Validation of a new prognostic index score for disseminated nasopharyngeal carcinoma

OpenAIRE

Toh, C-K; Heng, D; Ong, Y-K; Leong, S-S; Wee, J; Tan, E-H

2005-01-01

Patients with metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma have variable survival outcomes. We previously designed a scoring system to better prognosticate these patients. Here, we report results on validation of this new prognostic index score in a separate cohort of patients. Clinical features and laboratory parameters were examined in 172 patients with univariate and multivariate analyses and a numerical score was derived for each independent prognostic variable. Significant independent prognostic ...

Metabolic network prediction through pairwise rational kernels.

Science.gov (United States)

Roche-Lima, Abiel; Domaratzki, Michael; Fristensky, Brian

2014-09-26

Metabolic networks are represented by the set of metabolic pathways. Metabolic pathways are a series of biochemical reactions, in which the product (output) from one reaction serves as the substrate (input) to another reaction. Many pathways remain incompletely characterized. One of the major challenges of computational biology is to obtain better models of metabolic pathways. Existing models are dependent on the annotation of the genes. This propagates error accumulation when the pathways are predicted by incorrectly annotated genes. Pairwise classification methods are supervised learning methods used to classify new pair of entities. Some of these classification methods, e.g., Pairwise Support Vector Machines (SVMs), use pairwise kernels. Pairwise kernels describe similarity measures between two pairs of entities. Using pairwise kernels to handle sequence data requires long processing times and large storage. Rational kernels are kernels based on weighted finite-state transducers that represent similarity measures between sequences or automata. They have been effectively used in problems that handle large amount of sequence information such as protein essentiality, natural language processing and machine translations. We create a new family of pairwise kernels using weighted finite-state transducers (called Pairwise Rational Kernel (PRK)) to predict metabolic pathways from a variety of biological data. PRKs take advantage of the simpler representations and faster algorithms of transducers. Because raw sequence data can be used, the predictor model avoids the errors introduced by incorrect gene annotations. We then developed several experiments with PRKs and Pairwise SVM to validate our methods using the metabolic network of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. As a result, when PRKs are used, our method executes faster in comparison with other pairwise kernels. Also, when we use PRKs combined with other simple kernels that include evolutionary information, the accuracy

Perceptron learning of pairwise contact energies for proteins incorporating the amino acid environment

Science.gov (United States)

Heo, Muyoung; Kim, Suhkmann; Moon, Eun-Joung; Cheon, Mookyung; Chung, Kwanghoon; Chang, Iksoo

2005-07-01

Although a coarse-grained description of proteins is a simple and convenient way to attack the protein folding problem, the construction of a global pairwise energy function which can simultaneously recognize the native folds of many proteins has resulted in partial success. We have sought the possibility of a systematic improvement of this pairwise-contact energy function as we extended the parameter space of amino acids, incorporating local environments of amino acids, beyond a 20×20 matrix. We have studied the pairwise contact energy functions of 20×20 , 60×60 , and 180×180 matrices depending on the extent of parameter space, and compared their effect on the learnability of energy parameters in the context of a gapless threading, bearing in mind that a 20×20 pairwise contact matrix has been shown to be too simple to recognize the native folds of many proteins. In this paper, we show that the construction of a global pairwise energy function was achieved using 1006 training proteins of a homology of less than 30%, which include all representatives of different protein classes. After parametrizing the local environments of the amino acids into nine categories depending on three secondary structures and three kinds of hydrophobicity (desolvation), the 16290 pairwise contact energies (scores) of the amino acids could be determined by perceptron learning and protein threading. These could simultaneously recognize all the native folds of the 1006 training proteins. When these energy parameters were tested on the 382 test proteins of a homology of less than 90%, 370 (96.9%) proteins could recognize their native folds. We set up a simple thermodynamic framework in the conformational space of decoys to calculate the unfolded fraction and the specific heat of real proteins. The different thermodynamic stabilities of E.coli ribonuclease H (RNase H) and its mutants were well described in our calculation, agreeing with the experiment.

A scoring system for ascertainment of incident stroke; the Risk Index Score (RISc).

Science.gov (United States)

Kass-Hout, T A; Moyé, L A; Smith, M A; Morgenstern, L B

2006-01-01

The main objective of this study was to develop and validate a computer-based statistical algorithm that could be translated into a simple scoring system in order to ascertain incident stroke cases using hospital admission medical records data. The Risk Index Score (RISc) algorithm was developed using data collected prospectively by the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) project, 2000. The validity of RISc was evaluated by estimating the concordance of scoring system stroke ascertainment to stroke ascertainment by physician and/or abstractor review of hospital admission records. RISc was developed on 1718 randomly selected patients (training set) and then statistically validated on an independent sample of 858 patients (validation set). A multivariable logistic model was used to develop RISc and subsequently evaluated by goodness-of-fit and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. The higher the value of RISc, the higher the patient's risk of potential stroke. The study showed RISc was well calibrated and discriminated those who had potential stroke from those that did not on initial screening. In this study we developed and validated a rapid, easy, efficient, and accurate method to ascertain incident stroke cases from routine hospital admission records for epidemiologic investigations. Validation of this scoring system was achieved statistically; however, clinical validation in a community hospital setting is warranted.

Pseudo inputs for pairwise learning with Gaussian processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jens Brehm; Jensen, Bjørn Sand; Larsen, Jan

2012-01-01

We consider learning and prediction of pairwise comparisons between instances. The problem is motivated from a perceptual view point, where pairwise comparisons serve as an effective and extensively used paradigm. A state-of-the-art method for modeling pairwise data in high dimensional domains...... is based on a classical pairwise probit likelihood imposed with a Gaussian process prior. While extremely flexible, this non-parametric method struggles with an inconvenient O(n3) scaling in terms of the n input instances which limits the method only to smaller problems. To overcome this, we derive...... to other similar approximations that have been applied in standard Gaussian process regression and classification problems such as FI(T)C and PI(T)C....

Is there a relation between priapism occurring after penile doppler ultrasonography and international erectile function index score and erection hardness score levels?

Science.gov (United States)

Sönmez, Mehmet Giray; Öztürk, Ahmet

2017-12-01

The relation between Erection Hardness Score (EHS) and The International Erectile Function Index (IIEF) Questionnaire- Erectile Function Domain Score (IIEF-EF score) used in erectile dysfunction (ED) evaluation and the prevalence of priapism after penile Doppler ultrasonography (PDU) was examined in this study. A total of 62 patients who had PDU were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups; there were 33 patients in IIEF-EF score ≤10, EHS 10, EHS ≥2 group (Group 2). The two groups separated according to their scores were compared for age, body mass index (BMI), prevalence of priapism, vascular comorbidities and duration of erection. When compared to Group 2, median age, rate of vascular comorbidities rate and BMI were detected to be higher in Group 1 with IIEF-EF score ≤10 and EHS 10 and EHS ≥2 (p<0.001, p=0.027, p=0.049 respectively). High IIEF-EF and EHS scores, younger ages and lower rates of vascular comorbidities in patients from whom PDU was demanded increase the prevalence of priapism.

WAIS-III index score profiles in the Canadian standardization sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Rael T

2007-01-01

Representative index score profiles were examined in the Canadian standardization sample of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III). The identification of profile patterns was based on the methodology proposed by Lange, Iverson, Senior, and Chelune (2002) that aims to maximize the influence of profile shape and minimize the influence of profile magnitude on the cluster solution. A two-step cluster analysis procedure was used (i.e., hierarchical and k-means analyses). Cluster analysis of the four index scores (i.e., Verbal Comprehension [VCI], Perceptual Organization [POI], Working Memory [WMI], Processing Speed [PSI]) identified six profiles in this sample. Profiles were differentiated by pattern of performance and were primarily characterized as (a) high VCI/POI, low WMI/PSI, (b) low VCI/POI, high WMI/PSI, (c) high PSI, (d) low PSI, (e) high VCI/WMI, low POI/PSI, and (f) low VCI, high POI. These profiles are potentially useful for determining whether a patient's WAIS-III performance is unusual in a normal population.

SVM-dependent pairwise HMM: an application to protein pairwise alignments.

Science.gov (United States)

Orlando, Gabriele; Raimondi, Daniele; Khan, Taushif; Lenaerts, Tom; Vranken, Wim F

2017-12-15

Methods able to provide reliable protein alignments are crucial for many bioinformatics applications. In the last years many different algorithms have been developed and various kinds of information, from sequence conservation to secondary structure, have been used to improve the alignment performances. This is especially relevant for proteins with highly divergent sequences. However, recent works suggest that different features may have different importance in diverse protein classes and it would be an advantage to have more customizable approaches, capable to deal with different alignment definitions. Here we present Rigapollo, a highly flexible pairwise alignment method based on a pairwise HMM-SVM that can use any type of information to build alignments. Rigapollo lets the user decide the optimal features to align their protein class of interest. It outperforms current state of the art methods on two well-known benchmark datasets when aligning highly divergent sequences. A Python implementation of the algorithm is available at http://ibsquare.be/rigapollo. wim.vranken@vub.be. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Index admission laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis restores Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) score.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Hongyan; Chan, Esther Ern-Hwei; Lingam, Pravin; Lee, Jingwen; Woon, Winston Wei Liang; Low, Jee Keem; Shelat, Vishal G

2018-02-01

Previous studies have evaluated quality of life (QoL) in patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for cholelithiasis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate QoL after index admission LC in patients diagnosed with acute cholecystitis (AC) using the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) questionnaire. Patients ≥21 years admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore for AC and who underwent index admission LC between February 2015 and January 2016 were evaluated using the GIQLI questionnaire preoperatively and 30 days postoperatively. A total of 51 patients (26 males, 25 females) with a mean age of 60 years (24-86 years) were included. Median duration of abdominal pain at presentation was 2 days (1-21 days). 45% of patients had existing comorbidities, with diabetes mellitus being most common (33%). 31% were classified as mild AC, 59% as moderate and 10% as severe AC according to Tokyo Guideline 2013 (TG13) criteria. Post-operative complications were observed in 8 patients, including retained common bile duct stone (n=1), wound infection (n=2), bile leakage (n=2), intra-abdominal collection (n=1) and atrial fibrillation (n=2). 86% patients were well at 30 days follow-up and were discharged. A significant improvement in GIQLI score was observed postoperatively, with mean total GIQLI score increasing from 106.0±16.9 (101.7-112.1) to 120.4±18.0 (114.8-125.9) ( p <0.001). Significant improvements were also observed in GIQLI subgroups of gastrointestinal symptoms, physical status, emotional status and social function status. Index admission LC restores QoL in patients with AC as measured by GIQLI questionnaire.

Statistical physics of pairwise probability models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roudi, Yasser; Aurell, Erik; Hertz, John

2009-01-01

(dansk abstrakt findes ikke) Statistical models for describing the probability distribution over the states of biological systems are commonly used for dimensional reduction. Among these models, pairwise models are very attractive in part because they can be fit using a reasonable amount of  data......: knowledge of the means and correlations between pairs of elements in the system is sufficient. Not surprisingly, then, using pairwise models for studying neural data has been the focus of many studies in recent years. In this paper, we describe how tools from statistical physics can be employed for studying...

Health care index score and risk of death following tuberculosis diagnosis in HIV-positive patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Podlekareva, D N; Grint, D; Post, F A

2013-01-01

To assess health care utilisation for patients co-infected with TB and HIV (TB-HIV), and to develop a weighted health care index (HCI) score based on commonly used interventions and compare it with patient outcome.......To assess health care utilisation for patients co-infected with TB and HIV (TB-HIV), and to develop a weighted health care index (HCI) score based on commonly used interventions and compare it with patient outcome....

Comparison of WAIS-III Short Forms for Measuring Index and Full-Scale Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Girard, Todd A.; Axelrod, Bradley N.; Wilkins, Leanne K.

2010-01-01

This investigation assessed the ability of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III) short forms to estimate both index and IQ scores in a large, mixed clinical sample (N = 809). More specifically, a commonly used modification of Ward's seven-subtest short form (SF7-A), a recently proposed index-based SF7-C and eight-subtest…

CORRELATION OF MOBILE PHONE ADDICTION SCALE (MPAS SCORE WITH CRANIOVERTEBRAL ANGLE, SCAPULAR INDEX AND BECKS DEPRESSION INVENTORY SCORE IN YOUNG ADULTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rupali Salvi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Mobile phone usage has become increasingly common in today’s youth. Its heavy use often leads to an addiction. Dependency on these devices could lead to postural dysfunctions as well as produce an adverse effect on psychology. Hence, this study is done to correlate mobile addiction with the craniovertebral angle, scapular index and Beck’s depression inventory score in young adults. Methods: An observational study was performed on 100 subjects out of which 51 were males and 49 were females in the age group of 18- 25 years who were pursuing their graduation and post-graduation courses. Mobile Phone Addiction Scale was used to determine the level of addiction. Craniovertebral angle, Scapular Index, and Beck’s Depression Inventory score were measured. Correlation of Mobile Phone Addiction Scale score with the above-mentioned parameters was done using GraphPad Instat Version 3.10 (Pearson correlation coefficient and Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: Mobile phone addiction was found low in 27%, moderate in 30% and high in 43% participants. There is significant correlation of mobile phone addiction scale score with Craniovertebral angle (r = -0.6470, p = <0.0001, Scapular Index (r = -0.4370, p = < 0.001 and Beck’s depression Inventory score (r = 0.3172, p = 0.0013. Conclusion: This study shows that mobile phone addiction is common amongst the youth and it contributes to considerable stresses on neck and shoulder. It could even cause unfavorable repercussion on an individual’s psychological status, such as depression. Hence, it is important to create awareness amongst the youth and take preventive measures for the same.

Classification of forest-based ecotourism areas in Pocahontas County of West Virginia using GIS and pairwise comparison method

Science.gov (United States)

Ishwar Dhami; Jinyang. Deng

2012-01-01

Many previous studies have examined ecotourism primarily from the perspective of tourists while largely ignoring ecotourism destinations. This study used geographical information system (GIS) and pairwise comparison to identify forest-based ecotourism areas in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The study adopted the criteria and scores developed by Boyd and Butler (1994...

Pairwise Constraint-Guided Sparse Learning for Feature Selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Mingxia; Zhang, Daoqiang

2016-01-01

Feature selection aims to identify the most informative features for a compact and accurate data representation. As typical supervised feature selection methods, Lasso and its variants using L1-norm-based regularization terms have received much attention in recent studies, most of which use class labels as supervised information. Besides class labels, there are other types of supervised information, e.g., pairwise constraints that specify whether a pair of data samples belong to the same class (must-link constraint) or different classes (cannot-link constraint). However, most of existing L1-norm-based sparse learning methods do not take advantage of the pairwise constraints that provide us weak and more general supervised information. For addressing that problem, we propose a pairwise constraint-guided sparse (CGS) learning method for feature selection, where the must-link and the cannot-link constraints are used as discriminative regularization terms that directly concentrate on the local discriminative structure of data. Furthermore, we develop two variants of CGS, including: 1) semi-supervised CGS that utilizes labeled data, pairwise constraints, and unlabeled data and 2) ensemble CGS that uses the ensemble of pairwise constraint sets. We conduct a series of experiments on a number of data sets from University of California-Irvine machine learning repository, a gene expression data set, two real-world neuroimaging-based classification tasks, and two large-scale attribute classification tasks. Experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed methods, compared with several established feature selection methods.

A scalable pairwise class interaction framework for multidimensional classification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arias, Jacinto; Gámez, Jose A.; Nielsen, Thomas Dyhre

2016-01-01

We present a general framework for multidimensional classification that cap- tures the pairwise interactions between class variables. The pairwise class inter- actions are encoded using a collection of base classifiers (Phase 1), for which the class predictions are combined in a Markov random fie...

Dynamics of pairwise motions in the Cosmic Web

Science.gov (United States)

Hellwing, Wojciech A.

2016-10-01

We present results of analysis of the dark matter (DM) pairwise velocity statistics in different Cosmic Web environments. We use the DM velocity and density field from the Millennium 2 simulation together with the NEXUS+ algorithm to segment the simulation volume into voxels uniquely identifying one of the four possible environments: nodes, filaments, walls or cosmic voids. We show that the PDFs of the mean infall velocities v 12 as well as its spatial dependence together with the perpendicular and parallel velocity dispersions bear a significant signal of the large-scale structure environment in which DM particle pairs are embedded. The pairwise flows are notably colder and have smaller mean magnitude in wall and voids, when compared to much denser environments of filaments and nodes. We discuss on our results, indicating that they are consistent with a simple theoretical predictions for pairwise motions as induced by gravitational instability mechanism. Our results indicate that the Cosmic Web elements are coherent dynamical entities rather than just temporal geometrical associations. In addition it should be possible to observationally test various Cosmic Web finding algorithms by segmenting available peculiar velocity data and studying resulting pairwise velocity statistics.

The Impact of an Academic Integrity Module and Turnitin® on Similarity Index Scores of Undergraduate Student Papers

Science.gov (United States)

Ballard, Iva B.

2013-01-01

In this quasi-experimental 2 x 2 factorial design study, the impact of an academic integrity module and Turnitin® on undergraduate student similarity index scores was investigated. Similarity index scores were used to measure suggested plagiarism rates of student papers. A purposive sample consisting of 96 undergraduate education students enrolled…

Radiosurgery for brain metastases: a score index for predicting prognosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weltman, Eduardo; Salvajoli, Joao Victor; Brandt, Reynaldo Andre; Morais Hanriot, Rodrigo de; Prisco, Flavio Eduardo; Cruz, Jose Carlos; Oliveira Borges, Sandra Regina de; Wajsbrot, Dalia Ballas

2000-01-01

Purpose: To analyze a prognostic score index for patients with brain metastases submitted to stereotactic radiosurgery (the Score Index for Radiosurgery in Brain Metastases [SIR]). Methods and Materials: Actuarial survival of 65 brain metastases patients treated with radiosurgery between July 1993 and December 1997 was retrospectively analyzed. Prognostic factors included age, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), extracranial disease status, number of brain lesions, largest brain lesion volume, lesions site, and receiving or not whole brain irradiation. The SIR was obtained through summation of the previously noted first five prognostic factors. Kaplan-Meier actuarial survival curves for all prognostic factors, SIR, and recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) (RTOG prognostic score) were calculated. Survival curves of subsets were compared by log-rank test. Application of the Cox model was utilized to identify any correlation between prognostic factors, prognostic scores, and survival. Results: Median overall survival from radiosurgery was 6.8 months. Utilizing univariate analysis, extracranial disease status, KPS, number of brain lesions, largest brain lesion volume, RPA, and SIR were significantly correlated with prognosis. Median survival for the RPA classes 1, 2, and 3 was 20.19 months, 7.75 months, and 3.38 months respectively (p = 0.0131). Median survival for patients, grouped under SIR from 1 to 3, 4 to 7, and 8 to 10, was 2.91 months, 7.00 months, and 31.38 months respectively (p = 0.0001). Using the Cox model, extracranial disease status and KPS demonstrated significant correlation with prognosis (p 0.0001 and 0.0004 respectively). Multivariate analysis also demonstrated significance for SIR and RPA when tested individually (p = 0.0001 and 0.0040 respectively). Applying the Cox Model to both SIR and RPA, only SIR reached independent significance (p = 0.0004). Conclusions: Systemic disease status, KPS, SIR, and RPA are reliable prognostic factors for patients

Accuracy of shock index versus ABC score to predict need for massive transfusion in trauma patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroll, Rebecca; Swift, David; Tatum, Danielle; Couch, Stuart; Heaney, Jiselle B; Llado-Farrulla, Monica; Zucker, Shana; Gill, Frances; Brown, Griffin; Buffin, Nicholas; Duchesne, Juan

2018-01-01

Various scoring systems have been developed to predict need for massive transfusion in traumatically injured patients. Assessments of Blood Consumption (ABC) score and Shock Index (SI) have been shown to be reliable predictors for Massive Transfusion Protocol (MTP) activation. However, no study has directly compared these two scoring systems to determine which is a better predictor for MTP activation. The primary objective was to determine whether ABC or SI better predicted the need for MTP in adult trauma patients with severe hemorrhage. This was a retrospective cohort study which included all injured patients who were trauma activations between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2013 at an urban Level I trauma center. Patients ABC and SI were calculated for each patient. MTP was defined as need for >10 units PRBC transfusion within 24h of emergency department arrival. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) were used to evaluate scoring systems' ability to predict effective MTP utilization. A total of 645 patients had complete data for analysis. Shock Index ≥1 had sensitivity of 67.7% (95% CI 49.5%-82.6%) and specificity of 81.3% (95% CI 78.0%-84.3%) for predicting MTP, and ABC score ≥2 had sensitivity of 47.0% (95% CI 29.8%-64.9%) and specificity of 89.8% (95% CI 87.2%-92.1%). AUROC analyses showed SI to be the strongest predictor followed by ABC score with AUROC values of 0.83 and 0.74, respectively. SI had a significantly greater sensitivity (P=0.035), but a significantly weaker specificity (PABC score. ABC score and Shock Index can both be used to predict need for massive transfusion in trauma patients, however SI is more sensitive and requires less technical skill than ABC score. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Supplier Evaluation Process by Pairwise Comparisons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arkadiusz Kawa

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We propose to assess suppliers by using consistency-driven pairwise comparisons for tangible and intangible criteria. The tangible criteria are simpler to compare (e.g., the price of a service is lower than that of another service with identical characteristics. Intangible criteria are more difficult to assess. The proposed model combines assessments of both types of criteria. The main contribution of this paper is the presentation of an extension framework for the selection of suppliers in a procurement process. The final weights are computed from relative pairwise comparisons. For the needs of the paper, surveys were conducted among Polish managers dealing with cooperation with suppliers in their enterprises. The Polish practice and restricted bidding are discussed, too.

Why Summary Comorbidity Measures Such As the Charlson Comorbidity Index and Elixhauser Score Work.

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, Steven R; Wong, Yu-Ning; Uzzo, Robert G; Beck, J Robert; Egleston, Brian L

2015-09-01

Comorbidity adjustment is an important component of health services research and clinical prognosis. When adjusting for comorbidities in statistical models, researchers can include comorbidities individually or through the use of summary measures such as the Charlson Comorbidity Index or Elixhauser score. We examined the conditions under which individual versus summary measures are most appropriate. We provide an analytic proof of the utility of comorbidity summary measures when used in place of individual comorbidities. We compared the use of the Charlson and Elixhauser scores versus individual comorbidities in prognostic models using a SEER-Medicare data example. We examined the ability of summary comorbidity measures to adjust for confounding using simulations. We devised a mathematical proof that found that the comorbidity summary measures are appropriate prognostic or adjustment mechanisms in survival analyses. Once one knows the comorbidity score, no other information about the comorbidity variables used to create the score is generally needed. Our data example and simulations largely confirmed this finding. Summary comorbidity measures, such as the Charlson Comorbidity Index and Elixhauser scores, are commonly used for clinical prognosis and comorbidity adjustment. We have provided a theoretical justification that validates the use of such scores under many conditions. Our simulations generally confirm the utility of the summary comorbidity measures as substitutes for use of the individual comorbidity variables in health services research. One caveat is that a summary measure may only be as good as the variables used to create it.

Doctoral Program Selection Using Pairwise Comparisons.

Science.gov (United States)

Tadisina, Suresh K.; Bhasin, Vijay

1989-01-01

The application of a pairwise comparison methodology (Saaty's Analytic Hierarchy Process) to the doctoral program selection process is illustrated. A hierarchy for structuring and facilitating the doctoral program selection decision is described. (Author/MLW)

Preference Learning and Ranking by Pairwise Comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Fürnkranz, Johannes; Hüllermeier, Eyke

This chapter provides an overview of recent work on preference learning and ranking via pairwise classification. The learning by pairwise comparison (LPC) paradigm is the natural machine learning counterpart to the relational approach to preference modeling and decision making. From a machine learning point of view, LPC is especially appealing as it decomposes a possibly complex prediction problem into a certain number of learning problems of the simplest type, namely binary classification. We explain how to approach different preference learning problems, such as label and instance ranking, within the framework of LPC. We primarily focus on methodological aspects, but also address theoretical questions as well as algorithmic and complexity issues.

The BRICS (Bronchiectasis Radiologically Indexed CT Score): A Multicenter Study Score for Use in Idiopathic and Postinfective Bronchiectasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bedi, Pallavi; Chalmers, James D; Goeminne, Pieter C; Mai, Cindy; Saravanamuthu, Pira; Velu, Prasad Palani; Cartlidge, Manjit K; Loebinger, Michael R; Jacob, Joe; Kamal, Faisal; Schembri, Nicola; Aliberti, Stefano; Hill, Uta; Harrison, Mike; Johnson, Christopher; Screaton, Nicholas; Haworth, Charles; Polverino, Eva; Rosales, Edmundo; Torres, Antoni; Benegas, Michael N; Rossi, Adriano G; Patel, Dilip; Hill, Adam T

2018-05-01

The goal of this study was to develop a simplified radiological score that could assess clinical disease severity in bronchiectasis. The Bronchiectasis Radiologically Indexed CT Score (BRICS) was devised based on a multivariable analysis of the Bhalla score and its ability in predicting clinical parameters of severity. The score was then externally validated in six centers in 302 patients. A total of 184 high-resolution CT scans were scored for the validation cohort. In a multiple logistic regression model, disease severity markers significantly associated with the Bhalla score were percent predicted FEV 1 , sputum purulence, and exacerbations requiring hospital admission. Components of the Bhalla score that were significantly associated with the disease severity markers were bronchial dilatation and number of bronchopulmonary segments with emphysema. The BRICS was developed with these two parameters. The receiver operating-characteristic curve values for BRICS in the derivation cohort were 0.79 for percent predicted FEV 1 , 0.71 for sputum purulence, and 0.75 for hospital admissions per year; these values were 0.81, 0.70, and 0.70, respectively, in the validation cohort. Sputum free neutrophil elastase activity was significantly elevated in the group with emphysema on CT imaging. A simplified CT scoring system can be used as an adjunct to clinical parameters to predict disease severity in patients with idiopathic and postinfective bronchiectasis. Copyright © 2017 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can transient elastography, Fib-4, Forns Index, and Lok Score predict esophageal varices in HCV-related cirrhotic patients?

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Eman M; Omran, Dalia A; El Beshlawey, Mohamad L; Abdo, Mahmoud; El Askary, Ahmad

2014-02-01

Gastroesophageal varices are present in approximately 50% of patients with liver cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate liver stiffness measurement (LSM), Fib-4, Forns Index and Lok Score as noninvasive predictors of esophageal varices (EV). This prospective study included 65 patients with HCV-related liver cirrhosis. All patients underwent routine laboratory tests, transient elastograhy (TE) and esophagogastroduodenoscopy. FIB-4, Forns Index and Lok Score were calculated. The diagnostic performances of these methods were assessed using sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy and receiver operating characteristic curves. All predictors (LSM, FIB-4, Forns Index and Lok Score) demonstrated statistically significant correlation with the presence and the grade of EV. TE could diagnose EV at a cutoff value of 18.2kPa. Fib-4, Forns Index, and Lok Score could diagnose EV at cutoff values of 2.8, 6.61 and 0.63, respectively. For prediction of large varices (grade 2, 3), LSM showed the highest accuracy (80%) with a cutoff of 22.4kPa and AUROC of 0.801. Its sensitivity was 84%, specificity 72%, PPV 84% and NPV 72%. The diagnostic accuracies of FIB-4, Forns Index and Lok Score were 70%, 70% and76%, respectively, at cutoffs of 3.3, 6.9 and 0.7, respectively. For diagnosis of large esophageal varices, adding TE to each of the other diagnostic indices (serum fibrosis scores) increased their sensitivities with little decrease in their specificities. Moreover, this combination decreased the LR- in all tests. Noninvasive predictors can restrict endoscopic screening. This is very important as non invasiveness is now a major goal in hepatology. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. and AEEH y AEG. All rights reserved.

Pairwise Choice Markov Chains

OpenAIRE

Ragain, Stephen; Ugander, Johan

2016-01-01

As datasets capturing human choices grow in richness and scale---particularly in online domains---there is an increasing need for choice models that escape traditional choice-theoretic axioms such as regularity, stochastic transitivity, and Luce's choice axiom. In this work we introduce the Pairwise Choice Markov Chain (PCMC) model of discrete choice, an inferentially tractable model that does not assume any of the above axioms while still satisfying the foundational axiom of uniform expansio...

Selecting numerical scales for pairwise comparisons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elliott, Michael A.

2010-01-01

It is often desirable in decision analysis problems to elicit from an individual the rankings of a population of attributes according to the individual's preference and to understand the degree to which each attribute is preferred to the others. A common method for obtaining this information involves the use of pairwise comparisons, which allows an analyst to convert subjective expressions of preference between two attributes into numerical values indicating preferences across the entire population of attributes. Key to the use of pairwise comparisons is the underlying numerical scale that is used to convert subjective linguistic expressions of preference into numerical values. This scale represents the psychological manner in which individuals perceive increments of preference among abstract attributes and it has important implications about the distribution and consistency of an individual's preferences. Three popular scale types, the traditional integer scales, balanced scales and power scales are examined. Results of a study of 64 individuals responding to a hypothetical decision problem show that none of these scales can accurately capture the preferences of all individuals. A study of three individuals working on an actual engineering decision problem involving the design of a decay heat removal system for a nuclear fission reactor show that the choice of scale can affect the preferred decision. It is concluded that applications of pairwise comparisons would benefit from permitting participants to choose the scale that best models their own particular way of thinking about the relative preference of attributes.

Predictors of natively unfolded proteins: unanimous consensus score to detect a twilight zone between order and disorder in generic datasets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deiana Antonio

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Natively unfolded proteins lack a well defined three dimensional structure but have important biological functions, suggesting a re-assignment of the structure-function paradigm. To assess that a given protein is natively unfolded requires laborious experimental investigations, then reliable sequence-only methods for predicting whether a sequence corresponds to a folded or to an unfolded protein are of interest in fundamental and applicative studies. Many proteins have amino acidic compositions compatible both with the folded and unfolded status, and belong to a twilight zone between order and disorder. This makes difficult a dichotomic classification of protein sequences into folded and natively unfolded ones. In this work we propose an operational method to identify proteins belonging to the twilight zone by combining into a consensus score good performing single predictors of folding. Results In this methodological paper dichotomic folding indexes are considered: hydrophobicity-charge, mean packing, mean pairwise energy, Poodle-W and a new global index, that is called here gVSL2, based on the local disorder predictor VSL2. The performance of these indexes is evaluated on different datasets, in particular on a new dataset composed by 2369 folded and 81 natively unfolded proteins. Poodle-W, gVSL2 and mean pairwise energy have good performance and stability in all the datasets considered and are combined into a strictly unanimous combination score SSU, that leaves proteins unclassified when the consensus of all combined indexes is not reached. The unclassified proteins: i belong to an overlap region in the vector space of amino acidic compositions occupied by both folded and unfolded proteins; ii are composed by approximately the same number of order-promoting and disorder-promoting amino acids; iii have a mean flexibility intermediate between that of folded and that of unfolded proteins. Conclusions Our results show that

Role of bedside index for severity of acute pancreatitis (bisap score in predicting outcome in acute pancreatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahnawaz Bashir Bhat

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate the role of Bedside index for severity of acute pancreatitis (BISAP score in predicting the outcome of acute pancreatitis. Methods: This single hospital based prospective study included fifty patients of acute pancreatitis admitted within 48 hours of onset of symptoms, who were divided into two groups according to admission BISAP score. BISAP score 3 (severe acute pancreatitis. The ability of BISAP score to predict mortality, morbidity and hospital stay in acute pancreatitis patients was analyzed. Results: A BISAP score of >3 was associated with increased risk of development of transient organ failure, persistent organ failure and pancreatic necrosis (Statistically significant. Mortality in group with BISAP and #8805;3 was 23.5% (4 patients which was statistically higher than group with BISAP score and #706;3 (0 patients (p=0.019.The mean duration of hospital stay of patients in group with BISAP score < 3 was 7.58 +/- 4.04 days and in group with BISAP score and #8805;3 was 15.35 +/- 1.66.(p=0.02. Conclusion: Bedside index for severity in acute pancreatitis (BISAP score, at admission is an excellent score in predicting the mortality, morbidity and hospital stay and hence management protocol in patients admitted with acute pancreatitis. [J Contemp Med 2015; 5(4.000: 215-220

Gait Deviation Index, Gait Profile Score and Gait Variable Score in children with spastic cerebral palsy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Helle Mätzke; Nielsen, Dennis Brandborg; Pedersen, Niels Wisbech

2015-01-01

Abstract The Gait Deviation Index (GDI) and Gait Profile Score (GPS) are the most used summary measures of gait in children with cerebral palsy (CP). However, the reliability and agreement of these indices have not been investigated, limiting their clinimetric quality for research and clinical...... to good reliability with ICCs of 0.4–0.7. The agreement for the GDI and the logarithmically transformed GPS, in terms of the standard error of measurement as a percentage of the grand mean (SEM%) varied from 4.1 to 6.7%, whilst the smallest detectable change in percent (SDC%) ranged from 11.3 to 18...

The Role of Middlemen inEfficient and Strongly Pairwise Stable Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gilles, R.P.; Chakrabarti, S.; Sarangi, S.; Badasyan, N.

2004-01-01

We examine the strong pairwise stability concept in network formation theory under collective network benefits.Strong pairwise stability considers a pair of players to add a link through mutual consent while permitting them to unilaterally delete any subset of links under their control.We examine

White-nose syndrome and wing damage index scores among summer bats in the northeastern United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Francl, Karen E; Sparks, Dale W; Brack, Virgil; Timpone, John

2011-01-01

White-nose syndrome (WNS) adversely affects millions of bats hibernating in caves of the eastern United States. Beginning in 2009, the US Fish and Wildlife Service supported use of a wing damage index (WDI) scoring system (scale of 0 to 3, or no damage to severe) to assess wing damage of bats captured during summer. Based on bat captures at 459 mist net sites in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey, USA, we questioned whether WDI scores varied by species group, date, and distance to the closest known affected hibernaculum. We also compared relative health (body mass index [BMI] scores) to WDI scores. Of 3,419 bats (nine species), only four individuals (0.1%; little brown [Myotis lucifugus] and northern bats [Myotis septentrionalis]) were scored as a 3 and 47 (1.4%; big brown [Eptesicus fuscus], little brown, and northern bats) as a 2. All tree bats (eastern red [Lasiurus borealis], hoary [Lasiurus cinereus], and silver-haired bats [Lasionycteris noctivagans]) scored a 0 or 1, suggesting that these species were not affected by WNS. The average WDI score decreased as summer progressed, although trends were weak. Average WDI score and number of bats with class 2 and 3 damage increased with proximity to a known WNS-positive hibernaculum. Similarly, the number of bats with severe wing damage (scoring 2 or 3) was greater at sites closer to infected hibernacula, but little variance was explained by the trend. When species-specific BMI was examined, trends were consistent by sex (female BMI scores were higher than those of males), but no relationship was discovered between BMI and WDI scores. We conclude that, at this larger geographic scale, WDI is not a clear indicator of bat health.

Automatic Camera Calibration Using Multiple Sets of Pairwise Correspondences.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasconcelos, Francisco; Barreto, Joao P; Boyer, Edmond

2018-04-01

We propose a new method to add an uncalibrated node into a network of calibrated cameras using only pairwise point correspondences. While previous methods perform this task using triple correspondences, these are often difficult to establish when there is limited overlap between different views. In such challenging cases we must rely on pairwise correspondences and our solution becomes more advantageous. Our method includes an 11-point minimal solution for the intrinsic and extrinsic calibration of a camera from pairwise correspondences with other two calibrated cameras, and a new inlier selection framework that extends the traditional RANSAC family of algorithms to sampling across multiple datasets. Our method is validated on different application scenarios where a lack of triple correspondences might occur: addition of a new node to a camera network; calibration and motion estimation of a moving camera inside a camera network; and addition of views with limited overlap to a Structure-from-Motion model.

Etiology, clinical profile, severity and outcome of acute pancreatitis in relation to bed side index for severity of acute pancreatitis bisap and CT severity index [CTSI] scores

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Bezwada Srinivasa Rao, Matta SreeVani, V.Sarat Chandra

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory process of the pancreas with involvement of regional tissues or remote organ systems and with potentially devastating consequences. Early prediction of outcome of acute pancreatitis within 24 hrs by clinically based bed Side Index of Severity of Acute Pancreatitis [BISAP] Score and radiological based CT Severity Index [CTSI] later on being useful in initiation of early treatment, assessing severity, to prevent morbidity and mortality. In those who survive, it can progress to chronic pancreatitis resulting in malabsorption and permanent diabetes. Aim: The aim was to study aetiology, clinical profile, severity, outcome of acute pancreatitis in relation to BISAP Score and CTSI. Materials and Methods: This was an observational and prospective study. The present study enrolled 55 patients who were diagnosed as acute pancreatitis and patients with chronic pancreatitis were excluded from the study. Vital data like pulse rate, blood Pressure, temperature, respiratory rate, conscious level using Glasgow coma scale, serum amylase, lipase, Chest x-ray, US abdomen and CT abdomen [both CECT & NCCT] were done. BISAP Score was obtained at the time of presentation or within 24 hours of presentation and radiological based CT Severity Index [CTSI] was calculated using the Balthazar grading system and Necrosis Scoring system to assess the severity, morbidity and mortality. The results: In this study, the most common aetiology being alcohol intake followed by gall stones. BISAP Score 3 had organ dysfunction and Score 4 had 100% mortality. The relation between CTSI score and Organ dysfunction showed increased organic dysfunction and higher mortality with higher CTSI Scores. p value < 0.0001 was calculated using Pearson Chi-square test and found to be statistically significant. Conclusions: Both BISAP and CTSI scores had positive correlation with morbidity and mortality.

Validation of the Abdominal Pain Index using a revised scoring method.

Science.gov (United States)

Laird, Kelsey T; Sherman, Amanda L; Smith, Craig A; Walker, Lynn S

2015-06-01

Evaluate the psychometric properties of child- and parent-report versions of the four-item Abdominal Pain Index (API) in children with functional abdominal pain (FAP) and healthy controls, using a revised scoring method that facilitates comparisons of scores across samples and time. Pediatric patients aged 8-18 years with FAP and controls completed the API at baseline (N = 1,967); a subset of their parents (N = 290) completed the API regarding the child's pain. Subsets of patients completed follow-up assessments at 2 weeks (N = 231), 3 months (N = 330), and 6 months (N = 107). Subsets of both patients (N = 389) and healthy controls (N = 172) completed a long-term follow-up assessment (mean age at follow-up = 20.21 years, SD = 3.75). The API demonstrated good concurrent, discriminant, and construct validity, as well as good internal consistency. We conclude that the API, using the revised scoring method, is a useful, reliable, and valid measure of abdominal pain severity. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Elsevier’s CiteScore index values for Acta Dermatovenerologica Alpina, Pannonica et Adriatica: a 2016 update

Science.gov (United States)

Šterbenc, Anja; Oštrbenk, Anja

2017-09-01

Elsevier’s recently launched citation metric CiteScore enables comprehensive, transparent, and current evaluation of a journal’s performance. For an editorial office, insight into a journal’s impact over time is of great value when making important decisions regarding the journal’s future. A 2016 update of CiteScore index values for Acta Dermatovenerologica Alpina, Pannonica et Adri- atica (Acta Dermatovenerol APA) showed a slight decrease in the CiteScore index value from 1.18 in 2015 to 0.96 in 2016. Acta Dermatovenerol APA can still be considered the principal journal in the field of dermatology and sexually transmitted infections in our region, with almost half of the articles published between 2013 and 2015 cited at least once in 2016. Acta Dermatovenerol APA performed well in both categories listed because it ranked 67th out of 121 journals in the category Dermatology (44th percentile) and 175th out of 250 journals in the category Infectious Diseases (30th percentile).

A predictive model of music preference using pairwise comparisons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Bjørn Sand; Gallego, Javier Saez; Larsen, Jan

2012-01-01

Music recommendation is an important aspect of many streaming services and multi-media systems, however, it is typically based on so-called collaborative filtering methods. In this paper we consider the recommendation task from a personal viewpoint and examine to which degree music preference can...... be elicited and predicted using simple and robust queries such as pairwise comparisons. We propose to model - and in turn predict - the pairwise music preference using a very flexible model based on Gaussian Process priors for which we describe the required inference. We further propose a specific covariance...

Revisiting the classification of curtoviruses based on genome-wide pairwise identity

KAUST Repository

Varsani, Arvind; Martin, Darren Patrick; Navas-Castillo, Jesú s; Moriones, Enrique; Herná ndez-Zepeda, Cecilia; Idris, Ali; Murilo Zerbini, F.; Brown, Judith K.

2014-01-01

Members of the genus Curtovirus (family Geminiviridae) are important pathogens of many wild and cultivated plant species. Until recently, relatively few full curtovirus genomes have been characterised. However, with the 19 full genome sequences now available in public databases, we revisit the proposed curtovirus species and strain classification criteria. Using pairwise identities coupled with phylogenetic evidence, revised species and strain demarcation guidelines have been instituted. Specifically, we have established 77% genome-wide pairwise identity as a species demarcation threshold and 94% genome-wide pairwise identity as a strain demarcation threshold. Hence, whereas curtovirus sequences with >77% genome-wide pairwise identity would be classified as belonging to the same species, those sharing >94% identity would be classified as belonging to the same strain. We provide step-by-step guidelines to facilitate the classification of newly discovered curtovirus full genome sequences and a set of defined criteria for naming new species and strains. The revision yields three curtovirus species: Beet curly top virus (BCTV), Spinach severe surly top virus (SpSCTV) and Horseradish curly top virus (HrCTV). © 2014 Springer-Verlag Wien.

Revisiting the classification of curtoviruses based on genome-wide pairwise identity

KAUST Repository

Varsani, Arvind

2014-01-25

Members of the genus Curtovirus (family Geminiviridae) are important pathogens of many wild and cultivated plant species. Until recently, relatively few full curtovirus genomes have been characterised. However, with the 19 full genome sequences now available in public databases, we revisit the proposed curtovirus species and strain classification criteria. Using pairwise identities coupled with phylogenetic evidence, revised species and strain demarcation guidelines have been instituted. Specifically, we have established 77% genome-wide pairwise identity as a species demarcation threshold and 94% genome-wide pairwise identity as a strain demarcation threshold. Hence, whereas curtovirus sequences with >77% genome-wide pairwise identity would be classified as belonging to the same species, those sharing >94% identity would be classified as belonging to the same strain. We provide step-by-step guidelines to facilitate the classification of newly discovered curtovirus full genome sequences and a set of defined criteria for naming new species and strains. The revision yields three curtovirus species: Beet curly top virus (BCTV), Spinach severe surly top virus (SpSCTV) and Horseradish curly top virus (HrCTV). © 2014 Springer-Verlag Wien.

A combined pulmonary function and emphysema score prognostic index for staging in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afroditi K Boutou

Full Text Available Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD is characterized by high morbidity and mortality. Lung computed tomography parameters, individually or as part of a composite index, may provide more prognostic information than pulmonary function tests alone.To investigate the prognostic value of emphysema score and pulmonary artery measurements compared with lung function parameters in COPD and construct a prognostic index using a contingent staging approach.Predictors of mortality were assessed in COPD outpatients whose lung computed tomography, spirometry, lung volumes and gas transfer data were collected prospectively in a clinical database. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis models with bootstrap techniques were used.169 patients were included (59.8% male, 61.1 years old; Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second % predicted: 40.5±19.2. 20.1% died; mean survival was 115.4 months. Age (HR = 1.098, 95% Cl = 1.04-1.252 and emphysema score (HR = 1.034, 95% CI = 1.007-1.07 were the only independent predictors of mortality. Pulmonary artery dimensions were not associated with survival. An emphysema score of 55% was chosen as the optimal threshold and 30% and 65% as suboptimals. Where emphysema score was between 30% and 65% (intermediate risk the optimal lung volume threshold, a functional residual capacity of 210% predicted, was applied. This contingent staging approach separated patients with an intermediate risk based on emphysema score alone into high risk (Functional Residual Capacity ≥210% predicted or low risk (Functional Residual Capacity <210% predicted. This approach was more discriminatory for survival (HR = 3.123; 95% CI = 1.094-10.412 than either individual component alone.Although to an extent limited by the small sample size, this preliminary study indicates that the composite Emphysema score-Functional Residual Capacity index might provide a better separation of high and low risk patients

Improving iris recognition performance using segmentation, quality enhancement, match score fusion, and indexing.

Science.gov (United States)

Vatsa, Mayank; Singh, Richa; Noore, Afzel

2008-08-01

This paper proposes algorithms for iris segmentation, quality enhancement, match score fusion, and indexing to improve both the accuracy and the speed of iris recognition. A curve evolution approach is proposed to effectively segment a nonideal iris image using the modified Mumford-Shah functional. Different enhancement algorithms are concurrently applied on the segmented iris image to produce multiple enhanced versions of the iris image. A support-vector-machine-based learning algorithm selects locally enhanced regions from each globally enhanced image and combines these good-quality regions to create a single high-quality iris image. Two distinct features are extracted from the high-quality iris image. The global textural feature is extracted using the 1-D log polar Gabor transform, and the local topological feature is extracted using Euler numbers. An intelligent fusion algorithm combines the textural and topological matching scores to further improve the iris recognition performance and reduce the false rejection rate, whereas an indexing algorithm enables fast and accurate iris identification. The verification and identification performance of the proposed algorithms is validated and compared with other algorithms using the CASIA Version 3, ICE 2005, and UBIRIS iris databases.

Low amniotic fluid index in high risk pregnancy and poor apgar score at birth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sultana, S.; Akhtar, K.A.K.

2008-01-01

To determine the accuracy of antepartum Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) of 5 cm was labeled as predictor of good outcome at birth. The subjects in both the groups were demographically matched and fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Apgar score was calculated at 5 minutes of birth. The newborns, with Apgar score 6 were labeled as healthy. AFI was compared with Apgar score, using Chi-square and a p-value was calculated to determine the statistical significance. Sensitivity, specificity, efficiency and the predictive values of AFI at a cut off point of < 5 cm as a predictor of adverse outcome at birth (Apgar score of < 6 at 5 minutes of birth) in high-risk pregnancy were calculated. Only 8 neonates of 50 women with low AFI had low Apgar score. Similarly, 6 neonates of 50 women with normal AFI had poor Apgar score. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and efficiency of AFI as test were 57.1%, 51.3%, 16%, 88% and 52% respectively. Low AFI is a poor predictor of adverse outcome for high-risk term patients. AFI is not a good screening test for high-risk pregnant women at term for birth of an infant with low Apgar score. (author)

GraphAlignment: Bayesian pairwise alignment of biological networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kolář Michal

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background With increased experimental availability and accuracy of bio-molecular networks, tools for their comparative and evolutionary analysis are needed. A key component for such studies is the alignment of networks. Results We introduce the Bioconductor package GraphAlignment for pairwise alignment of bio-molecular networks. The alignment incorporates information both from network vertices and network edges and is based on an explicit evolutionary model, allowing inference of all scoring parameters directly from empirical data. We compare the performance of our algorithm to an alternative algorithm, Græmlin 2.0. On simulated data, GraphAlignment outperforms Græmlin 2.0 in several benchmarks except for computational complexity. When there is little or no noise in the data, GraphAlignment is slower than Græmlin 2.0. It is faster than Græmlin 2.0 when processing noisy data containing spurious vertex associations. Its typical case complexity grows approximately as O(N2.6. On empirical bacterial protein-protein interaction networks (PIN and gene co-expression networks, GraphAlignment outperforms Græmlin 2.0 with respect to coverage and specificity, albeit by a small margin. On large eukaryotic PIN, Græmlin 2.0 outperforms GraphAlignment. Conclusions The GraphAlignment algorithm is robust to spurious vertex associations, correctly resolves paralogs, and shows very good performance in identification of homologous vertices defined by high vertex and/or interaction similarity. The simplicity and generality of GraphAlignment edge scoring makes the algorithm an appropriate choice for global alignment of networks.

Unjamming in models with analytic pairwise potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Kooij, Stefan; Lerner, Edan

2017-06-01

Canonical models for studying the unjamming scenario in systems of soft repulsive particles assume pairwise potentials with a sharp cutoff in the interaction range. The sharp cutoff renders the potential nonanalytic but makes it possible to describe many properties of the solid in terms of the coordination number z , which has an unambiguous definition in these cases. Pairwise potentials without a sharp cutoff in the interaction range have not been studied in this context, but should in fact be considered to understand the relevance of the unjamming phenomenology in systems where such a cutoff is not present. In this work we explore two systems with such interactions: an inverse power law and an exponentially decaying pairwise potential, with the control parameters being the exponent (of the inverse power law) for the former and the number density for the latter. Both systems are shown to exhibit the characteristic features of the unjamming transition, among which are the vanishing of the shear-to-bulk modulus ratio and the emergence of an excess of low-frequency vibrational modes. We establish a relation between the pressure-to-bulk modulus ratio and the distance to unjamming in each of our model systems. This allows us to predict the dependence of other key observables on the distance to unjamming. Our results provide the means for a quantitative estimation of the proximity of generic glass-forming models to the unjamming transition in the absence of a clear-cut definition of the coordination number and highlight the general irrelevance of nonaffine contributions to the bulk modulus.

Proposing melasma severity index: A new, more practical, office-based scoring system for assessing the severity of melasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Imran Majid

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI, the scoring system in melasma, needs to be refined. Aims and Objectives: To propose a more practical scoring system, named as Melasma Severity Index (MSI, for assessing the disease severity and treatment response in melasma. Materials and Methods: Four dermatologists were trained to calculate MASI and also the proposed MSI scores. For MSI, the formula used was 0.4 (a × p 2 l + 0.4 (a × p 2 r + 0.2 (a × p 2 n where "a" stands for area, "p" for pigmentation, "l" for left face, "r" for right face, and "n" for nose. On a single day, 30 enrolled patients were randomly examined by each trained dermatologist and their MASI and MSI scores were calculated. Next, each rater re-examined every 6 th patient for repeat MASI and MSI scoring to assess intra- and inter-rater reliability of MASI and MSI scores. Validity was assessed by comparing the individual scores of each rater with objective data from mexameter and ImageJ software. Results: Inter-rater reliability, as assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient, was significantly higher for MSI (0.955 as compared to MASI (0.816. Correlation of scores with objective data by Spearman′s correlation revealed higher rho values for MSI than for MASI for all raters. Limitations: Sample population belonged to a single ethnic group. Conclusions: MSI is simpler and more practical scoring system for melasma.

Mortality is predicted by Comorbidity Polypharmacy score but not Charlson Comorbidity Index in geriatric trauma patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Nossaman, Vaughn E; Larsen, Brett E; DiGiacomo, Jody C; Manuelyan, Zara; Afram, Renee; Shukry, Sally; Kang, Amiee Luan; Munnangi, Swapna; Angus, L D George

2017-09-19

Increased life expectancy has resulted in more older patients at trauma centers. Traditional assessments of injuries alone may not be sufficient; age, comorbidities, and medications should be considered. 446 older trauma patients were analyzed in two groups, 45-65 years and <65, using Injury Severity Score (ISS), the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and Comorbidity-Polypharmacy Score (CPS). CCI and CPS were associated with HLOS in patients <65. In patients aged 45-65, only CPS was associated with HLOS. CPS was inversely associated with in-hospital mortality in patients <65, but not patients aged 45-65. CCI score was not associated with in-hospital mortality in either group. Increased CCI and CPS were associated with increased HLOS. In patients over 65, increased CPS was associated with decreased mortality. This could be due to return toward physiologic normalcy in treated patients not seen in their peers with undiagnosed or untreated comorbidities. TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY: In an analysis of 446 older trauma patients, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and Comorbidity-Polypharmacy Score (CPS) were associated with increased hospital length of stay. In patients ≥65, increased CPS had a lower mortality, possibly due to a greater return toward physiologic normalcy not present in their untreated peers. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Pairwise conjoint analysis of activity engagement choice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Donggen; Oppewal, H.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2000-01-01

Information overload is a well-known problem of conjoint choice models when respondents have to evaluate a large number of attributes and/or attribute levels. In this paper we develop an alternative conjoint modelling approach, called pairwise conjoint analysis. It differs from conventional conjoint

Comparison between the Reflux Finding Score and the Reflux Symptom Index in the Practice of Otorhinolaryngology.

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, Heloisa Sobreira; Pinto, José Antonio; Zavanela, Adma Roberta; Cavallini, André Freitas; Freitas, Gabriel Santos; Garcia, Fabiola Esteves

2016-07-01

The Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease has a prevalence of ∼12% of the urban population in Brazil. Koufman proposed the term to designate Laryngeal Pharyngeal Reflux (LPR) symptoms, signs or tissue damage resulting from aggression of the gastrointestinal contents in the upper aerodigestive tract. Belafsky et al proposed a score that points to inflammatory laryngeal signs through videolaryngoscopic findings, the Reflux Finding Score (RFS). Moreover, in 2002, they published the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI). The objective of this study is to provide a comparison between the Reflux Finding Score and the Reflux Symptom Index in the practice of Otorhinolaryngology. Our study involved a total of 135 patients who visited the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) clinic Núcleo de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeça e Pescoço de São Paulo between April 2014 and May 2015 with suspected LPR. We excluded nine patients and the study group was 126 patients. All patients were ranked by their RSI and RFS scores. The study group consisted of 126 patients (88 women and 38 men). Their main complaints were cough (40.4%), globus (21.4%), dysphonia (19.8%), throat clearing (15.8%), postnasal drip (3.17%), snoring (1.5%), dysphagia (1.5%), cacosmia (0.7%), and regurgitation (1.5%). The RSI ranges from 13 to 42 with a mean of 20.7 (SD = 6.67). The RFS ranged from 3 to 19 with a mean of 9.53 (SD = 2.64). The RSI and RFS can easily be included in ENT routines as objective parameters, with low cost and high practicality. Based on the clinical index, the specialist can evaluate the need for further tests.

PAIRWISE BLENDING OF HIGH LEVEL WASTE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

CERTA, P.J.

2006-01-01

The primary objective of this study is to demonstrate a mission scenario that uses pairwise and incidental blending of high level waste (HLW) to reduce the total mass of HLW glass. Secondary objectives include understanding how recent refinements to the tank waste inventory and solubility assumptions affect the mass of HLW glass and how logistical constraints may affect the efficacy of HLW blending

Unjamming in models with analytic pairwise potentials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kooij, S.; Lerner, E.

Canonical models for studying the unjamming scenario in systems of soft repulsive particles assume pairwise potentials with a sharp cutoff in the interaction range. The sharp cutoff renders the potential nonanalytic but makes it possible to describe many properties of the solid in terms of the

A Comparative Study of Pairwise Learning Methods Based on Kernel Ridge Regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Stock, Michiel; Pahikkala, Tapio; Airola, Antti; De Baets, Bernard; Waegeman, Willem

2018-06-12

Many machine learning problems can be formulated as predicting labels for a pair of objects. Problems of that kind are often referred to as pairwise learning, dyadic prediction, or network inference problems. During the past decade, kernel methods have played a dominant role in pairwise learning. They still obtain a state-of-the-art predictive performance, but a theoretical analysis of their behavior has been underexplored in the machine learning literature. In this work we review and unify kernel-based algorithms that are commonly used in different pairwise learning settings, ranging from matrix filtering to zero-shot learning. To this end, we focus on closed-form efficient instantiations of Kronecker kernel ridge regression. We show that independent task kernel ridge regression, two-step kernel ridge regression, and a linear matrix filter arise naturally as a special case of Kronecker kernel ridge regression, implying that all these methods implicitly minimize a squared loss. In addition, we analyze universality, consistency, and spectral filtering properties. Our theoretical results provide valuable insights into assessing the advantages and limitations of existing pairwise learning methods.

Power and sample-size estimation for microbiome studies using pairwise distances and PERMANOVA.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Brendan J; Gross, Robert; Bittinger, Kyle; Sherrill-Mix, Scott; Lewis, James D; Collman, Ronald G; Bushman, Frederic D; Li, Hongzhe

2015-08-01

The variation in community composition between microbiome samples, termed beta diversity, can be measured by pairwise distance based on either presence-absence or quantitative species abundance data. PERMANOVA, a permutation-based extension of multivariate analysis of variance to a matrix of pairwise distances, partitions within-group and between-group distances to permit assessment of the effect of an exposure or intervention (grouping factor) upon the sampled microbiome. Within-group distance and exposure/intervention effect size must be accurately modeled to estimate statistical power for a microbiome study that will be analyzed with pairwise distances and PERMANOVA. We present a framework for PERMANOVA power estimation tailored to marker-gene microbiome studies that will be analyzed by pairwise distances, which includes: (i) a novel method for distance matrix simulation that permits modeling of within-group pairwise distances according to pre-specified population parameters; (ii) a method to incorporate effects of different sizes within the simulated distance matrix; (iii) a simulation-based method for estimating PERMANOVA power from simulated distance matrices; and (iv) an R statistical software package that implements the above. Matrices of pairwise distances can be efficiently simulated to satisfy the triangle inequality and incorporate group-level effects, which are quantified by the adjusted coefficient of determination, omega-squared (ω2). From simulated distance matrices, available PERMANOVA power or necessary sample size can be estimated for a planned microbiome study. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The HOSPITAL score and LACE index as predictors of 30 day readmission in a retrospective study at a university-affiliated community hospital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Robinson

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction Hospital readmissions are common, expensive, and a key target of the Medicare Value Based Purchasing (VBP program. Validated risk assessment tools such as the HOSPITAL score and LACE index have been developed to identify patients at high risk of hospital readmission so they can be targeted for interventions aimed at reducing the rate of readmission. This study aims to evaluate the utility of HOSPITAL score and LACE index for predicting hospital readmission within 30 days in a moderate-sized university affiliated hospital in the midwestern United States. Materials and Methods All adult medical patients who underwent one or more ICD-10 defined procedures discharged from the SIU-SOM Hospitalist service from Memorial Medical Center (MMC from October 15, 2015 to March 16, 2016, were studied retrospectively to determine if the HOSPITAL score and LACE index were a significant predictors of hospital readmission within 30 days. Results During the study period, 463 discharges were recorded for the hospitalist service. The analysis includes data for the 432 discharges. Patients who died during the hospital stay, were transferred to another hospital, or left against medical advice were excluded. Of these patients, 35 (8% were readmitted to the same hospital within 30 days. A receiver operating characteristic evaluation of the HOSPITAL score for this patient population shows a C statistic of 0.75 (95% CI [0.67–0.83], indicating good discrimination for hospital readmission. The Brier score for the HOSPITAL score in this setting was 0.069, indicating good overall performance. The Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness of fit test shows a χ2 value of 3.71 with a p value of 0.59. A receiver operating characteristic evaluation of the LACE index for this patient population shows a C statistic of 0.58 (95% CI [0.48–0.68], indicating poor discrimination for hospital readmission. The Brier score for the LACE index in this setting was 0.082, indicating good

Choosing the best index for the average score intraclass correlation coefficient.

Science.gov (United States)

Shieh, Gwowen

2016-09-01

The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)(2) index from a one-way random effects model is widely used to describe the reliability of mean ratings in behavioral, educational, and psychological research. Despite its apparent utility, the essential property of ICC(2) as a point estimator of the average score intraclass correlation coefficient is seldom mentioned. This article considers several potential measures and compares their performance with ICC(2). Analytical derivations and numerical examinations are presented to assess the bias and mean square error of the alternative estimators. The results suggest that more advantageous indices can be recommended over ICC(2) for their theoretical implication and computational ease.

The effects of acupoint-catgut embedment combined with medical treatment on the BODE index scores of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients

Science.gov (United States)

Giri, P. B. S. W.; Srilestari, A.; Abdurrohim, K.; Yunus, F.

2017-08-01

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is now the fourth leading cause of death in the world. As COPD medications are associated with high mortality levels, continuous research into the improvement of treatment modalities is being conducted. This study aimed to identify the effects of acupoint-catgut embedment combined with medical treatment on the Body mass index, airflow Obstruction, Dyspnea and Exercise capacity (BODE) index scores of COPD patients. A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted on 48 patients; participants were allocated into either the acupoint-catgut embedment with medication group (case group) or the sham acupuncture with medication group (control group). Acupoint-catgut embedment was conducted at the BL13 Feishu, BL43 Gaohuangshu, BL20 Pishu, BL23 Shenshu, and ST40 Fenglong points two times at an interval of 15 days. The BODE index, a primary outcome indicator, was assessed on Day 1 and Day 30. The results showed statistically and clinically significant differences between the two groups—in fact, BODE index scores were reduced by 1.83 points in the case group (p = 0.000). Ultimately, BODE index scores were lower in the intervention group than in the control group, thus indicating a statistically significant and clinically important improvement of COPD-related symptoms. According to these results, acupoint-catgut embedment combined with medical treatment is concluded to be more effective than medical treatment alone in reducing BODE index scores.

Pairwise Comparison and Distance Measure of Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Term Sets

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Han-Chen Huang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS, allowing experts using several possible linguistic terms to assess a qualitative linguistic variable, is very useful to express people’s hesitancy in practical decision-making problems. Up to now, a little research has been done on the comparison and distance measure of HFLTSs. In this paper, we present a comparison method for HFLTSs based on pairwise comparisons of each linguistic term in the two HFLTSs. Then, a distance measure method based on the pairwise comparison matrix of HFLTSs is proposed, and we prove that this distance is equal to the distance of the average values of HFLTSs, which makes the distance measure much more simple. Finally, the pairwise comparison and distance measure methods are utilized to develop two multicriteria decision-making approaches under hesitant fuzzy linguistic environments. The results analysis shows that our methods in this paper are more reasonable.

Association between socio-economic status and childhood undernutrition in Bangladesh; a comparison of possession score and poverty index.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohsena, Masuda; Mascie-Taylor, C G Nicholas; Goto, Rie

2010-10-01

To determine how much of the variation in nutritional status of Bangladeshi children under 5 years old can be attributed to the socio-economic status of the family. Nutritional status used reference Z-scores of weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ) and weight-for-height (WHZ). A 'possession score' was generated based on ownership of a radio, television, bicycle, motorcycle and telephone, and the availability of electricity, with categories of 0 to 4+ possessions. A five-point (quintile) 'poverty index' was created using principal component analysis. The Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2004 was the source of data. A sample of 4891 children aged <5 years was obtained. Some 57.8 % of the sample was either stunted, wasted or underweight (7.7 % were stunted, wasted and underweight). Of those stunted (48.4 %), 25.7 % were also underweight. Underweight and wasting prevalences were 40.7 % and 14.3 %, respectively. Mean WAZ, HAZ and WHZ did not differ by sex. Children of mothers with no education or no possessions were, on average, about 1 sd more underweight and stunted than those with higher educated mothers or with 4+ possessions. The possession score provided much greater discrimination of undernutrition than the poverty index. Nearly 50 % of children from households with no possessions were stunted, wasted or underweight (only 27 % in the poorest quintile), compared with only 3-6 % of children from households with 4+ possessions (over 13 % in the richest quintile). Maternal education and possession score were the main predictors of a child's nutritional status. Possession score was a much better indicator of undernutrition than the poverty index.

