microbial communities and carbon cycling functions respond to climate change, nutrient enrichment, and other large-scale environmental changes.

  2. Reward rate optimization in two-alternative decision making: empirical tests of theoretical predictions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simen, Patrick; Contreras, David; Buck, Cara; Hu, Peter; Holmes, Philip; Cohen, Jonathan D

    2009-12-01

    The drift-diffusion model (DDM) implements an optimal decision procedure for stationary, 2-alternative forced-choice tasks. The height of a decision threshold applied to accumulating information on each trial determines a speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) for the DDM, thereby accounting for a ubiquitous feature of human performance in speeded response tasks. However, little is known about how participants settle on particular tradeoffs. One possibility is that they select SATs that maximize a subjective rate of reward earned for performance. For the DDM, there exist unique, reward-rate-maximizing values for its threshold and starting point parameters in free-response tasks that reward correct responses (R. Bogacz, E. Brown, J. Moehlis, P. Holmes, & J. D. Cohen, 2006). These optimal values vary as a function of response-stimulus interval, prior stimulus probability, and relative reward magnitude for correct responses. We tested the resulting quantitative predictions regarding response time, accuracy, and response bias under these task manipulations and found that grouped data conformed well to the predictions of an optimally parameterized DDM.

  3. Modified Displacement Transfer Functions for Deformed Shape Predictions of Slender Curved Structures with Varying Curvatives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ko, William L.; Fleischer, Van Tran

    2014-01-01

    To eliminate the need to use finite-element modeling for structure shape predictions, a new method was invented. This method is to use the Displacement Transfer Functions to transform the measured surface strains into deflections for mapping out overall structural deformed shapes. The Displacement Transfer Functions are expressed in terms of rectilinearly distributed surface strains, and contain no material properties. This report is to apply the patented method to the shape predictions of non-symmetrically loaded slender curved structures with different curvatures up to a full circle. Because the measured surface strains are not available, finite-element analysis had to be used to analytically generate the surface strains. Previously formulated straight-beam Displacement Transfer Functions were modified by introducing the curvature-effect correction terms. Through single-point or dual-point collocations with finite-elementgenerated deflection curves, functional forms of the curvature-effect correction terms were empirically established. The resulting modified Displacement Transfer Functions can then provide quite accurate shape predictions. Also, the uniform straight-beam Displacement Transfer Function was applied to the shape predictions of a section-cut of a generic capsule (GC) outer curved sandwich wall. The resulting GC shape predictions are quite accurate in partial regions where the radius of curvature does not change sharply.

  4. Experimental-confirmation and functional-annotation of predicted proteins in the chicken genome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    McCarthy Fiona M

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The chicken genome was sequenced because of its phylogenetic position as a non-mammalian vertebrate, its use as a biomedical model especially to study embryology and development, its role as a source of human disease organisms and its importance as the major source of animal derived food protein. However, genomic sequence data is, in itself, of limited value; generally it is not equivalent to understanding biological function. The benefit of having a genome sequence is that it provides a basis for functional genomics. However, the sequence data currently available is poorly structurally and functionally annotated and many genes do not have standard nomenclature assigned. Results We analysed eight chicken tissues and improved the chicken genome structural annotation by providing experimental support for the in vivo expression of 7,809 computationally predicted proteins, including 30 chicken proteins that were only electronically predicted or hypothetical translations in human. To improve functional annotation (based on Gene Ontology, we mapped these identified proteins to their human and mouse orthologs and used this orthology to transfer Gene Ontology (GO functional annotations to the chicken proteins. The 8,213 orthology-based GO annotations that we produced represent an 8% increase in currently available chicken GO annotations. Orthologous chicken products were also assigned standardized nomenclature based on current chicken nomenclature guidelines. Conclusion We demonstrate the utility of high-throughput expression proteomics for rapid experimental structural annotation of a newly sequenced eukaryote genome. These experimentally-supported predicted proteins were further annotated by assigning the proteins with standardized nomenclature and functional annotation. This method is widely applicable to a diverse range of species. Moreover, information from one genome can be used to improve the annotation of other genomes and

  5. Pulmonary function testing in children and infants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vogt, B; Weiler, N; Frerichs, I; Falkenberg, C

    2014-01-01

    Pulmonary function testing is performed in children and infants with the aim of documenting lung development with age and making diagnoses of lung diseases. In children and infants with an established lung disease, pulmonary function is tested to assess the disease progression and the efficacy of therapy. It is difficult to carry out the measurements in this age group without disturbances, so obtaining results of good quality and reproducibility is challenging. Young children are often uncooperative during the examinations. This is partly related to their young age but also due to the long testing duration and the unpopular equipment. We address a variety of examination techniques for lung function assessment in children and infants in this review. We describe the measuring principles, examination procedures, clinical findings and their interpretation, as well as advantages and limitations of these methods. The comparability between devices and centres as well as the availability of reference values are still considered a challenge in many of these techniques. In recent years, new technologies have emerged allowing the assessment of lung function not only on the global level but also on the regional level. This opens new possibilities for detecting regional lung function heterogeneity that might lead to a better understanding of respiratory pathophysiology in children. (topical review)

  6. Significance tests for functional data with complex dependence structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staicu, Ana-Maria; Lahiri, Soumen N; Carroll, Raymond J

    2015-01-01

    We propose an L 2 -norm based global testing procedure for the null hypothesis that multiple group mean functions are equal, for functional data with complex dependence structure. Specifically, we consider the setting of functional data with a multilevel structure of the form groups-clusters or subjects-units, where the unit-level profiles are spatially correlated within the cluster, and the cluster-level data are independent. Orthogonal series expansions are used to approximate the group mean functions and the test statistic is estimated using the basis coefficients. The asymptotic null distribution of the test statistic is developed, under mild regularity conditions. To our knowledge this is the first work that studies hypothesis testing, when data have such complex multilevel functional and spatial structure. Two small-sample alternatives, including a novel block bootstrap for functional data, are proposed, and their performance is examined in simulation studies. The paper concludes with an illustration of a motivating experiment.

  7. Significance tests for functional data with complex dependence structure

    KAUST Repository

    Staicu, Ana-Maria

    2015-01-01

    We propose an L (2)-norm based global testing procedure for the null hypothesis that multiple group mean functions are equal, for functional data with complex dependence structure. Specifically, we consider the setting of functional data with a multilevel structure of the form groups-clusters or subjects-units, where the unit-level profiles are spatially correlated within the cluster, and the cluster-level data are independent. Orthogonal series expansions are used to approximate the group mean functions and the test statistic is estimated using the basis coefficients. The asymptotic null distribution of the test statistic is developed, under mild regularity conditions. To our knowledge this is the first work that studies hypothesis testing, when data have such complex multilevel functional and spatial structure. Two small-sample alternatives, including a novel block bootstrap for functional data, are proposed, and their performance is examined in simulation studies. The paper concludes with an illustration of a motivating experiment.

  8. Comparing Spatial Predictions

    KAUST Repository

    Hering, Amanda S.

    2011-11-01

    Under a general loss function, we develop a hypothesis test to determine whether a significant difference in the spatial predictions produced by two competing models exists on average across the entire spatial domain of interest. The null hypothesis is that of no difference, and a spatial loss differential is created based on the observed data, the two sets of predictions, and the loss function chosen by the researcher. The test assumes only isotropy and short-range spatial dependence of the loss differential but does allow it to be non-Gaussian, non-zero-mean, and spatially correlated. Constant and nonconstant spatial trends in the loss differential are treated in two separate cases. Monte Carlo simulations illustrate the size and power properties of this test, and an example based on daily average wind speeds in Oklahoma is used for illustration. Supplemental results are available online. © 2011 American Statistical Association and the American Society for Qualitys.

  9. Esophageal function testing: Billing and coding update.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, A; Massey, B; Rao, S; Pandolfino, J

    2018-01-01

    Esophageal function testing is being increasingly utilized in diagnosis and management of esophageal disorders. There have been several recent technological advances in the field to allow practitioners the ability to more accurately assess and treat such conditions, but there has been a relative lack of education in the literature regarding the associated Common Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes and methods of reimbursement. This review, commissioned and supported by the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society Council, aims to summarize each of the CPT codes for esophageal function testing and show the trends of associated reimbursement, as well as recommend coding methods in a practical context. We also aim to encourage many of these codes to be reviewed on a gastrointestinal (GI) societal level, by providing evidence of both discrepancies in coding definitions and inadequate reimbursement in this new era of esophageal function testing. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Sensitivity, Specificity, Predictive Values, and Accuracy of Three Diagnostic Tests to Predict Inferior Alveolar Nerve Blockade Failure in Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Chavarría-Bolaños

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. The inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB is the most common anesthetic technique used on mandibular teeth during root canal treatment. Its success in the presence of preoperative inflammation is still controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and accuracy of three diagnostic tests used to predict IANB failure in symptomatic irreversible pulpitis (SIP. Methodology. A cross-sectional study was carried out on the mandibular molars of 53 patients with SIP. All patients received a single cartridge of mepivacaine 2% with 1 : 100000 epinephrine using the IANB technique. Three diagnostic clinical tests were performed to detect anesthetic failure. Anesthetic failure was defined as a positive painful response to any of the three tests. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, accuracy, and ROC curves were calculated and compared and significant differences were analyzed. Results. IANB failure was determined in 71.7% of the patients. The sensitivity scores for the three tests (lip numbness, the cold stimuli test, and responsiveness during endodontic access were 0.03, 0.35, and 0.55, respectively, and the specificity score was determined as 1 for all of the tests. Clinically, none of the evaluated tests demonstrated a high enough accuracy (0.30, 0.53, and 0.68 for lip numbness, the cold stimuli test, and responsiveness during endodontic access, resp.. A comparison of the areas under the curve in the ROC analyses showed statistically significant differences between the three tests (p<0.05. Conclusion. None of the analyzed tests demonstrated a high enough accuracy to be considered a reliable diagnostic tool for the prediction of anesthetic failure.

  11. Knowledge Prediction of Different Students’ Categories Trough an Intelligent Testing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina Zheliazkova

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Student’s modelling, prediction, and grouping have remained open research issues in the multi-disciplinary area of educational data mining. The purpose of this study is to predict the correct knowledge of different categories of tested students: good, very good, and all. The experimental data set was gathered from an intelligent post-test performance containing student’s correct, missing, and wrong knowledge, time undertaken, and final mark. The proposed procedure applies consequently correlation analysis, simple and multiple liner regression using a power specialized tool for programming by the teacher. The finding is that the accuracy of the procedure is satisfactory for the three students’ categories. The experiment also confirms some findings of other researchers and previous authors’ team studies.

  12. How reliable must advanced nondestructive testing be? A concept for the prediction, validation and raised quality of NDT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nockemann, C.; Tillack, G.R.; Schnitger, D.; Heidt, H.

    1995-01-01

    A concept of the harmonic integration of the following three mainstays of the reliability of ndt is proposed: 1. Theoretical prediction of the reliability as a function of physical parameter by computer modelling of the test problem concerned and the ndt process; maximisation by variation of the parameters. 2. Experimental evaluation of the reliability of ndt processes by the application of statistical methods to test practice. 3. Increasing the reliability by the combination of several ndt methods in a standard DV environment and European interconnection and provision of a distributed databank system. International exchange of experience via telecommunication. (orig.) [de

  13. Predictive testing of performance of metals in HTR service environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kondo, T.; Shindo, M.; Tamura, M.; Tsuji, H.; Kurata, Y.; Tsukada, T.

    1982-01-01

    Status of the material testing in simulated HTGR environment is reviewed with special attention focused on the methodology of the prediction of performance in long time. Importance of controlling effective chemical potentials relations in the material-environmental interface is stressed in regard of the complex inter-dependent kinetic relation between oxidation and carbon transport. Based on the recent experimental observations, proposals are made to establish some procedures for conservative prediction of the metal performance

  14. Cognitive function predicts 24-month weight loss success after bariatric surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spitznagel, Mary Beth; Alosco, Michael; Strain, Gladys; Devlin, Michael; Cohen, Ronald; Paul, Robert; Crosby, Ross D; Mitchell, James E; Gunstad, John

    2013-01-01

    Clinically significant cognitive impairment, particularly in attention/executive and memory function, is found in many patients undergoing bariatric surgery. These difficulties have previously been linked to decreased weight loss 12 months after surgery, but more protracted examination of this relationship has not yet been conducted. The present study prospectively examined the independent contribution of cognitive function to weight loss 24 months after bariatric surgery. Given the rapid rate of cognitive improvement observed after surgery, postoperative cognitive function (i.e., cognition 12 weeks after surgery, controlling for baseline cognition) was expected to predict lower body mass index (BMI) and higher percent total weight loss (%WL) at 24-month follow-up. Data were collected by 3 sites of the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS) parent project. Fifty-seven individuals enrolled in the LABS project who were undergoing bariatric surgery completed cognitive evaluation at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 months. BMI and %WL were calculated for 24-month postoperative follow-up. Better cognitive function 12 weeks after surgery predicted higher %WL and lower BMI at 24 months, and specific domains of attention/executive and memory function were robustly related to decreased BMI and greater %WL at 24 months. Results show that cognitive performance shortly after bariatric surgery predicts greater long-term %WL and lower BMI 24 months after bariatric surgery. Further work is needed to clarify the degree to which this relationship is mediated by adherence to postoperative guidelines. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Bariatric Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Early post-stroke cognition in stroke rehabilitation patients predicts functional outcome at 13 months.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagle, Jørgen; Farner, Lasse; Flekkøy, Kjell; Bruun Wyller, Torgeir; Sandvik, Leiv; Fure, Brynjar; Stensrød, Brynhild; Engedal, Knut

    2011-01-01

    To identify prognostic factors associated with functional outcome at 13 months in a sample of stroke rehabilitation patients. Specifically, we hypothesized that cognitive functioning early after stroke would predict long-term functional outcome independently of other factors. 163 stroke rehabilitation patients underwent a structured neuropsychological examination 2-3 weeks after hospital admittance, and their functional status was subsequently evaluated 13 months later with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) as outcome measure. Three predictive models were built using linear regression analyses: a biological model (sociodemographics, apolipoprotein E genotype, prestroke vascular factors, lesion characteristics and neurological stroke-related impairment); a functional model (pre- and early post-stroke cognitive functioning, personal and instrumental activities of daily living, ADL, and depressive symptoms), and a combined model (including significant variables, with p value Stroke Scale; β = 0.402, p stroke cognitive functioning (Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Status, RBANS; β = -0.248, p = 0.001) and prestroke personal ADL (Barthel Index; β = -0.217, p = 0.002). Further linear regression analyses of which RBANS indexes and subtests best predicted long-term functional outcome showed that Coding (β = -0.484, p stroke cognitive functioning as measured by the RBANS is a significant and independent predictor of long-term functional post-stroke outcome. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Patrick L.; Davies, T. Jonathan; Gonzalez, Andrew

    2015-01-01

    In experimental systems, it has been shown that biodiversity indices based on traits or phylogeny can outperform species richness as predictors of plant ecosystem function. However, it is unclear whether this pattern extends to the function of food webs in natural ecosystems. Here we tested whether zooplankton functional and phylogenetic diversity explains the functioning of 23 natural pond communities. We used two measures of ecosystem function: (1) zooplankton community biomass and (2) phytoplankton abundance (Chl a). We tested for diversity-ecosystem function relationships within and across trophic levels. We found a strong correlation between zooplankton diversity and ecosystem function, whereas local environmental conditions were less important. Further, the positive diversity-ecosystem function relationships were more pronounced for measures of functional and phylogenetic diversity than for species richness. Zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass were best predicted by different indices, suggesting that the two functions are dependent upon different aspects of diversity. Zooplankton community biomass was best predicted by zooplankton trait-based functional richness, while phytoplankton abundance was best predicted by zooplankton phylogenetic diversity. Our results suggest that the positive relationship between diversity and ecosystem function can extend across trophic levels in natural environments, and that greater insight into variation in ecosystem function can be gained by combining functional and phylogenetic diversity measures. PMID:25693188

  17. Locomotor Tests Predict Community Mobility in Children and Youth with Cerebral Palsy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferland, Chantale; Moffet, Helene; Maltais, Desiree

    2012-01-01

    Ambulatory children and youth with cerebral palsy have limitations in locomotor capacities and in community mobility. The ability of three locomotor tests to predict community mobility in this population (N = 49, 27 boys, 6-16 years old) was examined. The tests were a level ground walking test, the 6-min-Walk-Test (6MWT), and two tests of advanced…

  18. Personality traits predict treatment outcome with an antidepressant in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanum, L; Malt, U F

    2000-09-01

    We investigated the relationship between personality traits and response to treatment with the tetracyclic antidepressant mianserin or placebo in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGD) without psychopathology. Forty-eight patients completed the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, Neuroticism Extroversion Openness -Personality Inventory (NEO-PI), and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), neuroticism + lie subscales, before they were consecutively allocated to a 7-week double-blind treatment study with mianserin or placebo. Treatment response to pain and target symptoms were recorded daily with the Visual Analogue Scale and Clinical Global Improvement Scale at every visit. A low level of neuroticism and little concealed aggressiveness predicted treatment outcome with the antidepressant drug mianserin in non-psychiatric patients with FGD. Inversely, moderate to high neuroticism and marked concealed aggressiveness predicted poor response to treatment. These findings were most prominent in women. Personality traits were better predictors of treatment outcome than serotonergic sensitivity assessed with the fenfluramine test. Assessment of the personality traits negativism, irritability, aggression, and neuroticism may predict response to drug treatment of FGD even when serotonergic sensitivity is controlled for. If confirmed in future studies, the findings point towards a more differential psychopharmacologic treatment of FGD.

