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Many Methods (many + methods)
Selected AbstractsClinical Trial of Dual Treatment with an Ablative Fractional Laser and a Nonablative Laser for the Treatment of Acne Scars in Asian PatientsDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 7 2009SANGEUN KIM MD BACKGROUND Many methods have been proposed for the treatment of acne scars, with variable cosmetic results. Nonablative skin resurfacing is one method that has been proposed. Because of a need for more noticeable clinical improvements, the ablative fractional laser was recently introduced. OBJECTIVE To reduce complications and improve the results of ablative fractional laser resurfacing by combining this treatment of acne scars with nonablative lasers. METHODS A series of 20 patients (skin phototypes IV,V) with atrophic facial acne scars were randomly divided into two groups that received three successive monthly treatments with an ablative fractional laser using high (group A) and low (group B) energy on one facial half and an ablative fractional laser with low energy plus a nonablative resurfacing laser on the other facial half. Patients were evaluated using digital photography at each treatment visit and at 3 months postoperatively. Clinical assessment scores were determined at each treatment session and follow-up visit. RESULTS Although the use of the ablative fractional laser with high energy resulted in an improvement in patients' acne scars, the combination of ablative fractional laser resurfacing and nonablative laser resurfacing yielded the best results, as assessed in photographs as well as by the overall appearance of the acne scars. With the combination method, fewer complications were observed. [source] A Comparison of Echocardiographic Techniques in Determination of Arterial Elasticity in the Pediatric PopulationECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Issue 5 2009Michael Fahey M.D. Background: Many methods are used to measure arterial elasticity in children using echocardiography. There is no data to support the equivalence of the different techniques. The goal of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of several techniques used to measure arterial elasticity using echocardiography. Methods: Aortic distension in two different sites (arterial distension) through the cardiac cycle was measured by (four) two-dimensional (2D) and M-mode echocardiographic techniques in 20 children without significant structural heart disease. These measurements combined with noninvasive blood pressure measurements were used to calculate arterial elastic indices. Arterial elasticity was expressed in terms of distensibility and stiffness. Data were collected by two sonographers and interpreted by two reviewers. Paired Student's t-test and Pitman's test for equality of variance for correlated observations were used to detect differences between different sonographers, different reviewers, and different techniques. Results: No significant difference in the measured elasticity between sonographers or reviewers was observed. There was a somewhat increased variance in two of the four techniques evaluated. There was no significant difference in elasticity measured using different techniques to evaluate the same arterial site, although a significantly decreased elasticity was noted from measurements taken in the proximal ascending aorta as compared with the distal ascending aorta. Conclusions: Many echocardiographic techniques produce reproducible measurements of arterial elasticity. There may be intrinsic differences in arterial elasticity between different segments of the ascending aorta, which have not been previously described in children with normal cardiac anatomy. Comparisons of data from separate studies must take these differences into account. [source] Quantifying Ground Water Recharge at Multiple Scales Using PRMS and GISGROUND WATER, Issue 1 2004Douglas S. Cherkauer Management of ground water resources requires a method to calculate demonstrably accurate recharge rates at local to regional scales using readily available information bases. Many methods are available to calculate recharge, but most are unable to satisfy all these conditions. A distributed parameter model is shown to meet the stated needs. Such models are input intensive, however, so a procedure to define most inputs from GIS and hydrogeological sources is presented. It simplifies the PRMS calibration observed streamflow hydrographs by reducing degrees of freedom from dozens to four. For seven watersheds (60 to 500 km2), the GIS-aided calibrations have average errors of 5% on recharge and 2% on total streamflow, verifying the accuracy of the process. Recharge is also calculated for 63 local-scale subwater-sheds (average size 37 km2). For the study area, calculated recharges average 11 cm/yr. Soil and rock conductivity, porosity, and depth to the water table are shown to be the physical properties which dominate the spatial variability of recharge. The model has been extended to uncalibrated watersheds where GIS and climatic information are known. It reproduces total annual discharge and recharge to within 9% and 10%, respectively, indicating the