Nailfold capillaroscopy for day-to-day clinical use: construction of a simple scoring modality as a clinical prognostic index for digital trophic lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Vanessa; De Keyser, Filip; Pizzorni, Carmen; Van Praet, Jens T; Decuman, Saskia; Sulli, Alberto; Deschepper, Ellen; Cutolo, Maurizio

2011-01-01

Construction of a simple nailfold videocapillaroscopic (NVC) scoring modality as a prognostic index for digital trophic lesions for day-to-day clinical use. An association with a single simple (semi)-quantitatively scored NVC parameter, mean score of capillary loss, was explored in 71 consecutive patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), and reliable reduction in the number of investigated fields (F32-F16-F8-F4). The cut-off value of the prognostic index (mean score of capillary loss calculated over a reduced number of fields) for present/future digital trophic lesions was selected by receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis. Reduction in the number of fields for mean score of capillary loss was reliable from F32 to F8 (intraclass correlation coefficient of F16/F32: 0.97; F8/F32: 0.90). Based on ROC analysis, a prognostic index (mean score of capillary loss as calculated over F8) with a cut-off value of 1.67 is proposed. This value has a sensitivity of 72.22/70.00, specificity of 70.59/69.77, positive likelihood ratio of 2.46/2.32 and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.39/0.43 for present/future digital trophic lesions. A simple prognostic index for digital trophic lesions for daily use in SSc clinics is proposed, limited to the mean score of capillary loss as calculated over eight fields (8 fingers, 1 field per finger).

The modified respiratory index score (RIS) guides resource allocation in acute bronchiolitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chong, Shu-Ling; Teoh, Oon Hoe; Nadkarni, Nivedita; Yeo, Joo Guan; Lwin, Zaw; Ong, Yong-Kwang Gene; Lee, Jan Hau

2017-07-01

Bronchiolitis is a common disease in early childhood with increasing healthcare utilization. We aim to study how well a simple and improved respiratory score (the modified Respiratory Index Score [RIS]) would perform when predicting for a warranted admission. This is an observational prospective study, from June 2015 to December 2015 in a paediatric emergency department (ED) of a large tertiary hospital in Singapore. We included children aged less than 2 years old, presenting with typical symptoms and signs of bronchiolitis but excluded children with four or more previous wheezes, a gestation of hydration, and a hospital stay of 2 days or more. Among 1,818 patients, the median age was 10.8 months (IQR 7.2-15.9). The median modified RIS score was 4.0 (IQR 3.0-5.0). A total of 19 (1.0%) children required respiratory support, 101 (5.6%) received intravenous hydration, and 571 (31.4%) required a hospital stay of 2 days or more. After adjusting for age and duration of illness, a modified RIS score of >4 predicted significantly for a warranted admission (adjusted Odds Ratio: 3.28, 95% confidence interval: 2.62-4.12). The association remained significant among children presenting with their first wheeze. This simple respiratory tool predicts for the need for respiratory support, intravenous hydration, and a significant hospital stay of 2 days or more. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017; 52:954-961. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Pairwise Trajectory Management (PTM): Concept Overview

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Jones, Kenneth M.; Graff, Thomas J.; Chartrand, Ryan C.; Carreno, Victor; Kibler, Jennifer L.

2017-01-01

Pairwise Trajectory Management (PTM) is an Interval Management (IM) concept that utilizes airborne and ground-based capabilities to enable the implementation of airborne pairwise spacing capabilities in oceanic regions. The goal of PTM is to use airborne surveillance and tools to manage an "at or greater than" inter-aircraft spacing. Due to the precision of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) information and the use of airborne spacing guidance, the PTM minimum spacing distance will be less than distances a controller can support with current automation systems that support oceanic operations. Ground tools assist the controller in evaluating the traffic picture and determining appropriate PTM clearances to be issued. Avionics systems provide guidance information that allows the flight crew to conform to the PTM clearance issued by the controller. The combination of a reduced minimum distance and airborne spacing management will increase the capacity and efficiency of aircraft operations at a given altitude or volume of airspace. This paper provides an overview of the proposed application, description of a few key scenarios, high level discussion of expected air and ground equipment and procedure changes, overview of a potential flight crew human-machine interface that would support PTM operations and some initial PTM benefits results.

Fast and accurate estimation of the covariance between pairwise maximum likelihood distances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Gil

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Pairwise evolutionary distances are a model-based summary statistic for a set of molecular sequences. They represent the leaf-to-leaf path lengths of the underlying phylogenetic tree. Estimates of pairwise distances with overlapping paths covary because of shared mutation events. It is desirable to take these covariance structure into account to increase precision in any process that compares or combines distances. This paper introduces a fast estimator for the covariance of two pairwise maximum likelihood distances, estimated under general Markov models. The estimator is based on a conjecture (going back to Nei & Jin, 1989 which links the covariance to path lengths. It is proven here under a simple symmetric substitution model. A simulation shows that the estimator outperforms previously published ones in terms of the mean squared error.

Fast and accurate estimation of the covariance between pairwise maximum likelihood distances.

Science.gov (United States)

Gil, Manuel

2014-01-01

Pairwise evolutionary distances are a model-based summary statistic for a set of molecular sequences. They represent the leaf-to-leaf path lengths of the underlying phylogenetic tree. Estimates of pairwise distances with overlapping paths covary because of shared mutation events. It is desirable to take these covariance structure into account to increase precision in any process that compares or combines distances. This paper introduces a fast estimator for the covariance of two pairwise maximum likelihood distances, estimated under general Markov models. The estimator is based on a conjecture (going back to Nei & Jin, 1989) which links the covariance to path lengths. It is proven here under a simple symmetric substitution model. A simulation shows that the estimator outperforms previously published ones in terms of the mean squared error.

Pair-Wise Trajectory Management-Oceanic (PTM-O) . [Concept of Operations—Version 3.9

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Kenneth M.

2014-01-01

This document describes the Pair-wise Trajectory Management-Oceanic (PTM-O) Concept of Operations (ConOps). Pair-wise Trajectory Management (PTM) is a concept that includes airborne and ground-based capabilities designed to enable and to benefit from, airborne pair-wise distance-monitoring capability. PTM includes the capabilities needed for the controller to issue a PTM clearance that resolves a conflict for a specific pair of aircraft. PTM avionics include the capabilities needed for the flight crew to manage their trajectory relative to specific designated aircraft. Pair-wise Trajectory Management PTM-Oceanic (PTM-O) is a regional specific application of the PTM concept. PTM is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Concept and Technology Development Project (part of NASA's Airspace Systems Program). The goal of PTM is to use enhanced and distributed communications and surveillance along with airborne tools to permit reduced separation standards for given aircraft pairs, thereby increasing the capacity and efficiency of aircraft operations at a given altitude or volume of airspace.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children 4th edition-Chinese version index scores in Taiwanese children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Pinchen; Cheng, Chung-Ping; Chang, Chen-Lin; Liu, Tai-Ling; Hsu, Hsiu-Yi; Yen, Cheng-Fang

2013-02-01

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children 4th edition-Chinese version (WISC-IV-Chinese) has been in clinical use in Taiwan since 2007. Research is needed to determine how the WISC-IV, modified from its earlier version, will affect its interpretation in clinical practice in a Mandarin-speaking context. We attempted to use WISC-IV-Chinese scores to identify the cognitive strengths and weaknesses in 334 Taiwanese children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Comparison of cognitive profiles of WISC-IV-Chinese scores between subtypes of ADHD was also performed. The results indicated that the four-factor model of the WISC-IV-Chinese fitted well for Taiwanese children with ADHD. The profiles showed that performance in the index score of the Processing Speed Index was the weakness domain for the Taiwanese children with ADHD, as confirmed by two different kinds of analytic methods. Cognitive profile analysis of ADHD subtypes revealed children with inattentive subtypes to have a greater weakness in processing speed performance. The implications of the profiles of the index scores on the WISC-IV-Chinese version for Taiwanese children with ADHD were explored. © 2013 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2013 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

CORRELATION OF MOBILE PHONE ADDICTION SCALE (MPAS) SCORE WITH CRANIOVERTEBRAL ANGLE, SCAPULAR INDEX AND BECKS DEPRESSION INVENTORY SCORE IN YOUNG ADULTS

OpenAIRE

Rupali Salvi; Sneha Battin

2018-01-01

Background: Mobile phone usage has become increasingly common in today’s youth. Its heavy use often leads to an addiction. Dependency on these devices could lead to postural dysfunctions as well as produce an adverse effect on psychology. Hence, this study is done to correlate mobile addiction with the craniovertebral angle, scapular index and Beck’s depression inventory score in young adults. Methods: An observational study was performed on 100 subjects out of which 51 were males and 49 w...

Robust Subjective Visual Property Prediction from Crowdsourced Pairwise Labels.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Yanwei; Hospedales, Timothy M; Xiang, Tao; Xiong, Jiechao; Gong, Shaogang; Wang, Yizhou; Yao, Yuan

2016-03-01

The problem of estimating subjective visual properties from image and video has attracted increasing interest. A subjective visual property is useful either on its own (e.g. image and video interestingness) or as an intermediate representation for visual recognition (e.g. a relative attribute). Due to its ambiguous nature, annotating the value of a subjective visual property for learning a prediction model is challenging. To make the annotation more reliable, recent studies employ crowdsourcing tools to collect pairwise comparison labels. However, using crowdsourced data also introduces outliers. Existing methods rely on majority voting to prune the annotation outliers/errors. They thus require a large amount of pairwise labels to be collected. More importantly as a local outlier detection method, majority voting is ineffective in identifying outliers that can cause global ranking inconsistencies. In this paper, we propose a more principled way to identify annotation outliers by formulating the subjective visual property prediction task as a unified robust learning to rank problem, tackling both the outlier detection and learning to rank jointly. This differs from existing methods in that (1) the proposed method integrates local pairwise comparison labels together to minimise a cost that corresponds to global inconsistency of ranking order, and (2) the outlier detection and learning to rank problems are solved jointly. This not only leads to better detection of annotation outliers but also enables learning with extremely sparse annotations.

Theory of pairwise lesion interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harder, Dietrich; Virsik-Peuckert, Patricia; Bartels, Ernst

1992-01-01

A comparison between repair time constants measured both at the molecular and cellular levels has shown that the DNA double strand break is the molecular change of key importance in the causation of cellular effects such as chromosome aberrations and cell inactivation. Cell fusion experiments provided the evidence that it needs the pairwise interaction between two double strand breaks - or more exactly between the two ''repair sites'' arising from them in the course of enzymatic repair - to provide the faulty chromatin crosslink which leads to cytogenetic and cytolethal effects. These modern experiments have confirmed the classical assumption of pairwise lesion interaction (PLI) on which the models of Lea and Neary were based. It seems worthwhile to continue and complete the mathematical treatment of their proposed mechanism in order to show in quantitative terms that the well-known fractionation, protraction and linear energy transfer (LET) irradiation effects are consequences of or can at least be partly attributed to PLI. Arithmetic treatment of PLI - a second order reaction - has also the advantage of providing a prerequisite for further investigations into the stages of development of misrepair products such as chromatin crosslinks. It has been possible to formulate a completely arithmetic theory of PLI by consequently applying three biophysically permitted approximations - pure first order lesion repair kinetics, dose-independent repair time constants and low yield of the ionization/lesion conversion. The mathematical approach will be summarized here, including several formulae not elaborated at the time of previous publications. We will also study an application which sheds light on the chain of events involved in PLI. (author)

Montreal Cognitive Assessment Memory Index Score (MoCA-MIS) as a predictor of conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Julayanont, Parunyou; Brousseau, Mélanie; Chertkow, Howard; Phillips, Natalie; Nasreddine, Ziad S

2014-04-01

To assess the usefulness of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) total score (MoCA-TS) and Memory Index Score (MoCA-MIS) in predicting conversion to Alzheimer's disease (AD) in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Retrospective chart review. Community-based memory clinic. Individuals meeting Petersen's MCI criteria (N = 165). Baseline MoCA scores at MCI diagnosis were collected from charts of eligible individuals with MCI, and MoCA-TS, MoCA-MIS, and a cognitive domain index score were calculated to assess their prognostic value in predicting conversion to AD. One hundred fourteen participants progressed to AD (MCI-AD), and 51 did not (nonconverters; MCI-NC); 90.5% of participants with MCI with a MoCA-TS less than 20/30 and a MoCA-MIS less than 7/15 at baseline converted to AD within the average follow-up period of 18 months, compared with 52.7% of participants with MCI above the cutoffs on both scores. Individuals with multiple-domain amnestic MCI had the highest AD conversion rates (73.9%). Identifying individuals with MCI at high risk of conversion to AD is important clinically and for selecting appropriate subjects for therapeutic trials. Individuals with MCI with a low MoCA-TS and a low newly devised memory index score (MoCA-MIS) are at greater risk of short-term conversion to AD. © 2014, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2014, The American Geriatrics Society.

A decomposition of pairwise continuity via ideals

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Mahes Wari

2016-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce and study the notions of (i, j - regular - ℐ -closed sets, (i, j - Aℐ -sets, (i, j - ℐ -locally closed sets, p- Aℐ -continuous functions and p- ℐ -LC-continuous functions in ideal bitopological spaces and investigate some of their properties. Also, a new decomposition of pairwise continuity is obtained using these sets.

Pairwise local structural alignment of RNA sequences with sequence similarity less than 40%

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Havgaard, Jakob Hull; Lyngsø, Rune B.; Stormo, Gary D.

2005-01-01

detect two genes with low sequence similarity, where the genes are part of a larger genomic region. Results: Here we present such an approach for pairwise local alignment which is based on FILDALIGN and the Sankoff algorithm for simultaneous structural alignment of multiple sequences. We include...... the ability to conduct mutual scans of two sequences of arbitrary length while searching for common local structural motifs of some maximum length. This drastically reduces the complexity of the algorithm. The scoring scheme includes structural parameters corresponding to those available for free energy....... The structure prediction performance for a family is typically around 0.7 using Matthews correlation coefficient. In case (2), the algorithm is successful at locating RNA families with an average sensitivity of 0.8 and a positive predictive value of 0.9 using a BLAST-like hit selection scheme. Availability...

Pulmonary edema predictive scoring index (PEPSI), a new index to predict risk of reperfusion pulmonary edema and improvement of hemodynamics in percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Inami, Takumi; Kataoka, Masaharu; Shimura, Nobuhiko; Ishiguro, Haruhisa; Yanagisawa, Ryoji; Taguchi, Hiroki; Fukuda, Keiichi; Yoshino, Hideaki; Satoh, Toru

2013-07-01

This study sought to identify useful predictors for hemodynamic improvement and risk of reperfusion pulmonary edema (RPE), a major complication of this procedure. Percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty (PTPA) has been reported to be effective for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). PTPA has not been widespread because RPE has not been well predicted. We included 140 consecutive procedures in 54 patients with CTEPH. The flow appearance of the target vessels was graded into 4 groups (Pulmonary Flow Grade), and we proposed PEPSI (Pulmonary Edema Predictive Scoring Index) = (sum total change of Pulmonary Flow Grade scores) × (baseline pulmonary vascular resistance). Correlations between occurrence of RPE and 11 variables, including hemodynamic parameters, number of target vessels, and PEPSI, were analyzed. Hemodynamic parameters significantly improved after median observation period of 6.4 months, and the sum total changes in Pulmonary Flow Grade scores were significantly correlated with the improvement in hemodynamics. Multivariate analysis revealed that PEPSI was the strongest factor correlated with the occurrence of RPE (p PEPSI to be a useful marker of the risk of RPE (cutoff value 35.4, negative predictive value 92.3%). Pulmonary Flow Grade score is useful in determining therapeutic efficacy, and PEPSI is highly supportive to reduce the risk of RPE after PTPA. Using these 2 indexes, PTPA could become a safe and common therapeutic strategy for CTEPH. Copyright © 2013 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pairwise structure alignment specifically tuned for surface pockets and interaction interfaces

KAUST Repository

Cui, Xuefeng

2015-09-09

To detect and evaluate the similarities between the three-dimensional (3D) structures of two molecules, various kinds of methods have been proposed for the pairwise structure alignment problem [6, 9, 7, 11]. The problem plays important roles when studying the function and the evolution of biological molecules. Recently, pairwise structure alignment methods have been extended and applied on surface pocket structures [10, 3, 5] and interaction interface structures [8, 4]. The results show that, even when there are no global similarities discovered between the global sequences and the global structures, biological molecules or complexes could share similar functions because of well conserved pockets and interfaces. Thus, pairwise pocket and interface structure alignments are promising to unveil such shared functions that cannot be discovered by the well-studied global sequence and global structure alignments. State-of-the-art methods for pairwise pocket and interface structure alignments [4, 5] are direct extensions of the classic pairwise protein structure alignment methods, and thus such methods share a few limitations. First, the goal of the classic protein structure alignment methods is to align single-chain protein structures (i.e., a single fragment of residues connected by peptide bonds). However, we observed that pockets and interfaces tend to consist of tens of extremely short backbone fragments (i.e., three or fewer residues connected by peptide bonds). Thus, existing pocket and interface alignment methods based on the protein structure alignment methods still rely on the existence of long-enough backbone fragments, and the fragmentation issue of pockets and interfaces rises the risk of missing the optimal alignments. Moreover, existing interface structure alignment methods focus on protein-protein interfaces, and require a "blackbox preprocessing" before aligning protein-DNA and protein-RNA interfaces. Therefore, we introduce the PROtein STucture Alignment

The normative score and the cut-off value of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).

Science.gov (United States)

Tonosu, Juichi; Takeshita, Katsushi; Hara, Nobuhiro; Matsudaira, Ko; Kato, So; Masuda, Kazuhiro; Chikuda, Hirotaka

2012-08-01

The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) is one of the most common scoring systems used for patients with low back pain (LBP). Although the normative score of the ODI was reported to be 10.19 in a review article, no study has calculated the normative score after adjusting the value based on the age distribution. In addition, none of the previous studies has estimated the cut-off value which separates LBP with disability from LBP without disability. The purpose of this study was to estimate the normative score by adjusting the data for age distribution in Japan, and to determine the cut-off value which separates LBP with disability from LBP without disability. We conducted an internet survey on LBP using the Japanese version of the ODQ. A total of 1,200 respondents, composed of 100 males and 100 females in each age group (from the 20s to 70s), participated in this study. We also asked them to provide information about their backgrounds. We estimated the normative score after correcting for the age distribution of Japan. We also estimated the ODI of those with or without disability, the factors associated with the ODI, and the cut-off value which separates LBP with disability from LBP without disability. The participants' backgrounds were similar to the national survey. The normative score of the ODI was estimated at 8.73. The ODI of the LBP with disability group was 22.07. Those with sciatica and obese subjects showed higher ODI than those without. The optimal cut-off value was estimated to be 12. We defined the normative score and the cut-off value of the ODI.

An analysis of reliability and validity of the papilla index score of implant-supported single crowns of maxillary central incisors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peng, Min; Fei, Wei; Hosseini, Mandana

2012-01-01

Objectives: To test the reliability and validity of the papilla index scores of the implant-supported single crowns (ISSCs) of maxillary central incisors. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five patients with 25 ISSCs were included. Two prosthodontists evaluated the papilla index score (PIS) of three...... inter-observer agreement. The PIS score demonstrated significant correlation to the corresponding PP value (rs=.567, p=.000). Conclusions: The feasibility, reliability and validity of the PIS made the parameter useful for quality control of the pri-implant soft tissue of ISSCs....... fill percent (PP) was calculated. The validity of PIS was tested against the corresponding papilla fill percent (PP) by using the Spearman correlation analysis. Results: The intra-observer agreement was >70% in 4/5 and >50% in all observations, the pooled Cohen’s ¿ was 0.64 and 0.70 for two observers...

Power and sample-size estimation for microbiome studies using pairwise distances and PERMANOVA

OpenAIRE

Kelly, Brendan J.; Gross, Robert; Bittinger, Kyle; Sherrill-Mix, Scott; Lewis, James D.; Collman, Ronald G.; Bushman, Frederic D.; Li, Hongzhe

2015-01-01

Motivation: The variation in community composition between microbiome samples, termed beta diversity, can be measured by pairwise distance based on either presence–absence or quantitative species abundance data. PERMANOVA, a permutation-based extension of multivariate analysis of variance to a matrix of pairwise distances, partitions within-group and between-group distances to permit assessment of the effect of an exposure or intervention (grouping factor) upon the sampled microbiome. Within-...

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.

Pairwise Trajectory Management (PTM): Concept Description and Documentation

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Kenneth M.; Graff, Thomas J.; Carreno, Victor; Chartrand, Ryan C.; Kibler, Jennifer L.

2018-01-01

Pairwise Trajectory Management (PTM) is an Interval Management (IM) concept that utilizes airborne and ground-based capabilities to enable the implementation of airborne pairwise spacing capabilities in oceanic regions. The goal of PTM is to use airborne surveillance and tools to manage an "at or greater than" inter-aircraft spacing. Due to the accuracy of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) information and the use of airborne spacing guidance, the minimum PTM spacing distance will be less than distances a controller can support with current automation systems that support oceanic operations. Ground tools assist the controller in evaluating the traffic picture and determining appropriate PTM clearances to be issued. Avionics systems provide guidance information that allows the flight crew to conform to the PTM clearance issued by the controller. The combination of a reduced minimum distance and airborne spacing management will increase the capacity and efficiency of aircraft operations at a given altitude or volume of airspace. This document provides an overview of the proposed application, a description of several key scenarios, a high level discussion of expected air and ground equipment and procedure changes, a description of a NASA human-machine interface (HMI) prototype for the flight crew that would support PTM operations, and initial benefits analysis results. Additionally, included as appendices, are the following documents: the PTM Operational Services and Environment Definition (OSED) document and a companion "Future Considerations for the Pairwise Trajectory Management (PTM) Concept: Potential Future Updates for the PTM OSED" paper, a detailed description of the PTM algorithm and PTM Limit Mach rules, initial PTM safety requirements and safety assessment documents, a detailed description of the design, development, and initial evaluations of the proposed flight crew HMI, an overview of the methodology and results of PTM pilot training

Rationalization of outcome scores for low back pain: the Oswestry disability index and the low back outcome score.

Science.gov (United States)

Eranki, Vivek; Koul, Kongposh; Fagan, Andrew

2013-11-01

The two commonly used questionnaires to assess low back pain are the low back outcome score (LBOS) and the Oswestry disability index (ODI). This study aims to identify unique questions and remove redundant questions to develop a composite questionnaire. Eighty-seven consecutive patients attending the practice of a single spinal surgeon completed both the ODI and the LBOS as part of their initial assessment. Both questionnaires were analysed to eliminate questions that exhibit floor-ceiling bias and questions that are interdependent and correlate strongly. Total scores and the scores obtained for each question were then compared (Spearman's rho). A principal axis factor analysis using a varimax rotation was performed to reduce data and identify questions that were interdependent. Using these data, a composite questionnaire was proposed that would minimize overlap in clinical data. Eighty-seven patients completed the LBOS and ODI. The mean age is 54, with a range between 18 and 80. The male to female ratio was 50:37. By eliminating questions that contain biases and overlap in clinical data, the composite questionnaire contains 11 questions. From LBOS; housework, dressing, sleeping, sitting, walking and travelling. From the ODI; pain, standing, social life and lifting. Analysis of the questionnaires identified eight questions that were similar in both questionnaires. Two questions were included that were unique to each questionnaire. The proposed composite questionnaire is of similar size as the original questionnaires and retains questions that are unique to each other while eliminating questions that are redundant and exhibit bias. © 2013 The Authors. ANZ Journal of Surgery © 2013 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Measuring health-related quality of life in population-based studies of coronary heart disease: comparing six generic indexes and a disease-specific proxy score.

Science.gov (United States)

Garster, Noelle C; Palta, Mari; Sweitzer, Nancy K; Kaplan, Robert M; Fryback, Dennis G

2009-11-01

To compare HRQoL differences with CHD in generic indexes and a proxy CVD-specific score in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. The National Health Measurement Study, a cross-sectional random-digit-dialed telephone survey of adults aged 35-89, administered the EQ-5D, QWB-SA, HUI2, HUI3, SF-36v2 (yielding PCS, MCS, and SF-6D), and HALex. Analyses compared 3,350 without CHD (group 1), 265 with CHD not taking chest pain medication (group 2), and 218 with CHD currently taking chest pain medication (group 3), with and without adjustment for demographic variables and comorbidities. Data on 154 patients from heart failure clinics were used to construct a proxy score utilizing generic items probing CVD symptoms. Mean scores differed between CHD groups for all indexes with and without adjustment (P < 0.0001 for all except MCS P = 0.018). Unadjusted group 3 versus 1 differences were about three times larger than for group 2 versus 1. Standardized differences for the proxy score were similar to those for generic indexes, and were about 1.0 for all except MCS for group 3 versus 1. Generic indexes capture differences in HRQoL in population-based studies of CHD similarly to a score constructed from questions probing CVD-specific symptoms.

The Chemistry Scoring Index (CSI: A Hazard-Based Scoring and Ranking Tool for Chemicals and Products Used in the Oil and Gas Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim Verslycke

2014-06-01

Full Text Available A large portfolio of chemicals and products is needed to meet the wide range of performance requirements of the oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry is under increased scrutiny from regulators, environmental groups, the public, and other stakeholders for use of their chemicals. In response, industry is increasingly incorporating “greener” products and practices but is struggling to define and quantify what exactly constitutes “green” in the absence of a universally accepted definition. We recently developed the Chemistry Scoring Index (CSI which is ultimately intended to be a globally implementable tool that comprehensively scores and ranks hazards to human health, safety, and the environment for products used in oil and gas operations. CSI scores are assigned to products designed for the same use (e.g., surfactants, catalysts on the basis of product composition as well as intrinsic hazard properties and data availability for each product component. As such, products with a lower CSI score within a product use group are considered to have a lower intrinsic hazard compared to other products within the same use group. The CSI provides a powerful tool to evaluate relative product hazards; to review and assess product portfolios; and to aid in the formulation of products.

Revision of Begomovirus taxonomy based on pairwise sequence comparisons

KAUST Repository

Brown, Judith K.; Zerbini, F. Murilo; Navas-Castillo, Jesú s; Moriones, Enrique; Ramos-Sobrinho, Roberto; Silva, José C. F.; Fiallo-Olivé , Elvira; Briddon, Rob W.; Herná ndez-Zepeda, Cecilia; Idris, Ali; Malathi, V. G.; Martin, Darren P.; Rivera-Bustamante, Rafael; Ueda, Shigenori; Varsani, Arvind

2015-01-01

Viruses of the genus Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae) are emergent pathogens of crops throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. By virtue of having a small DNA genome that is easily cloned, and due to the recent innovations in cloning and low-cost sequencing, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of available begomovirus genome sequences. Even so, most of the available sequences have been obtained from cultivated plants and are likely a small and phylogenetically unrepresentative sample of begomovirus diversity, a factor constraining taxonomic decisions such as the establishment of operationally useful species demarcation criteria. In addition, problems in assigning new viruses to established species have highlighted shortcomings in the previously recommended mechanism of species demarcation. Based on the analysis of 3,123 full-length begomovirus genome (or DNA-A component) sequences available in public databases as of December 2012, a set of revised guidelines for the classification and nomenclature of begomoviruses are proposed. The guidelines primarily consider a) genus-level biological characteristics and b) results obtained using a standardized classification tool, Sequence Demarcation Tool, which performs pairwise sequence alignments and identity calculations. These guidelines are consistent with the recently published recommendations for the genera Mastrevirus and Curtovirus of the family Geminiviridae. Genome-wide pairwise identities of 91 % and 94 % are proposed as the demarcation threshold for begomoviruses belonging to different species and strains, respectively. Procedures and guidelines are outlined for resolving conflicts that may arise when assigning species and strains to categories wherever the pairwise identity falls on or very near the demarcation threshold value.

Revision of Begomovirus taxonomy based on pairwise sequence comparisons

KAUST Repository

Brown, Judith K.

2015-04-18

Viruses of the genus Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae) are emergent pathogens of crops throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. By virtue of having a small DNA genome that is easily cloned, and due to the recent innovations in cloning and low-cost sequencing, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of available begomovirus genome sequences. Even so, most of the available sequences have been obtained from cultivated plants and are likely a small and phylogenetically unrepresentative sample of begomovirus diversity, a factor constraining taxonomic decisions such as the establishment of operationally useful species demarcation criteria. In addition, problems in assigning new viruses to established species have highlighted shortcomings in the previously recommended mechanism of species demarcation. Based on the analysis of 3,123 full-length begomovirus genome (or DNA-A component) sequences available in public databases as of December 2012, a set of revised guidelines for the classification and nomenclature of begomoviruses are proposed. The guidelines primarily consider a) genus-level biological characteristics and b) results obtained using a standardized classification tool, Sequence Demarcation Tool, which performs pairwise sequence alignments and identity calculations. These guidelines are consistent with the recently published recommendations for the genera Mastrevirus and Curtovirus of the family Geminiviridae. Genome-wide pairwise identities of 91 % and 94 % are proposed as the demarcation threshold for begomoviruses belonging to different species and strains, respectively. Procedures and guidelines are outlined for resolving conflicts that may arise when assigning species and strains to categories wherever the pairwise identity falls on or very near the demarcation threshold value.

Parasail: SIMD C library for global, semi-global, and local pairwise sequence alignments.

Science.gov (United States)

Daily, Jeff

2016-02-10

Sequence alignment algorithms are a key component of many bioinformatics applications. Though various fast Smith-Waterman local sequence alignment implementations have been developed for x86 CPUs, most are embedded into larger database search tools. In addition, fast implementations of Needleman-Wunsch global sequence alignment and its semi-global variants are not as widespread. This article presents the first software library for local, global, and semi-global pairwise intra-sequence alignments and improves the performance of previous intra-sequence implementations. A faster intra-sequence local pairwise alignment implementation is described and benchmarked, including new global and semi-global variants. Using a 375 residue query sequence a speed of 136 billion cell updates per second (GCUPS) was achieved on a dual Intel Xeon E5-2670 24-core processor system, the highest reported for an implementation based on Farrar's 'striped' approach. Rognes's SWIPE optimal database search application is still generally the fastest available at 1.2 to at best 2.4 times faster than Parasail for sequences shorter than 500 amino acids. However, Parasail was faster for longer sequences. For global alignments, Parasail's prefix scan implementation is generally the fastest, faster even than Farrar's 'striped' approach, however the opal library is faster for single-threaded applications. The software library is designed for 64 bit Linux, OS X, or Windows on processors with SSE2, SSE41, or AVX2. Source code is available from https://github.com/jeffdaily/parasail under the Battelle BSD-style license. Applications that require optimal alignment scores could benefit from the improved performance. For the first time, SIMD global, semi-global, and local alignments are available in a stand-alone C library.

Optimal antiretroviral therapy adherence as evaluated by CASE index score tool is associated with virological suppression in HIV-infected adults in Dakar, Senegal.

Science.gov (United States)

Byabene, A K; Fortes-Déguénonvo, L; Niang, K; Manga, M N; Bulabula, A N H; Nachega, J B; Seydi, M

2017-06-01

To determine the prevalence and factors associated with optimal antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and virological failure (VLF) among HIV-infected adults enrolled in the national ART programme at the teaching hospital of Fann, Dakar, Senegal. Cross-sectional study from 1 September 2013 to 30 January 2014. (1) optimal ART adherence by the Center for Adherence Support Evaluation (CASE) Index Score (>10) and (2) VLF (HIV RNA > 1000 copies/ml). Diagnostic accuracy of CASE Index Score assessed using sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent factors associated with optimal adherence and VLF. Of 98 HIV-infected patients on ART, 68% were female. The median (IQR) age was 42 (20-50) years. A total of 57 of 98 (60%) were on ART more than 3 years, and majority (88%) were on NNRTI-based first-line ART regimen. A total of 79 of 98 (80%) patients reported optimal ART adherence, and only five of 84 (5.9%) had documented VLF. Patients with VLF were significantly more likely to have suboptimal ART adherence (17.7% vs. 2.9%; P = 0.02). CASE Index Score showed the best trade-off in Se (78.9%, 95% CI: 54.4-93.9%), Sp (20.0%, 95% CI: 11.1-31.7), PPV (22.4, 95% CI: 13.1-34.2%) and NPV (76.5%, 95% CI: 50.1-93.2), when used VLF threshold of HIV RNA >50 copies/ml. Factors independently associated with VLF were CASE Index Score CASE Index Score was independently associated with virological outcomes, supporting usefulness of this low-cost ART adherence monitoring tool in this setting. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Improving prediction of heterodimeric protein complexes using combination with pairwise kernel.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruan, Peiying; Hayashida, Morihiro; Akutsu, Tatsuya; Vert, Jean-Philippe

2018-02-19

Since many proteins become functional only after they interact with their partner proteins and form protein complexes, it is essential to identify the sets of proteins that form complexes. Therefore, several computational methods have been proposed to predict complexes from the topology and structure of experimental protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. These methods work well to predict complexes involving at least three proteins, but generally fail at identifying complexes involving only two different proteins, called heterodimeric complexes or heterodimers. There is however an urgent need for efficient methods to predict heterodimers, since the majority of known protein complexes are precisely heterodimers. In this paper, we use three promising kernel functions, Min kernel and two pairwise kernels, which are Metric Learning Pairwise Kernel (MLPK) and Tensor Product Pairwise Kernel (TPPK). We also consider the normalization forms of Min kernel. Then, we combine Min kernel or its normalization form and one of the pairwise kernels by plugging. We applied kernels based on PPI, domain, phylogenetic profile, and subcellular localization properties to predicting heterodimers. Then, we evaluate our method by employing C-Support Vector Classification (C-SVC), carrying out 10-fold cross-validation, and calculating the average F-measures. The results suggest that the combination of normalized-Min-kernel and MLPK leads to the best F-measure and improved the performance of our previous work, which had been the best existing method so far. We propose new methods to predict heterodimers, using a machine learning-based approach. We train a support vector machine (SVM) to discriminate interacting vs non-interacting protein pairs, based on informations extracted from PPI, domain, phylogenetic profiles and subcellular localization. We evaluate in detail new kernel functions to encode these data, and report prediction performance that outperforms the state-of-the-art.

Functional outcome after endoprosthetic limb-salvage therapy of primary bone tumours--a comparative analysis using the MSTS score, the TESS and the RNL index.

Science.gov (United States)

Tunn, P U; Pomraenke, D; Goerling, U; Hohenberger, P

2008-10-01

Limb-saving therapy for primary bone tumours is the treatment of choice. We aimed at analysing the quality of life of this group of patients by combining three different tools. Eighty-seven patients (46 females, 41 males) with a primary bone tumour of the extremity who had undergone endoprosthetic reconstruction between 1982 and 2000 were included in this retrospective study. The median age at the time of evaluation was 30 (12-73) years. The Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) and the Reintegration to Normal Living index (RNL) were recorded an average of 5.8 years after reconstruction and the Musculoskeletal Tumour Society Score (MSTS) after an average of 6.5 years. The mean MSTS score was 77% (13-93%). The mean TESS was 82% (22-99%), and the mean RNL index was 87% (32-98%). The subjective satisfaction and acceptance of physical impairment were significantly higher than the objective score (p TESS was 88% in patients aged 12-25 years, 81% in those aged 26-40 years and 57% in those aged 41-73 years. Parallel recording of the MSTS score, TESS and RNL index provides a better measure reflecting the complex situation of the patients by combining objective and subjective parameters.

Relationships among participant international prostate symptom score, benign prostatic hyperplasia impact index changes and global ratings of change in a trial of phytotherapy in men with lower urinary tract symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, Michael J; Cantor, Alan; Roehrborn, Claus G

2013-03-01

We related changes in American Urological Association symptom index scores with bother measures and global ratings of change in men with lower urinary tract symptoms who were enrolled in a saw palmetto trial. To be eligible for study men were 45 years old or older, and had a peak uroflow of 4 ml per second or greater and an American Urological Association symptom index score of 8 to 24. Participants self-administered the American Urological Association symptom index, International Prostate Symptom Score quality of life item, Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Impact Index and 2 global change questions at baseline, and at 24, 48 and 72 weeks. In 357 participants global ratings of a little better were associated with a mean decrease in American Urological Association symptom index scores from 2.8 to 4.1 points across 3 time points. The analogous range for mean decreases in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Impact Index scores was 1.0 to 1.7 points and for the International Prostate Symptom Score quality of life item it was 0.5 to 0.8 points. At 72 weeks for the first global change question each change measure discriminated between participants who rated themselves at least a little better vs unchanged or worse 70% to 72% of the time. A multivariate model increased discrimination to 77%. For the second global change question each change measure correctly discriminated ratings of at least a little better vs unchanged or worse 69% to 74% of the time and a multivariate model increased discrimination to 79%. Changes in American Urological Association symptom index scores could discriminate between participants rating themselves at least a little better vs unchanged or worse. Our findings support the practice of powering studies to detect group mean differences in American Urological Association symptom index scores of at least 3 points. Copyright © 2013 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determinants of sovereign debt yield spreads under EMU: Pairwise approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fazlioglu, S.

2013-01-01

This study aims at providing an empirical analysis of long-term determinants of sovereign debt yield spreads under European EMU (Economic and Monetary Union) through pairwise approach within panel framework. Panel gravity models are increasingly used in the cross-market correlation literature while

Coverage of Acta Dermatovenerologica Alpina, Pannonica et Adriatica in Elsevier's CiteScore index: a new tool for measuring the citation impact of academic journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Poljak, Mario

2017-03-01

In December 2016, Elsevier launched a new tool that helps measure the citation impact of academic journals, called the CiteScore index. The CiteScore index values for 2015 confirmed the status of Acta Dermatovenerologica Alpina, Pannonica et Adriatica (Acta Dermatovenerol APA) as the leading journal in dermatology and sexually transmitted infections in the region. Sixty-five articles published in Acta Dermatovenerol APA from 2012 to 2014 received a total of 77 citations in 2015, resulting in a CiteScore index value of 1.18 for the journal. More than half of the articles published from 2012 to 2014 received at least one citation in 2015. Acta Dermatovenerol APA performed well in all three categories listed because it is ranked 384th out of 1,549 journals in the category General Medicine (75th percentile), 53rd out of 122 journals in the category Dermatology (56th percentile), and 142nd out of 246 journals in the category Infectious Diseases (42nd percentile).

Classification between normal and tumor tissues based on the pair-wise gene expression ratio

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yap, YeeLeng; Zhang, XueWu; Ling, MT; Wang, XiangHong; Wong, YC; Danchin, Antoine

2004-01-01

Precise classification of cancer types is critically important for early cancer diagnosis and treatment. Numerous efforts have been made to use gene expression profiles to improve precision of tumor classification. However, reliable cancer-related signals are generally lacking. Using recent datasets on colon and prostate cancer, a data transformation procedure from single gene expression to pair-wise gene expression ratio is proposed. Making use of the internal consistency of each expression profiling dataset this transformation improves the signal to noise ratio of the dataset and uncovers new relevant cancer-related signals (features). The efficiency in using the transformed dataset to perform normal/tumor classification was investigated using feature partitioning with informative features (gene annotation) as discriminating axes (single gene expression or pair-wise gene expression ratio). Classification results were compared to the original datasets for up to 10-feature model classifiers. 82 and 262 genes that have high correlation to tissue phenotype were selected from the colon and prostate datasets respectively. Remarkably, data transformation of the highly noisy expression data successfully led to lower the coefficient of variation (CV) for the within-class samples as well as improved the correlation with tissue phenotypes. The transformed dataset exhibited lower CV when compared to that of single gene expression. In the colon cancer set, the minimum CV decreased from 45.3% to 16.5%. In prostate cancer, comparable CV was achieved with and without transformation. This improvement in CV, coupled with the improved correlation between the pair-wise gene expression ratio and tissue phenotypes, yielded higher classification efficiency, especially with the colon dataset – from 87.1% to 93.5%. Over 90% of the top ten discriminating axes in both datasets showed significant improvement after data transformation. The high classification efficiency achieved suggested

A Practical Standardized Composite Nutrition Score Based on Lean Tissue Index: Application in Nutrition Screening and Prediction of Outcome in Hemodialysis Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Huan-Sheng; Cheng, Chun-Ting; Hou, Chun-Cheng; Liou, Hung-Hsiang; Chang, Cheng-Tsung; Lin, Chun-Ju; Wu, Tsai-Kun; Chen, Chang-Hsu; Lim, Paik-Seong

2017-07-01

Rapid screening and monitoring of nutritional status is mandatory in hemodialysis population because of the increasingly encountered nutritional problems. Considering the limitations of previous composite nutrition scores applied in this population, we tried to develop a standardized composite nutrition score (SCNS) using low lean tissue index as a marker of protein wasting to facilitate clinical screening and monitoring and to predict outcome. This retrospective cohort used 2 databases of dialysis populations from Taiwan between 2011 and 2014. First database consisting of data from 629 maintenance hemodialysis patients was used to develop the SCNS and the second database containing data from 297 maintenance hemodialysis patients was used to validate this developed score. SCNS containing albumin, creatinine, potassium, and body mass index was developed from the first database using low lean tissue index as a marker of protein wasting. When applying this score in the original database, significantly higher risk of developing protein wasting was found for patients with lower SCNS (odds ratio 1.38 [middle tertile vs highest tertile, P < .0001] and 2.40 [lowest tertile vs middle tertile, P < .0001]). The risk of death was also shown to be higher for patients with lower SCNS (hazard ratio 4.45 [below median level vs above median level, P < .0001]). These results were validated in the second database. We developed an SCNS consisting of 4 easily available biochemical parameters. This kind of scoring system can be easily applied in different dialysis facilities for screening and monitoring of protein wasting. The wide application of body composition monitor in dialysis population will also facilitate the development of specific nutrition scoring model for individual facility. Copyright © 2017 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges in Evaluating the Severity of Fibropapillomatosis: A Proposal for Objective Index and Score System for Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, Silmara; Sánchez-Sarmiento, Angélica María; Vanstreels, Ralph Eric Thijl; Dos Santos, Robson Guimarães; Prioste, Fabiola Eloisa Setim; Gattamorta, Marco Aurélio; Grisi-Filho, José Henrique Hildebrand; Matushima, Eliana Reiko

2016-01-01

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a neoplastic disease that affects marine turtles worldwide, especially green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). FP tumors can develop on the body surface of marine turtles and also internally in the oral cavity and viscera. Depending on their quantity, size and anatomical distribution, these tumors can interfere with hydrodynamics and the ability to feed, hence scoring systems have been proposed in an attempt to quantify the clinical manifestation of FP. In order to establish a new scoring system adapted to geographic regions, we examined 214 juvenile green sea turtles with FP caught or rescued at Brazilian feeding areas, counted their 7466 tumors and classified them in relation to their size and anatomical distribution. The patterns in quantity, size and distribution of tumors revealed interesting aspects in the clinical manifestation of FP in specimens studied in Brazil, and that FP scoring systems developed for other areas might not perform adequately when applied to sea turtles on the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. We therefore propose a novel method to evaluate the clinical manifestation of FP: fibropapillomatosis index (FPI) that provides the Southwest Atlantic fibropapillomatosis score (FPSSWA). In combination, these indexing and scoring systems allow for a more objective, rapid and detailed evaluation of the severity of FP in green sea turtles. While primarily designed for the clinical manifestation of FP currently witnessed in our dataset, this index and the score system can be adapted for other areas and compare the characteristics of the disease across regions. In conclusion, scoring systems to classify the severity of FP can assist our understanding on the environmental factors that modulate its development and its impacts on the individual and population health of green sea turtles.

Optimizing cutoff scores for the Barthel Index and the modified Rankin Scale for defining outcome in acute stroke trials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uyttenboogaart, Maarten; Stewart, Roy E; Vroomen, Patrick C A J; De Keyser, Jacques; Luijckx, Gert-Jan

Background and Purpose - There is little agreement on how to assess outcome in acute stroke trials. Cutoff scores for the Barthel Index (BI) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) are frequently arbitrarily chosen to dichotomize favorable and unfavorable outcome. We investigated sensitivity and specificity

Calculation of cut-off values based on the Autoimmune Bullous Skin Disorder Intensity Score (ABSIS) and Pemphigus Disease Area Index (PDAI) pemphigus scoring systems for defining moderate, significant and extensive types of pemphigus.

Science.gov (United States)

Boulard, C; Duvert Lehembre, S; Picard-Dahan, C; Kern, J S; Zambruno, G; Feliciani, C; Marinovic, B; Vabres, P; Borradori, L; Prost-Squarcioni, C; Labeille, B; Richard, M A; Ingen-Housz-Oro, S; Houivet, E; Werth, V P; Murrell, D F; Hertl, M; Benichou, J; Joly, P

2016-07-01

Two pemphigus severity scores, Autoimmune Bullous Skin Disorder Intensity Score (ABSIS) and Pemphigus Disease Area Index (PDAI), have been proposed to provide an objective measure of disease activity. However, the use of these scores in clinical practice is limited by the absence of cut-off values that allow differentiation between moderate, significant and extensive types of pemphigus. To calculate cut-off values defining moderate, significant and extensive pemphigus based on the ABSIS and PDAI scores. In 31 dermatology departments in six countries, consecutive patients with newly diagnosed pemphigus were assessed for pemphigus severity, using ABSIS, PDAI, Physician's Global Assessment (PGA) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores. Cut-off values defining moderate, significant and extensive subgroups were calculated based on the 25th and 75th percentiles of the ABSIS and PDAI scores. The median ABSIS, PDAI, PGA and DLQI scores of the three severity subgroups were compared in order to validate these subgroups. Ninety-six patients with pemphigus vulgaris (n = 77) or pemphigus foliaceus (n = 19) were included. The median PDAI activity and ABSIS total scores were 27·5 (range 3-84) and 34·8 points (range 0·5-90·5), respectively. The respective cut-off values corresponding to the first and third quartiles of the scores were 15 and 45 for the PDAI, and 17 and 53 for ABSIS. The moderate, significant and extensive subgroups were thus defined, and had distinguishing median ABSIS (P cut-off values of 15 and 45 for PDAI and 17 and 53 for ABSIS, to distinguish moderate, significant and extensive pemphigus forms. Identifying these pemphigus activity subgroups should help physicians to classify and manage patients with pemphigus. © 2016 British Association of Dermatologists.

Functional outcome after endoprosthetic limb-salvage therapy of primary bone tumours—a comparative analysis using the MSTS score, the TESS and the RNL index

Science.gov (United States)

Pomraenke, D.; Goerling, U.; Hohenberger, P.

2007-01-01

Limb-saving therapy for primary bone tumours is the treatment of choice. We aimed at analysing the quality of life of this group of patients by combining three different tools. Eighty-seven patients (46 females, 41 males) with a primary bone tumour of the extremity who had undergone endoprosthetic reconstruction between 1982 and 2000 were included in this retrospective study. The median age at the time of evaluation was 30 (12–73) years. The Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) and the Reintegration to Normal Living index (RNL) were recorded an average of 5.8 years after reconstruction and the Musculoskeletal Tumour Society Score (MSTS) after an average of 6.5 years. The mean MSTS score was 77% (13–93%). The mean TESS was 82% (22–99%), and the mean RNL index was 87% (32–98%). The subjective satisfaction and acceptance of physical impairment were significantly higher than the objective score (p TESS was 88% in patients aged 12–25 years, 81% in those aged 26–40 years and 57% in those aged 41–73 years. Parallel recording of the MSTS score, TESS and RNL index provides a better measure reflecting the complex situation of the patients by combining objective and subjective parameters. PMID:17701173

Comparison of risk of local-regional recurrence after mastectomy or breast conservation therapy for patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation stratified according to a prognostic index score

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Eugene H.; Strom, Eric A.; Perkins, George H.; Oh, Julia L.; Chen, Allen M.; Meric-Bernstam, Funda; Hunt, Kelly K.; Sahin, Aysegul A.; Hortobagyi, Gabriel N.; Buchholz, Thomas A.

2006-01-01

Purpose: We previously developed a prognostic index that stratified patients treated with breast conservation therapy (BCT) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy into groups with different risks for local-regional recurrence (LRR). The purpose of this study was to compare the rates of LRR as a function of prognostic index score for patients treated with BCT or mastectomy plus radiation after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods and Materials: We retrospectively analyzed 815 patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. Patients were assigned an index score from 0 to 4 and given 1 point for the presence of each factor: clinical N2 to N3 disease, lymphovascular invasion, pathologic size >2 cm, and multifocal residual disease. Results: The 10-year LRR rates were very low and similar between the mastectomy and BCT groups for patients with an index score of 0 or 1. For patients with a score of 2, LRR trended lower for those treated with mastectomy vs. BCT (12% vs. 28%, p = 0.28). For patients with a score of 3 to 4, LRR was significantly lower for those treated with mastectomy vs. BCT (19% vs. 61%, p = 0.009). Conclusions: This analysis suggests that BCT can provide excellent local-regional treatment for the vast majority of patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. For the few patients with a score of 3 to 4, LRR was >60% after BCT and was <20% with mastectomy. If these findings are confirmed in larger randomized studies, the prognostic index may be useful in helping to select the type of surgical treatment for patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation

Screening synteny blocks in pairwise genome comparisons through integer programming.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Haibao; Lyons, Eric; Pedersen, Brent; Schnable, James C; Paterson, Andrew H; Freeling, Michael

2011-04-18

It is difficult to accurately interpret chromosomal correspondences such as true orthology and paralogy due to significant divergence of genomes from a common ancestor. Analyses are particularly problematic among lineages that have repeatedly experienced whole genome duplication (WGD) events. To compare multiple "subgenomes" derived from genome duplications, we need to relax the traditional requirements of "one-to-one" syntenic matchings of genomic regions in order to reflect "one-to-many" or more generally "many-to-many" matchings. However this relaxation may result in the identification of synteny blocks that are derived from ancient shared WGDs that are not of interest. For many downstream analyses, we need to eliminate weak, low scoring alignments from pairwise genome comparisons. Our goal is to objectively select subset of synteny blocks whose total scores are maximized while respecting the duplication history of the genomes in comparison. We call this "quota-based" screening of synteny blocks in order to appropriately fill a quota of syntenic relationships within one genome or between two genomes having WGD events. We have formulated the synteny block screening as an optimization problem known as "Binary Integer Programming" (BIP), which is solved using existing linear programming solvers. The computer program QUOTA-ALIGN performs this task by creating a clear objective function that maximizes the compatible set of synteny blocks under given constraints on overlaps and depths (corresponding to the duplication history in respective genomes). Such a procedure is useful for any pairwise synteny alignments, but is most useful in lineages affected by multiple WGDs, like plants or fish lineages. For example, there should be a 1:2 ploidy relationship between genome A and B if genome B had an independent WGD subsequent to the divergence of the two genomes. We show through simulations and real examples using plant genomes in the rosid superorder that the quota

Pairwise harmonics for shape analysis

KAUST Repository

Zheng, Youyi

2013-07-01

This paper introduces a simple yet effective shape analysis mechanism for geometry processing. Unlike traditional shape analysis techniques which compute descriptors per surface point up to certain neighborhoods, we introduce a shape analysis framework in which the descriptors are based on pairs of surface points. Such a pairwise analysis approach leads to a new class of shape descriptors that are more global, discriminative, and can effectively capture the variations in the underlying geometry. Specifically, we introduce new shape descriptors based on the isocurves of harmonic functions whose global maximum and minimum occur at the point pair. We show that these shape descriptors can infer shape structures and consistently lead to simpler and more efficient algorithms than the state-of-the-art methods for three applications: intrinsic reflectional symmetry axis computation, matching shape extremities, and simultaneous surface segmentation and skeletonization. © 2012 IEEE.

Correlation study on waist circumference-triglyceride (WT) index and coronary artery scores in patients with coronary heart disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, R-F; Liu, X-Y; Lin, Z; Zhang, G

2015-01-01

Coronary disease is analyzed through common lipid profiles, but these analyses fail to account for residual risk due to abdominal weight and elevated TG levels. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the waist circumference × triglyceride index (WT index) and the Coronary Artery Score (CAS) in patients with coronary heart disease. 346 patients in our Cardiology Department were recruited from September 2007 to August 2011 and divided into two groups according to whether the patients presented with metabolic syndrome. We performed coronary angiography using the standard Judkins method. The severity of coronary artery stenosis and the CAS were calculated and analyzed with a computerized quantitative analysis system. The signs index, which includes the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-hip-ratio, and waist-height-ratio, the blood glucose and blood lipid index of all the patients were collected and used to calculate the WT index (waist circumference x triglyceride index. We performed a correlative analysis with age, gender, body mass index, blood glucose and blood lipid, blood pressure and other risk indicators of all patients as the dependent variables and the CAS as the independent variable. We show that the CAS is positively correlated to the WT index. Several lipid profiles and waist circumference were significantly associated with the CAS. The WT index is correlated to the CAS and is a good predictor for the development of coronary artery disease; it can be applied in the clinic for early intervention in populations at risk for coronary heart disease.

Prediction of microsleeps using pairwise joint entropy and mutual information between EEG channels.

Science.gov (United States)

Baseer, Abdul; Weddell, Stephen J; Jones, Richard D

2017-07-01

Microsleeps are involuntary and brief instances of complete loss of responsiveness, typically of 0.5-15 s duration. They adversely affect performance in extended attention-driven jobs and can be fatal. Our aim was to predict microsleeps from 16 channel EEG signals. Two information theoretic concepts - pairwise joint entropy and mutual information - were independently used to continuously extract features from EEG signals. k-nearest neighbor (kNN) with k = 3 was used to calculate both joint entropy and mutual information. Highly correlated features were discarded and the rest were ranked using Fisher score followed by an average of 3-fold cross-validation area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic (AUC ROC ). Leave-one-out method (LOOM) was performed to test the performance of microsleep prediction system on independent data. The best prediction for 0.25 s ahead was AUCROC, sensitivity, precision, geometric mean (GM), and φ of 0.93, 0.68, 0.33, 0.75, and 0.38 respectively with joint entropy using single linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classifier.

Scholarly Productivity of Social Work Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Are h-Index Scores a Suitable Measure?

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Isiah, Jr.; Smith, Belinda Davis; Green, Makeba T.; Anderson, Brian; Harry, Sonja V.; Byrd, Yolanda M.; Pratt-Harris, Natasha C.; Bolden, Errol S.; Hill, Solomon

2016-01-01

Faculty scholarship at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) has in the past served as a blueprint for the Black masses. Even today, HBCU faculty scholarship continues to be an informative source to communicate accurate information regarding marginalized groups. This study examines h-index scores of 65 faculty members at five…

Scalable Bayesian nonparametric measures for exploring pairwise dependence via Dirichlet Process Mixtures.

Science.gov (United States)

Filippi, Sarah; Holmes, Chris C; Nieto-Barajas, Luis E

2016-11-16

In this article we propose novel Bayesian nonparametric methods using Dirichlet Process Mixture (DPM) models for detecting pairwise dependence between random variables while accounting for uncertainty in the form of the underlying distributions. A key criteria is that the procedures should scale to large data sets. In this regard we find that the formal calculation of the Bayes factor for a dependent-vs.-independent DPM joint probability measure is not feasible computationally. To address this we present Bayesian diagnostic measures for characterising evidence against a "null model" of pairwise independence. In simulation studies, as well as for a real data analysis, we show that our approach provides a useful tool for the exploratory nonparametric Bayesian analysis of large multivariate data sets.

A gradient approximation for calculating Debye temperatures from pairwise interatomic potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, D.P.

1975-09-01

A simple gradient approximation is given for calculating the effective Debye temperature of a cubic crystal from central pairwise interatomic potentials. For examples of the Morse potential applied to cubic metals the results are in generally good agreement with experiment. (author)

Relationship between Blood Stasis Syndrome Score and Cardioankle Vascular Index in Stroke Patients

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Ki-Ho Cho

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Blood stasis syndrome (BSS in traditional Asian medicine has been considered to correlate with the extent of atherosclerosis, which can be estimated using the cardioankle vascular index (CAVI. Here, the diagnostic utility of CAVI in predicting BSS was examined. The BSS scores and CAVI were measured in 140 stroke patients and evaluated with respect to stroke risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve analysis was used to determine the diagnostic accuracy of CAVI for the diagnosis of BSS. The BSS scores correlated significantly with CAVI, age, and systolic blood pressure (SBP. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that CAVI was a significant associate factor for BSS (OR 1.55, P=0.032 after adjusting for the age and SBP. The ROC curve showed that CAVI and age provided moderate diagnostic accuracy for BSS (area under the ROC curve (AUC for CAVI, 0.703, P<0.001; AUC for age, 0.692, P=0.001. The AUC of the “CAVI+Age,” which was calculated by combining CAVI with age, showed better accuracy (0.759, P<0.0001 than those of CAVI or age. The present study suggests that the CAVI combined with age can clinically serve as an objective tool to diagnose BSS in stroke patients.

The Relationship between Schools' Costs per Pupil and Nevada School Performance Framework Index Scores in Clark County School District

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, John; Huang, Min

2015-01-01

Clark County School District (CCSD) asked the Western Regional Education Laboratory (REL West) to examine the relationship between spending per pupil and Nevada School Performance Framework (NSPF) index scores in the district's schools. Data were examined from three school years (2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14) and for three types of schools…

Bistability, non-ergodicity, and inhibition in pairwise maximum-entropy models.

Science.gov (United States)

Rostami, Vahid; Porta Mana, PierGianLuca; Grün, Sonja; Helias, Moritz

2017-10-01

Pairwise maximum-entropy models have been used in neuroscience to predict the activity of neuronal populations, given only the time-averaged correlations of the neuron activities. This paper provides evidence that the pairwise model, applied to experimental recordings, would produce a bimodal distribution for the population-averaged activity, and for some population sizes the second mode would peak at high activities, that experimentally would be equivalent to 90% of the neuron population active within time-windows of few milliseconds. Several problems are connected with this bimodality: 1. The presence of the high-activity mode is unrealistic in view of observed neuronal activity and on neurobiological grounds. 2. Boltzmann learning becomes non-ergodic, hence the pairwise maximum-entropy distribution cannot be found: in fact, Boltzmann learning would produce an incorrect distribution; similarly, common variants of mean-field approximations also produce an incorrect distribution. 3. The Glauber dynamics associated with the model is unrealistically bistable and cannot be used to generate realistic surrogate data. This bimodality problem is first demonstrated for an experimental dataset from 159 neurons in the motor cortex of macaque monkey. Evidence is then provided that this problem affects typical neural recordings of population sizes of a couple of hundreds or more neurons. The cause of the bimodality problem is identified as the inability of standard maximum-entropy distributions with a uniform reference measure to model neuronal inhibition. To eliminate this problem a modified maximum-entropy model is presented, which reflects a basic effect of inhibition in the form of a simple but non-uniform reference measure. This model does not lead to unrealistic bimodalities, can be found with Boltzmann learning, and has an associated Glauber dynamics which incorporates a minimal asymmetric inhibition.

Climiate Resilience Screening Index and Domain Scores

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — CRSI and related-domain scores for all 50 states and 3135 counties in the U.S. This dataset is not publicly accessible because: They are already available within the...

Extension of Pairwise Broadcast Clock Synchronization for Multicluster Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruce W. Suter

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Time synchronization is crucial for wireless sensor networks (WSNs in performing a number of fundamental operations such as data coordination, power management, security, and localization. The Pairwise Broadcast Synchronization (PBS protocol was recently proposed to minimize the number of timing messages required for global network synchronization, which enables the design of highly energy-efficient WSNs. However, PBS requires all nodes in the network to lie within the communication ranges of two leader nodes, a condition which might not be available in some applications. This paper proposes an extension of PBS to the more general class of sensor networks. Based on the hierarchical structure of the network, an energy-efficient pair selection algorithm is proposed to select the best pairwise synchronization sequence to reduce the overall energy consumption. It is shown that in a multicluster networking environment, PBS requires a far less number of timing messages than other well-known synchronization protocols and incurs no loss in synchronization accuracy. Moreover, the proposed scheme presents significant energy savings for densely deployed WSNs.

Work ability as prognostic risk marker of disability pension : Single-item work ability score versus multi-item work ability index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelen, C.A.M.; Rhenen, van W.; Groothoff, J.W.; Klink, van der J.J.L.; Twisk, W.R.; Heymans, M.W.

2014-01-01

Work ability predicts future disability pension (DP). A single-item work ability score (WAS) is emerging as a measure for work ability. This study compared single-item WAS with the multi-item work ability index (WAI) in its ability to identify workers at risk of DP.

A Relative-Localization Algorithm Using Incomplete Pairwise Distance Measurements for Underwater Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kae Y. Foo

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The task of localizing underwater assets involves the relative localization of each unit using only pairwise distance measurements, usually obtained from time-of-arrival or time-delay-of-arrival measurements. In the fluctuating underwater environment, a complete set of pair-wise distance measurements can often be difficult to acquire, thus hindering a straightforward closed-form solution in deriving the assets' relative coordinates. An iterative multidimensional scaling approach is presented based upon a weighted-majorization algorithm that tolerates missing or inaccurate distance measurements. Substantial modifications are proposed to optimize the algorithm, while the effects of refractive propagation paths are considered. A parametric study of the algorithm based upon simulation results is shown. An acoustic field-trial was then carried out, presenting field measurements to highlight the practical implementation of this algorithm.

Balance index score as a predictive factor for lower sports results or anterior cruciate ligament knee injuries in Croatian female athletes--preliminary study.

Science.gov (United States)

Vrbanić, Tea Schnurrer-Luke; Ravlić-Gulan, Jagoda; Gulan, Gordan; Matovinović, Damir

2007-03-01

Female athletes participating in high-risk sports suffer anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury at a 4- to 6-fold greater rate than do male athletes. ACL injuries result either from contact mechanisms or from certain unexplained non-contact mechanisms occurring during daily professional sports activities. The occurrence of non-contact injuries points to the existence of certain factors intrinsic to the knee that can lead to ACL rupture. When knee joint movement overcomes the static and the dynamic constraint systems, non-contact ACL injury may occur. Certain recent results suggest that balance and neuromuscular control play a central role in knee joint stability, protection and prevention of ACL injuries. The purpose of this study is to evaluate balance neuromuscular skills in healthy Croatian female athletes by measuring their balance index score, as well as to estimate a possible correlation between their balance index score and balance effectiveness. This study is conducted in an effort to reduce the risk of future injuries and thus prevent female athletes from withdrawing from sports prematurely. We analysed fifty-two female athletes in the high-risk sports of handball and volleyball, measuring for their static and dynamic balance index scores, using the Sport KAT 2000 testing system. This method may be used to monitor balance and coordination systems and may help to develop simpler measurements of neuromuscular control, which can be used to estimate risk predictors in athletes who withdraw from sports due to lower sports results or ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and to direct female athletes to more effective, targeted preventive interventions. The tested Croatian female athletes with lower sports results and ACL knee injury incurred after the testing were found to have a higher balance index score compared to healthy athletes. We therefore suggest that a higher balance index score can be used as an effective risk predictor for lower sports results

Work ability as prognostic risk marker of disability pension: single-item work ability score versus multi-item work ability index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelen, C.A.M.; van Rhenen, W.; Groothoff, J.W.; van der Klink, J.J.L.; Twisk, J.W.R.; Heymans, M.W.