  19. Prediction to natural circulation in semiscale SBLOCA test, S-NC-8B

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bang, Young Seok; Seul, Kwang Won; Lee, Sukho; Kim, Hho Jung

    1995-01-01

    Natural circulation and the associated thermal-hydraulic behavior are predicted by RELAP5/MOD3.1 code against the test S-NC-8B, which simulated 0.1% equivalent SBLOCA in PWR. The Semiscale Mod-2A facility and the test-specific initial/boundary condition are modeled. The calculation result is compared with the experiment data in terms of natural circulation characteristic and the code predictability is evaluated on natural circulation. As a result, flow rate during single-and two-phase natural circulation modes is well predicted and slightly overpredicted with oscillation in transition and reflux regimes. Additional sensitivity calculations are attempted with different discharge coefficient and break modeling to investigate the break flow effect

  20. The Density Functional Theory of Flies: Predicting distributions of interacting active organisms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinkhabwala, Yunus; Valderrama, Juan; Cohen, Itai; Arias, Tomas

    On October 2nd, 2016, 52 people were crushed in a stampede when a crowd panicked at a religious gathering in Ethiopia. The ability to predict the state of a crowd and whether it is susceptible to such transitions could help prevent such catastrophes. While current techniques such as agent based models can predict transitions in emergent behaviors of crowds, the assumptions used to describe the agents are often ad hoc and the simulations are computationally expensive making their application to real-time crowd prediction challenging. Here, we pursue an orthogonal approach and ask whether a reduced set of variables, such as the local densities, are sufficient to describe the state of a crowd. Inspired by the theoretical framework of Density Functional Theory, we have developed a system that uses only measurements of local densities to extract two independent crowd behavior functions: (1) preferences for locations and (2) interactions between individuals. With these two functions, we have accurately predicted how a model system of walking Drosophila melanogaster distributes itself in an arbitrary 2D environment. In addition, this density-based approach measures properties of the crowd from only observations of the crowd itself without any knowledge of the detailed interactions and thus it can make predictions about the resulting distributions of these flies in arbitrary environments, in real-time. This research was supported in part by ARO W911NF-16-1-0433.

  1. A Method of Calculating Functional Independence Measure at Discharge from Functional Independence Measure Effectiveness Predicted by Multiple Regression Analysis Has a High Degree of Predictive Accuracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tokunaga, Makoto; Watanabe, Susumu; Sonoda, Shigeru

    2017-09-01

    Multiple linear regression analysis is often used to predict the outcome of stroke rehabilitation. However, the predictive accuracy may not be satisfactory. The objective of this study was to elucidate the predictive accuracy of a method of calculating motor Functional Independence Measure (mFIM) at discharge from mFIM effectiveness predicted by multiple regression analysis. The subjects were 505 patients with stroke who were hospitalized in a convalescent rehabilitation hospital. The formula "mFIM at discharge = mFIM effectiveness × (91 points - mFIM at admission) + mFIM at admission" was used. By including the predicted mFIM effectiveness obtained through multiple regression analysis in this formula, we obtained the predicted mFIM at discharge (A). We also used multiple regression analysis to directly predict mFIM at discharge (B). The correlation between the predicted and the measured values of mFIM at discharge was compared between A and B. The correlation coefficients were .916 for A and .878 for B. Calculating mFIM at discharge from mFIM effectiveness predicted by multiple regression analysis had a higher degree of predictive accuracy of mFIM at discharge than that directly predicted. Copyright © 2017 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Design of a new PID controller using predictive functional control optimization for chamber pressure in a coke furnace.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jianming

    2017-03-01

    An improved proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller based on predictive functional control (PFC) is proposed and tested on the chamber pressure in an industrial coke furnace. The proposed design is motivated by the fact that PID controllers for industrial processes with time delay may not achieve the desired control performance because of the unavoidable model/plant mismatches, while model predictive control (MPC) is suitable for such situations. In this paper, PID control and PFC algorithm are combined to form a new PID controller that has the basic characteristic of PFC algorithm and at the same time, the simple structure of traditional PID controller. The proposed controller was tested in terms of set-point tracking and disturbance rejection, where the obtained results showed that the proposed controller had the better ensemble performance compared with traditional PID controllers. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Prediction of Detailed Enzyme Functions and Identification of Specificity Determining Residues by Random Forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagao, Chioko; Nagano, Nozomi; Mizuguchi, Kenji

    2014-01-01

    Determining enzyme functions is essential for a thorough understanding of cellular processes. Although many prediction methods have been developed, it remains a significant challenge to predict enzyme functions at the fourth-digit level of the Enzyme Commission numbers. Functional specificity of enzymes often changes drastically by mutations of a small number of residues and therefore, information about these critical residues can potentially help discriminate detailed functions. However, because these residues must be identified by mutagenesis experiments, the available information is limited, and the lack of experimentally verified specificity determining residues (SDRs) has hindered the development of detailed function prediction methods and computational identification of SDRs. Here we present a novel method for predicting enzyme functions by random forests, EFPrf, along with a set of putative SDRs, the random forests derived SDRs (rf-SDRs). EFPrf consists of a set of binary predictors for enzymes in each CATH superfamily and the rf-SDRs are the residue positions corresponding to the most highly contributing attributes obtained from each predictor. EFPrf showed a precision of 0.98 and a recall of 0.89 in a cross-validated benchmark assessment. The rf-SDRs included many residues, whose importance for specificity had been validated experimentally. The analysis of the rf-SDRs revealed both a general tendency that functionally diverged superfamilies tend to include more active site residues in their rf-SDRs than in less diverged superfamilies, and superfamily-specific conservation patterns of each functional residue. EFPrf and the rf-SDRs will be an effective tool for annotating enzyme functions and for understanding how enzyme functions have diverged within each superfamily. PMID:24416252

  4. Development and testing of transfer functions for generating quantitative climatic estimates from Australian pollen data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Ellyn J.; van der Kaars, Sander

    2006-10-01

    We review attempts to derive quantitative climatic estimates from Australian pollen data, including the climatic envelope, climatic indicator and modern analogue approaches, and outline the need to pursue alternatives for use as input to, or validation of, simulations by models of past, present and future climate patterns. To this end, we have constructed and tested modern pollen-climate transfer functions for mainland southeastern Australia and Tasmania using the existing southeastern Australian pollen database and for northern Australia using a new pollen database we are developing. After testing for statistical significance, 11 parameters were selected for mainland southeastern Australia, seven for Tasmania and six for northern Australia. The functions are based on weighted-averaging partial least squares regression and their predictive ability evaluated against modern observational climate data using leave-one-out cross-validation. Functions for summer, annual and winter rainfall and temperatures are most robust for southeastern Australia, while in Tasmania functions for minimum temperature of the coldest period, mean winter and mean annual temperature are the most reliable. In northern Australia, annual and summer rainfall and annual and summer moisture indexes are the strongest. The validation of all functions means all can be applied to Quaternary pollen records from these three areas with confidence. Copyright

  5. Determination of intensity functions for predicting subsidence from coal mining, potash mining, and groundwater withdrawal using the influence function technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Triplett, T; Yurchak, D [Twin Cities Research Center, Bureau of Mines, US Dept. of the Interior, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

    1997-12-31

    This paper presents research, conducted by the Bureau of Mines, on modifying the influence function method to predict subsidence. According to theory, this technique must incorporate an intensity function to represent the relative significance of the causes of subsidence. This paper shows that the inclusion of a reasonable intensity function increases the accuracy of the technique, then presents the required functions for case studies of longwall coal mining subsidence in Illinois, USA, potash mining subsidence in new Mexico, USA, and subsidence produced by ground water withdrawal in California, USA. Finally, the paper discusses a method to predict the resultant strain from a simply measured site constant and ground curvatures calculated by the technique. (orig.)

  6. Determination of intensity functions for predicting subsidence from coal mining, potash mining, and groundwater withdrawal using the influence function technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Triplett, T.; Yurchak, D. [Twin Cities Research Center, Bureau of Mines, US Dept. of the Interior, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

    1996-12-31

    This paper presents research, conducted by the Bureau of Mines, on modifying the influence function method to predict subsidence. According to theory, this technique must incorporate an intensity function to represent the relative significance of the causes of subsidence. This paper shows that the inclusion of a reasonable intensity function increases the accuracy of the technique, then presents the required functions for case studies of longwall coal mining subsidence in Illinois, USA, potash mining subsidence in new Mexico, USA, and subsidence produced by ground water withdrawal in California, USA. Finally, the paper discusses a method to predict the resultant strain from a simply measured site constant and ground curvatures calculated by the technique. (orig.)

  7. Predictive validity of pre-admission assessments on medical student performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dabaliz, Al-Awwab; Kaadan, Samy; Dabbagh, M Marwan; Barakat, Abdulaziz; Shareef, Mohammad Abrar; Al-Tannir, Mohamad; Obeidat, Akef; Mohamed, Ayman

    2017-11-24

    To examine the predictive validity of pre-admission variables on students' performance in a medical school in Saudi Arabia. In this retrospective study, we collected admission and college performance data for 737 students in preclinical and clinical years. Data included high school scores and other standardized test scores, such as those of the National Achievement Test and the General Aptitude Test. Additionally, we included the scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exams. Those datasets were then compared with college performance indicators, namely the cumulative Grade Point Average (cGPA) and progress test, using multivariate linear regression analysis. In preclinical years, both the National Achievement Test (p=0.04, B=0.08) and TOEFL (p=0.017, B=0.01) scores were positive predictors of cGPA, whereas the General Aptitude Test (p=0.048, B=-0.05) negatively predicted cGPA. Moreover, none of the pre-admission variables were predictive of progress test performance in the same group. On the other hand, none of the pre-admission variables were predictive of cGPA in clinical years. Overall, cGPA strongly predict-ed students' progress test performance (p<0.001 and B=19.02). Only the National Achievement Test and TOEFL significantly predicted performance in preclinical years. However, these variables do not predict progress test performance, meaning that they do not predict the functional knowledge reflected in the progress test. We report various strengths and deficiencies in the current medical college admission criteria, and call for employing more sensitive and valid ones that predict student performance and functional knowledge, especially in the clinical years.

  8. The correlation of symptoms, pulmonary function tests and exercise testing with high-resolution computed tomography in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia in a tertiary care hospital in South India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isaac, Barney Thomas Jesudason; Thangakunam, Balamugesh; Cherian, Rekha A; Christopher, Devasahayam Jesudas

    2015-01-01

    For the follow-up of patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIP), it is unclear which parameters of pulmonary function tests (PFT) and exercise testing would correlate best with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT).. To find out the correlation of symptom scores, PFTs and exercise testing with HRCT scoring in patients diagnosed as idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. Cross-sectional study done in pulmonary medicine outpatients department of a tertiary care hospital in South India. Consecutive patients who were diagnosed as IIP by a standard algorithm were included into the study. Cough and dyspnea were graded for severity and duration. Pulmonary function tests and exercise testing parameters were noted. HRCT was scored based on an alveolar score, an interstitial score and a total score. The HRCT was correlated with each of the clinical and physiologic parameters. Pearson's/Spearman's correlation coefficient was used for the correlation of symptoms and parameters of ABG, PFT and 6MWT with the HRCT scores. A total of 94 patients were included in the study. Cough and dyspnea severity (r = 0.336 and 0.299), FVC (r = -0.48), TLC (r = -0.439) and DLCO and distance saturation product (DSP) (r = -0.368) and lowest saturation (r = -0.324) had significant correlation with total HRCT score. Among these, DLCO, particularly DLCO corrected % of predicted, correlated best with HRCT score (r = -0.721).. Symptoms, PFT and exercise testing had good correlation with HRCT. DLCO corrected % of predicted correlated best with HRCT.

  9. Analysing earthquake slip models with the spatial prediction comparison test

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, L.; Mai, Paul Martin; Thingbaijam, Kiran Kumar; Razafindrakoto, H. N. T.; Genton, Marc G.

    2014-01-01

    Earthquake rupture models inferred from inversions of geophysical and/or geodetic data exhibit remarkable variability due to uncertainties in modelling assumptions, the use of different inversion algorithms, or variations in data selection and data processing. A robust statistical comparison of different rupture models obtained for a single earthquake is needed to quantify the intra-event variability, both for benchmark exercises and for real earthquakes. The same approach may be useful to characterize (dis-)similarities in events that are typically grouped into a common class of events (e.g. moderate-size crustal strike-slip earthquakes or tsunamigenic large subduction earthquakes). For this purpose, we examine the performance of the spatial prediction comparison test (SPCT), a statistical test developed to compare spatial (random) fields by means of a chosen loss function that describes an error relation between a 2-D field (‘model’) and a reference model. We implement and calibrate the SPCT approach for a suite of synthetic 2-D slip distributions, generated as spatial random fields with various characteristics, and then apply the method to results of a benchmark inversion exercise with known solution. We find the SPCT to be sensitive to different spatial correlations lengths, and different heterogeneity levels of the slip distributions. The SPCT approach proves to be a simple and effective tool for ranking the slip models with respect to a reference model.

  10. Analysing earthquake slip models with the spatial prediction comparison test

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, L.

    2014-11-10

    Earthquake rupture models inferred from inversions of geophysical and/or geodetic data exhibit remarkable variability due to uncertainties in modelling assumptions, the use of different inversion algorithms, or variations in data selection and data processing. A robust statistical comparison of different rupture models obtained for a single earthquake is needed to quantify the intra-event variability, both for benchmark exercises and for real earthquakes. The same approach may be useful to characterize (dis-)similarities in events that are typically grouped into a common class of events (e.g. moderate-size crustal strike-slip earthquakes or tsunamigenic large subduction earthquakes). For this purpose, we examine the performance of the spatial prediction comparison test (SPCT), a statistical test developed to compare spatial (random) fields by means of a chosen loss function that describes an error relation between a 2-D field (‘model’) and a reference model. We implement and calibrate the SPCT approach for a suite of synthetic 2-D slip distributions, generated as spatial random fields with various characteristics, and then apply the method to results of a benchmark inversion exercise with known solution. We find the SPCT to be sensitive to different spatial correlations lengths, and different heterogeneity levels of the slip distributions. The SPCT approach proves to be a simple and effective tool for ranking the slip models with respect to a reference model.

  11. Comparing Spatial Predictions

    KAUST Repository

    Hering, Amanda S.; Genton, Marc G.

