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Cut-off Limits (cut-off + limit)
Selected AbstractsPreoperative plasma MMP-2 expression is prognostic in colorectal cancerCOLORECTAL DISEASE, Issue 8 2006M. G. Tutton Introduction:, The gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) are important in colorectal cancer invasion and metastasis. Plasma concentrations of the gelatinases correlate with clinical stage in colorectal cancer; however, whether this gives prognostic information is unknown. Method:, Gelatinase mRNA and protein levels in tumour and plasma were determined respectively by RT-PCR, ELISA and gelatin zymography in a prospective study of 75 colorectal cancer patients. At follow-up, 40 patients were alive with a median survival of 75 months (range 72,80). Results:, Expression of the gelatinases was significantly increased within tumour relative to normal colon and within plasma of cancer patients (P < 0.01; Mann,Whitney U -test). Within plasma, total MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression (MMP plus MMP/TIMP complexes), determined by ELISA, and free MMP-2(72 kDa) determined by gelatin zymography, increased significantly with Dukes' stage (P < 0.001; Kruskal,Wallis test). As well as correlating with Dukes' stage, lymphatic and vascular invasion, Kaplan,Meier survival analysis showed that only elevated plasma MMP-2 was significantly associated with a worse prognosis: free MMP-2 (worse prognosis with increasing quartile; P < 0.05) and total MMP-2 (upper quartile cut-off limit; P = 0.04). Discussion:, In addition to being an indicator of colorectal cancer invasion, plasma MMP-2 levels may provide a simple, non-invasive preoperative test for prognosis in colorectal cancer. [source] Estimating food intakes in Australia: validation of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) food frequency questionnaire against weighed dietary intakesJOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 6 2009C. Lassale Abstract Background:, There is a dearth of knowledge about the foods that Australian adults eat and a need for a flexible, easy-to-use tool that can estimate usual dietary intakes. The present study was to validate a commonly used Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) food-frequency questionnaire (C-FFQ) against two 4-day weighed food records (WFR), as the reference method. Methods:, The C-FFQ, as the test item, was administrated before the WFR. Two 4-day WFR were administrated 4 weeks apart. Under-reporting was established using specific cut-off limits and estimated basal metabolic rate. Seventy-four women, aged 31,60 years, were enrolled from a free-living community setting. Results:, After exclusion for under-reporting, the final sample comprised 62 individuals. Correlations between protein intake from the WFR and urinary urea were significant. Overall agreement between FFQ and WFR was shown by ,levels of agreement' (LOA) and least products regressions. There was presence of fixed and proportional bias for almost half the nutrients, including energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates. For most of the nutrients that did not present bias, the LOA were 50,200%. Agreement was demonstrated for percentage dietary energy protein and fat; carbohydrate; and absolute amounts of thiamine, riboflavin, magnesium and iron. However, relative intake agreement was fair to moderate, with approximately 70% of (selected) nutrients exact or within ±1 quintile difference. Conclusion:, The C-FFQ is reasonable at measuring percentage energy from macronutrients and some micronutrients, and comprises a valuable tool for ranking intakes by quintiles; however, it is poor at measuring many absolute nutrient intakes relative to WFR. [source] Displacement of the Sun from the Galactic planeMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2007Y. C. Joshi ABSTRACT We have carried out a comparative statistical study for the displacement of the Sun from the Galactic plane (z,) following three different methods. The study has been carried out using a sample of 537 young open clusters (YOCs) with log (Age) < 8.5, lying within a heliocentric distance of 4 kpc, and 2030 OB stars observed up to a distance of 1200 pc, all of which have distance information. We statistically separated the members of the Gould Belt before investigating the variation in the z, estimation with different upper cut-off limits in the heliocentric distance and distance perpendicular to the Galactic plane. We have found that z, varies in the range ,13,20 pc from the analysis of YOCs and in the range ,6,28 pc from the analysis of OB stars. A significant scatter in z,, because of different cut-off