2014-01-01

Objectives Work ability predicts future disability pension (DP). A single-item work ability score (WAS) is emerging as a measure for work ability. This study compared single-item WAS with the multi-item work ability index (WAI) in its ability to identify workers at risk of DP. Methods This

Work ability as prognostic risk marker of disability pension : single-item work ability score versus multi-item work ability index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelen, Corne A. M.; van Rhenen, Willem; Groothoff, Johan W.; van der Klink, Jac J. L.; Twisk, Jos W. R.; Heymans, Martijn W.

Objectives Work ability predicts future disability pension (DP). A single-item work ability score (WAS) is emerging as a measure for work ability. This study compared single-item WAS with the multi-item work ability index (WAI) in its ability to identify workers at risk of DP. Methods This

Measuring pair-wise molecular interactions in a complex mixture

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraborty, Krishnendu; Varma, Manoj M.; Venkatapathi, Murugesan

2016-03-01

Complex biological samples such as serum contain thousands of proteins and other molecules spanning up to 13 orders of magnitude in concentration. Present measurement techniques do not permit the analysis of all pair-wise interactions between the components of such a complex mixture to a given target molecule. In this work we explore the use of nanoparticle tags which encode the identity of the molecule to obtain the statistical distribution of pair-wise interactions using their Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) signals. The nanoparticle tags are chosen such that the binding between two molecules conjugated to the respective nanoparticle tags can be recognized by the coupling of their LSPR signals. This numerical simulation is done by DDA to investigate this approach using a reduced system consisting of three nanoparticles (a gold ellipsoid with aspect ratio 2.5 and short axis 16 nm, and two silver ellipsoids with aspect ratios 3 and 2 and short axes 8 nm and 10 nm respectively) and the set of all possible dimers formed between them. Incident light was circularly polarized and all possible particle and dimer orientations were considered. We observed that minimum peak separation between two spectra is 5 nm while maximum is 184nm.

Examination of the Five Comparable Component Scores of the Diet Quality Indexes HEI-2005 and RC-DQI Using a Nationally Representative Sample of 2–18 Year Old Children: NHANES 2003–2006

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Sibylle Kranz

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Obesity has been associated with low diet quality and the suboptimal intake of food groups and nutrients. Two composite diet quality measurement tools are appropriate for Americans 2–18 years old: the Healthy Eating Index (HEI 2005 and the Revised Children’s Diet Quality Index (RC-DQI. The five components included in both indexes are fruits, vegetables, total grains, whole grains, and milk/dairy. Component scores ranged from 0 to 5 or 0 to 10 points with lower scores indicating suboptimal intake. To allow direct comparisons, one component was rescaled by dividing it by 2; then, all components ranged from 0 to 5 points. The aim of this study was to directly compare the scoring results of these five components using dietary data from a nationally representative sample of children (NHANES 2003–2006, . Correlation coefficients within and between indexes showed less internal consistency in the HEI; age- and ethnic-group stratified analyses indicated higher sensitivity of the RC-DQI. HEI scoring was likely to dichotomize the population into two groups (those with 0 and those with 5 points, while RC-DQI scores resulted in a larger distribution of scores. The scoring scheme of diet quality indexes for children results in great variation of the outcomes, and researchers must be aware of those effects.

Development of the Crohn's disease digestive damage score, the Lémann score

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pariente, Benjamin; Cosnes, Jacques; Danese, Silvio

2011-01-01

is to outline the methods to develop an instrument that can measure cumulative bowel damage. The project is being conducted by the International Program to develop New Indexes in Crohn's disease (IPNIC) group. This instrument, called the Crohn's Disease Digestive Damage Score (the Lémann score), should take...

Living network meta-analysis compared with pairwise meta-analysis in comparative effectiveness research: empirical study

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolakopoulou, Adriani; Mavridis, Dimitris; Furukawa, Toshi A; Cipriani, Andrea; Tricco, Andrea C; Straus, Sharon E; Siontis, George C M; Egger, Matthias

2018-01-01

Abstract Objective To examine whether the continuous updating of networks of prospectively planned randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (“living” network meta-analysis) provides strong evidence against the null hypothesis in comparative effectiveness of medical interventions earlier than the updating of conventional, pairwise meta-analysis. Design Empirical study of the accumulating evidence about the comparative effectiveness of clinical interventions. Data sources Database of network meta-analyses of RCTs identified through searches of Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews until 14 April 2015. Eligibility criteria for study selection Network meta-analyses published after January 2012 that compared at least five treatments and included at least 20 RCTs. Clinical experts were asked to identify in each network the treatment comparison of greatest clinical interest. Comparisons were excluded for which direct and indirect evidence disagreed, based on side, or node, splitting test (Pmeta-analysis. The frequency and time to strong evidence was compared against the null hypothesis between pairwise and network meta-analyses. Results 49 comparisons of interest from 44 networks were included; most (n=39, 80%) were between active drugs, mainly from the specialties of cardiology, endocrinology, psychiatry, and rheumatology. 29 comparisons were informed by both direct and indirect evidence (59%), 13 by indirect evidence (27%), and 7 by direct evidence (14%). Both network and pairwise meta-analysis provided strong evidence against the null hypothesis for seven comparisons, but for an additional 10 comparisons only network meta-analysis provided strong evidence against the null hypothesis (P=0.002). The median time to strong evidence against the null hypothesis was 19 years with living network meta-analysis and 23 years with living pairwise meta-analysis (hazard ratio 2.78, 95% confidence interval 1.00 to 7.72, P=0.05). Studies directly comparing

Equivalence and standard scores of the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness across Spanish men and women

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Pablo Santos-Iglesias

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present study was to analyze the measurement invariance and differential item functioning of the Spanish version of the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness across gender. The sample was composed of 1,600 women and 1,598 men from Spain, with ages ranging from 18 to 84 years old. The Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness only showed weak invariance for men and women. The differential item functioning analysis showed that only item 2 ("I feel that I am shy when it comes to sex" flagged moderate uniform differential item functioning. More specifically, women tended to respond "Always" to this item more frequently than did men. Results strongly suggested eliminating item 2, resulting in a final version with 18 items clustered into two dimensions with good reliability values for men and women. Standard scores for both Initiation and No Shyness/Refusal reflected traditional sexual scripts for men and women.

ProteinWorldDB: querying radical pairwise alignments among protein sets from complete genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Thomas Dan; Catanho, Marcos; Tristão, Cristian; Bezerra, Márcia; Fernandes, Renan Mathias; Elias, Guilherme Steinberger; Scaglia, Alexandre Capeletto; Bovermann, Bill; Berstis, Viktors; Lifschitz, Sergio; de Miranda, Antonio Basílio; Degrave, Wim

2010-03-01

Many analyses in modern biological research are based on comparisons between biological sequences, resulting in functional, evolutionary and structural inferences. When large numbers of sequences are compared, heuristics are often used resulting in a certain lack of accuracy. In order to improve and validate results of such comparisons, we have performed radical all-against-all comparisons of 4 million protein sequences belonging to the RefSeq database, using an implementation of the Smith-Waterman algorithm. This extremely intensive computational approach was made possible with the help of World Community Grid, through the Genome Comparison Project. The resulting database, ProteinWorldDB, which contains coordinates of pairwise protein alignments and their respective scores, is now made available. Users can download, compare and analyze the results, filtered by genomes, protein functions or clusters. ProteinWorldDB is integrated with annotations derived from Swiss-Prot, Pfam, KEGG, NCBI Taxonomy database and gene ontology. The database is a unique and valuable asset, representing a major effort to create a reliable and consistent dataset of cross-comparisons of the whole protein content encoded in hundreds of completely sequenced genomes using a rigorous dynamic programming approach. The database can be accessed through http://proteinworlddb.org

Health literacy is associated with healthy eating index scores and sugar-sweetened beverage intake: findings from the rural lower Mississippi delta

Science.gov (United States)

Although health literacy has been a public health priority area for more than a decade, the relationship between health literacy and dietary quality has not been thoroughly explored. This study, evaluates health literacy skills in relation to Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores and sugar-sweetened bev...

Efficacy of NETDC (New England Trophoblastic Disease Center prognostic index score to predict gestational trophoblastic tumor from hydatidiform mole

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khrismawan Khrismawan

2004-03-01

Full Text Available A prospective longitudinal analytic study assessing the efficacy of NETDC (New England Trophoblastic Disease Center prognostic index score in predicting malignancy after hydatidiform mole had been performed. Of the parameter evaluated; age of patients, type of hydatidiform mole, uterine enlargement, serum hCG level, lutein cyst, and presence of complicating factors were significant risk factors for malignancy after hydatidiform mole were evacuated (p<0.032. The study were done on 50 women diagnosed with hydatidiform mole with 1 year observation (January 2001-December 2002 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mohammad Hoesin Hospital, Palembang. The results showed that the NETDC prognostic index score predicted malignancy in 50% of high risk group and 10% in low risk group (p<0.05. This showed a higher number than that found by the WHO (19%-30%. The risk for incidence of  malignancy after hydatidiform mole in the high risk group is 9.0 times higher compared to that of the low risk group (CI: 1.769-45.786. (Med J Indones 2004; 13: 40-6 Keywords: New England Trophoblastic Disease Center (NETDC, gestational trophoblastic tumor, hydatidiform mole, high and low risk

Image ranking in video sequences using pairwise image comparisons and temporal smoothing

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Burke, Michael

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The ability to predict the importance of an image is highly desirable in computer vision. This work introduces an image ranking scheme suitable for use in video or image sequences. Pairwise image comparisons are used to determine image ‘interest...

Dynamics of pairwise entanglement between two Tavis-Cummings atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Jinliang; Song Heshan

2008-01-01

We investigate the time evolution of pairwise entanglement between two Tavis-Cummings atoms for various entangled initial states, including pure and mixed states. We find that the phenomenon of entanglement sudden death behaviors is distinct in the evolution of entanglement for different initial states. What deserves mentioning here is that the initial portion of the excited state in the initial state is responsible for the sudden death of entanglement, and the degree of this effect also depends on the initial states

Psychometric properties of the Neck OutcOme Score, Neck Disability Index, and Short Form-36 were evaluated in patients with neck pain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juul, Tina; Søgaard, Karen; Davis, Aileen M.

2016-01-01

Objective:To assess reliability, construct validity, responsiveness, and interpretability for Neck OutcOme Score (NOOS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Short Form–36 (SF-36) in neck pain patients. Study Design and Setting: Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach alpha. Test-retest reliabi...

Simultaneous-Fault Diagnosis of Gas Turbine Generator Systems Using a Pairwise-Coupled Probabilistic Classifier

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Zhixin Yang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A reliable fault diagnostic system for gas turbine generator system (GTGS, which is complicated and inherent with many types of component faults, is essential to avoid the interruption of electricity supply. However, the GTGS diagnosis faces challenges in terms of the existence of simultaneous-fault diagnosis and high cost in acquiring the exponentially increased simultaneous-fault vibration signals for constructing the diagnostic system. This research proposes a new diagnostic framework combining feature extraction, pairwise-coupled probabilistic classifier, and decision threshold optimization. The feature extraction module adopts wavelet packet transform and time-domain statistical features to extract vibration signal features. Kernel principal component analysis is then applied to further reduce the redundant features. The features of single faults in a simultaneous-fault pattern are extracted and then detected using a probabilistic classifier, namely, pairwise-coupled relevance vector machine, which is trained with single-fault patterns only. Therefore, the training dataset of simultaneous-fault patterns is unnecessary. To optimize the decision threshold, this research proposes to use grid search method which can ensure a global solution as compared with traditional computational intelligence techniques. Experimental results show that the proposed framework performs well for both single-fault and simultaneous-fault diagnosis and is superior to the frameworks without feature extraction and pairwise coupling.

Interlaboratory assessment of mitotic index by flow cytometry confirms superior reproducibility relative to microscopic scoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, D J; Spellman, R A; Sanok, K; Chen, H; Chan, M; Yurt, P; Thakur, A K; DeVito, G L; Murli, H; Stankowski, L F

2012-05-01

A flow cytometric procedure for determining mitotic index (MI) as part of the metaphase chromosome aberrations assay, developed and utilized routinely at Pfizer as part of their standard assay design, has been adopted successfully by Covance laboratories. This method, using antibodies against phosphorylated histone tails (H3PS10) and nucleic acid stain, has been evaluated by the two independent test sites and compared to manual scoring. Primary human lymphocytes were treated with cyclophosphamide, mitomycin C, benzo(a)pyrene, and etoposide at concentrations inducing dose-dependent cytotoxicity. Deming regression analysis indicates that the results generated via flow cytometry (FCM) were more consistent between sites than those generated via microscopy. Further analysis using the Bland-Altman modification of the Tukey mean difference method supports this finding, as the standard deviations (SDs) of differences in MI generated by FCM were less than half of those generated manually. Decreases in scoring variability owing to the objective nature of FCM, and the greater number of cells analyzed, make FCM a superior method for MI determination. In addition, the FCM method has proven to be transferable and easily integrated into standard genetic toxicology laboratory operations. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The diet-related GHG index

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Thomas Bøker; Watson, David; Smed, Sinne

2017-01-01

The aim was to construct and validate a cost-efficient index to measure GHG emissions (GHGe) caused by Danish consumers’ diets to be employed in questionnaire-based surveys. The index was modelled on the basis of actual food purchase data from a panel of ordinary Danish households...... and a questionnaire consisting of food frequency questions issued to the same panel. Based on the purchase data, diet-related GHGe were calculated for 2012. The data was then split into a learning sample and a validation sample. The index was constructed using the learning sample where a scoring procedure...... was calculated from responses to the questionnaire-based food frequency questions that predicted diet-related GHGe. Subsequently, the index scoring procedure was employed on the validation sample and the empirical relevance of the index was examined. In the learning sample, a scoring procedure to construct...

GapMis: a tool for pairwise sequence alignment with a single gap.

Science.gov (United States)

Flouri, Tomás; Frousios, Kimon; Iliopoulos, Costas S; Park, Kunsoo; Pissis, Solon P; Tischler, German

2013-08-01

Pairwise sequence alignment has received a new motivation due to the advent of recent patents in next-generation sequencing technologies, particularly so for the application of re-sequencing---the assembly of a genome directed by a reference sequence. After the fast alignment between a factor of the reference sequence and a high-quality fragment of a short read by a short-read alignment programme, an important problem is to find the alignment between a relatively short succeeding factor of the reference sequence and the remaining low-quality part of the read allowing a number of mismatches and the insertion of a single gap in the alignment. We present GapMis, a tool for pairwise sequence alignment with a single gap. It is based on a simple algorithm, which computes a different version of the traditional dynamic programming matrix. The presented experimental results demonstrate that GapMis is more suitable and efficient than most popular tools for this task.

Locating one pairwise interaction: Three recursive constructions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles J. Colbourn

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In a complex component-based system, choices (levels for components (factors may interact tocause faults in the system behaviour. When faults may be caused by interactions among few factorsat specific levels, covering arrays provide a combinatorial test suite for discovering the presence offaults. While well studied, covering arrays do not enable one to determine the specific levels of factorscausing the faults; locating arrays ensure that the results from test suite execution suffice to determinethe precise levels and factors causing faults, when the number of such causes is small. Constructionsfor locating arrays are at present limited to heuristic computational methods and quite specific directconstructions. In this paper three recursive constructions are developed for locating arrays to locateone pairwise interaction causing a fault.

The Mediterranean Diet Score Is More Strongly Associated with Favorable Cardiometabolic Risk Factors over 2 Years Than Other Diet Quality Indexes in Puerto Rican Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattei, Josiemer; Sotos-Prieto, Mercedes; Bigornia, Sherman J; Noel, Sabrina E; Tucker, Katherine L

2017-04-01

Background: Multiple diet quality scores have been used to evaluate adherence to specific dietary recommendations or to consumption of healthful foods and nutrients. It remains unknown which score can more strongly predict longitudinal changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. Objective: We aimed to determine associations of 5 diet quality scores [AHA diet score (AHA-DS), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005, Mediterranean diet score (MeDS), and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)] with 2-y changes in cardiometabolic risk factors in adults 45-75 y old. Methods: Data from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study were analyzed ( n = 1194). Diet quality scores were calculated from a baseline-validated food-frequency questionnaire. Multivariable-adjusted, repeated-subjects, mixed-effects models, adjusted for baseline measures, estimated associations between each z score and 14 individual cardiometabolic factors measured at 2 y. Results: MeDS was significantly associated with lower 2-y waist circumference (β coefficient ± SE: -0.52 ± 0.26, P = 0.048); body mass index (BMI; -0.23 ± 0.08, P = 0.005); log-insulin (-0.06 ± 0.02, P = 0.005); log-homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR; -0.05 ± 0.02, P = 0.030), and log-C-reactive protein (-0.13 ± 0.03, P = 0.0002). Similar but weaker associations were observed for the AHEI with BMI, insulin, and HOMA-IR. The AHA-DS was inversely associated with BMI (-0.17 ± 0.08, P = 0.033). Neither the HEI-2005 nor DASH was significantly associated with any variable. Traditional Puerto Rican foods consumed by individuals with high MeDSs included vegetables and meats in homemade soups, orange juice, oatmeal, beans and legumes, fish, whole milk, corn oil, and beer. Conclusions: The MeDS comprises food components and scores associated with a favorable cardiometabolic profile over 2 y in Puerto Rican adults. An overall healthy diet may be particularly beneficial for

Geometric measure of pairwise quantum discord for superpositions of multipartite generalized coherent states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daoud, M.; Ahl Laamara, R.

2012-01-01

We give the explicit expressions of the pairwise quantum correlations present in superpositions of multipartite coherent states. A special attention is devoted to the evaluation of the geometric quantum discord. The dynamics of quantum correlations under a dephasing channel is analyzed. A comparison of geometric measure of quantum discord with that of concurrence shows that quantum discord in multipartite coherent states is more resilient to dissipative environments than is quantum entanglement. To illustrate our results, we consider some special superpositions of Weyl–Heisenberg, SU(2) and SU(1,1) coherent states which interpolate between Werner and Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states. -- Highlights: ► Pairwise quantum correlations multipartite coherent states. ► Explicit expression of geometric quantum discord. ► Entanglement sudden death and quantum discord robustness. ► Generalized coherent states interpolating between Werner and Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states

Geometric measure of pairwise quantum discord for superpositions of multipartite generalized coherent states

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daoud, M., E-mail: m_daoud@hotmail.com [Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University Ibnou Zohr, Agadir (Morocco); Ahl Laamara, R., E-mail: ahllaamara@gmail.com [LPHE-Modeling and Simulation, Faculty of Sciences, University Mohammed V, Rabat (Morocco); Centre of Physics and Mathematics, CPM, CNESTEN, Rabat (Morocco)

2012-07-16

We give the explicit expressions of the pairwise quantum correlations present in superpositions of multipartite coherent states. A special attention is devoted to the evaluation of the geometric quantum discord. The dynamics of quantum correlations under a dephasing channel is analyzed. A comparison of geometric measure of quantum discord with that of concurrence shows that quantum discord in multipartite coherent states is more resilient to dissipative environments than is quantum entanglement. To illustrate our results, we consider some special superpositions of Weyl–Heisenberg, SU(2) and SU(1,1) coherent states which interpolate between Werner and Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states. -- Highlights: ► Pairwise quantum correlations multipartite coherent states. ► Explicit expression of geometric quantum discord. ► Entanglement sudden death and quantum discord robustness. ► Generalized coherent states interpolating between Werner and Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states.

Uninvolved Maternal Feeding Style Moderates the Association of Emotional Overeating to Preschoolers' Body Mass Index z-Scores.

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Hankey, Maren; Williams, Natalie A; Dev, Dipti

2016-09-01

To examine the relation between preschoolers' eating behaviors and body mass index (BMI) z-scores (BMIz) and the moderating role of permissive parent feeding styles in these associations. Cross-sectional study involving mothers' report of food-related parenting styles and child eating behaviors. Small city in southern Mississippi. Mother-preschooler dyads (n = 104). Child body BMIz. Moderated multiple regression. An uninvolved feeding style moderated the relationship between emotional eating and BMIz such that children with higher emotional overeating scores had higher a BMIz in the presence of an uninvolved feeding style (B = 2.16; P = .01). An uninvolved feeding style may be a risk factor for higher BMIz in preschoolers who tend to overeat to cope with negative emotions. For other children in this population, self-regulatory aspects of eating may be more important than mothers' feeding style in the maintenance of healthy weight. Copyright © 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the indicators atherogenic index and lipid preventive score of white brine cheese by buffalo milk after technological processing and storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanova, S.; Nacheva, I.; Miteva, D.

2011-01-01

The present investigation had the objective to study the changes in the atherogenic index - AI and the lipid preventive score - LPS as nutritious indicators for assessment of the risk of cardio-vascular diseases, on the basis of the fatty acid composition of white brine cheese by buffalo milk after applying of two methods of preservation – freeze-drying and dry gamma sterilization with 2 and 4 kGy. The analysis was made with the aid of gas chromatograph SHIMADZU 2010. The lyophilized cheese is characterized by a comparatively low AI - 2.59 after lyophilization and is preserved during storage - 2.55. After lyophilization the LPS of the cheese was the highest – 103.70, while after irradiation a decrease of its value was observed up to 97.73 with 2 kGy and 96.91 with 4 kGy. Key words: white brine cheese by buffalo milk, atherogenic index, lipid preventive score, freeze-drying - lyophilization, gamma sterilization

Assessment of the Indicators Atherogenic Index and Lipid Preventive Score of White Brine Cheese by Buffalo Milk after Technological Processing and Storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanova, S.; Nacheva, I.; Miteva, D.

2011-01-01

The present investigation had the objective to study the changes in the atherogenic index - AI and the lipid preventive score - LPS as nutritious indicators for assessment of the risk of cardio-vascular diseases, on the basis of the fatty acid composition of white brine cheese by buffalo milk after applying of two methods of preservation – freeze-drying and dry gamma sterilization with 2 and 4 kGy. The analysis was made with the aid of gas chromatograph SHIMADZU 2010. The lyophilized cheese is characterized by a comparatively low AI - 2.59 after lyophilization and is preserved during storage - 2.55. After lyophilization the LPS of the cheese was the highest – 103.70, while after irradiation a decrease of its value was observed up to 97.73 with 2 kGy and 96.91 with 4 kGy. Key words: white brine cheese by buffalo milk, atherogenic index, lipid preventive score, freeze-drying - lyophilization, gamma sterilization

A comparison between two healthy diet scores, the modified Mediterranean diet score and the Healthy Nordic Food Index, in relation to all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

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Warensjö Lemming, Eva; Byberg, Liisa; Wolk, Alicja; Michaëlsson, Karl

2018-04-01

High adherence to healthy diets has the potential to prevent disease and prolong life span, and healthy dietary pattern scores have each been associated with disease and mortality. We studied two commonly promoted healthy diet scores (modified Mediterranean diet score (mMED) and the Healthy Nordic Food Index (HNFI)) and the combined effect of the two scores in association with all-cause and cause-specific mortality (cancer, CVD and ischaemic heart disease). The study included 38 428 women (median age of 61 years) from the Swedish Mammography Cohort. Diet and covariate data were collected in a questionnaire. mMED and HNFI were generated and categorised into low-, medium- and high-adherence groups, and in nine combinations of these. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of register-ascertained mortality and 95 % CI were calculated in Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. During follow-up (median: 17 years), 10 478 women died. In the high-adherence categories compared with low-adherence categories, the HR for all-cause mortality was 0·76 (95 % CI 0·70, 0·81) for mMED and 0·89 (95 % CI 0·83, 0·96) for HNFI. Higher adherence to mMED was associated with lower mortality in each stratum of HNFI in the combined analysis. In general, mMED, compared with HNFI, was more strongly associated with a lower cause-specific mortality. In Swedish women, both mMED and HNFI were inversely associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The combined analysis, however, indicated an advantage to be adherent to the mMED. The present version of HNFI did not associate with mortality independent of mMED score.

Weighting with the Lansbury articular index improves the correlation of ultrasound score with serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 level in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorai, Misa; Ogasawara, Michihiro; Matsuki, Yuko; Yamada, Yusuke; Murayama, Go; Sugisaki, Nagachika; Nemoto, Takuya; Ando, Seiichiro; Minowa, Kentaro; Kon, Takayuki; Tada, Kurisu; Matsushita, Masakazu; Yamaji, Ken; Tamura, Naoto; Takasaki, Yoshinari

2014-11-01

To determine whether weighting improves the correlation of ultrasound (US) score with serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) level in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As ultrasound examination was performed on 100 RA patients, and the severity of synovial effusion and synovial hypertrophy and the blood flow were semi-quantitatively graded from 0 to 3 by using the gray-scale (GS) and power Doppler (PD) modes. We then calculated the sums of the scores of the 28 joints of each patient in the 2 modes, that is, the GS28 and PD28 scores, as well as the respective scores weighted using the Lansbury articular index (LAI, shoulder and elbow, × 12; wrist, × 8; and knee, × 24)-Lans GS28 and Lans PD28 scores. The Lans PD28 score showed a higher correlation with MMP-3 (r = 0.591; 95% confidence interval, 0.446-0.705, p correlated well with the serum MMP-3 level. Weighting with the LAI can improve the correlation of US findings with serum MMP-3 level. Bidirectional approach based on both serum MMP-3 level and US scores can further improve the assessment of disease activity in RA patients.

Depressive symptoms predict future simple disease activity index scores and simple disease activity index remission in a prospective cohort of patients with early inflammatory polyarthritis.

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Leblanc-Trudeau, Charlotte; Dobkin, Patricia L; Carrier, Nathalie; Cossette, Pierre; de Brum-Fernandes, Artur J; Liang, Patrick; Masetto, Ariel; Boire, Gilles

2015-12-01

To determine whether depressive symptoms assessed in treated patients with early inflammatory polyarthritis (EPA) influence disease activity during follow-up. Consecutively recruited EPA patients were actively treated to remission. Simple disease activity index (SDAI) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores were calculated at inclusion and up to 42 months into disease. SDAI scores were log-transformed to compute univariate and multivariate linear regressions. Parametric interval-censored Kaplan-Meier and survival regressions using Weibull distribution were used to assess time to and predictors of SDAI remission. A total of 275 EPA patients were recruited at a median of 4 months into disease. In multivariate linear regression models, accounting for baseline demographic, clinical, serological and functional variables and 12-month inflammation markers, CES-D scores at 12 months into disease were correlated (r(2) = 0.14) with subsequent SDAI scores. Patients with 12-month high CES-D (≥19; suggestive of depression) had a lower proportion of SDAI remission (31.3% vs 84.3%; P < 0.001) and reached SDAI remission less rapidly [hazard ratio = 0.25 (95% CI 0.12, 0.53); P < 0.001]. Each follow-up SDAI correlated significantly with 12-month depressive symptoms, a median of 7 months after initiation of treatment. CES-D scores suggestive of depression at 12 months were strongly correlated with delay and failure to reach remission later on. Depressive symptoms in treated EPA patients represent important clinical issues with long-term association with disease activity. Interventions to alleviate persistent depressive symptoms in treated EPA warrant careful evaluation of their potential to improve disease remission rates. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Randomized Approaches for Nearest Neighbor Search in Metric Space When Computing the Pairwise Distance Is Extremely Expensive

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Wang, Lusheng; Yang, Yong; Lin, Guohui

Finding the closest object for a query in a database is a classical problem in computer science. For some modern biological applications, computing the similarity between two objects might be very time consuming. For example, it takes a long time to compute the edit distance between two whole chromosomes and the alignment cost of two 3D protein structures. In this paper, we study the nearest neighbor search problem in metric space, where the pair-wise distance between two objects in the database is known and we want to minimize the number of distances computed on-line between the query and objects in the database in order to find the closest object. We have designed two randomized approaches for indexing metric space databases, where objects are purely described by their distances with each other. Analysis and experiments show that our approaches only need to compute O(logn) objects in order to find the closest object, where n is the total number of objects in the database.

On the calculation of x-ray scattering signals from pairwise radial distribution functions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dohn, Asmus Ougaard; Biasin, Elisa; Haldrup, Kristoffer

2015-01-01

We derive a formulation for evaluating (time-resolved) x-ray scattering signals of solvated chemical systems, based on pairwise radial distribution functions, with the aim of this formulation to accompany molecular dynamics simulations. The derivation is described in detail to eliminate any possi...

Performance of the Hack's Impairment Index Score: A Novel Tool to Assess Impairment from Alcohol in Emergency Department Patients.

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Hack, Jason B; Goldlust, Eric J; Ferrante, Dennis; Zink, Brian J

2017-10-01

Over 35 million alcohol-impaired (AI) patients are cared for in emergency departments (EDs) annually. Emergency physicians are charged with ensuring AI patients' safety by identifying resolution of alcohol-induced impairment. The most common standard evaluation is an extemporized clinical examination, as ethanol levels are not reliable or predictive of clinical symptoms. There is no standard assessment of ED AI patients. The objective was to evaluate a novel standardized ED assessment of alcohol impairment, Hack's Impairment Index (HII score), in a busy urban ED. A retrospective chart review was performed for all AI patients seen in our busy urban ED over 24 months. Trained nurses evaluated AI patients with both "usual" and HII score every 2 hours. Patients were stratified by frequency of visits for AI during this time: high (≥ 6), medium (2-5), and low (1). Within each category, comparisons were made between HII scores, measured ethanol levels, and usual nursing assessment of AI. Changes in HII scores over time were also evaluated. A total of 8,074 visits from 3,219 unique patients were eligible for study, including 7,973 (98.7%) with ethanol levels, 5,061 (62.7%) with complete HII scores, and 3,646 (45.2%) with health care provider assessments. Correlations between HII scores and ethanol levels were poor (Pearson's R 2  = 0.09, 0.09, and 0.17 for high-, medium-, and low-frequency strata). HII scores were excellent at discriminating nursing assessment of AI, while ethanol levels were less effective. Omitting extrema, HII scores fell consistently an average 0.062 points per hour, throughout patients' visits. The HII score applied a quantitative, objective assessment of alcohol impairment. HII scores were superior to ethanol levels as an objective clinical measure of impairment. The HII declines in a reasonably predictable manner over time, with serial evaluations corresponding well with health care provider evaluations. © 2017 by the Society for Academic

A pragmatic pairwise group-decision method for selection of sites for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kutbi, I.I.

1987-01-01

A pragmatic pairwise group-decision approach is applied to compare two regions in order to select the more suitable one for construction of nulcear power plants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The selection methodology is based on pairwise comparison by forced choice. The method facilitates rating of the regions or sites using simple calculations. Two regions, one close to Dhahran on the Arabian Gulf and another close to Jeddah on the Red Sea, are evaluated. No specific site in either region is considered at this stage. The comparison is based on a set of selection criteria which include (i) topography, (ii) geology, (iii) seismology, (iv) meteorology, (v) oceanography, (vi) hydrology and (vii) proximetry to oil and gas fields. The comparison shows that the Jeddah region is more suitable than the Dhahran region. (orig.)

BETASCAN: probable beta-amyloids identified by pairwise probabilistic analysis.

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Allen W Bryan

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Amyloids and prion proteins are clinically and biologically important beta-structures, whose supersecondary structures are difficult to determine by standard experimental or computational means. In addition, significant conformational heterogeneity is known or suspected to exist in many amyloid fibrils. Recent work has indicated the utility of pairwise probabilistic statistics in beta-structure prediction. We develop here a new strategy for beta-structure prediction, emphasizing the determination of beta-strands and pairs of beta-strands as fundamental units of beta-structure. Our program, BETASCAN, calculates likelihood scores for potential beta-strands and strand-pairs based on correlations observed in parallel beta-sheets. The program then determines the strands and pairs with the greatest local likelihood for all of the sequence's potential beta-structures. BETASCAN suggests multiple alternate folding patterns and assigns relative a priori probabilities based solely on amino acid sequence, probability tables, and pre-chosen parameters. The algorithm compares favorably with the results of previous algorithms (BETAPRO, PASTA, SALSA, TANGO, and Zyggregator in beta-structure prediction and amyloid propensity prediction. Accurate prediction is demonstrated for experimentally determined amyloid beta-structures, for a set of known beta-aggregates, and for the parallel beta-strands of beta-helices, amyloid-like globular proteins. BETASCAN is able both to detect beta-strands with higher sensitivity and to detect the edges of beta-strands in a richly beta-like sequence. For two proteins (Abeta and Het-s, there exist multiple sets of experimental data implying contradictory structures; BETASCAN is able to detect each competing structure as a potential structure variant. The ability to correlate multiple alternate beta-structures to experiment opens the possibility of computational investigation of prion strains and structural heterogeneity of amyloid

Association of a body mass index genetic risk score with growth throughout childhood and adolescence.

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Nicole M Warrington

Full Text Available While the number of established genetic variants associated with adult body mass index (BMI is growing, the relationships between these variants and growth during childhood are yet to be fully characterised. We examined the association between validated adult BMI associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs and growth trajectories across childhood. We investigated the timing of onset of the genetic effect and whether it was sex specific.Children from the ALSPAC and Raine birth cohorts were used for analysis (n = 9,328. Genotype data from 32 adult BMI associated SNPs were investigated individually and as an allelic score. Linear mixed effects models with smoothing splines were used for longitudinal modelling of the growth parameters and measures of adiposity peak and rebound were derived.The allelic score was associated with BMI growth throughout childhood, explaining 0.58% of the total variance in BMI in females and 0.44% in males. The allelic score was associated with higher BMI at the adiposity peak (females  =  0.0163 kg/m(2 per allele, males  =  0.0123 kg/m(2 per allele and earlier age (-0.0362 years per allele in males and females and higher BMI (0.0332 kg/m(2 per allele in females and 0.0364 kg/m(2 per allele in males at the adiposity rebound. No gene:sex interactions were detected for BMI growth.This study suggests that known adult genetic determinants of BMI have observable effects on growth from early childhood, and is consistent with the hypothesis that genetic determinants of adult susceptibility to obesity act from early childhood and develop over the life course.

Clinical use of the ABO-Scoring Index: reliability and subtraction frequency.

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Lieber, William S; Carlson, Sean K; Baumrind, Sheldon; Poulton, Donald R

2003-10-01

This study tested the reliability and subtraction frequency of the study model-scoring system of the American Board of Orthodontists (ABO). We used a sample of 36 posttreatment study models that were selected randomly from six different orthodontic offices. Intrajudge and interjudge reliability was calculated using nonparametric statistics (Spearman rank coefficient, Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney tests). We found differences ranging from 3 to 6 subtraction points (total score) for intrajudge scoring between two sessions. For overall total ABO score, the average correlation was .77. Intrajudge correlation was greatest for occlusal relationships and least for interproximal contacts. Interjudge correlation for ABO score averaged r = .85. Correlation was greatest for buccolingual inclination and least for overjet. The data show that some judges, on average, were much more lenient than others and that this resulted in a range of total scores between 19.7 and 27.5. Most of the deductions were found in the buccal segments and most were related to the second molars. We present these findings in the context of clinicians preparing for the ABO phase III examination and for orthodontists in their ongoing evaluation of clinical results.

Development and evaluation of the Dutch Healthy Diet index 2015.

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Looman, Moniek; Feskens, Edith Jm; de Rijk, Mariëlle; Meijboom, Saskia; Biesbroek, Sander; Temme, Elisabeth Hm; de Vries, Jeanne; Geelen, Anouk

2017-09-01

To update the Dutch Healthy Diet index, a measure of diet quality, to reflect adherence to the Dutch dietary guidelines 2015 and to evaluate against participants' characteristics and nutrient intakes with the score based on 24 h recall (24 hR) data and FFQ data. The Dutch Healthy Diet index 2015 (DHD15-index) consists of fifteen components representing the fifteen food-based Dutch dietary guidelines of 2015. Per component the score ranges between 0 and 10, resulting in a total score between 0 (no adherence) and 150 (complete adherence). Wageningen area, the Netherlands, 2011-2013. Data of 885 men and women, aged 20-70 years, participating in the longitudinal NQplus study, who filled out two 24 hR and one FFQ, were used. Mean (sd) score of the DHD15-index was 68·7 (16·1) for men and 79·4 (16·0) for women. Significant inverse trends were found between the DHD15-index and BMI, smoking, and intakes of energy, total fat and saturated fat. Positive trends were seen across sex-specific quintiles of the DHD15-index score with energy-adjusted micronutrient intakes. Mean DHD15-index score of the FFQ data was 15·5 points higher compared with 24 hR data, with a correlation coefficient of 0·56 between the scores. Observed trends of the DHD15-index based on FFQ with participant characteristics, macronutrient and energy-adjusted micronutrient intakes were similar to those with the DHD15-index based on 24 hR. The DHD15-index score assesses adherence to the Dutch dietary guidelines 2015 and indicates diet quality. The DHD15-index score can be based on 24 hR data and on FFQ data.

Pairwise contact energy statistical potentials can help to find probability of point mutations.

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Saravanan, K M; Suvaithenamudhan, S; Parthasarathy, S; Selvaraj, S

2017-01-01

To adopt a particular fold, a protein requires several interactions between its amino acid residues. The energetic contribution of these residue-residue interactions can be approximated by extracting statistical potentials from known high resolution structures. Several methods based on statistical potentials extracted from unrelated proteins are found to make a better prediction of probability of point mutations. We postulate that the statistical potentials extracted from known structures of similar folds with varying sequence identity can be a powerful tool to examine probability of point mutation. By keeping this in mind, we have derived pairwise residue and atomic contact energy potentials for the different functional families that adopt the (α/β) 8 TIM-Barrel fold. We carried out computational point mutations at various conserved residue positions in yeast Triose phosphate isomerase enzyme for which experimental results are already reported. We have also performed molecular dynamics simulations on a subset of point mutants to make a comparative study. The difference in pairwise residue and atomic contact energy of wildtype and various point mutations reveals probability of mutations at a particular position. Interestingly, we found that our computational prediction agrees with the experimental studies of Silverman et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 2001;98:3092-3097) and perform better prediction than i Mutant and Cologne University Protein Stability Analysis Tool. The present work thus suggests deriving pairwise contact energy potentials and molecular dynamics simulations of functionally important folds could help us to predict probability of point mutations which may ultimately reduce the time and cost of mutation experiments. Proteins 2016; 85:54-64. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition short form for index and IQ scores in a psychiatric population.

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Christensen, Bruce K; Girard, Todd A; Bagby, R Michael

2007-06-01

An eight-subtest short form (SF8) of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Third Edition (WAIS-III), maintaining equal representation of each index factor, was developed for use with psychiatric populations. Data were collected from a mixed inpatient/outpatient sample (99 men and 101 women) referred for neuropsychological assessment. Psychometric analyses revealed an optimal SF8 comprising Vocabulary, Similarities, Arithmetic, Digit Span, Picture Completion, Matrix Reasoning, Digit Symbol Coding, and Symbol Search, scored by linear scaling. Expanding on previous short forms, the current SF8 maximizes the breadth of information and reduces administration time while maintaining the original WAIS-III factor structure. (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved

Evaluation of the correlation between Scoring Feline Allergic Dermatitis and Feline Extent and Severity Index and skin hydration in atopic cats.

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Szczepanik, Marcin P; Wilkołek, Piotr M; Adamek, Łukasz R; Zając, Marcin; Gołyński, Marcin; Sitkowski, Wiesław; Taszkun, Iwona

2018-02-01

Evaluation of the severity of clinical signs of cats with allergic skin diseases has used two scoring systems: Scoring Feline Allergic Dermatitis (SCORFAD) and the Feline Extent and Severity Index (FeDESI). The integrity of the cutaneous barrier can also be evaluated by measuring skin hydration. A correlation between the clinical score and skin hydration has been observed in humans and dogs with atopic dermatitis (AD). To demonstrate a correlation between the clinical score and skin hydration of cats affected with presumed AD. European short hair cats (n = 18): 11 females and seven males with a confirmed diagnosis of AD. SCORFAD and FeDESI scores were calculated and the measurements of skin hydration were assessed from seven body sites using corneometry. The correlation between the SCORFAD and FeDESI systems and skin hydration of each site, and the average skin hydration was calculated. There was a positive correlation between the SCORFAD score and skin hydration for the axilla, thorax and forelimb; for FeDESI and axilla and lumbar sites. There was a negative correlation between the FeDESI and skin hydration for the pinna (r = -0.47). Measurements of skin hydration could be a useful tool for the evaluation of allergic cats. There is limited evidence of any useful correlation between clinical scoring systems and measurements of hydration. The pinna may be a suitable region for the assessment of skin barrier function in normal and allergic cats. © 2017 ESVD and ACVD.

Structural profiles of human miRNA families from pairwise clustering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaczkowski, Bogumil; Þórarinsson, Elfar; Reiche, Kristin

2009-01-01

secondary structure already predicted, little is known about the patterns of structural conservation among pre-miRNAs. We address this issue by clustering the human pre-miRNA sequences based on pairwise, sequence and secondary structure alignment using FOLDALIGN, followed by global multiple alignment...... of obtained clusters by WAR. As a result, the common secondary structure was successfully determined for four FOLDALIGN clusters: the RF00027 structural family of the Rfam database and three clusters with previously undescribed consensus structures. Availability: http://genome.ku.dk/resources/mirclust...

A pairwise residue contact area-based mean force potential for discrimination of native protein structure

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Pezeshk Hamid

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Considering energy function to detect a correct protein fold from incorrect ones is very important for protein structure prediction and protein folding. Knowledge-based mean force potentials are certainly the most popular type of interaction function for protein threading. They are derived from statistical analyses of interacting groups in experimentally determined protein structures. These potentials are developed at the atom or the amino acid level. Based on orientation dependent contact area, a new type of knowledge-based mean force potential has been developed. Results We developed a new approach to calculate a knowledge-based potential of mean-force, using pairwise residue contact area. To test the performance of our approach, we performed it on several decoy sets to measure its ability to discriminate native structure from decoys. This potential has been able to distinguish native structures from the decoys in the most cases. Further, the calculated Z-scores were quite high for all protein datasets. Conclusions This knowledge-based potential of mean force can be used in protein structure prediction, fold recognition, comparative modelling and molecular recognition. The program is available at http://www.bioinf.cs.ipm.ac.ir/softwares/surfield

Comparison of a possession score and a poverty index in predicting anaemia and undernutrition in pre-school children and women of reproductive age in rural and urban Côte d'Ivoire.

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Rohner, Fabian; Tschannen, Andres B; Northrop-Clewes, Christine; Kouassi-Gohou, Valérie; Bosso, Patrice E; Mascie-Taylor, C G Nicholas

2012-09-01

To determine whether a possession score or a poverty index best predicts undernutrition and anaemia in women of reproductive age (15-49 years; WRA) and children aged 6-59 months living in Côte d'Ivoire. Anthropometric measurements were converted to Z-scores to assess stunting, wasting and underweight in children, and converted to BMI in WRA. A venous blood sample was drawn, and Hb concentration and Plasmodium spp. infection were determined. A possession score was generated with categories of zero to four possessions. A five-point (quintile) poverty index using household assets was created using principal component analysis. These socio-economic measures were compared for their ability to predict anaemia and malnutrition. Data were from a nationally representative survey conducted in Côte d'Ivoire in 2007. A sample of 768 WRA and 717 children aged 6-59 months was analysed. Overall, 74·9 % of children and 50·2 % of WRA were anaemic; 39·5 % of the children were stunted, 28·1 % underweight and 12·8 % wasted, while 7·4 % of WRA had BMI poverty index showed a stronger relationship with nutritional status than the possession score; mean Hb difference between the poorest and wealthiest quintiles in children and WRA was 8·2 g/l and 6·5 g/l, respectively (13·9 % and 19·8 % difference in anaemia, respectively; P poverty index was generally a better predictor of undernutrition in WRA and pre-school children than the possession score.

Analysis of Geographic and Pairwise Distances among Chinese Cashmere Goat Populations

OpenAIRE

Liu, Jian-Bin; Wang, Fan; Lang, Xia; Zha, Xi; Sun, Xiao-Ping; Yue, Yao-Jing; Feng, Rui-Lin; Yang, Bo-Hui; Guo, Jian

2013-01-01

This study investigated the geographic and pairwise distances of nine Chinese local Cashmere goat populations through the analysis of 20 microsatellite DNA markers. Fluorescence PCR was used to identify the markers, which were selected based on their significance as identified by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG). In total, 206 alleles were detected; the average allele number was 10.30; the polymorphism i...

A water market simulator considering pair-wise trades between agents

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Huskova, I.; Erfani, T.; Harou, J. J.

2012-04-01

In many basins in England no further water abstraction licences are available. Trading water between water rights holders has been recognized as a potentially effective and economically efficient strategy to mitigate increasing scarcity. A screening tool that could assess the potential for trade through realistic simulation of individual water rights holders would help assess the solution's potential contribution to local water management. We propose an optimisation-driven water market simulator that predicts pair-wise trade in a catchment and represents its interaction with natural hydrology and engineered infrastructure. A model is used to emulate licence-holders' willingness to engage in short-term trade transactions. In their simplest form agents are represented using an economic benefit function. The working hypothesis is that trading behaviour can be partially predicted based on differences in marginal values of water over space and time and estimates of transaction costs on pair-wise trades. We discuss the further possibility of embedding rules, norms and preferences of the different water user sectors to more realistically represent the behaviours, motives and constraints of individual licence holders. The potential benefits and limitations of such a social simulation (agent-based) approach is contrasted with our simulator where agents are driven by economic optimization. A case study based on the Dove River Basin (UK) demonstrates model inputs and outputs. The ability of the model to suggest impacts of water rights policy reforms on trading is discussed.

Living network meta-analysis compared with pairwise meta-analysis in comparative effectiveness research: empirical study.

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Nikolakopoulou, Adriani; Mavridis, Dimitris; Furukawa, Toshi A; Cipriani, Andrea; Tricco, Andrea C; Straus, Sharon E; Siontis, George C M; Egger, Matthias; Salanti, Georgia

2018-02-28

To examine whether the continuous updating of networks of prospectively planned randomised controlled trials (RCTs) ("living" network meta-analysis) provides strong evidence against the null hypothesis in comparative effectiveness of medical interventions earlier than the updating of conventional, pairwise meta-analysis. Empirical study of the accumulating evidence about the comparative effectiveness of clinical interventions. Database of network meta-analyses of RCTs identified through searches of Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews until 14 April 2015. Network meta-analyses published after January 2012 that compared at least five treatments and included at least 20 RCTs. Clinical experts were asked to identify in each network the treatment comparison of greatest clinical interest. Comparisons were excluded for which direct and indirect evidence disagreed, based on side, or node, splitting test (Pmeta-analyses were performed for each selected comparison. Monitoring boundaries of statistical significance were constructed and the evidence against the null hypothesis was considered to be strong when the monitoring boundaries were crossed. A significance level was defined as α=5%, power of 90% (β=10%), and an anticipated treatment effect to detect equal to the final estimate from the network meta-analysis. The frequency and time to strong evidence was compared against the null hypothesis between pairwise and network meta-analyses. 49 comparisons of interest from 44 networks were included; most (n=39, 80%) were between active drugs, mainly from the specialties of cardiology, endocrinology, psychiatry, and rheumatology. 29 comparisons were informed by both direct and indirect evidence (59%), 13 by indirect evidence (27%), and 7 by direct evidence (14%). Both network and pairwise meta-analysis provided strong evidence against the null hypothesis for seven comparisons, but for an additional 10 comparisons only network meta-analysis provided

Among 4 Diet Quality Indexes, Only the Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score Is Associated with Better Colorectal Cancer Survival and Only in African American Women in the Multiethnic Cohort.

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Jacobs, Simone; Harmon, Brook E; Ollberding, Nicholas J; Wilkens, Lynne R; Monroe, Kristine R; Kolonel, Laurence N; Le Marchand, Loic; Boushey, Carol J; Maskarinec, Gertraud

2016-09-01

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, with a 5-y survival rate of ∼65%. Therefore, the identification of modifiable health factors to improve CRC survival is crucial. We investigated the association of 4 prediagnostic a priori diet quality indexes with CRC-specific and all-cause mortality in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC). The MEC included >215,000 African-American, Native Hawaiian, Japanese-American, Latino, and white adults living in Hawaii and California who completed a validated quantitative food-frequency questionnaire in 1993-1996. CRC cases and deaths were identified through linkages to cancer registries and to state and national vital registries. Sex-specific HRs and 95% CIs were estimated for the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2010, the Alternative HEI (AHEI) 2010, the alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMED) score, and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) index with CRC-specific and overall mortality as the primary outcomes. Ethnicity-specific analyses were the secondary outcomes. Among 4204 MEC participants diagnosed with invasive CRC through 2010, 1976 all-cause and 1095 CRC-specific deaths were identified. A higher aMED score was associated with lower CRC-specific mortality in women [HR continuous pattern score divided by its respective SD (HR1SD): 0.86; 95% CI: 0.77, 0.96] but not in men (HR1SD: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.92, 1.11). A higher aMED score was also associated with lower all-cause mortality in women (HR1SD: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.81, 0.96) but not in men (HR1SD: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.07). The HEI-2010, AHEI-2010, and DASH index were not significantly associated with CRC-specific or with all-cause mortality. The inverse relation for the aMED score was limited to African Americans and to colon (compared with rectal) cancer. The aMED score was related to lower mortality only in African-American women (1 of 5 ethnic groups studied). The results should be interpreted with caution due to the small

Pairwise correlations via quantum discord and its geometric measure in a four-qubit spin chain

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Abdel-Baset A. Mohamed

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The dynamic of pairwise correlations, including quantum entanglement (QE and discord (QD with geometric measure of quantum discord (GMQD, are shown in the four-qubit Heisenberg XX spin chain. The results show that the effect of the entanglement degree of the initial state on the pairwise correlations is stronger for alternate qubits than it is for nearest-neighbor qubits. This parameter results in sudden death for QE, but it cannot do so for QD and GMQD. With different values for this entanglement parameter of the initial state, QD and GMQD differ and are sensitive for any change in this parameter. It is found that GMQD is more robust than both QD and QE to describe correlations with nonzero values, which offers a valuable resource for quantum computation.

Extraction of tacit knowledge from large ADME data sets via pairwise analysis.

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Keefer, Christopher E; Chang, George; Kauffman, Gregory W

2011-06-15

Pharmaceutical companies routinely collect data across multiple projects for common ADME endpoints. Although at the time of collection the data is intended for use in decision making within a specific project, knowledge can be gained by data mining the entire cross-project data set for patterns of structure-activity relationships (SAR) that may be applied to any project. One such data mining method is pairwise analysis. This method has the advantage of being able to identify small structural changes that lead to significant changes in activity. In this paper, we describe the process for full pairwise analysis of our high-throughput ADME assays routinely used for compound discovery efforts at Pfizer (microsomal clearance, passive membrane permeability, P-gp efflux, and lipophilicity). We also describe multiple strategies for the application of these transforms in a prospective manner during compound design. Finally, a detailed analysis of the activity patterns in pairs of compounds that share the same molecular transformation reveals multiple types of transforms from an SAR perspective. These include bioisosteres, additives, multiplicatives, and a type we call switches as they act to either turn on or turn off an activity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae-induced Pneumonia using Different Lung Lesion Scoring Systems: a Comparative Review.

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Garcia-Morante, B; Segalés, J; Fraile, L; Pérez de Rozas, A; Maiti, H; Coll, T; Sibila, M

2016-01-01

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is the primary aetiological agent of swine enzootic pneumonia (EP) and one of the major contributors to the porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC). Gross lung lesions in pigs affected by EP consist of cranioventral pulmonary consolidation (CVPC), usually distributed bilaterally in the apical, intermediate, accessory and cranial parts of the diaphragmatic lobes. Several lung scoring methods are currently in place for the evaluation of CVPC. The aims of this study were (1) to review the lung lesion scoring systems used to assess pneumonia associated with M. hyopneumoniae infection, and (2) to evaluate eight of these scoring systems by applying them to the lungs of 76 pigs with experimentally-induced M. hyopneumoniae pneumonia. A significant correlation between all lung lesion scoring systems was observed and the coefficients of determination in a regression analysis were very high between each pair-wise comparison, except for a unique scoring system based on image analysis. A formula of equivalence between lung scoring methods was developed in order to compare the results obtained with these methods. The present review provides a basis for comparison (even retrospectively) of lesions evaluated using different lung scoring systems. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Diet quality as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index, the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension score, and health outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

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Schwingshackl, Lukas; Hoffmann, Georg

2015-05-01

Dietary patterns consider synergistic effects compared with isolated foods or nutrients on health outcomes. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the associations of diet quality as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score and the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality or incidence, cancer mortality or incidence, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and neurodegenerative diseases. A literature search was performed using the electronic databases MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and EMBASE with an end date of May 10, 2014. Study-specific risk ratios were pooled using a random effect model by the Cochrane software package Review Manager 5.2. Fifteen cohort studies (34 reports), including 1,020,642 subjects, met the criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. Diets of the highest quality, as assessed by the HEI, AHEI, and DASH score, resulted in a significant risk reduction (RR) for all-cause mortality (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.80; PDiets that score highly on the HEI, AHEI, and DASH are associated with a significant reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes mellitus by 22%, 22%, 15%, and 22%, respectively, and therefore is of high public health relevance. Copyright © 2015 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lifestyle index and work ability.

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Kaleta, Dorota; Makowiec-Dabrowska, Teresa; Jegier, Anna

2006-01-01

In many countries around the world, negative changes in lifestyles are observed. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of selected lifestyle indicators on work ability among professionally active individuals. The study was performed in the randomly selected group of full-time employees (94 men and 93 women) living in the city of Lódź. Work ability was measured with the work ability index and lifestyle characteristic was assessed with the healthy lifestyle index. We analyzed four lifestyle indicators: non-smoking, healthy weight, fiber intake per day, and regular physical activity. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to control the effects of lifestyle and work ability. The analysis of lifestyle index indicated that 27.7, 30.9, 27.7 and 11.7% of men and 15.1, 21.5, 35.5 and 26.9% of women scored 0, 1, 2, 3 points, respectively. Only 2.1% of men and 1.1% of women met the criteria for the healthy lifestyle (score 4). Work ability was excellent, good and moderate in 38.3, 46.8 and 14.9% of men, and in 39.8, 14.9 and 19.3% of women, respectively. Poor work ability was found in 9.7% women. Work ability was strongly associated with lifestyle in both men and women. Among men with index score = 0, the risk of moderate work ability was nearly seven times higher than in men whose lifestyle index score exceeded 1 or more points (OR = 6.67; 95% CI: 1.94-22.90). Among women with lifestyle index score = 0, the risk of moderate or lower work ability was also highly elevated as compared to those with lifestyle index = 1 or higher (OR = 14.44; 95% CI: 3.53-59.04). Prophylactic schedules associated with the improvement of lifestyles should be addressed to all adults. Future programs aimed at increasing work ability should consider work- and lifestyle-related factors.

Hierarchical ordering with partial pairwise hierarchical relationships on the macaque brain data sets.

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Woosang Lim

Full Text Available Hierarchical organizations of information processing in the brain networks have been known to exist and widely studied. To find proper hierarchical structures in the macaque brain, the traditional methods need the entire pairwise hierarchical relationships between cortical areas. In this paper, we present a new method that discovers hierarchical structures of macaque brain networks by using partial information of pairwise hierarchical relationships. Our method uses a graph-based manifold learning to exploit inherent relationship, and computes pseudo distances of hierarchical levels for every pair of cortical areas. Then, we compute hierarchy levels of all cortical areas by minimizing the sum of squared hierarchical distance errors with the hierarchical information of few cortical areas. We evaluate our method on the macaque brain data sets whose true hierarchical levels are known as the FV91 model. The experimental results show that hierarchy levels computed by our method are similar to the FV91 model, and its errors are much smaller than the errors of hierarchical clustering approaches.

Age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index score as predictor of survival of patients with digestive system cancer who have undergone surgical resection.

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Tian, Yaohua; Jian, Zhong; Xu, Beibei; Liu, Hui

2017-10-03

Comorbidities have considerable effects on survival outcomes. The primary objective of this retrospective study was to examine the association between age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (ACCI) score and postoperative in-hospital mortality in patients with digestive system cancer who have undergone surgical resection of their cancers. Using electronic hospitalization summary reports, we identified 315,464 patients who had undergone surgery for digestive system cancer in top-rank (Grade 3A) hospitals in China between 2013 and 2015. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was applied to evaluate the effect of ACCI score on postoperative mortality, with adjustments for sex, type of resection, anesthesia methods, and caseload of each healthcare institution. The postoperative in-hospital mortality rate in the study cohort was 1.2% (3,631/315,464). ACCI score had a positive graded association with the risk of postoperative in-hospital mortality for all cancer subtypes. The adjusted HRs for postoperative in-hospital mortality scores ≥ 6 for esophagus, stomach, colorectum, pancreas, and liver and gallbladder cancer were 2.05 (95% CI: 1.45-2.92), 2.00 (95% CI: 1.60-2.49), 2.54 (95% CI: 2.02-3.21), 2.58 (95% CI: 1.68-3.97), and 4.57 (95% CI: 3.37-6.20), respectively, compared to scores of 0-1. These findings suggested that a high ACCI score is an independent predictor of postoperative in-hospital mortality in Chinese patients with digestive system cancer who have undergone surgical resection.

Higher Mediterranean Diet Quality Scores and Lower Body Mass Index Are Associated with a Less-Oxidized Plasma Glutathione and Cysteine Redox Status in Adults.

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Bettermann, Erika L; Hartman, Terryl J; Easley, Kirk A; Ferranti, Erin P; Jones, Dean P; Quyyumi, Arshed A; Vaccarino, Viola; Ziegler, Thomas R; Alvarez, Jessica A

2018-02-01

Both systemic redox status and diet quality are associated with risk outcomes in chronic disease. It is not known, however, the extent to which diet quality influences plasma thiol/disulfide redox status. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of diet, as measured by diet quality scores and other dietary factors, on systemic thiol/disulfide redox status. We performed a cross-sectional study of 685 working men and women (ages ≥18 y) in Atlanta, GA. Diet was assessed by 3 diet quality scores: the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS). We measured concentrations of plasma glutathione (GSH), cysteine, their associated oxidized forms [glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and cystine (CySS), respectively], and their redox potentials (EhGSSG and EhCySS) to determine thiol/disulfide redox status. Linear regression modeling was performed to assess relations between diet and plasma redox after adjustment for age, body mass index (BMI), sex, race, and history of chronic disease. MDS was positively associated with plasma GSH (β = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.003, 0.03) and total GSH (GSH + GSSG) (β = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.003, 0.03), and inversely associated with the CySS:GSH ratio (β = -0.02; 95% CI: -0.04, -0.004). There were significant independent associations between individual MDS components (dairy, vegetables, fish, and monounsaturated fat intake) and varying plasma redox indexes (P indexes and other diet factors of interest were not significantly correlated with plasma thiol and disulfide redox measures. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was significantly associated with a favorable plasma thiol/disulfide redox profile, independent of BMI, in a generally healthy working adult population. Although longitudinal studies are warranted, these findings contribute to the feasibility of targeting a Mediterranean diet to improve plasma redox status.

Snacking Is Longitudinally Associated with Declines in Body Mass Index z Scores for Overweight Children, but Increases for Underweight Children.

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Taillie, Lindsey Smith; Wang, Dantong; Popkin, Barry M

2016-06-01

Few studies, to our knowledge, have examined the longitudinal association of snacking with child body mass index (BMI), especially in China, where the incidence of overweight and obesity has increased rapidly. Our objective was to examine the longitudinal association between snacking and BMI z score and to test whether this association differs by baseline weight status. Using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (2006, 2009, and 2011), we characterized snack intake for 9 provinces and 3 megacities. We used linear mixed-effects models to examine longitudinally the association between snacking (none, low, medium, and high tertiles according to energy) and BMI z score in children aged 2-13 y at baseline, controlling for sex, urbanicity, parental education, physical activity, and foods consumed at meals (n = 2277 observations). We tested whether this association differed by baseline underweight, normal weight, or overweight/obese. Snacking is prevalent in Chinese children, with fruit being the most common snack. Snacking was not associated with meaningful BMI z score changes in normal-weight children. However, in children who were underweight at baseline, snacking in the top tertiles was associated with increases in BMI z scores from 2006 to 2011 (+1.2 and +1.1 BMI z score units for ages 2-6 and 7-13 y, respectively) (P overweight/obese 2- to 6-y-old children at baseline, being in the lowest snacking tertile was associated with declines in BMI z score (-3.3), whereas in overweight 7- to 13-y-old children, being in the top tertile of snacking was associated with the greatest decline in BMI z score (-2.1) (P overweight/obese children and increased BMI in underweight children. More work will be needed to monitor this relation as Chinese diets continue to westernize. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Nonparametric predictive pairwise comparison with competing risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coolen-Maturi, Tahani

2014-01-01

In reliability, failure data often correspond to competing risks, where several failure modes can cause a unit to fail. This paper presents nonparametric predictive inference (NPI) for pairwise comparison with competing risks data, assuming that the failure modes are independent. These failure modes could be the same or different among the two groups, and these can be both observed and unobserved failure modes. NPI is a statistical approach based on few assumptions, with inferences strongly based on data and with uncertainty quantified via lower and upper probabilities. The focus is on the lower and upper probabilities for the event that the lifetime of a future unit from one group, say Y, is greater than the lifetime of a future unit from the second group, say X. The paper also shows how the two groups can be compared based on particular failure mode(s), and the comparison of the two groups when some of the competing risks are combined is discussed

Variation in dietary intake and physical activity pattern as predictors of change in body mass index (BMI) Z-score among Brazilian adolescents.

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Enes, Carla C; Slater, Betzabeth

2013-06-01

To assess whether changes in dietary intake and physical activity pattern are associated with the annual body mass index (BMI) z-score change among adolescents. The study was conducted in public schools in the city of Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a probabilistic sample of 431 adolescents participating in wave I (2004) (hereafter, baseline) and 299 in wave II (2005) (hereafter, follow-up). BMI, usual food intake, physical activity, screen time, sexual maturation and demographic variables were assessed twice. The association between annual change in food intake, physical activity, screen time, and annual BMI z-score changes were assessed by multiple regression. The study showed a positive variation in BMI z-score over one-year. Among variables related to physical activity pattern only playing videogame and using computer increased over the year. The intake of fruits and vegetables and sugar-sweetened beverages increased over one year, while the others variables showed a reduction. An increased consumption of fatty foods (β = 0.04, p = 0.04) and sweetened natural fruit juices (β = 0.05, p = 0.03) was positively associated with the rise in BMI z-score. Unhealthy dietary habits can predict the BMI z-score gain more than the physical activity pattern. The intake of fatty foods and sweetened fruit juices is associated with the BMI z-score over one year.

