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Additional Tests (additional + test)
Selected AbstractsIndividuals Charts and Additional Tests for Changes in SpreadQUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2006Albert Trip Abstract A number of authors have indicated that it is not a good idea to use the moving range chart (MR -chart) with an individuals chart to detect shifts in the spread. However, the combination of these charts is still used in practice and even presented as ,best practice' in some cases. In addition, some more recent articles present arguments that justify the use of the additional MR -chart in specific situations. In this paper we investigate these arguments and add to the literature by providing two more reasons not to use the MR -chart. First, the merit of using an MR -chart has never been evaluated before in the context of runs rules. Earlier papers investigated the change in performance as a result of adding a MR -chart to a bare individuals chart. We show that relative to existing well-known runs rules, there is no advantage in using a close alternative to the MR -chart. Secondly, we investigate the suggestion of some of the proponents of the MR -chart that its weak performance is due to a bad design. We show that this is not the case. We evaluate the average run length performance of the combination of an individuals chart and a MR -chart under the most favorable circumstances for several out-of-control situations by optimizing the design of the two charts for each situation. Our results show that even this ,best-case' performance of the combination is hardly better than that of the individuals chart alone. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Flower-feeding affects mating performance in male oriental fruit flies Bactrocera dorsalisECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 1 2000Todd E. Shelly Summary 1. Males of the oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis are attracted to and feed on flowers of the golden shower blossom Cassia fistula. Flowers of this plant contain methyl eugenol, the metabolites of which apparently function in the synthesis of male sex pheromone. 2. The goal of the study reported here was to determine whether feeding on C. fistula flowers enhanced male mating success. Mating frequencies of unfed (control) and fed (treated) males were compared in trials conducted 0 (same day), 2, 7, or 21 days after treated males were exposed to the flowers. Trials were performed using flowers from three trees of C. fistula to investigate whether the effects of floral feeding were similar among different plants. 3. For all three trees, treated males accounted for a disproportionately large number of matings in trials performed 0, 2, and 7 days after floral feeding by the treated males. For two of the trees, treated males also had a mating advantage 21 days after flower-feeding. 4. Additional tests were conducted to compare female attraction to perch sites of control and treated males. When at a lek, males exhibit rigorous wing-fanning behaviour, presumably to increase dispersal of the sex pheromone. Floral feeding had no significant effect on the level of wing-fanning. Significantly more female sightings were recorded for perches of treated than control males, however, suggesting that the treated males produced a pheromone more attractive to females than did control males. [source] Revisiting Autonomic Dysfunction in End-Stage Renal Disease PatientsHEMODIALYSIS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2003Jocemir R. Lugon Background:,Autonomic dysfunction is frequent in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, but both the relative involvement of the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches and the role of antihypertensive drugs in this setting are still controversial. The present study addressed these issues employing a battery of standard noninvasive cardiovascular autonomic tests. Methods:,Sympathetic (S) function was evaluated by responses of both systolic blood pressure (BP) to passive tilting and diastolic BP to handgrip; parasympathetic (P) function, through the respiratory sinus arrhythmia test and the heart rate response to the 4-s unloaded exercise test. Additional tests influenced by both branches of the autonomic system (P + S) were accomplished by the assessment of heart rate response to the Valsalva maneuver, handgrip, and tilting. Results:,Studied subjects belonged to one of the three groups: ESRD patients not requiring BP medications (n = 11; 8 men, 3 women); ESRD patients receiving antihypertensive therapy (n = 36; 21 men, 15 women); and apparently healthy controls (n = 15; 10 men, 5 women). When the variables grouped according to the branch of the autonomic nervous system predominantly probed were analyzed, only the frequency of impaired sympathetic autonomic responses was higher in ESRD patients not receiving BP drugs compared to controls (55 vs. 23%, P = 0.040). In contrast, when ESRD patients receiving BP drugs were compared to controls, the differences became significant in S, P, and P + S tests (46 vs. 23%, P = 0.045; 22 vs. 3%, P = 0.020; and 34 vs. 13%, P = 0.010, respectively). With the criterion of more than one positive finding in any of the variables examined for diagnosing autonomic dysfunction, the prevalence