    2011-01-01

    Under a general loss function, we develop a hypothesis test to determine whether a significant difference in the spatial predictions produced by two competing models exists on average across the entire spatial domain of interest. The null hypothesis

  12. Comparison of functional ramp walk test and 6-min walk test in healthy volunteers: A new approach in functional capacity evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manivel Arumugam

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Inclined surfaces or ramps are the common obstacles faced by elderly and cardiopulmonary disabled in accessing public amenities. Ramp walking is one of the most common functional demands to be met by a common man in the industrialized world. To assess the functional (uphill walking capacity, we need a different functional stress test over the routinely used 6-min walk test (6MWT. Hence, a new 3-min steep ramp walk test (3MRWT was constructed to meet the demands similar to an uphill walk and to provide more functional stress than routinely used 6MWT. Methodology: The observational, crossover study design was adopted for this study. Fifteen healthy participants (8 males, 7 females performed both tests in a randomized order with a washout time of 6 h in between the tests. Walking distance to both ramp and ground, heart rate, blood pressure, saturation (SpO2, dyspnea, and fatigue with Borg exertion scale were compared prior and after the two walk tests. Results: The average distances covered in 6MWT were 510.5 ± 55.06 and 440.65 ± 25.08 meters and in 3MRWT were 270.18 ± 30.8, 230.05 ± 15.06 meters for male and female respectively. The difference between 3MRWT and 6MWT distances covered by the participants was statistically significant (t = 0.893. The mean difference between the heart rate, saturation and perceptions were highly significant (P < 0.001. Conclusion: The study results show that 3MRWT is valid over routinely administered 6MWT and may provide greater functional stress (uphill or ramp walk capacity in a shorter duration in healthy individuals in assessing the maximal functional capacity in a ramp or uphill walking.

  13. Predicting fatigue and psychophysiological test performance from speech for safety critical environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khan Richard Baykaner

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Automatic systems for estimating operator fatigue have application in safety-critical environments. A system which could estimate level of fatigue from speech would have application in domains where operators engage in regular verbal communication as part of their duties. Previous studies on the prediction of fatigue from speech have been limited because of their reliance on subjective ratings and because they lack comparison to other methods for assessing fatigue. In this paper we present an analysis of voice recordings and psychophysiological test scores collected from seven aerospace personnel during a training task in which they remained awake for 60 hours. We show that voice features and test scores are affected by both the total time spent awake and the time position within each subject’s circadian cycle. However, we show that time spent awake and time of day information are poor predictors of the test results; while voice features can give good predictions of the psychophysiological test scores and sleep latency. Mean absolute errors of prediction are possible within about 17.5% for sleep latency and 5-12% for test scores. We discuss the implications for the use of voice as a means to monitor the effects of fatigue on cognitive performance in practical applications.

  14. Factors predicting work outcome in Japanese patients with schizophrenia: role of multiple functioning levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumiyoshi, Chika; Harvey, Philip D; Takaki, Manabu; Okahisa, Yuko; Sato, Taku; Sora, Ichiro; Nuechterlein, Keith H; Subotnik, Kenneth L; Sumiyoshi, Tomiki

    2015-09-01

    Functional outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia suggest recovery of cognitive, everyday, and social functioning. Specifically improvement of work status is considered to be most important for their independent living and self-efficacy. The main purposes of the present study were 1) to identify which outcome factors predict occupational functioning, quantified as work hours, and 2) to provide cut-offs on the scales for those factors to attain better work status. Forty-five Japanese patients with schizophrenia and 111 healthy controls entered the study. Cognition, capacity for everyday activities, and social functioning were assessed by the Japanese versions of the MATRICS Cognitive Consensus Battery (MCCB), the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment-Brief (UPSA-B), and the Social Functioning Scale Individuals' version modified for the MATRICS-PASS (Modified SFS for PASS), respectively. Potential factors for work outcome were estimated by multiple linear regression analyses (predicting work hours directly) and a multiple logistic regression analyses (predicting dichotomized work status based on work hours). ROC curve analyses were performed to determine cut-off points for differentiating between the better- and poor work status. The results showed that a cognitive component, comprising visual/verbal learning and emotional management, and a social functioning component, comprising independent living and vocational functioning, were potential factors for predicting work hours/status. Cut-off points obtained in ROC analyses indicated that 60-70% achievements on the measures of those factors were expected to maintain the better work status. Our findings suggest that improvement on specific aspects of cognitive and social functioning are important for work outcome in patients with schizophrenia.

  15. Improvement in post test accident analysis results prediction for the test no. 2 in PSB test facility by applying UMAE methodology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dubey, S.K.; Petruzzi, A.; Giannotti, W.; D'Auria, F.

    2006-01-01

    This paper mainly deals with the improvement in the post test accident analysis results prediction for the test no. 2, 'Total loss of feed water with failure of HPIS pumps and operator actions on primary and secondary circuit depressurization', carried-out on PSB integral test facility in May 2005. This is one the most complicated test conducted in PSB test facility. The prime objective of this test is to provide support for the verification of the accident management strategies for NPPs and also to verify the correctness of some safety systems operating only during accident. The objective of this analysis is to assess the capability to reproduce the phenomena occurring during the selected tests and to quantify the accuracy of the code calculation qualitatively and quantitatively for the best estimate code Relap5/mod3.3 by systematically applying all the procedures lead by Uncertainty Methodology based on Accuracy Extrapolation (UMAE), developed at University of Pisa. In order to achieve these objectives test facility nodalisation qualification for both 'steady state level' and 'on transient level' are demonstrated. For the 'steady state level' qualification compliance to acceptance criteria established in UMAE has been checked for geometrical details and thermal hydraulic parameters. The following steps have been performed for evaluation of qualitative qualification of 'on transient level': visual comparisons between experimental and calculated relevant parameters time trends; list of comparison between experimental and code calculation resulting time sequence of significant events; identification/verification of CSNI phenomena validation matrix; use of the Phenomenological Windows (PhW), identification of Key Phenomena and Relevant Thermal-hydraulic Aspects (RTA). A successful application of the qualitative process constitutes a prerequisite to the application of the quantitative analysis. For quantitative accuracy of code prediction Fast Fourier Transform Based

  16. Predictive genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer: psychological distress and illness representations 1 year following disclosure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claes, E; Evers-Kiebooms, G; Denayer, L; Decruyenaere, M; Boogaerts, A; Philippe, K; Legius, E

    2005-10-01

    This prospective study evaluates emotional functioning and illness representations in 68 unaffected women (34 carriers/34 noncarriers) 1 year after predictive testing for BRCA1/2 mutations when offered within a multidisciplinary approach. Carriers had higher subjective risk perception of breast cancer than noncarriers. Carriers who did not have prophylactic oophorectomy had the highest risk perception of ovarian cancer. No differences were found between carriers and noncarriers regarding perceived seriousness and perceived control of breast and ovarian cancer. Mean levels of distress were within normal ranges. Only few women showed an overall pattern of clinically elevated distress. Cancer-specific distress and state-anxiety significantly decreased in noncarriers from pre- to posttest while general distress remained about the same. There were no significant changes in distress in the group of carriers except for ovarian cancer distress which significantly decreased from pre- to posttest. Our study did not reveal adverse effects of predictive testing when offered in the context of a multidisciplinary approach.

  17. 15N liver function tests - concept, validity, clinical use

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faust, H.; Jung, K.; Krumbiegel, P.; Hirschberg, K.; Reinhardt, R.; Junghans, P.

    1987-01-01

    Several liver function tests using the oral application of a nitrogen compound labelled with 15 N and the subsequent determination of 15 N in a certain fraction of urine by emission spectrometry are described. Because of the key position of the liver in the metabolism of nitrogen compounds the results of these tests allow conclusions concerning disturbances of special liver functions. Instructions for the clinical use of the '[ 15 N]Ammonium Test', '[ 15 N]Hippurate Test' the '[ 15 N]Methacetin Test', and the '[ 15 N]Glycine Test' are given. (author)

  18. Predictive value of different conventional and non-conventional MRI-parameters for specific domains of cognitive function in multiple sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinter, Daniela; Khalil, Michael; Pichler, Alexander; Langkammer, Christian; Ropele, Stefan; Marschik, Peter B; Fuchs, Siegrid; Fazekas, Franz; Enzinger, Christian

    2015-01-01

    While many studies correlated cognitive function with changes in brain morphology in multiple sclerosis (MS), few of them used a multi-parametric approach in a single dataset so far. We thus here assessed the predictive value of different conventional and quantitative MRI-parameters both for overall and domain-specific cognitive performance in MS patients from a single center. 69 patients (17 clinically isolated syndrome, 47 relapsing-remitting MS, 5 secondary-progressive MS) underwent the "Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests" assessing overall cognition, cognitive efficiency and memory function as well as MRI at 3 Tesla to obtain T2-lesion load (T2-LL), normalized brain volume (global brain volume loss), normalized cortical volume (NCV), normalized thalamic volume (NTV), normalized hippocampal volume (NHV), normalized caudate nuclei volume (NCNV), basal ganglia R2* values (iron deposition) and magnetization transfer ratios (MTRs) for cortex and normal appearing brain tissue (NABT). Regression models including clinical, demographic variables and MRI-parameters explained 22-27% of variance of overall cognition, 17-26% of cognitive efficiency and 22-23% of memory. NCV, T2-LL and MTR of NABT were the strongest predictors of overall cognitive function. Cognitive efficiency was best predicted by NCV, T2-LL and iron deposition in the basal ganglia. NTV was the strongest predictor for memory function and NHV was particularly related to memory function. The predictive value of distinct MRI-parameters differs for specific domains of cognitive function, with a greater impact of cortical volume, focal and diffuse white matter abnormalities on overall cognitive function, an additional role of basal ganglia iron deposition on cognitive efficiency, and thalamic and hippocampal volume on memory function. This suggests the usefulness of using multiparametric MRI to assess (micro)structural correlates of different cognitive constructs.

  19. Identification of optimal soil hydraulic functions and parameters for predicting soil moisture

    Science.gov (United States)

    We examined the accuracy of several commonly used soil hydraulic functions and associated parameters for predicting observed soil moisture data. We used six combined methods formed by three commonly used soil hydraulic functions – i.e., Brooks and Corey (1964) (BC), Campbell (19...

  20. Prediction of human protein function according to Gene Ontology categories

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Lars Juhl; Gupta, Ramneek; Stærfeldt, Hans Henrik

    2003-01-01

    developed a method for prediction of protein function for a subset of classes from the Gene Ontology classification scheme. This subset includes several pharmaceutically interesting categories-transcription factors, receptors, ion channels, stress and immune response proteins, hormones and growth factors...

  1. Novel Approach for the Recognition and Prediction of Multi-Function Radar Behaviours Based on Predictive State Representations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ou, Jian; Chen, Yongguang; Zhao, Feng; Liu, Jin; Xiao, Shunping

    2017-03-19

    The extensive applications of multi-function radars (MFRs) have presented a great challenge to the technologies of radar countermeasures (RCMs) and electronic intelligence (ELINT). The recently proposed cognitive electronic warfare (CEW) provides a good solution, whose crux is to perceive present and future MFR behaviours, including the operating modes, waveform parameters, scheduling schemes, etc. Due to the variety and complexity of MFR waveforms, the existing approaches have the drawbacks of inefficiency and weak practicability in prediction. A novel method for MFR behaviour recognition and prediction is proposed based on predictive state representation (PSR). With the proposed approach, operating modes of MFR are recognized by accumulating the predictive states, instead of using fixed transition probabilities that are unavailable in the battlefield. It helps to reduce the dependence of MFR on prior information. And MFR signals can be quickly predicted by iteratively using the predicted observation, avoiding the very large computation brought by the uncertainty of future observations. Simulations with a hypothetical MFR signal sequence in a typical scenario are presented, showing that the proposed methods perform well and efficiently, which attests to their validity.

  2. Validation of new prognostic and predictive scores by sequential testing approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nieder, Carsten; Haukland, Ellinor; Pawinski, Adam; Dalhaug, Astrid

    2010-01-01

    Background and Purpose: For practitioners, the question arises how their own patient population differs from that used in large-scale analyses resulting in new scores and nomograms and whether such tools actually are valid at a local level and thus can be implemented. A recent article proposed an easy-to-use method for the in-clinic validation of new prediction tools with a limited number of patients, a so-called sequential testing approach. The present study evaluates this approach in scores related to radiation oncology. Material and Methods: Three different scores were used, each predicting short overall survival after palliative radiotherapy (bone metastases, brain metastases, metastatic spinal cord compression). For each scenario, a limited number of consecutive patients entered the sequential testing approach. The positive predictive value (PPV) was used for validation of the respective score and it was required that the PPV exceeded 80%. Results: For two scores, validity in the own local patient population could be confirmed after entering 13 and 17 patients, respectively. For the third score, no decision could be reached even after increasing the sample size to 30. Conclusion: In-clinic validation of new predictive tools with sequential testing approach should be preferred over uncritical adoption of tools which provide no significant benefit to local patient populations. Often the necessary number of patients can be reached within reasonable time frames even in small oncology practices. In addition, validation is performed continuously as the data are collected. (orig.)

  3. Validation of new prognostic and predictive scores by sequential testing approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nieder, Carsten [Radiation Oncology Unit, Nordland Hospital, Bodo (Norway); Inst. of Clinical Medicine, Univ. of Tromso (Norway); Haukland, Ellinor; Pawinski, Adam; Dalhaug, Astrid [Radiation Oncology Unit, Nordland Hospital, Bodo (Norway)

    2010-03-15

    Background and Purpose: For practitioners, the question arises how their own patient population differs from that used in large-scale analyses resulting in new scores and nomograms and whether such tools actually are valid at a local level and thus can be implemented. A recent article proposed an easy-to-use method for the in-clinic validation of new prediction tools with a limited number of patients, a so-called sequential testing approach. The present study evaluates this approach in scores related to radiation oncology. Material and Methods: Three different scores were used, each predicting short overall survival after palliative radiotherapy (bone metastases, brain metastases, metastatic spinal cord compression). For each scenario, a limited number of consecutive patients entered the sequential testing approach. The positive predictive value (PPV) was used for validation of the respective score and it was required that the PPV exceeded 80%. Results: For two scores, validity in the own local patient population could be confirmed after entering 13 and 17 patients, respectively. For the third score, no decision could be reached even after increasing the sample size to 30. Conclusion: In-clinic validation of new predictive tools with sequential testing approach should be preferred over uncritical adoption of tools which provide no significant benefit to local patient populations. Often the necessary number of patients can be reached within reasonable time frames even in small oncology practices. In addition, validation is performed continuously as the data are collected. (orig.)

  4. Predictive acute toxicity tests with pesticides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, V K

    1983-01-01

    By definition pesticides are biocidal products and this implies a probability that pesticides may be acutely toxic to species other than the designated target species. The ways in which pesticides are manufactured, formulated, packaged, distributed and used necessitates a potential for the exposure of non-target species although the technology exists to minimize adventitious exposure. The occurrence of deliberate exposure of non-target species due to the misuse of pesticides is known to happen. The array of predictive acute toxicity tests carried out on pesticides and involving the use of laboratory animals can be justified as providing data on which hazard assessment can be based. This paper addresses the justification and rationale of this statement.

  5. Diuretic renography in hydronephrosis: renal tissue tracer transit predicts functional course and thereby need for surgery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schlotmann, Andreas [University Hospital Freiburg, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Department of Radiation Oncology, Freiburg (Germany); Clorius, John H. [German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany); Clorius, Sandra N. [University Hospital Basel, Department of Internal Medicine, Basel (Switzerland)

    2009-10-15

    The recognition of those hydronephrotic kidneys which require therapy to preserve renal function remains difficult. We retrospectively compared the 'tissue tracer transit' (TTT) of {sup 99m}Tc-mercaptoacetyltriglycine ({sup 99m}Tc-MAG{sub 3}) with 'response to furosemide stimulation' (RFS) and with 'single kidney function < 40%' (SKF < 40%) to predict functional course and thereby need for surgery. Fifty patients with suspected unilateral obstruction and normal contralateral kidney had 115 paired (baseline/follow-up) {sup 99m}Tc-MAG{sub 3} scintirenographies. Three predictions of the functional development were derived from each baseline examination: the first based on TTT (visually assessed), the second on RFS and the third on SKF < 40%. Each prediction also considered whether the patient had surgery. Possible predictions were 'better', 'worse' or 'stable' function. A comparison of SKF at baseline and follow-up verified the predictions. The frequency of correct predictions for functional improvement following surgery was 8 of 10 kidneys with delayed TTT, 9 of 22 kidneys with obstructive RFS and 9 of 21 kidneys with SKF < 40%; for functional deterioration without surgery it was 2 of 3 kidneys with delayed TTT, 3 of 20 kidneys with obstructive RFS and 3 of 23 kidneys with SKF < 40%. Without surgery 67 of 70 kidneys with timely TTT maintained function. Without surgery 0 of 9 kidneys with timely TTT but obstructive RFS and only 1 of 16 kidneys with timely TTT but SKF < 40% lost function. Delayed TTT appears to identify the need for therapy to preserve function of hydronephrotic kidneys, while timely TTT may exclude risk even in the presence of an obstructive RFS or SKF < 40%. (orig.)