Variation in dietary intake and physical activity pattern as predictors of change in body mass index (BMI Z-score among Brazilian adolescents*

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Carla C. Enes

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: To assess whether changes in dietary intake and physical activity pattern are associated with the annual body mass index (BMI z-score change among adolescents. Methods: The study was conducted in public schools in the city of Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a probabilistic sample of 431 adolescents participating in wave I (2004 (hereafter, baseline and 299 in wave II (2005 (hereafter, follow-up. BMI, usual food intake, physical activity, screen time, sexual maturation and demographic variables were assessed twice. The association between annual change in food intake, physical activity, screen time, and annual BMI z-score changes were assessed by multiple regression. Results: The study showed a positive variation in BMI z-score over one-year. Among variables related to physical activity pattern only playing videogame and using computer increased over the year. The intake of fruits and vegetables and sugar-sweetened beverages increased over one year, while the others variables showed a reduction. An increased consumption of fatty foods (β = 0.04, p = 0.04 and sweetened natural fruit juices (β = 0.05, p = 0.03 was positively associated with the rise in BMI z-score. Conclusions: Unhealthy dietary habits can predict the BMI z-score gain more than the physical activity pattern. The intake of fatty foods and sweetened fruit juices is associated with the BMI z-score over one year.

Comparison of Disease Activity Score in 28 joints with ESR (DAS28), Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) & Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data with 3 measures (RAPID3) for assessing disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis at initial presentation.

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Kumar, B Siddhartha; Suneetha, P; Mohan, Alladi; Kumar, D Prabath; Sarma, K V S

2017-11-01

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), disease severity assessment is done using Disease Activity Score in 28 joints with ESR (DAS28). Computing DAS28 is time-consuming, requires laboratory testing and an online calculator. There is a need to validate rapid methods of disease severity assessment for routine daily use. This study was conducted to compare DAS28, Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data with 3 measures (RAPID3) to assess the disease activity in patients with RA. We prospectively studied the utility of CDAI, HAQ-DI and RAPID3 scoring in 100 consecutive newly diagnosed, disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) naïve adult patients with RA seen during January 2013 and June 2014 at a tertiary care teaching hospital in south India. The mean age of the patients was 42.1±11.6 yr, there were 82 females. The median [interquartile range (IQR)] symptom duration was 6 (range 4-12) months. The median (IQR) DAS28, CDAI, HAQ-DI and RAPID3 scores at presentation were 7 (6-7), 36 (28-43), 2 (1-2) and 17 (13-19), respectively. A significant positive correlation was observed between DAS28 and CDAI (r=0.568; Pfair' agreement was observed in between DAS28 and CDAI (kappa-statistic=0.296). The agreement between DAS28 and HAQ-DI (kappa-statistic=0.007) and RAPID3 (kappa-statistic=0.072) was less robust. In adult patients with RA, in the setting where illiteracy is high, CDAI emerged as the preferred choice for rapid assessment of severity of disease at the time of initial presentation.

Development of a Dietary Index to Assess Overall Diet Quality for Chinese School-Aged Children: The Chinese Children Dietary Index.

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Cheng, Guo; Duan, Ruonan; Kranz, Sibylle; Libuda, Lars; Zhang, Lishi

2016-04-01

A composite measure of diet quality is preferable to an index of nutrients, food groups, or health-promoting behaviors in dietary assessment. However, to date, such a tool for Chinese children is lacking. Based on the current Chinese Dietary Guidelines and Dietary Reference Intakes, a dietary index for Chinese school-aged children, the Chinese Children Dietary Index was developed to assess overall diet quality among children in South China. Dietary data were recorded using 24-hour recalls among 1,719 children aged 7 to 15 years between March and June 2013. Inactivity data and sociodemographic information were also collected. The Chinese Children Dietary Index included 16 components, which incorporated nutrients, foods/food groups, and health-promoting behaviors. The range of possible Chinese Children Dietary Index scores was 0 to 160, with a higher score indicating better diet quality. Pearson/Spearman correlation was used to assess relative validity using correlations between total Chinese Children Dietary Index score and age, body mass index (BMI; calculated as kg/m(2)), inactivity, whole-grain intake, frequency of fried-foods intake, nutrient adequacy ratios for energy intake and 12 nutrients not included in the Chinese Children Dietary Index, and the mean adequacy ratio. Finally, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to indicate the factors correlated with Chinese Children Dietary Index. Mean Chinese Children Dietary Index score of this sample was 88.1 points (range=34.2 to 137.8), the Chinese Children Dietary Index score of girls was higher than that of boys and decreased with higher age. Children with higher Chinese Children Dietary Index had lower body mass index and spent less time being inactive. Positive associations were observed between Chinese Children Dietary Index and the majority of nutrient adequacy ratios and the mean adequacy ratio. Age, paternal educational level, and family size were correlated with Chinese Children Dietary

Among 4 Diet Quality Indexes, Only the Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score Is Associated with Better Colorectal Cancer Survival and Only in African American Women in the Multiethnic Cohort123

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Jacobs, Simone; Harmon, Brook E; Ollberding, Nicholas J; Wilkens, Lynne R; Monroe, Kristine R; Kolonel, Laurence N; Le Marchand, Loic; Boushey, Carol J; Maskarinec, Gertraud

2016-01-01

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, with a 5-y survival rate of ∼65%. Therefore, the identification of modifiable health factors to improve CRC survival is crucial. Objective: We investigated the association of 4 prediagnostic a priori diet quality indexes with CRC-specific and all-cause mortality in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC). Methods: The MEC included >215,000 African-American, Native Hawaiian, Japanese-American, Latino, and white adults living in Hawaii and California who completed a validated quantitative food-frequency questionnaire in 1993–1996. CRC cases and deaths were identified through linkages to cancer registries and to state and national vital registries. Sex-specific HRs and 95% CIs were estimated for the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2010, the Alternative HEI (AHEI) 2010, the alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMED) score, and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) index with CRC-specific and overall mortality as the primary outcomes. Ethnicity-specific analyses were the secondary outcomes. Results: Among 4204 MEC participants diagnosed with invasive CRC through 2010, 1976 all-cause and 1095 CRC-specific deaths were identified. A higher aMED score was associated with lower CRC-specific mortality in women [HR continuous pattern score divided by its respective SD (HR1SD): 0.86; 95% CI: 0.77, 0.96] but not in men (HR1SD: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.92, 1.11). A higher aMED score was also associated with lower all-cause mortality in women (HR1SD: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.81, 0.96) but not in men (HR1SD: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.07). The HEI-2010, AHEI-2010, and DASH index were not significantly associated with CRC-specific or with all-cause mortality. The inverse relation for the aMED score was limited to African Americans and to colon (compared with rectal) cancer. Conclusions: The aMED score was related to lower mortality only in African-American women (1 of 5 ethnic groups studied). The

PairWise Neighbours database: overlaps and spacers among prokaryote genomes

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Garcia-Vallvé Santiago

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although prokaryotes live in a variety of habitats and possess different metabolic and genomic complexity, they have several genomic architectural features in common. The overlapping genes are a common feature of the prokaryote genomes. The overlapping lengths tend to be short because as the overlaps become longer they have more risk of deleterious mutations. The spacers between genes tend to be short too because of the tendency to reduce the non coding DNA among prokaryotes. However they must be long enough to maintain essential regulatory signals such as the Shine-Dalgarno (SD sequence, which is responsible of an efficient translation. Description PairWise Neighbours is an interactive and intuitive database used for retrieving information about the spacers and overlapping genes among bacterial and archaeal genomes. It contains 1,956,294 gene pairs from 678 fully sequenced prokaryote genomes and is freely available at the URL http://genomes.urv.cat/pwneigh. This database provides information about the overlaps and their conservation across species. Furthermore, it allows the wide analysis of the intergenic regions providing useful information such as the location and strength of the SD sequence. Conclusion There are experiments and bioinformatic analysis that rely on correct annotations of the initiation site. Therefore, a database that studies the overlaps and spacers among prokaryotes appears to be desirable. PairWise Neighbours database permits the reliability analysis of the overlapping structures and the study of the SD presence and location among the adjacent genes, which may help to check the annotation of the initiation sites.

Pairwise comparisons and visual perceptions of equal area polygons.

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Adamic, P; Babiy, V; Janicki, R; Kakiashvili, T; Koczkodaj, W W; Tadeusiewicz, R

2009-02-01

The number of studies related to visual perception has been plentiful in recent years. Participants rated the areas of five randomly generated shapes of equal area, using a reference unit area that was displayed together with the shapes. Respondents were 179 university students from Canada and Poland. The average error estimated by respondents using the unit square was 25.75%. The error was substantially decreased to 5.51% when the shapes were compared to one another in pairs. This gain of 20.24% for this two-dimensional experiment was substantially better than the 11.78% gain reported in the previous one-dimensional experiments. This is the first statistically sound two-dimensional experiment demonstrating that pairwise comparisons improve accuracy.

Predicting community composition from pairwise interactions

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Friedman, Jonathan; Higgins, Logan; Gore, Jeff

The ability to predict the structure of complex, multispecies communities is crucial for understanding the impact of species extinction and invasion on natural communities, as well as for engineering novel, synthetic communities. Communities are often modeled using phenomenological models, such as the classical generalized Lotka-Volterra (gLV) model. While a lot of our intuition comes from such models, their predictive power has rarely been tested experimentally. To directly assess the predictive power of this approach, we constructed synthetic communities comprised of up to 8 soil bacteria. We measured the outcome of competition between all species pairs, and used these measurements to predict the composition of communities composed of more than 2 species. The pairwise competitions resulted in a diverse set of outcomes, including coexistence, exclusion, and bistability, and displayed evidence for both interference and facilitation. Most pair outcomes could be captured by the gLV framework, and the composition of multispecies communities could be predicted for communities composed solely of such pairs. Our results demonstrate the predictive ability and utility of simple phenomenology, which enables accurate predictions in the absence of mechanistic details.

Citation analytics: Data exploration and comparative analyses of CiteScores of Open Access and Subscription-Based publications indexed in Scopus (2014-2016).

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Atayero, Aderemi A; Popoola, Segun I; Egeonu, Jesse; Oludayo, Olumuyiwa

2018-08-01

Citation is one of the important metrics that are used in measuring the relevance and the impact of research publications. The potentials of citation analytics may be exploited to understand the gains of publishing scholarly peer-reviewed research outputs in either Open Access (OA) sources or Subscription-Based (SB) sources in the bid to increase citation impact. However, relevant data required for such comparative analysis must be freely accessible for evidence-based findings and conclusions. In this data article, citation scores ( CiteScores ) of 2542 OA sources and 15,040 SB sources indexed in Scopus from 2014 to 2016 were presented and analyzed based on a set of five inclusion criteria. A robust dataset, which contains the CiteScores of OA and SB publication sources included, is attached as supplementary material to this data article to facilitate further reuse. Descriptive statistics and frequency distributions of OA CiteScores and SB CiteScores are presented in tables. Boxplot representations and scatter plots are provided to show the statistical distributions of OA CiteScores and SB CiteScores across the three sub-categories (Book Series, Journal, and Trade Journal). Correlation coefficient and p-value matrices are made available within the data article. In addition, Probability Density Functions (PDFs) and Cumulative Distribution Functions (CDFs) of OA CiteScores and SB CiteScores are computed and the results are presented using tables and graphs. Furthermore, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and multiple comparison post-hoc tests are conducted to understand the statistical difference (and its significance, if any) in the citation impact of OA publication sources and SB publication source based on CiteScore . In the long run, the data provided in this article will help policy makers and researchers in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to identify the appropriate publication source type and category for dissemination of scholarly research findings with

The structure of pairwise correlation in mouse primary visual cortex reveals functional organization in the absence of an orientation map.

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Denman, Daniel J; Contreras, Diego

2014-10-01

Neural responses to sensory stimuli are not independent. Pairwise correlation can reduce coding efficiency, occur independent of stimulus representation, or serve as an additional channel of information, depending on the timescale of correlation and the method of decoding. Any role for correlation depends on its magnitude and structure. In sensory areas with maps, like the orientation map in primary visual cortex (V1), correlation is strongly related to the underlying functional architecture, but it is unclear whether this correlation structure is an essential feature of the system or arises from the arrangement of cells in the map. We assessed the relationship between functional architecture and pairwise correlation by measuring both synchrony and correlated spike count variability in mouse V1, which lacks an orientation map. We observed significant pairwise synchrony, which was organized by distance and relative orientation preference between cells. We also observed nonzero correlated variability in both the anesthetized (0.16) and awake states (0.18). Our results indicate that the structure of pairwise correlation is maintained in the absence of an underlying anatomical organization and may be an organizing principle of the mammalian visual system preserved by nonrandom connectivity within local networks. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Best waveform score for diagnosing keratoconus

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Allan Luz

2013-12-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE: To test whether corneal hysteresis (CH and corneal resistance factor (CRF can discriminate between keratoconus and normal eyes and to evaluate whether the averages of two consecutive measurements perform differently from the one with the best waveform score (WS for diagnosing keratoconus. METHODS: ORA measurements for one eye per individual were selected randomly from 53 normal patients and from 27 patients with keratoconus. Two groups were considered the average (CH-Avg, CRF-Avg and best waveform score (CH-WS, CRF-WS groups. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to evaluate whether the variables had similar distributions in the Normal and Keratoconus groups. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC curves were calculated for each parameter to assess the efficacy for diagnosing keratoconus and the same obtained for each variable were compared pairwise using the Hanley-McNeil test. RESULTS: The CH-Avg, CRF-Avg, CH-WS and CRF-WS differed significantly between the normal and keratoconus groups (p<0.001. The areas under the ROC curve (AUROC for CH-Avg, CRF-Avg, CH-WS, and CRF-WS were 0.824, 0.873, 0.891, and 0.931, respectively. CH-WS and CRF-WS had significantly better AUROCs than CH-Avg and CRF-Avg, respectively (p=0.001 and 0.002. CONCLUSION: The analysis of the biomechanical properties of the cornea through the ORA method has proved to be an important aid in the diagnosis of keratoconus, regardless of the method used. The best waveform score (WS measurements were superior to the average of consecutive ORA measurements for diagnosing keratoconus.

Testing statistical significance scores of sequence comparison methods with structure similarity

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Leunissen Jack AM

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the past years the Smith-Waterman sequence comparison algorithm has gained popularity due to improved implementations and rapidly increasing computing power. However, the quality and sensitivity of a database search is not only determined by the algorithm but also by the statistical significance testing for an alignment. The e-value is the most commonly used statistical validation method for sequence database searching. The CluSTr database and the Protein World database have been created using an alternative statistical significance test: a Z-score based on Monte-Carlo statistics. Several papers have described the superiority of the Z-score as compared to the e-value, using simulated data. We were interested if this could be validated when applied to existing, evolutionary related protein sequences. Results All experiments are performed on the ASTRAL SCOP database. The Smith-Waterman sequence comparison algorithm with both e-value and Z-score statistics is evaluated, using ROC, CVE and AP measures. The BLAST and FASTA algorithms are used as reference. We find that two out of three Smith-Waterman implementations with e-value are better at predicting structural similarities between proteins than the Smith-Waterman implementation with Z-score. SSEARCH especially has very high scores. Conclusion The compute intensive Z-score does not have a clear advantage over the e-value. The Smith-Waterman implementations give generally better results than their heuristic counterparts. We recommend using the SSEARCH algorithm combined with e-values for pairwise sequence comparisons.

Mean Platelet Volume, Red Cell Distribution Width to Platelet Count Ratio, Globulin Platelet Index, and 16 Other Indirect Noninvasive Fibrosis Scores: How Much Do Routine Blood Tests Tell About Liver Fibrosis in Chronic Hepatitis C?

Science.gov (United States)

Thandassery, Ragesh B; Al Kaabi, Saad; Soofi, Madiha E; Mohiuddin, Syed A; John, Anil K; Al Mohannadi, Muneera; Al Ejji, Khalid; Yakoob, Rafie; Derbala, Moutaz F; Wani, Hamidullah; Sharma, Manik; Al Dweik, Nazeeh; Butt, Mohammed T; Kamel, Yasser M; Sultan, Khaleel; Pasic, Fuad; Singh, Rajvir

2016-07-01

Many indirect noninvasive scores to predict liver fibrosis are calculated from routine blood investigations. Only limited studies have compared their efficacy head to head. We aimed to compare these scores with liver biopsy fibrosis stages in patients with chronic hepatitis C. From blood investigations of 1602 patients with chronic hepatitis C who underwent a liver biopsy before initiation of antiviral treatment, 19 simple noninvasive scores were calculated. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves and diagnostic accuracy of each of these scores were calculated (with reference to the Scheuer staging) and compared. The mean age of the patients was 41.8±9.6 years (1365 men). The most common genotype was genotype 4 (65.6%). Significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis, and cirrhosis were seen in 65.1%, 25.6, and 6.6% of patients, respectively. All the scores except the aspartate transaminase (AST) alanine transaminase ratio, Pohl score, mean platelet volume, fibro-alpha, and red cell distribution width to platelet count ratio index showed high predictive accuracy for the stages of fibrosis. King's score (cutoff, 17.5) showed the highest predictive accuracy for significant and advanced fibrosis. King's score, Göteborg university cirrhosis index, APRI (the AST/platelet count ratio index), and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) had the highest predictive accuracy for cirrhosis, with the APRI (cutoff, 2) and FIB-4 (cutoff, 3.25) showing the highest diagnostic accuracy.We derived the study score 8.5 - 0.2(albumin, g/dL) +0.01(AST, IU/L) -0.02(platelet count, 10/L), which at a cutoff of >4.7 had a predictive accuracy of 0.868 (95% confidence interval, 0.833-0.904) for cirrhosis. King's score for significant and advanced fibrosis and the APRI or FIB-4 score for cirrhosis could be the best simple indirect noninvasive scores.

The hemorrhagic transformation index score: a prediction tool in middle cerebral artery ischemic stroke.

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Kalinin, Mikhail N; Khasanova, Dina R; Ibatullin, Murat M

2017-09-07

We aimed to develop a tool, the hemorrhagic transformation (HT) index (HTI), to predict any HT within 14 days after middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke onset regardless of the intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (IV rtPA) use. That is especially important in the light of missing evidence-based data concerning the timing of anticoagulant resumption after stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We retrospectively analyzed 783 consecutive MCA stroke patients. Clinical and brain imaging data at admission were recorded. A follow-up period was 2 weeks after admission. The patients were divided into derivation (DC) and validation (VC) cohorts by generating Bernoulli variates with probability parameter 0.7. Univariate/multivariate logistic regression, and factor analysis were used to extract independent predictors. Validation was performed with internal consistency reliability and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Bootstrapping was used to reduce bias. The HTI was composed of 4 items: Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score (ASPECTS), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), hyperdense MCA (HMCA) sign, and AF on electrocardiogram (ECG) at admission. According to the predicted probability (PP) range, scores were allocated to ASPECTS as follows: 10-7 = 0; 6-5 = 1; 4-3 = 2; 2-0 = 3; to NIHSS: 0-11 = 0; 12-17 = 1; 18-23 = 2; >23 = 3; to HMCA sign: yes = 1; to AF on ECG: yes = 1. The HTI score varied from 0 to 8. For each score, adjusted PP of any HT with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was as follows: 0 = 0.027 (0.011-0.042); 1 = 0.07 (0.043-0.098); 2 = 0.169 (0.125-0.213); 3 = 0.346 (0.275-0.417); 4 = 0.571 (0.474-0.668); 5 = 0.768 (0.676-0.861); 6 = 0.893 (0.829-0.957); 7 = 0.956 (0.92-0.992); 8 = 0.983 (0.965-1.0). The optimal cutpoint score to differentiate between HT-positive and negative groups was 2 (95% normal-based CI, 1-3) for the DC and VC alike. ROC area

Managing missing scores on the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauridsen, Henrik Hein

Background and purpose: It is likely that the most common method for calculating a Roland Morris Disability Index (RMDQ) sum score is to simply ignore any unanswered questions. In contrast, the raw sum score on the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) is converted to a 0-100 scale, with the advantage...... of unanswered RMDQ questions was measured in a research and a routine care setting. The accuracy of the RMDQ proportional recalculation method was measured using 311 fully completed RMDQ and matching ODI questionnaire sets. Raw sum scores were calculated, and questions systematically dropped. At each stage, sum...

Viva the h-index

OpenAIRE

Waaijers, Leo

2011-01-01

In their article 'The inconsistency of the h-index' Ludo Waltman and Nees Jan van Neck give three examples to demonstrate the inconsistency of the h-index. As will be explained, a little extension of their examples just illustrate the opposite, a stable feature of the h-index. For starting authors it, the h-index that is, focusses on the number of articles; for experienced authors its focus shifts towards the citation scores. This feature may be liked or not but does not make the h-index an i...

Improving pairwise comparison of protein sequences with domain co-occurrence

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Gascuel, Olivier

2018-01-01

Comparing and aligning protein sequences is an essential task in bioinformatics. More specifically, local alignment tools like BLAST are widely used for identifying conserved protein sub-sequences, which likely correspond to protein domains or functional motifs. However, to limit the number of false positives, these tools are used with stringent sequence-similarity thresholds and hence can miss several hits, especially for species that are phylogenetically distant from reference organisms. A solution to this problem is then to integrate additional contextual information to the procedure. Here, we propose to use domain co-occurrence to increase the sensitivity of pairwise sequence comparisons. Domain co-occurrence is a strong feature of proteins, since most protein domains tend to appear with a limited number of other domains on the same protein. We propose a method to take this information into account in a typical BLAST analysis and to construct new domain families on the basis of these results. We used Plasmodium falciparum as a case study to evaluate our method. The experimental findings showed an increase of 14% of the number of significant BLAST hits and an increase of 25% of the proteome area that can be covered with a domain. Our method identified 2240 new domains for which, in most cases, no model of the Pfam database could be linked. Moreover, our study of the quality of the new domains in terms of alignment and physicochemical properties show that they are close to that of standard Pfam domains. Source code of the proposed approach and supplementary data are available at: https://gite.lirmm.fr/menichelli/pairwise-comparison-with-cooccurrence PMID:29293498

Probing dark energy models with extreme pairwise velocities of galaxy clusters from the DEUS-FUR simulations

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Bouillot, Vincent R.; Alimi, Jean-Michel; Corasaniti, Pier-Stefano; Rasera, Yann

2015-06-01

Observations of colliding galaxy clusters with high relative velocity probe the tail of the halo pairwise velocity distribution with the potential of providing a powerful test of cosmology. As an example it has been argued that the discovery of the Bullet Cluster challenges standard Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model predictions. Halo catalogues from N-body simulations have been used to estimate the probability of Bullet-like clusters. However, due to simulation volume effects previous studies had to rely on a Gaussian extrapolation of the pairwise velocity distribution to high velocities. Here, we perform a detail analysis using the halo catalogues from the Dark Energy Universe Simulation Full Universe Runs (DEUS-FUR), which enables us to resolve the high-velocity tail of the distribution and study its dependence on the halo mass definition, redshift and cosmology. Building upon these results, we estimate the probability of Bullet-like systems in the framework of Extreme Value Statistics. We show that the tail of extreme pairwise velocities significantly deviates from that of a Gaussian, moreover it carries an imprint of the underlying cosmology. We find the Bullet Cluster probability to be two orders of magnitude larger than previous estimates, thus easing the tension with the ΛCDM model. Finally, the comparison of the inferred probabilities for the different DEUS-FUR cosmologies suggests that observations of extreme interacting clusters can provide constraints on dark energy models complementary to standard cosmological tests.

Exact p-values for pairwise comparison of Friedman rank sums, with application to comparing classifiers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eisinga, R.N.; Heskes, T.M.; Pelzer, B.J.; Grotenhuis, H.F. te

2017-01-01

Background: The Friedman rank sum test is a widely-used nonparametric method in computational biology. In addition to examining the overall null hypothesis of no significant difference among any of the rank sums, it is typically of interest to conduct pairwise comparison tests. Current approaches to

Trabecular bone score as a skeletal fragility index in acromegaly patients.

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Hong, A R; Kim, J H; Kim, S W; Kim, S Y; Shin, C S

2016-03-01

Lumbar spine trabecular bone score (TBS) was significantly decreased in active acromegaly patients. TBS may be useful to assess the skeletal fragility in acromegaly in which bone mineral density (BMD) is not sufficient to represent bone strength and explain the high incidence of fragility fractures in acromegaly patients. Although the data on BMD are controversial, patients with acromegaly have an increased risk of fragility fracture. We examined the lumbar spine TBS to explain the skeletal deterioration in acromegaly patients. We included 14 men and 19 women acromegaly patients who underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the time of diagnosis from 2000 to 2014 at Seoul National University Hospital. Ninety-nine age-, sex- and body mass index-matched controls were recruited. Biochemical parameters, lumbar spine TBS, and BMD at all sites were measured. Gonadal status was evaluated at diagnosis. Lumbar spine TBS was lower in acromegaly patients than in controls in both genders (1.345 ± 0.121 vs. 1.427 ± 0.087, P = 0.005 in men; 1.356 ± 0.082 vs. 1.431 ± 0.071, P = 0.001 in women). In contrast, BMD at all sites did not differ between the two groups. Hypogonadal acromegaly patients (men, n = 9; women, n = 12) had lower TBS values compared with controls both in men and women (all P acromegaly patients, lumbar spine TBS was lower than in women controls only (P = 0.041). Skeletal microarchitecture was deteriorated in acromegaly patients as assessed by TBS, which seems to be a consequence of growth hormone excess as well as hypogonadism, especially in women.

Risk scores-the modern Oracle of Delphi?

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Kronenberg, Florian; Schwaiger, Johannes P

2017-03-01

Recently, 4 new risk scores for the prediction of mortality and cardiovascular events were especially tailored for hemodialysis patients; these scores performed much better than previous scores. Tripepi et al. found that these risk scores were even more predictive for all-cause and cardiovascular death than the measurement of the left ventricular mass index was. Nevertheless, the investigation of left ventricular mass and function has its own place for other reasons. Copyright © 2016 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Peritoneal adhesion index (PAI: proposal of a score for the “ignored iceberg” of medicine and surgery

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Coccolini Federico

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Peritoneal adhesions describe a condition in which pathological bonds form between the omentum, the small and large bowels, the abdominal wall, and other intra-abdominal organs. Different classification systems have been proposed, but they do not resolve the underlying problem of ambiguity in the quantification and definition of adhesions. We therefore propose a standardized classification system of adhesions to universalize their definition based on the macroscopic appearance of adhesions and their diffusion to different regions of the abdomen. By scoring with these criteria, the peritoneal adhesion index (PAI can range from 0 to 30, unambiguously specifying precise adhesion scenarios. The standardized classification and quantification of adhesions would enable different studies to more meaningfully integrate their results, thereby facilitating a more comprehensive approach to the treatment and management of this pathology.

Comparison of tomographic coronary artery calcification index (calcium score) and ultrasonographic measurement of intima-media complex thickness in diabetic subjects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolski, Cyprian; Rotkiewicz, Arkadiusz; Grzelak, Piotr; Elgalal, Marcin; Stefańczyk, Ludomir

2011-01-01

At present, there is a number of diagnostic imaging procedures allowing for the evaluation of atherosclerosis. The earliest, subclinical stage of atherosclerosis can be visualized with the development of computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US) techniques. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the degree of coronary artery calcification and carotid intima-media thickness in diabetic subjects divided into different age groups. Fifty-six men, aged from 18 to 72 were included in the study. Participants were divided into 4 groups according to age (18–30, 31–45, 46–60 and more than 60 years). Two tests were performed: coronary calcium score (CS) determination and intima-media thickness (IMT) in ultrasound. CS was performed using a multi-slice scanner. Images were analyzed using the Agatson method. Ultrasound examinations were performed using a 9–12-MHz linear transducer. The correlation coefficient between calcium score index (CSI) and age of patients was 0.52 (p<0.001). The correlation between duration of diabetes and CSI was significantly lower (r=0.3; p<0.05). The increase of IMT is associated with age to a much greater extent and the correlation coefficient was 0.63 (p<0.001). IMT depended on the duration of diabetes, but the correlation was also weak (r=0.35; p<0.01). Comparison of the findings obtained in the presented study and in the group of healthy subjects proves that influence of diabetes on vascular deterioration may be observed, even among young individuals. Obtained results allow to make the following conclusions: 1. Calcium score index remains low in the group of male patients with diabetes before the age of 45. 2. Intima-media thickness correlates well with age (r=0.6; p<0.05) and weaker with the duration of diabetes (r=0.35; p<0.05). 3. IMT assessment may be a useful tool to identify the increased predisposition to atherosclerosis, also before the age of 30

Assessment of Mobility in Older People Hospitalized for Medical Illness Using de Morton Mobility Index and Cumulated Ambulation Score-Validity and Minimal Clinical Important Difference

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trøstrup, Jeanette; Andersen, Helle; Kam, Charlotte Agger Meiner

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Older adults acutely hospitalized for medical illness typically have comorbidity and disability, and inhospital physical inactivity greatly increases the likelihood of developing new disability. Thus, assessment of the patients' mobility status is crucial for planning....... Assessments of mobility using the DEMMI (score range 0-100), the CAS (score range 0-6), and the Barthel Index (BI, score range 0-100) were performed by physical or occupational therapists at hospital admission and discharge. In addition, at discharge patients and therapists were independently asked to assess...... and geriatric wards. In contrast, the CAS appears to be appropriate to identify whether a patient is independently mobile or needs assistance, while the measure is less suitable for measuring improvements in mobility.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution...

Validation and simplification of Fournier's gangrene severity index.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Tsung-Yen; Ou, Chien-Hui; Tzai, Tzong-Shin; Tong, Yat-Ching; Chang, Chien-Chen; Cheng, Hong-Lin; Yang, Wen-Horng; Lin, Yung-Ming

2014-07-01

To validate the predictive value of Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index in patients with Fournier gangrene and to facilitate patient mortality risk-stratification by simplifying the Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index. From January 1989 to December 2011, 85 male patients with clinically-documented Fournier's gangrene undergoing intensive treatment and with complete medical records were recruited. The demographic information and nine parameters of Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index were compared between survivors and non-survivors. The parameters that showed a significant difference between the two groups were selected to generate a simplified scoring index. Of the 85 patients recruited, 16 patients died of the disease with mortality rate of 18.8%. The Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index score at initial diagnosis was significantly higher in non-survivors than in survivors. Of the nine parameters of Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index, the scores of serum creatinine level, hematocrit level and serum potassium level were significantly different between the two groups. However, the mean body temperatures, heart rate, respiration rate, white blood cell count, serum sodium and bicarbonate levels were non-significantly different. Of the 12 patients with chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease, 10 died of severe sepsis. A simplified scoring index including parameters of creatinine, hematocrit and potassium was generated, which provided sensitivity and specificity of 87% and 77% in predicting patient mortality, respectively. The predictive values of this simplified Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index were shown to be non-inferior to Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index in our patients. The simplified Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index is easy to use at initial diagnosis, and offers a way to compare outcomes in different clinical populations. © 2014 The Japanese Urological Association.

Surface feeding and aggressive behaviour of diploid and triploid brown trout Salmo trutta during allopatric pair-wise matchings.

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, A C; Taylor, J F; Adams, C E; Migaud, H

2014-09-01

Diploid and triploid brown trout Salmo trutta were acclimated for 6 weeks on two feeding regimes (floating and sinking). Thereafter, aggression and surface feeding response were compared between pairs of all diploid, all triploid and diploid and triploid S. trutta in an experimental stream. In each pair-wise matching, fish of similar size were placed in allopatry and rank was determined by the total number of aggressive interactions recorded. Dominant individuals initiated more aggression than subordinates, spent more time defending a territory and positioned themselves closer to the surface food source (Gammarus pulex), whereas subordinates occupied the peripheries. In cross ploidy trials, diploid S. trutta were more aggressive than triploid, and dominated their sibling when placed in pair-wise matchings. Surface feeding, however, did not differ statistically between ploidy irrespective of feeding regime. Triploids adopted a sneak feeding strategy while diploids expended more time defending a territory. In addition, we also tested whether triploids exhibit a similar social dominance to diploids when placed in allopatry. Although aggression was lower in triploid pairs than in the diploid and triploid pairs, a dominance hierarchy was also observed between individuals of the same ploidy. Dominant triploid fish were more aggressive and consumed more feed items than subordinate individuals. Subordinate fish displayed a darker colour index than dominant fish suggesting increased stress levels. Dominant triploid fish, however, appeared to be more tolerant of subordinate individuals and did not display the same degree of invasive aggression as seen in the diploid and diploid or diploid and triploid matchings. These novel findings suggest that sterile triploid S. trutta feed similarly but are less aggressive than diploid trout. Future studies should determine the habitat choice of triploid S. trutta after release and the interaction between wild fish and triploids during

Evaluation of the Thompson articular index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Brink, H. R.; van der Heide, A.; Jacobs, J. W.; van der Veen, M. J.; Bijlsma, J. W.

1993-01-01

Three articular indices for measuring disease activity are compared. In a cross sectional study the Thompson articular index (a modified Lansbury index) correlated better with laboratory variables than the Ritchie articular index or a swollen joint score (Thompson 0.74-0.77; Ritchie 0.57-0.58;

Protein structural model selection by combining consensus and single scoring methods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiquan He

Full Text Available Quality assessment (QA for predicted protein structural models is an important and challenging research problem in protein structure prediction. Consensus Global Distance Test (CGDT methods assess each decoy (predicted structural model based on its structural similarity to all others in a decoy set and has been proved to work well when good decoys are in a majority cluster. Scoring functions evaluate each single decoy based on its structural properties. Both methods have their merits and limitations. In this paper, we present a novel method called PWCom, which consists of two neural networks sequentially to combine CGDT and single model scoring methods such as RW, DDFire and OPUS-Ca. Specifically, for every pair of decoys, the difference of the corresponding feature vectors is input to the first neural network which enables one to predict whether the decoy-pair are significantly different in terms of their GDT scores to the native. If yes, the second neural network is used to decide which one of the two is closer to the native structure. The quality score for each decoy in the pool is based on the number of winning times during the pairwise comparisons. Test results on three benchmark datasets from different model generation methods showed that PWCom significantly improves over consensus GDT and single scoring methods. The QA server (MUFOLD-Server applying this method in CASP 10 QA category was ranked the second place in terms of Pearson and Spearman correlation performance.

River Discharge and Local Scale Habitat Influence LIFE Score Macroinvertebrate LIFE Scores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dunbar, Michael J.; Pedersen, Morten Lauge; Cadman, Dan

2010-01-01

Midlands of the U.K., we describe how local-scale habitat features (indexed through River Habitat Survey or Danish Habitat Quality Survey) and changing river flow (discharge) influence the response of a macroinvertebrate community index. The approach has broad applicability in developing regional flow...... Invertebrate index for Flow Evaluation (LIFE), an average of abundance-weighted flow groups which indicate the microhabitat preferences of each taxon for higher velocities and clean gravel/cobble substrata or slow/still velocities and finer substrata. 3. For the Danish fauna, the LIFE score responded to three...... of the channel (negative). In both cases, LIFE responded negatively to features associated with historical channel modification. We suggest that there are several mechanisms for these relationships, including the narrower tolerances of taxa preferring high velocity habitat; these taxa are also continually...

Analysis of Geographic and Pairwise Distances among Chinese Cashmere Goat Populations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian-Bin Liu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the geographic and pairwise distances of nine Chinese local Cashmere goat populations through the analysis of 20 microsatellite DNA markers. Fluorescence PCR was used to identify the markers, which were selected based on their significance as identified by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO and the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG. In total, 206 alleles were detected; the average allele number was 10.30; the polymorphism information content of loci ranged from 0.5213 to 0.7582; the number of effective alleles ranged from 4.0484 to 4.6178; the observed heterozygosity was from 0.5023 to 0.5602 for the practical sample; the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.5783 to 0.6464; and Allelic richness ranged from 4.7551 to 8.0693. These results indicated that Chinese Cashmere goat populations exhibited rich genetic diversity. Further, the Wright’s F-statistics of subpopulation within total (FST was 0.1184; the genetic differentiation coefficient (GST was 0.0940; and the average gene flow (Nm was 2.0415. All pairwise FST values among the populations were highly significant (p<0.01 or p<0.001, suggesting that the populations studied should all be considered to be separate breeds. Finally, the clustering analysis divided the Chinese Cashmere goat populations into at least four clusters, with the Hexi and Yashan goat populations alone in one cluster. These results have provided useful, practical, and important information for the future of Chinese Cashmere goat breeding.

Do Scoring Systems Help in Predicting Survival Following Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surgery?

Science.gov (United States)

Gatt, Marcel; Goldsmith, Paul; Martinez, Marcos; Barandiaran, Jesus; Grover, Kartikae; El-Barghouti, Naif; Perry, Eugene P

2009-01-01

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to assess the value of the Hardman Index and the Glasgow Aneurysm Score in predicting postoperative mortality in patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA), and to assess the correlation between the two. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients admitted with rAAA were identified from a hospital database. Hospital records were reviewed and a retrospective Hardman Index and Glasgow Aneurysm Score was calculated. Poor postoperative prognosis was considered at a Glasgow Aneurysm Score > 95 or a Hardman Index ≥ 3. RESULTS A total of 96 patients with a median age of 77.5 years (interquartile range, 71–83 years) and a male:female ratio of 2:1 were identified. Of these, 37 patients were not offered surgery and this was associated with 100% mortality. Of the 59 operated patients, 36 (61%) patients died postoperatively. Operated patients had a median Glasgow Aneurysm Score of 91 (interquartile range, 77–101) and a Hardman Index of 2 (interquartile range, 1–2). In this group, a Glasgow Aneurysm Score > 95 or a Hardman Index ≥ 3 was not associated with mortality (P = 0.10 and P = 0.79, respectively). Correlation between the scoring systems was poor (+0.42 τb). CONCLUSIONS The scoring systems assessed did not help predict the outcome of rAAA surgery, and correlated poorly with each other. They do not aid clinical judgement. PMID:19102824

2008 Natural Resource Management Index (NRMI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2008 Natural Resources Management Index (NRMI) is a composite index for 226 countries derived from the average of four proximity-to-target scores from eco-region...

Item hierarchy-based analysis of the Rivermead Mobility Index resulted in improved interpretation and enabled faster scoring in patients undergoing rehabilitation after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Roorda, Leo D; Green, John R; Houwink, Annemieke; Bagley, Pam J; Smith, Jane; Molenaar, Ivo W; Geurts, Alexander C

2012-06-01

To enable improved interpretation of the total score and faster scoring of the Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI) by studying item ordering or hierarchy and formulating start-and-stop rules in patients after stroke. Cohort study. Rehabilitation center in the Netherlands; stroke rehabilitation units and the community in the United Kingdom. Item hierarchy of the RMI was studied in an initial group of patients (n=620; mean age ± SD, 69.2±12.5y; 297 [48%] men; 304 [49%] left hemisphere lesion, and 269 [43%] right hemisphere lesion), and the adequacy of the item hierarchy-based start-and-stop rules was checked in a second group of patients (n=237; mean age ± SD, 60.0±11.3y; 139 [59%] men; 103 [44%] left hemisphere lesion, and 93 [39%] right hemisphere lesion) undergoing rehabilitation after stroke. Not applicable. Mokken scale analysis was used to investigate the fit of the double monotonicity model, indicating hierarchical item ordering. The percentages of patients with a difference between the RMI total score and the scores based on the start-and-stop rules were calculated to check the adequacy of these rules. The RMI had good fit of the double monotonicity model (coefficient H(T)=.87). The interpretation of the total score improved. Item hierarchy-based start-and-stop rules were formulated. The percentages of patients with a difference between the RMI total score and the score based on the recommended start-and-stop rules were 3% and 5%, respectively. Ten of the original 15 items had to be scored after applying the start-and-stop rules. Item hierarchy was established, enabling improved interpretation and faster scoring of the RMI. Copyright © 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global tilt and lumbar lordosis index: two parameters correlating with health-related quality of life scores-but how do they truly impact disability?

Science.gov (United States)

Boissière, Louis; Takemoto, Mitsuru; Bourghli, Anouar; Vital, Jean-Marc; Pellisé, Ferran; Alanay, Ahmet; Yilgor, Caglar; Acaroglu, Emre; Perez-Grueso, Francisco Javier; Kleinstück, Frank; Obeid, Ibrahim

2017-04-01

Many radiological parameters have been reported to correlate with patient's disability including sagittal vertical axis (SVA), pelvic tilt (PT), and pelvic incidence minus lumbar lordosis (PI-LL). European literature reports other parameters such as lumbar lordosis index (LLI) and the global tilt (GT). If most parameters correlate with health-related quality of life scores (HRQLs), their impact on disability remains unclear. This study aimed to validate these parameters by investigating their correlation with HRQLs. It also aimed to evaluate the relationship between each of these sagittal parameters and HRQLs to fully understand the impact in adult spinal deformity management. A retrospective review of a multicenter, prospective database was carried out. The database inclusion criteria were adults (>18 years old) presenting any of the following radiographic parameters: scoliosis (Cobb ≥20°), SVA ≥5 cm, thoracic kyphosis ≥60° or PT ≥25°. All patients with complete data at baseline were included. Health-related quality of life scores, demographic variables (DVs), and radiographic parameters were collected at baseline. Differences in HRQLs among groups of each DV were assessed with analyses of variance. Correlations between radiographic variables and HRQLs were assessed using the Spearman rank correlation. Multivariate linear regression models were fitted for each of the HRQLs (Oswestry Disability Index [ODI], Scoliosis Research Society-22 subtotal score, or physical component summaries) with sagittal parameters and covariants as independent variables. A p<.05 value was considered statistically significant. Among a total of 755 included patients (mean age, 52.1 years), 431 were non-surgical candidates and 324 were surgical candidates. Global tilt and LLI significantly correlated with HRQLs (r=0.4 and -0.3, respectively) for univariate analysis. Demographic variables such as age, gender, body mass index, past surgery, and surgical or non-surgical candidate

Can bispectral index or auditory evoked potential index predict implicit memory during propofol-induced sedation?

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yun; Yue, Yun; Sun, Yong-hai; Wu, An-shi

2006-06-05

Some patients still suffer from implicit memory of intraoperative events under adequate depth of anaesthesia. The elimination of implicit memory should be a necessary aim of clinical general anaesthesia. However, implicit memory cannot be tested during anaesthesia yet. We propose bispectral index (BIS) and auditory evoked potential index (AEPI), as predictors of implicit memory during anaesthesia. Thirty-six patients were equally divided into 3 groups according to the Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Score: A, level 3; B, level 2; and C, level 1. Every patient was given the first auditory stimulus before sedation. Then every patient received the second auditory stimulus after the target level of sedation had been reached. BIS and AEPI were monitored before and after the second auditory stimulus presentation. Four hours later, the inclusion test and exclusion test were performed on the ward using process dissociation procedure and the scores of implicit memory estimated. In groups A and B but not C, implicit memory estimates were statistically greater than zero (P memory scores in group A did not differ significantly from those in group B (P > 0.05). Implicit memory scores correlated with BIS and AEPI (P AEPI. The 95% cutoff points of BIS and AEPI for predicting implicit memory are 47 and 28, respectively. Implicit memory does not disappear until the depth of sedation increases to level 1 of OAA/S score. Implicit memory scores correlate well with BIS and AEPI during sedation. BIS is a better index for predicting implicit memory than AEPI during propofol induced sedation.

A direct-gradient multivariate index of biotic condition

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Leandro E.; Aycock, J.N.; Killgore, K. J.

2012-01-01

Multimetric indexes constructed by summing metric scores have been criticized despite many of their merits. A leading criticism is the potential for investigator bias involved in metric selection and scoring. Often there is a large number of competing metrics equally well correlated with environmental stressors, requiring a judgment call by the investigator to select the most suitable metrics to include in the index and how to score them. Data-driven procedures for multimetric index formulation published during the last decade have reduced this limitation, yet apprehension remains. Multivariate approaches that select metrics with statistical algorithms may reduce the level of investigator bias and alleviate a weakness of multimetric indexes. We investigated the suitability of a direct-gradient multivariate procedure to derive an index of biotic condition for fish assemblages in oxbow lakes in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Although this multivariate procedure also requires that the investigator identify a set of suitable metrics potentially associated with a set of environmental stressors, it is different from multimetric procedures because it limits investigator judgment in selecting a subset of biotic metrics to include in the index and because it produces metric weights suitable for computation of index scores. The procedure, applied to a sample of 35 competing biotic metrics measured at 50 oxbow lakes distributed over a wide geographical region in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, selected 11 metrics that adequately indexed the biotic condition of five test lakes. Because the multivariate index includes only metrics that explain the maximum variability in the stressor variables rather than a balanced set of metrics chosen to reflect various fish assemblage attributes, it is fundamentally different from multimetric indexes of biotic integrity with advantages and disadvantages. As such, it provides an alternative to multimetric procedures.

Support vector regression scoring of receptor-ligand complexes for rank-ordering and virtual screening of chemical libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Liwei; Wang, Bo; Meroueh, Samy O

2011-09-26

The community structure-activity resource (CSAR) data sets are used to develop and test a support vector machine-based scoring function in regression mode (SVR). Two scoring functions (SVR-KB and SVR-EP) are derived with the objective of reproducing the trend of the experimental binding affinities provided within the two CSAR data sets. The features used to train SVR-KB are knowledge-based pairwise potentials, while SVR-EP is based on physicochemical properties. SVR-KB and SVR-EP were compared to seven other widely used scoring functions, including Glide, X-score, GoldScore, ChemScore, Vina, Dock, and PMF. Results showed that SVR-KB trained with features obtained from three-dimensional complexes of the PDBbind data set outperformed all other scoring functions, including best performing X-score, by nearly 0.1 using three correlation coefficients, namely Pearson, Spearman, and Kendall. It was interesting that higher performance in rank ordering did not translate into greater enrichment in virtual screening assessed using the 40 targets of the Directory of Useful Decoys (DUD). To remedy this situation, a variant of SVR-KB (SVR-KBD) was developed by following a target-specific tailoring strategy that we had previously employed to derive SVM-SP. SVR-KBD showed a much higher enrichment, outperforming all other scoring functions tested, and was comparable in performance to our previously derived scoring function SVM-SP.

Pairwise registration of TLS point clouds using covariance descriptors and a non-cooperative game

Science.gov (United States)

Zai, Dawei; Li, Jonathan; Guo, Yulan; Cheng, Ming; Huang, Pengdi; Cao, Xiaofei; Wang, Cheng

2017-12-01

It is challenging to automatically register TLS point clouds with noise, outliers and varying overlap. In this paper, we propose a new method for pairwise registration of TLS point clouds. We first generate covariance matrix descriptors with an adaptive neighborhood size from point clouds to find candidate correspondences, we then construct a non-cooperative game to isolate mutual compatible correspondences, which are considered as true positives. The method was tested on three models acquired by two different TLS systems. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed adaptive covariance (ACOV) descriptor is invariant to rigid transformation and robust to noise and varying resolutions. The average registration errors achieved on three models are 0.46 cm, 0.32 cm and 1.73 cm, respectively. The computational times cost on these models are about 288 s, 184 s and 903 s, respectively. Besides, our registration framework using ACOV descriptors and a game theoretic method is superior to the state-of-the-art methods in terms of both registration error and computational time. The experiment on a large outdoor scene further demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposed pairwise registration framework.

Mining the Human Phenome Using Allelic Scores That Index Biological Intermediates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Evans, David M; Brion, Marie Jo A; Paternoster, Lavinia

2013-01-01

It is common practice in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to focus on the relationship between disease risk and genetic variants one marker at a time. When relevant genes are identified it is often possible to implicate biological intermediates and pathways likely to be involved in disease...... aetiology. However, single genetic variants typically explain small amounts of disease risk. Our idea is to construct allelic scores that explain greater proportions of the variance in biological intermediates, and subsequently use these scores to data mine GWAS. To investigate the approach's properties, we...

A locally adapted functional outcome measurement score for total ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... in Europe or North America and seem not optimally suited for a general West ... We introduce a cross-cultural adaptation of the Lequesne index as a new score. ... Keywords: THR, Hip, Africa, Functional score, Hip replacement, Arthroscopy ...

Differences in distribution of T-scores and Z-scores among bone densitometry tests in postmenopausal women (a comparative study)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wendlova, J.

2002-01-01

To determine the character of T-score and Z-score value distribution in individually selected methods of bone densitometry and to compare them using statistical analysis. We examined 56 postmenopausal women with an age between 43 and 68 years with osteopenia or osteoporosis according to the WHO classification. The following measurements were made in each patient: T-score and Z-score for: 1) Stiffness index (S) of the left heel bone, USM (index). 2) Bone mineral density of the left heel bone (BMDh), DEXA (g of Ca hydroxyapatite per cm 2 ). 3) Bone mineral density of trabecular bone of the L1 vertebra (BMDL1). QCT (mg of Ca hydroxyapatite per cm 3 ). The densitometers used in the study were: ultrasonometer to measure heel bone, Achilles plus LUNAR, USA: DEXA to measure heel bone, PIXl, LUNAR, USA: QCT to measure the L1 vertebra, CT, SOMATOM Plus, Siemens, Germany. Statistical analysis: differences between measured values of T-scores (Z-scores) were evaluated by parametric or non-parametric methods of determining the 95 % confidence intervals (C.I.). Differences between Z-score and T-score values for compared measurements were statistically significant; however, these differences were lower for Z-scores. Largest differences in 95 % C.I., characterizing individual measurements of T-score values (in comparison with Z-scores), were found for those densitometers whose age range of the reference groups of young adults differed the most, and conversely, the smallest differences in T-score values were found when the differences between the age ranges of reference groups were smallest. The higher variation in T-score values in comparison to Z-scores is also caused by a non-standard selection of the reference groups of young adults for the QCT, PIXI and Achilles Plus densitometers used in the study. Age characteristics of the reference group for T-scores should be standardized for all types of densitometers. (author)

Relation between diet cost and Healthy Eating Index 2010 scores among adults in the United States 2007-2010.

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Rehm, Colin D; Monsivais, Pablo; Drewnowski, Adam

2015-04-01

Food prices may be one reason for the growing socioeconomic disparities in diet quality. To evaluate the association between diet costs and the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010). Cross-sectional study based on 11,181 adults from the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, analyzed in spring 2014. Diet cost was estimated by linking dietary data with a national food price database. The HEI-2010, a measure of adherence to the dietary guidelines, was the outcome. The population ratio method was used to estimate the average HEI-2010 scores by quintile of energy-adjusted diet cost. Additional analyses evaluated the association between cost and HEI-2010 components. There was a strong positive association between lower energy-adjusted diet costs and lower HEI-2010 scores. The association was stronger among women (p-interaction=0.003). Lower diet costs were associated with lower consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and seafood, and higher consumption of refined grains and solid fat, alcohol and added sugars. Lower energy-adjusted diet costs were associated with lower-quality diets. Future efforts to improve the nutritional status of the US public should take food prices and diet costs into account. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Relation between diet cost and Healthy Eating Index 2010 scores among adults in the United States 2007-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Rehm, Colin D.; Monsivais, Pablo; Drewnowski, Adam

2016-01-01

Background Food prices may be one reason for the growing socioeconomic disparities in diet quality. Objective To evaluate the association between diet costs and the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010). Methods Cross-sectional study based on 11,181 adults from the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, analyzed in spring 2014. Diet cost was estimated by linking dietary data with a national food price database. The HEI-2010, a measure of adherence to the Dietary Guidelines, was the outcome. The population ratio method was used to estimate the average HEI-2010 scores by quintile of energy-adjusted diet cost. Additional analyses evaluated the association between cost and HEI-2010 components. Results There was a strong positive association between lower energy-adjusted diet costs and lower HEI-2010 scores. The association was stronger among women (p-interaction=0.003). Lower diet costs were associated with lower consumption of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and seafood, and higher consumption of refined grains and solid fat, alcohol and added sugars. Conclusions Lower energy-adjusted diet costs were associated with lower-quality diets. Future efforts to improve the nutritional status of the US public should take food prices and diet costs into account. PMID:25625693

[Different scoring systems to evaluate the prognosis of Fournier's gangrene: A comparative study].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xiao-dong; Ding, Fei; Wang, Guo-dong; Shao, Qiang

2015-08-01

To sum up the experience in diagnosis and treatment of Fournier's gangrene and find an optimal evaluation tool for its prognosis by comparing currently used prognostic scoring systems. We retrospectively analyzed 16 cases of Fournier's gangrene diagnosed and surgically treated in our hospital between 2004 and 2012. Using Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index (FGSI), Uludag Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index (UFGSI), Age-Adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI), and Surgical Apgar Score (sAPGAR) , we obtained the prognostic scores of the patients and made comparisons among different scoring systems. FGSI, UFGSI, ACCI, and sAPGAR were all clinically used scoring systems. Statistically significant differences were found in the scores of ACCI and UFGSI but not in those of FGSI and sAPGAR between the death and survival groups, with the maximum area under the ROC curve and minimum standard error for the ACCI score. Both ACCI and UFGSI are useful for evaluating the prognosis of Fournier's gangrene. However, ACCI is even better for its higher sensitivity and specificity and easier clinical collection.

Convergent cross-mapping and pairwise asymmetric inference.

Science.gov (United States)

McCracken, James M; Weigel, Robert S

2014-12-01

Convergent cross-mapping (CCM) is a technique for computing specific kinds of correlations between sets of times series. It was introduced by Sugihara et al. [Science 338, 496 (2012).] and is reported to be "a necessary condition for causation" capable of distinguishing causality from standard correlation. We show that the relationships between CCM correlations proposed by Sugihara et al. do not, in general, agree with intuitive concepts of "driving" and as such should not be considered indicative of causality. It is shown that the fact that the CCM algorithm implies causality is a function of system parameters for simple linear and nonlinear systems. For example, in a circuit containing a single resistor and inductor, both voltage and current can be identified as the driver depending on the frequency of the source voltage. It is shown that the CCM algorithm, however, can be modified to identify relationships between pairs of time series that are consistent with intuition for the considered example systems for which CCM causality analysis provided nonintuitive driver identifications. This modification of the CCM algorithm is introduced as "pairwise asymmetric inference" (PAI) and examples of its use are presented.

Detection of the pairwise kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with BOSS DR11 and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernardis, F. De; Vavagiakis, E.M.; Niemack, M.D.; Gallardo, P.A. [Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Aiola, S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center, 3941 O' Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Battaglia, N. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Beall, J.; Becker, D.T.; Cho, H.; Fox, A. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Bond, J.R. [CITA, University of Toronto, 60 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Calabrese, E.; Dunkley, J. [Sub-Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Coughlin, K.; Datta, R. [Department of Physics, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Devlin, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Dunner, R. [Instituto de Astrofísica and Centro de Astro-Ingeniería, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Macul, Santiago (Chile); Ferraro, S. [Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Halpern, M. [University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada); Hand, N., E-mail: fdeberna@gmail.com [Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); and others

2017-03-01

We present a new measurement of the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect using data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Using 600 square degrees of overlapping sky area, we evaluate the mean pairwise baryon momentum associated with the positions of 50,000 bright galaxies in the BOSS DR11 Large Scale Structure catalog. A non-zero signal arises from the large-scale motions of halos containing the sample galaxies. The data fits an analytical signal model well, with the optical depth to microwave photon scattering as a free parameter determining the overall signal amplitude. We estimate the covariance matrix of the mean pairwise momentum as a function of galaxy separation, using microwave sky simulations, jackknife evaluation, and bootstrap estimates. The most conservative simulation-based errors give signal-to-noise estimates between 3.6 and 4.1 for varying galaxy luminosity cuts. We discuss how the other error determinations can lead to higher signal-to-noise values, and consider the impact of several possible systematic errors. Estimates of the optical depth from the average thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal at the sample galaxy positions are broadly consistent with those obtained from the mean pairwise momentum signal.

Ensemble survival tree models to reveal pairwise interactions of variables with time-to-events outcomes in low-dimensional setting

Science.gov (United States)

Dazard, Jean-Eudes; Ishwaran, Hemant; Mehlotra, Rajeev; Weinberg, Aaron; Zimmerman, Peter

2018-01-01

Unraveling interactions among variables such as genetic, clinical, demographic and environmental factors is essential to understand the development of common and complex diseases. To increase the power to detect such variables interactions associated with clinical time-to-events outcomes, we borrowed established concepts from random survival forest (RSF) models. We introduce a novel RSF-based pairwise interaction estimator and derive a randomization method with bootstrap confidence intervals for inferring interaction significance. Using various linear and nonlinear time-to-events survival models in simulation studies, we first show the efficiency of our approach: true pairwise interaction-effects between variables are uncovered, while they may not be accompanied with their corresponding main-effects, and may not be detected by standard semi-parametric regression modeling and test statistics used in survival analysis. Moreover, using a RSF-based cross-validation scheme for generating prediction estimators, we show that informative predictors may be inferred. We applied our approach to an HIV cohort study recording key host gene polymorphisms and their association with HIV change of tropism or AIDS progression. Altogether, this shows how linear or nonlinear pairwise statistical interactions of variables may be efficiently detected with a predictive value in observational studies with time-to-event outcomes. PMID:29453930

Patients with tattoo reactions have reduced quality of life and suffer from itch: Dermatology Life Quality Index and Itch Severity Score measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutton Carlsen, K; Serup, J

2015-02-01

Tattoos are a trend with increasing side-effects. The burden of local reaction with swelling, itching and discomfort may impel sufferers to consult medical assistance. To assess tattoo reactions and their influence on quality of life and itching by utilizing the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scoring system and Itch Severity Scale (ISS). Patients attending the 'Tattoo Clinic' at Bispebjerg University Hospital, Denmark with tattoo problems spanning more than 3 months were invited. Forty patients participated during September-November 2012. Patients attending their routine consultations completed the ISS and DLQI questionnaires. Patients with tattoo reactions experienced reduced quality of life, DLQI score 7.4 and were burdened by itch, ISS score 7.2. Both DLQI and ISS results attained the level of discomfort of known skin diseases such as psoriasis, pruritus and eczema albeit the typical tattooed affected areas are smaller. Sufferers of tattoo reactions have reduced quality of life and are often burdened by itching attaining the level of other cumbersome afflictions recognized as dermatological diseases associated with itch. Tattoo reactions warrant diagnosis and treatment with same professional intent shared with other skin diseases. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Relationships between Participants' International Prostate Symptom Score and BPH Impact Index Changes and Global Ratings of Change in a Trial of Phytotherapy for Men with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, Michael J.; Cantor, Alan; Roehrborn, Claus G.

2014-01-01

Purpose To relate changes in AUA Symptom Index (AUASI) scores with bother measures and global ratings of change among men with lower urinary tract symptoms enrolled in a trial of saw palmetto. Materials and Methods To be eligible, men were ≥45 years old, had ajpeak uroflow ≥4 ml/sec, and an AUASI score ≥ 8 and ≤ 24. Participants self-administered the AUASI, IPSS quality of life item (IPSS QoL), BPH Impact Index (BII) and two global change questions at baseline and 24, 48, and 72 weeks. Results Among 357 participants, global ratings of “a little better” were associated with mean decreases in AUASI scores from 2.8 to 4.1 points, across three time points. The analogous range for mean decreases in BII scores was 1.0 to 1.7 points, and for the IPSS QoL item 0.5 to 0.8 points. At 72 weeks, for the first global change question, each change measure could discriminate between participants rating themselves at least a little better versus unchanged or worse 70-72% of the time. A multivariable model increased discrimination to 77%. For the second global change question, each change measure correctly discriminated ratings of at least a little better versus unchanged or worse 69-74% of the time, and a multivariable model increased discrimination to 79%. Conclusions Changes in AUASI scores could discriminate between participants rating themselves at least a little better versus unchanged or worse. Our findings support the practice of powering studies to detect group mean differences in AUASI scores of at least 3 points. PMID:23017510

Memory-efficient dynamic programming backtrace and pairwise local sequence alignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Newberg, Lee A

2008-08-15

A backtrace through a dynamic programming algorithm's intermediate results in search of an optimal path, or to sample paths according to an implied probability distribution, or as the second stage of a forward-backward algorithm, is a task of fundamental importance in computational biology. When there is insufficient space to store all intermediate results in high-speed memory (e.g. cache) existing approaches store selected stages of the computation, and recompute missing values from these checkpoints on an as-needed basis. Here we present an optimal checkpointing strategy, and demonstrate its utility with pairwise local sequence alignment of sequences of length 10,000. Sample C++-code for optimal backtrace is available in the Supplementary Materials. Supplementary data is available at Bioinformatics online.

Benefits of Using Pairwise Trajectory Management in the Central East Pacific

Science.gov (United States)

Chartrand, Ryan; Ballard, Kathryn

2017-01-01

Pairwise Trajectory Management (PTM) is a concept that utilizes airborne and ground-based capabilities to enable airborne spacing operations in procedural airspace. This concept makes use of updated ground automation, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and on board avionics generating real time guidance. An experiment was conducted to examine the potential benefits of implementing PTM in the Central East Pacific oceanic region. An explanation of the experiment and some of the results are included in this paper. The PTM concept allowed for an increase in the average time an aircraft is able to spend at its desired flight level and a reduction in fuel burn.

Multilevel summation with B-spline interpolation for pairwise interactions in molecular dynamics simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hardy, David J.; Schulten, Klaus; Wolff, Matthew A.; Skeel, Robert D.; Xia, Jianlin

2016-01-01

The multilevel summation method for calculating electrostatic interactions in molecular dynamics simulations constructs an approximation to a pairwise interaction kernel and its gradient, which can be evaluated at a cost that scales linearly with the number of atoms. The method smoothly splits the kernel into a sum of partial kernels of increasing range and decreasing variability with the longer-range parts interpolated from grids of increasing coarseness. Multilevel summation is especially appropriate in the context of dynamics and minimization, because it can produce continuous gradients. This article explores the use of B-splines to increase the accuracy of the multilevel summation method (for nonperiodic boundaries) without incurring additional computation other than a preprocessing step (whose cost also scales linearly). To obtain accurate results efficiently involves technical difficulties, which are overcome by a novel preprocessing algorithm. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the resulting method offers substantial improvements in accuracy and that its performance is competitive with an implementation of the fast multipole method in general and markedly better for Hamiltonian formulations of molecular dynamics. The improvement is great enough to establish multilevel summation as a serious contender for calculating pairwise interactions in molecular dynamics simulations. In particular, the method appears to be uniquely capable for molecular dynamics in two situations, nonperiodic boundary conditions and massively parallel computation, where the fast Fourier transform employed in the particle–mesh Ewald method falls short.