process can also be used to calculate recharge in ungauged watersheds. It has not been tested outside the study area, however. [source] A Methodological Overview of Network Vulnerability AnalysisGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2008ALAN T. MURRAY ABSTRACT Evaluating network infrastructures for potential vulnerabilities is an important component of strategic planning, particularly in the context of managing and mitigating service disruptions. Many methods have been proposed to facilitate such analysis, providing different interpretations of infrastructure vulnerability. The primary approaches that have been employed for network vulnerability analysis can be broadly classified as scenario-specific, strategy-specific, simulation, and mathematical modeling methodologies. Research on network vulnerability assessment has traditionally focused on one of these methodologies without consideration of the others. This article highlights the important implications of methodology for both infrastructure planning and policy development. To better understand the theoretical and practical trade-offs associated with methodology selection, this article provides a review of these categories of analysis, examining benefits and shortcomings with regard to practical planning issues and policy interpretation. [source] Multi-variable and multi-site calibration and validation of SWAT in a large mountainous catchment with high spatial variabilityHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 5 2006Wenzhi Cao Abstract Many methods developed for calibration and validation of physically based distributed hydrological models are time consuming and computationally intensive. Only a small set of input parameters can be optimized, and the optimization often results in unrealistic values. In this study we adopted a multi-variable and multi-site approach to calibration and validation of the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model for the Motueka catchment, making use of extensive field measurements. Not only were a number of hydrological processes (model components) in a catchment evaluated, but also a number of subcatchments were used in the calibration. The internal variables used were PET, annual water yield, daily streamflow, baseflow, and soil moisture. The study was conducted using an 11-year historical flow record (1990,2000); 1990,94 was used for calibration and 1995,2000 for validation. SWAT generally predicted well the PET, water yield and daily streamflow. The predicted daily streamflow matched the observed values, with a Nash,Sutcliffe coefficient of 0·78 during calibration and 0·72 during validation. However, values for subcatchments ranged from 0·31 to 0·67 during calibration, and 0·36 to 0·52 during validation. The predicted soil moisture remained wet compared with the measurement. About 50% of the extra soil water storage predicted by the model can be ascribed to overprediction of precipitation; the remaining 50% discrepancy was likely to be a result of poor representation of soil properties. Hydrological compensations in the modelling results are derived from water balances in the various pathways and storage (evaporation, streamflow, surface runoff, soil moisture and groundwater) and the contributions to streamflow from different geographic areas (hill slopes, variable source areas, sub-basins, and subcatchments). The use of an integrated multi-variable and multi-site method improved the model calibration and validation and highlighted the areas and hydrological processes requiring greater calibration effort. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Allen Denver Russell Memorial Lecture, 2006JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2006The use of microbiocides in infection control: a critical look at safety, applications, testing Abstract Microbial pathogens continue as major threats to health. Indeed, many ongoing societal changes are enhancing our vulnerability and exposure to several frank and opportunistic pathogens. This, together with rampant antimicrobial resistance and reduced prospects for newer drugs and vaccines, is forcing a higher reliance on microbiocides in infection prevention and control. That this reliance may not be well-founded becomes apparent from a closer look at current ways of testing and registering microbiocides, their label claims as well as human and environmental safety of certain widely used microbicidal chemicals. Many methods to test microbiocides for registration are flawed and/or entail test conditions irrelevant to field use. Pathogens listed on product labels may not be among those amenable to interruption through microbiocide use. The wide variations and discrepancies in existing national/regional regulations for registering microbiocides for sale stifle innovation. This is a critical look at the above-mentioned issues with emphasis on chemicals meant for use on environmental surfaces and medical devices. It highlights better ways to test microbiocides and to attain global harmonization of testing and product registration. It also details the known and potential dangers of microbiocide use and what to consider in choosing such formulations for optimal