  6. Less-structured time in children's daily lives predicts self-directed executive functioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barker, Jane E; Semenov, Andrei D; Michaelson, Laura; Provan, Lindsay S; Snyder, Hannah R; Munakata, Yuko

    2014-01-01

    Executive functions (EFs) in childhood predict important life outcomes. Thus, there is great interest in attempts to improve EFs early in life. Many interventions are led by trained adults, including structured training activities in the lab, and less-structured activities implemented in schools. Such programs have yielded gains in children's externally-driven executive functioning, where they are instructed on what goal-directed actions to carry out and when. However, it is less clear how children's experiences relate to their development of self-directed executive functioning, where they must determine on their own what goal-directed actions to carry out and when. We hypothesized that time spent in less-structured activities would give children opportunities to practice self-directed executive functioning, and lead to benefits. To investigate this possibility, we collected information from parents about their 6-7 year-old children's daily, annual, and typical schedules. We categorized children's activities as "structured" or "less-structured" based on categorization schemes from prior studies on child leisure time use. We assessed children's self-directed executive functioning using a well-established verbal fluency task, in which children generate members of a category and can decide on their own when to switch from one subcategory to another. The more time that children spent in less-structured activities, the better their self-directed executive functioning. The opposite was true of structured activities, which predicted poorer self-directed executive functioning. These relationships were robust (holding across increasingly strict classifications of structured and less-structured time) and specific (time use did not predict externally-driven executive functioning). We discuss implications, caveats, and ways in which potential interpretations can be distinguished in future work, to advance an understanding of this fundamental aspect of growing up.

  7. Identification of antibody glycosylation structures that predict monoclonal antibody Fc-effector function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Amy W; Crispin, Max; Pritchard, Laura; Robinson, Hannah; Gorny, Miroslaw K; Yu, Xiaojie; Bailey-Kellogg, Chris; Ackerman, Margaret E; Scanlan, Chris; Zolla-Pazner, Susan; Alter, Galit

    2014-11-13

    To determine monoclonal antibody (mAb) features that predict fragment crystalizable (Fc)-mediated effector functions against HIV. Monoclonal antibodies, derived from Chinese hamster ovary cells or Epstein-Barr virus-immortalized mouse heteromyelomas, with specificity to key regions of the HIV envelope including gp120-V2, gp120-V3 loop, gp120-CD4(+) binding site, and gp41-specific antibodies, were functionally profiled to determine the relative contribution of the variable and constant domain features of the antibodies in driving robust Fc-effector functions. Each mAb was assayed for antibody-binding affinity to gp140(SR162), antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) and for the ability to bind to FcγRIIa, FcγRIIb and FcγRIIIa receptors. Antibody glycan profiles were determined by HPLC. Neither the specificity nor the affinity of the mAbs determined the potency of Fc-effector function. FcγRIIIa binding strongly predicted ADCC and decreased galactose content inversely correlated with ADCP, whereas N-glycolylneuraminic acid-containing structures exhibited enhanced ADCP. Additionally, the bi-antenary glycan arm onto which galactose was added predicted enhanced binding to FcγRIIIa and ADCC activity, independent of the specificity of the mAb. Our studies point to the specific Fc-glycan structures that can selectively promote Fc-effector functions independently of the antibody specificity. Furthermore, we demonstrated antibody glycan structures associated with enhanced ADCP activity, an emerging Fc-effector function that may aid in the control and clearance of HIV infection.

  8. Accuracy of the Timed Up and Go test for predicting sarcopenia in elderly hospitalized patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez, Bruno Prata; Gomes, Isabela Barboza; Oliveira, Carolina Santana de; Ramos, Isis Resende; Rocha, Mônica Diniz Marques; Forgiarini Júnior, Luiz Alberto; Camelier, Fernanda Warken Rosa; Camelier, Aquiles Assunção

    2015-05-01

    The ability of the Timed Up and Go test to predict sarcopenia has not been evaluated previously. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the Timed Up and Go test for predicting sarcopenia in elderly hospitalized patients. This cross-sectional study analyzed 68 elderly patients (≥60 years of age) in a private hospital in the city of Salvador-BA, Brazil, between the 1st and 5th day of hospitalization. The predictive variable was the Timed Up and Go test score, and the outcome of interest was the presence of sarcopenia (reduced muscle mass associated with a reduction in handgrip strength and/or weak physical performance in a 6-m gait-speed test). After the descriptive data analyses, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of a test using the predictive variable to predict the presence of sarcopenia were calculated. In total, 68 elderly individuals, with a mean age 70.4±7.7 years, were evaluated. The subjects had a Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 5.35±1.97. Most (64.7%) of the subjects had a clinical admission profile; the main reasons for hospitalization were cardiovascular disorders (22.1%), pneumonia (19.1%) and abdominal disorders (10.2%). The frequency of sarcopenia in the sample was 22.1%, and the mean length of time spent performing the Timed Up and Go test was 10.02±5.38 s. A time longer than or equal to a cutoff of 10.85 s on the Timed Up and Go test predicted sarcopenia with a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 88.7%. The accuracy of this cutoff for the Timed Up and Go test was good (0.80; IC=0.66-0.94; p=0.002). The Timed Up and Go test was shown to be a predictor of sarcopenia in elderly hospitalized patients.

  9. Conditional mode regression: Application to functional time series prediction

    OpenAIRE

    Dabo-Niang, Sophie; Laksaci, Ali

    2008-01-01

    We consider $\\alpha$-mixing observations and deal with the estimation of the conditional mode of a scalar response variable $Y$ given a random variable $X$ taking values in a semi-metric space. We provide a convergence rate in $L^p$ norm of the estimator. A useful and typical application to functional times series prediction is given.

  10. Reliable Prediction of Insulin Resistance by a School-Based Fitness Test in Middle-School Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Allen DavidB

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Objectives. (1 Determine the predictive value of a school-based test of cardiovascular fitness (CVF for insulin resistance (IR; (2 compare a "school-based" prediction of IR to a "laboratory-based" prediction, using various measures of fitness and body composition. Methods. Middle school children ( performed the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER, a school-based CVF test, and underwent evaluation of maximal oxygen consumption treadmill testing ( max, body composition (percent body fat and BMI z score, and IR (derived homeostasis model assessment index []. Results. PACER showed a strong correlation with max/kg ( = 0.83, and with ( = , . Multivariate regression analysis revealed that a school-based model (using PACER and BMI z score predicted IR similar to a laboratory-based model (using max/kg of lean body mass and percent body fat. Conclusions. The PACER is a valid school-based test of CVF, is predictive of IR, and has a similar relationship to IR when compared to complex laboratory-based testing. Simple school-based measures of childhood fitness (PACER and fatness (BMI z score could be used to identify childhood risk for IR and evaluate interventions.

  11. Developing a risk prediction model for the functional outcome after hip arthroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephan, Patrick; Röling, Maarten A; Mathijssen, Nina M C; Hannink, Gerjon; Bloem, Rolf M

    2018-04-19

    Hip arthroscopic treatment is not equally beneficial for every patient undergoing this procedure. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a clinical prediction model for functional outcome after surgery based on preoperative factors. Prospective data was collected on a cohort of 205 patients having undergone hip arthroscopy between 2011 and 2015. Demographic and clinical variables and patient reported outcome (PRO) scores were collected, and considered as potential predictors. Successful outcome was defined as either a Hip Outcome Score (HOS)-ADL score of over 80% or improvement of 23%, defined by the minimal clinical important difference, 1 year after surgery. The prediction model was developed using backward logistic regression. Regression coefficients were converted into an easy to use prediction rule. The analysis included 203 patients, of which 74% had a successful outcome. Female gender (OR: 0.37 (95% CI 0.17-0.83); p = 0.02), pincer impingement (OR: 0.47 (95% CI 0.21-1.09); p = 0.08), labral tear (OR: 0.46 (95% CI 0.20-1.06); p = 0.07), HOS-ADL score (IQR OR: 2.01 (95% CI 0.99-4.08); p = 0.05), WHOQOL physical (IQR OR: 0.43 (95% CI 0.22-0.87); p = 0.02) and WHOQOL psychological (IQR OR: 2.40 (95% CI 1.38-4.18); p = prediction model of successful functional outcome 1 year after hip arthroscopy. The model's discriminating accuracy turned out to be fair, as 71% (95% CI: 64-80%) of the patients were classified correctly. The developed prediction model can predict the functional outcome of patients that are considered for a hip arthroscopic intervention, containing six easy accessible preoperative risk factors. The model can be further improved trough external validation and/or adding additional potential predictors.

  12. Phylogenetic molecular function annotation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Engelhardt, Barbara E; Jordan, Michael I; Repo, Susanna T; Brenner, Steven E

    2009-01-01

    It is now easier to discover thousands of protein sequences in a new microbial genome than it is to biochemically characterize the specific activity of a single protein of unknown function. The molecular functions of protein sequences have typically been predicted using homology-based computational methods, which rely on the principle that homologous proteins share a similar function. However, some protein families include groups of proteins with different molecular functions. A phylogenetic approach for predicting molecular function (sometimes called 'phylogenomics') is an effective means to predict protein molecular function. These methods incorporate functional evidence from all members of a family that have functional characterizations using the evolutionary history of the protein family to make robust predictions for the uncharacterized proteins. However, they are often difficult to apply on a genome-wide scale because of the time-consuming step of reconstructing the phylogenies of each protein to be annotated. Our automated approach for function annotation using phylogeny, the SIFTER (Statistical Inference of Function Through Evolutionary Relationships) methodology, uses a statistical graphical model to compute the probabilities of molecular functions for unannotated proteins. Our benchmark tests showed that SIFTER provides accurate functional predictions on various protein families, outperforming other available methods.

  13. Factors predicting work outcome in Japanese patients with schizophrenia: role of multiple functioning levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chika Sumiyoshi

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Functional outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia suggest recovery of cognitive, everyday, and social functioning. Specifically improvement of work status is considered to be most important for their independent living and self-efficacy. The main purposes of the present study were 1 to identify which outcome factors predict occupational functioning, quantified as work hours, and 2 to provide cut-offs on the scales for those factors to attain better work status. Forty-five Japanese patients with schizophrenia and 111 healthy controls entered the study. Cognition, capacity for everyday activities, and social functioning were assessed by the Japanese versions of the MATRICS Cognitive Consensus Battery (MCCB, the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment-Brief (UPSA-B, and the Social Functioning Scale Individuals’ version modified for the MATRICS-PASS (Modified SFS for PASS, respectively. Potential factors for work outcome were estimated by multiple linear regression analyses (predicting work hours directly and a multiple logistic regression analyses (predicting dichotomized work status based on work hours. ROC curve analyses were performed to determine cut-off points for differentiating between the better- and poor work status. The results showed that a cognitive component, comprising visual/verbal learning and emotional management, and a social functioning component, comprising independent living and vocational functioning, were potential factors for predicting work hours/status. Cut-off points obtained in ROC analyses indicated that 60–70% achievements on the measures of those factors were expected to maintain the better work status. Our findings suggest that improvement on specific aspects of cognitive and social functioning are important for work outcome in patients with schizophrenia.

  14. Impairment of executive function and attention predicts onset of affective disorder in healthy high-risk twins

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vinberg, Maj; Miskowiak, Kamilla W; Kessing, Lars Vedel

    2013-01-01

    To investigate whether measures of cognitive function can predict onset of affective disorder in individuals at heritable risk.......To investigate whether measures of cognitive function can predict onset of affective disorder in individuals at heritable risk....

  15. Combining modularity, conservation, and interactions of proteins significantly increases precision and coverage of protein function prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sers Christine T

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background While the number of newly sequenced genomes and genes is constantly increasing, elucidation of their function still is a laborious and time-consuming task. This has led to the development of a wide range of methods for predicting protein functions in silico. We report on a new method that predicts function based on a combination of information about protein interactions, orthology, and the conservation of protein networks in different species. Results We show that aggregation of these independent sources of evidence leads to a drastic increase in number and quality of predictions when compared to baselines and other methods reported in the literature. For instance, our method generates more than 12,000 novel protein functions for human with an estimated precision of ~76%, among which are 7,500 new functional annotations for 1,973 human proteins that previously had zero or only one function annotated. We also verified our predictions on a set of genes that play an important role in colorectal cancer (MLH1, PMS2, EPHB4 and could confirm more than 73% of them based on evidence in the literature. Conclusions The combination of different methods into a single, comprehensive prediction method infers thousands of protein functions for every species included in the analysis at varying, yet always high levels of precision and very good coverage.

  16. Cross-sectional study of uranium mine workers to develop predictive equations for lung functions with reference to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De Kock, M A [Stellenbosch Univ. (South Africa); Swiegers, W R.S. [Roessing Uranium Mine, Swakopmund (South West Africa/Namibia); Kotze, T J.v.W.; Joubert, G [South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town (South Africa)

    1988-03-19

    As the first part of a prospective epidemiological study of the lung function and dust exposure of workers at the Roessing Uranium Mine in SWA/Namibia, various measurements of lung function of 1407 workers were carried out. This was necessary in order to follow up any chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that might develop. The opportunity was used to test existing prediction formulae and to develop formulae for normal values for workers at the Roessing mine. 94 refs., 36 figs., 14 tabs.

  17. Cross-sectional study of uranium mine workers to develop predictive equations for lung functions with reference to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Kock, M.A.; Swiegers, W.R.S.; Kotze, T.J.v.W.; Joubert, G.

    1988-01-01

    As the first part of a prospective epidemiological study of the lung function and dust exposure of workers at the Roessing Uranium Mine in SWA/Namibia, various measurements of lung function of 1 407 workers were carried out. This was necessary in order to follow up any chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that might develop. The opportunity was used to test existing prediction formulae and to develop formulae for normal values for workers at the Roessing mine. 94 refs., 36 figs., 14 tabs

  18. Towards virtual surgery in oral cancer to predict postoperative oral functions preoperatively

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Alphen, M.J.A.; Kreeft, A.M.; van der Heijden, Ferdinand; Smeele, L.E.; Balm, A.J.M.; Balm, Alfonsus Jacobus Maria

    2013-01-01

    Our aim was to develop a dynamic virtual model of the oral cavity and oropharynx so that we could incorporate patient-specific factors into the prediction of functional loss after advanced resections for oral cancer. After a virtual resection, functional consequences can be assessed, and a more

  19. Liver function tests using the stable istope 15N

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faust, H.; Jung, K.; Hirschberg, K.; Krumbiegel, P.; Junghans, P.; Reinhardt, R.; Teichmann, B.

    1988-01-01

    Several liver function tests using oral application of a nitrogen compound labelled with 15 N and the subsequent determination of 15 N in a certain fraction of urine or in the total urine by emission spectrometry are described. Because of the key function of the liver in the metabolism of nitrogen compounds, the results of these tests allow conclusions concerning some disturbances of liver functions. (author)

  20. Predictive genetic testing in children: constitutional mismatch repair deficiency cancer predisposing syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruwer, Zandrè; Algar, Ursula; Vorster, Alvera; Fieggen, Karen; Davidson, Alan; Goldberg, Paul; Wainwright, Helen; Ramesar, Rajkumar

    2014-04-01

    Biallelic germline mutations in mismatch repair genes predispose to constitutional mismatch repair deficiency syndrome (CMMR-D). The condition is characterized by a broad spectrum of early-onset tumors, including hematological, brain and bowel and is frequently associated with features of Neurofibromatosis type 1. Few definitive screening recommendations have been suggested and no published reports have described predictive testing. We report on the first case of predictive testing for CMMR-D following the identification of two non-consanguineous parents, with the same heterozygous mutation in MLH1: c.1528C > T. The genetic counseling offered to the family, for their two at-risk daughters, is discussed with a focus on the ethical considerations of testing children for known cancer-causing variants. The challenges that are encountered when reporting on heterozygosity in a child younger than 18 years (disclosure of carrier status and risk for Lynch syndrome), when discovered during testing for homozygosity, are addressed. In addition, the identification of CMMR-D in a three year old, and the recommended clinical surveillance that was proposed for this individual is discussed. Despite predictive testing and presymptomatic screening, the sudden death of the child with CMMR-D syndrome occurred 6 months after her last surveillance MRI. This report further highlights the difficulty of developing guidelines, as a result of the rarity of cases and diversity of presentation.