Development of the Respiratory Index of Severity in Children (RISC score among young children with respiratory infections in South Africa.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carrie Reed

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Pneumonia is a leading cause of death in children worldwide. A simple clinical score predicting the probability of death in a young child with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI could aid clinicians in case management and provide a standardized severity measure during epidemiologic studies. METHODS: We analyzed 4,148 LRTI hospitalizations in children <24 months enrolled in a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine trial in South Africa from 1998-2001, to develop the Respiratory Index of Severity in Children (RISC. Using clinical data at admission, a multivariable logistic regression model for mortality was developed and statistically evaluated using bootstrap resampling techniques. Points were assigned to risk factors based on their coefficients in the multivariable model. A child's RISC score is the sum of points for each risk factor present. Separate models were developed for HIV-infected and non-infected children. RESULTS: Significant risk factors for HIV-infected and non-infected children included low oxygen saturation, chest indrawing, wheezing, and refusal to feed. The models also included age and HIV clinical classification (for HIV-infected children or weight-for-age (for non-infected children. RISC scores ranged up to 7 points for HIV-infected or 6 points for non-infected children and correlated with probability of death (0-47%, HIV-infected; 0-14%, non-infected. Final models showed good discrimination (area under the ROC curve and calibration (goodness-of-fit. CONCLUSION: The RISC score incorporates a simple set of risk factors that accurately discriminate between young children based on their risk of death from LRTI, and may provide an objective means to quantify severity based on the risk of mortality.

Validation of the Cepstral Spectral Index of Dysphonia (CSID) as a Screening Tool for Voice Disorders: Development of Clinical Cutoff Scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Awan, Shaheen N; Roy, Nelson; Zhang, Dong; Cohen, Seth M

2016-03-01

The purposes of this study were to (1) evaluate the performance of the Cepstral Spectral Index of Dysphonia (CSID--a multivariate estimate of dysphonia severity) as a potential screening tool for voice disorder identification and (2) identify potential clinical cutoff scores to classify voice-disordered cases versus controls. Subjects were 332 men and women (116 men, 216 women) comprised of subjects who presented to a physician with a voice-related complaint and a group of non-voice-related control subjects. Voice-disordered cases versus controls were initially defined via three reference standards: (1) auditory-perceptual judgment (dysphonia +/-); (2) Voice Handicap Index (VHI) score (VHI +/-); and (3) laryngoscopic description (laryngoscopic +/-). Speech samples were analyzed using the Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice program. Cepstral and spectral measures were combined into a CSID multivariate formula which estimated dysphonia severity for Rainbow Passage samples (i.e., the CSIDR). The ability of the CSIDR to accurately classify cases versus controls in relation to each reference standard was evaluated via a combination of logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. The ability of the CSIDR to discriminate between cases and controls was represented by the "area under the ROC curve" (AUC). ROC classification of dysphonia-positive cases versus controls resulted in a strong AUC = 0.85. A CSIDR cutoff of ≈24 achieved the best balance between sensitivity and specificity, whereas a more liberal cutoff score of ≈19 resulted in higher sensitivity while maintaining respectable specificity which may be preferred for screening purposes. Weaker but adequate AUCs = 0.75 and 0.73 were observed for the classification of VHI-positive and laryngoscopic-positive cases versus controls, respectively. Logistic regression analyses indicated that subject age may be a significant covariate in the discrimination of dysphonia-positive and VHI

Gait Deviation Index, Gait Profile Score and Gait Variable Score in children with spastic cerebral palsy: Intra-rater reliability and agreement across two repeated sessions.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Helle Mätzke; Nielsen, Dennis Brandborg; Pedersen, Niels Wisbech; Overgaard, Søren; Holsgaard-Larsen, Anders

2015-07-01

The Gait Deviation Index (GDI) and Gait Profile Score (GPS) are the most used summary measures of gait in children with cerebral palsy (CP). However, the reliability and agreement of these indices have not been investigated, limiting their clinimetric quality for research and clinical practice. The aim of this study was to investigate the intra-rater reliability and agreement of summary measures of gait (GDI; GPS; and the Gait Variable Score (GVS) derived from the GPS). The intra-rater reliability and agreement were investigated across two repeated sessions in 18 children aged 5-12 years diagnosed with spastic CP. No systematic bias was observed between the sessions and no heteroscedasticity was observed in Bland-Altman plots. For the GDI and GPS, excellent reliability with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values of 0.8-0.9 was found, while the GVS was found to have fair to good reliability with ICCs of 0.4-0.7. The agreement for the GDI and the logarithmically transformed GPS, in terms of the standard error of measurement as a percentage of the grand mean (SEM%) varied from 4.1 to 6.7%, whilst the smallest detectable change in percent (SDC%) ranged from 11.3 to 18.5%. For the logarithmically transformed GVS, we found a fair to large variation in SEM% from 7 to 29% and in SDC% from 18 to 81%. The GDI and GPS demonstrated excellent reliability and acceptable agreement proving that they can both be used in research and clinical practice. However, the observed large variability for some of the GVS requires cautious consideration when selecting outcome measures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Calibration of Smartphone-Based Weather Measurements Using Pairwise Gossip.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamora, Jane Louie Fresco; Kashihara, Shigeru; Yamaguchi, Suguru

2015-01-01

Accurate and reliable daily global weather reports are necessary for weather forecasting and climate analysis. However, the availability of these reports continues to decline due to the lack of economic support and policies in maintaining ground weather measurement systems from where these reports are obtained. Thus, to mitigate data scarcity, it is required to utilize weather information from existing sensors and built-in smartphone sensors. However, as smartphone usage often varies according to human activity, it is difficult to obtain accurate measurement data. In this paper, we present a heuristic-based pairwise gossip algorithm that will calibrate smartphone-based pressure sensors with respect to fixed weather stations as our referential ground truth. Based on actual measurements, we have verified that smartphone-based readings are unstable when observed during movement. Using our calibration algorithm on actual smartphone-based pressure readings, the updated values were significantly closer to the ground truth values.

Validating the appropriateness of TACOM measure: Comparing TACOM scores with subjective workload scores quantified by NASA-TLX technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, J.; Jung, W.

2006-01-01

In this study, the appropriateness of the task complexity (TACOM) measure that can quantify the complexity of emergency tasks was investigated by comparing subjective workload scores with the associated TACOM scores. To this end, based on the NASA-TLX (task load index) technique, 18 operators were asked to subjectively estimate perceived workload for 23 emergency tasks that were specified in the emergency operating procedures of the reference nuclear power plants. As the result of comparisons, it was observed that subjective workload scores increase in proportion to the increase of TACOM scores. Therefore, it is expect that the TACOM measure can be used as a serviceable method to quantify the complexity of emergency tasks. (authors)

Validating the appropriateness of TACOM measure: Comparing TACOM scores with subjective workload scores quantified by NASA-TLX technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, J.; Jung, W. [Integrated Safety Assessment Div., Korea Atomic Energy Research Inst., P.O.Box 105, Duckjin-Dong, Yusong-Ku, Taejon, 305-600 (Korea, Republic of)

2006-07-01

In this study, the appropriateness of the task complexity (TACOM) measure that can quantify the complexity of emergency tasks was investigated by comparing subjective workload scores with the associated TACOM scores. To this end, based on the NASA-TLX (task load index) technique, 18 operators were asked to subjectively estimate perceived workload for 23 emergency tasks that were specified in the emergency operating procedures of the reference nuclear power plants. As the result of comparisons, it was observed that subjective workload scores increase in proportion to the increase of TACOM scores. Therefore, it is expect that the TACOM measure can be used as a serviceable method to quantify the complexity of emergency tasks. (authors)

Fast pairwise structural RNA alignments by pruning of the dynamical programming matrix.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jakob H Havgaard

2007-10-01

Full Text Available It has become clear that noncoding RNAs (ncRNA play important roles in cells, and emerging studies indicate that there might be a large number of unknown ncRNAs in mammalian genomes. There exist computational methods that can be used to search for ncRNAs by comparing sequences from different genomes. One main problem with these methods is their computational complexity, and heuristics are therefore employed. Two heuristics are currently very popular: pre-folding and pre-aligning. However, these heuristics are not ideal, as pre-aligning is dependent on sequence similarity that may not be present and pre-folding ignores the comparative information. Here, pruning of the dynamical programming matrix is presented as an alternative novel heuristic constraint. All subalignments that do not exceed a length-dependent minimum score are discarded as the matrix is filled out, thus giving the advantage of providing the constraints dynamically. This has been included in a new implementation of the FOLDALIGN algorithm for pairwise local or global structural alignment of RNA sequences. It is shown that time and memory requirements are dramatically lowered while overall performance is maintained. Furthermore, a new divide and conquer method is introduced to limit the memory requirement during global alignment and backtrack of local alignment. All branch points in the computed RNA structure are found and used to divide the structure into smaller unbranched segments. Each segment is then realigned and backtracked in a normal fashion. Finally, the FOLDALIGN algorithm has also been updated with a better memory implementation and an improved energy model. With these improvements in the algorithm, the FOLDALIGN software package provides the molecular biologist with an efficient and user-friendly tool for searching for new ncRNAs. The software package is available for download at http://foldalign.ku.dk.

MONITORING DEPTH OF ANAESTHESIA USING PRST SCORE AND BISPECTRAL INDEX

OpenAIRE

Rahul; Sowmya; Rangalakshmi; Roshan Kumar; Karthik

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND : Intraoperative awareness is a frightening experience for any patient for it has long term psychological consequences. Among the various tools available for monitoring depth of anaesthesia, Bispectral index monitoring (BIS) is one of the recent and widely accepted techniques. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES : The present study was carried out ...

The Dutch Healthy Diet index (DHD-index): an instrument to measure adherence to the Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet.

Science.gov (United States)

van Lee, Linde; Geelen, Anouk; van Huysduynen, Eveline J C Hooft; de Vries, Jeanne H M; van't Veer, Pieter; Feskens, Edith J M

2012-07-20

The objective was to develop an index based on the Dutch Guidelines for a healthy Diet of 2006 that reflects dietary quality and to apply it to the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (DNFCS) to examine the associations with micronutrient intakes. A total of 749 men and women, aged 19-30 years, contributed two 24-hour recalls and additional questionnaires in the DNFCS of 2003. The Dutch Healthy Diet index (DHD-index) includes ten components representing the ten Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet. Per component the score ranges between zero and ten, resulting in a total score between zero (no adherence) and 100 (complete adherence). The mean ± SD of the DHD-index was 60.4 ± 11.5 for women and 57.8 ± 10.8 for men (P for difference = 0.002). Each component score increased across the sex-specific quintiles of the DHD-index. An inverse association was observed between the sex-specific quintiles of the DHD-index and total energy intake. Calcium, riboflavin, and vitamin E intake decreased with increasing DHD-index, an inverse association which disappeared after energy adjustment. Vitamin C showed a positive association across quintiles, also when adjusted for energy. For folate, iron, magnesium, potassium, thiamin, and vitamin B6 a positive association emerged after adjustment for energy. The DHD-index is capable of ranking participants according to their adherence to the Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet by reflecting variation in nine out of ten components that constitute the index when based on two 24-hour recalls. Furthermore, the index showed to be a good measure of nutrient density of diets.

PLASS: Protein-ligand affinity statistical score a knowledge-based force-field model of interaction derived from the PDB

Science.gov (United States)

Ozrin, V. D.; Subbotin, M. V.; Nikitin, S. M.

2004-04-01

We have developed PLASS (Protein-Ligand Affinity Statistical Score), a pair-wise potential of mean-force for rapid estimation of the binding affinity of a ligand molecule to a protein active site. This scoring function is derived from the frequency of occurrence of atom-type pairs in crystallographic complexes taken from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Statistical distributions are converted into distance-dependent contributions to the Gibbs free interaction energy for 10 atomic types using the Boltzmann hypothesis, with only one adjustable parameter. For a representative set of 72 protein-ligand structures, PLASS scores correlate well with the experimentally measured dissociation constants: a correlation coefficient R of 0.82 and RMS error of 2.0 kcal/mol. Such high accuracy results from our novel treatment of the volume correction term, which takes into account the inhomogeneous properties of the protein-ligand complexes. PLASS is able to rank reliably the affinity of complexes which have as much diversity as in the PDB.

Statistical pairwise interaction model of stock market

Science.gov (United States)

Bury, Thomas

2013-03-01

Financial markets are a classical example of complex systems as they are compound by many interacting stocks. As such, we can obtain a surprisingly good description of their structure by making the rough simplification of binary daily returns. Spin glass models have been applied and gave some valuable results but at the price of restrictive assumptions on the market dynamics or they are agent-based models with rules designed in order to recover some empirical behaviors. Here we show that the pairwise model is actually a statistically consistent model with the observed first and second moments of the stocks orientation without making such restrictive assumptions. This is done with an approach only based on empirical data of price returns. Our data analysis of six major indices suggests that the actual interaction structure may be thought as an Ising model on a complex network with interaction strengths scaling as the inverse of the system size. This has potentially important implications since many properties of such a model are already known and some techniques of the spin glass theory can be straightforwardly applied. Typical behaviors, as multiple equilibria or metastable states, different characteristic time scales, spatial patterns, order-disorder, could find an explanation in this picture.

Healthy Eating Index scores associated with symptoms of depression in Cuban-Americans with and without type 2 diabetes: a cross sectional study

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Exebio Joel C

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Low diet quality and depression symptoms are independently associated with poor glycemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D; however, the relationship between them is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the association between diet quality and symptoms of depression among Cuban-Americans with and without T2D living in South Florida. Methods Subjects (n = 356 were recruited from randomly selected mailing list. Diet quality was determined using the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-05 score. Symptoms of depression were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI. Both linear and logistic regression analyses were run to determine whether or not these two variables were related. Symptoms of depression was the dependent variable and independent variables included HEI-05, gender, age, marital status, BMI, education level, A1C, employment status, depression medication, duration of diabetes, and diabetes status. Analysis of covariance was used to test for interactions among variables. Results An interaction between diabetes status, gender and HEI-05 was found (P = 0.011. Among males with a HEI-05 score ≤ 55.6, those with T2D had a higher mean BDI score than those without T2D (11.6 vs. 6.6 respectively, P = 0.028. Among males and females with a HEI-05 score ≤ 55.6, females without T2D had a higher mean BDI score compared to males without T2D (11.0 vs. 6.6 respectively, P = 0.012 Conclusions Differences in symptoms of depression according to diabetes status and gender are found in Cuban-Americans with low diet quality.

Assessment of PANC3 score in predicting severity of acute pancreatitis

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Avreen Singh Shah

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Acute pancreatitis is inflammatory process of the pancreas associated with local and systemic complications. At present, there are lots of scores (such as Ransons, APACHE II, bedside index for severity in acute pancreatitis that help us in predicting severity at the time of admission but these are time consuming or require complex calculation and are costly. Material and Methods: PANC3 Scoring System is one of the better systems because the three criteria used (hematocrit, body mass index, and pleural effusion are simple, easy to assess, readily available, and economic. In this prospective study, 100 cases were evaluated to see the prospects of PANC3 scoring in predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis as decided by modified Marshals score. Results: The results showed that PANC3 score had a 96.43% specificity, 75% sensitivity, 80% positive predictive value, and 95.29% negative predictive value. Conclusion: Hence, the PANC3 score is a cost-effective, promising score that helps in predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis leading to prompt treatment and early referral to higher center.

An Analytical Study on an Orthodontic Index: Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON)

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Torkan, Sepide; Pakshir, Hamid Reza; Fattahi, Hamid Reza; Oshagh, Morteza; Momeni Danaei, Shahla; Salehi, Parisa; Hedayati, Zohreh

2015-01-01

Statement of the Problem The validity of the Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON) which is an orthodontic index developed and introduced in 2000 should be studied in different ethnic groups. Purpose The aim of this study was to perform an analysis on the ICON and to verify whether this index is valid for assessing both the need and complexity of orthodontic treatment in Iran. Materials and Method Five orthodontists were asked to score pre-treatment diagnostic records of 100 patients with a uniform distribution of different types of malocclusions determined by Dental Health Component of the Index of Treatment Need. A calibrated examiner also assessed the need for orthodontic treatment and complexity of the cases based on the ICON index as well as the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). 10 days later, 25% of the cases were re-scored by the panel of experts and the calibrated orthodontist. Results The weighted kappa revealed the inter-examiner reliability of the experts to be 0.63 and 0.51 for the need and complexity components, respectively. ROC curve was used to assess the validity of the index. A new cut-off point was adjusted at 35 in lieu of 43 as the suggested cut-off point. This cut-off point showed the highest level of sensitivity and specificity in our society for orthodontic treatment need (0.77 and 0.78, respectively), but it failed to define definite ranges for the complexity of treatment. Conclusion ICON is a valid index in assessing the need for treatment in Iran when the cut-off point is adjusted to 35. As for complexity of treatment, the index is not validated for our society. It seems that ICON is a well-suited substitute for the IOTN index. PMID:26331142

Incremental predictive validity of the Addiction Severity Index psychiatric composite score in a consecutive cohort of patients in residential treatment for drug use disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Thylstrup, Birgitte; Bloomfield, Kim; Hesse, Morten

2018-01-01

The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) is a widely used assessment instrument for substance abuse treatment that includes scales reflecting current status in seven potential problem areas, including psychiatric severity. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of the psychiatric composite score to predict suicide and psychiatric care after residential treatment for drug use disorders after adjusting for history of psychiatric care. All patients treated for drug use disorders in residential treatment centers in Denmark during the years 2000-2010 with complete ASI data were followed through national registers of psychiatric care and causes of death (N=5825). Competing risks regression analyses were used to assess the incremental predictive validity of the psychiatric composite score, controlling for previous psychiatric care, length of intake, and other ASI composite scores, up to 12years after discharge. A total of 1769 patients received psychiatric care after being discharged from residential treatment (30.3%), and 27 (0.5%) committed suicide. After adjusting for all covariates, psychiatric composite score was associated with a higher risk of receiving psychiatric care after residential treatment (subhazard ratio [SHR]=3.44, psuicide (SHR=11.45, pdrug use disorders who could benefit from additional mental health treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Establishing the cut-off score for remission and severity-ranges on the Psychotic Depression Assessment Scale (PDAS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Søren D; Rothschild, Anthony J; Flint, Alastair J

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: The Psychotic Depression Assessment Scale (PDAS) is a rating scale dedicated to the measurement of severity in psychotic depression (PD). The aim of this study was to establish the PDAS cut-off for remission of PD as well as PDAS score-ranges for mild, moderate, and severe PD...... on the PDAS and the severity-ranges for mild, moderate, and severe PD were defined using the Clinical Global Impression - Severity scale (CGI-S) as reference by means of pair-wise receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. Subsequently, it was tested whether remission on the PDAS could separate...... the effects of Olanzapine+Sertraline vs. Olanzapine+Placebo through an intention-to-treat, mixed-effects logistic regression of the data from STOP-PD. RESULTS: According to the ROC analyses, the ideal cut-off for remission of PD was a PDAS total score moderate...

Calibration of Smartphone-Based Weather Measurements Using Pairwise Gossip

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Jane Louie Fresco Zamora

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate and reliable daily global weather reports are necessary for weather forecasting and climate analysis. However, the availability of these reports continues to decline due to the lack of economic support and policies in maintaining ground weather measurement systems from where these reports are obtained. Thus, to mitigate data scarcity, it is required to utilize weather information from existing sensors and built-in smartphone sensors. However, as smartphone usage often varies according to human activity, it is difficult to obtain accurate measurement data. In this paper, we present a heuristic-based pairwise gossip algorithm that will calibrate smartphone-based pressure sensors with respect to fixed weather stations as our referential ground truth. Based on actual measurements, we have verified that smartphone-based readings are unstable when observed during movement. Using our calibration algorithm on actual smartphone-based pressure readings, the updated values were significantly closer to the ground truth values.

Criteria for the singularity of a pairwise l1-distance matrix and their generalizations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'yakonov, Alexander G

2012-01-01

We study the singularity problem for the pairwise distance matrix of a system of points, as well as generalizations of this problem that are connected with applications to interpolation theory and with an algebraic approach to recognition problems. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions on a system under which the dimension of the range space of polynomials of bounded degree over the columns of the distance matrix is less than the number of points in the system.

Histologic scoring indices for evaluation of disease activity in Crohn's disease.

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Novak, Gregor; Parker, Claire E; Pai, Rish K; MacDonald, John K; Feagan, Brian G; Sandborn, William J; D'Haens, Geert; Jairath, Vipul; Khanna, Reena

2017-07-21

Histologic assessment of mucosal disease activity has been increasingly used in clinical trials of treatment for Crohn's disease. However, the operating properties of the currently existing histologic scoring indices remain unclear. A systematic review was undertaken to evaluate the development and operating characteristics of available histologic disease activity indices in Crohn's disease. Electronic searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL) databases from inception to 20 July 2016 were supplemented by manual reviews of bibliographies and abstracts submitted to major gastroenterology meetings (Digestive Disease Week, United European Gastroenterology Week, European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation). Any study design (e.g. randomised controlled trial, cohort study, case series) that evaluated a histologic disease activity index in patients with Crohn's disease was considered for inclusion. Study participants included adult patients (> 16 years), diagnosed with Crohn's disease using conventional clinical, radiographic or endoscopic criteria. Two authors independently reviewed the titles and abstracts of the studies identified from the literature search. The full text of potentially relevant citations were reviewed for inclusion and the study investigators were contacted as needed for clarification. Any disagreements regarding study eligibility were resolved by discussion and consensus with a third author.Two authors independently extracted and recorded data using a standard form. The following data were recorded from each eligible study: number of patients enrolled; number of patients per treatment arm; patient characteristics: age and gender distribution; description of histologic disease activity index utilized; and outcomes such as content validity, construct validity, criterion validity, responsiveness, intra-rater reliability, inter-rater reliability, and feasibility. Sixteen reports of 14 studies describing 14 different numerical

Correlation of body mass index Z-scores with glucose and lipid profiles among overweight and obese children and adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Nogueira-de-Almeida, Carlos Alberto; Mello, Elza Daniel de

To evaluate the prevalence of abnormalities in plasma lipid and glucose profiles among overweight and obese children and adolescents, and to assess the presence of a correlation between body mass index Z-scores and indicators of comorbidities related to both profiles. This was a multicenter cross-sectional study conducted at two outpatient clinics. The study included all 417 comers for the first visit from 2008 to 2012, aged between 7 and 18 years, with BMI above the Z-score +1. Anthropometry and blood sampling were obtained. The prevalence of dyslipidemias, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance were evaluated, together with the correlations of these variables with the increase of Z-BMI. Dyslipidemia was observed in 43.4% of the boys and 66.1% of the girls, with no difference between genders. High glucose levels were detected in 6.2% of the individuals. Insulin resistance was present in 32.3% and 41.7% of the cases, with no statistical significance between boys and girls. Correlations between the Z-BMI were noted for triglycerides in the entire group and among girls; for HDL-c, only among girls; for glucose, a correlation was observed for the entire group, but not when stratified by gender. The indicators of insulin resistance were all correlated with Z-BMI, even when corrected for age. Overweight and obesity give origin to a high prevalence of dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. BMI Z-scores showed a weak positive correlation with glucose and triglyceride, and negative with HDL-c. In turn, the strongest positive correlation was found with insulin resistance indicators. Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

ROCS: a Reproducibility Index and Confidence Score for Interaction Proteomics Studies

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Dazard Jean-Eudes

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Affinity-Purification Mass-Spectrometry (AP-MS provides a powerful means of identifying protein complexes and interactions. Several important challenges exist in interpreting the results of AP-MS experiments. First, the reproducibility of AP-MS experimental replicates can be low, due both to technical variability and the dynamic nature of protein interactions in the cell. Second, the identification of true protein-protein interactions in AP-MS experiments is subject to inaccuracy due to high false negative and false positive rates. Several experimental approaches can be used to mitigate these drawbacks, including the use of replicated and control experiments and relative quantification to sensitively distinguish true interacting proteins from false ones. Methods To address the issues of reproducibility and accuracy of protein-protein interactions, we introduce a two-step method, called ROCS, which makes use of Indicator Prey Proteins to select reproducible AP-MS experiments, and of Confidence Scores to select specific protein-protein interactions. The Indicator Prey Proteins account for measures of protein identifiability as well as protein reproducibility, effectively allowing removal of outlier experiments that contribute noise and affect downstream inferences. The filtered set of experiments is then used in the Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI scoring step. Prey protein scoring is done by computing a Confidence Score, which accounts for the probability of occurrence of prey proteins in the bait experiments relative to the control experiment, where the significance cutoff parameter is estimated by simultaneously controlling false positives and false negatives against metrics of false discovery rate and biological coherence respectively. In summary, the ROCS method relies on automatic objective criterions for parameter estimation and error-controlled procedures. Results We illustrate the performance of our method by applying

The FOLDALIGN web server for pairwise structural RNA alignment and mutual motif search

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Havgaard, Jakob Hull; Lyngsø, Rune B.; Gorodkin, Jan

2005-01-01

FOLDALIGN is a Sankoff-based algorithm for making structural alignments of RNA sequences. Here, we present a web server for making pairwise alignments between two RNA sequences, using the recently updated version of FOLDALIGN. The server can be used to scan two sequences for a common structural RNA...... motif of limited size, or the entire sequences can be aligned locally or globally. The web server offers a graphical interface, which makes it simple to make alignments and manually browse the results. the web server can be accessed at http://foldalign.kvl.dk...

Comparison of Glasgow prognostic score and prognostic index in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Ai-Gui; Chen, Hong-Lin; Lu, Hui-Yu

2015-03-01

Previous studies have shown that Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) and prognostic index (PI) are also powerful prognostic tool for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to compare the prognostic value between GPS and PI. We enrolled consecutive patients with advanced NSCLC in this prospective cohort. GPS and PI were calculated before the onset of chemotherapy. The prognosis outcomes included 1-, 3-, and 5-year progression-free survival and overall survival (OS). The performance of two scores in predicting prognosis was analyzed regarding discrimination and calibration. 138 patients were included in the study. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for GPS predicting 1-year DFS was 0.62 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.56-0.68, P statistic showed good fit of the predicted 1-year DFS to the actual 1-year DFS by GPS (χ(2) = 4.326, P = 0.462), while no fit was found between the predicted 1-year DFS and the actual 1-year DFS by PI (χ(2) = 15.234, P = 0.091). Similar results of calibration power were found for predicting 3-year DFS, 5-year DFS, 1-year OS, 3-year OS, and 5-year OS by GPS and PI. GPS is more accurate than PI in predicting prognosis for patients with advanced NSCLC. GPS can be used as a useful and simple tool for predicting prognosis in patients with NSCLC. However, GPS only can be used for preliminary assessment because of low predicting accuracy.

The Dutch Healthy Diet index (DHD-index: an instrument to measure adherence to the Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet

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van Lee Linde

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The objective was to develop an index based on the Dutch Guidelines for a healthy Diet of 2006 that reflects dietary quality and to apply it to the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (DNFCS to examine the associations with micronutrient intakes. Methods A total of 749 men and women, aged 19–30 years, contributed two 24-hour recalls and additional questionnaires in the DNFCS of 2003. The Dutch Healthy Diet index (DHD-index includes ten components representing the ten Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet. Per component the score ranges between zero and ten, resulting in a total score between zero (no adherence and 100 (complete adherence. Results The mean ± SD of the DHD-index was 60.4 ± 11.5 for women and 57.8 ± 10.8 for men (P for difference = 0.002. Each component score increased across the sex-specific quintiles of the DHD-index. An inverse association was observed between the sex-specific quintiles of the DHD-index and total energy intake. Calcium, riboflavin, and vitamin E intake decreased with increasing DHD-index, an inverse association which disappeared after energy adjustment. Vitamin C showed a positive association across quintiles, also when adjusted for energy. For folate, iron, magnesium, potassium, thiamin, and vitamin B6 a positive association emerged after adjustment for energy. Conclusions The DHD-index is capable of ranking participants according to their adherence to the Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet by reflecting variation in nine out of ten components that constitute the index when based on two 24-hour recalls. Furthermore, the index showed to be a good measure of nutrient density of diets.

The Nurses' Well-Being Index and Factors Influencing This Index among Nurses in Central China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

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Runtang Meng

Full Text Available A discussion and analysis of factors that contribute to nurses' happiness index can be useful in developing effective interventions to improve nurses' enthusiasm, sense of honor and pride and to improve the efficiency and quality of medical services.In this study, 206 registered nurses at the 2011 annual encounter for 12 Hanchuan hospitals completed a questionnaire survey that covered three aspects of the well-being index and thus served as a comprehensive well-being and general information tool.Based on their index score, the nurses' overall happiness level was moderate. The dimensions of the happiness index are listed in descending order of their contribution to the nurses' comprehensive happiness levels: health concerns, friendly relationships, self-worth, altruism, vitality, positive emotions, personality development, life satisfaction and negative emotions. Four variables (positive emotion, life satisfaction, negative emotions, and friendly relationships jointly explained 47.80% of the total variance of the happiness index; positive emotions had the greatest impact on the happiness index.Appropriate nursing interventions can improve nurses' happiness index scores, thereby increasing nurses' motivation and promoting the development of their nursing practice.

The Nurses’ Well-Being Index and Factors Influencing This Index among Nurses in Central China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bing; Hu, Ying; Yu, Chuanhua

2015-01-01

Backgrounds/Objectives A discussion and analysis of factors that contribute to nurses’ happiness index can be useful in developing effective interventions to improve nurses’ enthusiasm, sense of honor and pride and to improve the efficiency and quality of medical services. Methods In this study, 206 registered nurses at the 2011 annual encounter for 12 Hanchuan hospitals completed a questionnaire survey that covered three aspects of the well-being index and thus served as a comprehensive well-being and general information tool. Results Based on their index score, the nurses’ overall happiness level was moderate. The dimensions of the happiness index are listed in descending order of their contribution to the nurses’ comprehensive happiness levels: health concerns, friendly relationships, self-worth, altruism, vitality, positive emotions, personality development, life satisfaction and negative emotions. Four variables (positive emotion, life satisfaction, negative emotions, and friendly relationships) jointly explained 47.80% of the total variance of the happiness index; positive emotions had the greatest impact on the happiness index. Conclusions Appropriate nursing interventions can improve nurses’ happiness index scores, thereby increasing nurses’ motivation and promoting the development of their nursing practice. PMID:26680594

Managing missing scores on the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kent, Peter; Lauridsen, Henrik Hein

2011-01-01

Study Design: Analysis of Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and Oswestry Disability Index (Oswestry) responses.Objectives: To determine the prevalence of unanswered questions on the RMDQ23 (23-item RMDQ version) and Oswestry questionnaires. To determine if managing RMDQ23 missing data...... fully completed RMDQ23 and matching Oswestry questionnaire sets. Raw sum scores were calculated, and questions systematically dropped. At each stage, sum scores were converted to a score on a 0-100 scale and the error calculated. Wilcoxon Tests were used to compare the magnitude of the error scores...

Comparison of indocyanine green clearance with Child's-Pugh score and hepatic histology: a multivariate analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukherjee, Sandeep; Rogers, Mary A M; Buniak, Borys

2006-01-01

Indocyanine green clearance, measured by percentage disappearance rate, detects alterations in liver function and may be used as a non-invasive determinant of hepatic reserve. The aims of this study were to compare liver histology and Child's-Pugh score with percentage disappearance rate and determine which variables correlated with PDR. Child's-Pugh score, liver function tests, liver biopsies and indocyanine green testing (0.5mg/kg) were performed in 102 consecutive patients with cirrhosis of diverse etiologies. Indocyanine green concentration was determined using spectrophotometric analysis (806nm) and plotted logarithmically with Michaelis-Menten kinetics to calculate the percentage disappearance rate. Liver biopsies were graded using the modified Knodell score to obtain a histological activity index. In bivariable analysis, percentage disappearance rate significantly correlated with Child's-Pugh score, albumin, bilirubin, prothrombin time and histological activity index. Albumin, prothrombin time and histological activity index were independent predictors of percentage disappearance rate in the final model (albumin ptime ptime and histological activity index.

Effect of pairwise additivity on finite-temperature behavior of classical ideal gas

Science.gov (United States)

Shekaari, Ashkan; Jafari, Mahmoud

2018-05-01

Finite-temperature molecular dynamics simulations have been applied to inquire into the effect of pairwise additivity on the behavior of classical ideal gas within the temperature range of T = 250-4000 K via applying a variety of pair potentials and then examining the temperature dependence of a number of thermodynamical properties. Examining the compressibility factor reveals the most deviation from ideal-gas behavior for the Lennard-Jones system mainly due to the presence of both the attractive and repulsive terms. The systems with either attractive or repulsive intermolecular potentials are found to present no resemblance to real gases, but the most similarity to the ideal one as temperature rises.

Body Mass Index and Operating Times in Vascular Procedures

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M. Durup-Dickenson

Full Text Available : Introduction: The influence of body mass index (BMI on operating times in central and peripheral vascular surgical procedures was investigated. Report: A national cohort of Danish patients who underwent a vascular procedure between 1983 and 2012 was used for analysis. Data were analysed with pairwise comparisons of BMI groups for operating times using the independent samples Kruskall–Wallis test. Discussion: A total of 3,255 carotid endarterectomies; 6,885 central vascular procedures; and 4,488 peripheral bypasses were included for the analysis. Median operating times for carotid endarterectomy and central vascular procedures were, respectively, 5 and 15 minutes longer in obese patients than in normal weight patients. This represents a 7% and 10% increase in median operating times, respectively. Linear and multi-adjusted linear regressions were conducted adjusting for confounders, showing a significant correlation between BMI and operating time. Obesity significantly increased the operating times in carotid endarterectomy and central vascular procedures. These may have ramifications for the individual operative stress but not necessarily on logistical operation planning. Keywords: Body mass index (BMI, Obesity, Operating time, Surgery, Vascular surgical procedures

Atomic pairwise distribution function analysis of the amorphous phase prepared by different manufacturing routes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boetker, Johan P.; Koradia, Vishal; Rades, Thomas

2012-01-01

was subjected to quench cooling thereby creating an amorphous form of the drug from both starting materials. The milled and quench cooled samples were, together with the crystalline starting materials, analyzed with X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Raman spectroscopy and atomic pair-wise distribution function...... (PDF) analysis of the XRPD pattern. When compared to XRPD and Raman spectroscopy, the PDF analysis was superior in displaying the difference between the amorphous samples prepared by milling and quench cooling approaches of the two starting materials....

PR-Index: Using the h-Index and PageRank for Determining True Impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Chao; Wang, Zhen; Li, Xianghua; Zhang, Zili; Zeng, Wei

2016-01-01

Several technical indicators have been proposed to assess the impact of authors and institutions. Here, we combine the h-index and the PageRank algorithm to do away with some of the individual limitations of these two indices. Most importantly, we aim to take into account value differences between citations-evaluating the citation sources by defining the h-index using the PageRank score rather than with citations. The resulting PR-index is then constructed by evaluating source popularity as well as the source publication authority. Extensive tests on available collections data (i.e., Microsoft Academic Search and benchmarks on the SIGKDD innovation award) show that the PR-index provides a more balanced impact measure than many existing indices. Due to its simplicity and similarity to the popular h-index, the PR-index may thus become a welcome addition to the technical indices already in use. Moreover, growth dynamics prior to the SIGKDD innovation award indicate that the PR-index might have notable predictive power.

Predicting SF-6D utility scores from the Oswestry disability index and numeric rating scales for back and leg pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Carreon, Leah Y; Glassman, Steven D; McDonough, Christine M; Rampersaud, Raja; Berven, Sigurd; Shainline, Michael

2009-09-01

Cross-sectional cohort. The purpose of this study is to provide a model to allow estimation of utility from the Short Form (SF)-6D using data from the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Back Pain Numeric Rating Scale (BPNRS), and the Leg Pain Numeric Rating Scale (LPNRS). Cost-utility analysis provides important information about the relative value of interventions and requires a measure of utility not often available from clinical trial data. The ODI and numeric rating scales for back (BPNRS) and leg pain (LPNRS), are widely used disease-specific measures for health-related quality of life in patients with lumbar degenerative disorders. The purpose of this study is to provide a model to allow estimation of utility from the SF-6D using data from the ODI, BPNRS, and the LPNRS. SF-36, ODI, BPNRS, and LPNRS were prospectively collected before surgery, at 12 and 24 months after surgery in 2640 patients undergoing lumbar fusion for degenerative disorders. Spearman correlation coefficients for paired observations from multiple time points between ODI, BPNRS, and LPNRS, and SF-6D utility scores were determined. Regression modeling was done to compute the SF-6D score from the ODI, BPNRS, and LPNRS. Using a separate, independent dataset of 2174 patients in which actual SF-6D and ODI scores were available, the SF-6D was estimated for each subject and compared to their actual SF-6D. In the development sample, the mean age was 52.5 +/- 15 years and 34% were male. In the validation sample, the mean age was 52.9 +/- 14.2 years and 44% were male. Correlations between the SF-6D and the ODI, BPNRS, and LPNRS were statistically significant (P < 0.0001) with correlation coefficients of 0.82, 0.78, and 0.72, respectively. The regression equation using ODI, BPNRS,and LPNRS to predict SF-6D had an R of 0.69 and a root mean square error of 0.076. The model using ODI alone had an R of 0.67 and a root mean square error of 0.078. The correlation coefficient between the observed and estimated

Exact method for the simulation of Coulombic systems by spherically truncated, pairwise r-1 summation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolf, D.; Keblinski, P.; Phillpot, S.R.; Eggebrecht, J.

1999-01-01

Based on a recent result showing that the net Coulomb potential in condensed ionic systems is rather short ranged, an exact and physically transparent method permitting the evaluation of the Coulomb potential by direct summation over the r -1 Coulomb pair potential is presented. The key observation is that the problems encountered in determining the Coulomb energy by pairwise, spherically truncated r -1 summation are a direct consequence of the fact that the system summed over is practically never neutral. A simple method is developed that achieves charge neutralization wherever the r -1 pair potential is truncated. This enables the extraction of the Coulomb energy, forces, and stresses from a spherically truncated, usually charged environment in a manner that is independent of the grouping of the pair terms. The close connection of our approach with the Ewald method is demonstrated and exploited, providing an efficient method for the simulation of even highly disordered ionic systems by direct, pairwise r -1 summation with spherical truncation at rather short range, i.e., a method which fully exploits the short-ranged nature of the interactions in ionic systems. The method is validated by simulations of crystals, liquids, and interfacial systems, such as free surfaces and grain boundaries. copyright 1999 American Institute of Physics

Revised multicultural perspective index and measures of depression, life satisfaction, shyness, and self-esteem.

Science.gov (United States)

Mowrer, Robert R; Parker, Keesha N

2004-12-01

In a 2002 publication, Mowrer and McCarver reported weak but significant correlations (r =.24) between scores on the Multicultural Perspective Index and scores on Neugarten, Havighurst, and Tobin's 1961 Life Satisfaction Index-A and the Life Satisfaction Scale developed in 1985 by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin. Using 382 undergraduate students the present study reduced the Index from 42 to 29 items based on each item's correlation with total items. An additional 104 undergraduate students then completed the modified 29-item version, Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, Cheek and Buss's Shyness Scale, the Self-rating Depression Scale by Zung, and the Neugarten, et al. Life Satisfaction Index-A. Scores on the modified Index were negatively correlated with those on the Depression and Shyness scales and positively correlated with scores on the Self-esteem and Life Satisfaction scales (p< .05).

Multilevel summation methods for efficient evaluation of long-range pairwise interactions in atomistic and coarse-grained molecular simulation.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bond, Stephen D.

2014-01-01

The availability of efficient algorithms for long-range pairwise interactions is central to the success of numerous applications, ranging in scale from atomic-level modeling of materials to astrophysics. This report focuses on the implementation and analysis of the multilevel summation method for approximating long-range pairwise interactions. The computational cost of the multilevel summation method is proportional to the number of particles, N, which is an improvement over FFTbased methods whos cost is asymptotically proportional to N logN. In addition to approximating electrostatic forces, the multilevel summation method can be use to efficiently approximate convolutions with long-range kernels. As an application, we apply the multilevel summation method to a discretized integral equation formulation of the regularized generalized Poisson equation. Numerical results are presented using an implementation of the multilevel summation method in the LAMMPS software package. Preliminary results show that the computational cost of the method scales as expected, but there is still a need for further optimization.

Individual and shared effects of social environment and polygenic risk scores on adolescent body mass index.

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, Jonathan R I; Krapohl, Eva; Eley, Thalia C; Breen, Gerome

2018-04-20

Juvenile obesity is associated with adverse health outcomes. Understanding genetic and environmental influences on body mass index (BMI) during adolescence could inform interventions. We investigated independent and interactive effects of parenting, socioeconomic status (SES) and polygenic risk on BMI pre-adolescence, and on the rate of change in BMI across adolescence. Genome-wide genotype data, BMI and child perceptions of parental warmth and punitive discipline were available at 11 years old, and parental SES was available from birth on 3,414 unrelated participants. Linear models were used to test the effects of social environment and polygenic risk on pre-adolescent BMI. Change in BMI across adolescence was assessed in a subset (N = 1943). Sex-specific effects were assessed. Higher genetic risk was associated with increased BMI pre-adolescence and across adolescence (p parenting was not significantly associated with either phenotype, but lower SES was associated with increased BMI pre-adolescence. No interactions passed correction for multiple testing. Polygenic risk scores from adult GWAS meta-analyses are associated with BMI in juveniles, suggesting a stable genetic component. Pre-adolescent BMI was associated with social environment, but parental style has, at most, a small effect.

A new prognostic score for AIDS-related lymphomas in the rituximab-era

Science.gov (United States)

Barta, Stefan K.; Xue, Xiaonan; Wang, Dan; Lee, Jeannette Y.; Kaplan, Lawrence D.; Ribera, Josep-Maria; Oriol, Albert; Spina, Michele; Tirelli, Umberto; Boue, Francois; Wilson, Wyndham H.; Wyen, Christoph; Dunleavy, Kieron; Noy, Ariela; Sparano, Joseph A.

2014-01-01

While the International Prognostic Index is commonly used to predict outcomes in immunocompetent patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas, HIV-infection is an important competing risk for death in patients with AIDS-related lymphomas. We investigated whether a newly created prognostic score (AIDS-related lymphoma International Prognostic Index) could better assess risk of death in patients with AIDS-related lymphomas. We randomly divided a dataset of 487 patients newly diagnosed with AIDS-related lymphomas and treated with rituximab-containing chemoimmunotherapy into a training (n=244) and validation (n=243) set. We examined the association of HIV-related and other known risk factors with overall survival in both sets independently. We defined a new score (AIDS-related lymphoma International Prognostic Index) by assigning weights to each significant predictor [age-adjusted International Prognostic Index, extranodal sites, HIV-score (composed of CD4 count, viral load, and prior history of AIDS)] with three risk categories similar to the age-adjusted International Prognostic Index (low, intermediate and high risk). We compared the prognostic value for overall survival between AIDS-related lymphoma International Prognostic Index and age-adjusted International Prognostic Index in the validation set and found that the AIDS-related lymphoma International Prognostic Index performed significantly better in predicting risk of death than the age-adjusted International Prognostic Index (P=0.004) and better discriminated risk of death between each risk category (P=0.015 vs. P=0.13). Twenty-eight percent of patients were defined as low risk by the ARL-IPI and had an estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) of 78% (52% intermediate risk, 5-year OS 60%; 20% high risk, 5-year OS 50%). PMID:25150257

Comparison of the EuroQOL-5D with the Oswestry Disability Index, back and leg pain scores in patients with degenerative lumbar spine pathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Benjamin; Carreon, Leah Y; Glassman, Steven D

2013-04-20

Cross-sectional study. To evaluate the response behavior of EuroQOL-5D (EQ-5D) compared with the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and back and leg pain scores. Recent changes in policies have highlighted the need for demonstration of both quality and cost effectiveness. In an effort to meet these requirements, surgeons are collecting health-related quality of life and utility data. Unfortunately, the burden of extensive data collection on both physician and patient is considerable. The EQ-5D is a commonly used, easily administered, brief utility measure that can provide both clinical and utility data. The EQ-5D has not yet been validated in spine patients in comparison with established outcome measures. EQ-5D, ODI, back and leg pain (0-10) scores were collected as part of standard clinical practice. Spearman rank correlations between the ODI, back and leg pain scores, and the EQ-5D were determined. A subanalysis to determine dimension-specific effects was done. Data were categorized by level of low back disability and level of back and leg pain. Data from 8385 patients (5046 females, 3339 males), mean age 52 (range, 18-96) were analyzed. There was a strong correlation between EQ-5D and ODI (r = -0.776) and between EQ-5D and back pain (r = -0.648); and moderate correlation between EQ-5D and leg pain scores (r = -0.538). Increasing disability, as measured by ODI, lead to lower EQ-5D scores, with similar response behavior for both back and leg pain scores. All correlations were statistically significant at P < 0.0001. The EQ-5D correlated well with established spine outcome measures, including ODI, and back and leg pain scores. EQ-5D correlated best with ODI scores. Correlation with back pain was stronger than leg pain, but all correlations were relatively strong. The EQ-5D can serve spine surgeons as an effective measure of clinical outcome and health utility for economic analysis.

Usefulness of modified Pulmonary Index Score (mPIS) as a quantitative tool for the evaluation of severe acute exacerbation in asthmatic children.

Science.gov (United States)

Koga, Takeshi; Tokuyama, Kenichi; Itano, Atsushi; Morita, Eiji; Ueda, Yutaka; Katsunuma, Toshio

2015-04-01

Acute exacerbation of asthma is divided qualitatively into mild, moderate, and severe attacks and respiratory failure. This system is, however, not suitable for estimating small changes in respiratory condition with time and for determining the efficacy of treatments, because it has a qualitative, but not quantitative nature. To evaluate the usefulness of quantitative estimation of asthma exacerbation, modified Pulmonary Index Score (mPIS) values were measured in 87 asthmatic children (mean age, 5.0 ± 0.4 years) during hospitalization. mPIS was calculated by adding the sum of scores for 6 items (scores of 0-3 were given for each item). These consisted of heart rate, respiratory rate, accessory muscle use, inspiratory-to-expiratory flow ratio, degree of wheezing, and oxygen saturation in room air. Measurements were made at visits and at hospitalization and were then made twice a day until discharge. mPIS values were highly correlated among raters. mPIS values at visits were 9.1 ± 0.1 and 12.6 ± 0.4 in subjects with moderate and severe attacks, respectively (p asthma attacks, including the determination of a treatment plan, and prediction of the period of hospitalization in admitted patients, although prospective studies would be required to establish our hypothesis. Copyright © 2014 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Propensity-score matching in economic analyses: comparison with regression models, instrumental variables, residual inclusion, differences-in-differences, and decomposition methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Crown, William H

2014-02-01

This paper examines the use of propensity score matching in economic analyses of observational data. Several excellent papers have previously reviewed practical aspects of propensity score estimation and other aspects of the propensity score literature. The purpose of this paper is to compare the conceptual foundation of propensity score models with alternative estimators of treatment effects. References are provided to empirical comparisons among methods that have appeared in the literature. These comparisons are available for a subset of the methods considered in this paper. However, in some cases, no pairwise comparisons of particular methods are yet available, and there are no examples of comparisons across all of the methods surveyed here. Irrespective of the availability of empirical comparisons, the goal of this paper is to provide some intuition about the relative merits of alternative estimators in health economic evaluations where nonlinearity, sample size, availability of pre/post data, heterogeneity, and missing variables can have important implications for choice of methodology. Also considered is the potential combination of propensity score matching with alternative methods such as differences-in-differences and decomposition methods that have not yet appeared in the empirical literature.

Computer-Assisted Automated Scoring of Polysomnograms Using the Somnolyzer System.

Science.gov (United States)

Punjabi, Naresh M; Shifa, Naima; Dorffner, Georg; Patil, Susheel; Pien, Grace; Aurora, Rashmi N

2015-10-01

Manual scoring of polysomnograms is a time-consuming and tedious process. To expedite the scoring of polysomnograms, several computerized algorithms for automated scoring have been developed. The overarching goal of this study was to determine the validity of the Somnolyzer system, an automated system for scoring polysomnograms. The analysis sample comprised of 97 sleep studies. Each polysomnogram was manually scored by certified technologists from four sleep laboratories and concurrently subjected to automated scoring by the Somnolyzer system. Agreement between manual and automated scoring was examined. Sleep staging and scoring of disordered breathing events was conducted using the 2007 American Academy of Sleep Medicine criteria. Clinical sleep laboratories. A high degree of agreement was noted between manual and automated scoring of the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). The average correlation between the manually scored AHI across the four clinical sites was 0.92 (95% confidence interval: 0.90-0.93). Similarly, the average correlation between the manual and Somnolyzer-scored AHI values was 0.93 (95% confidence interval: 0.91-0.96). Thus, interscorer correlation between the manually scored results was no different than that derived from manual and automated scoring. Substantial concordance in the arousal index, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency between manual and automated scoring was also observed. In contrast, differences were noted between manually and automated scored percentages of sleep stages N1, N2, and N3. Automated analysis of polysomnograms using the Somnolyzer system provides results that are comparable to manual scoring for commonly used metrics in sleep medicine. Although differences exist between manual versus automated scoring for specific sleep stages, the level of agreement between manual and automated scoring is not significantly different than that between any two human scorers. In light of the burden associated with manual scoring, automated

Differences in body mass index z-scores and weight status in a Dutch pediatric psychiatric population with and without use of second-generation antipsychotics.

Science.gov (United States)

de Hoogd, Sjoerd; Overbeek, Wieske A; Heerdink, Eibert R; Correll, Christoph U; de Graeff, Elisabeth R; Staal, Wouter G

2012-04-01

Weight gain and metabolic adverse effects of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) have become a major concern, particularly in youth. However, the specific contribution of SGAs versus other medications or the underlying illness is unclear. In a chart review study of psychiatric outpatients aged ≤ 18 years treated with SGAs and psychiatric controls without lifetime SGA, use body mass index (BMI) z-scores between patients and controls were compared in the entire sample, patients without co-medications, diagnostic subgroups, and age subgroups. In patients with follow-up data, weight z-score change was calculated. Altogether, 592 Caucasian patients aged 4-18 (mean: 10.0) years with a psychiatric diagnosis were included. BMI z-scores in 96 youth treated with SGAs for 9.0 ± 6.1 months were significantly higher than in 496 patients without lifetime SGA use (0.81 ± 1.1 vs. 0.05 ± 1.2; pz-score differences remained significant in all age groups z-score increased significantly from -0.17 ± 1.5 to 0.25 ± 1.4 (p<0.0001) with 12.5% transitioning to overweight or obese status. These data show robust and significant differences in sex- and age-adjusted body weight and weight status in young pediatric Caucasian samples with and without use of SGAs independent of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) (American Psychiatric Association 2000 ) diagnosis and nonantipsychotic medications. Weight status and metabolic effects of SGAs require careful attention, especially in youth.

Pair-Wise and Many-Body Dispersive Interactions Coupled to an Optimally Tuned Range-Separated Hybrid Functional.

Science.gov (United States)

Agrawal, Piyush; Tkatchenko, Alexandre; Kronik, Leeor

2013-08-13

We propose a nonempirical, pair-wise or many-body dispersion-corrected, optimally tuned range-separated hybrid functional. This functional retains the advantages of the optimal-tuning approach in the prediction of the electronic structure. At the same time, it gains accuracy in the prediction of binding energies for dispersively bound systems, as demonstrated on the S22 and S66 benchmark sets of weakly bound dimers.

The dischargeable cut-off score of Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) in the inpatient care for low back pain with disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Sang-Won; Shin, Ye-Sle; Kim, Hye-Jin; Lee, Jin-Ho; Shin, Joon-Shik; Ha, In-Hyuk

2014-10-01

The admission due to low back pain (LBP) became prevalent cause of international economic losses. Since LBP patients with disability are often subject to inpatient care, it is important to determine the appropriate time of discharge. The purpose of this study is to set the cut-off value of appropriate Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at the time of discharge. Of 1,394 LBP patients admitted in hospital specialized in spinal disease, 774 eligible patients with disability were included in this study. And several clinical variables including numerical rating score, ODI, satisfaction level were observed during the hospital stay. We considered satisfaction level as an important factor for discharge, categorized patients into satisfied group and dissatisfied group. Through the statistical analysis, appropriate factor for determining dischargeable patients satisfied with their current condition and its cut-off value of ODI were found. And proper predictors for the cut-off value were extracted statistically and logically from a pool of several clinical indexes. The ODI at the time of discharge was most accurate in determining dischargeable patients. The cut-off value of ODI was 30. Predictors were ODI questions 4 and 6. We set the cut-off value of dischargeable ODI for LBP inpatient with disability and found its predictor.

Computing the Skewness of the Phylogenetic Mean Pairwise Distance in Linear Time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tsirogiannis, Constantinos; Sandel, Brody Steven

2014-01-01

The phylogenetic Mean Pairwise Distance (MPD) is one of the most popular measures for computing the phylogenetic distance between a given group of species. More specifically, for a phylogenetic tree and for a set of species R represented by a subset of the leaf nodes of , the MPD of R is equal...... to the average cost of all possible simple paths in that connect pairs of nodes in R. Among other phylogenetic measures, the MPD is used as a tool for deciding if the species of a given group R are closely related. To do this, it is important to compute not only the value of the MPD for this group but also...

Accuracy of the Auto Scoring by the S9 CPAP in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joon Hyun Baek

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Objective Several continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP devices currently in use automatically estimate and provide information of the residual respiratory events such as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI, apnea index (AI, and hypopnea index (HI. To compare the auto scoring of the residual respiratory events using the S9 CPAP device with simultaneous manual scoring and identify factors that are associated with difference between auto scoring and manual scoring in patients with OSA. Methods Patients with moderate to severe OSA titrated manually using S9 CPAP device were included. The correlation between auto scoring and manual scoring was assessed during an overnight standard in-hospital CPAP titration. Results Eighty-six patients with moderate to severe OSA were included. There was a strong correlation between auto scoring and manual scoring on AHI (r = 0.74, p < 0.001, with a stronger correlation on the AI (r = 0.86, p < 0.001, and a weaker correlation on HI (r = 0.56, p < 0.001. Overall, S9 auto scoring tended to underestimate the AHI (mean AHI difference: −1.30 owing to the strong underestimation on HI. Higher BMI, higher AHI from diagnostic polysomnography, higher leakage and lower oxygen saturation were independent factors for greater difference between auto scoring and manual scoring. Conclusions Auto scoring showed strong correlation with manual scoring. However, auto scoring of S9 CPAP tended to underestimate the AHI, as compared to manual scoring. Characteristic features of severe OSA were associated factors for difference between auto scoring and manual scoring.

Poor WOMAC scores in contralateral knee negatively impact TKA outcomes: data from the osteoarthritis initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahn, Timothy L; Soheili, Aydin C; Schwarzkopf, Ran

2014-08-01

While total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been shown to have excellent outcomes, a significant proportion of patients experience relatively poor post-operative function. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the level of osteoarthritic symptoms in the contralateral knee at the time of TKA is associated with poorer post-operative outcomes in the operated knee. Using longitudinal cohort data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), we included 171 patients who received a unilateral TKA. We compared pre-operative Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores in the contralateral knee to post-operative WOMAC scores in the index knee. Pre-operative contralateral knee WOMAC scores were associated with post-operative index knee WOMAC Total scores, indicating that the health of the pre-operative contralateral knee is a significant factor in TKA outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PTM Along Track Algorithm to Maintain Spacing During Same Direction Pair-Wise Trajectory Management Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Carreno, Victor A.

2015-01-01

Pair-wise Trajectory Management (PTM) is a cockpit based delegated responsibility separation standard. When an air traffic service provider gives a PTM clearance to an aircraft and the flight crew accepts the clearance, the flight crew will maintain spacing and separation from a designated aircraft. A PTM along track algorithm will receive state information from the designated aircraft and from the own ship to produce speed guidance for the flight crew to maintain spacing and separation

Criteria for the singularity of a pairwise l{sub 1}-distance matrix and their generalizations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D' yakonov, Alexander G [M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2012-06-30

We study the singularity problem for the pairwise distance matrix of a system of points, as well as generalizations of this problem that are connected with applications to interpolation theory and with an algebraic approach to recognition problems. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions on a system under which the dimension of the range space of polynomials of bounded degree over the columns of the distance matrix is less than the number of points in the system.

Improvement of Risk Prediction After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement by Combining Frailty With Conventional Risk Scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoenenberger, Andreas W; Moser, André; Bertschi, Dominic; Wenaweser, Peter; Windecker, Stephan; Carrel, Thierry; Stuck, Andreas E; Stortecky, Stefan

2018-02-26

This study sought to evaluate whether frailty improves mortality prediction in combination with the conventional scores. European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) or Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) score have not been evaluated in combined models with frailty for mortality prediction after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). This prospective cohort comprised 330 consecutive TAVR patients ≥70 years of age. Conventional scores and a frailty index (based on assessment of cognition, mobility, nutrition, and activities of daily living) were evaluated to predict 1-year all-cause mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression (providing hazard ratios [HRs] with confidence intervals [CIs]) and measures of test performance (providing likelihood ratio [LR] chi-square test statistic and C-statistic [CS]). All risk scores were predictive of the outcome (EuroSCORE, HR: 1.90 [95% CI: 1.45 to 2.48], LR chi-square test statistic 19.29, C-statistic 0.67; STS score, HR: 1.51 [95% CI: 1.21 to 1.88], LR chi-square test statistic 11.05, C-statistic 0.64; frailty index, HR: 3.29 [95% CI: 1.98 to 5.47], LR chi-square test statistic 22.28, C-statistic 0.66). A combination of the frailty index with either EuroSCORE (LR chi-square test statistic 38.27, C-statistic 0.72) or STS score (LR chi-square test statistic 28.71, C-statistic 0.68) improved mortality prediction. The frailty index accounted for 58.2% and 77.6% of the predictive information in the combined model with EuroSCORE and STS score, respectively. Net reclassification improvement and integrated discrimination improvement confirmed that the added frailty index improved risk prediction. This is the first study showing that the assessment of frailty significantly enhances prediction of 1-year mortality after TAVR in combined risk models with conventional risk scores and relevantly contributes to this improvement. Copyright © 2018 American College of Cardiology Foundation

The ADOPT-LC score: a novel predictive index of in-hospital mortality of cirrhotic patients following surgical procedures, based on a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Masaya; Tateishi, Ryosuke; Yasunaga, Hideo; Horiguchi, Hiromasa; Matsui, Hiroki; Yoshida, Haruhiko; Fushimi, Kiyohide; Koike, Kazuhiko

2017-03-01

We aimed to develop a model for predicting in-hospital mortality of cirrhotic patients following major surgical procedures using a large sample of patients derived from a Japanese nationwide administrative database. We enrolled 2197 cirrhotic patients who underwent elective (n = 1973) or emergency (n = 224) surgery. We analyzed the risk factors for postoperative mortality and established a scoring system for predicting postoperative mortality in cirrhotic patients using a split-sample method. In-hospital mortality rates following elective or emergency surgery were 4.7% and 20.5%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, patient age, Child-Pugh (CP) class, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and duration of anesthesia in elective surgery were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality. In emergency surgery, CP class and duration of anesthesia were significant factors. Based on multivariate analysis in the training set (n = 987), the Adequate Operative Treatment for Liver Cirrhosis (ADOPT-LC) score that used patient age, CP class, CCI, and duration of anesthesia to predict in-hospital mortality following elective surgery was developed. This scoring system was validated in the testing set (n = 986) and produced an area under the curve of 0.881. We also developed iOS/Android apps to calculate ADOPT-LC scores to allow easy access to the current evidence in daily clinical practice. Patient age, CP class, CCI, and duration of anesthesia were identified as important risk factors for predicting postoperative mortality in cirrhotic patients. The ADOPT-LC score effectively predicts in-hospital mortality following elective surgery and may assist decisions regarding surgical procedures in cirrhotic patients based on a quantitative risk assessment. © 2016 The Authors Hepatology Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japan Society of Hepatology.

A Comparison of EQ-5D-3L Index Scores Using Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai, and UK Value Sets in Indonesian Cervical Cancer Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Endarti, Dwi; Riewpaiboon, Arthorn; Thavorncharoensap, Montarat; Praditsitthikorn, Naiyana; Hutubessy, Raymond; Kristina, Susi Ari

2018-05-01

To gain insight into the most suitable foreign value set among Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai, and UK value sets for calculating the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire index score (utility) among patients with cervical cancer in Indonesia. Data from 87 patients with cervical cancer recruited from a referral hospital in Yogyakarta province, Indonesia, from an earlier study of health-related quality of life were used in this study. The differences among the utility scores derived from the four value sets were determined using the Friedman test. Performance of the psychometric properties of the four value sets versus visual analogue scale (VAS) was assessed. Intraclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots were used to test the agreement among the utility scores. Spearman ρ correlation coefficients were used to assess convergent validity between utility scores and patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. With respect to known-group validity, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to examine the differences in utility according to the stages of cancer. There was significant difference among utility scores derived from the four value sets, among which the Malaysian value set yielded higher utility than the other three value sets. Utility obtained from the Malaysian value set had more agreements with VAS than the other value sets versus VAS (intraclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plot tests results). As for the validity, the four value sets showed equivalent psychometric properties as those that resulted from convergent and known-group validity tests. In the absence of an Indonesian value set, the Malaysian value set was more preferable to be used compared with the other value sets. Further studies on the development of an Indonesian value set need to be conducted. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Functional Movement Screen Scores and Physical Performance among Youth Elite Soccer Players

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno Silva

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This study had two main objectives: (1 to determine if differences in Functional Movement Screen (FMS scores exist between two levels of competition; and (2 to analyze the association between FMS individual and overall scores and physical performance variables of lower-limb power (jumps, repeated sprint ability and shot speed. Twenty-two Under 16 (U16 and twenty-six Under 19 (U19 national competitive soccer players participated in this study. All participants were evaluated according to anthropometrics, FMS, jump performance, instep kick speed and anaerobic performance. There were no significant differences in the individual FMS scores between competitive levels. There were significant negative correlations between hurdle step (right and Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST power average ( ρ = −0.293; p = 0.043 and RAST fatigue index (RAST FatIndex ( ρ = −0.340; p = 0.018. The hurdle step (left had a significant negative correlation to squat jump (SJ ( ρ = −0.369; p = 0.012. Rotary stability had a significant negative correlation to RAST fatigue index (Right: ρ = −0.311; p = 0.032. Left: ρ = −0.400; p = 0.005. The results suggest that individual FMS scores may be better discriminants of performance than FMS total score and established minimal association between FMS scores and physical variables. Based on that, FMS may be suitable for the purposes of determining physical function but not for discriminating physical performance.