safety and effectiveness. End users are advised to be more critical and prudent in the selection and application of microbicidal chemicals, manufacturers are encouraged to explore infection control products and technologies that are safer in the workplace and for the environment, and regulators are urged to review and update the requirements and procedures for premarket review of microbiocide efficacy data and label claims. Independent investigations are also urgently needed to document the proportion of nosocomial infections that would be amenable to prevention through chemical disinfection of environmental surfaces. [source] ,-matrix preconditioners for symmetric saddle-point systems from meshfree discretizationNUMERICAL LINEAR ALGEBRA WITH APPLICATIONS, Issue 10 2008Sabine Le Borne Abstract Meshfree methods are suitable for solving problems on irregular domains, avoiding the use of a mesh. To deal with the boundary conditions, we can use Lagrange multipliers and obtain a sparse, symmetric and indefinite system of saddle-point type. Many methods have been developed to solve the indefinite system. Previously, we presented an algebraic method to construct an LU-based preconditioner for the saddle-point system obtained by meshfree methods, which combines the multilevel clustering method with the ,-matrix arithmetic. The corresponding preconditioner has both ,-matrix and sparse matrix subblocks. In this paper we refine the above method and propose a way to construct a pure ,-matrix preconditioner. We compare the new method with the old method, JOR and smoothed algebraic multigrid methods. The numerical results show that the new preconditioner outperforms the preconditioners based on the other methods. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Analyzing unreplicated 2k factorial designs by examining their projections into k -1 factorsQUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2010P. Angelopoulos Abstract Unreplicated factorial designs are widely used as experimental designs because of the economy they offer in run size. However, they are difficult to analyze because there are no degrees of freedom left to estimate the experimental error. Many methods have been proposed for the analysis of such designs with Lenth's (Technometrics 1989; 31:469,473) and Dong's (Statist. Sinica 1993; 3:209,217) being the most popular. In this paper we take advantage of the projective property of factorial designs and we propose a simple yet effective method for analyzing unreplicated factorial designs. The results are compared through a simulation study with Lenth's and Dong's methods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Online Measurement of Hydrocortisone Particles and Improvement of the Crystallization ProcessCHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 7 2009J.-X. Chen Abstract Many methods have been developed to measure crystal particle size. The online Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (FBRM) and a classical offline Laser Diffraction Method (LDM) were used to measure the size of the polyvinylchloride (PVC) particles and hydrocortisone (HC) crystals. For the standard spherical PVC particles, the particle sizes measured using both FBRM and LDM are similar. However, for the anomalistic HC particles, the difference between the particle sizes measured by the above two methods increased with the increase in the degree of scrambling. The online monitoring of the particle size by direct installation of a FBRM probe into the crystallization process helped indicate the crystal quality, and thus, improve the control of crystallization processes. [source] Similarity-Based Virtual Screening with a Bayesian Inference NetworkCHEMMEDCHEM, Issue 2 2009Ammar Abdo Abstract An inference network model for molecular similarity searching: The similarity search problem is modeled using inference or evidential reasoning under uncertainty. The inference network model treats similarity searching as an evidential reasoning process in which multiple sources of evidence about compounds and reference structures are combined to estimate resemblance probabilities. Many methods have been developed to capture the biological similarity between two compounds for use in drug discovery. A variety of similarity metrics have been introduced, the Tanimoto coefficient being the most prominent. Many of the approaches assume that molecular features or descriptors that do not relate to the biological activity carry the same weight as the important aspects in terms of biological similarity. Herein, a novel similarity searching approach using a Bayesian inference network is discussed. Similarity searching is regarded as an inference or evidential reasoning process in which the probability that a given compound has biological similarity with the query is estimated and used as evidence. Our experiments demonstrate that the similarity approach based on Bayesian inference networks is likely to outperform the Tanimoto similarity search and offer a promising alternative to existing similarity search approaches. [source] Chiral synthesis of secondary alcohols using Geotrichum candidumCHIRALITY, Issue 9 2002Kaoru Nakamura Abstract Chiral synthesis