  1. DeepGO: predicting protein functions from sequence and interactions using a deep ontology-aware classifier.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulmanov, Maxat; Khan, Mohammed Asif; Hoehndorf, Robert; Wren, Jonathan

    2018-02-15

    A large number of protein sequences are becoming available through the application of novel high-throughput sequencing technologies. Experimental functional characterization of these proteins is time-consuming and expensive, and is often only done rigorously for few selected model organisms. Computational function prediction approaches have been suggested to fill this gap. The functions of proteins are classified using the Gene Ontology (GO), which contains over 40 000 classes. Additionally, proteins have multiple functions, making function prediction a large-scale, multi-class, multi-label problem. We have developed a novel method to predict protein function from sequence. We use deep learning to learn features from protein sequences as well as a cross-species protein-protein interaction network. Our approach specifically outputs information in the structure of the GO and utilizes the dependencies between GO classes as background information to construct a deep learning model. We evaluate our method using the standards established by the Computational Assessment of Function Annotation (CAFA) and demonstrate a significant improvement over baseline methods such as BLAST, in particular for predicting cellular locations. Web server: http://deepgo.bio2vec.net, Source code: https://github.com/bio-ontology-research-group/deepgo. robert.hoehndorf@kaust.edu.sa. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  2. The Reliability and Predictive Ability of a Biomarker of Oxidative DNA Damage on Functional Outcomes after Stroke Rehabilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Wei Hsieh

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available We evaluated the reliability of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG, and determined its ability to predict functional outcomes in stroke survivors. The rehabilitation effect on 8-OHdG and functional outcomes were also assessed. Sixty-one stroke patients received a 4-week rehabilitation. Urinary 8-OHdG levels were determined by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The test-retest reliability of 8-OHdG was good (interclass correlation coefficient = 0.76. Upper-limb motor function and muscle power determined by the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA and Medical Research Council (MRC scales before rehabilitation showed significant negative correlation with 8-OHdG (r = −0.38, r = −0.30; p < 0.05. After rehabilitation, we found a fair and significant correlation between 8-OHdG and FMA (r = −0.34 and 8-OHdG and pain (r = 0.26, p < 0.05. Baseline 8-OHdG was significantly correlated with post-treatment FMA, MRC, and pain scores (r = −0.34, −0.31, and 0.25; p < 0.05, indicating its ability to predict functional outcomes. 8-OHdG levels were significantly decreased, and functional outcomes were improved after rehabilitation. The exploratory study findings conclude that 8-OHdG is a reliable and promising biomarker of oxidative stress and could be a valid predictor of functional outcomes in patients. Monitoring of behavioral indicators along with biomarkers may have crucial benefits in translational stroke research.

  3. Functional Testing of Wireless Sensor Node Designs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Virk, Kashif M.; Madsen, Jan

    2007-01-01

    Wireless sensor networks are networked embedded computer systems with stringent power, performance, cost and form-factor requirements along with numerous other constraints related to their pervasiveness and ubiquitousness. Therefore, only a systematic design methdology coupled with an efficient...... test approach can enable their conformance to design and deployment specifications. We discuss off-line, hierarchical, functional testing of complete wireless sensor nodes containing configurable logic through a combination of FPGA-based board test and Software-Based Self-Test (SBST) techniques...

  4. Safety prediction for basic components of safety-critical software based on static testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Son, H.S.; Seong, P.H.

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of this work is to develop a safety prediction method, with which we can predict the risk of software components based on static testing results at the early development stage. The predictive model combines the major factor with the quality factor for the components, which are calculated based on the measures proposed in this work. The application to a safety-critical software system demonstrates the feasibility of the safety prediction method. (authors)

  5. An application of characteristic function in order to predict reliability and lifetime of aeronautical hardware

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Żurek, Józef; Kaleta, Ryszard; Zieja, Mariusz [Air Force Institute of Technology ul. Księcia Bolesława 6 01-494 Warsaw (Poland)

    2016-06-08

    The forecasting of reliability and life of aeronautical hardware requires recognition of many and various destructive processes that deteriorate the health/maintenance status thereof. The aging of technical components of aircraft as an armament system proves of outstanding significance to reliability and safety of the whole system. The aging process is usually induced by many and various factors, just to mention mechanical, biological, climatic, or chemical ones. The aging is an irreversible process and considerably affects (i.e. reduces) reliability and lifetime of aeronautical equipment. Application of the characteristic function of the aging process is suggested to predict reliability and lifetime of aeronautical hardware. An increment in values of diagnostic parameters is introduced to formulate then, using the characteristic function and after some rearrangements, the partial differential equation. An analytical dependence for the characteristic function of the aging process is a solution to this equation. With the inverse transformation applied, the density function of the aging of aeronautical hardware is found. Having found the density function, one can determine the aeronautical equipment’s reliability and lifetime. The in-service collected or the life tests delivered data are used to attain this goal. Coefficients in this relationship are found using the likelihood function.

  6. An application of characteristic function in order to predict reliability and lifetime of aeronautical hardware

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Żurek, Józef; Kaleta, Ryszard; Zieja, Mariusz

    2016-01-01

    The forecasting of reliability and life of aeronautical hardware requires recognition of many and various destructive processes that deteriorate the health/maintenance status thereof. The aging of technical components of aircraft as an armament system proves of outstanding significance to reliability and safety of the whole system. The aging process is usually induced by many and various factors, just to mention mechanical, biological, climatic, or chemical ones. The aging is an irreversible process and considerably affects (i.e. reduces) reliability and lifetime of aeronautical equipment. Application of the characteristic function of the aging process is suggested to predict reliability and lifetime of aeronautical hardware. An increment in values of diagnostic parameters is introduced to formulate then, using the characteristic function and after some rearrangements, the partial differential equation. An analytical dependence for the characteristic function of the aging process is a solution to this equation. With the inverse transformation applied, the density function of the aging of aeronautical hardware is found. Having found the density function, one can determine the aeronautical equipment’s reliability and lifetime. The in-service collected or the life tests delivered data are used to attain this goal. Coefficients in this relationship are found using the likelihood function.

  7. Electromyography of the buccal musculature of octopus (Octopus bimaculoides): a test of the function of the muscle articulation in support and movement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uyeno, Theodore A; Kier, William M

    2007-01-01

    The buccal mass musculature of the octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) was studied with electromyography to test the predictions of a previous morphological study in which we suggested that the muscles of the buccal mass serve as both the effectors of movement and as the joint itself, forming a new category of flexible joint termed a ;muscle articulation'. The predictions of muscle function were tested by correlating muscle electrical activity in isolated buccal masses with spontaneous beak movements. Bipolar electromyography electrodes were implanted in the various beak muscles and beak position was recorded simultaneously with an electronic movement monitor (N=14). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the lateral mandibular muscles produce opening movements of the beaks and provide the first definitive explanation of the opening mechanism. The results are also consistent with the hypothesis that the superior mandibular muscle functions primarily in closing. Co-contraction of the lateral mandibular muscles and the superior mandibular muscles was also observed, suggesting that these muscles may also stabilize the beaks during movement or provide a means of controlling the location of the pivot between the beaks. This study provides an important first test of the predictions of the role of the complex musculature found in muscle articulations such as the cephalopod buccal mass.

  8. Risk of co-occuring psychopathology: testing a prediction of expectancy theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capron, Daniel W; Norr, Aaron M; Schmidt, Norman B

    2013-01-01

    Despite the high impact of anxiety sensitivity (AS; a fear of anxiety related sensations) research, almost no research attention has been paid to its parent theory, Reiss' expectancy theory (ET). ET has gone largely unexamined to this point, including the prediction that AS is a better predictor of number of fears than current anxiety. To test Reiss' prediction, we used a large (N = 317) clinical sample of anxiety outpatients. Specifically, we examined whether elevated AS predicted number of comorbid anxiety and non-anxiety disorder diagnoses in this sample. Consistent with ET, findings indicated that AS predicted number of comorbid anxiety disorder diagnoses above and beyond current anxiety symptoms. Also, AS did not predict the number of comorbid non-anxiety diagnoses when current anxiety symptoms were accounted for. These findings represent an important examination of a prediction of Reiss' ET and are consistent with the idea that AS may be a useful transdiagnostic treatment target. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Similar patterns of neural activity predict memory function during encoding and retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kragel, James E; Ezzyat, Youssef; Sperling, Michael R; Gorniak, Richard; Worrell, Gregory A; Berry, Brent M; Inman, Cory; Lin, Jui-Jui; Davis, Kathryn A; Das, Sandhitsu R; Stein, Joel M; Jobst, Barbara C; Zaghloul, Kareem A; Sheth, Sameer A; Rizzuto, Daniel S; Kahana, Michael J

    2017-07-15

    Neural networks that span the medial temporal lobe (MTL), prefrontal cortex, and posterior cortical regions are essential to episodic memory function in humans. Encoding and retrieval are supported by the engagement of both distinct neural pathways across the cortex and common structures within the medial temporal lobes. However, the degree to which memory performance can be determined by neural processing that is common to encoding and retrieval remains to be determined. To identify neural signatures of successful memory function, we administered a delayed free-recall task to 187 neurosurgical patients implanted with subdural or intraparenchymal depth electrodes. We developed multivariate classifiers to identify patterns of spectral power across the brain that independently predicted successful episodic encoding and retrieval. During encoding and retrieval, patterns of increased high frequency activity in prefrontal, MTL, and inferior parietal cortices, accompanied by widespread decreases in low frequency power across the brain predicted successful memory function. Using a cross-decoding approach, we demonstrate the ability to predict memory function across distinct phases of the free-recall task. Furthermore, we demonstrate that classifiers that combine information from both encoding and retrieval states can outperform task-independent models. These findings suggest that the engagement of a core memory network during either encoding or retrieval shapes the ability to remember the past, despite distinct neural interactions that facilitate encoding and retrieval. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Prediction of material damage in orthotropic metals for virtual structural testing

    OpenAIRE

    Ravindran, S.

    2010-01-01

    Models based on the Continuum Damage Mechanics principle are increasingly used for predicting the initiation and growth of damage in materials. The growing reliance on 3-D finite element (FE) virtual structural testing demands implementation and validation of robust material models that can predict the material behaviour accurately. The use of these models within numerical analyses requires suitable material data. EU aerospace companies along with Cranfield University and other similar resear...

  11. In-depth performance evaluation of PFP and ESG sequence-based function prediction methods in CAFA 2011 experiment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chitale Meghana

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Many Automatic Function Prediction (AFP methods were developed to cope with an increasing growth of the number of gene sequences that are available from high throughput sequencing experiments. To support the development of AFP methods, it is essential to have community wide experiments for evaluating performance of existing AFP methods. Critical Assessment of Function Annotation (CAFA is one such community experiment. The meeting of CAFA was held as a Special Interest Group (SIG meeting at the Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology (ISMB conference in 2011. Here, we perform a detailed analysis of two sequence-based function prediction methods, PFP and ESG, which were developed in our lab, using the predictions submitted to CAFA. Results We evaluate PFP and ESG using four different measures in comparison with BLAST, Prior, and GOtcha. In addition to the predictions submitted to CAFA, we further investigate performance of a different scoring function to rank order predictions by PFP as well as PFP/ESG predictions enriched with Priors that simply adds frequently occurring Gene Ontology terms as a part of predictions. Prediction accuracies of each method were also evaluated separately for different functional categories. Successful and unsuccessful predictions by PFP and ESG are also discussed in comparison with BLAST. Conclusion The in-depth analysis discussed here will complement the overall assessment by the CAFA organizers. Since PFP and ESG are based on sequence database search results, our analyses are not only useful for PFP and ESG users but will also shed light on the relationship of the sequence similarity space and functions that can be inferred from the sequences.

  12. Novel Approach for the Recognition and Prediction of Multi-Function Radar Behaviours Based on Predictive State Representations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian Ou

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The extensive applications of multi-function radars (MFRs have presented a great challenge to the technologies of radar countermeasures (RCMs and electronic intelligence (ELINT. The recently proposed cognitive electronic warfare (CEW provides a good solution, whose crux is to perceive present and future MFR behaviours, including the operating modes, waveform parameters, scheduling schemes, etc. Due to the variety and complexity of MFR waveforms, the existing approaches have the drawbacks of inefficiency and weak practicability in prediction. A novel method for MFR behaviour recognition and prediction is proposed based on predictive state representation (PSR. With the proposed approach, operating modes of MFR are recognized by accumulating the predictive states, instead of using fixed transition probabilities that are unavailable in the battlefield. It helps to reduce the dependence of MFR on prior information. And MFR signals can be quickly predicted by iteratively using the predicted observation, avoiding the very large computation brought by the uncertainty of future observations. Simulations with a hypothetical MFR signal sequence in a typical scenario are presented, showing that the proposed methods perform well and efficiently, which attests to their validity.

  13. Sexual abuse predicts functional somatic symptoms : An adolescent population study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bonvanie, Irma J.; van Gils, Anne; Janssens, Karin A. M.; Rosmalen, Judith G. M.

    The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of childhood sexual abuse on medically not well explained or functional somatic symptoms (FSSs) in adolescents. We hypothesized that sexual abuse predicts higher levels of FSSs and that anxiety and depression contribute to this relationship.

  14. Validity of apparent diffusion coefficient hyperpolarized 3He-MRI using MSCT and pulmonary function tests as references

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Diaz, Sandra; Casselbrant, Ingrid; Piitulainen, Eeva

    2008-01-01

    PURPOSE: To compare apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements from hyperpolarized (HP) helium ((3)He)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with quantitative data from multislice Computed Tomography (CT) (MSCT) of the whole lungs and pulmonary function tests (PFT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty......-seven subjects, 22 with established emphysema and 5 with preclinical emphysema defined by PFT criteria, were examined with HP (3)He-MRI and MSCT. Mean age was 55 (+/-12) years, 18 female and 9 male. Mean ADC from (3)He-MRI was compared with emphysema index (EI), 15th percentile and mean lung density (MLD) values...... from MSCT. Both mean ADC and MSCT data were compared to PFT, especially percent of predicted diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide (%predicted DLCO), using Pearson's correlation test. RESULTS: Mean ADC and standard deviation values were 0.392+/-0.119 cm(2)/s for the established emphysema group and 0...

  15. Effects of Test Conditions on APA Rutting and Prediction Modeling for Asphalt Mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hui Wang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available APA rutting tests were conducted for six kinds of asphalt mixtures under air-dry and immersing conditions. The influences of test conditions, including load, temperature, air voids, and moisture, on APA rutting depth were analyzed by using grey correlation method, and the APA rutting depth prediction model was established. Results show that the modified asphalt mixtures have bigger rutting depth ratios of air-dry to immersing conditions, indicating that the modified asphalt mixtures have better antirutting properties and water stability than the matrix asphalt mixtures. The grey correlation degrees of temperature, load, air void, and immersing conditions on APA rutting depth decrease successively, which means that temperature is the most significant influencing factor. The proposed indoor APA rutting prediction model has good prediction accuracy, and the correlation coefficient between the predicted and the measured rutting depths is 96.3%.

  16. Uncertainties of predictions from parton distribution functions. I. The Lagrange multiplier method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stump, D.; Pumplin, J.; Brock, R.; Casey, D.; Huston, J.; Kalk, J.; Lai, H. L.; Tung, W. K.

    2002-01-01

    We apply the Lagrange multiplier method to study the uncertainties of physical predictions due to the uncertainties of parton distribution functions (PDF's), using the cross section σ W for W production at a hadron collider as an archetypal example. An effective χ 2 function based on the CTEQ global QCD analysis is used to generate a series of PDF's, each of which represents the best fit to the global data for some specified value of σ W . By analyzing the likelihood of these 'alterative hypotheses', using available information on errors from the individual experiments, we estimate that the fractional uncertainty of σ W due to current experimental input to the PDF analysis is approximately ±4% at the Fermilab Tevatron, and ±8-10% at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We give sets of PDF's corresponding to these up and down variations of σ W . We also present similar results on Z production at the colliders. Our method can be applied to any combination of physical variables in precision QCD phenomenology, and it can be used to generate benchmarks for testing the accuracy of approximate methods based on the error matrix

  17. Joint modeling of genetically correlated diseases and functional annotations increases accuracy of polygenic risk prediction.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yiming Hu

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Accurate prediction of disease risk based on genetic factors is an important goal in human genetics research and precision medicine. Advanced prediction models will lead to more effective disease prevention and treatment strategies. Despite the identification of thousands of disease-associated genetic variants through genome-wide association studies (GWAS in the past decade, accuracy of genetic risk prediction remains moderate for most diseases, which is largely due to the challenges in both identifying all the functionally relevant variants and accurately estimating their effect sizes. In this work, we introduce PleioPred, a principled framework that leverages pleiotropy and functional annotations in genetic risk prediction for complex diseases. PleioPred uses GWAS summary statistics as its input, and jointly models multiple genetically correlated diseases and a variety of external information including linkage disequilibrium and diverse functional annotations to increase the accuracy of risk prediction. Through comprehensive simulations and real data analyses on Crohn's disease, celiac disease and type-II diabetes, we demonstrate that our approach can substantially increase the accuracy of polygenic risk prediction and risk population stratification, i.e. PleioPred can significantly better separate type-II diabetes patients with early and late onset ages, illustrating its potential clinical application. Furthermore, we show that the increment in prediction accuracy is significantly correlated with the genetic correlation between the predicted and jointly modeled diseases.

