Search results for "Data interpretation"

The EORTC computer-adaptive tests measuring physical functioning and fatigue exhibited high levels of measurement precision and efficiency

2013

Objectives: The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Group is developing a computer-adaptive test (CAT) version of the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30). We evaluated the measurement properties of the CAT versions of physical functioning (PF) and fatigue (FA) and compared these with the corresponding QLQ-C30 scales. Study Design and Setting: Based on international samples of more than 1,000 cancer patients, we simulated CAT administration of varying numbers of items and compared the resulting scores with those based on all items in the respective item pools. Furthermore, the relative validity (RV) of CATs was compared with that of th…

Ranking Series of Cancer-Related Gene Expression Data by Means of the Superposing Significant Interaction Rules Method

2020

The Superposing Significant Interaction Rules (SSIR) method is a combinatorial procedure that deals with symbolic descriptors of samples. It is able to rank the series of samples when those items are classified into two classes. The method selects preferential descriptors and, with them, generates rules that make up the rank by means of a simple voting procedure. Here, two application examples are provided. In both cases, binary or multilevel strings encoding gene expressions are considered as descriptors. It is shown how the SSIR procedure is useful for ranking the series of patient transcription data to diagnose two types of cancer (leukemia and prostate cancer) obtaining Area Under Recei…

Impaired semantic processing during sentence reading in children with dyslexia: combined fMRI and ERP evidence

2008

Developmental dyslexia is a specific disorder of reading acquisition characterized by a phonological core deficit. Sentence reading is also impaired in dyslexic readers, but whether semantic processing deficits contribute is unclear. Combining spatially and temporally sensitive neuroimaging techniques to focus on semantic processing can provide a more comprehensive characterization of sentence reading in dyslexia. We recorded brain activity from 52 children (16 with dyslexia, 31 controls) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERP) in two separate counterbalanced sessions. The children silently read and occasionally judged simple sentences with seman…

Resting state glucose utilization and the CERAD cognitive battery in patients with Alzheimer's disease

2004

The present study examined the cortical functional representation of neuropsychological domains in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using positron emission tomography (PET) and the neuropsychological assessment battery of the Consortium to Establish a Registry of Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). Thirty patients with clinical probable AD and 10 elderly healthy controls underwent (18)FDG brain PET imaging during a resting state. Correlations between metabolic values and cognitive measures were determined using a region of interest analysis with NEUROSTAT (University of Michigan, USA) and a voxel-based analysis with SPM96 (Wellcome Department, London, UK). Specific correlations were seen between measures …

The Gene-Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases (GEIRD) Project.

2009

The role of genetic and environmental factors, as well as their interaction, in the natural history of asthma, allergic rhinitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is largely unknown. This is mainly due to the lack of large-scale analytical epidemiological/genetic studies aimed at investigating these 3 respiratory conditions simultaneously. The GEIRD project is a collaborative initiative designed to collect information on biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress, individual and ecological exposures, diet, early-life factors, smoking habits, genetic traits and medication use in large and accurately defined series of asthma, allergic rhinitis and COPD phenotypes. It is a …

Reading skill and neural processing accuracy improvement after a 3-hour intervention in preschoolers with difficulties in reading-related skills

2012

This study aimed at determining whether an intervention game developed for strengthening phonological awareness has a remediating effect on reading skills and central auditory processing in 6-year-old preschool children with difficulties in reading-related skills. After a 3-hour training only, these children made a greater progress in reading-related skills than did their matched controls who did mathematical exercises following comparable training format. Furthermore, the results suggest that this brief intervention might be beneficial in modulating the neural basis of phonetic discrimination as an enhanced speech-elicited mismatch negativity (MMN) was seen in the intervention group, indic…

Multi-Slice CT (MSCT) in Cardiac Function Imaging: Threshold-Value-Supported 3D Volume Reconstructions to Determine the Left Ventricular Ejection Fra…

2002

Diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography in patients with low-to-intermediate risk

2007

Purpose. Our aim was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of 64- slice computed tomography coronary angiography (MSCT-CA) for detecting significant stenosis (≥50% lumen reduction) in a population of patients at low to intermediate risk. Materials and methods. We studied 72 patients (38 men, 34 women, mean age 53.9±8.0 years) with atypical or typical chest pain and stratified in the low- to intermediate risk category. MSCT-CA (Sensation 64 Cardiac, Siemens, Germany) was performed after IV administration of 100 ml of iodinated contrast material (Iomeprol 400 mgI/ml, Bracco, Italy). Two observers, blinded to the results of conventional coronary angiography (CAG), assessed the MSCT-CA scans in c…

A supervised learning framework of statistical shape and probability priors for automatic prostate segmentation in ultrasound images

2013

Prostate segmentation aids in prostate volume estimation, multi-modal image registration, and to create patient specific anatomical models for surgical planning and image guided biopsies. However, manual segmentation is time consuming and suffers from inter-and intra-observer variabilities. Low contrast images of trans rectal ultrasound and presence of imaging artifacts like speckle, micro-calcifications, and shadow regions hinder computer aided automatic or semi-automatic prostate segmentation. In this paper, we propose a prostate segmentation approach based on building multiple mean parametric models derived from principal component analysis of shape and posterior probabilities in a multi…

Co-adaptation of pheromone production and behavioural responses in Drosophila melanogaster males

1999

0016-6723 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; In Drosophila melanogaster, male courtship behaviour is genetically controlled and is influenced by sex pheromones. 7-tricosene (7-T) induces a dose-dependent inhibition of male-male courtship, whereas 7,11-dienes stimulate male courtship of females. There is a geographical quantitative variation in the production of two predominant male hydrocarbons, 7-T and 7-pentacosene (7-P). We have previously found that 7-P, the main hydrocarbon from males of West African strains, stimulates males that mainly produce 7-T. Using both 'natural' and genetically engineered strains, we find that genetic factors coding for low levels of 7-P…