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Informative Test (informative + test)
Selected AbstractsA case of bronchopulmonary carcinoid tumor: The role of octreotide scanning in localization of an ectopic source of ACTHJOURNAL OF HOSPITAL MEDICINE, Issue 5 2006P. D. Bhatia BSc Abstract BACKGROUND Bronchopulmonary carcinoids are neuroendocrine tumors. They can present with Cushing's syndrome secondary to ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion. Curative resection is possible only after adequate localization of the ectopic source. OBJECTIVE To describe a case that illustrates the role of octreotide scanning in the management of a bronchopulmonary carcinoid. RESULTS The use of preoperative and postoperative octreotide scanning aided in performing a limited resection, thereby preserving the lung parenchyma. CONCLUSIONS We propose that octreotide scanning can be a very important and informative test in the management of carcinoid tumors. In situations when conventional imaging is not conclusive, octreotide scanning may be of help in determining the source of ectopic ACTH syndrome. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2006;1:312,316. © 2006 Society of Hospital Medicine. [source] Protocol for clinical neurophysiologic examination of the pelvic floorNEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, Issue 6 2001Simon Podnar Abstract Clinical neurophysiologic examination of the pelvic floor is performed worldwide, but there is no consensus on the choice of tests, nor on technical details of individual methods. Standardized methods are, however, necessary to obtain their valid application in different laboratories for the purpose of collection of normative data, comparison of patient data and organization of multi-center studies. It is proposed that in patients with suspected "lower motor neuron" type lesions concentric needle electromyography (CNEMG) is the most informative test to detect pelvic floor denervation/reinnervation, and the external anal sphincter (EAS) muscle is the most appropriate muscle to be examined (either in isolation,when a selective lesion is suspected,or in addition to examination of other muscles). An algorithm consisting of standardized tests including a standardized approach to CNEMG examination of the EAS is presented. The proposed electrophysiologic assessment consists of a computer-assisted analysis of denervation and reinnervation features of the CNEMG signal, a qualitative assessment of reflex and voluntary activation of EAS motor units, and of electrical (or mechanical) elicitation of the bulbocavernosus reflex in those patients in whom manual anogenital stimulation failed to elicit a robust response in the EAS. The proposed protocol could serve as a basis for further studies on validity, sensitivity and specificity of electrophysiologic assessment in patients with different types of "lower motor neuron" involvement of pelvic floor muscles and sacral dysfunction. Neurourol. Urodynam. 20:669,682, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] SPE/RIA vs LC/MS for measurement of low levels of budesonide in plasmaBIOMEDICAL CHROMATOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2003H. Dimova Abstract A radioimmunoassay is described that measures budesonide in plasma after solid-phase extraction (SPE/RIA) of the analyte. The performance of the assay was compared with that of a selective LC/MS method. The limit of quantitation of budesonide determined for the LC/MS and SPE/RIA assay was 50,pg/mL and 120,pg/mL, respectively. Based on quality control samples, a higher variability was observed for the SPE/RIA (CV between 4.5 and 23.0%) than for the LC/MS method (CV between 7.5 and 12.5%). Plasma samples obtained from healthy volunteers after administration of budesonide rectal foam were assayed by both methods. In a subset of samples, these results were compared with those measured by direct RIA to evaluate the selectivity of two assays. About two times higher budesonide levels were measured with the direct RIA (lacking the extraction step), presumably because of cross-reactivity with budesonide metabolites, indicating that the extraction step in SPE/RIA is necessary for selectivity. Both SPE/RIA and LC/MS methods were found to be selective, sensitive and suitable for pharmacokinetic studies. Results obtained from the two methods were compared with a number of statistical methods. Ratios of results obtained for the clinical samples were close to 1 (ratio LC-MS/ SPE/RIA,=,0.98,±,0.27). Linear regression indicated a slope of 1.17,±,0.0378. The concordance correlation (r,=,0.91) indicated that the agreement between both methods was fair while the Bland,Altman plot indicated that the agreement was less pronounced at higher concentrations (1,3,ng/mL). In summary, the results confirm that the SPE/RIA is an alternative to HPLC/MS and that among the statistical methods tested the concordance correlation analysis was judged to be the most informative test to assess the comparability of two methods. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] EFFICIENT MARKOV NETWORK DISCOVERY USING PARTICLE FILTERSCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 4 2009Dimitris Margaritis In this paper, we introduce an efficient independence-based algorithm for the induction of the Markov network (MN) structure of a domain from the outcomes of independence test conducted on data. Our algorithm utilizes a particle filter (sequential Monte Carlo) method to maintain a population of MN structures that represent the posterior probability distribution over structures, given the outcomes of the tests performed. This enables us to select, at each step, the maximally informative test to conduct next from a pool of candidates according to information gain, which minimizes the cost of the statistical tests conducted on data. This makes our approach useful in domains where independence tests are expensive, such as cases of very large data sets and/or distributed data. In addition, our method maintains multiple candidate structures weighed by posterior probability, which allows flexibility in the presence of potential errors in the test outcomes. [source] Empirical tests of life-history evolution theory using phylogenetic analysis of plant demographyJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2010Jean H. Burns Summary 1. A primary goal of evolutionary ecology is to understand factors selecting for the diversity of life histories. Life-history components, such as time-to-reproduction, adult survivorship and fecundity, might differ among species because of variation in direct and indirect benefits of these life histories in different environments or might have lower-than-expected variability because of phylogenetic constraints. Here, we present a phylogenetic examination of demography and life histories using a data base of 204 terrestrial plant species. 2. Overall, statistical models without phylogeny were preferred to models with phylogeny for vital rates and elasticities, suggesting that they lacked phylogenetic signal and are evolutionarily labile. However, the effect of phylogeny was significant in models including sensitivities, suggesting that sensitivities exhibit greater phylogenetic signal than vital rates or elasticities. 3. Species with a greater age at first reproduction had lower fecundity, consistent with a cost of delayed reproduction, but only in some habitats (e.g. grassland). We found no evidence for an indirect benefit of delayed reproduction via a decrease in variation in fecundity with age to first reproduction. 4. The greater sensitivity and lower variation in survival than in fecundity was consistent with buffering of more important vital rates, as others have also found. This suggests that studies of life-history evolution should include survival, rather than only fecundity, for the majority of species. 5.Synthesis. Demographic matrix models can provide informative tests of life-history theory because of their shared construction and outputs and their widespread use among plant ecologists. Our comparative analysis suggested that there is a cost of delayed reproduction and that more important vital rates exhibit lower variability. The absolute importance of vital rates to population growth rates (sensitivities) exhibited phylogenetic signal, suggesting that a thorough understanding of life-history evolution might require an understanding of the importance of vital rates, not just their means, and the role of phylogenetic history. [source] | ||||||||||