  18. BRAIN NATRIURETIC PEPTIDE (BNP: BIOMARKER FOR RISK STRATIFICATION AND FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY PREDICTION IN ISCHEMIC STROKE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    STANESCU Ioana

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Functional outcome after cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events is traditionally predicted using demographic and clinical variables like age, gender, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes status, smoking habits or pre-existing morbidity. Identification of new variables will improve the risk stratification of specific categories of patients. Numerous blood-based biomarkers associated with increased cardiovascular risk have been identified; some of them even predict cardiovascular events. Investigators have tried to produce prediction models by incorporating traditional risk factors and biomarkers. (1. Widely-available, rapidly processed and less expensive biomarkers could be used in the future to guide management of complex cerebrovascular patients in order to maximize their recovery (2 Recently, studies have demonstrated that biomarkers can predict not only the risk for a specific clinical event, but also the risk of death of vascular cause and the functional outcome after cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events. Early prediction of fatal outcome after stroke may improve therapeutic strategies (such as the use of more aggressive treatments or inclusion of patients in clinical trials and guide decision-making processes in order to maximize patient’s chances for survival and recovery. (3 Long term functional outcome after stroke is one of the most difficult variables to predict. Elevated serum levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP are powerful predictor of outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease (heart failure, atrial fibrillation. Potential role of BNP in predicting atrial fibrillation occurrence, cardio-embolic stroke and post-stroke mortality have been proved in many studies. However, data concerning the potential role of BNP in predicting short term and long term functional outcomes after stroke remain controversial.

  19. Passive Stretch Induces Structural and Functional Maturation of Engineered Heart Muscle as Predicted by Computational Modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abilez, Oscar J; Tzatzalos, Evangeline; Yang, Huaxiao; Zhao, Ming-Tao; Jung, Gwanghyun; Zöllner, Alexander M; Tiburcy, Malte; Riegler, Johannes; Matsa, Elena; Shukla, Praveen; Zhuge, Yan; Chour, Tony; Chen, Vincent C; Burridge, Paul W; Karakikes, Ioannis; Kuhl, Ellen; Bernstein, Daniel; Couture, Larry A; Gold, Joseph D; Zimmermann, Wolfram H; Wu, Joseph C

    2018-02-01

    The ability to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into cardiomyocytes (CMs) makes them an attractive source for repairing injured myocardium, disease modeling, and drug testing. Although current differentiation protocols yield hPSC-CMs to >90% efficiency, hPSC-CMs exhibit immature characteristics. With the goal of overcoming this limitation, we tested the effects of varying passive stretch on engineered heart muscle (EHM) structural and functional maturation, guided by computational modeling. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs, H7 line) or human induced pluripotent stem cells (IMR-90 line) were differentiated to hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) in vitro using a small molecule based protocol. hPSC-CMs were characterized by troponin + flow cytometry as well as electrophysiological measurements. Afterwards, 1.2 × 10 6 hPSC-CMs were mixed with 0.4 × 10 6 human fibroblasts (IMR-90 line) (3:1 ratio) and type-I collagen. The blend was cast into custom-made 12-mm long polydimethylsiloxane reservoirs to vary nominal passive stretch of EHMs to 5, 7, or 9 mm. EHM characteristics were monitored for up to 50 days, with EHMs having a passive stretch of 7 mm giving the most consistent formation. Based on our initial macroscopic observations of EHM formation, we created a computational model that predicts the stress distribution throughout EHMs, which is a function of cellular composition, cellular ratio, and geometry. Based on this predictive modeling, we show cell alignment by immunohistochemistry and coordinated calcium waves by calcium imaging. Furthermore, coordinated calcium waves and mechanical contractions were apparent throughout entire EHMs. The stiffness and active forces of hPSC-derived EHMs are comparable with rat neonatal cardiomyocyte-derived EHMs. Three-dimensional EHMs display increased expression of mature cardiomyocyte genes including sarcomeric protein troponin-T, calcium and potassium ion channels, β-adrenergic receptors, and t

  20. Ecological prediction with nonlinear multivariate time-frequency functional data models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Wen-Hsi; Wikle, Christopher K.; Holan, Scott H.; Wildhaber, Mark L.

    2013-01-01

    Time-frequency analysis has become a fundamental component of many scientific inquiries. Due to improvements in technology, the amount of high-frequency signals that are collected for ecological and other scientific processes is increasing at a dramatic rate. In order to facilitate the use of these data in ecological prediction, we introduce a class of nonlinear multivariate time-frequency functional models that can identify important features of each signal as well as the interaction of signals corresponding to the response variable of interest. Our methodology is of independent interest and utilizes stochastic search variable selection to improve model selection and performs model averaging to enhance prediction. We illustrate the effectiveness of our approach through simulation and by application to predicting spawning success of shovelnose sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River.

  1. Reliable Prediction of Insulin Resistance by a School-Based Fitness Test in Middle-School Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Todd Varness

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives. (1 Determine the predictive value of a school-based test of cardiovascular fitness (CVF for insulin resistance (IR; (2 compare a “school-based” prediction of IR to a “laboratory-based” prediction, using various measures of fitness and body composition. Methods. Middle school children (n=82 performed the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER, a school-based CVF test, and underwent evaluation of maximal oxygen consumption treadmill testing (VO2 max, body composition (percent body fat and BMI z score, and IR (derived homeostasis model assessment index [HOMAIR]. Results. PACER showed a strong correlation with VO2 max/kg (rs = 0.83, P<.001 and with HOMAIR (rs = −0.60, P<.001. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that a school-based model (using PACER and BMI z score predicted IR similar to a laboratory-based model (using VO2 max/kg of lean body mass and percent body fat. Conclusions. The PACER is a valid school-based test of CVF, is predictive of IR, and has a similar relationship to IR when compared to complex laboratory-based testing. Simple school-based measures of childhood fitness (PACER and fatness (BMI z score could be used to identify childhood risk for IR and evaluate interventions.

  2. Biologic variability and correlation of platelet function testing in healthy dogs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blois, Shauna L; Lang, Sean T; Wood, R Darren; Monteith, Gabrielle

    2015-12-01

    Platelet function tests are influenced by biologic variability, including inter-individual (CVG ) and intra-individual (CVI ), as well as analytic (CVA ) variability. Variability in canine platelet function testing is unknown, but if excessive, would make it difficult to interpret serial results. Additionally, the correlation between platelet function tests is poor in people, but not well described in dogs. The aims were to: (1) identify the effect of variation in preanalytic factors (venipuncture, elapsed time until analysis) on platelet function tests; (2) calculate analytic and biologic variability of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and arachidonic acid (AA)-induced thromboelastograph platelet mapping (TEG-PM), ADP-, AA-, and collagen-induced whole blood platelet aggregometry (WBA), and collagen/ADP and collagen/epinephrine platelet function analysis (PFA-CADP, PFA-CEPI); and (3) determine the correlation between these variables. In this prospective observational trial, platelet function was measured once every 7 days, for 4 consecutive weeks, in 9 healthy dogs. In addition, CBC, TEG-PM, WBA, and PFA were performed. Overall coefficients of variability ranged from 13.3% to 87.8% for the platelet function tests. Biologic variability was highest for AA-induced maximum amplitude generated during TEG-PM (MAAA; CVG = 95.3%, CVI = 60.8%). Use of population-based reference intervals (RI) was determined appropriate only for PFA-CADP (index of individuality = 10.7). There was poor correlation between most platelet function tests. Use of population-based RI appears inappropriate for most platelet function tests, and tests poorly correlate with one another. Future studies on biologic variability and correlation of platelet function tests should be performed in dogs with platelet dysfunction and those treated with antiplatelet therapy. © 2015 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.

  3. Predictions of Actions and Their Justifications in False-Belief Tasks: The Role of Executive Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Putko Adam

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to examine whether children’s ability to justify their action predictions in terms of mental states is related, in a similar way as the ability to predict actions, to such aspects of executive function (EF as executive control and working memory. An additional objective was to check whether the frequency of different types of justifications made by children in false-belief tasks is associated with aforementioned aspects of EF, as well as language. The study included 59 children aged 3-4 years. The ability to predict actions and to justify these predictions was measured with false-belief tasks. Luria’s hand-game was used to assess executive control, and the Counting and Labelling dual-task was used to assess working memory capacity. Language development was controlled using an embedded syntax test. It was found that executive control was a significant predictor of the children’s ability to justify their action predictions in terms of mental states, even when age and language were taken into account. Results also indicated a relationship between the type of justification in the false-belief task and language development. With the development of language children gradually cease to justify their action predictions in terms of current location, and they tend to construct irrelevant justifications before they begin to refer to beliefs. Data suggest that executive control, in contrast to language, is a factor which affects the development of the children’s ability to justify their action predictions only in its later phase, during a shift from irrelevant to correct justifications.

  4. Prediction of Declining Renal Function and Albuminuria in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes by Metabolomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solini, Anna; Manca, Maria Laura; Penno, Giuseppe; Pugliese, Giuseppe; Cobb, Jeff E; Ferrannini, Ele

    2016-02-01

    Renal disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with excess morbidity/mortality. Although estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria are routine for assessing renal impairment, novel biomarkers could improve risk stratification and prediction. To identify specific biomarkers of progression of renal dysfunction. Prospective observational. Academic diabetes clinics. A total of 286 T2DM patients (age, 62 ± 8 y; glycosylated hemoglobin, 7.2 ± 0.9%; eGFR, 85 ± 20 mL · min(-1) · 1.73 m(2)). None. Progression of eGFR and albuminuria. We performed screening metabolomics in serum and urine samples by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (MS) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/MS/MS. Biomarker identification was performed by random forest using an eGFR cutoff of fasting glucose, and baseline eGFR) predicted outcome, with receiver operator characteristics curve (ROC) = 0.671. The five serum metabolites best correlated with either eGFR < 60 or ACR ≥ 30 at baseline were tested for their ability to improve clinical prediction. The sum of C-glycosyl tryptophan, pseudouridine, and N-acetylthreonine (MetIndex) raised the ROC to 0.739 (P < .0001). eGFR decline was predicted by the top MetIndex quartile (odds ratio = 5.48 [95% confidence interval, 2.23-14.47]). MetIndex also predicted an ACR increase with an odds ratio of 2.82 [1.20-7.03] and a ROC of 0.750. Top urine metabolites did not add significant predictivity. A limited number of circulating intermediates of amino acid and nucleotide pathways carry clinically significant predictivity for deterioration of renal function in well-controlled T2DM.

  5. Measurement of lung volume by lung perfusion scanning using SPECT and prediction of postoperative respiratory function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andou, Akio; Shimizu, Nobuyosi; Maruyama, Shuichiro

    1992-01-01

    Measurement of lung volume by lung perfusion scanning using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and its usefulness for the prediction of respiratory function after lung resection were investigated. The lung volumes calculated in 5 patients by SPECT (threshold level 20%) using 99m Tc-macroaggregated albumin (MAA), related very closely to the actually measured lung volumes. This results prompted us to calculate the total lung volume and the volume of the lobe to be resected in 18 patients with lung cancer by SPECT. Based on the data obtained, postoperative respiratory function was predicted. The predicted values of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume (FEV 1.0 ), and maximum vital volume (MVV) showed closer correlations with the actually measured postoperative values (FVC, FEV 1.0 , MVV : r=0.944, r=0.917, r=0.795 respectively), than the values predicted by the ordinary lung perfusion scanning. This method facilitates more detailed evaluation of local lung function on a lobe-by-lobe basis, and can be applied clinically to predict postoperative respiratory function. (author)

  6. Production of functional sperm by subcutaneous auto-grafting of immature testes in rainbow trout.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayashi, Makoto; Sakuma, Daika; Yoshizaki, Goro

    2018-02-01

    Sexually mature individuals are indispensable for breeding programs. Salmonids require a long period before reaching sexual maturity, so we aimed to shorten the period required to obtain functional sperm by grafting immature testicular fragments into mature recipients, which we predicted would allow the grafted testicular fragments to skip the long pre-pubertal period. First, we demonstrated successful subcutaneous auto-grafting of testicular fragments in rainbow trout. Unilateral testectomy was performed, and the isolated immature testicular fragment was auto-grafted into the subcutaneous space along the back of recipient fish. The grafted testicular fragments developed synchronously with the recipients' testis remaining in its body cavity, and both eventually produced functional sperm. Next, immature testicular fragments were auto-grafted into the subcutaneous space of sexually mature males. We achieved this, without immune rejection, by isolating and cryopreserving testes from immature fish, and rearing these unilaterally testectomized fish until sexual maturity. The cryopreserved testes were then auto-grafted into the original, now spermiating fish. The grated immature testicular fragments differentiated and produced functional sperm within 5 months after grafting. By combining this grafting method with a technique to avoid immune rejection, we expect to develop a practical method for producing sperm in a shorter period in salmonids. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Safety prediction for basic components of safety critical software based on static testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Son, H.S.; Seong, P.H.

    2001-01-01

    The purpose of this work is to develop a safety prediction method, with which we can predict the risk of software components based on static testing results at the early development stage. The predictive model combines the major factor with the quality factor for the components, both of which are calculated based on the measures proposed in this work. The application to a safety-critical software system demonstrates the feasibility of the safety prediction method. (authors)

  8. Psychodynamic theory and counseling in predictive testing for Huntington's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tassicker, Roslyn J

    2005-04-01

    This paper revisits psychodynamic theory, which can be applied in predictive testing counseling for Huntington's Disease (HD). Psychodynamic theory has developed from the work of Freud and places importance on early parent-child experiences. The nature of these relationships, or attachments are reflected in adult expectations and relationships. Two significant concepts, identification and fear of abandonment, have been developed and expounded by the psychodynamic theorist, Melanie Klein. The processes of identification and fear of abandonment can become evident in predictive testing counseling and are colored by the client's experience of growing up with a parent affected by Huntington's Disease. In reflecting on family-of-origin experiences, clients can also express implied expectations of the future, and future relationships. Case examples are given to illustrate the dynamic processes of identification and fear of abandonment which may present in the clinical setting. Counselor recognition of these processes can illuminate and inform counseling practice.

  9. 33 CFR 157.12f - Workshop functional test requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... CARRYING OIL IN BULK Design, Equipment, and Installation § 157.12f Workshop functional test requirements... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Workshop functional test requirements. 157.12f Section 157.12f Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND...

  10. Predictive performance for population models using stochastic differential equations applied on data from an oral glucose tolerance test

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Jonas Bech; Overgaard, R.V.; Madsen, Henrik

    2010-01-01

    Several articles have investigated stochastic differential equations (SDEs) in PK/PD models, but few have quantitatively investigated the benefits to predictive performance of models based on real data. Estimation of first phase insulin secretion which reflects beta-cell function using models of ...... obtained from the glucose tolerance tests. Since, the estimation time of extended models was not heavily increased compared to basic models, the applied method is concluded to have high relevance not only in theory but also in practice....