of secondary alcohols of both the (S)- and (R)-enantiomer with extremely high enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee) using a biocatalyst, Geotrichum candidum, is reviewed. Resting cell and dried-cell preparation using acetone were applied to oxidation, reduction, and deracemization reactions. Many methods to improve the reactivity and enantioselectivity of the reactions were developed. For example, additives such as secondary alcohols and hydrophobic resin (AmberliteÔ XAD) were used in nonaqueous reaction media such as organic and supercritical solvents as well as in aqueous ones. As a result, optically pure alcohols of both enantiomers were synthesized on a gram scale. Chirality 14:703,708, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Integrative optimization by RBF network and particle swarm optimizationELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATIONS IN JAPAN, Issue 12 2009Satoshi Kitayama Abstract This paper presents a method for the integrative optimization system. Recently, many methods for global optimization have been proposed. The objective of these methods is to find a global minimum of nonconvex function. However, large numbers of function evaluations are required, in general. We utilize the response surface method to approximate function space to reduce the function evaluations. The response surface method is constructed from sampling points. The RBF Network, which is one of the neural networks, is utilized to approximate the function space. Then Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is applied to the response surface. The proposed system consists of three parts: (Part 1) generation of the sampling points, (Part 2) construction of response surface by RBF Network, (Part 3) optimization by PSO. By iterating these three parts, it is expected that the approximate global minimum of nonconvex function can be obtained with a small number of function evaluations. Through numerical examples, the effectiveness and validity are examined. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 92(12): 31,42, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience. wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.10187 [source] Recent developments in peptide stereoisomer separations by capillary electromigration techniquesELECTROPHORESIS, Issue S1 2009Gerhard K. E. Scriba Abstract The stereochemistry of peptides determines their physicochemical and biological activities. Thus, analytical methods that are able to discriminate between peptide stereoisomers are important. As peptides are typically hydrophilic compounds, many methods for the separation of peptide diastereomers and enantiomers have been developed by capillary electromigration techniques. Moreover, peptide enantiomers displayed unique migration behavior such as a pH-dependent change of the enantiomer migration order in CD-mediated enantioseparations in CE making them ideal compounds to study mechanistic effects of enantioseparations. The present short review summarizes recent developments in the separation of stereoisomers of peptide and peptidomimetics by capillary electromigration techniques. Moreover, recent NMR and molecular modeling studies as well as investigation on the effect of buffer additives on complex formation will be discussed as attempts to understand mechanistic aspects of peptide enantioseparations and to analyze the structure of peptide-CD complexes. [source] Affected-sib-pair test for linkage based on constraints for identical-by-descent distributions corresponding to disease models with imprinting,GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 4 2004Michael Knapp Abstract Holmans' possible triangle test for affected sib pairs has proven to be a powerful tool for linkage analysis. This test is a likelihood-ratio test for which maximization is restricted to the set of possible sharing probabilities. Here, we extend the possible triangle test to take into account genomic imprinting, which is also known as parent-of-origin effect. While the classical test without imprinting looks at whether affected sib pairs share 0, 1, or 2 alleles identical-by-descent, the likelihood-ratio test allowing for imprinting further distinguishes whether the sharing of exactly one allele is through the father or mother. Thus, if the disease gene is indeed subject to imprinting, the extended test presented here can take into account that affecteds will have inherited the mutant allele preferentially from one particular parent. We calculate the sharing probabilities at a marker locus linked to a disease susceptibility locus. Using our formulation, the constraints on these probabilities given by Dudoit and Speed ([1999] Statistics in Genetics; New York: Springer) can easily be verified. Next, we derive the asymptotic distribution of the restricted likelihood-ratio test statistic under the null hypothesis of no linkage, and give LOD-score criteria for various test sizes. We show, for various disease models, that the test allowing for imprinting has significantly higher power to detect linkage if imprinting is indeed present, at the cost of only a small reduction in power in case of no imprinting. Altogether, unlike many methods currently available, our novel model-free sib-pair test adequately models the epigenetic parent-of-origin effect, and will hopefully prove to be a useful tool for the genetic mapping of complex traits. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] How you count counts: the importance of methods research in applied ecologyJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2008Chris S. Elphick Summary 1Methods papers play a crucial role in advancing applied ecology. Counting organisms, in particular, has a rich history of methods development with many key advances both in field sampling and the treatment of resulting data. 2Most counts, however, have associated errors due to portions of the population of interest being unavailable for detection (e.g. target population not fully sampled; individuals present but not detectable), detection mistakes (e.g. detectable individuals missed; non-existent individuals recorded), or erroneous counts (e.g. large groups miscounted; individuals misidentified). 3Developments in field methods focus on reducing biases in the actual counts. Simultaneously, statisticians have developed many methods for improving inference by quantifying and correcting for biases retrospectively. Prominent examples of methods used to account for detection errors include distance sampling and multiple-observer methods. 4Simulations, in which population characteristics are set by the investigator, provide an efficient means of testing methods. With good estimates of sampling biases, computer simulations can be used to evaluate how much a given counting problem affects estimates of parameters such as population size and decline, thereby allowing applied ecologists to test the efficacy of sampling designs. Combined with cost estimates for each field method, such models would allow the cost-effectiveness of alternative protocols to be assessed. 5Synthesis and applications. Major advances are likely to come from research that looks for systematic patterns, across studies, in the effects of different types of bias and assumption violation on the ecological conclusions drawn. Specifically, determining how often, and under what circumstances, errors contribute to poor management and policy would greatly enhance future application of ecological knowledge. [source] A reliable body condition scoring technique for estimating condition in African buffaloAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Vanessa O. Ezenwa Abstract Evaluating animal body condition is a necessary component of many ecological studies. Although many methods for assessing animal body condition have been developed, relatively few can be used for estimating condition on live animals. Noninvasive body condition scoring techniques have been developed for assessing condition in livestock and more recently such techniques have been applied to wild ungulates. In this study, we examined the reliability of a body condition scoring technique for assessing condition in African buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer). We compared a body condition score (BCS) based on visual assessment and manual palpation of an animal's body to two standard metrics of condition widely used in mammals: kidney fat index (KFI) and haematocrit (HCT). Across all buffalo, BCS was significantly and positively correlated with both KFI and HCT. For HCT, this pattern was observed among adults, juveniles, males and females; and in the wet season but not in the dry season. For KFI, BCS was significantly and positively correlated with KFI among adults, juveniles and males, but not in females. Overall, our results suggest that the BCS technique can serve as a useful method for estimating body condition in buffalo. Résumé L'évaluation de la condition corporelle d'un animal est une composante nécessaire de nombreuses études écologiques. Bien que l'on ait mis au point de nombreuses méthodes pour réaliser cette évaluation, relativement peu peuvent servir à estimer la condition d'animaux vivants. Des techniques noninvasives ont été développées pour évaluer la condition physique chez le bétail et, plus récemment, de telles techniques ont aussi été appliquées aux animaux sauvages. Dans cette étude, nous avons examiné la fiabilité d'une technique d'évaluation de la condition physique conçue pour étudier celle du buffle africain (Syncerus caffer caffer). Nous avons comparé un indice de condition corporelle (Body condition score , BCS) basé sur une évaluation visuelle et la palpation manuelle du corps d'un animal à deux indicateurs standards de condition largement utilisés chez les mammifères: l'indice graisseux des reins (Kidney fat index , KFI) et l'hématocrite (HTC). Chez tous les buffles, le BCS était significativement et positivement lié avec le KFI et le HTC. Pour le HTC, ce schéma tenait pour les adultes et les juvéniles, mâles et femelles; et en saison des pluies mais pas en saison sèche. En ce qui concerne le KFI, le BCS lui était significativement et positivement lié chez les adultes, les juvéniles et les mâles, mais pas les femelles. En général, nos résultats suggèrent que la technique de BCS peut être une méthode utile pour évaluer la condition corporelle des buffles. [source] An