In this paper,the research achievements and progress of Yunnan tea germplasm resource in past sixty years are systematically reviewed from the following aspects:exploration,collecting,conservation,protection,identifi...In this paper,the research achievements and progress of Yunnan tea germplasm resource in past sixty years are systematically reviewed from the following aspects:exploration,collecting,conservation,protection,identification,evaluation and shared utilization.Simultaneously,the current problems and the suggestions about subsequent development of tea germplasm resources in Yunnan were discussed,including superior and rare germplasm collection,tea genetic diversity research,biotechnology utilization in tea germplasm innovation,super gene exploration and function,the construction of utilization platform,biological base of species and population conservation.展开更多
The coherence method is always used to describe the discontinuity and heterogeneity of seismic data. In traditional coherence methods, a linear correlation coefficient is always used to measure the relationship betwee...The coherence method is always used to describe the discontinuity and heterogeneity of seismic data. In traditional coherence methods, a linear correlation coefficient is always used to measure the relationship between two random variables (i.e., between two seismic traces). However, mathematically speaking, a linear correlation coefficient cannot be applied to describe nonlinear relationships between variables. In order to overcome this limitation of liner correlation coefficient. We proposed an improved concordance measurement algorithm based on Kendall's tau. That mainly concern the sensitivity of the liner correlation coefficient and concordance measurements on the waveform. Using two designed numerical models tests sensitivity of waveform similarity affected by these two factors. The analysis of both the numerical model results and real seismic data processing suggest that the proposed method, combining information divergence measurement, can not only precisely characterize the variations of waveform and the heterogeneity of an underground geological body, but also does so with high resolution. In addition, we verified its effectiveness by the actual application of real seismic data from the north of China.展开更多
AIM:To assess patients' understanding for the reasons for taking 5-aminosalicylic acid or ursodeoxycholic acid as chemoprophylaxis against colorectal carcinoma associated with in? ammatory bowel disease (IBD). MET...AIM:To assess patients' understanding for the reasons for taking 5-aminosalicylic acid or ursodeoxycholic acid as chemoprophylaxis against colorectal carcinoma associated with in? ammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: A questionnaire-based study using a 5 point opinion scale was performed. One hundred and ninety-two patients with colitis only and 74 patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis and IBD were invited to take part. RESULTS: Overall response rate was 58%. Sixtyfour percent of patients claimed full concordance with chemoprophylaxis for maintenance of remission. Eightyfour percent of patients considered daily concordance during remission to be very important. Seventy-five percent stated they understood the reasons for taking the drugs. However, only 50% of the patients were aware of any link of their condition to bowel cancer. Seventy-nine percent of patients felt their concordance and understanding would be improved if they were informed of the chemoprophylactic potential of the medication.展开更多
AIM To examine the correlation between magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and endoscopic index of severity(CDEIS) in patients with Crohn's disease(CD).METHODS This was a retrospective study of 104 patients with CD th...AIM To examine the correlation between magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and endoscopic index of severity(CDEIS) in patients with Crohn's disease(CD).METHODS This was a retrospective study of 104 patients with CD that were treated at the Ruijin Hospital between March 2015 and May 2016. Among them, 61 patients with active CD were evaluated before/after treatment. MRI and endoscopy were performed within 7 d. CDEIS was evaluated. MRI parameters included Ma RIA scores, total relative contrast enhancement(tRCE), arterialRCE(aRCE), portalRCE(pRCE), delay phaseRCE(dRCE), and apparent diffusion coefficient. The correlation and concordance between multiple MRI findings and CDEIS changes before and after CD treatment were examined.RESULTS Among the 104 patients, 61 patients were classified as active CD and 43 patients as inactive CD. Gender, age, disease duration, and disease location were not significantly different between the two groups(all P > 0.05). CRP levels were higher in the active group than in the inactive group(25.12 ± 4.12 vs 5.14 ± 0.98 mg/L, P < 0.001). Before treatment, the correlations between CDEIS and MaRIAs in all patients were r = 0.772 for tRCE, r = 0.754 for aRCE, r = 0.738 for pRCE, and r = 0.712 for dRCE(all MaRIAs, P < 0.001), followed by MRI single indexes. Among the active CD patients, 44 cases were remitted to inactive CD after treatment. The correlations between CDEIS and MaRIAs were r = 0.712 for aRCE, r = 0.705 for tRCE, r = 0.685 for pRCE, and r = 0.634 for dRCE(all MaRIAs, P < 0.001).CONCLUSION Arterial Ma RIA should be an indicator for CD follow-up and dynamic assessment. CD treatment assessment was not completely concordant between CDEIS and MRI.展开更多