of autonomic dysfunction was 20% in controls, 64% in ESRD patients not receiving BP drugs (P = 0.005 vs. controls), and 67% in ESRD patients receiving BP drugs (P = 0.043 vs. controls). Conclusions:,ESRD continues to be associated with a high prevalence of autonomic dysfunction. ESRD patients receiving BP drugs were found to have detectable impairment in the entire autonomic system in contrast to those not receiving BP drugs in whom inadequate responses were restricted to the sympathetic branch. [source] The influence of ovarian fluid on Solea senegalensis sperm motilityJOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 5 2010P. Diogo Summary The role of ovarian fluid in fertilization has been neglected, particularly in marine species. The aim of this work was therefore to assess the influence of ovarian fluid (OF) as a potential contributor factor to sperm motility in Solea senegalensis. The specificity of interactions between sperm and ovarian fluid was analyzed using homologous and heterelogous ovarian fluid. Additional tests tried to identify the most useful concentration for improving sperm motility throughout the activation process. Ovarian fluid solutions were diluted in artificial seawater (SW) (v:v) 0 : 100, 25 : 75, 50 : 50, 75 : 25 and 100 : 0 (OF:SW). Pure ovarian fluid solutions (100%) did not promote sperm motility by themselves since they lack the osmolarity needed to trigger sperm motility. With 75% of ovarian fluid the activation solution promoted a deficient activation and the best concentrations used were 25 and 50%. The presence of ovarian fluid affected significantly total motility (TM) and progressive motility (PM) in the last seconds post activation. Progressive motility was higher at 45 s for homologous 25% OF (20.4%) than control (9.4%). Homologous 25% OF increased significantly TM and PM at 60 s post activation (32.0 and 10.5%, respectively) when compared to control (15.8 and 1.7%, respectively). Sperm velocity showed significant differences in the presence of ovarian fluid since early seconds post activation. Our data revealed an enhancement of sperm motility with ovarian fluid at low concentrations in the activation solution. There seems to be a high degree of specificity of ovarian fluid-sperm interaction since heterologous fluid had a lower performance enhancing sperm motility than homologous fluid. Our results indicated a possible important female contribution to sperm motility enhancement during the fertilization process in S. senegalensis. [source] STIFFNESS OF COMPRESSION TESTING MACHINESJOURNAL OF TEXTURE STUDIES, Issue 2 2000HARALD ROHM ABSTRACT A ring test with six participating laboratories and rubber stoppers as reference material was performed to monitor the performance of commercial compression testing instruments. Testing conditions were chosen to be in the range of regular compression testing. Small, single screw instruments with a cantilever exhibited a significant deviation in the force/deformation-response compared with double-screw instruments with a crosshead. Additional tests made with an external device for displacement recording revealed that these differences have to be attributed to insufficient stiffness and some compliance in the cantilever of the tested single-screw instruments. Some consequences of the test results for experiments on soft, semi-soft and rigid food materials are discussed and an equation is developed to correct for the flexing of the cantilever beam in the single screw machine. [source] Intraday price-reversal patterns in the currency futures market: The impact of the introduction of GLOBEX and the euroTHE JOURNAL OF FUTURES MARKETS, Issue 11 2006Joel Rentzler This article assesses the intraday price-reversal patterns of seven major currency futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange over 1988,2003 after 1-day returns and opening gaps. Significant intraday price-reversal patterns are observed in five of the seven currency futures contracts, following large price changes. Additional tests are conducted in three subperiods (1988,1992, 1993,1998, and 1999,2003) to examine the impact of the introduction of electronic trading on GLOBEX in 1992 (to assess how a near 24-hour trading session might impact the next-day opening and closing futures prices) and the introduction of the euro in 1999 (to assess its impact on price predictability in other futures markets). It is found that the introduction of the GLOBEX in 1992 significantly reduced pricing errors in currency futures in the second subperiod, making the currency futures markets fairly efficient. However, the introduction of the new currency, the euro, and the disappearance of several European currencies in 1999, resulted in significant price patterns (mostly reversals and some persistence) in most of the currency futures, indicating inefficiencies in the third subperiod. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 26:1089,1130, 2006 [source] Threshold levels of purified natural Bos d 2 for inducing bronchial airway response in asthmatic patientsCLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGY, Issue 10 2002T. Zeiler Summary Background Provocation tests are invaluable in establishing threshold levels and a causal relationship between atopic asthma and a certain allergen source, especially in relation to work-associated exposure. Purified major allergens open possibilities for a more accurate assessment of sensitization. Objective To determine the threshold dose of purified major bovine dander allergen Bos d 2 in bronchial provocation in comparison with the standard allergen and a set of other parameters of allergy. Method Nine consecutive patients referred to hospital for confirming the bovine origin of their occupational asthma were subjected to bronchial provocation tests with purified natural Bos d 2 and a standard bovine dander allergen. Additional tests included bronchial histamine challenge, measurements of total IgE, specific IgE antibody determinations and skin prick tests (SPT) with both allergens. Results In the provocation tests with Bos d 2, a 15% decrease in the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and/or peak expiratory flow (PEF) values in eight out of nine patients confirmed the predominant role of Bos d 2 in the sensitization. The threshold dose of Bos d 2 varied from 0.1 µg to > 100 µg (median ± median absolute deviation = 4.5 ± 3.9 µg). A positive SPT was induced by a median dose of 13.9 ± 9.8 µg of Bos d 2. Bronchial response to histamine and IgE antibodies against Bos d 2 showed the highest correlations to the provocations results. Conclusions The efficacy of Bos d 2 in bronchial provocation in patients with occupational cattle-associated asthma was confirmed and the range of the threshold level was determined. There were individual variations, but the response in provocation remains the reference method for identification of the cause of occupational atopic asthma. SPT and the measurement of specific IgE antibodies, preferably with purified or recombinant major allergens, increase the accuracy of the diagnosis. [source] A TEST OF WORKER POLICING THEORY IN AN ADVANCED EUSOCIAL WASP, VESPULA RUFAEVOLUTION, Issue 6 2005T. Wenseleers Abstract Mutual policing is an important mechanism for maintaining social harmony in group-living organisms. In some ants, bees, and wasps, workers police male eggs laid by other workers in order to maintain the reproductive primacy of the queen. Kin selection theory predicts that multiple mating by the queen is one factor that can selectively favor worker policing. This is because when the queen is mated to multiple males, workers are more closely related to queen's sons than to the sons of other workers. Here we provide an additional test of worker policing theory in Vespinae wasps. We show that the yellowjacket Vespula rufa is characterized by low mating frequency, and that a significant percentage of the males are workers' sons. This supports theoretical predictions for paternities below 2, and contrasts with other Vespula species, in which paternities are higher and few or no adult males are worker produced, probably due to worker policing, which has been shown in one species, Vespula vulgaris. Behavioral observations support the hypothesis that V. rufa has much reduced worker policing compared to other Vespula. In addition, a significant proportion of worker-laid eggs were policed by the queen. [source] Use of the Brief Smell Identification Test for olfactory deficit in a Norwegian population with Alzheimer's diseaseINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 10 2007Grete Kjelvik Abstract Aims Several studies have shown that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with hyposmia. Olfactory identification may be a cheap and simple additional test in the assessment of early cognitive changes. The sense of smell is influenced by factors such as experience and culture and the aim of the present study was to assess the validity of the Brief Smell Identification Test (B-SIT) in distinguishing patients with AD from healthy gender and age-matched controls in a Norwegian population. Methods The study included 39 patients with a diagnosis of probable AD, and 52 gender and age-matched controls. Olfactory function was assessed with B-SIT, and a non-standardized olfactory identification task (freshly ground coffee). Results The difference in olfactory performance between patients and controls was highly significant, both for the whole AD patient group and the subgroup of patients with MMSE,,,24. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analyses indicated that B-SIT distinguished patients from controls with high sensitivity and specificity. All the odours in B-SIT with the exception of turpentine showed highly significant differences between patients and controls. AD-associated memory impairment did not seem to affect the answers given for B-SIT in this population. Conclusions For patients with AD, the Brief Smell Identification Test (B-SIT) appears to be well-suited for detecting a deficit in olfactory identification in a Norwegian population. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Nutritional factors determining sclerotial formation of Polyporus umbellatusLETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Y.