Search results for "specificity"

Discrimination of early/intermediate and advanced/complicated coronary plaque types by radiofrequency intravascular ultrasound analysis

2002

Radiofrequency intravascular ultrasound (IVUS-RF) analysis, as an extension of conventional IVUS imaging, may provide more accurate plaque discrimination. Thirty-two autopsy atherosclerotic coronary arteries were investigated. Corresponding sectors in different plaques were matched by histologic and RF analysis. Histologic analysis utilized the American Heart Association plaque classification. The backscattered ultrasound RF signal was analyzed by fast-Fourier transform, providing the underlying frequency components of its power spectrum. The normalized backscattered signal power (in decibels [dB]) for frequencies between 15.3 and 40.3 MHz was then measured for plaque discrimination. Advanc…

Microbial technologies for the discovery of novel bioactive metabolites

2002

Soil microbes represent an important source of biologically active compounds. These molecules present original and unexpected structure and are selective inhibitors of their molecular targets. At Biosearch Italia, discovery of new bioactive molecules is mostly carried out through the exploitation of a proprietary strain collection of over 50000 strains, mostly unusual genera of actinomycetes and uncommon filamentous fungi. A critical element in a drug discovery based on microbial extracts is the isolation of unexploited groups of microorganisms that are at the same time good producers of secondary metabolites. Molecular genetics can assist in these efforts. We will review the development an…

Implementation of Sample Pooling Procedure Using a Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostic Real-Time PCR Test Performed Prior to Hospital Admission of People wit…

2021

Reliability, accuracy, and timeliness of diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection have allowed adequate public health management of the disease, thus notably helping the timely mapping of viral spread within the community. Furthermore, the most vulnerable populations, such as people with intellectual disability and dementia, represent a high-risk group across multiple dimensions, including a higher prevalence of pre-existing conditions, lower health maintenance, and a propensity for rapid community spread. This led to an urgent need for reliable in-house rapid testing to be performed prior to hospital admission. In the present study, we describe a pooling procedure in which oropharyngeal…

Critical assessment of chitotriosidase analysis in the rational laboratory diagnosis of children with Gaucher disease and Niemann-Pick disease type A…

2006

Laboratory diagnosis of lysosomal storage disorders, especially sphingomyelinase deficiency (Niemann–Pick disease type A/B) and Niemann–Pick disease type C (NPC) can be challenging. We therefore aimed to analyse the feasibility of first-step screening with specific chitotriosidase cut-off values in children ≤ 10 years of age with visceral organomegaly (hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, or hepatosplenomegaly) in whom a storage disorder was suspected. We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional, referral, single-centre study to assess diagnostic test properties in 106 individuals. Median chitotriosidase activity was 12 655 nmol/h per ml (interquartile range 4693–20982) in Gaucher disease (GD); 78…

LI-RADS ancillary features favoring benignity: is there a role in LR-5 observations?

2021

The Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System algorithm allows category downgrade in the presence of ancillary features (AFs) favoring benignity, even in observations categorized as LR-5. This study aims to assess the role of AFs favoring benignity in LR-5 observations and their impact on category downgrade. This study included high-risk patients with at least one LR-5 observation imaged with gadoxetate disodium MRI. Three readers with different experience levels independently evaluated the presence of AFs favoring malignancy (not hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in particular and HCC in particular) and AFs favoring benignity. Category downgrade was considered possible in the presence of ≥ 1 AF…

Systematic review of the diagnosis of gastric premalignant conditions and neoplasia with high-resolution endoscopic technologies

2013

Aim. The aim of the article is to systematically review the current evidence on the diagnostic use of narrow band imaging (NBI), flexible spectral imaging color enhancement (FICE) and endoscopic image enhancement technology i-scan endoscopies for gastric precancerous and cancerous lesions. Materials and methods. Original manuscripts were searched in PubMed until October 2012. Pertinent data were collected and pooled diagnostic accuracy measures were estimated when possible. Results. In total, 38 studies were evaluated. Thirty-one studies were included for NBI and 7 studies for FICE assessment in this systematic review. No article was found meeting inclusion criteria for i-scan endoscopy. Th…

The value of high resolution CT in the diagnosis of meniscal lesions of the knee

1991

We report on 50 patients who had meniscal pathology and were given computed tomographic (CT) scans. Our diagnostic accuracy was approximately 92%. We believe that CT is a good method of screening these patients prior to using a much more expensive method, such as magnetic resonance imaging or diagnostic arthroscopy.

Distribution of osteonectin mRNA and protein during human embryonic and fetal development.

1992

We investigated the temporal and spatial distribution of osteonectin during human embryonic and fetal development, using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Osteonectin gene expression was generally found in cells exhibiting high rates of matrix production/proliferation. In mineralized tissue, a strong signal was obtained in osteoblasts, odontoblasts, and chondrocytes of the upper hypertrophic and proliferative zones. Chondrocytes of the mineralized zone showed no expression throughout the different stages of development. Strong osteonectin expression was found in odontoblasts of developing teeth. In addition, osteonectin mRNA and protein were detected in several non-mineralize…

Brains burning fat: Different forms of energy metabolism in the CNS of insects

1983

Need to evaluate the performance of real-time PCR assays for the quantitation of cytomegalovirus DNA load in lower respiratory tract specimens

2013

There is an increasing appreciation for the potential clinical value of the quantitation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in the lower respiratory tract in critically ill patients lacking canonical immunosuppression, in view of the possible pathogenic role of CMV in these patients [1]. No data have been published on the analytical performance of real-time PCR assays for this purpose. We present our data on the performance of the COBAS® AmpliPrep/COBAS® TaqMan CMV PCR Assay (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) for the quantitation of CMV DNA in tracheal aspirates (TA). This CMV PCR assay has been approved recently by the US Food and Drug Administration for use with plasma specimens [2]. We cho…