About half or more of the patients with chronic psychiatric illnesses, either do not take their medications correctly, or completely stop taking them. The problem of poor initial compliance or adherence is often compo...About half or more of the patients with chronic psychiatric illnesses, either do not take their medications correctly, or completely stop taking them. The problem of poor initial compliance or adherence is often compounded by a continued decline in compliance/adherence over time. The failure to take medicines, adversely affects the outcome of treatment, and places a huge burden of wasted resources on the society. Three terms have been used to describe medication-taking among patients with chronic psychiatric disorders. Compliance is defined as "the extent to which the patient's behaviour matches the prescriber's recommendations". Though compliance has been frequently employed to describe medication-taking behaviour, it has proved problematic because it refers to a process where the clinician decides on a suitable treatment, which the patient is expected to comply with unquestioningly. Studies over the past few decades have emphasized the importance of patients' perspectives in medicationtaking, based on their own beliefs, their personal circumstances, the information and resources available for them. Adherence has been used as a replacement for compliance in an effort to place the clinician-patient relationship in its proper perspective. Adherence refers to a process, in which the appropriate treatment is decided after a proper discussion with the patient. It also implies that the patient is under no compulsion to accept a particular treatment, and is not to be held solely responsible for the occurrence of non-adherence. Adherence has been defined as "the extent to which a person's behaviour, taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes, corresponds with agreed recommendations from a health care provider". To overcome certain problems in the concept of adherence, a third term concordance has been used. The concept of concordance has evolved from a narrower view, emphasizing an agreement between the clinician and the patient, which takes into account each other's perspective on medication-taking, to a broader process consisting of open discussions with the patient regarding medication-taking, imparting information and supporting patients on long-term medication. It is a process, which entertains patients' views on medicationtaking, and acknowledges that patients' views have to be respected even if they make choices, which appear to be in conflict with the clinician's views. Although none of these terms are ideal solutions to understanding the complex process of medication-taking behaviour of patients, the move from compliance to adherence and concordance represents genuine progress in this field, which puts the patient's perceptions at the centre of the whole process.展开更多
BACKGROUND The burden of chronic kidney disease(CKD)is rising rapidly globally.Fluid overload(FO),an independent predictor of mortality in CKD,should be accurately assessed to guide estimation of the volume of fluid t...BACKGROUND The burden of chronic kidney disease(CKD)is rising rapidly globally.Fluid overload(FO),an independent predictor of mortality in CKD,should be accurately assessed to guide estimation of the volume of fluid to be removed during haemodialysis(HD).Clinical score(CS)and bio-impedance analysis(BIA)have been utilized in assessment of FO and BIA has demonstrated reproducibility and accuracy in determination of fluid status in patients on HD.There is need to determine the performance of locally-developed CSs in fluid status assessment when evaluated against BIA.AIM To assess the hydration status of patients on maintenance HD using BIA and a CS,as well as to evaluate the performance of that CS against BIA in fluid status assessment.METHODS This was a single-centre,hospital-based cross-sectional study which recruited adult patients with CKD who were on maintenance HD at Kenyatta National Hospital.The patients were aged 18 years and above and had been on maintenance HD for at least 3 mo.Those with pacemakers,metallic implants,or bilateral limbs amputations were excluded.Data on the patients’clinical history,physical examination,and chest radiograph findings were collected.BIA was performed on each of the study participants using the Quantum®II bio-impedance analyser manufactured by RJL Systems together with the BC 4®software.In evaluating the performance of the CS,BIA was considered as the gold standard test.A 2-by-2 table of the participants’fluid status at each of the CS values obtained compared to their paired BIA results was constructed(either++,+-,--or-+for FO using the CS and BIA,respectively).The results from this 2-by-2 table were used to compute the sensitivity and specificity of the CS at the various reference points and subsequently plot a receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve that was used to determine the best cut-off point.Those above and below the best CS cut-off point as determined by the ROC were classified as being positive and negative for FO,respectively.The proportions of participants diagnosed with FO by the CS and BIA,respectively,were computed and summarized in a 2-by-2 contingency table for comparison.McNemar’s chi-squared test was used to assess any statistically significant difference in proportions of patients diagnosed as having FO by CS and BIA.Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess whether the variables for the duration of dialysis,the number of missed dialysis sessions,advisement by health care professional on fluid or salt intake,actual fluid intake,the number of anti-hypertensives used,or body mass index were associated with a patient’s odds of having FO as diagnosed by BIA.RESULTS From 100 patients on maintenance HD screened for eligibility,80 were recruited into this study.Seventy-one(88.75%)patients were fluid overloaded when evaluated using BIA with mean extracellular volume of 3.02±1.79 L as opposed to the forty-seven(58.25%)patients who had FO when evaluated using the CS.The difference was significant,with a P value of<0.0001(95%confidence interval:0.1758-0.4242).Using CS,values above 4 were indicative of FO while values less than or equal to 4 denoted the best cut-off for no FO.The sensitivity and specificity for the CS were 63%and 78%respectively.None of the factors evaluated for association with FO showed statistical significance on the multivariable logistic regression model.CONCLUSION FO is very prevalent in patients on chronic HD at the Kenyatta National Hospital.CS detects FO less frequently when compared with BIA.The sensitivity and specificity for the CS were 63%and 78%respectively.None of the factors evaluated for association with FO showed statistical significance on the multivariable logistic regression model.展开更多