alignment-free methodology for modelling field-based 3D-structure activity relationships using inductive logic programmingJOURNAL OF CHEMOMETRICS, Issue 12 2007Bård Buttingsrud Abstract Traditional 3D-quantitative structure,activity relationship (QSAR)/structure,activity relationship (SAR) methodologies are sensitive to the quality of an alignment step which is required to make molecular structures comparable. Even though many methods have been proposed to solve this problem, they often result in a loss of model interpretability. The requirement of alignment is a restriction imposed by traditional regression methods due to their failure to represent relations between data objects directly. Inductive logic programming (ILP) is a class of machine-learning methods able to describe relational data directly. We propose a new methodology which is aimed at using the richness in molecular interaction fields (MIFs) without being restricted by any alignment procedure. A set of MIFs is computed and further compressed by finding their minima corresponding to the sites of strongest interaction between a molecule and the applied test probe. ILP uses these minima to build easily interpretable rules about activity expressed as pharmacophore rules in the powerful language of first-order logic. We use a set of previously published inhibitors of factor Xa of the benzamidine family to discuss the problems, requirements and advantages of the new methodology. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] On the performance of some aromaticity indices: A critical assessment using a test setJOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 10 2008Ferran Feixas Abstract Aromaticity is a central chemical concept widely used in modern chemistry for the interpretation of molecular structure, stability, reactivity, and magnetic properties of many compounds. As such, its reliable prediction is an important task of computational chemistry. In recent years, many methods to quantify aromaticity based on different physicochemical properties of molecules have been proposed. However, the nonobservable nature of aromaticity makes difficult to assess the performance of the numerous existing indices. In the present work, we introduce a series of fifteen aromaticity tests that can be used to analyze the advantages and drawbacks of a group of aromaticity descriptors. On the basis of the results obtained for a set of ten indicators of aromaticity, we conclude that indices based on the study of electron delocalization in aromatic species are the most accurate among those examined in this work. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2008 [source] The synthesis of dopaminergic radioligands labelled with tritium and iodine-125JOURNAL OF LABELLED COMPOUNDS AND RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS, Issue 8 2007Crist N. Filer Abstract The preparation of dopaminergic ligands radiolabelled with either tritium or iodine-125 has been an extremely important undertaking to advance understanding of this critical receptor class and the topic is reviewed from 1976 through 2006. Although not an exhaustive compilation of references, the cited examples highlight the many methods employed to prepare these useful reagents. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Using a Box,Cox transformation in the analysis of longitudinal data with incomplete responsesJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES C (APPLIED STATISTICS), Issue 3 2000S. R. Lipsitz We analyse longitudinal data on CD4 cell counts from patients who participated in clinical trials that compared two therapeutic treatments: zidovudine and didanosine. The investigators were interested in modelling the CD4 cell count as a function of treatment, age at base-line and disease stage at base-line. Serious concerns can be raised about the normality assumption of CD4 cell counts that is implicit in many methods and therefore an analysis may have to start with a transformation. Instead of assuming that we know the transformation (e.g. logarithmic) that makes the outcome normal and linearly related to the covariates, we estimate the transformation, by using maximum likelihood, within the Box,Cox family. There has been considerable work on the Box,Cox transformation for univariate regression models. Here, we discuss the Box,Cox transformation for longitudinal regression models when the outcome can be missing over time, and we also implement a maximization method for the likelihood, assumming that the missing data are missing at random. [source] Watch Out for Nuts in Your Travels: An Unusual Case of Drug-Facilitated RobberyJOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2009Ender Senol MD Among many methods to facilitate robbery is spiking unsuspected victims' food or beverage with drugs. In this short report, we would like to present a highly unusual and a very creative case of drug-facilitated robbery to highlight the possibility of this type of case in the field of travel safety. [source] Wavelet analysis for detecting anisotropy in point patternsJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 2 2004Michael S. Rosenberg Although many methods have been proposed for