-Y. Liu Abstract Aims:, To find out which nutritional condition is the determining factor for sclerotial formation of Polyporus umbellatus. Methods and Results:, The nutritional requirements of 15 carbohydrates, ten nitrogen compounds, eight vitamins and eight mineral elements were studied for their effects on mycelial growth and sclerotial formation of Polyporus umbellatus using the one-factor-at-a-time method. Only fructose could induce sclerotial formation of P.,umbellatus. An additional test indicated that nitrogen source categories influenced sclerotial formation significantly and that peptone was found to be the best for sclerotial production. Through an orthogonal matrix test, the effects of carbon/nitrogen factors on sclerotial formation were found be in the order: fructose > interaction between fructose and peptone > peptone. The optimal concentration for sclerotial formation was determined to be 50·0 g l,1 fructose and 4·0 g l,1 peptone. Conclusions:, Carbon source is the factor determining sclerotial formation of Polyporus umbellatus. Nitrogen source can influence such a morphological transformation significantly. The categories of vitamin and mineral element do not have relationship with the sclerotial formation. Significance and Impact of the Study:, This study provides the preparatory knowledge for the completely artificial culture of Polyporus umbellatus for its sclerotium. [source] Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (87)PAIN PRACTICE, Issue 1 2001A.J. Haig Paraspinal electromyography in high lumbar and thoracic lesions. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI) Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2000;79:336,342. This study aimed to use needle electromyography in the paraspinal muscles to localize the root level of a radiculopathy. Nine cases of clinically proven, isolated high lumbar or thoracic disk herniations of patients who underwent MiniPM were collected. Four were from a prospective study of 114 persons with low back pain (MiniPM had 100% sensitivity to magnetic resonance imaging-documented high disks). In the most medial "S" column, mean MiniPM scores were 0.7 for the level above the radiologically documented lesion (3.1 at the lesion and 1.6, 1.6, and 1.1 at the 3 spinous processes below the lesion). Similar numbers were obtained in the "M" column (slightly lateral), with no significant differences between S and M. Differences were significant between and at the level of the lesion for S (P < 0.06) and M (P < 0.01), and between the lesion level and 3 levels below for the M column (P < 0.01). Conclude that paraspinal electromyography has a higher than previously reported sensitivity for high lumbar lesions. Electromyography using MiniPM can localize some radiculopathies. The individual cases suggest that, consistent with the anatomy of the caudi equina, thoracic lesions and lateral lumbar lesions denervate only at 1 level, but more central lumbar lesions also denervate distally innervated paraspinal muscles. Comment by Miles Day, MD. This study is designed to assess the sensitivity of many MiniPM for higher-level rediculopathies, ie, lower thoracic and high lumbar, and to determine if findings are specific to the root level involved. The MiniPM is thought to assess the multifidus portion of the paraspinal muscles that are innervated from L2 to the sacrum. The clinical protocol tests the paraspinal extensively and provides a numerica score, thus eliminating some subjectivity of the EMG. The study demonstrates that MiniPM has good sensitivity for high lumbar and thoracic lesions and provides information on the level of the lesion independent of limb EMG. After reviewing the study, I agree with the authors that MiniPM is in itself not diagnostic for radiculopathy, but is only an additional test to help support other neuro physiological studies when evaluating for radiculopathy. It is not specific for diagnosing radiculopathy. [source] Olfactory preference for own mother and litter in 1-day-old rabbits and its impairment by thermotaxisDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2008Jessica Serra Abstract We investigated the ability of rabbit pups to display preferences towards various elements of their postnatal environment during the stage of confinement in the nest. Subjects were submitted to a two-choice test during the first week after birth to assess if they could detect and discriminate between does, litters of pups, or nesting materials of the same developmental stage. On D1 and D7, pups were attracted to any lactating doe, litter, or nest when compared to an empty compartment. When two stimuli were opposed, pups preferred their own nest to an alien one on D1 and D7 but not their mother nor their siblings when opposed to alien does or pups. However, additional tests indicated that this lack of preference for kin conspecifics resulted from a predominant attraction to thermal cues over individual odors. Indeed, pups were strongly attracted to a warm compartment (37°C) than to a cooler one (20°C) and once thermal cues were controlled for in the testing situation, the pups were specifically attracted to odors of their own mother's hair and of their siblings. No preference was observed towards the mother's uterine secretions. In conclusion, pups can recognize olfactory cues emanating from their mother and their siblings the day after birth. The preference for nesting materials would reflect in major part the combined attraction to maternal and sibling odors present in the nest. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 542,553, 2008. [source] The symptomatic treatment of multiple system atrophyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 3 2002C. Colosimo Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a neurodegenerative disease of undetermined aetiology that occurs sporadically and manifests itself as a combination of parkinsonian, autonomic, cerebellar and pyramidal signs. Despite the lack of any effective therapy to reverse this condition, some of the symptoms may be, at least temporarily, improved with adequate symptomatic therapies. Medical treatment is largely aimed at mitigating the parkinsonian and autonomic features. The therapeutic results of levodopa therapy in cases of MSA are difficult to interpret because of their variability. Nevertheless, the statement that patients with MSA are non or poorly levodopa-responsive is misleading. Clinical and pathologically proven series document about 40,60% levodopa efficacy in patients with MSA presenting with predominant parkinsonian features. Unfortunately, other antiparkinsonian compounds (dopamine agonists, amantadine) are not more effective than levodopa. Orthostatic hypotension (OH) can be suspected from the patient's history and subsequently documented in the clinic by measuring lying and standing blood pressure. The diagnosis ideally should be confirmed in the laboratory with additional tests to determine the cause and evaluate the functional deficit, so as to aid treatment. A variety of pharmacological agents with different mechanisms of action have been used in MSA to reduce OH when this is symptomatic. OH can also be alleviated by avoiding aggravating factors, such as the effects of food, micturition, exposure to a warm environment and physiological diurnal changes and by using other non-pharmacological strategies. The treatment of the very common genito-urinary symptoms (incontinence, retention, impotence) should also be considered in order to improve the quality of life of these patients. [source] Long-Lasting Resistance to Extinction of Response Reinstatement Induced by Ethanol-Related Stimuli: Role of Genetic Ethanol PreferenceALCOHOLISM, Issue 10 2001Roberto Ciccocioppo Background: The conditioning of ethanol's reinforcing effects with specific environmental stimuli is thought to be a critical factor in long-lasting relapse risk associated with alcoholism. To study the significance of such learning factors in the addictive potential of ethanol, this experiment was designed (1) to characterize the effects of stimuli associated with alcohol availability on the reinstatement of responding at a previously ethanol-paired lever in rats with genetically determined ethanol preference versus nonpreference and (2) to examine the persistence of the motivating effects of these stimuli over time. Methods: Male alcohol-preferring (P) and alcohol-nonpreferring (NP) rats were trained to operantly self-administer ethanol (10% w/v) or water on a fixed-ratio 1 schedule in a 30-min daily session. Ethanol and water sessions were scheduled in random sequence across training days. Ethanol availability was signaled by an olfactory discriminative stimulus (banana extract, S+), and each lever press was paired with brief presentation of the conditioning chamber's house light (CS+). The discriminative stimulus signaling water availability (i.e., nonreward) consisted of anise odor (S,), and lever-responses during water sessions were paired with a brief white noise generation (CS,). The rats then were placed on extinction conditions during which ethanol and water, as well as the corresponding stimuli, were withheld. The effects of noncontingent exposure to the S+ versus S, paired with response-contingent presentation of the CS+ versus CS, on responding at the previously active lever were then determined in 30-min reinstatement sessions. To study the resistance to extinction of the effects of the ethanol-associated stimuli, additional tests were conducted at 3-day intervals for a total of 50 days. Results: The number of ethanol-reinforced responses during self-administration training was significantly greater in P than in NP rats (p < 0.01). After extinction, a significant recovery of responding was observed in both groups of rats under the stimulus conditions associated with ethanol (S+/CS+) but not those associated with water (S,/CS,). However, the response reinstatement was significantly greater in P than NP rats (p < 0.01). In addition, the results revealed a considerable resistance to extinction to the effects of the ethanol-associated stimuli. Throughout the 50-day test period, responding remained significantly above extinction levels in both P and NP rats (p < 0.01), but with an overall greater number of responses in P than NP rats (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results support the hypothesis that conditioning factors contribute importantly to compulsive ethanol seeking and long-lasting vulnerability to relapse. In addition, the results suggest that genetic predisposition toward heightened ethanol intake extends to greater susceptibility to the motivating effects of ethanol-related environmental stimuli. [source] The repeatability of friction and wear results obtained from unlubricated reciprocating sliding testsLUBRICATION SCIENCE, Issue 4 2001D. Klaffke Abstract Laboratory tests can help in the analysis of tribological failures of elements, and improve tribo-systems by choosing appropriate materials. In order to