Assortative mating, the tendency for mate selection to occur on the basis of similar traits plays an essential role in understanding the genetic variation on academic achievements and intelligence (IQ), it is also an ...Assortative mating, the tendency for mate selection to occur on the basis of similar traits plays an essential role in understanding the genetic variation on academic achievements and intelligence (IQ), it is also an important mechanism explaining spousal concordance. We used a subset of The Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism sample to study the mating patterns in 84 pairs of spouses from Caucasian families with their academic achievements (reading, spelling, arithmetic, vocabulary and comprehension) and IQ (verbal IQ, performance IQ and full scale IQ). Simple correlation analysis showed that 6 of these 8 traits revealed evidence of spousal correlation (P < 0.05). The first principal component (PC1) of husbands explains 73.61% for the variation in the eight variables, which has high loadings from reading, spelling, arithmetic, verbal IQ and full scale IQ while PC1 of wives explains 72.86% for the variation in the eight variables, which has high loadings from reading, spelling, verbal IQ and full scale IQ. There was highly significant positive correlation between spouses by PC1 (P < 0.0001). The new variable PC1 may be important in spousal concordance and mate selection in society and act upon achievements and intelligence levels.展开更多
For two-way contingency tables with ordered categories, the present paper gives a theorem that the independence model holds if and only if the logit uniform association model holds and equality of concordance and disc...For two-way contingency tables with ordered categories, the present paper gives a theorem that the independence model holds if and only if the logit uniform association model holds and equality of concordance and discordance for all pairs of adjacent rows and all dichotomous collapsing of the columns holds. Using the theorem, we analyze the cross-classification of duodenal ulcer patients according to operation and dumping severity.展开更多
This study is based on the combination of the following three primary pylons:(1)Literature;(2)Information—Communication Technology;(3)Utilization of digital means in the educational approach.The objective of this pro...This study is based on the combination of the following three primary pylons:(1)Literature;(2)Information—Communication Technology;(3)Utilization of digital means in the educational approach.The objective of this project is the utilization of the concordance with the help of AntConc application in the educational approach and specifically in the subject of Modern Greek literature.With the contribution of the above application,the educational process makes it more effective to comprehend a particularly hard kind of literature such as poetry.Thus,Kyriakos Charalambides’1 poetry can be approached in both a different and an imaginative way,compared to the traditional textual way and as a result poetry can become more attractive for the students.The project is focused on the poetic work of Kyriakos Charalambides,which consists of thirteen collections of poems.The reference text,which is included in the textbook“Modern Greek Texts”taught in the 2nd Grade of High School and is part of the curriculum,is a poem called“Sweet Preserves”(Charalambides,2000).The objective is to investigate whether in practice and particularly in the subject of Modern Greek literature,the above mentioned application can be utilized through the search of the literal type“soil”,through AntConc application for tracing the appearance frequency of this word and by extension the highlighting of this thematic motif in the poetic work of Kyriakos Charalambides.Finally,in order that both the students’response(whether the objective was reached and the educational mediations were successful)and a certain level of awareness have been achieved,a questionnaire was distributed among the students and the students’answers were decoded through a specific type of software called SPSS so that the relevant outcomes were extracted.展开更多
The Latino population is the fastest growing and the largest minority group in the United States comprising 16% of the population younger than 18 years of age. Yet, little is known about the effect of acculturation in...The Latino population is the fastest growing and the largest minority group in the United States comprising 16% of the population younger than 18 years of age. Yet, little is known about the effect of acculturation in oral health related quality of life in Latino children and their parents. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of acculturation in parent and child’s perceptions of the child’s oral health status and oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) as well as the effect in the concordance between children and parents/caregivers. Method: Sixty-three Latino children between the ages of 8 and 15, and their parents were recruited from the waiting room at the University of California, San Francisco Orthodontic and Pediatric Clinics. Parent and children each separately completed the Child Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (COHIP) for children and COHIP for parent/caregiver. Results: Of the sixty-three children, fifteen children (23.8%) had a more negative perception of their oral health than their parents whereas twenty-three children (36.5%) had a more positive perception. In terms of agreement between children and parents, questions about oral health showed the lowest level of agreement (34.9%) and self-image questions the highest (55.6%). Conclusion: The study findings indicate that the more acculturated the child, the more negative their perception of their oral health. The level of disagreement between parent and child, underscores the importance of obtaining both the child and parent OHRQoL perceptions.展开更多