values, is noticed for the OB stars, although no such deviation is seen for the YOCs. We have also determined scaleheights of 56.9+3.8,3.4 and 61.4+2.7,2.4 pc for the distribution of YOCs and OB stars, respectively. [source] Brief report: validity of Finnish registry-based diagnoses of autism with the ADI-RACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 9 2010KM Lampi Abstract Aims:, The aim of the study was to explore the validity of registry-based diagnoses of autism in Finland using the Autism Diagnostic Interview , Revised (ADI-R). This study was designed for the Finnish Prenatal Study of Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders (FIPS-A), an ongoing research project where registry-based diagnoses will be used for epidemiological studies. Methods:, In this small pilot study, a clinical sample of 95 subjects diagnosed with childhood autism or pervasive developmental disorder/pervasive developmental disorder , not otherwise specified (PDD/PDD-NOS) or Asperger,s syndrome according to the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR) was gathered nationwide. A small control group consisting of siblings without any registered diagnoses of those being examined was also included in the study. Diagnoses were further re-evaluated by interviewing parents with the ADI-R. Results:, The mean scores of autistic subjects clearly exceeded cut-off limits for autism on all three ADI-R domains and 96% of the subjects with registered diagnosis of childhood autism fulfilled the criteria based on the instrument as well. Conclusion:, These results suggest that the validity of Finnish registry-based diagnoses of childhood autism can be considered good. Our findings lay important groundwork for further population- based studies of the aetiology of autism. [source] Endocrine responses to ghrelin in adult patients with isolated childhood-onset growth hormone deficiencyCLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 6 2002Gianluca Aimaretti Summary objective Ghrelin, a 28 amino acid acylated peptide, is a natural ligand of the GH secretagogues (GHS) receptor (GHS-R), which is specific for synthetic GHS. Similar to synthetic GHS, ghrelin strongly stimulates GH secretion but also displays significant stimulatory effects on lactotroph and corticotroph secretion. It has been hypothesized that isolated GH deficiency (GHD) could reflect hypothalamic impairment that would theoretically involve defect in ghrelin activity. patients In the present study, we verified the effects of ghrelin (1 µg/kg i.v.) on GH, PRL, ACTH and cortisol levels in adult patients with isolated severe GHD [five males and one female, age (mean ± SEM) 24·7 ± 2·6 years, BMI 25·7 ± 2·7 kg/m2]. In all patients, the GH response to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia (ITT, 0·1 IU regular insulin i.v.) and GH releasing hormone (GHRH) (1 µg/kg i.v.) + arginine (ARG, 0·5 g/kg i.v.) was also studied. The hormonal responses in GHD were compared with those in age-matched normal subjects (NS, seven males, age 28·6 ± 2·9 years, BMI 22·1 ± 0·8 kg/m2). results IGF-I levels in GHD were markedly lower than in NS (69·8 ± 11·3 vs. 167·9 ± 19·2 µg/l, P < 0·003). Ghrelin administration induced significant increase in GH, PRL, ACTH and cortisol levels in all GHD. In GHD, the GH response to ghrelin was higher (P < 0·05) than that to GHRH + ARG, which, in turn, was higher (P < 0·05) than that to ITT (9·2 ± 4·1 vs. 5·3 ± 1·7 vs. 1·4 ± 0·4 µg/l). These GH (1 µg/l = 2 mU/l) responses in GHD were markedly lower (P < 0·0001) than those in NS (ghrelin vs. GHRH + ARG vs. ITT 92·1 ± 16·7 vs. 65·3 ± 8·9 vs. 17·7 ± 3·5 µg/l). In GHD, the highest individual peak GH response to ghrelin was markedly lower than the lowest peak GH response in NS (28·5 vs. 42·9 µg/l). GHD and NS showed overlapping PRL (1 µg/l = 32 mU/l) (10·0 ± 1·4 vs. 14·9 ± 2·2 µg/l), ACTH (22·3 ± 5·3 vs. 18·7 ± 4·6 pmol/l) and cortisol responses (598·1 ± 52·4 vs. 486·9 ± 38·9 nmol/l). conclusions This study shows that ghrelin is one of the most powerful provocative stimuli of GH secretion, even in those patients with isolated severe GHD. In this condition, however, the somatotroph response is markedly reduced while the lactotroph and corticotroph responsiveness to ghrelin is fully preserved, indicating that this endocrine activity is fully independent of mechanisms underlying the GH-releasing effect. These results do not support the hypothesis that ghrelin deficiency is a major cause of isolated GH deficiency but suggest that ghrelin might represent a reliable provocative test to evaluate the maximal GH secretory capacity provided that appropriate cut-off limits are assumed. [source] | ||||||||||