  11. A Regression-based K nearest neighbor algorithm for gene function prediction from heterogeneous data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruzzo Walter L

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background As a variety of functional genomic and proteomic techniques become available, there is an increasing need for functional analysis methodologies that integrate heterogeneous data sources. Methods In this paper, we address this issue by proposing a general framework for gene function prediction based on the k-nearest-neighbor (KNN algorithm. The choice of KNN is motivated by its simplicity, flexibility to incorporate different data types and adaptability to irregular feature spaces. A weakness of traditional KNN methods, especially when handling heterogeneous data, is that performance is subject to the often ad hoc choice of similarity metric. To address this weakness, we apply regression methods to infer a similarity metric as a weighted combination of a set of base similarity measures, which helps to locate the neighbors that are most likely to be in the same class as the target gene. We also suggest a novel voting scheme to generate confidence scores that estimate the accuracy of predictions. The method gracefully extends to multi-way classification problems. Results We apply this technique to gene function prediction according to three well-known Escherichia coli classification schemes suggested by biologists, using information derived from microarray and genome sequencing data. We demonstrate that our algorithm dramatically outperforms the naive KNN methods and is competitive with support vector machine (SVM algorithms for integrating heterogenous data. We also show that by combining different data sources, prediction accuracy can improve significantly. Conclusion Our extension of KNN with automatic feature weighting, multi-class prediction, and probabilistic inference, enhance prediction accuracy significantly while remaining efficient, intuitive and flexible. This general framework can also be applied to similar classification problems involving heterogeneous datasets.

  12. Predicting the functions and specificity of triterpenoid synthases: a mechanism-based multi-intermediate docking approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo-Xue Tian

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Terpenoid synthases construct the carbon skeletons of tens of thousands of natural products. To predict functions and specificity of triterpenoid synthases, a mechanism-based, multi-intermediate docking approach is proposed. In addition to enzyme function prediction, other potential applications of the current approach, such as enzyme mechanistic studies and enzyme redesign by mutagenesis, are discussed.

  13. Parent Ratings of Impulsivity and Inhibition Predict State Testing Scores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca A. Lundwall

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available One principle of cognitive development is that earlier intervention for educational difficulties tends to improve outcomes such as future educational and career success. One possible way to help students who struggle is to determine if they process information differently. Such determination might lead to clues for interventions. For example, early information processing requires attention before the information can be identified, encoded, and stored. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether parent ratings of inattention, inhibition, and impulsivity, and whether error rate on a reflexive attention task could be used to predict child scores on state standardized tests. Finding such an association could provide assistance to educators in identifying academically struggling children who might require targeted educational interventions. Children (N = 203 were invited to complete a peripheral cueing task (which measures the automatic reorienting of the brain’s attentional resources from one location to another. While the children completed the task, their parents completed a questionnaire. The questionnaire gathered information on broad indicators of child functioning, including observable behaviors of impulsivity, inattention, and inhibition, as well as state academic scores (which the parent retrieved online from their school. We used sequential regression to analyze contributions of error rate and parent-rated behaviors in predicting six academic scores. In one of the six analyses (for science, we found that the improvement was significant from the simplified model (with only family income, child age, and sex as predictors to the full model (adding error rate and three parent-rated behaviors. Two additional analyses (reading and social studies showed near significant improvement from simplified to full models. Parent-rated behaviors were significant predictors in all three of these analyses. In the reading score analysis

  14. Predictive gene testing for Huntington disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wedderburn, S; Panegyres, P K; Andrew, S; Goldblatt, J; Liebeck, T; McGrath, F; Wiltshire, M; Pestell, C; Lee, J; Beilby, J

    2013-12-01

    Controversies exist around predictive testing (PT) programmes in neurodegenerative disorders. This study sets out to answer the following questions relating to Huntington disease (HD) and other neurodegenerative disorders: differences between these patients in their PT journeys, why and when individuals withdraw from PT, and decision-making processes regarding reproductive genetic testing. A case series analysis of patients having PT from the multidisciplinary Western Australian centre for PT over the past 20 years was performed using internationally recognised guidelines for predictive gene testing in neurodegenerative disorders. Of 740 at-risk patients, 518 applied for PT: 466 at risk of HD, 52 at risk of other neurodegenerative disorders - spinocerebellar ataxias, hereditary prion disease and familial Alzheimer disease. Thirteen percent withdrew from PT - 80.32% of withdrawals occurred during counselling stages. Major withdrawal reasons related to timing in the patients' lives or unknown as the patient did not disclose the reason. Thirty-eight HD individuals had reproductive genetic testing: 34 initiated prenatal testing (of which eight withdrew from the process) and four initiated pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. There was no recorded or other evidence of major psychological reactions or suicides during PT. People withdrew from PT in relation to life stages and reasons that are unknown. Our findings emphasise the importance of: (i) adherence to internationally recommended guidelines for PT; (ii) the role of the multidisciplinary team in risk minimisation; and (iii) patient selection. © 2013 The Authors; Internal Medicine Journal © 2013 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

  15. SP-100 nuclear assembly test: Test assembly functional requirements and system arrangement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fallas, T.T.; Gluck, R.; Motwani, K.; Clay, H.; O'Neill, G.

    1991-01-01

    This paper describes the functional requirements and the system that will be tested to validate the reactor, flight shield, and flight controller of the SP-100 Generic Flight System (GFS). The Nuclear Assembly Test (NAT) consists of the test article (SP-100 reactor with control devices and the flight shield) and its supporting systems. The NAT test assembly is being designed by GE. Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) is designing the test cell and vacuum vessel system that will contain the NAT test assembly (Renkey et al. 1989). Preliminary design reviews have been completed and the final design is under way

  16. Accuracy of the Timed Up and Go test for predicting sarcopenia in elderly hospitalized patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Prata Martinez

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: The ability of the Timed Up and Go test to predict sarcopenia has not been evaluated previously. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the Timed Up and Go test for predicting sarcopenia in elderly hospitalized patients. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed 68 elderly patients (≥60 years of age in a private hospital in the city of Salvador-BA, Brazil, between the 1st and 5th day of hospitalization. The predictive variable was the Timed Up and Go test score, and the outcome of interest was the presence of sarcopenia (reduced muscle mass associated with a reduction in handgrip strength and/or weak physical performance in a 6-m gait-speed test. After the descriptive data analyses, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of a test using the predictive variable to predict the presence of sarcopenia were calculated. RESULTS: In total, 68 elderly individuals, with a mean age 70.4±7.7 years, were evaluated. The subjects had a Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 5.35±1.97. Most (64.7% of the subjects had a clinical admission profile; the main reasons for hospitalization were cardiovascular disorders (22.1%, pneumonia (19.1% and abdominal disorders (10.2%. The frequency of sarcopenia in the sample was 22.1%, and the mean length of time spent performing the Timed Up and Go test was 10.02±5.38 s. A time longer than or equal to a cutoff of 10.85 s on the Timed Up and Go test predicted sarcopenia with a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 88.7%. The accuracy of this cutoff for the Timed Up and Go test was good (0.80; IC=0.66-0.94; p=0.002. CONCLUSION: The Timed Up and Go test was shown to be a predictor of sarcopenia in elderly hospitalized patients.

  17. The most frequently used tests for assessing executive functions in aging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camila de Assis Faria

    Full Text Available There are numerous neuropsychological tests for assessing executive functions in aging, which vary according to the different domains assessed. OBJECTIVE: To present a systematic review of the most frequently used instruments for assessing executive functions in older adults with different educational levels in clinical and experimental research. METHODS: We searched for articles published in the last five years, using the PubMed database with the following terms: "neuropsychological tests", "executive functions", and "mild cognitive impairment". There was no language restriction. RESULTS: 25 articles fulfilled all the inclusion criteria. The seven neuropsychological tests most frequently used to evaluate executive functions in aging were: [1] Trail Making Test (TMT Form B; [2] Verbal Fluency Test (VFT - F, A and S; [3] VFT Animals category; [4] Clock Drawing Test (CDT; [5] Digits Forward and Backward subtests (WAIS-R or WAIS-III; [6] Stroop Test; and [7] Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST and its variants. The domains of executive functions most frequently assessed were: mental flexibility, verbal fluency, planning, working memory, and inhibitory control. CONCLUSION: The study identified the tests and domains of executive functions most frequently used in the last five years by research groups worldwide to evaluate older adults. These results can direct future research and help build evaluation protocols for assessing executive functions, taking into account the different educational levels and socio-demographic profiles of older adults in Brazil.

  18. Testing earthquake prediction algorithms: Statistically significant advance prediction of the largest earthquakes in the Circum-Pacific, 1992-1997

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kossobokov, V.G.; Romashkova, L.L.; Keilis-Borok, V. I.; Healy, J.H.

    1999-01-01

    Algorithms M8 and MSc (i.e., the Mendocino Scenario) were used in a real-time intermediate-term research prediction of the strongest earthquakes in the Circum-Pacific seismic belt. Predictions are made by M8 first. Then, the areas of alarm are reduced by MSc at the cost that some earthquakes are missed in the second approximation of prediction. In 1992-1997, five earthquakes of magnitude 8 and above occurred in the test area: all of them were predicted by M8 and MSc identified correctly the locations of four of them. The space-time volume of the alarms is 36% and 18%, correspondingly, when estimated with a normalized product measure of empirical distribution of epicenters and uniform time. The statistical significance of the achieved results is beyond 99% both for M8 and MSc. For magnitude 7.5 + , 10 out of 19 earthquakes were predicted by M8 in 40% and five were predicted by M8-MSc in 13% of the total volume considered. This implies a significance level of 81% for M8 and 92% for M8-MSc. The lower significance levels might result from a global change in seismic regime in 1993-1996, when the rate of the largest events has doubled and all of them become exclusively normal or reversed faults. The predictions are fully reproducible; the algorithms M8 and MSc in complete formal definitions were published before we started our experiment [Keilis-Borok, V.I., Kossobokov, V.G., 1990. Premonitory activation of seismic flow: Algorithm M8, Phys. Earth and Planet. Inter. 61, 73-83; Kossobokov, V.G., Keilis-Borok, V.I., Smith, S.W., 1990. Localization of intermediate-term earthquake prediction, J. Geophys. Res., 95, 19763-19772; Healy, J.H., Kossobokov, V.G., Dewey, J.W., 1992. A test to evaluate the earthquake prediction algorithm, M8. U.S. Geol. Surv. OFR 92-401]. M8 is available from the IASPEI Software Library [Healy, J.H., Keilis-Borok, V.I., Lee, W.H.K. (Eds.), 1997. Algorithms for Earthquake Statistics and Prediction, Vol. 6. IASPEI Software Library]. ?? 1999 Elsevier

  19. Predicting psychopharmacological drug effects on actual driving performance (SDLP) from psychometric tests measuring driving-related skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verster, Joris C; Roth, Thomas

    2012-03-01

    There are various methods to examine driving ability. Comparisons between these methods and their relationship with actual on-road driving is often not determined. The objective of this study was to determine whether laboratory tests measuring driving-related skills could adequately predict on-the-road driving performance during normal traffic. Ninety-six healthy volunteers performed a standardized on-the-road driving test. Subjects were instructed to drive with a constant speed and steady lateral position within the right traffic lane. Standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP), i.e., the weaving of the car, was determined. The subjects also performed a psychometric test battery including the DSST, Sternberg memory scanning test, a tracking test, and a divided attention test. Difference scores from placebo for parameters of the psychometric tests and SDLP were computed and correlated with each other. A stepwise linear regression analysis determined the predictive validity of the laboratory test battery to SDLP. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that the combination of five parameters, hard tracking, tracking and reaction time of the divided attention test, and reaction time and percentage of errors of the Sternberg memory scanning test, together had a predictive validity of 33.4%. The psychometric tests in this test battery showed insufficient predictive validity to replace the on-the-road driving test during normal traffic.

  20. Prediction of the residual strength of clay using functional networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.Z. Khan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Landslides are common natural hazards occurring in most parts of the world and have considerable adverse economic effects. Residual shear strength of clay is one of the most important factors in the determination of stability of slopes or landslides. This effect is more pronounced in sensitive clays which show large changes in shear strength from peak to residual states. This study analyses the prediction of the residual strength of clay based on a new prediction model, functional networks (FN using data available in the literature. The performance of FN was compared with support vector machine (SVM and artificial neural network (ANN based on statistical parameters like correlation coefficient (R, Nash--Sutcliff coefficient of efficiency (E, absolute average error (AAE, maximum average error (MAE and root mean square error (RMSE. Based on R and E parameters, FN is found to be a better prediction tool than ANN for the given data. However, the R and E values for FN are less than SVM. A prediction equation is presented that can be used by practicing geotechnical engineers. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to ascertain the importance of various inputs in the prediction of the output.

  1. Predicting entrepreneurial behaviour: A test of the theory of planned behaviour

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kautonen, T.; van Gelderen, M.W.; Fink, M.

    2013-01-01

    This article contributes to the occupational choice literature pertaining to entrepreneurship by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to predict entrepreneurial behaviour. Originating from social psychology, the TPB posits that intention, a function of behavioural beliefs, is a significant

  2. Upset Prediction in Friction Welding Using Radial Basis Function Neural Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Liu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the upset prediction problem of friction welded joints. Based on finite element simulations of inertia friction welding (IFW, a radial basis function (RBF neural network was developed initially to predict the final upset for a number of welding parameters. The predicted joint upset by the RBF neural network was compared to validated finite element simulations, producing an error of less than 8.16% which is reasonable. Furthermore, the effects of initial rotational speed and axial pressure on the upset were investigated in relation to energy conversion with the RBF neural network. The developed RBF neural network was also applied to linear friction welding (LFW and continuous drive friction welding (CDFW. The correlation coefficients of RBF prediction for LFW and CDFW were 0.963 and 0.998, respectively, which further suggest that an RBF neural network is an effective method for upset prediction of friction welded joints.

  3. The impact of predictive genetic testing for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer: three years after testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Veronica R; Meiser, Bettina; Ukoumunne, Obioha C; Gaff, Clara; St John, D James; Halliday, Jane L

    2007-05-01

    To fully assess predictive genetic testing programs, it is important to assess outcomes over periods of time longer than the 1-year follow-up reported in the literature. We conducted a 3-year study of individuals who received predictive genetic test results for previously identified familial mutations in Australian Familial Cancer Clinics. Questionnaires were sent before attendance at the familial cancer clinic and 2 weeks, 4 months, 1 year, and 3 years after receiving test results. Psychological measures were included each time, and preventive behaviors were assessed at baseline and 1 and 3 years. Psychological measures were adjusted for age, gender, and baseline score. The study included 19 carriers and 54 non-carriers. We previously reported an increase in mean cancer-specific distress in carriers at 2 weeks with a return to baseline levels by 12 months. This level was maintained until 3 years. Non-carriers showed sustained decreases after testing with a significantly lower level at 3 years compared with baseline (P depression and anxiety scores did not differ between carriers and non-carriers and, at 3 years, were similar to baseline. All carriers and 7% of non-carriers had had a colonoscopy by 3 years, and 69% of 13 female carriers had undergone gynecological screening in the previous 2 years. Prophylactic surgery was rare. This report of long-term data indicates appropriate screening and improved psychological measures for non-carriers with no evidence of undue psychological distress in carriers of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer mutations.