Concordance study between two laboratories testing clinical samples is important to a clinical program to assess the comparability of test results, especially when the two laboratories performed the same test at diffe...Concordance study between two laboratories testing clinical samples is important to a clinical program to assess the comparability of test results, especially when the two laboratories performed the same test at different locations. Assays that measure immune response should not be compared using the simple linear regression model; instead literature publications recommend an "errors-in-variables" model that accounts for the variability in these assays (Home, 1998). In this paper, concordance slope and intercept was estimated using the statistical linear relationship (Tan and Iglewicz, 1999) for various tests between laboratories. The confidence bounds for the concordance line were used to assess the impact on vaccine booster thresholds when a consistent bias was observed between the results generated by two laboratories.展开更多
Background: Accurate diagnosis of orofacial tumours is important as this determines the treatment options as well as the eventual treatment outcome. Agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis becomes i...Background: Accurate diagnosis of orofacial tumours is important as this determines the treatment options as well as the eventual treatment outcome. Agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis becomes important in this regard. Aims: The aim was to determine the level of agreement between clinical and histopathology diagnosis of orofacial lesions. Method: This is a retrospective study of all histopathology reports seen at KATH maxillofacial unit. Thedata collected included, clinical diagnosis and histological diagnosis. Results: A total of 567 histopathology reports were evaluated. The percentage of agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis was 62.8%. Conclusion: The agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis was high. However clinicians cannot rely on only the clinical diagnosis in managing patients.展开更多
Various resting-state fMRI(R-fMRI) measures have been developed to characterize intrinsic brain activity. While each of these measures has gained a growing presence in the literature, questions remain regarding the co...Various resting-state fMRI(R-fMRI) measures have been developed to characterize intrinsic brain activity. While each of these measures has gained a growing presence in the literature, questions remain regarding the common and unique aspects these indices capture. The present work provided a comprehensive examination of inter-individual variation and intra-individual temporal variation for commonly used measures, including fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations, regional homogeneity,voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity, network centrality and global signal correlation. Regardless of whether examining intra-individual or inter-individual variation, we found that these definitionally distinct R-fMRI indices tend to exhibit a relatively high degree of covariation, which doesn't exist in phase randomized surrogate data. As a measure of intrinsic brain function, concordance for R-fMRI indices was negatively correlated with age across individuals(i.e., concordance among functional indices decreased with age). To understand the functional significance of concordance, we noted that higher concordance was generally associated with higher strengths of R-fMRI indices, regardless of whether looking through the lens of inter-individual(i.e., high vs. low concordance participants) or intra-individual(i.e., high vs.low concordance states identified via temporal dynamic analyses) differences. We also noted a linear increase in functional concordance together with the R-fMRI indices through the scan, which may suggest a decrease in arousal. The current study demonstrated an enriched picture regarding the relationship among the R-fMRI indices, as well as provided new insights in examining dynamic states within and between individuals.展开更多
Qinghai Lake Watershed (QLW) is a hot place of a series of ecological restoration and environmental remediation programs nowadays.However,little information is available on change of ecosystem service and economic p...Qinghai Lake Watershed (QLW) is a hot place of a series of ecological restoration and environmental remediation programs nowadays.However,little information is available on change of ecosystem service and economic practice in this area.As ecosystem service and natural capital are closely related with social and economic development,an index of concordance between environment and economy (ICEE) has been proposed to compare the annual variation rate of ecosystem service value (RESV) with that of gross domestic product (RGDP).Using this Index,we have assessed concordance between environment and economy (CEE) for the QLW in the period 1977-2004.The result showed that from 1977 to 2004,the ecosystem service value in the QLW descended from 128.81×10 8 yuan to 127.32×10 8 yuan;In contrast,the GDP increased from 0.931×10 8 yuan to 8.856×10 8 yuan.The values of the I CEE were -1.14,-0.22,and -0.14 in the stages of 1977-1987,1987-2000 and 2000-2004,respectively.The result indicated that during the first stage 1977-1987,the relationship between environment and economy in the QLW was not concordant but at a high conflict;from 1987 to 2004,there was a low conflict between environment and economy,and the CEE appeared to increase slowly.Analysis of the assessment results showed that the national policies and industrial adjustment practice play an important role in the CEE changes.展开更多