Ganga hospital open injury score in management of open injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajasekaran, S; Sabapathy, S R; Dheenadhayalan, J; Sundararajan, S R; Venkatramani, H; Devendra, A; Ramesh, P; Srikanth, K P

2015-02-01

Open injuries of the limbs offer challenges in management as there are still many grey zones in decision making regarding salvage, timing and type of reconstruction. As a result, there is still an unacceptable rate of secondary amputations which lead to tremendous waste of resources and psychological devastation of the patient and his family. Gustilo Anderson's classification was a major milestone in grading the severity of injury but however suffers from the disadvantages of imprecise definition, a poor interobserver correlation, inability to address the issue of salvage and inclusion of a wide spectrum of injuries in Type IIIb category. Numerous scores such as Mangled Extremity Severity Score, the Predictive Salvage Index, the Limb Salvage Index, Hannover Fracture Scale-97 etc have been proposed but all have the disadvantage of retrospective evaluation, inadequate sample sizes and poor sensitivity and specificity to amputation, especially in IIIb injuries. The Ganga Hospital Open Injury Score (GHOIS) was proposed in 2004 and is designed to specifically address the outcome in IIIb injuries of the tibia without vascular deficit. It evaluates the severity of injury to the three components of the limb--the skin, the bone and the musculotendinous structures separately on a grade from 0 to 5. Seven comorbid factors which influence the treatment and the outcome are included in the score with two marks each. The application of the total score and the individual tissue scores in management of IIIB injuries is discussed. The total score was shown to predict salvage when the value was 14 or less; amputation when the score was 17 and more. A grey zone of 15 and 16 is provided where the decision making had to be made on a case to case basis. The additional value of GHOIS was its ability to guide the timing and type of reconstruction. A skin score of more than 3 always required a flap and hence it indicated the need for an orthoplastic approach from the index procedure. Bone

PR-Index: Using the h-Index and PageRank for Determining True Impact.

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Chao Gao

Full Text Available Several technical indicators have been proposed to assess the impact of authors and institutions. Here, we combine the h-index and the PageRank algorithm to do away with some of the individual limitations of these two indices. Most importantly, we aim to take into account value differences between citations-evaluating the citation sources by defining the h-index using the PageRank score rather than with citations. The resulting PR-index is then constructed by evaluating source popularity as well as the source publication authority. Extensive tests on available collections data (i.e., Microsoft Academic Search and benchmarks on the SIGKDD innovation award show that the PR-index provides a more balanced impact measure than many existing indices. Due to its simplicity and similarity to the popular h-index, the PR-index may thus become a welcome addition to the technical indices already in use. Moreover, growth dynamics prior to the SIGKDD innovation award indicate that the PR-index might have notable predictive power.

Effects of Absence and Cognitive Skills Index on Various Achievement Indicators. A Study of ISTEP Scores, Discrepancies, and School-Based Math and English Tests of 1997-1998 Seventh Grade Students at Sarah Scott Middle School, Terre Haute, Indiana.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Holly S.

This study examines the correlation between absence, cognitive skills index (CSI), and various achievement indicators such as the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) test scores, discrepancies, and school-based English and mathematics tests for 64 seventh-grade students from one middle school. Scores for each of the subtests…

Comparison of Oncotype DX® Recurrence Score® with other risk assessment tools including the Nottingham Prognostic Index in the identification of patients with low-risk invasive breast cancer.

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Cotter, Maura Bríd; Dakin, Alex; Maguire, Aoife; Walshe, Janice M; Kennedy, M John; Dunne, Barbara; Riain, Ciarán Ó; Quinn, Cecily M

2017-09-01

Oncotype DX® is a gene expression assay that quantifies the risk of distant recurrence in patients with hormone receptor positive early breast cancer, publicly funded in Ireland since 2011. The aim of this study was to correlate Oncotype DX® risk groupings with traditional histopathological parameters and the results of other risk assessment tools including Recurrence Score-Pathology-Clinical (RSPC), Adjuvant Risk Index (Adj RI), Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) and the Adjuvant! Online 10-year score (AO). Patients were retrospectively identified from the histopathology databases of two Irish hospitals and patient and tumour characteristics collated. Associations between categorical variables were evaluated with Pearson's chi-square test. Correlations were calculated using Spearman's correlation coefficient and concordance using Lin's concordance correlation coefficient. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 22.0.In our 300 patient cohort, Oncotype DX® classified 59.7% (n = 179) as low, 30% (n = 90) as intermediate, and 10.3% (n = 31) as high risk. Overall concordance between the RS and RSPC, Adj RI, NPI, and AO was 67.3% (n = 202), 56.3% (n = 169), 59% (n = 177), and 36.3% (n = 109), respectively. All risk assessment tools classified the majority of patients as low risk apart from the AO 10-year score, with RSPC classifying the highest number of patients as low risk. This study demonstrates that there is good correlation between the RS and scores obtained using alternative risk tools. Concordance with NPI is strong, particularly in the low-risk group. NPI, calculated from traditional clinicopathological characteristics, is a reliable alternative to Oncotype DX® in the identification of low-risk patients who may avoid adjuvant chemotherapy.

GRACE score predicts heart failure admission following acute coronary syndrome.

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McAllister, David A; Halbesma, Nynke; Carruthers, Kathryn; Denvir, Martin; Fox, Keith A

2015-04-01

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a common and preventable complication of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Nevertheless, ACS risk scores have not been shown to predict CHF risk. We investigated whether the at-discharge Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score predicts heart failure admission following ACS. Five-year mortality and hospitalization data were obtained for patients admitted with ACS from June 1999 to September 2009 to a single centre of the GRACE registry. CHF was defined as any admission assigned WHO International Classification of Diseases 10 diagnostic code I50. The hazard ratio (HR) for CHF according to GRACE score was estimated in Cox models adjusting for age, gender and the presence of CHF on index admission. Among 1,956 patients, CHF was recorded on index admission in 141 patients (7%), and 243 (12%) were admitted with CHF over 3.8 median years of follow-up. Compared to the lowest quintile, patients in the highest GRACE score quintile had more CHF admissions (116 vs 17) and a shorter time to first admission (1.2 vs 2.0 years, HR 9.87, 95% CI 5.93-16.43). Per standard deviation increment in GRACE score, the instantaneous risk was more than two-fold higher (HR 2.28; 95% CI 2.02-2.57), including after adjustment for CHF on index admission, age and gender (HR 2.49; 95% CI 2.06-3.02). The C-statistic for CHF admission at 1-year was 0.74 (95% CI 0.70-0.79). The GRACE score predicts CHF admission, and may therefore be used to target ACS patients at high risk of CHF with clinical monitoring and therapies. © The European Society of Cardiology 2014.

Estimating the concordance probability in a survival analysis with a discrete number of risk groups.

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Heller, Glenn; Mo, Qianxing

2016-04-01

A clinical risk classification system is an important component of a treatment decision algorithm. A measure used to assess the strength of a risk classification system is discrimination, and when the outcome is survival time, the most commonly applied global measure of discrimination is the concordance probability. The concordance probability represents the pairwise probability of lower patient risk given longer survival time. The c-index and the concordance probability estimate have been used to estimate the concordance probability when patient-specific risk scores are continuous. In the current paper, the concordance probability estimate and an inverse probability censoring weighted c-index are modified to account for discrete risk scores. Simulations are generated to assess the finite sample properties of the concordance probability estimate and the weighted c-index. An application of these measures of discriminatory power to a metastatic prostate cancer risk classification system is examined.

Identifying the Academic Rising Stars via Pairwise Citation Increment Ranking

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Chuxu

2017-08-02

Predicting the fast-rising young researchers (the Academic Rising Stars) in the future provides useful guidance to the research community, e.g., offering competitive candidates to university for young faculty hiring as they are expected to have success academic careers. In this work, given a set of young researchers who have published the first first-author paper recently, we solve the problem of how to effectively predict the top k% researchers who achieve the highest citation increment in Δt years. We explore a series of factors that can drive an author to be fast-rising and design a novel pairwise citation increment ranking (PCIR) method that leverages those factors to predict the academic rising stars. Experimental results on the large ArnetMiner dataset with over 1.7 million authors demonstrate the effectiveness of PCIR. Specifically, it outperforms all given benchmark methods, with over 8% average improvement. Further analysis demonstrates that temporal features are the best indicators for rising stars prediction, while venue features are less relevant.

Revised Healthy Lifestyle-Diet Index and associations with obesity and iron deficiency in schoolchildren: The Healthy Growth Study.

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Manios, Y; Moschonis, G; Papandreou, C; Politidou, E; Naoumi, A; Peppas, D; Mavrogianni, C; Lionis, C; Chrousos, G P

2015-02-01

The Healthy Lifestyle-Diet Index (HLD-index), previously developed to assess the degree of adherence to dietary and lifestyle guidelines for primary schoolchildren, was revised according to updated recommendations. Τhe association of the revised HLD-index (R-HLD-index) with obesity and iron deficiency (ID) was also examined. A representative sample of 2660 primary schoolchildren from Greece (9-13 years old) participating in the 'Healthy Growth Study' was examined. Twelve components related to dietary and lifestyle patterns were used to develop the R-HLD-index. Scores from 0 up to 4 were assigned to each one of these components, giving a total score ranging from 0 to 48. The associations between the R-HLD-index, obesity and ID were examined via logistic regression analysis. The total score of the R-HLD-index calculated for each one of the study participants was found to range between 2 and 32 units, with higher scores being indicative of a healthier lifestyle and better diet quality. After adjusting for potential confounders, logistic regression analysis showed that an increase in the R-HLD-index score by one unit was associated with 6% lower odds for obesity. However, no significant association was observed between the R-HLD-index score and ID. The R-HLD-index may be a useful tool for public health policy makers and healthcare professionals when assessing diet quality and lifestyle patterns of primary schoolchildren. Identification of children with lower scores in the R-HLD-index and its individual components could guide tailored made interventions targeting specific children and behaviors. © 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Smoking habit and psychometric scores: a community study.

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Waal-Manning, H J; de Hamel, F A

1978-09-13

During the Milton health survey subjects completed a psychometric inventory consisting of the 48 questions of the Middlesex Hospital questionnaire (MHQ) and 26 from the hostility and direction of hostility questionnaire (HDHQ) designed to examine nine psychological dimensions. The 1209 subjects were classified into smoking categories and the scores for each psychometric trait were calculated. Women scored higher than men and heavy smokers scored higher than "never smokers". The psychometric traits and the scores of the four smoking categories after correcting for age and Quetelet's index showed statistically significant differences by analysis of variance in respect of somatic anxiety and depression for both men and women; and free-floating anxiety, phobic anxiety, hysteria, acting out hostility, self criticism and guilt in women. For somatic anxiety the increase in score almost exactly paralleled the increasing quantity of tobacco consumed.

Prognostic importance of objective nutritional indexes in patients with chronic heart failure.

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Narumi, Taro; Arimoto, Takanori; Funayama, Akira; Kadowaki, Shinpei; Otaki, Yoichiro; Nishiyama, Satoshi; Takahashi, Hiroki; Shishido, Tetsuro; Miyashita, Takehiko; Miyamoto, Takuya; Watanabe, Tetsu; Kubota, Isao

2013-11-01

Although malnutrition indicates an unfavorable prognosis in some clinical settings, the association between nutritional indexes and outcomes for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) is unclear. All the previously established objective nutritional indexes were evaluated. The controlling nutritional status score (CONUT), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) were determined for 388 consecutive patients with CHF (mean age 69.6±12.3 years). The prevalence of malnutrition in this cohort was 60-69%. Patients were followed prospectively, with the endpoints being death due to a cardiovascular event or re-hospitalization. There were 130 events, including 33 deaths and 97 re-hospitalizations, during a mean follow-up period of 28.4 months. Patients experiencing cardiovascular events showed impaired nutritional status, higher CONUT scores, lower PNI scores, and lower GNRI scores, compared with those who did not experience cardiovascular events. CONUT score [hazard ratio 40.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 10.8-154.8], PNI score (hazard ratio 6.4, 95% CI 5.4-25.1), and GNRI score (hazard ratio 11.6, 95% CI 3.7-10.0) were independently associated with cardiovascular events. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that there was a significantly higher incidence of cardiovascular events in patients who were malnourished than in those who were not. Malnutrition was common in patients with CHF. Evaluation of nutritional status may provide additional prognostic information in patients with CHF. Copyright © 2013 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inferring Pairwise Interactions from Biological Data Using Maximum-Entropy Probability Models.

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Richard R Stein

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Maximum entropy-based inference methods have been successfully used to infer direct interactions from biological datasets such as gene expression data or sequence ensembles. Here, we review undirected pairwise maximum-entropy probability models in two categories of data types, those with continuous and categorical random variables. As a concrete example, we present recently developed inference methods from the field of protein contact prediction and show that a basic set of assumptions leads to similar solution strategies for inferring the model parameters in both variable types. These parameters reflect interactive couplings between observables, which can be used to predict global properties of the biological system. Such methods are applicable to the important problems of protein 3-D structure prediction and association of gene-gene networks, and they enable potential applications to the analysis of gene alteration patterns and to protein design.

Market Competitiveness Evaluation of Mechanical Equipment with a Pairwise Comparisons Hierarchical Model.

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Hou, Fujun

2016-01-01

This paper provides a description of how market competitiveness evaluations concerning mechanical equipment can be made in the context of multi-criteria decision environments. It is assumed that, when we are evaluating the market competitiveness, there are limited number of candidates with some required qualifications, and the alternatives will be pairwise compared on a ratio scale. The qualifications are depicted as criteria in hierarchical structure. A hierarchical decision model called PCbHDM was used in this study based on an analysis of its desirable traits. Illustration and comparison shows that the PCbHDM provides a convenient and effective tool for evaluating the market competitiveness of mechanical equipment. The researchers and practitioners might use findings of this paper in application of PCbHDM.

Item validity vs. item discrimination index: a redundancy?

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Panjaitan, R. L.; Irawati, R.; Sujana, A.; Hanifah, N.; Djuanda, D.

2018-03-01

In several literatures about evaluation and test analysis, it is common to find that there are calculations of item validity as well as item discrimination index (D) with different formula for each. Meanwhile, other resources said that item discrimination index could be obtained by calculating the correlation between the testee’s score in a particular item and the testee’s score on the overall test, which is actually the same concept as item validity. Some research reports, especially undergraduate theses tend to include both item validity and item discrimination index in the instrument analysis. It seems that these concepts might overlap for both reflect the test quality on measuring the examinees’ ability. In this paper, examples of some results of data processing on item validity and item discrimination index were compared. It would be discussed whether item validity and item discrimination index can be represented by one of them only or it should be better to present both calculations for simple test analysis, especially in undergraduate theses where test analyses were included.

Modelling the predictive performance of credit scoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shi-Wei Shen

2013-07-01

Research purpose: The purpose of this empirical paper was to examine the predictive performance of credit scoring systems in Taiwan. Motivation for the study: Corporate lending remains a major business line for financial institutions. However, in light of the recent global financial crises, it has become extremely important for financial institutions to implement rigorous means of assessing clients seeking access to credit facilities. Research design, approach and method: Using a data sample of 10 349 observations drawn between 1992 and 2010, logistic regression models were utilised to examine the predictive performance of credit scoring systems. Main findings: A test of Goodness of fit demonstrated that credit scoring models that incorporated the Taiwan Corporate Credit Risk Index (TCRI, micro- and also macroeconomic variables possessed greater predictive power. This suggests that macroeconomic variables do have explanatory power for default credit risk. Practical/managerial implications: The originality in the study was that three models were developed to predict corporate firms’ defaults based on different microeconomic and macroeconomic factors such as the TCRI, asset growth rates, stock index and gross domestic product. Contribution/value-add: The study utilises different goodness of fits and receiver operator characteristics during the examination of the robustness of the predictive power of these factors.

Bispectral pairwise interacting source analysis for identifying systems of cross-frequency interacting brain sources from electroencephalographic or magnetoencephalographic signals

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Chella, Federico; Pizzella, Vittorio; Zappasodi, Filippo; Nolte, Guido; Marzetti, Laura

2016-05-01

Brain cognitive functions arise through the coordinated activity of several brain regions, which actually form complex dynamical systems operating at multiple frequencies. These systems often consist of interacting subsystems, whose characterization is of importance for a complete understanding of the brain interaction processes. To address this issue, we present a technique, namely the bispectral pairwise interacting source analysis (biPISA), for analyzing systems of cross-frequency interacting brain sources when multichannel electroencephalographic (EEG) or magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data are available. Specifically, the biPISA makes it possible to identify one or many subsystems of cross-frequency interacting sources by decomposing the antisymmetric components of the cross-bispectra between EEG or MEG signals, based on the assumption that interactions are pairwise. Thanks to the properties of the antisymmetric components of the cross-bispectra, biPISA is also robust to spurious interactions arising from mixing artifacts, i.e., volume conduction or field spread, which always affect EEG or MEG functional connectivity estimates. This method is an extension of the pairwise interacting source analysis (PISA), which was originally introduced for investigating interactions at the same frequency, to the study of cross-frequency interactions. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated in simulations for up to three interacting source pairs and for real MEG recordings of spontaneous brain activity. Simulations show that the performances of biPISA in estimating the phase difference between the interacting sources are affected by the increasing level of noise rather than by the number of the interacting subsystems. The analysis of real MEG data reveals an interaction between two pairs of sources of central mu and beta rhythms, localizing in the proximity of the left and right central sulci.

The Biodiversity Informatics Potential Index

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Biodiversity informatics is a relatively new discipline extending computer science in the context of biodiversity data, and its development to date has not been uniform throughout the world. Digitizing effort and capacity building are costly, and ways should be found to prioritize them rationally. The proposed 'Biodiversity Informatics Potential (BIP) Index' seeks to fulfill such a prioritization role. We propose that the potential for biodiversity informatics be assessed through three concepts: (a) the intrinsic biodiversity potential (the biological richness or ecological diversity) of a country; (b) the capacity of the country to generate biodiversity data records; and (c) the availability of technical infrastructure in a country for managing and publishing such records. Methods Broadly, the techniques used to construct the BIP Index were rank correlation, multiple regression analysis, principal components analysis and optimization by linear programming. We built the BIP Index by finding a parsimonious set of country-level human, economic and environmental variables that best predicted the availability of primary biodiversity data accessible through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) network, and constructing an optimized model with these variables. The model was then applied to all countries for which sufficient data existed, to obtain a score for each country. Countries were ranked according to that score. Results Many of the current GBIF participants ranked highly in the BIP Index, although some of them seemed not to have realized their biodiversity informatics potential. The BIP Index attributed low ranking to most non-participant countries; however, a few of them scored highly, suggesting that these would be high-return new participants if encouraged to contribute towards the GBIF mission of free and open access to biodiversity data. Conclusions The BIP Index could potentially help in (a) identifying countries most likely to

Assessing pediatric ileocolonic Crohn's disease activity based on global MR enterography scores

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pomerri, Fabio; Zuliani, Monica; Giorgi, Benedetta; Muzzio, Pier Carlo [University of Padova, Department of Medicine-DIMED, Padova (Italy); Al Bunni, Faise [Rovigo Hospital, Radiology Unit, S. Maria della Misericordia, Rovigo (Italy); Guariso, Graziella; Gasparetto, Marco; Cananzi, Mara [University of Padova, Department of Women and Child Health, Padova (Italy)

2017-03-15

This study was aimed at correlating a magnetic resonance index of activity (MaRIA) and a magnetic resonance enterography global score (MEGS) with activity indexes in a paediatric population with Crohn's disease (CD). This retrospective study included 32 paediatric patients (median age 14.5 years, 18 male) with proven CD who underwent magnetic resonance enterography (MRE). A correlation analysis was performed on the MRE-based scores, the simplified endoscopic score for CD (SES-CD), the paediatric Crohn's disease activity index (PCDAI), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Based on PCDAI, comparison of both global MaRIA and MEGS was made between patients with mild and moderate/severe disease activity. Global MaRIA correlated with SES-CD (r = 0.70, p = 0.001) and PCDAI (r = 0.42, p = 0.016). MEGS correlated with PCDAI (r = 0.46, p = 0.007) and CRP levels (r = 0.35, p = 0.046). MEGS differed significantly (p = 0.027) between patients grouped by clinical disease severity. MRE-based global scores correlated with clinical indexes of CD activity. Therefore, they represent a potential useful tool to predict CD activity and severity, as well as a possible promising alternative to endoscopy, to monitor paediatric patients with CD during their follow-up. (orig.)

Measuring Scholastic Production by Dermatopathologists Using the H-Index: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraga, Garth R

2018-06-01

Academic advancement in dermatopathology requires evidence of scientific production. The H-index is a useful bibliometric for measuring scientific production because it weights both volume and impact of an individual's scholastic production. The H-index distribution among academic dermatopathologists is unknown. In this cross-sectional study of 299 dermatopathologists with academic appointments in North America, H-index, publication counts, and citation counts were retrieved from Thomas Reuters Web of Science. Analytic statistics were performed to identify best predictors of academic rank and cutoff points between academic ranks. The H-index was a superior predictor of overall academic rank than publication or citation counts. The median H-index for assistant, associate, and full professors was 4, 6, and 11, respectively. H-index cutoff scores of 8 and 10 favored associate and full professor rank, respectively. These data provide benchmarks for dermatopathologists to gauge their scientific productivity against that of their peers. Although advancement decisions will depend on a careful examination of the scope and impact of a candidate's work, assistant professors of dermatopathology with H-index scores of >7 and associate professors of dermatopathology with H-index scores of >9 may wish to consider application for promotion.

Development of the Eating Choices Index (ECI): a four-item index to measure healthiness of diet.

Science.gov (United States)

Pot, Gerda K; Richards, Marcus; Prynne, Celia J; Stephen, Alison M

2014-12-01

Current indices of diet quality generally include intakes of specific foods or nutrients. We sought to develop an index that discriminates healthy and unhealthy eating choices for use in large surveys as a short questionnaire and as a measure in existing studies with adequate dietary data. The Eating Choices Index (ECI) score included four components: (i) consumption of breakfast, (ii) consumption of two portions of fruit per day, (iii) type of milk consumed and (iv) type of bread consumed, each providing a score from 1 to 5. In analysis of 5 d food records, the ECI score was examined in relation to macronutrients, fibre, vitamin C, Fe, Ca and folate using Pearson correlations. Variation with sex, BMI, socio-economic status, marital status, smoking status and physical activity were also investigated. Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development. Individuals (n 2256) aged 43 years. The ECI score (mean 12·3 (sd 3·5)) was significantly positively associated with protein, carbohydrate, fibre, vitamin C, Fe, Ca and folate (r = 0·2-0·5; P < 0·001) and significantly negatively associated with fat intake (r = -0·2; P < 0·001); ECI scores were not correlated with total energy intake. Individuals with a lower ECI score were more likely to be men (P < 0·001), overweight or obese (P < 0·001), have lower socio-economic status (P < 0·001), smoke more (P < 0·001) and be less physically active (P < 0·001). ECI scores correlated with nutrient profiles consistent with a healthy diet. It provides a simple method to rank diet healthiness in large observational studies.

C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, clinical pulmonary infection score, and pneumonia severity scores in nursing home acquired pneumonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Porfyridis, Ilias; Georgiadis, Georgios; Vogazianos, Paris; Mitis, Georgios; Georgiou, Andreas

2014-04-01

Patients with nursing home acquired pneumonia (NHAP) present a distinct group of lower respiratory track infections with different risk factors, clinical presentation, and mortality rates. To evaluate the diagnostic value of clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS), C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin and to compare the accuracy of pneumonia severity scores (confusion, urea nitrogen, breathing frequency, blood pressure, ≥ 65 y of age [CURB-65]; pneumonia severity index; NHAP index; systolic blood pressure, multilobar involvement, albumin, breathing frequency, tachycardia, confusion, oxygen, arterial pH [SMART-COP]; and systolic blood pressure, oxygen, age > 65 y, breathing frequency [SOAR]) in predicting in-patient mortality from NHAP. Nursing home residents admitted to the hospital with acute respiratory illness were enrolled in the study. Subjects were classified as having NHAP (Group A) or other pulmonary disorders (Group B). Clinical, imaging, and laboratory data were assessed to compute CPIS and severity scores. C-reactive protein and procalcitonin were measured by immunonephelometry and immunoassay, respectively. Fifty-eight subjects were diagnosed with NHAP (Group A) and 29 with other pulmonary disorders (Group B). The mean C-reactive protein ± SD was 16.38 ± 8.6 mg/dL in Group A and 5.2 ± 5.6 mg/dL in Group B (P 1.1 ng/mL was an independent predictor of in-patient mortality. Of the pneumonia severity scores, CURB-65 showed greater accuracy in predicting in-patient mortality (area under the curve of 0.68, 95% CI 0.53-0.84, P = .06). CPIS, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein are reliable for the diagnosis of NHAP. Procalcitonin and CURB-65 are accurate in predicting in-patient mortality in NHAP.

Do maternal ratings of appetite in infants predict later Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire scores and body mass index?

Science.gov (United States)

Parkinson, Kathryn N; Drewett, Robert F; Le Couteur, Ann S; Adamson, Ashley J

2010-02-01

In a longitudinal birth cohort maternal ratings of children's appetite made at 6 weeks, 12 months and 5-6 years were correlated with one another and with subscales from the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) at 5-6 years, and body mass index (BMI) at 6-8 years. Statistically significant correlations were found between the children's appetite ratings. Appetite ratings in infancy were also correlated with the CEBQ subscale scores at 5-6 years to a limited extent, but not with the BMI at 6-8 years. The appetite rating at 5-6 years and three of the CEBQ subscales were independently associated with BMI. Children with higher levels of Emotional Over-Eating and Desire to Drink had higher BMIs, and children with higher levels of Satiety Responsiveness had lower BMIs. These results provide further evidence that there are concurrent associations between appetite ratings in childhood and BMI but suggest that appetite ratings in infancy are related only weakly to later appetite measures and do not predict later BMI. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring cervical cancer risk: development and validation of the CARE Risky Sexual Behavior Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Reiter, Paul L; Katz, Mira L; Ferketich, Amy K; Ruffin, Mack T; Paskett, Electra D

2009-12-01

To develop and validate a risky sexual behavior index specific to cervical cancer research. Sexual behavior data on 428 women from the Community Awareness Resources and Education (CARE) study were utilized. A weighting scheme for eight risky sexual behaviors was generated and validated in creating the CARE Risky Sexual Behavior Index. Cutpoints were then identified to classify women as having a low, medium, or high level of risky sexual behavior. Index scores ranged from 0 to 35, with women considered to have a low level of risky sexual behavior if their score was less than six (31.3% of sample), a medium level if their score was 6–10 (30.6%), or a high level if their score was 11 or greater (38.1%). A strong association was observed between the created categories and having a previous abnormal Pap smear test (p Sexual Behavior Index provides a tool for measuring risky sexual behavior level for cervical cancer research. Future studies are needed to validate this index in varied populations and test its use in the clinical setting.

USEFULNESS OF A NEW PROGNOSTIC INDEX FOR ALCOHOLIC HEPATITIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jazon Romilson de Souza ALMEIDA

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Background Alcoholic liver disease is a major cause of end-stage liver disease worldwide and severe forms of alcoholic hepatitis are associated with a high short-term mortality. Objectives To analyze the importance of age-bilirubin-INR-creatinine (ABIC score as an index of mortality and predictor for complications in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. To evaluate its correlation with those complications, with risk of death, as well as the scores model for end stage liver disease (MELD and Maddrey’s discriminat function. Methods A total of 46 medical records of patients who had been hospitalized with alcoholic hepatitis were assessed retrospectively with lab tests on admission and after seven days. Score calculations were carried out and analyzed as well. Results The scores showed positive reciprocal correlation and were associated with both hepatic encephalopathy and ascites. ABIC index, which was classified as high risk, presented as a risk factor for these complications and for death. In univariate logistic regression analysis of mortality, the ABIC index at hospital admission odds ratio was 19.27, whereas after 7 days, it was 41.29. The average survival of patients with ABIC of low and intermediate risk was 61.1 days, and for those with high risk, 26.2 days. Conclusions ABIC index is a predictor factor for complications such as ascites and hepatic encephalopathy, as well as for risk of death. Thus, it is a useful tool for clinical practice.

Reproducibility of the index of orthognathic functional treatment need scores derived from plaster study casts and their three-dimensional digital equivalents: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

McCrory, Emma; McGuinness, Niall Jp; Ulhaq, Aman

2018-06-01

To determine the reproducibility of Index of Orthognathic Functional Treatment Need (IOFTN) scores derived from plaster casts and their three-dimensional (3D) digital equivalents. Pilot study, prospective analytical. UK hospital orthodontic department. Thirty casts and their digital equivalents, representing the pre-treatment malocclusions of patients requiring orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment, were scored by four clinicians using IOFTN. Casts were scanned using a 3Shape digital scanner and 3D models produced using OrthoAnalyzer TM (3Shape Ltd, Copenhagen, Denmark). Examiners independently determined the IOFTN scores for the casts and digital models, to test their inter- and intra-operator reliability using weighted Kappa scores. Intra-operator agreement with IOFTN major categories (1-5: treatment need) was very good for plaster casts (0.83-0.98) and good-very good for digital models (0.78-0.83). Inter-operator agreement was moderate-very good for casts (0.58-0.82) and good-very good for digital models (0.65-0.92). Intra-operator agreement with IOFTN sub-categories (1-14: feature of malocclusion) was good-very good for casts (0.70-0.97) and digital models (0.80-0.94). Inter-operator agreement was moderate-good for casts (0.53-0.77); and moderate-very good for the digital models (0.58-0.90). Digital models are an acceptable alternative to plaster casts for examining the malocclusion of patients requiring combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment and determining treatment need.

Visceral adiposity index as an indicator of cardiometabolic risk in patients treated for craniopharyngioma.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferraù, Francesco; Spagnolo, Federica; Cotta, Oana Ruxandra; Cannavò, Laura; Alibrandi, Angela; Russo, Giuseppina Tiziana; Aversa, Tommaso; Trimarchi, Francesco; Cannavò, Salvatore

2017-11-01

Craniopharyngioma is associated with metabolic alterations leading to increased cardiovascular mortality. Recently, the visceral adiposity index has been proposed as a marker of visceral adipose tissue dysfunction and of the related cardiometabolic risk. The role of the visceral adiposity index has never been explored in craniopharyngioma patients. We assessed the cardiometabolic risk on the basis of the visceral adiposity index in craniopharyngioma patients. We evaluated data of 24 patients treated for craniopharyngioma in a single-centre. We investigated the relationship among patients' clinical and biochemical features, cardiovascular risk -assessed by the Framingham and the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk scores-, visceral adiposity index and adipose tissue dysfunction severity. Increased visceral adiposity index was found in 8 patients (33%). Adipose tissue dysfunction resulted to be severe, moderate or mild in 5, 2 and 1 cases. Increased visceral adiposity index significantly correlated with the occurrence of metabolic syndrome (p 0.027), IRI (p 0.001), triglycerides (p < 0.001), HOMA-IR (p < 0.001) and with lower ISI-Matsuda (p 0.005) and HDL-cholesterol (p < 0.001). Higher degree of adipose tissue dysfunction associated with increased insulin resistance. No gender difference was found for visceral adiposity index, adipose tissue dysfunction severity, and cardiovascular risk scores. Patients with adulthood onset craniopharyngioma showed higher Framingham risk score (p 0.004), atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease 10-year (p < 0.001) and lifetime (p 0.018) risk scores than those with childhood onset disease. Visceral adiposity index is increased in one third of our patients with craniopharyngioma, even if metabolic syndrome does not occur. Increased visceral adiposity index and adipose tissue dysfunction severity correlate with insulin sensitivity parameters, do not correlate with Framingham or atherosclerotic cardiovascular

The grazing index method of range condition assessment | du Toit ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Owing to the difficulty of examining succession theory in the Karoo, it is suggested the ecological index method (EIM), be replaced by the grazing index method (GIM), through the introduction of grazing index values (GIV) for Karoo plant species. The GIM may provide more acceptable range condition scores and more ...

Scoring of treatment-related late effects in prostate cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Livsey, Jacqueline E.; Routledge, Jacqueline; Burns, Meriel; Swindell, Rick; Davidson, Susan E.; Cowan, Richard A.; Logue, John P.; Wylie, James P.

2002-01-01

Background and purpose: To assess the correlation between different general and organ specific quality of life and morbidity scoring methods in a cohort of men treated with radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Materials and methods: Men who had been treated with radical radiotherapy (50 Gy in 16 fractions over 21 days) for localized prostate cancer more than 3 years previously and who had no evidence of recurrent disease were invited to take part in the study. A total of 101 of 135 invited patients agreed and completed LENT/SOMA, UCLA Prostate Cancer Index, and 36 item RAND Health survey questionnaires. Results: The patients had comparable results with other published series with respect to the UCLA and SF-36 indices. There was significant correlation between the corresponding parts of the UCLA and LENT/SOMA scales (P<0.0005). However, for the same symptoms, a patient tended to score lower (worse) on the UCLA scale in comparison to LENT/SOMA. The relationship between the average LENT/SOMA score and maximum score was also not straightforward with each set of data revealing different information. Conclusions: The LENT/SOMA questions were, in the main, more wide-ranging and informative than the UCLA index. It is helpful to give both the overall and maximum LENT/SOMA scores to most efficiently use all of the data. There may need to be a further LENT/SOMA question to allow both symptoms of tenesmus and faecal urgency to be fully addressed

An efficient genetic algorithm for structural RNA pairwise alignment and its application to non-coding RNA discovery in yeast

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Taneda Akito

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Aligning RNA sequences with low sequence identity has been a challenging problem since such a computation essentially needs an algorithm with high complexities for taking structural conservation into account. Although many sophisticated algorithms for the purpose have been proposed to date, further improvement in efficiency is necessary to accelerate its large-scale applications including non-coding RNA (ncRNA discovery. Results We developed a new genetic algorithm, Cofolga2, for simultaneously computing pairwise RNA sequence alignment and consensus folding, and benchmarked it using BRAliBase 2.1. The benchmark results showed that our new algorithm is accurate and efficient in both time and memory usage. Then, combining with the originally trained SVM, we applied the new algorithm to novel ncRNA discovery where we compared S. cerevisiae genome with six related genomes in a pairwise manner. By focusing our search to the relatively short regions (50 bp to 2,000 bp sandwiched by conserved sequences, we successfully predict 714 intergenic and 1,311 sense or antisense ncRNA candidates, which were found in the pairwise alignments with stable consensus secondary structure and low sequence identity (≤ 50%. By comparing with the previous predictions, we found that > 92% of the candidates is novel candidates. The estimated rate of false positives in the predicted candidates is 51%. Twenty-five percent of the intergenic candidates has supports for expression in cell, i.e. their genomic positions overlap those of the experimentally determined transcripts in literature. By manual inspection of the results, moreover, we obtained four multiple alignments with low sequence identity which reveal consensus structures shared by three species/sequences. Conclusion The present method gives an efficient tool complementary to sequence-alignment-based ncRNA finders.

The Dutch Healthy Diet index as assessed by 24 h recalls and FFQ: associations with biomarkers from a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

van Lee, Linde; Feskens, Edith J M; Hooft van Huysduynen, Eveline J C; de Vries, Jeanne H M; van 't Veer, Pieter; Geelen, Anouk

2013-01-01

The Dutch Healthy Diet index (DHD-index) was developed using data from two 24 h recalls (24hR) and appeared useful to evaluate diet quality in Dutch adults. As many epidemiologic studies use FFQ, we now estimated the DHD-index score using FFQ data. We compared whether this score showed similar associations with participants' characteristics, micronutrient intakes, and biomarkers of intake and metabolism compared with the DHD-index using 24hR data. Data of 121 Dutch participants of the European Food Consumption Validation study were used. Dietary intake was assessed by two 24hR and a 180-item FFQ. Biomarkers measured were serum total cholesterol and carotenoids, EPA + DHA in plasma phospholipids and 24 h urinary Na. A correlation of 0·48 (95 % CI 0·33, 0·61) was observed between the DHD-index score based on 24hR data and on FFQ data. Classification of participants into the same tertiles of the DHD-index was achieved for 57 %. Women showed higher DHD-index scores. Energy intake was inversely associated with both DHD-index scores. Furthermore, age and intakes of folate, Fe, Mg, K, vitamin B6 and vitamin C were positively associated with both DHD-index scores. DHD-index scores showed acceptable correlations with the four combined biomarkers taking energy intake into account (r 24hR 0.55; r FFQ 0.51). In conclusion, the DHD-index score based on FFQ data shows similar associations with participants' characteristics, energy intake, micronutrient intake and biomarkers compared with the score based on 24hR data. Furthermore, ranking of participants was acceptable for both methods. FFQ data may therefore be used to assess diet quality using the DHD-index in Dutch populations.

Validation of the grown-ups with congenital heart disease score.

Science.gov (United States)

Hörer, Jürgen; Roussin, Régine; LeBret, Emanuel; Ly, Mohamed; Abdullah, Jarrah; Marzullo, Rafaella; Pabst von Ohain, Jelena; Belli, Emre

2018-06-01

Adults with congenital heart disease in need of heart surgery frequently present with significant comorbidity. Furthermore, additional technical difficulties often related to redo operations increase the risk for postoperative mortality and morbidity. Hence, next to the type of the procedure, additional procedure-dependent and procedure-independent factors have to be considered for risk evaluation. The recently proposed grown-ups with congenital heart disease (GUCH) mortality and morbidity scores account for these additional risk factors. We sought to validate their predictive power in a large population operated in a single centre. Data of all consecutive patients aged 18 years or more, who underwent surgery for congenital heart disease between 2005 and 2016, were collected. Mortality was defined as hospital mortality or mortality within 30 days following surgery. Morbidity was defined as occurrence of one or more of the following complications: renal failure requiring dialysis, neurologic deficit persisting at discharge, atrioventricular block requiring permanent pacemaker implantation, mechanical circulatory support, phrenic nerve injury and unplanned reoperation. The discriminatory power of the GUCH scores was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (c-index, including 95% CI). Eight hundred and twenty-four operations were evaluated. Additional procedure-dependent and procedure-independent factors, as defined in the GUCH scores, were present in 165 patients (20.0%) and 544 patients (66.0%), respectively. Hospital mortality and morbidity was 3.4% and 10.0%, respectively. C-index for GUCH mortality score was 0.809 (0.742-0.877). C-index for GUCH morbidity score was 0.676 (0.619-0.734). We could confirm the good predictive power of the GUCH mortality score for postoperative mortality in a large population of adults with congenital heart disease. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the

Association between body mass index and activities of daily living in homecare patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozturk, Guzin Zeren; Egici, Memet Taskın; Bukhari, Mulazim Hussain; Toprak, Dilek

2017-01-01

Overweight or obesity may cause many chronic illnesses. Furthermore, several studies have shown that high body mass index is associated with mortality and morbidity among the elderly. Therefore, obesity or being overweight could adversely affect the performance of activities of daily living. In this study our aim was to investigate the association between Body Mass Index and Activity of Daily Living in Homecare Patients. The records of 2016 from the homecare unit of Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. During this period, 1105 patients visited this facility. Unconscious or bedridden patients (hemiplegia, hemiparesia, and tetraparesis) and patients with incomplete data were excluded from the study. Therefore, the survey was completed with 250 files, which included all the data needed for our research. Age, gender, Body Mass Index and Barthel Index scores were recorded to the statistical program; p≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant. One hundred fifty one (60.4%) were women, and 99 (39.6%) were men. The relations between gender and age, weight, and Barthel index scores were not statistically significant. There was a significant positive correlation between weight and Barthel index scores as well as between Body Mass Index and Barthel index scores (r = 0.190; p = 0.003). The patients were divided into two groups: Group-I (underweight and normal weight) and Group-II (overweight and obese). Group-II exhibited a much higher ability to perform Activity of Daily Living than Group-I (p = 0.002). Some studies report that obesity is protective against Activity of Daily Living, but the opposite is reported in some others. Our study showed increased values of Body Mass Index and Activity of Daily Living ability, which are indicative of protective effects. The relationship between Body Mass Index and physical disability is not yet proven to be linear.

Alternate Mediterranean diet score is positively associated with skeletal muscle mass index in middle-aged adults.

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Tian, Hui-Yuan; Qiu, Rui; Jing, Li-Peng; Chen, Zhan-Yong; Chen, Geng-Dong; Chen, Yu-Ming

2017-04-01

Researches have suggested Mediterranean diet might lower the risk of chronic diseases, but data on skeletal muscle mass (SMM) are limited. This community-based cross-sectional study examined the association between the alternate Mediterranean diet score (aMDS) and SMM in 2230 females and 1059 males aged 40-75 years in Guangzhou, China. General information and habitual dietary information were assessed in face-to-face interviews conducted during 2008-2010 and 3 years later. The aMDS was calculated by summing the dichotomous points for the items of higher intakes of whole grain, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, fish and ratio of MUFA:SFA, lower red meat and moderate ethanol consumption. The SMM of the whole body, limbs, arms and legs were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry during 2011-2013. After adjusting for potential covariates, higher aMDS was positively associated with skeletal muscle mass index (SMI, SMM/height2, kg/m2) at all of the studied sites in males (all P trend0·05). Age-stratified analyses showed that the favourable associations tended to be more pronounced in the younger subjects aged less than the medians of 59·2 and 62·2 years in females and males (P interaction>0·10). In conclusion, the aMDS shows protective associations with SMM in Chinese adults, particularly in male and younger subjects.

Consumption of Low-Calorie Sweeteners among U.S. Adults Is Associated with Higher Healthy Eating Index (HEI 2005 Scores and More Physical Activity

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Adam Drewnowski

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The possibility that low-calorie sweeteners (LCS promote lower quality diets and, therefore, weight gain has been noted as a cause for concern. Data from a representative sample of 22,231 adults were obtained from five cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999–2008 NHANES. A single 24-hour recall was used to identify consumers of LCS beverages, foods and tabletop sweeteners. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index 2005 (HEI 2005 and its multiple subscores. Health behaviors of interest were physical activity, smoking and alcohol use. LCS consumers had higher HEI 2005 scores than did non-consumers, largely explained by better SoFAAS subscores (solid fats, added sugar and alcohol. LCS consumers had better HEI subscores for vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy, but worse subscores for saturated fat and sodium compared to non-consumers. Similar trends were observed for LCS beverages, tabletop LCS and LCS foods. Consumers of LCS were less likely to smoke and were more likely to engage in recreational physical activity. LCS use was associated with higher HEI 2005 scores, lower consumption of empty calories, less smoking and more physical activity.

Consumption of low-calorie sweeteners among U.S. adults is associated with higher Healthy Eating Index (HEI 2005) scores and more physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Drewnowski, Adam; Rehm, Colin D

2014-10-17

The possibility that low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) promote lower quality diets and, therefore, weight gain has been noted as a cause for concern. Data from a representative sample of 22,231 adults were obtained from five cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2008 NHANES). A single 24-hour recall was used to identify consumers of LCS beverages, foods and tabletop sweeteners. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index 2005 (HEI 2005) and its multiple subscores. Health behaviors of interest were physical activity, smoking and alcohol use. LCS consumers had higher HEI 2005 scores than did non-consumers, largely explained by better SoFAAS subscores (solid fats, added sugar and alcohol). LCS consumers had better HEI subscores for vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy, but worse subscores for saturated fat and sodium compared to non-consumers. Similar trends were observed for LCS beverages, tabletop LCS and LCS foods. Consumers of LCS were less likely to smoke and were more likely to engage in recreational physical activity. LCS use was associated with higher HEI 2005 scores, lower consumption of empty calories, less smoking and more physical activity.

A new disclosure index for Non-Governmental Organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Nazuk, Ayesha; Shabbir, Javid

2018-01-01

Website of Non-governmental organization (NGO) is a focal medium of sharing information in response to transparency demands and addressing trust deficits between stakeholders. Many researchers have proposed accountability approaches to measure information sharing trends through websites. This article discusses a new index to measure online disclosure trends along with the theoretical properties of the index and a practical application of data from NGOs working in Pakistan. The websites have been coded in 2016. Results show that NGOs with branch offices have better disclosure scores than single-office NGOs, and international NGOs score better than local NGOs. NGOs that are more often the subject of newspaper reports have better disclosure trends.

TyG index, HOMA score and viral load in patients with chronic hepatitis C due to genotype 1.

Science.gov (United States)

Petta, S; Di Marco, V; Di Stefano, R; Cabibi, D; Cammà, C; Marchesini, G; Craxì, A

2011-07-01

The triglycerides × glucose (TyG) index is a recently proposed surrogate marker of insulin resistance (IR), calculated from fasting plasma triglyceride and glucose concentrations. We tested the host and viral factors associated with Tyg and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) scores, comparing their associations with histological features and with sustained virological response (SVR) in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C(G1CHC). Three hundred and forty consecutive patients with G1CHC were considered. All had a liver biopsy scored by one pathologist for staging and grading (Scheuer), and graded for steatosis, which was considered moderate-severe if ≥30%. Anthropometric and metabolic measurements, including IR measured by both HOMA and TyG, were registered. By linear regression analysis, TyG was independently associated with waist circumference (WC), total cholesterol, presence of arterial hypertension, Log10 HCV-RNA and steatosis. Similarly, WC and steatosis were significantly associated with HOMA. Older age (OR, 1.036; 95%CI, 1.004-1.070, P = 0.02), higher WC (1.031; 1.004-1.060; P = 0.02) and higher TyG (11.496; 3.163-41.784; P HOMA-IR in the model, the latter remained significantly associated with steatosis ≥30% (1.237; 1.058-1.448; P = 0.008). Receiver operating characteristic curves showed a similar performance of TyG (AUC 0.682) and HOMA-IR (AUC 0.699) in predicting moderate-severe steatosis. No independent associations were found between both TyG and HOMA and fibrosis or SVR. In patients with G1CHC , TyG, an easy-to-calculate and low-cost surrogate marker of IR, is linked to liver steatosis and shows an independent association with viral load. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Comparison of Efficacy and Ocular Surface Disease Index Score between Bimatoprost, Latanoprost, Travoprost, and Tafluprost in Glaucoma Patients

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Wissam Georges El Hajj Moussa

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the efficacy of 4 prostaglandin analogues (PGAs and to determine the incidence of ocular surface disease in newly diagnosed, primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG patients started on one of those 4 PGAs: bimatoprost (benzalkonium chloride, BAK, 0.3 mg/mL, latanoprost (BAK 0.2 mg/mL, travoprost (polyquad, and tafluprost (BAK-free. Patients and Methods. In this single-center, open-label trial, 32 patients newly diagnosed with POAG were randomly started on one of the four PGAs. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmological exam at presentation and at 1, 3, and 6 months of follow-up. Dry eye disease (DED was assessed using the original Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI questionnaire, in order to evaluate the impact of the drops on the quality of life of patients. Results. The mean age was 60.06 years ± 11.76. All four drugs equally and significantly reduced the intraocular pressure (IOP with respect to the baseline IOP. There was a trend for a slightly greater reduction of IOP with bimatoprost, but the difference was not found to be statistically significant when compared to other PGAs. OSDI scores were significantly superior for travoprost (10.68 ± 5.73 compared to the other three drugs (p<0.05. Latanoprost caused the most significant eyelash growth and iris discoloration. Conjunctival hyperemia and superficial keratitis occurrence were similar in the four groups. Conclusion. All prostaglandin analogues equally and significantly reduce the IOP in patients with POAG. According to the results of the OSDI score, latanoprost seems to be the least tolerated among the four drugs.

ISSUE PAPER: What Do Test Scores in Texas Tell Us?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Klein, Stephen

2000-01-01

...) about possible unintended consequences of these programs. We conducted several analyses to examine the issue of whether TAAS scores can be trusted to provide an accurate index of student skills and abilities...

Association between Diet-Quality Scores, Adiposity, Total Cholesterol and Markers of Nutritional Status in European Adults: Findings from the Food4Me Study

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Rosalind Fallaize

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Diet-quality scores (DQS, which are developed across the globe, are used to define adherence to specific eating patterns and have been associated with risk of coronary heart disease and type-II diabetes. We explored the association between five diet-quality scores (Healthy Eating Index, HEI; Alternate Healthy Eating Index, AHEI; MedDietScore, MDS; PREDIMED Mediterranean Diet Score, P-MDS; Dutch Healthy Diet-Index, DHDI and markers of metabolic health (anthropometry, objective physical activity levels (PAL, and dried blood spot total cholesterol (TC, total carotenoids, and omega-3 index in the Food4Me cohort, using regression analysis. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire. Participants (n = 1480 were adults recruited from seven European Union (EU countries. Overall, women had higher HEI and AHEI than men (p < 0.05, and scores varied significantly between countries. For all DQS, higher scores were associated with lower body mass index, lower waist-to-height ratio and waist circumference, and higher total carotenoids and omega-3-index (p trends < 0.05. Higher HEI, AHEI, DHDI, and P-MDS scores were associated with increased daily PAL, moderate and vigorous activity, and reduced sedentary behaviour (p trend < 0.05. We observed no association between DQS and TC. To conclude, higher DQS, which reflect better dietary patterns, were associated with markers of better nutritional status and metabolic health.

The Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roos, Ewa M.; Lohmander, L Stefan

2003-01-01

The Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) was developed as an extension of the WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index with the purpose of evaluating short-term and long-term symptoms and function in subjects with knee injury and osteoarthritis. The KOOS holds five separately scored subscales...... be used for short-term and long-term follow-up of several types of knee injury including osteoarthritis. The measure is relatively new and further use of the instrument will add knowledge and suggest areas that need to be further explored and improved....

Analysis of pairwise correlations in multi-parametric PET/MR data for biological tumor characterization and treatment individualization strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leibfarth, Sara; Moennich, David; Thorwarth, Daniela [University Hospital Tuebingen, Section for Biomedical Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Tuebingen (Germany); Simoncic, Urban [University Hospital Tuebingen, Section for Biomedical Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Tuebingen (Germany); University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Welz, Stefan; Zips, Daniel [University Hospital Tuebingen, Department of Radiation Oncology, Tuebingen (Germany); Schmidt, Holger; Schwenzer, Nina [University Hospital Tuebingen, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Tuebingen (Germany)

2016-07-15

The aim of this pilot study was to explore simultaneous functional PET/MR for biological characterization of tumors and potential future treatment adaptations. To investigate the extent of complementarity between different PET/MR-based functional datasets, a pairwise correlation analysis was performed. Functional datasets of N=15 head and neck (HN) cancer patients were evaluated. For patients of group A (N=7), combined PET/MR datasets including FDG-PET and ADC maps were available. Patients of group B (N=8) had FMISO-PET, DCE-MRI and ADC maps from combined PET/MRI, an additional dynamic FMISO-PET/CT acquired directly after FMISO tracer injection as well as an FDG-PET/CT acquired a few days earlier. From DCE-MR, parameter maps K{sup trans}, v{sub e} and v{sub p} were obtained with the extended Tofts model. Moreover, parameter maps of mean DCE enhancement, ΔS{sub DCE}, and mean FMISO signal 0-4 min p.i., anti A{sub FMISO}, were derived. Pairwise correlations were quantified using the Spearman correlation coefficient (r) on both a voxel and a regional level within the gross tumor volume. Between some pairs of functional imaging modalities moderate correlations were observed with respect to the median over all patient datasets, whereas distinct correlations were only present on an individual basis. Highest inter-modality median correlations on the voxel level were obtained for FDG/FMISO (r = 0.56), FDG/ anti A{sub FMISO} (r = 0.55), anti A{sub FMISO}/ΔS{sub DCE} (r = 0.46), and FDG/ADC (r = -0.39). Correlations on the regional level showed comparable results. The results of this study suggest that the examined functional datasets provide complementary information. However, only pairwise correlations were examined, and correlations could still exist between combinations of three or more datasets. These results might contribute to the future design of individually adapted treatment approaches based on multiparametric functional imaging.

Orientation-dependent backbone-only residue pair scoring functions for fixed backbone protein design

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Bordner Andrew J

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Empirical scoring functions have proven useful in protein structure modeling. Most such scoring functions depend on protein side chain conformations. However, backbone-only scoring functions do not require computationally intensive structure optimization and so are well suited to protein design, which requires fast score evaluation. Furthermore, scoring functions that account for the distinctive relative position and orientation preferences of residue pairs are expected to be more accurate than those that depend only on the separation distance. Results Residue pair scoring functions for fixed backbone protein design were derived using only backbone geometry. Unlike previous studies that used spherical harmonics to fit 2D angular distributions, Gaussian Mixture Models were used to fit the full 3D (position only and 6D (position and orientation distributions of residue pairs. The performance of the 1D (residue separation only, 3D, and 6D scoring functions were compared by their ability to identify correct threading solutions for a non-redundant benchmark set of protein backbone structures. The threading accuracy was found to steadily increase with increasing dimension, with the 6D scoring function achieving the highest accuracy. Furthermore, the 3D and 6D scoring functions were shown to outperform side chain-dependent empirical potentials from three other studies. Next, two computational methods that take advantage of the speed and pairwise form of these new backbone-only scoring functions were investigated. The first is a procedure that exploits available sequence data by averaging scores over threading solutions for homologs. This was evaluated by applying it to the challenging problem of identifying interacting transmembrane alpha-helices and found to further improve prediction accuracy. The second is a protein design method for determining the optimal sequence for a backbone structure by applying Belief Propagation

North Korean refugee doctors' preliminary examination scores

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Sung Uk Chae

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose Although there have been studies emphasizing the re-education of North Korean (NK doctors for post-unification of the Korean Peninsula, study on the content and scope of such re-education has yet to be conducted. Researchers intended to set the content and scope of re-education by a comparative analysis for the scores of the preliminary examination, which is comparable to the Korean Medical Licensing Examination (KMLE. Methods The scores of the first and second preliminary exams were analyzed by subject using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The passing status of the group of NK doctors for KMLE in recent 3 years were investigated. The multiple-choice-question (MCQ items of which difficulty indexes of NK doctors were lower than those of South Korean (SK medical students by two times of the standard deviation of the scores of SK medical students were selected to investigate the relevant reasons. Results The average scores of nearly all subjects were improved in the second exam compared with the first exam. The passing rate of the group of NK doctors was 75%. The number of MCQ items of which difficulty indexes of NK doctors were lower than those of SK medical students was 51 (6.38%. NK doctors’ lack of understandings for Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures, Therapeutics, Prenatal Care, and Managed Care Programs was suggested as the possible reason. Conclusion The education of integrated courses focusing on Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures and Therapeutics, and apprenticeship-style training for clinical practice of core subjects are needed. Special lectures on the Preventive Medicine are likely to be required also.

A general transformation to canonical form for potentials in pairwise interatomic interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Walton, Jay R; Rivera-Rivera, Luis A; Lucchese, Robert R; Bevan, John W

2015-06-14

A generalized formulation of explicit force-based transformations is introduced to investigate the concept of a canonical potential in both fundamental chemical and intermolecular bonding. Different classes of representative ground electronic state pairwise interatomic interactions are referenced to a chosen canonical potential illustrating application of such transformations. Specifically, accurately determined potentials of the diatomic molecules H2, H2(+), HF, LiH, argon dimer, and one-dimensional dissociative coordinates in Ar-HBr, OC-HF, and OC-Cl2 are investigated throughout their bound potentials. Advantages of the current formulation for accurately evaluating equilibrium dissociation energies and a fundamentally different unified perspective on nature of intermolecular interactions will be emphasized. In particular, this canonical approach has significance to previous assertions that there is no very fundamental distinction between van der Waals bonding and covalent bonding or for that matter hydrogen and halogen bonds.

Fast pairwise structural RNA alignments by pruning of the dynamical programming matrix

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Havgaard, Jakob Hull; Torarinsson, Elfar; Gorodkin, Jan

2007-01-01

and backtracked in a normal fashion. Finally, the FOLDALIGN algorithm has also been updated with a better memory implementation and an improved energy model. With these improvements in the algorithm, the FOLDALIGN software package provides the molecular biologist with an efficient and user-friendly tool...... the advantage of providing the constraints dynamically. This has been included in a new implementation of the FOLDALIGN algorithm for pairwise local or global structural alignment of RNA sequences. It is shown that time and memory requirements are dramatically lowered while overall performance is maintained....... Furthermore, a new divide and conquer method is introduced to limit the memory requirement during global alignment and backtrack of local alignment. All branch points in the computed RNA structure are found and used to divide the structure into smaller unbranched segments. Each segment is then realigned...

Linear VSS and Distributed Commitments Based on Secret Sharing and Pairwise Checks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fehr, Serge; Maurer, Ueli M.

2002-01-01

. VSS and DC are main building blocks for unconditional secure multi-party computation protocols. This general approach covers all known linear VSS and DC schemes. The main theorem states that the security of a scheme is equivalent to a pure linear-algebra condition on the linear mappings (e.......g. described as matrices and vectors) describing the scheme. The security of all known schemes follows as corollaries whose proofs are pure linear-algebra arguments, in contrast to some hybrid arguments used in the literature. Our approach is demonstrated for the CDM DC scheme, which we generalize to be secure......We present a general treatment of all non-cryptographic (i.e., information-theoretically secure) linear veriable-secret-sharing (VSS) and distributed-commitment (DC) schemes, based on an underlying secret sharing scheme, pairwise checks between players, complaints, and accusations of the dealer...

The diet quality index evaluates the adequacy of energy provided by dietary macronutrients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aline MENDES

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objective To investigate the relationship between macronutrient intake adequacy and the national diet quality index score. Methods The study analyzed a representative sample of 1,662 individuals from the municipality of São Paulo who participated in a cross-sectional study called Health Survey-Capital (2008/2009. Two 24-hour recalls were collected. Habitual intake was determined by the Multiple Source Method. The Brazilian index was calculated as suggested, and macronutrient adequacy was given by the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization recommendations. A generalized linear model verified the relationship between the Brazilian index and macronutrient adequacy. All analyses with a descriptive level below 0.05 were considered significant. The analyses were performed by the software Stata 12.0, survey mode. Results The vast majority (91% of the population had inappropriate macronutrient intakes, and the total median Brazilian index score was 61.3 points (interquartile range=10.1. The total Brazilian index score of individuals with high lipid intake was worse than that of individuals with proper lipid intake (β=0,96; p=0,004, while those with high protein intake had a better score (β=1,10; p=0,003 than those with proper protein intake. Conclusion The revised Brazilian Healthy Eating Index assesses diet quality properly regarding high lipid intake, but it has some limitations regarding high protein intake according to the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization recommendations. New studies should investigate the possibility of adapting this index to the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization recommendations.

Transport Risk Index of Physiologic Stability, version II (TRIPS-II): a simple and practical neonatal illness severity score.

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Lee, Shoo K; Aziz, Khalid; Dunn, Michael; Clarke, Maxine; Kovacs, Lajos; Ojah, Cecil; Ye, Xiang Y

2013-05-01

Derive and validate a practical assessment of infant illness severity at admission to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Prospective study involving 17,075 infants admitted to 15 NICUs in 2006 to 2008. Logistic regression was used to derive a prediction model for mortality comprising four empirically weighted items (temperature, blood pressure, respiratory status, response to noxious stimuli). This Transport Risk Index of Physiologic Stability, version II (TRIPS-II) was then validated for prediction of 7-day and total NICU mortality. TRIPS-II discriminated 7-day (receiver operating curve [ROC] area, 0.90) and total NICU mortality (ROC area, 0.87) from survival. Furthermore, there was a direct association between changes in TRIPS-II at 12 and 24 hours and mortality. There was good calibration across the full range of TRIPS-II scores and the gestational age at birth, and addition of TRIPS-II improved performance of prediction models that use gestational age and baseline population risk variables. TRIPS-II is a validated benchmarking tool for assessing infant illness severity at admission and for up to 24 hours after. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Video-assisted functional assessment of index pollicisation in congenital anomalies.

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Mas, Virginie; Ilharreborde, Brice; Mallet, Cindy; Mazda, Keyvan; Simon, Anne-Laure; Jehanno, Pascal

2016-08-01

Functional results of index pollicisation are usually assessed by the clinical score of Percival. This score is based on elementary hand movements and does not reflect the function of the neo thumb in daily life activities. The aim of this study was to develop a new video-assisted scoring system based on daily life activities to assess index pollicisation functional outcomes. Twenty-two consecutive children, operated between 1998 and 2012, were examined with a mean of 77 months after surgery. The mean age at surgery was 34 months. Post-operative results were evaluated by a new video-assisted 14-point scoring system consisting of seven basic tasks that are frequently used in daily activities. The series of tasks was performed both on the request of the examiner and in real-life conditions with the use of a hidden camera. Each video recording was examined by three different examiners. Each examiner rated the video recordings three times, with an interval of one week between examinations. Inter- and intra-observer agreements were calculated. Inter- and intra-observer agreements were excellent both on request (κ = 0.87 [0.84-0.97] for inter-observer agreement and 0.92 [0.82-0.98] for intra-observer agreement) and on hidden camera (κ = 0.83 [0.78-0.91] for inter-observer agreement and 0.89 [0.83-0.96] for intra-observer agreement). The results were significantly better on request than on hidden camera (p = 0.045). The correlation between the video-assisted scoring system and the Percival score was poor. The video-assisted scoring system is a reliable tool to assess index pollicisation functional outcomes. The scoring system on hidden camera is more representative of the neo thumb use in daily life complex movements. Level IV.

Assessment of lower urinary tract symptoms in men by international prostate symptom score and core lower urinary tract symptom score.

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Fujimura, Tetsuya; Kume, Haruki; Nishimatsu, Hiroaki; Sugihara, Toru; Nomiya, Akira; Tsurumaki, Yuzuri; Miyazaki, Hideyo; Suzuki, Motofumi; Fukuhara, Hiroshi; Enomoto, Yutaka; Homma, Yukio

2012-05-01

Study Type - Therapy (symptom prevalence). Level of Evidence 2a. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) has been most commonly used for the symptom assessment of men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). However, LUTS in men are so variable that they may not be fully captured by the IPSS questionnaire alone. This study has demonstrated that the Core Lower Urinary Tract Symptom Score (CLSS) questionnaire, which addresses 10 important symptoms, is an appropriate initial assessment tool for LUTS in men with various diseases/conditions. International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) has been commonly used to assess lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). We have recently developed Core Lower Urinary Tract Symptom Score (CLSS). The aim of this study is to compare IPSS and CLSS for assessing LUTS in men.  Consecutive 515 men fulfilled IPSS and CLSS questionnaires. IPSS QOL Index was used as the QOL surrogate. The clinical diagnoses were BPH (n = 116), BPH with OAB wet (n =80), prostate cancer (n = 128), prostatitis (n = 68), underactive bladder (n = 8), others (n = 72), and controls (e.g., occult blood) (n = 42). Simple statistics and predictability of poor QOL (QOL Index 4 or greater) were examined. All symptom scores were significantly increased in symptomatic men compared with controls. Scores of corresponding symptoms of two questionnaires were significantly correlated (r = 0.58-0.85, all P incontinence, slow stream, straining, incomplete emptying, bladder pain and urethral pain) as independent factors. The hazard ratios for bladder pain (2.2) and urgency incontinence (2.0) were among the highest. All the nine symptoms are addressed in CLSS, while three symptoms (urgency incontinence, bladder, and urethral pain) are dismissed in IPSS. CLSS questionnaire is more comprehensive than IPSS questionnaire for symptom assessment of men with various diseases/conditions, although both questionnaires can capture

Validity of the Medication-based Disease Burden Index compared with the Charlson Comorbidity Index and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for geriatrics: a cohort study.