characterise the friction and wear behaviour of candidate materials, various different test methods have been developed in the past and are still in use. One such method is the reciprocating sliding of a ball against a disc. In the work reported here, the repeatability of friction and wear results was evaluated with ten tests under identical conditions with a steel (100Cr6) or alumina (Al2O3) ball against a steel (100Cr6) disc under unlubricated conditions at room temperature. The influence of ambient humidity on friction and wear behaviour was determined in three additional tests in dry and in moist air, respectively. The repeatability of friction coefficient in normal air was better than 5% for alumina/100Cr6 and 12% for 100Cr6/100Cr6, while the repeatability of volumetric wear was slightly better than 10% for alumina/steel, and slightly worse than 10% for steel/steel. For both couples the coefficient of friction is lowest in moist air and about 50% higher in dry air. The coefficient of wear is also least in moist air and higher by a factor of 3(5) in dry air for tests with a 100Cr6 (alumina) ball. [source] Behavioural evidence for a female sex pheromone in Cotesia flavipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)PHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2004Maria Do Rosário T. De Freitas Abstract., The mating behaviour of Cotesia flavipes Cameron, 1891 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was observed under laboratory conditions. The results demonstrate that chemical stimuli play an important role in bringing males and females together for mating. Females from this species release chemical compounds to attract males, which exhibit a distinct courtship behaviour divided into three main steps: (i) antennation, (ii) lateral bouncing and (iii) wing fluttering. Ethological tests using hexane extracts from two different parts of the female's body (head plus thorax and abdomen) demonstrate that males are more attracted and also display a courtship behaviour when a filter paper containing hexane extracts from the abdomen is presented to them, indicating that the abdomen is the source of the sex pheromone of this species. Naive males of this species respond to hexane extracts of this gland by displaying courtship behaviour. Furthermore, additional tests show that C. flavipes females mate only once, whereas virgin males do not show any preference for virgin or mated females, suggesting that mated females of this species continue to produce sex attractants after mating. [source] Technical note: The effect of midshaft location on the error ranges of femoral and tibial cross-sectional parametersAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2010Vladimír Sládek Abstract In comparing long-bone cross-sectional geometric properties between individuals, percentages of bone length are often used to identify equivalent locations along the diaphysis. In fragmentary specimens where bone lengths cannot be measured, however, these locations must be estimated more indirectly. In this study, we examine the effect of inaccurately located femoral and tibial midshafts on estimation of geometric properties. The error ranges were compared on 30 femora and tibiae from the Eneolithic and Bronze Age. Cross-sections were obtained at each 1% interval from 60 to 40% of length using CT scans. Five percent of deviation from midshaft properties was used as the maximum acceptable error. Reliability was expressed by mean percentage differences, standard deviation of percentage differences, mean percentage absolute differences, limits of agreement, and mean accuracy range (MAR) (range within which mean deviation from true midshaft values was less than 5%). On average, tibial cortical area and femoral second moments of area are the least sensitive to positioning error, with mean accuracy ranges wide enough for practical application in fragmentary specimens (MAR = 40,130 mm). In contrast, tibial second moments of area are the most sensitive to error in midshaft location (MAR = 14,20 mm). Individuals present significant variation in morphology and thus in error ranges for different properties. For highly damaged fossil femora and tibiae we recommend carrying out additional tests to better establish specific errors associated with uncertain length estimates. Am J Phys Anthropol 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Multifactorial dysphagia: Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis and eosinophilic esophagitis,THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 1 2010Grace Nimmons MD Abstract Swallowing is a complex, multistage event with oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal phases. A thorough clinical examination for swallowing complaints begins to differentiate whether the problem is due to anatomic, mechanical, or neurologic etiologies. Based on the clinical suspicion, additional tests may be beneficial, including fluoroscopic and direct imaging methods, and electrophysiologic measurements. A multidisciplinary approach may also be advantageous, as in this case of dysphagia from diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis and eosinophilic esophagitis, which incorporated care from otolaryngology, speech pathology, orthopedic surgery, and gastroenterology. Laryngoscope, 2010 [source] | ||||||||||||||||