<strong>Introduction:</strong> Tendinopathy of the thoracic limb (TMT) is frequent, and is responsible for an important socio-professional handicap. Medical imaging, in particular, ultrasound has a major r...<strong>Introduction:</strong> Tendinopathy of the thoracic limb (TMT) is frequent, and is responsible for an important socio-professional handicap. Medical imaging, in particular, ultrasound has a major role in contributing to the diagnosis. As the use of ultrasound is recent in osteoarticular pathology, especially in Africa, we proposed to determine the contribution of imaging in the diagnosis of tendinopathy of the thoracic limbs in a country with limited resources. <strong>Patients and Method:</strong> A descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study of patients with tendinopathy of the thoracic limb who consulted the rheumatology department of the CNHU-HKM of Cotonou from August 6, 2019 to October 6, 2019. We evaluated the concordance of thoracic limb tendinopathy between imaging (radiography and ultrasound) and the clinic on the one hand and then between radiography and ultrasound on the other hand. The analysis of the collected data was carried out with the Epi-info software version 7.2.1.0. Then the concordance was evaluated by the kappa coefficient. <strong>Results:</strong> Fifty- two (52) patients with 104 joints were evaluated. The average age was 54.92 ± 3.40 years. Clinically, rotator cuff tendinopathy was the most frequent abarticular pathology (45.19%). The clinical-ultrasound agreement was strong (k = 0.7527) for the shoulders, very strong (k = 0.9360) for the elbows and moderate for the wrists (k = 0.6695). The clinical-radiographic agreement was weak (k = 0.2316) at the shoulder level and very weak (k = 0.2087) at the elbow level. The radio-ultrasound agreement was very low in the shoulders (k = 0.1522), elbows (k = 0.1859) and wrists (k = 0.0001). <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The contribution of imaging in the diagnosis of TMT remains certain even in a country with limited resources like ours. Ultrasound is a reliable examination for the diagnosis of non-traumatic tendinopathy of the thoracic limb with a good clinical-ultra- sound concordance and a weak radio-clinical and radio-ultrasound concordance.展开更多
AIM: To investigate the liver stiffness measurement (LSM) applicability and variability with reference to three probe positions according to the region of liver biopsy. METHODS: The applicability for LSM was defined a...AIM: To investigate the liver stiffness measurement (LSM) applicability and variability with reference to three probe positions according to the region of liver biopsy. METHODS: The applicability for LSM was defined as at least 10 valid measurements with a success rate greater than 60% and an interquartile range/median LSM < 30%. The LSM variability compared the inter-position concordance and the concordance with FibroTest. RESULTS: Four hundred and forty two consecutive patients were included. The applicability of the anterior position (81%) was significantly higher than that of the reference (69%) and lower positions (68%), (both P = 0.0001). There was a signif icant difference (0.5 kPa, 95% CI 0.13-0.89; P < 0.0001) between mean LSM estimated at the reference position (9.3 kPa) vs the anterior position (8.8 kPa). Discordance between positions was associated with thoracic fold (P = 0.008). The discordance rate between the reference position result and FibroTest was higher when the 7.1 kPa cutoff was used to define advanced fibrosis instead of 8.8 kPa (33.6% vs 23.5%, P = 0.03).CONCLUSION: The anterior position of the probe should be the fi rst choice for LSM using Fibroscan, as it has a higher applicability without higher variability compared to the usual liver biopsy position.展开更多
Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of Ki-67 expression on core needle biopsy (CNB) and the surgical specimens of invasive breast cancer. We examined the concordance rate of Ki-67 expressions,...Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of Ki-67 expression on core needle biopsy (CNB) and the surgical specimens of invasive breast cancer. We examined the concordance rate of Ki-67 expressions, hormone receptors, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status from a CNB with from a surgery in invasive breast cancer. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on a clinical database of patients who underwent surgery for early breast cancer. Of these, 193 patients who underwent CNB before the surgery were enrolled. A cut-off value of 20% was used for Ki-67-positive criteria. Expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and HER2 were examined and compared with that of Ki-67. To evaluate discordance between the pathologists’ earlier assessments, we re-examined Ki-67 expression among the Ki-67 discordant group in a central laboratory. Results: The concordance rate for Ki-67 expression between the two specimen types was 77.7%, which was significantly lower than that for ER, PgR, and HER2 expression (95.9%, 88.1%, and 91.6%, respectively). The concordance rate for re-examined Ki-67 expression among the Ki-67 discordant group improved to 93.8% and was not significantly different from that for the other receptors. Conclusion: The concordance rate for Ki-67 expression between biopsy and surgical specimens was significantly lower than that for ER, PgR, and HER2 expressions, but re-examination of Ki-67 expression in a central laboratory revealed no significant difference among the receptors, suggesting the need for standard pathological assessment of Ki-67 expression for clinical use as a predictive marker of breast cancer.展开更多
基金Supported by Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (31160175)Project of Tea Research Institute of Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2009A0937)National Modern Agriculture Technology System Projects in Tea Industry (nycytx-23)~~
文摘In this paper,the research achievements and progress of Yunnan tea germplasm resource in past sixty years are systematically reviewed from the following aspects:exploration,collecting,conservation,protection,identification,evaluation and shared utilization.Simultaneously,the current problems and the suggestions about subsequent development of tea germplasm resources in Yunnan were discussed,including superior and rare germplasm collection,tea genetic diversity research,biotechnology utilization in tea germplasm innovation,super gene exploration and function,the construction of utilization platform,biological base of species and population conservation.