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Beloosesky, Yichayaou; Weiss, Avraham; Mansur, Nariman

2011-12-01

Co-morbidity is common in older people. A co-morbidity index reduces coexisting illnesses and their severity to a single numerical score, allowing comparison with scores from other patients. Recently, the Medication-Based Disease Burden Index (MDBI) was developed. The aim of the study was to assess the MDBI's validity in hospitalized elderly patients. Clinical and demographic data and data on patients' medications on admission were obtained prospectively. Retrospectively, we applied the MDBI to the patients' medication regimens, determining their co-morbidity using the Charlson Comorbidity Index and Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics (CIRS-G). The MDBI's criterion validity was assessed against the Charlson and CIRS-G indices. Convergent and discriminant validities were also assessed. The MDBI's predictive validity was assessed by its ability to predict 3-month post-discharge readmissions or mortality compared with the Charlson and CIRS-G indices. MDBI scores were correlated with the Charlson and CIRS-G indices' scores (r = 0.44 and r = 0.37, respectively [p indices had good predictive ability for mortality (OR 1.50 [95% CI 1.22, 1.84; p failed to differentiate between cognitive and functional patient groups. The MDBI should be investigated in larger studies to determine its validity in settings where medication data rather than diagnostic data are more readily available. In clinical practice with elderly patients, we recommend employing co-morbidity indices that are based on medical records, such as the Charlson Comorbidity Index and CIRS-G.

AllerHunter: a SVM-pairwise system for assessment of allergenicity and allergic cross-reactivity in proteins.

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Hon Cheng Muh

Full Text Available Allergy is a major health problem in industrialized countries. The number of transgenic food crops is growing rapidly creating the need for allergenicity assessment before they are introduced into human food chain. While existing bioinformatic methods have achieved good accuracies for highly conserved sequences, the discrimination of allergens and non-allergens from allergen-like non-allergen sequences remains difficult. We describe AllerHunter, a web-based computational system for the assessment of potential allergenicity and allergic cross-reactivity in proteins. It combines an iterative pairwise sequence similarity encoding scheme with SVM as the discriminating engine. The pairwise vectorization framework allows the system to model essential features in allergens that are involved in cross-reactivity, but not limited to distinct sets of physicochemical properties. The system was rigorously trained and tested using 1,356 known allergen and 13,449 putative non-allergen sequences. Extensive testing was performed for validation of the prediction models. The system is effective for distinguishing allergens and non-allergens from allergen-like non-allergen sequences. Testing results showed that AllerHunter, with a sensitivity of 83.4% and specificity of 96.4% (accuracy = 95.3%, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve AROC = 0.928+/-0.004 and Matthew's correlation coefficient MCC = 0.738, performs significantly better than a number of existing methods using an independent dataset of 1443 protein sequences. AllerHunter is available at (http://tiger.dbs.nus.edu.sg/AllerHunter.

Development and Validation of an Aquatic Fine Sediment Biotic Index

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Relyea, Christina D.; Minshall, G. Wayne; Danehy, Robert J.

2012-01-01

The Fine Sediment Biotic Index (FSBI) is a regional, stressor-specific biomonitoring index to assess fine sediment (Plecoptera (5), Trichoptera (3), and Ephemeroptera (2) contained all but one of the species or species groups classified as extremely sensitive. Index validation with an independent data set of 255 streams found FSBI scores to accurately predict both high and low levels of measured fine sediment.

Development and application of an agricultural intensity index to invertebrate and algal metrics from streams at two scales

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Waite, Ian R.

2013-01-01

Research was conducted at 28-30 sites within eight study areas across the United States along a gradient of nutrient enrichment/agricultural land use between 2003 and 2007. Objectives were to test the application of an agricultural intensity index (AG-Index) and compare among various invertebrate and algal metrics to determine indicators of nutrient enrichment nationally and within three regions. The agricultural index was based on total nitrogen and phosphorus input to the watershed, percent watershed agriculture, and percent riparian agriculture. Among data sources, agriculture within riparian zone showed significant differences among values generated from remote sensing or from higher resolution orthophotography; median values dropped significantly when estimated by orthophotography. Percent agriculture in the watershed consistently had lower correlations to invertebrate and algal metrics than the developed AG-Index across all regions. Percent agriculture showed fewer pairwise comparisons that were significant than the same comparisons using the AG-Index. Highest correlations to the AG-Index regionally were −0.75 for Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera richness (EPTR) and −0.70 for algae Observed/Expected (O/E), nationally the highest was −0.43 for EPTR vs. total nitrogen and −0.62 for algae O/E vs. AG-Index. Results suggest that analysis of metrics at national scale can often detect large differences in disturbance, but more detail and specificity is obtained by analyzing data at regional scales.

A new disclosure index for Non-Governmental Organizations

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Shabbir, Javid

2018-01-01

Website of Non-governmental organization (NGO) is a focal medium of sharing information in response to transparency demands and addressing trust deficits between stakeholders. Many researchers have proposed accountability approaches to measure information sharing trends through websites. This article discusses a new index to measure online disclosure trends along with the theoretical properties of the index and a practical application of data from NGOs working in Pakistan. The websites have been coded in 2016. Results show that NGOs with branch offices have better disclosure scores than single-office NGOs, and international NGOs score better than local NGOs. NGOs that are more often the subject of newspaper reports have better disclosure trends. PMID:29466397

Development and implications of a revised Canadian Healthy Eating Index (HEIC-2009).

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Woodruff, Sarah J; Hanning, Rhona M

2010-06-01

The purpose was to update the Healthy Eating Index-C (HEI-C) with Canada's new food guide recommendations (HEIC-2009) and compare scores and ratings among a small sample of grade 6 students. Updates to the HEI-C were completed with Canada's new food guide recommendations for daily number of servings. HEI-C and HEIC-2009 scores were computed for a small sample (n 405) of grade 6 students utilizing nutrition data that were collected using the Food Behaviour Questionnaire, a validated web-based dietary assessment tool (including a 24 h dietary recall, FFQ, and food and physical activity behavioural questions). Data were collected in fifteen schools in the Region of Waterloo District School Board, Ontario, Canada. A total of 405 students (48 % males and 52 % females) from grade 6 classrooms completed the web-based survey. The index scores revealed that participants scored higher (74.5 v. 69.6, P < 0.001) using the HEIC-2009 compared with the HEI-C, even though both index scores are rated in the 'needs improvement' category (HEIC-2009, 75 %; HEI-C, 71 %). A small group of participants (n 14), who were previously rated (using the HEI-C) in the 'poor' category, were rated in the 'needs improvement' category using the HEIC-2009 (chi2 = 589.647, df = 4, P < 0.001). The HEIC-2009 has the potential to be used as a population-level diet quality index in Canada.

Work ability as prognostic risk marker of disability pension: single-item work ability score versus multi-item work ability index.

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Roelen, Corné A M; van Rhenen, Willem; Groothoff, Johan W; van der Klink, Jac J L; Twisk, Jos W R; Heymans, Martijn W

2014-07-01

Work ability predicts future disability pension (DP). A single-item work ability score (WAS) is emerging as a measure for work ability. This study compared single-item WAS with the multi-item work ability index (WAI) in its ability to identify workers at risk of DP. This prospective cohort study comprised 11 537 male construction workers, who completed the WAI at baseline and reported DP after a mean 2.3 years of follow-up. WAS and WAI were calibrated for DP risk predictions with the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) test and their ability to discriminate between high- and low-risk construction workers was investigated with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). At follow-up, 336 (3%) construction workers reported DP. Both WAS [odds ratio (OR) 0.72, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.66-0.78] and WAI (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.52-0.63) scores were associated with DP at follow-up. The WAS showed miscalibration (H-L model χ (�)=10.60; df=3; P=0.01) and poorly discriminated between high- and low-risk construction workers (AUC 0.67, 95% CI 0.64-0.70). In contrast, calibration (H-L model χ �=8.20; df=8; P=0.41) and discrimination (AUC 0.78, 95% CI 0.75-0.80) were both adequate for the WAI. Although associated with the risk of future DP, the single-item WAS poorly identified male construction workers at risk of DP. We recommend using the multi-item WAI to screen for risk of DP in occupational health practice.

SOS score: an optimized score to screen acute stroke patients for obstructive sleep apnea.

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Camilo, Millene R; Sander, Heidi H; Eckeli, Alan L; Fernandes, Regina M F; Dos Santos-Pontelli, Taiza E G; Leite, Joao P; Pontes-Neto, Octavio M

2014-09-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is frequent in acute stroke patients, and has been associated with higher mortality and worse prognosis. Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard diagnostic method for OSA, but it is impracticable as a routine for all acute stroke patients. We evaluated the accuracy of two OSA screening tools, the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ), and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) when administered to relatives of acute stroke patients; we also compared these tools against a combined screening score (SOS score). Ischemic stroke patients were submitted to a full PSG at the first night after onset of symptoms. OSA severity was measured by apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). BQ and ESS were administered to relatives of stroke patients before the PSG and compared to SOS score for accuracy and C-statistics. We prospectively studied 39 patients. OSA (AHI ≥10/h) was present in 76.9%. The SOS score [area under the curve (AUC): 0.812; P = 0.005] and ESS (AUC: 0.789; P = 0.009) had good predictive value for OSA. The SOS score was the only tool with significant predictive value (AUC: 0.686; P = 0.048) for severe OSA (AHI ≥30/h), when compared to ESS (P = 0.119) and BQ (P = 0.191). The threshold of SOS ≤10 showed high sensitivity (90%) and negative predictive value (96.2%) for OSA; SOS ≥20 showed high specificity (100%) and positive predictive value (92.5%) for severe OSA. The SOS score administered to relatives of stroke patients is a useful tool to screen for OSA and may decrease the need for PSG in acute stroke setting. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimal neighborhood indexing for protein similarity search.

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Peterlongo, Pierre; Noé, Laurent; Lavenier, Dominique; Nguyen, Van Hoa; Kucherov, Gregory; Giraud, Mathieu

2008-12-16

Similarity inference, one of the main bioinformatics tasks, has to face an exponential growth of the biological data. A classical approach used to cope with this data flow involves heuristics with large seed indexes. In order to speed up this technique, the index can be enhanced by storing additional information to limit the number of random memory accesses. However, this improvement leads to a larger index that may become a bottleneck. In the case of protein similarity search, we propose to decrease the index size by reducing the amino acid alphabet. The paper presents two main contributions. First, we show that an optimal neighborhood indexing combining an alphabet reduction and a longer neighborhood leads to a reduction of 35% of memory involved into the process, without sacrificing the quality of results nor the computational time. Second, our approach led us to develop a new kind of substitution score matrices and their associated e-value parameters. In contrast to usual matrices, these matrices are rectangular since they compare amino acid groups from different alphabets. We describe the method used for computing those matrices and we provide some typical examples that can be used in such comparisons. Supplementary data can be found on the website http://bioinfo.lifl.fr/reblosum. We propose a practical index size reduction of the neighborhood data, that does not negatively affect the performance of large-scale search in protein sequences. Such an index can be used in any study involving large protein data. Moreover, rectangular substitution score matrices and their associated statistical parameters can have applications in any study involving an alphabet reduction.

Optimal neighborhood indexing for protein similarity search

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Nguyen Van

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Similarity inference, one of the main bioinformatics tasks, has to face an exponential growth of the biological data. A classical approach used to cope with this data flow involves heuristics with large seed indexes. In order to speed up this technique, the index can be enhanced by storing additional information to limit the number of random memory accesses. However, this improvement leads to a larger index that may become a bottleneck. In the case of protein similarity search, we propose to decrease the index size by reducing the amino acid alphabet. Results The paper presents two main contributions. First, we show that an optimal neighborhood indexing combining an alphabet reduction and a longer neighborhood leads to a reduction of 35% of memory involved into the process, without sacrificing the quality of results nor the computational time. Second, our approach led us to develop a new kind of substitution score matrices and their associated e-value parameters. In contrast to usual matrices, these matrices are rectangular since they compare amino acid groups from different alphabets. We describe the method used for computing those matrices and we provide some typical examples that can be used in such comparisons. Supplementary data can be found on the website http://bioinfo.lifl.fr/reblosum. Conclusion We propose a practical index size reduction of the neighborhood data, that does not negatively affect the performance of large-scale search in protein sequences. Such an index can be used in any study involving large protein data. Moreover, rectangular substitution score matrices and their associated statistical parameters can have applications in any study involving an alphabet reduction.

Novel immunological and nutritional-based prognostic index for gastric cancer.

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Sun, Kai-Yu; Xu, Jian-Bo; Chen, Shu-Ling; Yuan, Yu-Jie; Wu, Hui; Peng, Jian-Jun; Chen, Chuang-Qi; Guo, Pi; Hao, Yuan-Tao; He, Yu-Long

2015-05-21

To assess the prognostic significance of immunological and nutritional-based indices, including the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio in gastric cancer. We retrospectively reviewed 632 gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy between 1998 and 2008. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were calculated to compare the predictive ability of the indices, together with estimating the sensitivity, specificity and agreement rate. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors for overall survival (OS). Propensity score analysis was performed to adjust variables to control for selection bias. Each index could predict OS in gastric cancer patients in univariate analysis, but only PNI had independent prognostic significance in multivariate analysis before and after adjustment with propensity scoring (hazard ratio, 1.668; 95% confidence interval: 1.368-2.035). In subgroup analysis, a low PNI predicted a significantly shorter OS in patients with stage II-III disease (P = 0.019, P gastric cancer. Canton score can be a novel preoperative prognostic index in gastric cancer.

Linkage of familial Alzheimer disease to chromosome 14 in two large early-onset pedigrees: effects of marker allele frequencies on lod scores.

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Nechiporuk, A; Fain, P; Kort, E; Nee, L E; Frommelt, E; Polinsky, R J; Korenberg, J R; Pulst, S M

1993-05-01

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease leading to global dementia. In addition to sporadic forms of AD, familial forms (FAD) have been recognized. Mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene on chromosome (CHR) 21 have been shown to cause early-onset AD in a small number of pedigrees. Recently, linkage to markers on CHR 14 has been established in several early-onset FAD pedigrees. We now report lod scores for CHR 14 markers in two large early-onset FAD pedigrees. Pairwise linkage analysis suggested that in these pedigrees the mutation is tightly linked to the loci D14S43 and D14S53. However, assumptions regarding marker allele frequencies had a major and often unpredictable effect on calculated lod scores. Therefore, caution needs to be exercised when single pedigrees are analyzed with marker allele frequencies determined from the literature or from a pool of spouses.

NIKEI: a new inexpensive and non-invasive scoring system to exclude advanced fibrosis in patients with NAFLD.

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Münevver Demir

Full Text Available AIMS: To develop, validate and compare a non-invasive fibrosis scoring system for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD derived from routinely obtained clinical and biochemical parameters. METHODS: 267 consecutive patients with biopsy proven fatty liver or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis were randomly assigned to the estimation (2/3 or validation (1/3 group to develop a model for the prediction of advanced fibrosis. Univariate statistics were performed to compare patients with and without advanced fibrosis, and following a multivariate logistic regression analysis a new scoring system was constructed. This non-invasive Koeln-Essen-index (NIKEI was validated and compared to the FIB-4 index by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC. We evaluated a stepwise combination of both scoring systems for the precise prediction of advanced fibrosis. To set in contrast, we additionally tested the diagnostic accuracy of the AST/ALT ratio, BARD score and the NAFLD fibrosis score in our cohort. RESULTS: Age, AST, AST/ALT ratio, and total bilirubin were identified as significant predictors of advanced fibrosis and used to construct the NIKEI with an AUC of 0.968 [0.937; 0.998] compared to 0.929 [0.869; 0.989] for the FIB-4 index. The absence of advanced fibrosis could be confirmed with excellent accuracy (99-100%. The positive predictive value of the FIB-4 index was higher (100% vs. 60%, however, the false negative rate was also high (33%. With a stepwise combination of both indices 82%-84% of biopsies would have been avoidable without a single misclassification. The AUROC for AST/ALT ratio, the NAFLD fibrosis score, and the BARD score were 0.81 (95% CI, 0.72-0.90, 0.96 (95% CI 0.92-0.99, and 0.67 (95% CI 0.55-0.78, respectively. CONCLUSION: The NIKEI can reliably exclude advanced fibrosis in subjects with NAFLD. In combination with the FIB-4 index misclassification with inadequate clinical management can be avoided while

The Performance of the Upper Limb scores correlate with pulmonary function test measures and Egen Klassifikation scores in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Lee, Ha Neul; Sawnani, Hemant; Horn, Paul S; Rybalsky, Irina; Relucio, Lani; Wong, Brenda L

2016-01-01

The Performance of the Upper Limb scale was developed as an outcome measure specifically for ambulant and non-ambulant patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is implemented in clinical trials needing longitudinal data. The aim of this study is to determine whether this novel tool correlates with functional ability using pulmonary function test, cardiac function test and Egen Klassifikation scale scores as clinical measures. In this cross-sectional study, 43 non-ambulatory Duchenne males from ages 10 to 30 years and on long-term glucocorticoid treatment were enrolled. Cardiac and pulmonary function test results were analyzed to assess cardiopulmonary function, and Egen Klassifikation scores were analyzed to assess functional ability. The Performance of the Upper Limb scores correlated with pulmonary function measures and had inverse correlation with Egen Klassifikation scores. There was no correlation with left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular dysfunction. Body mass index and decreased joint range of motion affected total Performance of the Upper Limb scores and should be considered in clinical trial designs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Clinical Application of the PES/WES Index on Natural Teeth: Case Report and Literature Review

OpenAIRE

Lanza, Alessandro; Di Francesco, Fabrizio; De Marco, Gennaro; Femiano, Felice; Itro, Angelo

2017-01-01

The use of reliable indices to evaluate the aesthetic outcomes in the aesthetic area is an important and objective clinical aid to monitor the results over time. According to the literature various indices were proposed to evaluate aesthetic outcomes of implant-prosthetic rehabilitation of the anterior area like Peri-Implant and Crown Index [PICI], Implant Crown Aesthetic Index [ICAI], Pink Esthetic Score/White Esthetic Score [PES/WES], and Pink Esthetic Score [PES] but none of them was relat...

Psychometric properties of the Neck OutcOme Score, Neck Disability Index, and Short Form-36 were evaluated in patients with neck pain.

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Juul, Tina; Søgaard, Karen; Davis, Aileen M; Roos, Ewa M

2016-11-01

To assess reliability, construct validity, responsiveness, and interpretability for Neck OutcOme Score (NOOS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Short Form-36 (SF-36) in neck pain patients. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach alpha. Test-retest reliability was evaluated by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and measurement error was estimated from the standard error of measurement. Responsiveness was assessed as standardized response mean (SRM) and interpretability from the minimal important difference (MID). Construct validity was tested correlating subscale scores from NOOS and SF-36 and NDI items. At baseline, 196 neck pain patients were included. Cronbach α was adequate for most NOOS subscales, NDI, and SF-36 with few exceptions. Good to excellent reliability was found for NOOS subscales (ICC 0.88-0.95), for NDI, and for SF-36 with few exceptions. For NOOS, minimal detectable changes varied between 1.1 and 1.9, and construct validity was supported. SRMs were higher for NOOS subscales (0.19-0.42), compared to SF-36 and NDI. MID values varied between 15.0 and 24.1 for NOOS subscales. In conclusion, the NOOS is a reliable, valid, and responsive measure of self-reported disability in neck pain patients, performing at least as well or better than the commonly used SF-36 and NDI. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide association analysis identifies three new susceptibility loci for childhood body mass index

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Felix, Janine F.; Bradfield, Jonathan P.; Monnereau, Claire; van der Valk, Ralf J.P.; Stergiakouli, Evie; Chesi, Alessandra; Gaillard, Romy; Feenstra, Bjarke; Thiering, Elisabeth; Kreiner-Møller, Eskil; Mahajan, Anubha; Pitkänen, Niina; Joro, Raimo; Cavadino, Alana; Huikari, Ville; Franks, Steve; Groen-Blokhuis, Maria M.; Cousminer, Diana L.; Marsh, Julie A.; Lehtimäki, Terho; Curtin, John A.; Vioque, Jesus; Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S.; Myhre, Ronny; Price, Thomas S.; Vilor-Tejedor, Natalia; Yengo, Loïc; Grarup, Niels; Ntalla, Ioanna; Ang, Wei; Atalay, Mustafa; Bisgaard, Hans; Blakemore, Alexandra I.; Bonnefond, Amelie; Carstensen, Lisbeth; Eriksson, Johan; Flexeder, Claudia; Franke, Lude; Geller, Frank; Geserick, Mandy; Hartikainen, Anna-Liisa; Haworth, Claire M.A.; Hirschhorn, Joel N.; Hofman, Albert; Holm, Jens-Christian; Horikoshi, Momoko; Hottenga, Jouke Jan; Huang, Jinyan; Kadarmideen, Haja N.; Kähönen, Mika; Kiess, Wieland; Lakka, Hanna-Maaria; Lakka, Timo A.; Lewin, Alexandra M.; Liang, Liming; Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka; Ma, Baoshan; Magnus, Per; McCormack, Shana E.; McMahon, George; Mentch, Frank D.; Middeldorp, Christel M.; Murray, Clare S.; Pahkala, Katja; Pers, Tune H.; Pfäffle, Roland; Postma, Dirkje S.; Power, Christine; Simpson, Angela; Sengpiel, Verena; Tiesler, Carla M. T.; Torrent, Maties; Uitterlinden, André G.; van Meurs, Joyce B.; Vinding, Rebecca; Waage, Johannes; Wardle, Jane; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Zemel, Babette S.; Dedoussis, George V.; Pedersen, Oluf; Froguel, Philippe; Sunyer, Jordi; Plomin, Robert; Jacobsson, Bo; Hansen, Torben; Gonzalez, Juan R.; Custovic, Adnan; Raitakari, Olli T.; Pennell, Craig E.; Widén, Elisabeth; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Koppelman, Gerard H.; Sebert, Sylvain; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Hyppönen, Elina; McCarthy, Mark I.; Lindi, Virpi; Harri, Niinikoski; Körner, Antje; Bønnelykke, Klaus; Heinrich, Joachim; Melbye, Mads; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Hakonarson, Hakon; Ring, Susan M.; Smith, George Davey; Sørensen, Thorkild I.A.; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Grant, Struan F.A.; Jaddoe, Vincent W.V.

2016-01-01

A large number of genetic loci are associated with adult body mass index. However, the genetics of childhood body mass index are largely unknown. We performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of childhood body mass index, using sex- and age-adjusted standard deviation scores. We included 35 668 children from 20 studies in the discovery phase and 11 873 children from 13 studies in the replication phase. In total, 15 loci reached genome-wide significance (P-value < 5 × 10−8) in the joint discovery and replication analysis, of which 12 are previously identified loci in or close to ADCY3, GNPDA2, TMEM18, SEC16B, FAIM2, FTO, TFAP2B, TNNI3K, MC4R, GPR61, LMX1B and OLFM4 associated with adult body mass index or childhood obesity. We identified three novel loci: rs13253111 near ELP3, rs8092503 near RAB27B and rs13387838 near ADAM23. Per additional risk allele, body mass index increased 0.04 Standard Deviation Score (SDS) [Standard Error (SE) 0.007], 0.05 SDS (SE 0.008) and 0.14 SDS (SE 0.025), for rs13253111, rs8092503 and rs13387838, respectively. A genetic risk score combining all 15 SNPs showed that each additional average risk allele was associated with a 0.073 SDS (SE 0.011, P-value = 3.12 × 10−10) increase in childhood body mass index in a population of 1955 children. This risk score explained 2% of the variance in childhood body mass index. This study highlights the shared genetic background between childhood and adult body mass index and adds three novel loci. These loci likely represent age-related differences in strength of the associations with body mass index. PMID:26604143

Potential Risk Estimation Drowning Index for Children (PREDIC): a pilot study from Matlab, Bangladesh.

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Borse, N N; Hyder, A A; Bishai, D; Baker, T; Arifeen, S E

2011-11-01

Childhood drowning is a major public health problem that has been neglected in many low- and middle-income countries. In Matlab, rural Bangladesh, more than 40% of child deaths aged 1-4 years are due to drowning. The main objective of this paper was to develop and evaluate a childhood drowning risk prediction index. A literature review was carried out to document risk factors identified for childhood drowning in Bangladesh. The Newacheck model for special health care needs for children was adapted and applied to construct a childhood drowning risk index called "Potential Risk Estimation Drowning Index for Children" (PREDIC). Finally, the proposed PREDIC Index was applied to childhood drowning deaths and compared with the comparison group from children living in Matlab, Bangladesh. This pilot study used t-tests and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve to analyze the results. The PREDIC index was applied to 302 drowning deaths and 624 children 0-4 years old living in Matlab. The results of t-test indicate that the drowned children had a statistically (t=-8.58, p=0.0001) significant higher mean PREDIC score (6.01) than those in comparison group (5.26). Drowning cases had a PREDIC score of 6 or more for 68% of the children however, the comparison group had 43% of the children with score of 6 or more which was statistically significant (t=-7.36, p<0.001). The area under the curve for the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve was 0.662. Index score construction was scientifically plausible; and the index is relatively complete, fairly accurate, and practical. The risk index can help identify and target high risk children with drowning prevention programs. PREDIC index needs to be further tested for its accuracy, feasibility and effectiveness in drowning risk reduction in Bangladesh and other countries. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determination of the Optimal Cutoff Values for Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire Scores and the Oswestry Disability Index for Favorable Surgical Outcomes in Subjects With Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.

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Kim, Ho-Joong; Park, Jong-Woong; Kang, Kyoung-Tak; Chang, Bong-Soon; Lee, Choon-Ki; Kang, Sung-Shik; Yeom, Jin S

2015-10-15

Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data (NCT02134821). The aim of this study was to elucidate the cutoff values for significant predictors for favorable outcomes after lumbar spine surgery in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Various factors are associated with the surgical outcomes for patients with LSS. However, we did not know the odds ratio and/or cutoff values of a predictive factor for a favorable surgical outcome for LSS. A total of 157 patients who underwent spine surgery due to LSS between June 2012 and April 2013 were included in this study. The patients were dichotomized into 2 groups on the basis of an Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score of 22 or less (favorable outcome group) or more than 22 (unfavorable outcome group) at 12 months after surgery. Regarding favorable outcomes, the odds ratio for each preoperative variable including demographic data, preoperative symptom severity, and pain sensitivity questionnaire (PSQ) score was calculated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. For the significant variables for surgical outcome, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted with calculation of the area under the ROC curve. Multivariate analysis revealed that the ODI and total PSQ scores were significantly associated with a greater likelihood of an unfavorable surgical outcome [odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of ODI, 1.289 (1.028-1.616); odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of total PSQ, 1.060 (1.009-1.113)]. ROC analysis revealed area under the ROC curves for the total PSQ and ODI scores of 0.638 (P = 0.005) and 0.692 (P disability and pain sensitivity can be predictors of the functional level achieved after spine surgery in patients with LSS, and the ideal cutoff values for the total PSQ and ODI scores were 6.6 and 45.0, respectively.

Pre-operative risk scores for the prediction of outcome in elderly people who require emergency surgery

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Bates Tom

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The decision on whether to operate on a sick elderly person with an intra-abdominal emergency is one of the most difficult in general surgery. A predictive risk-score would be of great value in this situation. Methods A Medline search was performed to identify those predictive risk-scores relevant to sick elderly patients in whom emergency surgery might be life-saving. Results Many of the risk scores for surgical patients include the operative findings or require tests which are not available in the acute situation. Most of the relevant studies include younger patients and elective surgery. The Glasgow Aneurysm Score and Hardman Index are specific to ruptured aortic aneurysm while the Boey Score and the Hacetteppe Score are specific to perforated peptic ulcer. The Reiss Index and Fitness Score can be used pre-operatively if the elements of the score can be completed in time. The ASA score, which includes a significant element of subjective clinical judgement, can be augmented with factors such as age and urgency of surgery but no test has a negative predictive value sufficient to recommend against surgical intervention without clinical input. Conclusion Risk scores may be helpful in sick elderly patients needing emergency abdominal surgery but an experienced clinical opinion is still essential.

Theory of pairwise coupling embedded in more general local dispersion relations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuchs, V.; Bers, A.; Harten, L.

1985-01-01

Earlier work on the mode conversion theory by Fuchs, Ko, and Bers is detailed and expanded upon, and its relation to energy conservation is discussed. Given a local dispersion relation, D(ω; k, z) = 0, describing stable waves excited at an externally imposed frequency ω, a pairwise mode-coupling event embedded therein is extracted by expanding D(k, z) around a contour k = k/sub c/(z) given by partialD/partialk = 0. The branch points of D(k, z) = 0 are the turning points of a second-order differential-equation representation. In obtaining the fraction of mode-converted energy, the connection formula and conservation of energy must be used together. Also, proper attention must be given to distinguish cases for which the coupling disappears or persists upon confluence of the branches, a property which is shown to depend on the forward (v/sub g/v/sub ph/>0) or backward (v/sub g/v/sub ph/<0) nature of the waves. Examples occurring in ion-cyclotron and lower-hybrid heating are presented, illustrating the use of the theory

[Cleft lip, alveolar and palate sequelae. Proposal of new alveolar score by the Alveolar Cleft Score (ACS) classification].

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Molé, C; Simon, E

2015-06-01

The management of cleft lip, alveolar and palate sequelae remains problematic today. To optimize it, we tried to establish a new clinical index for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Seven tissue indicators, that we consider to be important in the management of alveolar sequelae, are listed by assigning them individual scores. The final score, obtained by adding together the individual scores, can take a low, high or maximum value. We propose a new classification (ACS: Alveolar Cleft Score) that guides the therapeutic team to a prognosis approach, in terms of the recommended surgical and prosthetic reconstruction, the type of medical care required, and the preventive and supportive therapy to establish. Current studies are often only based on a standard radiological evaluation of the alveolar bone height at the cleft site. However, the gingival, the osseous and the cellular areas bordering the alveolar cleft sequelae induce many clinical parameters, which should be reflected in the morphological diagnosis, to better direct the surgical indications and the future prosthetic requirements, and to best maintain successful long term aesthetic and functional results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Finger Tapping Clinimetric Score Prediction in Parkinson's Disease Using Low-Cost Accelerometers

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Julien Stamatakis

2013-01-01

algorithm were used to identify the most relevant features in the prediction of MDS-UPDRS FT scores, given by 3 specialists in movement disorders (SMDs. The Goodman-Kruskal Gamma index obtained (0.961, depicting the predictive performance of the model, is similar to those obtained between the individual scores given by the SMD (0.870 to 0.970. The automatic prediction of MDS-UPDRS scores using the proposed system may be valuable in clinical trials designed to evaluate and modify motor disability in PD patients.

The RBANS Effort Index: base rates in geriatric samples.

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Duff, Kevin; Spering, Cynthia C; O'Bryant, Sid E; Beglinger, Leigh J; Moser, David J; Bayless, John D; Culp, Kennith R; Mold, James W; Adams, Russell L; Scott, James G

2011-01-01

The Effort Index (EI) of the RBANS was developed to assist clinicians in discriminating patients who demonstrate good effort from those with poor effort. However, there are concerns that older adults might be unfairly penalized by this index, which uses uncorrected raw scores. Using five independent samples of geriatric patients with a broad range of cognitive functioning (e.g., cognitively intact, nursing home residents, probable Alzheimer's disease), base rates of failure on the EI were calculated. In cognitively intact and mildly impaired samples, few older individuals were classified as demonstrating poor effort (e.g., 3% in cognitively intact). However, in the more severely impaired geriatric patients, over one third had EI scores that fell above suggested cutoff scores (e.g., 37% in nursing home residents, 33% in probable Alzheimer's disease). In the cognitively intact sample, older and less educated patients were more likely to have scores suggestive of poor effort. Education effects were observed in three of the four clinical samples. Overall cognitive functioning was significantly correlated with EI scores, with poorer cognition being associated with greater suspicion of low effort. The current results suggest that age, education, and level of cognitive functioning should be taken into consideration when interpreting EI results and that significant caution is warranted when examining EI scores in elders suspected of having dementia.

A Persian version of Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index.

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Rezaei, Mohammad; Rashedi, Vahid; Khedmati Morasae, Esmaeil

2016-09-01

This study aimed to translate the original English version of the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) into a Persian version and to assess the preliminary psychometric properties of the translated index among a sample of Persian elders. Twelve items included in GOHAI were first translated into Persian using a back-translation technique and then were compared with the original version. Four hundred and seventeen elderly subjects who were admitted to a day care centre answered GOHAI and an attached socio-demographic questionnaire. Internal consistency of the Persian version was measured by Cronbach's alpha. Test-retest reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and weighted kappa. Factor structure of GOHAI was evaluated by principal component factor analysis. Mean of GOHAI score was 45.71 (SD: 5.14; range: 27-51). The mean of GOHAI score was higher for the elders who rated their oral and general health as 'good'. The Cronbach's alpha for GOHAI score was 0.748, indicating a high degree of internal consistency and homogeneity between the GOHAI items. The test-retest correlation for the total GOHAI score using ICC was 0.763 (95% CI = 0.713-0.809). Factor analysis revealed a three-factor solution that bolstered the theoretical construction of the index. Significant differences in the GOHAI scores were found for income and current number of teeth. The Persian version of the GOHAI can be used reliably to identify oral health-related concerns of older Persian speakers, but further research is needed to confirm its cultural consonance in this population. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S and The Gerodontology Association. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[The use of scores in general medicine].

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Huber, Ursula; Rösli, Andreas; Ballmer, Peter E; Rippin, Sarah Jane

2013-10-01

Scores are tools to combine complex information into a numerical value. In General Medicine, there are scores to assist in making diagnoses and prognoses, scores to assist therapeutic decision making and to evaluate therapeutic results and scores to help physicians when informing and advising patients. We review six of the scoring systems that have the greatest utility for the General Physician in hospital-based care and in General Practice. The Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS 2002) tool is designed to identify hospital patients in danger of malnutrition. The aim is to improve the nutritional status of these patients. The CURB-65 score predicts 30-day mortality in patients with community acquired pneumonia. Patients with a low score can be considered for home treatment, patients with an elevated score require hospitalisation and those with a high score should be treated as having severe pneumonia; treatment in the intensive care unit should be considered. The IAS-AGLA score of the Working Group on Lipids and Atherosclerosis of the Swiss Society of Cardiology calculates the 10-year risk of a myocardial infarction for people living in Switzerland. The working group makes recommendations for preventative treatment according to the calculated risk status. The Body Mass Index, which is calculated by dividing the body weight in kilograms by the height in meters squared and then divided into weight categories, is used to classify people as underweight, of normal weight, overweight or obese. The prognostic value of this classification is discussed. The Mini-Mental State Examination allows the physician to assess important cognitive functions in a simple and standardised form. The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to classify the level of consciousness in patients with head injury. It can be used for triage and correlates with prognosis.

[Is the socioeconomic deprivation EPICES score useful in obstetrics?].

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Convers, M; Langeron, A; Sass, C; Moulin, J-J; Augier, A; Varlet, M-N; Seffert, P; Chêne, G

2012-04-01

To describe a validated and multifactorial deprivation score to study the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and perinatal risks. The index of deprivation EPICES (Evaluation of Precarity and Inequalities in Health Examination Centers) was used to characterize the deprivation status of 234 women in post-partum in comparison with perinatal morbidity. The cutoff value of 30.7 was the threshold to define deprivation. Two hundred and eight patients were included in this retrospective study from whom 48 (23%) had a score of deprivation higher than 30.7. Maternofetal morbidity was more severe in deprived patients. The current results show that the EPICES score could be a useful obstetrical tool for the identification of deprived women during pregnancy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Work ability assessment in a worker population: comparison and determinants of Work Ability Index and Work Ability score.

Science.gov (United States)

El Fassi, Mehdi; Bocquet, Valery; Majery, Nicole; Lair, Marie Lise; Couffignal, Sophie; Mairiaux, Philippe

2013-04-08

Public authorities in European countries are paying increasing attention to the promotion of work ability throughout working life and the best method to monitor work ability in populations of workers is becoming a significant question. The present study aims to compare the assessment of work ability based on the use of the Work Ability Index (WAI), a 7-item questionnaire, with another one based on the use of WAI's first item, which consists in the worker's self-assessment of his/her current work ability level as opposed to his/her lifetime best, this single question being termed "Work Ability score" (WAS). Using a database created by an occupational health service, the study intends to answer the following questions: could the assessment of work ability be based on a single-item measure and which are the variables significantly associated with self-reported work ability among those systematically recorded by the occupational physician during health examinations? A logistic regression model was used in order to estimate the probability of observing "poor" or "moderate" WAI levels depending on age, gender, body mass index, smoking status, position held, firm size and diseases reported by the worker in a population of workers aged 40 to 65 and examined between January 2006 and June 2010 (n=12389). The convergent validity between WAS and WAI was statistically significant (rs=0.63). In the multivariable model, age (pwork ability. A work position characterized by the predominance of mental activity (OR=0.71, 95%CI [0.61-0.84]) had a favourable impact on work ability. These relations were observed regardless of the work ability measurement tool used. The convergent validity and the similarity in results between WAI and WAS observed in a large population of employed workers should thus foster the use of WAS for systematic screening of work ability. Ageing, overweight, decline in health status, holding a mostly physical job and working in a large-sized firm increase the

Changes in parent motivation predicts changes in body mass index z-score (zBMI) and dietary intake among preschoolers enrolled in a family-based obesity intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Allen, Jason; Kuhl, Elizabeth S; Filigno, Stephanie S; Clifford, Lisa M; Connor, Jared M; Stark, Lori J

2014-10-01

To examine whether changes in parent motivation over the course of a pediatric obesity intervention are significantly associated with long-term changes in treatment outcomes.   Study hypotheses were tested with a secondary data analysis of a randomized controlled trial (N = 42). Study analyses tested whether baseline to posttreatment change in total score for a self-report parent motivation measure (Parent Motivation Inventory [PMI]) was significantly associated with baseline to 6-month follow-up changes in body mass index z-score (zBMI), dietary variables, and physical activity.   Increases in PMI were significantly associated with decreased zBMI, decreased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets, and increased consumption of artificially sweetened beverages.   Given that increases in parent motivation were associated with some treatment benefits, future research should evaluate the impact of directly assessing and targeting parent motivation on weight outcomes for preschoolers participating in a weight management program. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Prediction of massive bleeding. Shock index and modified shock index.

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Terceros-Almanza, L J; García-Fuentes, C; Bermejo-Aznárez, S; Prieto-Del Portillo, I J; Mudarra-Reche, C; Sáez-de la Fuente, I; Chico-Fernández, M

2017-12-01

To determine the predictive value of the Shock Index and Modified Shock Index in patients with massive bleeding due to severe trauma. Retrospective cohort. Severe trauma patient's initial attention at the intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital. Patients older than 14 years that were admitted to the hospital with severe trauma (Injury Severity Score >15) form January 2014 to December 2015. We studied the sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive and negative predictive value (PV+ and PV-), positive and negative likelihood ratio (LR+ and LR-), ROC curves (Receiver Operating Characteristics) and the area under the same (AUROC) for prediction of massive hemorrhage. 287 patients were included, 76.31% (219) were male, mean age was 43,36 (±17.71) years and ISS was 26 (interquartile range [IQR]: 21-34). The overall frequency of massive bleeding was 8.71% (25). For Shock Index: AUROC was 0.89 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.84 to 0.94), with an optimal cutoff at 1.11, Se was 91.3% (95% CI: 73.2 to 97.58) and Sp was 79.69% (95% CI: 74.34 to 84.16). For the Modified Shock Index: AUROC was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86 to 0.95), with an optimal cutoff at 1.46, Se was 95.65% (95% CI: 79.01 to 99.23) and Sp was 75.78% (95% CI: 70.18 to 80.62). Shock Index and Modified Shock Index are good predictors of massive bleeding and could be easily incorporated to the initial workup of patients with severe trauma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

A brief symptom index for advanced renal cell carcinoma

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Cella David

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Our objective was to test a brief, symptom index for advanced renal cell carcinoma, a disease affecting over 38,000 Americans each year and often diagnosed in late stages. Methods We conducted secondary data analyses on patient-reported outcomes of 209 metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients participating in a Phase III clinical trial. Patient-reported outcomes, obtained from the FACT-Biological Response Modifier (FACT-BRM scale, were available at baseline, 2, and 8 weeks. We analyzed data from eight FACT-BRM items previously identified by clinical experts to represent the most important symptoms of advanced renal cell carcinoma. Items comprising this index assess nausea, pain, appetite, perceived sickness, fatigue and weakness, with higher scores indicating fewer symptoms. We determined reliability and validity of the index and estimated a minimally important difference. Results The index had excellent internal reliability at all three time points (alphas ≥ 0.83. Baseline scores were able to discriminate patients across Karnofsky performance status, number of metastatic sites, and risk group categories (ps Conclusion The 8-item index of patient-reported symptoms of renal cell carcinoma appears to be a psychometrically sound measure. It is a brief, reliable, and valid measure that can easily be adapted for use in clinical trials and observational studies.

A new plan-scoring method using normal tissue complication probability for personalized treatment plan decisions in prostate cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kwang Hyeon; Lee, Suk; Shim, Jang Bo; Yang, Dae Sik; Yoon, Won Sup; Park, Young Je; Kim, Chul Yong; Cao, Yuan Jie; Chang, Kyung Hwan

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to derive a new plan-scoring index using normal tissue complication probabilities to verify different plans in the selection of personalized treatment. Plans for 12 patients treated with tomotherapy were used to compare scoring for ranking. Dosimetric and biological indexes were analyzed for the plans for a clearly distinguishable group ( n = 7) and a similar group ( n = 12), using treatment plan verification software that we developed. The quality factor ( QF) of our support software for treatment decisions was consistent with the final treatment plan for the clearly distinguishable group (average QF = 1.202, 100% match rate, n = 7) and the similar group (average QF = 1.058, 33% match rate, n = 12). Therefore, we propose a normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) based on the plan scoring index for verification of different plans for personalized treatment-plan selection. Scoring using the new QF showed a 100% match rate (average NTCP QF = 1.0420). The NTCP-based new QF scoring method was adequate for obtaining biological verification quality and organ risk saving using the treatment-planning decision-support software we developed for prostate cancer.

Women's Empowerment in Agricultural Index: Proof of Concept

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US Agency for International Development — The index is a significant innovation in its field that measures multiple indicators of empowerment, and generates "scores" that can be compared over time. It is the...

Predicting mortality among older adults hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia: an enhanced confusion, urea, respiratory rate and blood pressure score compared with pneumonia severity index.

Science.gov (United States)

Abisheganaden, John; Ding, Yew Yoong; Chong, Wai-Fung; Heng, Bee-Hoon; Lim, Tow Keang

2012-08-01

Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) predicts mortality better than Confusion, Urea >7 mmol/L, Respiratory rate >30/min, low Blood pressure: diastolic blood pressure blood pressure 65 years (CURB-65) for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) but is more cumbersome. The objective was to determine whether CURB enhanced with a small number of additional variables can predict mortality with at least the same accuracy as PSI. Retrospective review of medical records and administrative data of adults aged 55 years or older hospitalized for CAP over 1 year from three hospitals. For 1052 hospital admissions of unique patients, 30-day mortality was 17.2%. PSI class and CURB-65 predicted 30-day mortality with area under curve (AUC) of 0.77 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73-0.80) and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.66-0.74) respectively. When age and three co-morbid conditions (metastatic cancer, solid tumours without metastases and stroke) were added to CURB, the AUC improved to 0.80 (95% CI: 0.77-0.83). Bootstrap validation obtained an AUC estimate of 0.78, indicating negligible overfitting of the model. Based on this model, a clinical score (enhanced CURB score) was developed that had possible values from 5 to 25. Its AUC was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.76-0.83) and remained similar to that of PSI class. An enhanced CURB score predicted 30-day mortality with at least the same accuracy as PSI class did among older adults hospitalized for CAP. External validation of this score in other populations is the next step to determine whether it can be used more widely. © 2012 The Authors. Respirology © 2012 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

Comparison of a new composite index based on midlatency auditory evoked potentials and electroencephalographic parameters with bispectral index (BIS) during moderate propofol sedation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadzidiakos, D; Petersen, S; Baars, J; Herold, K; Rehberg, B

2006-11-01

Derived parameters of the electroencephalogram and auditory evoked potentials can be used to determine depth of anaesthesia and sedation. However, it is not known whether any parameter can identify the occurrence of awareness in individual patients. We have compared the performance of bispectral index and a new composite index derived from auditory evoked potentials and the electroencephalogram (AAI 1.61) in predicting consciousness, explicit and implicit memory during moderate sedation with propofol. Twenty-one patients with spinal anaesthesia received intraoperatively propofol at the age-corrected C(50) for loss of consciousness and were presented test words via headphones. Bispectral index and AAI 1.61 (auditory evoked potentials, AEP-Monitor2) were recorded in parallel as well as the Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation-score. Postoperatively, testing for explicit and implicit memory formation was performed. Bispectral index and AAI 1.61 correlated well with loss of consciousness defined by an Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation-score of 2 (identical P(K) of 0.87), but did not allow a prediction of postoperative explicit or implicit recall. Both bispectral index and AAI may be indices of depth of sedation rather than indicators of memory formation, which persists during propofol sedation even after loss of consciousness.

A comparison of low-carbohydrate vs. high-carbohydrate diets: energy restriction, nutrient quality and correlation to body mass index.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowman, Shanthy A; Spence, Joseph T

2002-06-01

To evaluate free-living adults' diets that ranged from very low to high amounts of carbohydrate for their energy content, nutritional quality and correlation to Body Mass Index. Adults ages 19 years and older, who had complete dietary intake data on day-1 of the USDA's 1994 to 1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII 1994-1996), were divided into four groups--very low, low, moderate and high carbohydrate--based on the percent total energy from carbohydrate. Mean energy, nutrient, food intakes and Body Mass Index values were compared among the groups. SUDAAN software package was used for the data analysis and pair-wise mean comparisons (p low-fat foods, grain products and fruits. This group also had the lowest sodium intake. Adults eating a high-carbohydrate diet are more likely to have Body Mass Index values below 25. A study of diets of free-living adults in the U.S. showed that diets high in carbohydrate were both energy restrictive and nutritious and may be adopted for successful weight management.

Validation of the computed assessment of cleansing score with the Mirocam® system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Ponte

Full Text Available Background and aims: A computed assessment of cleansing (CAC score was developed to objectively evaluate small-bowel cleansing in the PillCam capsule endoscopy (CE system and to overcome the subjectivity and complexity of previous scoring systems. Our study aimed to adapt the CAC score to the Mirocam® system, evaluate its reliability with the Mirocam® CE system and compare it with three validated subjective grading scales. Patients and methods: Thirty CE were prospectively and independently reviewed by two authors who classified the degree of small-bowel cleanliness according to a quantitative index, a qualitative evaluation and an overall adequacy assessment. The authors were blinded for the CAC score of each CE, which was calculated as ([mean intensity of the red channel]/[mean intensity of the green channel] - 1 x 10. The mean intensities of the red and green channels of the small-bowel segment of the "Map View" bar in the Miroview Client® were determined using the histogram option of two photo-editing software. Results: There was a strong agreement between both CE readers for each of the three subjective scales used. The reproducibility of the CAC score was excellent and identical results were obtained with the two photo-editing software. Regarding the comparison between the CAC score and the subjective scales, there was a moderate-to-good agreement with the quantitative index, qualitative evaluation and overall adequacy assessment. Conclusions: CAC score represents an objective and feasible score in the assessment of small-bowel cleansing in the Mirocam® CE system, and could be used per se or as part of a more comprehensive score.

Development of a New Fall Risk Assessment Index for Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minoru Yamada, RPT, PhD

2012-09-01

Conclusion: We have demonstrated that the new index is a reliable indicator for falls in elderly people who have higher levels of functional capacity. Our data suggest that a score of more than 1 point by the new index can predict falls in robust elderly people.

Development of a severity score for CRPS.

Science.gov (United States)

Harden, R Norman; Bruehl, Stephen; Perez, Roberto S G M; Birklein, Frank; Marinus, Johan; Maihofner, Christian; Lubenow, Timothy; Buvanendran, Asokumar; Mackey, Sean; Graciosa, Joseph; Mogilevski, Mila; Ramsden, Christopher; Schlereth, Tanja; Chont, Melissa; Vatine, Jean-Jacques

2010-12-01

The clinical diagnosis of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a dichotomous (yes/no) categorization necessary for clinical decision-making. However, such dichotomous diagnostic categories do not convey an individual's subtle and temporal gradations in severity of the condition, and have poor statistical power when used as an outcome measure in research. This study evaluated the validity and potential utility of a continuous type score to index severity of CRPS. Psychometric and medical evaluations were conducted in 114 CRPS patients and 41 non-CRPS neuropathic pain patients. Based on the presence/absence of 17 clinically-assessed signs and symptoms of CRPS, an overall CRPS Severity Score (CSS) was derived. The CSS discriminated well between CRPS and non-CRPS patients (pCRPS diagnoses using both IASP diagnostic criteria (Eta=0.69) and proposed revised criteria (Eta=0.77-0.88). Higher CSS was associated with significantly higher clinical pain intensity, distress, and functional impairments, as well as greater bilateral temperature asymmetry and thermal perception abnormalities (p'sCRPS, and support its validity as an index of CRPS severity. Its utility as an outcome measure in research studies is also suggested, with potential statistical advantages over dichotomous diagnostic criteria. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Non-linear changes in rhythmic variability of European art music: Quantitative support for historical musicology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Niels Chr.; Sadakata, Makiko; Pearce, Marcus

It is a long-held belief in historical musicology that the prosody of composers’ native languages is reflected in the rhythmic and melodic properties of their music. Applying the normalised Pairwise Variability Index (nPVI) to speech alongside musical scores, research has established quantitative...... music up until the mid-19th century, after which French music diverged into an Austro-German school and a French nationalist school. In sum, using musical nPVI analysis, we provide quantitative support for music-historical descriptions of an Italian-dominated Baroque (composer birth years: 1600...

RAPID3 scores and hand outcome measurements in RA patients: a preliminary study.

Science.gov (United States)

Qorolli, Merita; Hundozi-Hysenaj, Hajrije; Rexhepi, Sylejman; Rehxepi, Blerta; Grazio, Simeon

2017-06-01

The Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) is a patient-reported disease activity measure used to assess physical function, pain, and global health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) without formal joint counts. Since hand involvement and its decreased function are hallmarks of RA, the aim of our study was to investigate the performance of RAPID3 scores with regard to hand function and to confirm previous findings that the RAPID3 score as a disease activity measure is strongly correlated with the DAS28 score. Sixty-eight consecutive patients with RA (85% female), aged 18-75 years, were included in the study and were recruited during their outpatient visit. Apart from demographic and clinical data, the obtained parameters of interest included RAPID3 scores and assessments of the function of the hand, namely, the signal of functional impairment (SOFI)-hand, grip strength, and pulp-to-palm distance, as well the Health Assessment Questionnaire- Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and DAS28 scores. Pearson's correlation coefficient, Student's t test and linear regression were used in the statistical analysis of the results. The significance was set to p < 0.05. A positive correlation was found between RAPID3 scores and HAQ-DI scores, SOFI-hand scores, and pulp-to-palm distance, and negative correlation was observed between RAPID3 scores and grip strength. The order regarding the strength of correlations between RAPID3 scores and other variables (from the strongest to the weakest) was as follows: HAQ-DI, grip strength, SOFI-hand and pulp-to-palm distance. The hand assessment variables had stronger correlations with RAPID3 scores than with DAS28 scores. Our preliminary study showed that RAPID3 scores were strongly correlated with measurements of the functional ability of the hand, demonstrating that RAPID3 can be used as a measure of disease activity in clinical practice and to characterize hand function. Further studies are needed to confirm this result.

Body Mass Index Class Is Independently Associated With Health-Related Quality of Life After Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty: An Institutional Registry-Based Study.

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McLawhorn, Alexander S; Steinhaus, Michael E; Southren, Daniel L; Lee, Yuo-Yu; Dodwell, Emily R; Figgie, Mark P

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients across World Health Organization (WHO) body mass index (BMI) classes before and after total hip arthroplasty (THA). Patients with end-stage hip osteoarthritis who received elective primary unilateral THA were identified through an institutional registry and categorized based on the World Health Organization BMI classification. Age, sex, laterality, year of surgery, and Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index were recorded. The primary outcome was the EQ-5D-3L index and visual analog scale (EQ-VAS) scores at 2 years postoperatively. Inferential statistics and regression analyses were performed to determine associations between BMI classes and HRQoL. EQ-5D-3L scores at baseline and at 2 years were statistically different across BMI classes, with higher EQ-VAS and index scores in patients with lower BMI. There was no difference observed for the 2-year change in EQ-VAS scores, but there was a statistically greater increase in index scores for more obese patients. In the regression analyses, there were statistically significant negative effect estimates for EQ-VAS and index scores associated with increasing BMI class. BMI class is independently associated with lower HRQoL scores 2 years after primary THA. While absolute scores in obese patients were lower than in nonobese patients, obese patients enjoyed more positive changes in EQ-5D index scores after THA. These results may provide the most detailed information on how BMI influences HRQoL before and after THA, and they are relevant to future economic decision analyses on the topic. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Detection and severity of coronary disease: comparison between Framingham and calcium scores using multi-slice tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez Gomez, Maria Liliana; Montenegro, Edison; Ruiz, Angela Maria; Ardila, Jaime

2011-01-01

Introduction: multiple studies have shown that the coronary calcium index is an independent, more accurate predictor of future coronary events in relation to traditional risk factors. However, these studies have not been conducted in populations of developing countries like Colombia. Objective: to compare the strength of association between the Framingham index and the coronary calcium score in detecting the presence and severity of coronary disease as defined by 64-channel multi-slice angio-CT in order to provide additional information for decision-making in our asymptomatic coronary population. Methodology: we reviewed the written reports of coronary angiography scans performed in past 3 years. Based on this information, bivariate (calculation of Spearman rho correlation coefficients) and multivariate (logistic regression) analyses were performed. Results: the coronary calcium score showed a higher correlation with the presence and severity of coronary disease, Spearman Rho coefficient, compared with the Framingham index, Spearman's Rho coefficient of 0.30 (p<0.001). The moderate Framingham index (10-19%) shows no strength of association with significant and non-significant coronary artery disease, OR = 2, 51 CI 95% (0.7-8.9) and OR = 2.3 CI 95% (0.86-6.15), respectively. Patients with calcium values = 100 showed significant strength of association, OR = 182, 95% (17.4 -190.2), with significant coronary disease compared with high Framingham index values (=20%), OR = 18.6, CI 95% (1.75-198). Conclusions: the coronary calcium score has a higher correlation with the presence and severity of coronary disease when compared with the Framingham index. There is a low correlation between the index and Framingham coronary calcium.

Reproducibility and validity of a diet quality index for children assessed using a FFQ

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huybrechts, I.; Vereecken, C.; Bacquer, De D.; Vandevijvere, S.; Oyen, van H.; Maes, L.; Vanhauwaert, E.; Temme, E.H.M.; Backer, De G.; Henauw, de S.

2010-01-01

The diet quality index (DQI) for preschool children is a new index developed to reflect compliance with four main food-based dietary guidelines for preschool children in Flanders. The present study investigates: (1) the validity of this index by comparing DQI scores for preschool children with

Coronary heart disease index based on longitudinal electrocardiography

Science.gov (United States)

Townsend, J. C.; Cronin, J. P.

1977-01-01

A coronary heart disease index was developed from longitudinal ECG (LCG) tracings to serve as a cardiac health measure in studies of working and, essentially, asymptomatic populations, such as pilots and executives. For a given subject, the index consisted of a composite score based on the presence of LCG aberrations and weighted values previously assigned to them. The index was validated by correlating it with the known presence or absence of CHD as determined by a complete physical examination, including treadmill, resting ECG, and risk factor information. The validating sample consisted of 111 subjects drawn by a stratified-random procedure from 5000 available case histories. The CHD index was found to be significantly more valid as a sole indicator of CHD than the LCG without the use of the index. The index consistently produced higher validity coefficients in identifying CHD than did treadmill testing, resting ECG, or risk factor analysis.

A sonographic lesion index for Crohn's disease helps monitor changes in transmural bowel damage during therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zorzi, Francesca; Stasi, Elisa; Bevivino, Gerolamo; Scarozza, Patrizio; Biancone, Livia; Zuzzi, Sara; Rossi, Carla; Pallone, Francesco; Calabrese, Emma

2014-12-01

Therapeutic antibodies against tumor necrosis factor α (anti-TNF) are effective in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Mucosal healing is a surrogate marker of efficacy, but little is known about the effects of anti-TNF agents on structural damage in the intestine. Small-intestine contrast ultrasonography (SICUS) is a valuable tool for assessing CD lesions. A new sonographic quantitative index (the sonographic lesion index for CD [SLIC]) was developed to quantify changes in CD lesions detected by SICUS. We explored whether the SLIC can be used to monitor transmural bowel damage in CD patients during anti-TNF therapy. We performed a prospective study of 29 patients with ileal or ileocolonic CD treated with anti-TNF agents; patients underwent SICUS before and after scheduled induction and maintenance therapy. To determine whether changes that can be detected by SICUS occur independently of anti-TNF therapy, 7 patients with ileal CD treated with mesalamine were enrolled as controls. A clinical response was defined as steroid-free remission, with CD activity index scores less than 150. We observed significant improvements in SLIC scores and subscores after induction and maintenance therapy with anti-TNFs, compared with before therapy. SLIC scores and subscores and index classes were improved significantly in patients with vs without clinical responses. Controls had no improvements in terms of CD activity index or SLIC scores, or index classes. Sonographic assessment using the quantitative index SLIC can be used to monitor changes in transmural bowel damage during anti-TNF therapy for CD. Copyright © 2014 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Scoring CT/HRCT findings among asbestos-exposed workers: effects of patient's age, body mass index and common laboratory test results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vehmas, T.; Huuskonen, M.S. [Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Department of Radiology, Helsinki (Finland); Kivisaari, L. [Helsinki University Central Hospital, Department of Radiology, Helsinki (Finland); Jaakkola, M.S. [Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Department of Radiology, Helsinki (Finland); University of Birmingham, Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Birmingham (United Kingdom)

2005-02-01

We studied the effects of age, body mass index (BMI) and some common laboratory test results on several pulmonary CT/HRCT signs. Five hundred twenty-eight construction workers (age 38-80, mean 63 years) were imaged with spiral and high resolution CT. Images were scored by three radiologists for solitary pulmonary nodules, signs indicative of fibrosis and emphysema, ground glass opacities, bronchial wall thickness and bronchiectasis. Multivariate statistical analyses were adjusted for smoking and asbestos exposure. Increasing age, blood haemoglobin value and erythrocyte sedimentation rate correlated positively with several HRCT signs. Increasing BMI was associated with a decrease in several signs, especially parenchymal bands, honeycombing, all kinds of emphysema and bronchiectasis. The latter finding might be due to the suboptimal image quality in obese individuals, which may cause suspicious findings to be overlooked. Background data, including patient's age and body constitution, should be considered when CT/HRCT images are interpreted. (orig.)

Evaluation of variability in high-resolution protein structures by global distance scoring

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Risa Anzai

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Systematic analysis of the statistical and dynamical properties of proteins is critical to understanding cellular events. Extraction of biologically relevant information from a set of high-resolution structures is important because it can provide mechanistic details behind the functional properties of protein families, enabling rational comparison between families. Most of the current structural comparisons are pairwise-based, which hampers the global analysis of increasing contents in the Protein Data Bank. Additionally, pairing of protein structures introduces uncertainty with respect to reproducibility because it frequently accompanies other settings for superimposition. This study introduces intramolecular distance scoring for the global analysis of proteins, for each of which at least several high-resolution structures are available. As a pilot study, we have tested 300 human proteins and showed that the method is comprehensively used to overview advances in each protein and protein family at the atomic level. This method, together with the interpretation of the model calculations, provide new criteria for understanding specific structural variation in a protein, enabling global comparison of the variability in proteins from different species.

Evaluation of variability in high-resolution protein structures by global distance scoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Anzai, Risa; Asami, Yoshiki; Inoue, Waka; Ueno, Hina; Yamada, Koya; Okada, Tetsuji

2018-01-01

Systematic analysis of the statistical and dynamical properties of proteins is critical to understanding cellular events. Extraction of biologically relevant information from a set of high-resolution structures is important because it can provide mechanistic details behind the functional properties of protein families, enabling rational comparison between families. Most of the current structural comparisons are pairwise-based, which hampers the global analysis of increasing contents in the Protein Data Bank. Additionally, pairing of protein structures introduces uncertainty with respect to reproducibility because it frequently accompanies other settings for superimposition. This study introduces intramolecular distance scoring for the global analysis of proteins, for each of which at least several high-resolution structures are available. As a pilot study, we have tested 300 human proteins and showed that the method is comprehensively used to overview advances in each protein and protein family at the atomic level. This method, together with the interpretation of the model calculations, provide new criteria for understanding specific structural variation in a protein, enabling global comparison of the variability in proteins from different species.

Association between body mass index and response to a brief interdisciplinary treatment program in fibromyalgia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Chul-Hyun; Luedtke, Connie A; Vincent, Ann; Thompson, Jeffrey M; Oh, Terry H

2012-07-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between baseline body mass index (BMI) and treatment outcome after a brief interdisciplinary fibromyalgia treatment program. Subjects (n = 477) with fibromyalgia participated in the fibromyalgia treatment program. They completed the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the Short Form-36 Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36) at baseline and 6 to 12 mos after the fibromyalgia treatment program. Posttreatment changes in FIQ and SF-36 scores were compared after stratifying participants into four BMI groups: nonobese, overweight, moderately obese, and severely obese. All BMI groups achieved significant improvement in the FIQ total score; the FIQ subscales feel good, pain, fatigue, and morning tiredness; and the SF-36 subscales pain index, vitality, social functioning, and mental health index. Posttreatment changes in mean scores for each subscale generally did not differ significantly across BMI groups after adjusting for age and baseline scores. However, the SF-36 subscale scores of physical functioning and role-emotional were significantly less improved in the severely obese compared with the nonobese. Baseline BMI did not affect response to the fibromyalgia treatment program, as measured by the FIQ total score or SF-36 physical and mental component summary scores. However, the severely obese group showed less improvement compared with the nonobese group in the SF-36 physical functioning and role-emotional subscales.