analysing point locations for spatial pattern, previous methods have concentrated on clumping and spacing. The study of anisotropy (changes in spatial pattern with direction) in point patterns has been limited by lack of methods explicitly designed for these data and this purpose; researchers have been constrained to choosing arbitrary test directions or converting their data into quadrat counts and using methods designed for continuously distributed data. Wavelet analysis, a booming approach to studying spatial pattern, widely used in mathematics and physics for signal analysis, has started to make its way into the ecological literature. A simple adaptation of wavelet analysis is proposed for the detection of anisotropy in point patterns. The method is illustrated with both simulated and field data. This approach can easily be used for both global and local spatial analysis. [source] The determination of enantiomeric excess of valine by ODESSA solid-state NMR experimentMAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue 10 2006bieta J. Tadeusiak Abstract The enantiomeric excess (ee) can be determined by many methods; one among them is nuclear magnetic resonance in solid-state (SS NMR). In this study we used the SS NMR ODESSA experiment for determination of the ee of valine. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Application of tropical legumes for pig feedANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007Apichai MEKBUNGWAN ABSTRACT Raw legume seeds are important source of protein and other nutrients for monogastric animals. However, these legume seeds include many kinds of anti-nutritive factors (ANF) such as trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors, lectins and tannins. Although these ANF vary by species, cultivation areas and harvesting methods, they play a role in decreasing the utilization of nutrients. The pig is a monogastric animal which is slightly tolerant to the ANF in raw legume seed. Nevertheless, the optimal use of legume seed as a pig feed necessitates a lowering of the toxicity in the raw seed until it is appropriate for incorporation in the feed. There are many methods to improve the utilization of nutrients in legume seed, such as breeding improvement, physical treatments (decortications, dehulling, milling and others), heat treatments (toasting, boiling, extrusion, streaming or autoclave), chelating substances for binding toxics, radiation and soaking. The choice of the treatment depends on the availability of facilities and economic considerations. This article reviews and discusses the nutrients in legume seeds and might offer an important information on legume seeds for pig feed to nutritionists. [source] Inter-expert agreement of seven criteria in causality assessment of adverse drug reactionsBRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 4 2007Yannick Arimone What is already known about this subject ,,In pharmacovigilance, many methods have been proposed for causality assessment of adverse drug reactions. ,,Expert judgement is commonly used to evaluate the causal relationship between a drug treatment and the occurrence of an adverse event. This form of judgement relies either explicitly or implicitly on causality criteria. What this study adds ,,Our study compares the judgements of five senior experts using global introspection about drug causation and seven causality criteria on a random set of putative adverse drug reactions. ,,Even if previous publications have shown poor agreement between experts using global introspection, few have compared judgements of well trained pharmacologists, familiar with using a standardized causality assessment method. Aims To evaluate agreement between five senior experts when assessing seven causality criteria and the probability of drug causation. Methods A sample of 31 adverse event-drug pairs was constituted. For each pair, five experts separately assessed (i) the probability of drug causation, which was secondarily divided into seven causality levels: ruled out (0,0.05), unlikely (0.06,0.25), doubtful (0.26,0.45), indeterminate (0.46,0.55), plausible (0.56,0.75), likely (0.76,0.95), and certain (0.96,1); and (ii) seven causality criteria. To test discrepancies between experts, the kappa index was used. Results The agreement of the five experts was very poor (kappa = 0.05) for the probability of drug causation. Among the seven levels of causality, only ,doubtful' showed a significant rate of agreement (kappa = 0.32, P < 0.001). For all criteria, the kappa index was significant except for the item ,risk(s) factor(s)' (kappa = 0.09). Agreement between experts was good (0.64, P < 0.001) only for the criterion ,reaction at site of application or toxic plasma concentration of the drug or validated test'. However, the rate of agreement with kappa indices of the causality criteria ranged from 0.12 to 0.38. Conclusions This study confirms that in the absence of an operational procedure, agreement between experts is low. This should be considered when designing a causality assessment method. In particular, criteria inducing a low level of agreement should have their weight reduced. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||