基金supported by the Major Programs of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41390454)the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.91330204)
文摘The coherence method is always used to describe the discontinuity and heterogeneity of seismic data. In traditional coherence methods, a linear correlation coefficient is always used to measure the relationship between two random variables (i.e., between two seismic traces). However, mathematically speaking, a linear correlation coefficient cannot be applied to describe nonlinear relationships between variables. In order to overcome this limitation of liner correlation coefficient. We proposed an improved concordance measurement algorithm based on Kendall's tau. That mainly concern the sensitivity of the liner correlation coefficient and concordance measurements on the waveform. Using two designed numerical models tests sensitivity of waveform similarity affected by these two factors. The analysis of both the numerical model results and real seismic data processing suggest that the proposed method, combining information divergence measurement, can not only precisely characterize the variations of waveform and the heterogeneity of an underground geological body, but also does so with high resolution. In addition, we verified its effectiveness by the actual application of real seismic data from the north of China.
文摘AIM:To assess patients' understanding for the reasons for taking 5-aminosalicylic acid or ursodeoxycholic acid as chemoprophylaxis against colorectal carcinoma associated with in? ammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: A questionnaire-based study using a 5 point opinion scale was performed. One hundred and ninety-two patients with colitis only and 74 patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis and IBD were invited to take part. RESULTS: Overall response rate was 58%. Sixtyfour percent of patients claimed full concordance with chemoprophylaxis for maintenance of remission. Eightyfour percent of patients considered daily concordance during remission to be very important. Seventy-five percent stated they understood the reasons for taking the drugs. However, only 50% of the patients were aware of any link of their condition to bowel cancer. Seventy-nine percent of patients felt their concordance and understanding would be improved if they were informed of the chemoprophylactic potential of the medication.
文摘AIM To examine the correlation between magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and endoscopic index of severity(CDEIS) in patients with Crohn's disease(CD).METHODS This was a retrospective study of 104 patients with CD that were treated at the Ruijin Hospital between March 2015 and May 2016. Among them, 61 patients with active CD were evaluated before/after treatment. MRI and endoscopy were performed within 7 d. CDEIS was evaluated. MRI parameters included Ma RIA scores, total relative contrast enhancement(tRCE), arterialRCE(aRCE), portalRCE(pRCE), delay phaseRCE(dRCE), and apparent diffusion coefficient. The correlation and concordance between multiple MRI findings and CDEIS changes before and after CD treatment were examined.RESULTS Among the 104 patients, 61 patients were classified as active CD and 43 patients as inactive CD. Gender, age, disease duration, and disease location were not significantly different between the two groups(all P > 0.05). CRP levels were higher in the active group than in the inactive group(25.12 ± 4.12 vs 5.14 ± 0.98 mg/L, P < 0.001). Before treatment, the correlations between CDEIS and MaRIAs in all patients were r = 0.772 for tRCE, r = 0.754 for aRCE, r = 0.738 for pRCE, and r = 0.712 for dRCE(all MaRIAs, P < 0.001), followed by MRI single indexes. Among the active CD patients, 44 cases were remitted to inactive CD after treatment. The correlations between CDEIS and MaRIAs were r = 0.712 for aRCE, r = 0.705 for tRCE, r = 0.685 for pRCE, and r = 0.634 for dRCE(all MaRIAs, P < 0.001).CONCLUSION Arterial Ma RIA should be an indicator for CD follow-up and dynamic assessment. CD treatment assessment was not completely concordant between CDEIS and MRI.
文摘About half or more of the patients with chronic psychiatric illnesses, either do not take their medications correctly, or completely stop taking them. The problem of poor initial compliance or adherence is often compounded by a continued decline in compliance/adherence over time. The failure to take medicines, adversely affects the outcome of treatment, and places a huge burden of wasted resources on the society. Three terms have been used to describe medication-taking among patients with chronic psychiatric disorders. Compliance is defined as "the extent to which the patient's behaviour matches the prescriber's recommendations". Though compliance has been frequently employed to describe medication-taking behaviour, it has proved problematic because it refers to a process where the clinician decides on a suitable treatment, which the patient is expected to comply with unquestioningly. Studies over the past few decades have emphasized the importance of patients' perspectives in medicationtaking, based on their own beliefs, their personal circumstances, the information and resources available for them. Adherence has been used as a replacement for compliance in an effort to place the clinician-patient relationship in its proper perspective. Adherence refers to a process, in which the appropriate treatment is decided after a proper discussion with the patient. It also implies that the patient is under no compulsion to accept a particular treatment, and is not to be held solely responsible for the occurrence of non-adherence. Adherence has been defined as "the extent to which a person's behaviour, taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes, corresponds with agreed recommendations from a health care provider". To overcome certain problems in the concept of adherence, a third term concordance has been used. The concept of concordance has evolved from a narrower view, emphasizing an agreement between the clinician and the patient, which takes into account each other's perspective on medication-taking, to a broader process consisting of open discussions with the patient regarding medication-taking, imparting information and supporting patients on long-term medication. It is a process, which entertains patients' views on medicationtaking, and acknowledges that patients' views have to be respected even if they make choices, which appear to be in conflict with the clinician's views. Although none of these terms are ideal solutions to understanding the complex process of medication-taking behaviour of patients, the move from compliance to adherence and concordance represents genuine progress in this field, which puts the patient's perceptions at the centre of the whole process.