Evaluation of Different Score Index for Predicting Prognosis in Gamma Knife Radiosurgical Treatment for Brain Metastasis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franzin, Alberto; Snider, Silvia; Picozzi, Piero; Bolognesi, Angelo; Serra, Carlo; Vimercati, Alberto; Passarin, Olga; Mortini, Pietro

2009-01-01

Purpose: To assess the utility of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Recursive Partitioning Analysis (RPA) and Score Index for Radiosurgery (SIR) stratification systems in predicting survival in patients with brain metastasis treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS). Methods and Materials: A total of 185 patients were included in the study. Patients were stratified according to RPA and SIR classes. The RPA and SIR classes, age, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), and systemic disease were correlated with survival. Results: Five patients were lost to follow-up. Median survival in patients in RPA Class 1 (30 patients) was 17 months; in Class 2 (140 patients), 10 months; and in Class 3 (10 patients), 3 months. Median survival in patients in SIR Class 1 (30 patients) was 3 months; in Class 2 (135 patients), 8 months; and in Class 3 (15 patients), 20 months. In univariate testing, age younger than 65 years (p = 0.0004), KPS higher than 70 (p = 0.0001), RPA class (p = 0.0078), SIR class (p = 0.0002), and control of the primary tumor (p = 0.02) were significantly associated with improved outcome. In multivariate analysis, KPS (p < 0.0001), SIR class (p = 0.0008), and RPA class (p = 0.03) had statistical value. Conclusions: This study supports the use of GKRS as a single-treatment modality in this selected group of patients. Stratification systems are useful in the estimation of patient eligibility for GKRS. A second-line treatment was necessary in 30% of patients to achieve distal or local brain control. This strategy is useful to control brain metastasis in long-surviving patients.

A combined sustainability index for electricity efficiency measures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldrath, T.; Ayalon, O.; Shechter, M.

2015-01-01

One of the most substantial tools that serve decision makers in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions includes energy efficiency measures that in most cases benefit from governmental assistance for achieving electricity consumption reduction goals. This paper examines five energy efficiency measures, defining a combined sustainability index. A multi-criteria analysis of five predefined indices was developed (economic, environmental, technology, social and political), providing a combined index for each measure and a tool for identifying the preferred measure within a specific situation, based on its total sustainability score. In this research, a case study was conducted and the preferred measure was found to be municipal street lighting systems, based on its high political and social scores, and its relatively high installation potential. The second choice would be replacement of chillers in the industrial sector, and the least favorable measure is the replacement of water pumps in the water sector. The methodology described brings into account the technological specifications of the measure implemented, and the specific national conditions under which it is implemented. - Highlights: • A MCDA of five indices was developed to define a combined sustainability index. • Criteria defined were environment, technology, economy, social and political. • Five energy efficiency measures were rated, based on their total sustainability score. • Measures were in five main electricity consumption sectors. • The preferred measure found in the case study was municipal street lighting systems.

An overall index of environmental quality in coal mining areas and energy facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Vatalis, Konstantinos I; Kaliampakos, Demetrios C

2006-12-01

An approach to measuring environmental quality and trends in coal mining and industrial areas was attempted in this work. For this purpose, the establishment of a reference scale characterizing the status of environmental quality is proposed by developing an Environmental Quality Index (EQI). The methodology involves three main components: social research, the opinion of environmental experts, and the combination of new or existing indices. A survey of public opinion was carried out to identify the main environmental problems in the region of interest. Environmental experts carried out a survey, and the weights of specific environmental problems were obtained through a fuzzy Delphi method and pairwise comparison. The weight attributed to each environmental problem was computed, using new or existing indices (subindices) in the relevant literature. The EQI comprises a combination of the subindices with their own weights. The methodology was applied to a heavily industrialized coal basin in northwestern Macedonia, Greece. The results show that the new index may be used as a reliable tool for evaluating environmental quality in different areas. In addition, the study of EQI trends on an interannual basis can provide useful information on the efficiency of environmental policies already implemented by the responsible authorities.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Lower Extremity Computerized Adaptive Test, the Modified Harris Hip Score, and the Hip Outcome Score.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Man; Hon, Shirley D; Cheng, Christine; Franklin, Jeremy D; Aoki, Stephen K; Anderson, Mike B; Kapron, Ashley L; Peters, Christopher L; Pelt, Christopher E

2014-12-01

The applicability and validity of many patient-reported outcome measures in the high-functioning population are not well understood. To compare the psychometric properties of the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), the Hip Outcome Score activities of daily living subscale (HOS-ADL) and sports (HOS-sports), and the Lower Extremity Computerized Adaptive Test (LE CAT). The hypotheses was that all instruments would perform well but that the LE CAT would show superiority psychometrically because a combination of CAT and a large item bank allows for a high degree of measurement precision. Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2. Data were collected from 472 advanced-age, active participants from the Huntsman World Senior Games in 2012. Validity evidences were examined through item fit, dimensionality, monotonicity, local independence, differential item functioning, person raw score to measure correlation, and instrument coverage (ie, ceiling and floor effects), and reliability evidences were examined through Cronbach alpha and person separation index. All instruments demonstrated good item fit, unidimensionality, monotonicity, local independence, and person raw score to measure correlations. The HOS-ADL had high ceiling effects of 36.02%, and the mHHS had ceiling effects of 27.54%. The LE CAT had ceiling effects of 8.47%, and the HOS-sports had no ceiling effects. None of the instruments had any floor effects. The mHHS had a very low Cronbach alpha of 0.41 and an extremely low person separation index of 0.08. Reliabilities for the LE CAT were excellent and for the HOS-ADL and HOS-sports were good. The LE CAT showed better psychometric properties overall than the HOS-ADL, HOS-sports, and mHHS for the senior population. The mHHS demonstrated pronounced ceiling effects and poor reliabilities that should be of concern. The high ceiling effects for the HOS-ADL were also of concern. The LE CAT was superior in all psychometric aspects examined in this study. Future

Interaction of a genetic risk score with physical activity, physical inactivity, and body mass index in relation to venous thromboembolism risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jihye; Kraft, Peter; Hagan, Kaitlin A; Harrington, Laura B; Lindstroem, Sara; Kabrhel, Christopher

2018-06-01

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is highly heritable. Physical activity, physical inactivity and body mass index (BMI) are also risk factors, but evidence of interaction between genetic and environmental risk factors is limited. Data on 2,134 VTE cases and 3,890 matched controls were obtained from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II), and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS). We calculated a weighted genetic risk score (wGRS) using 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with VTE risk in published genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Data on three risk factors, physical activity (metabolic equivalent [MET] hours per week), physical inactivity (sitting hours per week) and BMI, were obtained from biennial questionnaires. VTE cases were incident since cohort inception; controls were matched to cases on age, cohort, and genotype array. Using conditional logistic regression, we assessed joint effects and interaction effects on both additive and multiplicative scales. We also ran models using continuous wGRS stratified by risk-factor categories. We observed a supra-additive interaction between wGRS and BMI. Having both high wGRS and high BMI was associated with a 3.4-fold greater risk of VTE (relative excess risk due to interaction = 0.69, p = 0.046). However, we did not find evidence for a multiplicative interaction with BMI. No interactions were observed for physical activity or inactivity. We found a synergetic effect between a genetic risk score and high BMI on the risk of VTE. Intervention efforts lowering BMI to decrease VTE risk may have particularly large beneficial effects among individuals with high genetic risk. © 2018 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

Evaluation of body mass index and plasma lipid profile in dogs ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study evaluated the body mass index (BMI), plasma lipid profile and gait assessment score (GAS) in dogs. Body weights (BW), height (H) at shoulder and waist circumference (WC) were obtained from fifty client-owned dogs of both sexes to determine the BMI. In addition, body condition score (BCS) and GAS were ...

Prognostic Value of the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Risk Score in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients With Left Ventricular Dysfunction (from the EPHESUS Trial).

Science.gov (United States)

Popovic, Batric; Girerd, Nicolas; Rossignol, Patrick; Agrinier, Nelly; Camenzind, Edoardo; Fay, Renaud; Pitt, Bertram; Zannad, Faiez

2016-11-15

The Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score remains a robust prediction tool for short-term and midterm outcome in the patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, the validity of this risk score in patients with STEMI with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) remains unclear. A total of 2,854 patients with STEMI with early coronary revascularization participating in the randomized EPHESUS (Epleronone Post-Acute Myocardial Infarction Heart Failure Efficacy and Survival Study) trial were analyzed. TIMI risk score was calculated at baseline, and its predictive value was evaluated using C-indexes from Cox models. The increase in reclassification of other variables in addition to TIMI score was assessed using the net reclassification index. TIMI risk score had a poor predictive accuracy for all-cause mortality (C-index values at 30 days and 1 year ≤0.67) and recurrent myocardial infarction (MI; C-index values ≤0.60). Among TIMI score items, diabetes/hypertension/angina, heart rate >100 beats/min, and systolic blood pressure model, lower LVEF, lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and previous MI were significantly associated with all-cause mortality. The predictive accuracy of this model, which included LVEF and eGFR, was fair for both 30-day and 1-year all-cause mortality (C-index values ranging from 0.71 to 0.75). In conclusion, TIMI risk score demonstrates poor discrimination in predicting mortality or recurrent MI in patients with STEMI with reduced LVEF. LVEF and eGFR are major factors that should not be ignored by predictive risk scores in this population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of Qianggan capsules on insulin resistance index and liver fibrosis score in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

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OU Qiang

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Objective To investigate the effect of Qianggan capsules on liver fibrosis score and insulin resistance index in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD. Methods A total of 85 NAFLD patients who were treated in the Eighth People′s Hospital of Shanghai from August 2014 to July 2015 were enrolled and randomly divided into treatment group (45 patients and control group (40 patients. The patients in the treatment group were given Qianggan capsules, and those in the control group were given polyene phosphatidylcholine capsules. The course of treatment was 24 weeks for both groups. The changes in serum aminotransferases ［aspartate aminotransferase (AST and alanine aminotransferase (ALT］, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR, and NAFLD fibrosis score (NAFLDFS after treatment were observed in both groups. The t-test was used for comparison of continuous data between groups, before-after comparison within each group was made by paired t-test; and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Results Both groups showed significant improvements in ALT and AST levels after treatment (all P＜0.01. After treatment the treatment group showed significant reductions in HOMA-IR and NAFLDFS (3.58±0.85 vs 2.48±078，t=6.40，P＜0.01; -1.78±1.24 vs -2.35±0.98,t=2.40,P＜0.01 and the treatment group had significantly lower HOMA-IR and NAFLDFS than the control group(12.48±0.78 vs 3.09±0.89, t=3.36, P＜0.01; -2.35±0.98 vs -1.48±1.08, t=3.80, P＜0.01. No serious adverse events were observed during the course of treatment. Conclusion Qianggan capsules not only reduce the levels of serum aminotransferases, but also improve insulin resistance and reduce fibrosis degree in NAFLD patients.

Dimensions of the epilepsy foundation concerns index.

Science.gov (United States)

Loring, David W; Larrabee, Glenn J; Meador, Kimford J; Lee, Gregory P

2005-05-01

We performed principal component analysis (PCA) of the Epilepsy Foundation Concerns Index scale in 189 patients undergoing evaluation for epilepsy surgery. We identified a five-factor solution in which there were no varimax-rotated factors consisting of fewer than two questions. Factor 1 reflects affective impact on enjoyment of life, Factor 2 reflects general autonomy concerns, Factor 3 reflects fear of seizure recurrence, Factor 4 reflects concern of being a burden to one's family, and Factor 5 reflects a perceived lack of understanding by others. Multiple regression using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy--89 question version; Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2; Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--third edition; and verbal and visual memory tests as predictors demonstrated a different pattern of association with the factor and summary scores. We conclude that the Epilepsy Foundation Concerns Index is multidimensional, and using a global score based on all items may mask specific concerns that may be relevant when applied to individual patients.

Measuring Academic Performance for Healthcare Researchers with the H Index: Which Search Tool Should Be Used?

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Vanash M.; Ashrafian, Hutan; Almoudaris, Alex; Makanjuola, Jonathan; Bucciarelli-Ducci, Chiara; Darzi, Ara; Athanasiou, Thanos

2013-01-01

Objectives To compare H index scores for healthcare researchers returned by Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus databases, and to assess whether a researcher's age, country of institutional affiliation and physician status influences calculations. Subjects and Methods One hundred and ninety-five Nobel laureates in Physiology and Medicine from 1901 to 2009 were considered. Year of first and last publications, total publications and citation counts, and the H index for each laureate were calculated from each database. Cronbach's alpha statistics was used to measure the reliability of H index scores between the databases. Laureate characteristic influence on the H index was analysed using linear regression. Results There was no concordance between the databases when considering the number of publications and citations count per laureate. The H index was the most reliably calculated bibliometric across the three databases (Cronbach's alpha = 0.900). All databases returned significantly higher H index scores for younger laureates (p < 0.0001). Google Scholar and Web of Science returned significantly higher H index for physician laureates (p = 0.025 and p = 0.029, respectively). Country of institutional affiliation did not influence the H index in any database. Conclusion The H index appeared to be the most consistently calculated bibliometric between the databases for Nobel laureates in Physiology and Medicine. Researcher-specific characteristics constituted an important component of objective research assessment. The findings of this study call to question the choice of current and future academic performance databases. PMID:22964880

A simplified score to quantify comorbidity in COPD.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nirupama Putcha

Full Text Available Comorbidities are common in COPD, but quantifying their burden is difficult. Currently there is a COPD-specific comorbidity index to predict mortality and another to predict general quality of life. We sought to develop and validate a COPD-specific comorbidity score that reflects comorbidity burden on patient-centered outcomes.Using the COPDGene study (GOLD II-IV COPD, we developed comorbidity scores to describe patient-centered outcomes employing three techniques: 1 simple count, 2 weighted score, and 3 weighted score based upon statistical selection procedure. We tested associations, area under the Curve (AUC and calibration statistics to validate scores internally with outcomes of respiratory disease-specific quality of life (St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire, SGRQ, six minute walk distance (6MWD, modified Medical Research Council (mMRC dyspnea score and exacerbation risk, ultimately choosing one score for external validation in SPIROMICS.Associations between comorbidities and all outcomes were comparable across the three scores. All scores added predictive ability to models including age, gender, race, current smoking status, pack-years smoked and FEV1 (p<0.001 for all comparisons. Area under the curve (AUC was similar between all three scores across outcomes: SGRQ (range 0·7624-0·7676, MMRC (0·7590-0·7644, 6MWD (0·7531-0·7560 and exacerbation risk (0·6831-0·6919. Because of similar performance, the comorbidity count was used for external validation. In the SPIROMICS cohort, the comorbidity count performed well to predict SGRQ (AUC 0·7891, MMRC (AUC 0·7611, 6MWD (AUC 0·7086, and exacerbation risk (AUC 0·7341.Quantifying comorbidity provides a more thorough understanding of the risk for patient-centered outcomes in COPD. A comorbidity count performs well to quantify comorbidity in a diverse population with COPD.

Development and validation of an index of musculoskeletal functional limitations

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Katz Jeffrey N

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background While musculoskeletal problems are leading sources of disability, there has been little research on measuring the number of functionally limiting musculoskeletal problems for use as predictor of outcome in studies of chronic disease. This paper reports on the development and preliminary validation of a self administered musculoskeletal functional limitations index. Methods We developed a summary musculoskeletal functional limitations index based upon a six-item self administered questionnaire in which subjects indicate whether they are limited a lot, a little or not at all because of problems in six anatomic regions (knees, hips, ankles and feet, back, neck, upper extremities. Responses are summed into an index score. The index was completed by a sample of total knee replacement recipients from four US states. Our analyses examined convergent validity at the item and at the index level as well as discriminant validity and the independence of the index from other correlates of quality of life. Results 782 subjects completed all items of the musculoskeletal functional limitations index and were included in the analyses. The mean age of the sample was 75 years and 64% were female. The index demonstrated anticipated associations with self-reported quality of life, activities of daily living, WOMAC functional status score, use of walking support, frequency of usual exercise, frequency of falls and dependence upon another person for assistance with chores. The index was strongly and independently associated with self-reported overall health. Conclusion The self-reported musculoskeletal functional limitations index appears to be a valid measure of musculoskeletal functional limitations, in the aspects of validity assessed in this study. It is useful for outcome studies following TKR and shows promise as a covariate in studies of chronic disease outcomes.

Prospects of renewable energy sources in India: Prioritization of alternative sources in terms of Energy Index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jha, Shibani K.; Puppala, Harish

2017-01-01

The growing energy demand in progressing civilization governs the exploitation of various renewable sources over the conventional sources. Wind, Solar, Hydro, Biomass, and waste & Bagasse are the various available renewable sources in India. A reliable nonconventional geothermal source is also available in India but it is restricted to direct heat applications. This study archives the status of renewable alternatives in India. The techno economic factors and environmental aspects associated with each of these alternatives are discussed. This study focusses on prioritizing the renewable sources based on a parameter introduced as Energy Index. This index is evaluated using cumulative scores obtained for each of the alternatives. The cumulative score is obtained by evaluating each alternative over a range of eleven environmental and techno economic criteria following Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process. The eleven criteria's considered in the study are Carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 ), Sulphur dioxide emissions (SO 2 ), Nitrogen oxide emissions (NO x ), Land requirement, Current energy cost, Potential future energy cost, Turnkey investment, Capacity factor, Energy efficiency, Design period and Water consumption. It is concluded from the study that the geothermal source is the most preferable alternative with highest Energy Index. Hydro, Wind, Biomass and Solar sources are subsequently preferred alternatives. - Highlights: • FAH process is used to obtain cumulative score for each renewable alternative. • Cumulative score is normalized by highest score of ideal source. • Energy Index shows how best a renewable alternative is. • Priority order is obtained for alternatives based on Energy Index. • Geothermal is most preferable source followed by Hydro, Wind, Biomass and Solar.

Immediate Postoperative Pain Scores Predict Neck Pain Profile up to 1 Year Following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.

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Adogwa, Owoicho; Elsamadicy, Aladine A; Vuong, Victoria D; Mehta, Ankit I; Vasquez, Raul A; Cheng, Joseph; Bagley, Carlos A; Karikari, Isaac O

2018-05-01

Retrospective cohort review. To assess whether immediate postoperative neck pain scores accurately predict 12-month visual analog scale-neck pain (VAS-NP) outcomes following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion surgery (ACDF). This was a retrospective study of 82 patients undergoing elective ACDF surgery at a major academic medical center. Patient reported outcomes measures VAS-NP scores were recorded on the first postoperative day, then at 6-weeks, 3, 6, and 12-months after surgery. Multivariate correlation and logistic regression methods were utilized to determine whether immediate postoperative VAS-NP score accurately predicted 1-year patient reported VAS-NP Scores. Overall, 46.3% male, 25.6% were smokers, and the mean age and body mass index (BMI) were 53.7 years and 28.28 kg/m 2 , respectively. There were significant correlations between immediate postoperative pain scores and neck pain scores at 6 weeks VAS-NP ( P = .0015), 6 months VAS-NP ( P = .0333), and 12 months VAS-NP ( P = .0247) after surgery. Furthermore, immediate postoperative pain score is an independent predictor of 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year VAS-NP scores. Our study suggests that immediate postoperative patient reported neck pain scores accurately predicts and correlates with 12-month VAS-NP scores after an ACDF procedure. Patients with high neck pain scores after surgery are more likely to report persistent neck pain 12 months after index surgery.

Clinical Application of the PES/WES Index on Natural Teeth: Case Report and Literature Review

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Alessandro Lanza

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The use of reliable indices to evaluate the aesthetic outcomes in the aesthetic area is an important and objective clinical aid to monitor the results over time. According to the literature various indices were proposed to evaluate aesthetic outcomes of implant-prosthetic rehabilitation of the anterior area like Peri-Implant and Crown Index [PICI], Implant Crown Aesthetic Index [ICAI], Pink Esthetic Score/White Esthetic Score [PES/WES], and Pink Esthetic Score [PES] but none of them was related to prosthetic rehabilitation on natural teeth. The aim of this study is to verify the validity of PES/WES index for natural tooth-prosthetic rehabilitation of the anterior area. As secondary objective, we proposed to evaluate the long-term predictability of this clinical application, one of which is presented below, following the analysis of the most currently accepted literature.

Practical prognostic index for patients with metastatic recurrent breast cancer: retrospective analysis of 2,322 patients from the GEICAM Spanish El Alamo Register.

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Puente, Javier; López-Tarruella, Sara; Ruiz, Amparo; Lluch, Ana; Pastor, Miguel; Alba, Emilio; de la Haba, Juan; Ramos, Manuel; Cirera, Luis; Antón, Antonio; Llombart, Antoni; Plazaola, Arrate; Fernández-Aramburo, Antonio; Sastre, Javier; Díaz-Rubio, Eduardo; Martin, Miguel

2010-07-01

Women with recurrent metastatic breast cancer from a Spanish hospital registry (El Alamo, GEICAM) were analyzed in order to identify the most helpful prognostic factors to predict survival and to ultimately construct a practical prognostic index. The inclusion criteria covered women patients diagnosed with operable invasive breast cancer who had metastatic recurrence between 1990 and 1997 in GEICAM hospitals. Patients with stage IV breast cancer at initial diagnosis or with isolated loco-regional recurrence were excluded from this analysis. Data from 2,322 patients with recurrent breast cancer after primary treatment (surgery, radiation and systemic adjuvant treatment) were used to construct the prognostic index. The prognostic index score for each individual patient was calculated by totalling up the scores of each independent variable. The maximum score obtainable was 26.1. Nine-hundred and sixty-two patients who had complete data for all the variables were used in the computation of the prognostic index score. We were able to stratify them into three prognostic groups based on the prognostic index score: 322 patients in the good risk group (score or =15.61). The median survivals for these groups were 3.69, 2.27 and 1.02 years, respectively (P < 0.0001). In conclusion, risk scores are extraordinarily valuable tools, highly recommendable in the clinical practice.

The Use of Dynamic Segment Scoring for Language-Independent Question Answering

Science.gov (United States)

2001-01-01

initial window with one sentence is compared to scores corre- his/PRONOUN brother/ CONSANGUINITY like/SIMILARITY his/PRONOUN call/NOMENCLATURE he/PRONOUN...the query processing mod- ule. Using the differences between index numbers to specify phys- ical distance relationships among query keywords, we can

pyRMSD: a Python package for efficient pairwise RMSD matrix calculation and handling.

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Gil, Víctor A; Guallar, Víctor

2013-09-15

We introduce pyRMSD, an open source standalone Python package that aims at offering an integrative and efficient way of performing Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD)-related calculations of large sets of structures. It is specially tuned to do fast collective RMSD calculations, as pairwise RMSD matrices, implementing up to three well-known superposition algorithms. pyRMSD provides its own symmetric distance matrix class that, besides the fact that it can be used as a regular matrix, helps to save memory and increases memory access speed. This last feature can dramatically improve the overall performance of any Python algorithm using it. In addition, its extensibility, testing suites and documentation make it a good choice to those in need of a workbench for developing or testing new algorithms. The source code (under MIT license), installer, test suites and benchmarks can be found at https://pele.bsc.es/ under the tools section. victor.guallar@bsc.es Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

The pairwise phase consistency in cortical network and its relationship with neuronal activation

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Wang Daming

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Gamma-band neuronal oscillation and synchronization with the range of 30-90 Hz are ubiquitous phenomenon across numerous brain areas and various species, and correlated with plenty of cognitive functions. The phase of the oscillation, as one aspect of CTC (Communication through Coherence hypothesis, underlies various functions for feature coding, memory processing and behaviour performing. The PPC (Pairwise Phase Consistency, an improved coherence measure, statistically quantifies the strength of phase synchronization. In order to evaluate the PPC and its relationships with input stimulus, neuronal activation and firing rate, a simplified spiking neuronal network is constructed to simulate orientation columns in primary visual cortex. If the input orientation stimulus is preferred for a certain orientation column, neurons within this corresponding column will obtain higher firing rate and stronger neuronal activation, which consequently engender higher PPC values, with higher PPC corresponding to higher firing rate. In addition, we investigate the PPC in time resolved analysis with a sliding window.

Video-based depression detection using local Curvelet binary patterns in pairwise orthogonal planes.

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Pampouchidou, Anastasia; Marias, Kostas; Tsiknakis, Manolis; Simos, Panagiotis; Fan Yang; Lemaitre, Guillaume; Meriaudeau, Fabrice

2016-08-01

Depression is an increasingly prevalent mood disorder. This is the reason why the field of computer-based depression assessment has been gaining the attention of the research community during the past couple of years. The present work proposes two algorithms for depression detection, one Frame-based and the second Video-based, both employing Curvelet transform and Local Binary Patterns. The main advantage of these methods is that they have significantly lower computational requirements, as the extracted features are of very low dimensionality. This is achieved by modifying the previously proposed algorithm which considers Three-Orthogonal-Planes, to only Pairwise-Orthogonal-Planes. Performance of the algorithms was tested on the benchmark dataset provided by the Audio/Visual Emotion Challenge 2014, with the person-specific system achieving 97.6% classification accuracy, and the person-independed one yielding promising preliminary results of 74.5% accuracy. The paper concludes with open issues, proposed solutions, and future plans.

Stroke scale score and early prediction of outcome after stroke

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, R.; Zuberi, F.Z.; Afsar, S.

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the baseline National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score as a predictor of functional outcome after ischemic stroke. Subjects and Methods: The study included 50 patients who presented to Civil Hospital, Karachi, during the study period with acute stroke and were evaluated with CT scan of brain. Only those patients were enrolled in the study that had acute ischemic stroke. The enrolled subjects were then evaluated for the neurological impairment using National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). The subjects were followed-up and their functional outcome was assessed using Barthel index (BI) on the 7th day of their admission. Results: Of the fifty patients enrolled in the study, 31 (62%) were males and 19 (38%) were females, with age ranging from 45 years to 95 years and a mean age of 59.9 years. Neurological impairment at presentation was assessed by NIHSS. The score ranged between 2 and 28. The functional outcome was evaluated on the 7th day using Barthel index (BI), which ranged from 0 to 80. NIHSS score was found to be a good predictor of functional outcome in patients with ischemic stroke (p<0.001). Other factors like gender, hypertension and heart disease did not affect the functional recovery in such patients. Various factors were found to be significant for early prediction of stroke recovery. The NIHSS score was the strongest predictor of outcome after ischemic stroke. Age at the time of the event was also found to be an important predictor for stroke recovery. Conclusion: The NIHSS score is a good predictor of patient's recovery after stroke. Assessing the patient's neurological impairment at first presentation of ischemic stroke can guide the physician regarding the prognosis and management plan. (author)

Assessing insomnia in adolescents: comparison of Insomnia Severity Index, Athens Insomnia Scale and Sleep Quality Index.

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Chung, Ka-Fai; Kan, Katherine Ka-Ki; Yeung, Wing-Fai

2011-05-01

To compare the psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and Sleep Quality Index (SQI) for assessment and screening of insomnia in adolescents. This is a school-based survey of 1516 adolescents aged 12-19 years. Sleep-wake habit questionnaire, ISI, AIS, SQI, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) were administered. Insomnia Interview Schedule was used to assess the severity of insomnia symptoms and DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of insomnia. The Cronbach's alpha of ISI, AIS and SQI were 0.83, 0.81 and 0.65, respectively, and the 2-week test-retest reliability were 0.79, 0.80 and 0.72. All three scales had a 2-factor structure, and their scores were significantly correlated with sleep-wake variables, ESS and GHQ-12 scores, smoking and drinking habits, and academic performance. The areas under curve of ISI, AIS and SQI for detecting clinical insomnia were 0.85, 0.80 and 0.85, respectively. The optimal cut-offs for ISI, AIS and SQI were a total score of nine (sensitivity/specificity: 0.87/0.75), seven (sensitivity/specificity: 0.78/0.74) and five (sensitivity/specificity: 0.83/0.79), respectively. The Chinese versions of ISI, AIS and SQI are reliable and valid instruments. The ISI and AIS appear to have better psychometric properties than the SQI. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mediterranean Diet in patients with acute ischemic stroke: Relationships between Mediterranean Diet score, diagnostic subtype, and stroke severity index.

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Tuttolomondo, Antonino; Casuccio, Alessandra; Buttà, Carmelo; Pecoraro, Rosaria; Di Raimondo, Domenico; Della Corte, Vittoriano; Arnao, Valentina; Clemente, Giuseppe; Maida, Carlo; Simonetta, Irene; Miceli, Giuseppe; Lucifora, Benedetto; Cirrincione, Anna; Di Bona, Danilo; Corpora, Francesca; Maugeri, Rosario; Iacopino, Domenico Gerardo; Pinto, Antonio

2015-11-01

Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet appears to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, as well as the risk of death due to cardiovascular disease. No study has addressed the association between diagnostic subtype of stroke and its severity and adherence to a Mediterranean Diet in subjects with acute ischemic stroke. To evaluate the association between Mediterranean Diet adherence, TOAST subtype, and stroke severity by means of a retrospective study. The type of acute ischemic stroke was classified according to the TOAST criteria. All patients admitted to our ward with acute ischemic stroke completed a 137-item validated food-frequency questionnaire adapted to the Sicilian population. A scale indicating the degree of adherence to the traditional Mediterranean Diet was used (Me-Di score: range 0-9). 198 subjects with acute ischemic stroke and 100 control subjects without stroke. Stroke subjects had a lower mean Mediterranean Diet score compared to 100 controls without stroke. We observed a significant positive correlation between Me-Di score and SSS score, whereas we observed a negative relationship between Me-Di score and NIHSS and Rankin scores. Subjects with atherosclerotic (LAAS) stroke subtype had a lower mean Me-Di score compared to subjects with other subtypes. Multinomial logistic regression analysis in a simple model showed a negative relationship between MeDi score and LAAS subtype vs. lacunar subtype (and LAAS vs. cardio-embolic subtype). Patients with lower adherence to a Mediterranean Diet are more likely to have an atherosclerotic (LAAS) stroke, a worse clinical presentation of ischemic stroke at admission and a higher Rankin score at discharge. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Comparison of Systemic Inflammation-Based Prognostic Scores in Patients on Regular Hemodialysis

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Akihiko Kato

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Systemic inflammation-based prognostic scores have prognostic power in patients with cancer, independently of tumor stage and site. Although inflammatory status is associated with mortality in hemodialysis (HD patients, it remains to be determined as to whether these composite scores are useful in predicting clinical outcomes. Methods: We calculated the 6 prognostic scores [Glasgow prognostic score (GPS, modified GPS (mGPS, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR, platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR, prognostic index (PI and prognostic nutritional index (PNI], which have been established as a useful scoring system in cancer patients. We enrolled 339 patients on regular HD (age: 64 ± 13 years; time on HD: 129 ± 114 months; males/females = 253/85 and followed them for 42 months. The area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve was used to determine which scoring system was more predictive of mortality. Results: Elevated GPS, mGPS, NLR, PLR, PI and PNI were all associated with total mortality, independent of covariates. If GPS was raised, mGPS, NLR, PLR and PI were also predictive of all-cause mortality and/or hospitalization. GPS and PNI were associated with poor nutritional status. Using overall mortality as an endpoint, the area under the curve (AUC was significant for a GPS of 0.701 (95% CI: 0.637-0.765; p Conclusion: GPS, based on serum albumin and highly sensitive C-reactive protein, has the most prognostic power for mortality prediction among the prognostic scores in HD patients. However, as the determination of serum albumin reflects mortality similarly to GPS, other composite combinations are needed to provide additional clinical utility beyond that of albumin alone in HD patients.

Determination of the Oswestry Disability Index score equivalent to a "satisfactory symptom state" in patients undergoing surgery for degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine-a Spine Tango registry-based study.

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van Hooff, Miranda L; Mannion, Anne F; Staub, Lukas P; Ostelo, Raymond W J G; Fairbank, Jeremy C T

2016-10-01

The achievement of a given change score on a valid outcome instrument is commonly used to indicate whether a clinically relevant change has occurred after spine surgery. However, the achievement of such a change score can be dependent on baseline values and does not necessarily indicate whether the patient is satisfied with the current state. The achievement of an absolute score equivalent to a patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) may be a more stringent measure to indicate treatment success. This study aimed to estimate the score on the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI, version 2.1a; 0-100) corresponding to a PASS in patients who had undergone surgery for degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine. This is a cross-sectional study of diagnostic accuracy using follow-up data from an international spine surgery registry. The sample includes 1,288 patients with degenerative lumbar spine disorders who had undergone elective spine surgery, registered in the EUROSPINE Spine Tango Spine Surgery Registry. The main outcome measure was the ODI (version 2.1a). Surgical data and data from the ODI and Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) were included to determine the ODI threshold equivalent to PASS at 1 year (±1.5 months; n=780) and 2 years (±2 months; n=508) postoperatively. The symptom-specific well-being item of the COMI was used as the external criterion in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to determine the ODI threshold equivalent to PASS. Separate sensitivity analyses were performed based on the different definitions of an "acceptable state" and for subgroups of patients. JF is a copyright holder of the ODI. The ODI threshold for PASS was 22, irrespective of the time of follow-up (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.89 [sensitivity {Se}: 78.3%, specificity {Sp}: 82.1%] and AUC: 0.91 [Se: 80.7%, Sp: 85.6] for the 1- and 2-year follow-ups, respectively). Sensitivity analyses showed that the absolute ODI-22 threshold for the two follow-up time-points were

Comparison of prostate cancer gene 3 score, prostate health index and percentage free prostate-specific antigen for differentiating histological inflammation from prostate cancer and other non-neoplastic alterations of the prostate at initial biopsy.

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De Luca, Stefano; Passera, Roberto; Bollito, Enrico; Manfredi, Matteo; Scarpa, Roberto Mario; Sottile, Antonino; Randone, Donato Franco; Porpiglia, Francesco

2014-12-01

To determine if prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3) score, Prostate Health Index (PHI), and percent free prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA) may be used to differentiate prostatitis from prostate cancer (PCa), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-PIN) in patients with elevated PSA and negative digital rectal examination (DRE). in the present prospective study, 274 patients, undergoing PCA3 score, PHI and %fPSA assessments before initial biopsy, were enrolled. Three multivariate logistic regression models were used to test PCA3 score, PHI and %fPSA as risk factors for prostatitis vs. PCa, vs. BPH, and vs. HG-PIN. All the analyses were performed for the whole patient cohort and for the 'gray zone' of PSA (4-10 ng/ml) cohort (188 individuals). The determinants for prostatitis vs. PCa were PCA3 score, PHI and %fPSA (Odds Ratio [OR]=0.97, 0.96 and 0.94, respectively). Unit increase of PHI was the only risk factor for prostatitis vs. BPH (OR=1.06), and unit increase of PCA3 score for HG-PIN vs. prostatitis (OR=0.98). In the 'gray zone' PSA cohort, the determinants for prostatitis vs. PCa were PCA3 score, PHI and %fPSA (OR=0.96, 0.94 and 0.92, respectively), PCA3 score and PHI for prostatitis vs. BPH (OR=0.96 and 1.08, respectively), and PCA3 score for prostatitis vs. HG-PIN (OR=0.97). The clinical benefit of using PCA3 score and PHI to estimate prostatitis vs. PCa was comparable; even %fPSA had good diagnostic performance, being a faster and cheaper marker. PHI was the only determinant for prostatitis vs. BPH, while PCA3 score for prostatitis vs. HG-PIN. Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Using Little's Irregularity Index in orthodontics: outdated and inaccurate?

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Macauley, Donal

2012-12-01

Little\\'s Irregularity Index (LII) was devised to objectively score mandibular incisor alignment for epidemiological studies but has been extended to assess the relative performance of orthodontic brackets, retainer or treatment modalities. Our aim was to examine the repeatability and precision of LII measurements of four independent examiners on the maxillary arch of orthodontic patients. The hypothesis was that the reproducibility of individual contact point displacement measurements, used to calculate the LII score, are inappropriate.

Multivariate market risk evaluation between Malaysian Islamic stock index and sectoral indices

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Sew Lai Ng

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Without an efficient financial risk management, it may cause massive consequences to a financial institution as well as individual. Therefore, developing a methodology which gives precise estimates to reduce the exposure of risk to a minimum is of great importance. This paper uses an asymmetric BEKK-GARCH model to examine the return and volatility linkages between the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Shariah (FBMS index and the sectoral indices under a normal market. The findings suggest that the FBMS plays a leading role in the mean return spillover effect. There is a strong evidence of significant transmission of past shocks, volatilities and leverage effects are observed on the current conditional variance-covariance in all the pair-wise models. These empirical results are helpful in quantifying the cross-market risk evaluation, risk minimizing weight and cross-market hedge ratio for strategizing appropriate portfolio selection.

Status epilepticus severity score (STESS): A useful tool to predict outcome of status epilepticus.

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Goyal, Manoj Kumar; Chakravarthi, Sudheer; Modi, Manish; Bhalla, Ashish; Lal, Vivek

2015-12-01

The treatment protocols for status epilepticus (SE) range from small doses of intravenous benzodiazepines to induction of coma. The pros and cons of more aggressive treatment regimen remain debatable. The importance of an index need not be overemphasized which can predict outcome of SE and guide the intensity of treatment. We tried to evaluate utility of one such index Status epilepticus severity score (STESS). 44 consecutive patients of SE were enrolled in the study. STESS results were compared with various outcome measures: (a) mortality, (b) final neurological outcome at discharge as defined by functional independence measure (FIM) (good outcome: FIM score 5-7; bad outcome: FIM score 1-4), (c) control of SE within 1h of start of treatment and (d) need for coma induction. A higher STESS score correlated significantly with poor neurological outcome at discharge (p=0.0001), need for coma induction (p=0.0001) and lack of response to treatment within 1h (p=0.001). A STESS of status epilepticus. Further studies on STESS based treatment approach may help in designing better therapeutic regimens for SE. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of nutrition education tool: healthy eating index in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Taechangam, Sunard; Pinitchun, Utumporn; Pachotikarn, Chanida

2008-01-01

A healthful diet can reduce major risk factors for chronic diseases. To assess the dietary status of Thais and monitor changes in food consumption patterns, the Healthy Eating Index for Thais (THEI) is developed, an important tool for meeting the nutrition goals and determining people's overall diet quality. This index measures how well the diets of Thai people conform to the recommendations of the Food Guide Thailand Nutrition Flag. The THEI consists of 11 components, each representing different aspects of a healthful diet: Components 1-5 measure the degree to which a person's diet conforms to serving recommendations for the five major food groups of Thailand Nutrition Flag; Components 6, 7 and 8 measure total fat, saturated fat and added sugar consumption, respectively; Components 9 and 10 measure total cholesterol and sodium intake; and Component 11 examines variety in a person's diet. Each of the 11 components has a score ranging from 0 to 10, for a total score of 110. The dietary intake data from selected working adults were collected to derive the THEI scores. The average THEI score indicated that the diets of most people needed improvement and some individuals were more likely than others to consume a poor diet. This suggests a continued role for nutrition education and promotion efforts should result in a significant improvement of people's overall diet quality. In conclusion, the THEI is an useful index for describing overall diet quality for Thais and serves as a basic tool for providing nutrition education and promotion.

A comment on the calculation of the total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Ming-Chung

2013-01-01

This study provides a no-output growth model to conveniently calculate the total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) index originally proposed by Hu and Wang (2006). The TFEE index serves as a very well-known and popular means of estimating overall energy efficiency. While many previous studies have used the indicator of energy inefficiency, including the indicator of energy intensity (i.e., Energy input/Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) to measure energy efficiency, Hu and Kao (2007) point out that the indicator of energy intensity is not only a partial-factor energy efficiency indicator, but that this partial-factor ratio is also quite inappropriate for analyzing the impact of changing energy use over time. The TFEE index overcomes the disadvantage of the indicator of energy intensity as mentioned above, but five steps are needed to calculate the TFEE score. In this study, we provide a no-output growth model to conveniently calculate the TFEE score. Furthermore, we extend this no-output growth model to an output growth model. This study concludes that the output growth model not only makes it easier to calculate the TFEE index than the model proposed by Hu and Wang (2006) and Hu and Kao (2007), but that it can also obtain better TFEE scores. - Highlights: ► The comment is on the total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) index. ► Two extension models are no-output growth model and output growth model. ► The model in this study makes it easier to calculate the TFEE index.

Does the Length of Fielding Period Matter? Examining Response Scores of Early Versus Late Responders

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Sigman Richard

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the potential effects of a shortened fielding period on an employee survey’s item and index scores and respondent demographics. Using data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, we investigate whether early responding employees differ from later responding employees. Specifically, we examine differences in item and index scores related to employee engagement and global satisfaction. Our findings show that early responders tend to be less positive, even after adjusting their weights for nonresponse. Agencies vary in their prevalence of late responders, and score differences become magnified as this proportion increases. We also examine the extent to which early versus late responders differ on demographic characteristics such as grade level, supervisory status, gender, tenure with agency, and intention to leave, noting that nonminorities and females are the two demographic characteristics most associated with responding early.

Genetic risk scores link body fat distribution with specific cardiometabolic profiles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendstrup, Mathilde; Sandholt, Camilla H; Andersson Galijatovic, Ehm Astrid

2016-01-01

, including fasting serum triglyceride (β = 0.98% mmol/L, P = 3.33 × 10(-) (8) ) and Matsuda index (β = -0.74%, P = 1.29 × 10(-) (4) ). No similar associations for Clusters 2 and 3 were found. The three clusters showed different patterns of association with waist circumference, hip circumference, and height......OBJECTIVE: Forty-nine known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associating with body mass index (BMI)-adjusted waist-hip-ratio (WHR) (WHRadjBMI) were recently suggested to cluster into three groups with different associations to cardiometabolic traits. Genetic risk scores of the clusters...... risk scores and anthropometry and blood samples at fasting and during an oral glucose tolerance test were tested. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and BMI. RESULTS: Cluster 1 associated with an increased risk of diabetes (HR = 1.05, P = 2.74 × 10(-) (4) ) and with a poor metabolic profile...

Visualization of pairwise and multilocus linkage disequilibrium structure using latent forests.

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Raphaël Mourad

Full Text Available Linkage disequilibrium study represents a major issue in statistical genetics as it plays a fundamental role in gene mapping and helps us to learn more about human history. The linkage disequilibrium complex structure makes its exploratory data analysis essential yet challenging. Visualization methods, such as the triangular heat map implemented in Haploview, provide simple and useful tools to help understand complex genetic patterns, but remain insufficient to fully describe them. Probabilistic graphical models have been widely recognized as a powerful formalism allowing a concise and accurate modeling of dependences between variables. In this paper, we propose a method for short-range, long-range and chromosome-wide linkage disequilibrium visualization using forests of hierarchical latent class models. Thanks to its hierarchical nature, our method is shown to provide a compact view of both pairwise and multilocus linkage disequilibrium spatial structures for the geneticist. Besides, a multilocus linkage disequilibrium measure has been designed to evaluate linkage disequilibrium in hierarchy clusters. To learn the proposed model, a new scalable algorithm is presented. It constrains the dependence scope, relying on physical positions, and is able to deal with more than one hundred thousand single nucleotide polymorphisms. The proposed algorithm is fast and does not require phase genotypic data.

The PER (Preoperative Esophagectomy Risk) Score: A Simple Risk Score to Predict Short-Term and Long-Term Outcome in Patients with Surgically Treated Esophageal Cancer.

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Reeh, Matthias; Metze, Johannes; Uzunoglu, Faik G; Nentwich, Michael; Ghadban, Tarik; Wellner, Ullrich; Bockhorn, Maximilian; Kluge, Stefan; Izbicki, Jakob R; Vashist, Yogesh K

2016-02-01

Esophageal resection in patients with esophageal cancer (EC) is still associated with high mortality and morbidity rates. We aimed to develop a simple preoperative risk score for the prediction of short-term and long-term outcomes for patients with EC treated by esophageal resection. In total, 498 patients suffering from esophageal carcinoma, who underwent esophageal resection, were included in this retrospective cohort study. Three preoperative esophagectomy risk (PER) groups were defined based on preoperative functional evaluation of different organ systems by validated tools (revised cardiac risk index, model for end-stage liver disease score, and pulmonary function test). Clinicopathological parameters, morbidity, and mortality as well as disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were correlated to the PER score. The PER score significantly predicted the short-term outcome of patients with EC who underwent esophageal resection. PER 2 and PER 3 patients had at least double the risk of morbidity and mortality compared to PER 1 patients. Furthermore, a higher PER score was associated with shorter DFS (P PER score was identified as an independent predictor of tumor recurrence (hazard ratio [HR] 2.1; P PER score allows preoperative objective allocation of patients with EC into different risk categories for morbidity, mortality, and long-term outcomes. Thus, multicenter studies are needed for independent validation of the PER score.

Relationship between framingham risk score and coronary artery calcium score in asymptomatic Korean individuals

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Heo, So Young; Park, Noh Hyuck; Park, Chan Sub; Seong, Su Ok

2016-01-01

We explored the association between Framingham risk score (FRS) and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) in asymptomatic Korean individuals. We retrospectively analyzed 2216 participants who underwent routine health screening and CACS using the 64-slice multidetector computed tomography between January 2010 and June 2014. Relationship between CACS and FRS, and factors associated with discrepancy between CACS and FRS were analyzed. CACS and FRS were positively correlated (p < 0.0001). However, in 3.7% of participants with low coronary event risk and high CACS, age, male gender, smoker, hypertension, total cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, and body mass index (BMI; ≥ 35) were associated with the discrepancy. In the diagnostic prediction model for discrepancy, the receiver operating characteristic curve including factors associated with FRS, diastolic blood pressure (≥ 75 mm Hg), diabetes mellitus, and BMI (≥ 35) showed that the area under the curve was 0.854 (95% confidence interval, 0.819–0.890), indicating good sensitivity. Diabetes mellitus or obesity (BMI ≥ 35) compensate for the weakness of FRS and may be potential indicators for application of CACS in asymptomatic Koreans with low coronary event risk

Relationship between framingham risk score and coronary artery calcium score in asymptomatic Korean individuals

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Heo, So Young; Park, Noh Hyuck; Park, Chan Sub; Seong, Su Ok [Dept. of Radiology, Myongji Hospital, Seonam University College of Medicine, Goyang (Korea, Republic of)

2016-02-15

We explored the association between Framingham risk score (FRS) and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) in asymptomatic Korean individuals. We retrospectively analyzed 2216 participants who underwent routine health screening and CACS using the 64-slice multidetector computed tomography between January 2010 and June 2014. Relationship between CACS and FRS, and factors associated with discrepancy between CACS and FRS were analyzed. CACS and FRS were positively correlated (p < 0.0001). However, in 3.7% of participants with low coronary event risk and high CACS, age, male gender, smoker, hypertension, total cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, and body mass index (BMI; ≥ 35) were associated with the discrepancy. In the diagnostic prediction model for discrepancy, the receiver operating characteristic curve including factors associated with FRS, diastolic blood pressure (≥ 75 mm Hg), diabetes mellitus, and BMI (≥ 35) showed that the area under the curve was 0.854 (95% confidence interval, 0.819–0.890), indicating good sensitivity. Diabetes mellitus or obesity (BMI ≥ 35) compensate for the weakness of FRS and may be potential indicators for application of CACS in asymptomatic Koreans with low coronary event risk.

Derivation and validation of a composite index of severity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the DOSE Index.

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Jones, Rupert C; Donaldson, Gavin C; Chavannes, Niels H; Kida, Kozui; Dickson-Spillmann, Maria; Harding, Samantha; Wedzicha, Jadwiga A; Price, David; Hyland, Michael E

2009-12-15

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is increasingly recognized as a multicomponent disease with systemic consequences and effects on quality of life. Single measures such as lung function provide a limited reflection of how the disease affects patients. Composite measures have the potential to account for many of the facets of COPD. To derive and validate a multicomponent assessment tool of COPD severity that is applicable to all patients and health care settings. The index was derived using data from 375 patients with COPD in primary care. Regression analysis led to a model explaining 48% of the variance in health status as measured by the Clinical COPD Questionnaire with four components: dyspnea (D), airflow obstruction (O), smoking status (S), and exacerbation frequency (E). The DOSE Index was validated in cross-sectional and longitudinal samples in various health care settings in Holland, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The DOSE Index correlated with health status in all data sets. A high DOSE Index score (> or = 4) was associated with a greater risk of hospital admission (odds ratio, 8.3 [4.1-17]) or respiratory failure (odds ratio, 7.8 [3.4-18.3]). The index predicted exacerbations in the subsequent year (P Index is a simple, valid tool for assessing the severity of COPD. The index is related to a range of clinically important outcomes such as health care consumption and predicts future events.

A modified Elixhauser score for predicting in-hospital mortality in internal medicine admissions.

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Fabbian, Fabio; De Giorgi, Alfredo; Maietti, Elisa; Gallerani, Massimo; Pala, Marco; Cappadona, Rosaria; Manfredini, Roberto; Fedeli, Ugo

2017-05-01

In-hospital mortality (IHM) is an indicator of the quality of care provided. The two most widely used scores for predicting IHM by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes are the Elixhauser (EI) and the Charlson Comorbidity indexes. Our aim was to obtain new measures based on internal medicine ICD codes for the original EI, to detect risk for IHM. This single-center retrospective study included hospital admissions for any cause in the department of internal medicine between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2013, recorded in the hospital database. The EI was calculated for evaluation of comorbidity, then we added age, gender and diagnosis of ischemic heart disease. IHM was our outcome. Only predictors positively associated with IHM were taken into consideration and the Sullivan's method was applied in order to modify the parameter estimates of the regression model into an index. We analyzed 75,586 admissions (53.4% females) and mean age was 72.7±16.3years. IHM was 7.9% and mean score was 12.1±7.6. The points assigned to each condition ranged from 0 to 16, and the possible range of the score varied between 0 and 89. In our population the score ranged from 0 to 54, and it was higher in the deceased group. Receiver operating characteristic curve of the new score was 0.721 (95% CI 0.714-0.727, pInternal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamical pairwise entanglement and two-point correlations in the three-ligand spin-star structure

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Motamedifar, M.

2017-10-01

We consider the three-ligand spin-star structure through homogeneous Heisenberg interactions (XXX-3LSSS) in the framework of dynamical pairwise entanglement. It is shown that the time evolution of the central qubit ;one-particle; state (COPS) brings about the generation of quantum W states at periodical time instants. On the contrary, W states cannot be generated from the time evolution of a ligand ;one-particle; state (LOPS). We also investigate the dynamical behavior of two-point quantum correlations as well as the expectation values of the different spin-components for each element in the XXX-3LSSS. It is found that when a W state is generated, the same value of the concurrence between any two arbitrary qubits arises from the xx and yy two-point quantum correlations. On the opposite, zz quantum correlation between any two qubits vanishes at these time instants.

Severe obesity is a limitation for the use of body mass index standard deviation scores in children and adolescents.

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Júlíusson, Pétur B; Roelants, Mathieu; Benestad, Beate; Lekhal, Samira; Danielsen, Yngvild; Hjelmesaeth, Jøran; Hertel, Jens K

2018-02-01

We analysed the distribution of the body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) in children and adolescents seeking treatment for severe obesity, according to the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), World Health Organization (WHO) and the national Norwegian Bergen Growth Study (BGS) BMI reference charts and the percentage above the International Obesity Task Force 25 cut-off (IOTF-25). This was a cross-sectional study of 396 children aged four to 17 years, who attended a tertiary care obesity centre in Norway from 2009 to 2015. Their BMI was converted to SDS using the three growth references and expressed as the percentage above IOTF-25. The percentage of body fat was assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Regardless of which BMI reference chart was used, the BMI-SDS was significantly different between the age groups, with a wider range of higher values up to 10 years of age and a more narrow range of lower values thereafter. The distributions of the percentage above IOTF-25 and percentage of body fat were more consistent across age groups. Our findings suggest that it may be more appropriate to use the percentage above a particular BMI cut-off, such as the percentage above IOTF-25, than the IOTF, WHO and BGS BMI-SDS in paediatric patients with severe obesity. ©2017 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Formation of borrower’s bank credit scoring integrated model

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O.V. Lysenok

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article proposes the borrower’s bank credit scoring model that is of particular relevance in an unstable world and Ukrainian financial markets. The essence of this integrated model is the consistent definition of indicators, which analyze the financial and economic situation and development of scoring that allows to calculate overall index, that is, the integral factor of credit scoring level of the bank to calculate which one uses the formed set of factors characterizing riskiness, profitability and liquidity of the banking institution. The author determines the factors according to their functional purpose; the former ones are divided into four groups: capital adequacy, loan portfolio quality, profitability and liquidity. Each group consists of four indicators; each indicator is assigned thresholds to determine the appropriate credit scoring level of the bank for one or another direction. The higher is the value of the integral factor, the more efficient and less risky is the financial and economic activity of banks and the higher is their credit scoring level. The study concludes that the proposed model for bank credit scoring differs with its transparency and clarity due to use in its implementation only public information. The disadvantages include the presence of the subjective factor in assigning a certain number of points based on expert and normative methods.

Development of a preliminary risk index to identify trauma patients at risk for an unplanned intubation.

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Kim, Dennis; Kobayashi, Leslie; Chang, David; Fortlage, Dale; Coimbra, Raul

2014-01-01

The development of respiratory failure requiring an emergent unplanned intubation (UI) is a potentially preventable complication associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to develop a clinical risk index for UI based on readily available clinical data to assist in the identification of trauma patients at risk for this complication. We also sought to determine the impact of UI on patient outcomes. This is a 3-year retrospective analysis of our Level 1 trauma center registry to identify all patients requiring a UI. Patients who required a UI were compared with patients who were never intubated. An additive risk index consisting of 10 clinical variables was created using the final significant variables from a stepwise logistic regression model. The sensitivity and specificity of every possible index score were calculated and added together to calculate the "gain in certainty" values. During the 3-year period, 7,552 patients were admitted, of whom 967 (12.8%) required intubation. Of these, 55 (5.7%) underwent a UI. The final risk index consisted of 10 variables as follows: age 55 years to 64 years, age 65 years or older, male sex, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 9 to 13, seizures, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, traumatic brain injury, four or more rib fractures, spine fractures, and long-bone fractures. Gain in certainty was maximized at an index score of 4, with the highest combined sensitivity and specificity of 86.0% and 74.9%, respectively. The probability of UI increased from 0.9% at a score of 1 to 2.9% at 4 and 43% at 9. UI was associated with increased overall complications, length of stay, and mortality (p the development of an additive risk index. Prospective validation of the risk index is potentially warranted. Diagnostic study, level III.

Relation of the aortic stiffness with the GRACE risk score in patients with the non ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

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Omer, Gedikli; Gokhan, Aksan; Adem, Uzun; Sabri, Demircan; Korhan, Soylu

2014-01-01

Current guidelines recommend clinical risk scoring systems for the patients diagnosed and determinated treatment strategy with in Non-ST-elevation elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Previous studies demonstrated association between aortic elasticity properties, stiffness and severity CAD. However, the associations between Aortic stiffness, elasticity properties and clinical risk scores have not been investigated. In the present study we have evaluated the relation between the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score and aortic stiffness in patients with NSTEMI. We prospectively analyzed 87 consecutive patients with NSTEMI. Aortic elastic parameter and stiffness parameter were calculated from the echocardiographically derived thoracic aortic diameters (mm/m(2)), and the measurement of pulse pressure obtained by cuff sphygmomanometry. We have categorized the patients in to two groups as low ((n = 45) (GRACE risk score ≤ 140)) and high ((n = 42) (GRACE risk score > 140)) risk group according to GRACE risk score and compare the both groups. Table 1 shows baseline characteristics of patients. Our study showed that Aortic strain was significantly low (3.5 ± 1.4, 7.9 ± 2.3 respectively, p < 0.001) and aortic stiffness index was significantly high (3.9 ± 0.38; 3 ± 0.35, respectively, p < 0.001) in the high risk group values compared to those with low risk group. The aortic stiffness index was the only independent predictor of GRACE risk score (OR: 119.390; 95% CI: 2.925-4872.8; p = 0.011) in multivariate analysis. We found a significant correlation between aortic stiffness, impaired elasticity and GRACE risk score. Aortic stiffness index was the only independent variable of the high GRACE risk score. The inclusion of aortic stiffness into the GRACE risk score could allow improved risk classification of patients with ACS at admission and this may be important in the diagnosis, follow up and treatment of the patients.

Risk factors for mortality in fournier's gangrene in a general hospital: use of simplified founier gangrene severe index score (SFGSI

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Carlos Eugênio Lira Tenório

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate risk factors for mortality in patients with Fournier's gangrene (FG, with emphasis in the Simplified Fournier Gangrene Severe Index Score (SFGSI. Materials and Methods This was a cross-sectional study that was carried out from January 2010 to December 2014, with 124 patients treated for FG in a General Hospital. Several clinical and laboratory variables, including SFGSI, were evaluated and correlated with mortality through univariate analysis and logistic regression. Results Of the 124 patients, 99 were men (79.8%, the mean age was 50.8±19.5 years and the main comorbidity was diabetes mellitus (51.6%. The mortality rate was 25.8%. Variables that presented independent correlation with mortality were the extension of the lesion to the abdomen (OR=4.0, CI=1.10-14.68, p=0.03, hematocrit (OR=0.81, CI=0.73-0.90, p2 result was the largest of the independent predictors of mortality (OR=50.2; CI=13.18-191.47; p2 presented a higher correlation with mortality than any variable tested alone. It seems to be a promising alternative to evaluate predictors of mortality in Fournier's gangrene. The main advantage is easy applicability because it contains only three parameters and can be used immediately after patient's admission.

Risk factors for mortality in fournier's gangrene in a general hospital: use of simplified founier gangrene severe index score (SFGSI).

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Tenório, Carlos Eugênio Lira; Lima, Salvador Vilar Correia; Albuquerque, Amanda Vasconcelos de; Cavalcanti, Mariana Pauferro; Teles, Flávio

2018-01-01

To evaluate risk factors for mortality in patients with Fournier's gangrene (FG), with emphasis in the Simplified Fournier Gangrene Severe Index Score (SFGSI). This was a cross-sectional study that was carried out from January 2010 to December 2014, with 124 patients treated for FG in a General Hospital. Several clinical and laboratory variables, including SFGSI, were evaluated and correlated with mortality through univariate analysis and logistic regression. Of the 124 patients, 99 were men (79.8%), the mean age was 50.8±19.5 years and the main comorbidity was diabetes mellitus (51.6%). The mortality rate was 25.8%. Variables that presented independent correlation with mortality were the extension of the lesion to the abdomen (OR=4.0, CI=1.10-14.68, p=0.03), hematocrit (OR=0.81, CI=0.73-0.90, p2 result was the largest of the independent predictors of mortality (OR=50.2; CI=13.18-191.47; p2 presented a higher correlation with mortality than any variable tested alone. It seems to be a promising alternative to evaluate predictors of mortality in Fournier's gangrene. The main advantage is easy applicability because it contains only three parameters and can be used immediately after patient's admission. Copyright® by the International Brazilian Journal of Urology.

Utility of the Instability Severity Index Score in Predicting Failure After Arthroscopic Anterior Stabilization of the Shoulder.

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Phadnis, Joideep; Arnold, Christine; Elmorsy, Ahmed; Flannery, Mark

2015-08-01

The redislocation rate after arthroscopic stabilization for anterior glenohumeral instability is up to 30%. The Instability Severity Index Score (ISIS) was developed to preoperatively rationalize the risk of failure, but it has not yet been validated by an independent group. To assess the utility of the ISIS in predicting failure of arthroscopic anterior shoulder stabilization and to identify other preoperative factors for failure. Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. A case-control study was performed on 141 consecutive patients, comparing those who suffered failure of arthroscopic stabilization with those who had successful arthroscopic stabilization. The mean follow-up time was 47 months (range, 24-132 months). The ISIS was applied retrospectively, and an analysis was performed to establish independent risk factors for failure. A receiver operator coefficient curve was constructed to set a threshold ISIS for considering alternative surgery. Of 141 patients, 19 (13.5%) suffered recurrent instability. The mean ISIS of the failed stabilization group was higher than that of the successful stabilization group (5.1 vs 1.7; P surgery (P < .001), age at first dislocation (P = .01), competitive-level participation in sports (P < .001), and participation in contact or overhead sports (P = .03). The presence of glenoid bone loss carried the highest risk of failure (70%). There was a 70% risk of failure if the ISIS was ≥4, as opposed to a 4% risk of failure if the ISIS was <4. This is the first completely independent study to confirm that the ISIS is a useful preoperative tool. It is recommended that surgeons consider alternative forms of stabilization if the ISIS is ≥4. © 2015 The Author(s).

Relationship between body mass index, fat mass and lean mass with SF-36 quality of life scores in a group of fibromyalgia patients.

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Arranz, Laura; Canela, Miguel Angel; Rafecas, Magda

2012-11-01

Patients suffering from fibromyalgia (FM) had widespread musculoskeletal pain and stiffness, fatigue, sleep disorders, cognitive impairment and other symptoms, which seriously affects their quality of life (QoL), making it difficult to perform normal activities. Moreover, FM has been associated with a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than in the general population. Weight reduction has been beneficial in both FM and other rheumatic patients. Obesity and overweight have been pointed as playing a relevant role in FM symptoms; however, it is necessary to find out more about this relationship. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), fat mass (fM) and lean mass (lM) with quality of life in a group of FM patients. 103 women, with a mean age of 53.74 ± 7.81, and members of different FM patient associations from Spain participated in our study. Some anthropometric measures were taken like weight, height, BMI, body fat mass and lean mass. FM patients QoL was assessed by the Short-Form Health Survey, SF-36 questionnaire. Statistical reports were based on mean, standard deviation and correlation, but significance was tested by nonparametric methods. BMI, fM and lM correlated differently with the specific SF-36 scores. BMI had a high negative correlation with emotional role, fM with bodily pain and lM almost with all scores but specially with emotional role, vitality and physical role. The outcome of this study reveals some interesting relationships, which need to be further investigated to improve the management of FM patients.

DIALIGN P: Fast pair-wise and multiple sequence alignment using parallel processors

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Kaufmann Michael

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Parallel computing is frequently used to speed up computationally expensive tasks in Bioinformatics. Results Herein, a parallel version of the multi-alignment program DIALIGN is introduced. We propose two ways of dividing the program into independent sub-routines that can be run on different processors: (a pair-wise sequence alignments that are used as a first step to multiple alignment account for most of the CPU time in DIALIGN. Since alignments of different sequence pairs are completely independent of each other, they can be distributed to multiple processors without any effect on the resulting output alignments. (b For alignments of large genomic sequences, we use a heuristics by splitting up sequences into sub-sequences based on a previously introduced anchored alignment procedure. For our test sequences, this combined approach reduces the program running time of DIALIGN by up to 97%. Conclusions By distributing sub-routines to multiple processors, the running time of DIALIGN can be crucially improved. With these improvements, it is possible to apply the program in large-scale genomics and proteomics projects that were previously beyond its scope.

Prediction of Mortality with A Body Shape Index in Young Asians: Comparison with Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference.

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