  4. Prediction of rat behavior outcomes in memory tasks using functional connections among neurons.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Lu

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Analyzing the neuronal organizational structures and studying the changes in the behavior of the organism is key to understanding cognitive functions of the brain. Although some studies have indicated that spatiotemporal firing patterns of neuronal populations have a certain relationship with the behavioral responses, the issues of whether there are any relationships between the functional networks comprised of these cortical neurons and behavioral tasks and whether it is possible to take advantage of these networks to predict correct and incorrect outcomes of single trials of animals are still unresolved. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This paper presents a new method of analyzing the structures of whole-recorded neuronal functional networks (WNFNs and local neuronal circuit groups (LNCGs. The activity of these neurons was recorded in several rats. The rats performed two different behavioral tasks, the Y-maze task and the U-maze task. Using the results of the assessment of the WNFNs and LNCGs, this paper describes a realization procedure for predicting the behavioral outcomes of single trials. The methodology consists of four main parts: construction of WNFNs from recorded neuronal spike trains, partitioning the WNFNs into the optimal LNCGs using social community analysis, unsupervised clustering of all trials from each dataset into two different clusters, and predicting the behavioral outcomes of single trials. The results show that WNFNs and LNCGs correlate with the behavior of the animal. The U-maze datasets show higher accuracy for unsupervised clustering results than those from the Y-maze task, and these datasets can be used to predict behavioral responses effectively. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results of the present study suggest that a methodology proposed in this paper is suitable for analysis of the characteristics of neuronal functional networks and the prediction of rat behavior. These types of structures in cortical

  5. A ductile fracture mechanics methodology for predicting pressure vessel and piping failure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Landes, J.D.; Zhou, Z.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on a ductile fracture methodology based on one used more generally for the prediction of fracture behavior that was applied to the prediction of fracture behavior in pressure vessel and piping components. The model uses the load versus displacement record from a fracture toughness test to develop inputs for predicting the behavior of the structural component. The principle of load separation is used to convert the test record into two pieces of information, calibration functions which describe the structural deformation behavior and fracture toughness which describes the response of a crack-like flaw to the loading. These calibration functions and fracture toughness values which relate to the test specimen are then transformed to those appropriate to the structure. Often in this step computation procedures could be used but are not always necessary. The calibration functions and fracture for the structure are recombined to predict a load versus displacement behavior for the structure. The input for the model was generated from tests of compact specimen geometries; this geometry is often used for fracture toughness testing. The predictions were done for five model structures

  6. Prognostic durability of liver fibrosis tests and improvement in predictive performance for mortality by combining tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertrais, Sandrine; Boursier, Jérôme; Ducancelle, Alexandra; Oberti, Frédéric; Fouchard-Hubert, Isabelle; Moal, Valérie; Calès, Paul

    2017-06-01

    There is currently no recommended time interval between noninvasive fibrosis measurements for monitoring chronic liver diseases. We determined how long a single liver fibrosis evaluation may accurately predict mortality, and assessed whether combining tests improves prognostic performance. We included 1559 patients with chronic liver disease and available baseline liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by Fibroscan, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), FIB-4, Hepascore, and FibroMeter V2G . Median follow-up was 2.8 years during which 262 (16.8%) patients died, with 115 liver-related deaths. All fibrosis tests were able to predict mortality, although APRI (and FIB-4 for liver-related mortality) showed lower overall discriminative ability than the other tests (differences in Harrell's C-index: P fibrosis, 1 year in patients with significant fibrosis, and liver disease (MELD) score testing sets. In the training set, blood tests and LSM were independent predictors of all-cause mortality. The best-fit multivariate model included age, sex, LSM, and FibroMeter V2G with C-index = 0.834 (95% confidence interval, 0.803-0.862). The prognostic model for liver-related mortality included the same covariates with C-index = 0.868 (0.831-0.902). In the testing set, the multivariate models had higher prognostic accuracy than FibroMeter V2G or LSM alone for all-cause mortality and FibroMeter V2G alone for liver-related mortality. The prognostic durability of a single baseline fibrosis evaluation depends on the liver fibrosis level. Combining LSM with a blood fibrosis test improves mortality risk assessment. © 2016 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  7. Improved fuzzy PID controller design using predictive functional control structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yuzhong; Jin, Qibing; Zhang, Ridong

    2017-11-01

    In conventional PID scheme, the ensemble control performance may be unsatisfactory due to limited degrees of freedom under various kinds of uncertainty. To overcome this disadvantage, a novel PID control method that inherits the advantages of fuzzy PID control and the predictive functional control (PFC) is presented and further verified on the temperature model of a coke furnace. Based on the framework of PFC, the prediction of the future process behavior is first obtained using the current process input signal. Then, the fuzzy PID control based on the multi-step prediction is introduced to acquire the optimal control law. Finally, the case study on a temperature model of a coke furnace shows the effectiveness of the fuzzy PID control scheme when compared with conventional PID control and fuzzy self-adaptive PID control. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Progress in sensor performance testing, modeling and range prediction using the TOD method: an overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bijl, Piet; Hogervorst, Maarten A.; Toet, Alexander

    2017-05-01

    The Triangle Orientation Discrimination (TOD) methodology includes i) a widely applicable, accurate end-to-end EO/IR sensor test, ii) an image-based sensor system model and iii) a Target Acquisition (TA) range model. The method has been extensively validated against TA field performance for a wide variety of well- and under-sampled imagers, systems with advanced image processing techniques such as dynamic super resolution and local adaptive contrast enhancement, and sensors showing smear or noise drift, for both static and dynamic test stimuli and as a function of target contrast. Recently, significant progress has been made in various directions. Dedicated visual and NIR test charts for lab and field testing are available and thermal test benches are on the market. Automated sensor testing using an objective synthetic human observer is within reach. Both an analytical and an image-based TOD model have recently been developed and are being implemented in the European Target Acquisition model ECOMOS and in the EOSTAR TDA. Further, the methodology is being applied for design optimization of high-end security camera systems. Finally, results from a recent perception study suggest that DRI ranges for real targets can be predicted by replacing the relevant distinctive target features by TOD test patterns of the same characteristic size and contrast, enabling a new TA modeling approach. This paper provides an overview.

  9. Prediction of human protein function from post-translational modifications and localization features

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Lars Juhl; Gupta, Ramneek; Blom, Nikolaj

    2002-01-01

    a number of functional attributes that are more directly related to the linear sequence of amino acids, and hence easier to predict, than protein structure. These attributes include features associated with post-translational modifications and protein sorting, but also much simpler aspects......We have developed an entirely sequence-based method that identifies and integrates relevant features that can be used to assign proteins of unknown function to functional classes, and enzyme categories for enzymes. We show that strategies for the elucidation of protein function may benefit from...

  10. Lung split function test and pneumonectomy. A lower limit for operability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tønnesen, K H; Dige-Petersen, H; Lund, J O

    1978-01-01

    Regional 133Xe ventilation/perfusion studies were used to predict residual lung function after pulmonary resections. The accuracy of the method was good as checked by postoperative spirometry in 11 patients. In 25 patients with impaired lung function and pulmonary cancer, who were consecutively...

  11. Life Prediction on a T700 Carbon Fiber Reinforced Cylinder with Limited Accelerated Life Testing Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ma Xiaobing

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available An accelerated life testing investigation was conducted on a composite cylinder that consists of aluminum alloy and T700 carbon fiber. The ultimate failure stress predictions of cylinders were obtained by the mixing rule and verified by the blasting static pressure method. Based on the stress prediction of cylinder under working conditions, the constant stress accelerated life test of the cylinder was designed. However, the failure data cannot be sufficiently obtained by the accelerated life test due to the time limitation. Therefore, most of the data presented to be high censored in high stress level and zero-failure data in low stress level. When using the traditional method for rupture life prediction, the results showed to be of lower confidence. In this study, the consistency of failure mechanism for carbon fiber and cylinder was analyzed firstly. According to the analysis result, the statistical test information of carbon fiber could be utilized for the accelerated model constitution. Then, rupture life prediction method for cylinder was proposed based on the accelerated life test data and carbon fiber test data. In this way, the life prediction accuracy of cylinder could be improved obviously, and the results showed that the accuracy of this method increased by 35%.

  12. Pre-season adductor squeeze test and HAGOS function sport and recreation subscale scores predict groin injury in Gaelic football players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delahunt, Eamonn; Fitzpatrick, Helen; Blake, Catherine

    2017-01-01

    To determine if pre-season adductor squeeze test and HAGOS function, sport and recreation subscale scores can identify Gaelic football players at risk of developing groin injury. Prospective study. Senior inter-county Gaelic football team. Fifty-five male elite Gaelic football players (age = 24.0 ± 2.8 years, body mass = 84.48 ± 7.67 kg, height = 1.85 ± 0.06 m, BMI = 24.70 ± 1.77 kg/m 2 ) from a single senior inter-county Gaelic football team. Occurrence of groin injury during the season. Ten time-loss groin injuries were registered representing 13% of all injuries. The odds ratio for sustaining a groin injury if pre-season adductor squeeze test score was below 225 mmHg, was 7.78. The odds ratio for sustaining a groin injury if pre-season HAGOS function, sport and recreation subscale score was football players at risk of developing groin injury. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Predicting mass loading as a function of pressure difference across prefilter/HEPA filter systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novick, V.J.; Klassen, J.F.; Monson, P.R.

    1992-01-01

    The purpose of this work is to develop a methodology for predicting the mass loading and pressure drop effects on a prefilter/ HEPA filter system. The methodology relies on the use of empirical equations for the specific resistance of the aerosol loaded filter as a function of the particle diameter. These correlations relate the pressure difference across a filter to the mass loading on the filter and accounts for aerosol particle density effects. These predictions are necessary for the efficient design of new filtration systems and for risk assessment studies of existing filter systems. This work specifically addresses the prefilter/HEPA filter Airborne Activity Confinement Systems (AACS) at the Savannah River Plant. In order to determine the mass loading on the system, it is necessary to establish the efficiency characteristics for the prefilter, the mass loading characteristics of the prefilter measured as a function of pressure difference across the prefilter, and the mass loading characteristics of the HEPA filter as a function of pressure difference across the filter. Furthermore, the efficiency and mass loading characteristics need to be determined as a function of the aerosol particle diameter. A review of the literature revealed that no previous work had been performed to characterize the prefilter material of interest. In order to complete the foundation of information necessary to predict total mass loadings on prefilter/HEPA filter systems, it was necessary to determine the prefilter efficiency and mass loading characteristics. The measured prefilter characteristics combined with the previously determined HEPA filter characteristics allowed the resulting pressure difference across both filters to be predicted as a function of total particle mass for a given particle distribution. These predictions compare favorably to experimental measurements (±25%)

  14. Predicting individual brain maturity using dynamic functional connectivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian eQin

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Neuroimaging-based functional connectivity (FC analyses have revealed significant developmental trends in specific intrinsic connectivity networks linked to cognitive and behavioral maturation. However, knowledge of how brain functional maturation is associated with FC dynamics at rest is limited. Here, we examined age-related differences in the temporal variability of FC dynamics with data publicly released by the Nathan Kline Institute (NKI (n=183, ages 7-30 and showed that dynamic inter-region interactions can be used to accurately predict individual brain maturity across development. Furthermore, we identified a significant age-dependent trend underlying dynamic inter-network FC, including increasing variability of the connections between the visual network, default mode network (DMN and cerebellum as well as within the cerebellum and DMN and decreasing variability within the cerebellum and between the cerebellum and DMN as well as the cingulo-opercular network. Overall, the results suggested significant developmental changes in dynamic inter-network interaction, which may shed new light on the functional organization of typical developmental brains.

  15. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov Based Test for Comparing the Predictive Accuracy of Two Sets of Forecasts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hossein Hassani

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces a complement statistical test for distinguishing between the predictive accuracy of two sets of forecasts. We propose a non-parametric test founded upon the principles of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS test, referred to as the KS Predictive Accuracy (KSPA test. The KSPA test is able to serve two distinct purposes. Initially, the test seeks to determine whether there exists a statistically significant difference between the distribution of forecast errors, and secondly it exploits the principles of stochastic dominance to determine whether the forecasts with the lower error also reports a stochastically smaller error than forecasts from a competing model, and thereby enables distinguishing between the predictive accuracy of forecasts. We perform a simulation study for the size and power of the proposed test and report the results for different noise distributions, sample sizes and forecasting horizons. The simulation results indicate that the KSPA test is correctly sized, and robust in the face of varying forecasting horizons and sample sizes along with significant accuracy gains reported especially in the case of small sample sizes. Real world applications are also considered to illustrate the applicability of the proposed KSPA test in practice.

  16. Pulmonary Function Tests in Emergency Department Pediatric Patients with Acute Wheezing/Asthma Exacerbation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathryn Giordano

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Pulmonary function tests (PFT have been developed to analyze tidal breathing in patients who are minimally cooperative due to age and respiratory status. This study used tidal breathing tests in the ED to measure asthma severity. Design/Method. A prospective pilot study in pediatric patients (3 to 18 yrs with asthma/wheezing was conducted in an ED setting using respiratory inductance plethysmography and pneumotachography. The main outcome measures were testing feasibility, compliance, and predictive value for admission versus discharge. Results. Forty patients were studied, of which, 14 (35% were admitted. Fifty-five percent of the patients were classified as a mild-intermittent asthmatic, 30% were mild-persistent asthmatics, 12.5% were moderate-persistent asthmatics, and 2.5% were severe-persistent. Heart rate was higher in admitted patients as was labored breathing index, phase angle, and asthma score. Conclusions. Tidal breathing tests provide feasible, objective assessment of patient status in the enrolled age group and may assist in the evaluation of acute asthma exacerbation in the ED. Our results demonstrate that PFT measurements, in addition to asthma scores, may be useful in indicating the severity of wheezing/asthma and the need for admission.

  17. How preschool executive functioning predicts several aspects of math achievement in Grades 1 and 3: A longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viterbori, Paola; Usai, M Carmen; Traverso, Laura; De Franchis, Valentina

    2015-12-01

    This longitudinal study analyzes whether selected components of executive function (EF) measured during the preschool period predict several indices of math achievement in primary school. Six EF measures were assessed in a sample of 5-year-old children (N = 175). The math achievement of the same children was then tested in Grades 1 and 3 using both a composite math score and three single indices of written calculation, arithmetical facts, and problem solving. Using previous results obtained from the same sample of children, a confirmatory factor analysis examining the latent EF structure in kindergarten indicated that a two-factor model provided the best fit for the data. In this model, inhibition and working memory (WM)-flexibility were separate dimensions. A full structural equation model was then used to test the hypothesis that math achievement (the composite math score and single math scores) in Grades 1 and 3 could be explained by the two EF components comprising the kindergarten model. The results indicate that the WM-flexibility component measured during the preschool period substantially predicts mathematical achievement, especially in Grade 3. The math composite scores were predicted by the WM-flexibility factor at both grade levels. In Grade 3, both problem solving and arithmetical facts were predicted by the WM-flexibility component. The results empirically support interventions that target EF as an important component of early childhood mathematics education. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Associations of the stair climb power test with muscle strength and functional performance in people with COPD: A cross-sectional study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Roig, Marc; Eng, Janice J.; MacIntyre, Donna L.

    2010-01-01

    associations of the SCPT with muscle strength (force-generating capacity) and functional performance. DESIGN: The study was a cross-sectional investigation. METHODS: Twenty-one people with COPD and a predicted mean (SD) percentage of forced expiratory volume in 1 second of 47.2 (12.9) and 21 people who were......: The observational design of the study and the use of a relatively small convenience sample limit the generalizability of the findings. CONCLUSIONS: The SCPT is a simple and safe test associated with measures of functional performance in people with COPD. People with COPD show deficits on the SCPT. However, the SCPT......BACKGROUND: The Stair Climb Power Test (SCPT) is a functional test associated with leg muscle power in older people. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to compare the results of the SCPT in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and people who were healthy and to explore...

  19. Impact of relationships between test and training animals and among training animals on reliability of genomic prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, X; Lund, M S; Sun, D; Zhang, Q; Su, G

    2015-10-01

    One of the factors affecting the reliability of genomic prediction is the relationship among the animals of interest. This study investigated the reliability of genomic prediction in various scenarios with regard to the relationship between test and training animals, and among animals within the training data set. Different training data sets were generated from EuroGenomics data and a group of Nordic Holstein bulls (born in 2005 and afterwards) as a common test data set. Genomic breeding values were predicted using a genomic best linear unbiased prediction model and a Bayesian mixture model. The results showed that a closer relationship between test and training animals led to a higher reliability of genomic predictions for the test animals, while a closer relationship among training animals resulted in a lower reliability. In addition, the Bayesian mixture model in general led to a slightly higher reliability of genomic prediction, especially for the scenario of distant relationships between training and test animals. Therefore, to prevent a decrease in reliability, constant updates of the training population with animals from more recent generations are required. Moreover, a training population consisting of less-related animals is favourable for reliability of genomic prediction. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  20. Usng subjective percentiles and test data for estimating fragility functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    George, L.L.; Mensing, R.W.

    1981-01-01

    Fragility functions are cumulative distribution functions (cdfs) of strengths at failure. They are needed for reliability analyses of systems such as power generation and transmission systems. Subjective opinions supplement sparse test data for estimating fragility functions. Often the opinions are opinions on the percentiles of the fragility function. Subjective percentiles are likely to be less biased than opinions on parameters of cdfs. Solutions to several problems in the estimation of fragility functions are found for subjective percentiles and test data. How subjective percentiles should be used to estimate subjective fragility functions, how subjective percentiles should be combined with test data, how fragility functions for several failure modes should be combined into a composite fragility function, and how inherent randomness and uncertainty due to lack of knowledge should be represented are considered. Subjective percentiles are treated as independent estimates of percentiles. The following are derived: least-squares parameter estimators for normal and lognormal cdfs, based on subjective percentiles (the method is applicable to any invertible cdf); a composite fragility function for combining several failure modes; estimators of variation within and between groups of experts for nonidentically distributed subjective percentiles; weighted least-squares estimators when subjective percentiles have higher variation at higher percents; and weighted least-squares and Bayes parameter estimators based on combining subjective percentiles and test data. 4 figures, 2 tables