文摘BACKGROUND The burden of chronic kidney disease(CKD)is rising rapidly globally.Fluid overload(FO),an independent predictor of mortality in CKD,should be accurately assessed to guide estimation of the volume of fluid to be removed during haemodialysis(HD).Clinical score(CS)and bio-impedance analysis(BIA)have been utilized in assessment of FO and BIA has demonstrated reproducibility and accuracy in determination of fluid status in patients on HD.There is need to determine the performance of locally-developed CSs in fluid status assessment when evaluated against BIA.AIM To assess the hydration status of patients on maintenance HD using BIA and a CS,as well as to evaluate the performance of that CS against BIA in fluid status assessment.METHODS This was a single-centre,hospital-based cross-sectional study which recruited adult patients with CKD who were on maintenance HD at Kenyatta National Hospital.The patients were aged 18 years and above and had been on maintenance HD for at least 3 mo.Those with pacemakers,metallic implants,or bilateral limbs amputations were excluded.Data on the patients’clinical history,physical examination,and chest radiograph findings were collected.BIA was performed on each of the study participants using the Quantum®II bio-impedance analyser manufactured by RJL Systems together with the BC 4®software.In evaluating the performance of the CS,BIA was considered as the gold standard test.A 2-by-2 table of the participants’fluid status at each of the CS values obtained compared to their paired BIA results was constructed(either++,+-,--or-+for FO using the CS and BIA,respectively).The results from this 2-by-2 table were used to compute the sensitivity and specificity of the CS at the various reference points and subsequently plot a receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve that was used to determine the best cut-off point.Those above and below the best CS cut-off point as determined by the ROC were classified as being positive and negative for FO,respectively.The proportions of participants diagnosed with FO by the CS and BIA,respectively,were computed and summarized in a 2-by-2 contingency table for comparison.McNemar’s chi-squared test was used to assess any statistically significant difference in proportions of patients diagnosed as having FO by CS and BIA.Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess whether the variables for the duration of dialysis,the number of missed dialysis sessions,advisement by health care professional on fluid or salt intake,actual fluid intake,the number of anti-hypertensives used,or body mass index were associated with a patient’s odds of having FO as diagnosed by BIA.RESULTS From 100 patients on maintenance HD screened for eligibility,80 were recruited into this study.Seventy-one(88.75%)patients were fluid overloaded when evaluated using BIA with mean extracellular volume of 3.02±1.79 L as opposed to the forty-seven(58.25%)patients who had FO when evaluated using the CS.The difference was significant,with a P value of<0.0001(95%confidence interval:0.1758-0.4242).Using CS,values above 4 were indicative of FO while values less than or equal to 4 denoted the best cut-off for no FO.The sensitivity and specificity for the CS were 63%and 78%respectively.None of the factors evaluated for association with FO showed statistical significance on the multivariable logistic regression model.CONCLUSION FO is very prevalent in patients on chronic HD at the Kenyatta National Hospital.CS detects FO less frequently when compared with BIA.The sensitivity and specificity for the CS were 63%and 78%respectively.None of the factors evaluated for association with FO showed statistical significance on the multivariable logistic regression model.
文摘Assortative mating, the tendency for mate selection to occur on the basis of similar traits plays an essential role in understanding the genetic variation on academic achievements and intelligence (IQ), it is also an important mechanism explaining spousal concordance. We used a subset of The Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism sample to study the mating patterns in 84 pairs of spouses from Caucasian families with their academic achievements (reading, spelling, arithmetic, vocabulary and comprehension) and IQ (verbal IQ, performance IQ and full scale IQ). Simple correlation analysis showed that 6 of these 8 traits revealed evidence of spousal correlation (P < 0.05). The first principal component (PC1) of husbands explains 73.61% for the variation in the eight variables, which has high loadings from reading, spelling, arithmetic, verbal IQ and full scale IQ while PC1 of wives explains 72.86% for the variation in the eight variables, which has high loadings from reading, spelling, verbal IQ and full scale IQ. There was highly significant positive correlation between spouses by PC1 (P < 0.0001). The new variable PC1 may be important in spousal concordance and mate selection in society and act upon achievements and intelligence levels.
文摘For two-way contingency tables with ordered categories, the present paper gives a theorem that the independence model holds if and only if the logit uniform association model holds and equality of concordance and discordance for all pairs of adjacent rows and all dichotomous collapsing of the columns holds. Using the theorem, we analyze the cross-classification of duodenal ulcer patients according to operation and dumping severity.
文摘This study is based on the combination of the following three primary pylons:(1)Literature;(2)Information—Communication Technology;(3)Utilization of digital means in the educational approach.The objective of this project is the utilization of the concordance with the help of AntConc application in the educational approach and specifically in the subject of Modern Greek literature.With the contribution of the above application,the educational process makes it more effective to comprehend a particularly hard kind of literature such as poetry.Thus,Kyriakos Charalambides’1 poetry can be approached in both a different and an imaginative way,compared to the traditional textual way and as a result poetry can become more attractive for the students.The project is focused on the poetic work of Kyriakos Charalambides,which consists of thirteen collections of poems.The reference text,which is included in the textbook“Modern Greek Texts”taught in the 2nd Grade of High School and is part of the curriculum,is a poem called“Sweet Preserves”(Charalambides,2000).The objective is to investigate whether in practice and particularly in the subject of Modern Greek literature,the above mentioned application can be utilized through the search of the literal type“soil”,through AntConc application for tracing the appearance frequency of this word and by extension the highlighting of this thematic motif in the poetic work of Kyriakos Charalambides.Finally,in order that both the students’response(whether the objective was reached and the educational mediations were successful)and a certain level of awareness have been achieved,a questionnaire was distributed among the students and the students’answers were decoded through a specific type of software called SPSS so that the relevant outcomes were extracted.
文摘The Latino population is the fastest growing and the largest minority group in the United States comprising 16% of the population younger than 18 years of age. Yet, little is known about the effect of acculturation in oral health related quality of life in Latino children and their parents. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of acculturation in parent and child’s perceptions of the child’s oral health status and oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) as well as the effect in the concordance between children and parents/caregivers. Method: Sixty-three Latino children between the ages of 8 and 15, and their parents were recruited from the waiting room at the University of California, San Francisco Orthodontic and Pediatric Clinics. Parent and children each separately completed the Child Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (COHIP) for children and COHIP for parent/caregiver. Results: Of the sixty-three children, fifteen children (23.8%) had a more negative perception of their oral health than their parents whereas twenty-three children (36.5%) had a more positive perception. In terms of agreement between children and parents, questions about oral health showed the lowest level of agreement (34.9%) and self-image questions the highest (55.6%). Conclusion: The study findings indicate that the more acculturated the child, the more negative their perception of their oral health. The level of disagreement between parent and child, underscores the importance of obtaining both the child and parent OHRQoL perceptions.
文摘Concordance study between two laboratories testing clinical samples is important to a clinical program to assess the comparability of test results, especially when the two laboratories performed the same test at different locations. Assays that measure immune response should not be compared using the simple linear regression model; instead literature publications recommend an "errors-in-variables" model that accounts for the variability in these assays (Home, 1998). In this paper, concordance slope and intercept was estimated using the statistical linear relationship (Tan and Iglewicz, 1999) for various tests between laboratories. The confidence bounds for the concordance line were used to assess the impact on vaccine booster thresholds when a consistent bias was observed between the results generated by two laboratories.
文摘Background: Accurate diagnosis of orofacial tumours is important as this determines the treatment options as well as the eventual treatment outcome. Agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis becomes important in this regard. Aims: The aim was to determine the level of agreement between clinical and histopathology diagnosis of orofacial lesions. Method: This is a retrospective study of all histopathology reports seen at KATH maxillofacial unit. Thedata collected included, clinical diagnosis and histological diagnosis. Results: A total of 567 histopathology reports were evaluated. The percentage of agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis was 62.8%. Conclusion: The agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis was high. However clinicians cannot rely on only the clinical diagnosis in managing patients.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC1309902 to CGY)National Basic Research Program (2015CB351702 to XNZ)+4 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of China (81671774 and 81630031 to CGY, 81471740, 81220108014 to XNZ)the Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y5CX072006 to CGY)Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission (Z161100000216152 to CGY)the National Institutes of Health (U01MH099059 to MPM)the Child Mind Institute (1FDN2012-1 to MPM)
文摘Various resting-state fMRI(R-fMRI) measures have been developed to characterize intrinsic brain activity. While each of these measures has gained a growing presence in the literature, questions remain regarding the common and unique aspects these indices capture. The present work provided a comprehensive examination of inter-individual variation and intra-individual temporal variation for commonly used measures, including fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations, regional homogeneity,voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity, network centrality and global signal correlation. Regardless of whether examining intra-individual or inter-individual variation, we found that these definitionally distinct R-fMRI indices tend to exhibit a relatively high degree of covariation, which doesn't exist in phase randomized surrogate data. As a measure of intrinsic brain function, concordance for R-fMRI indices was negatively correlated with age across individuals(i.e., concordance among functional indices decreased with age). To understand the functional significance of concordance, we noted that higher concordance was generally associated with higher strengths of R-fMRI indices, regardless of whether looking through the lens of inter-individual(i.e., high vs. low concordance participants) or intra-individual(i.e., high vs.low concordance states identified via temporal dynamic analyses) differences. We also noted a linear increase in functional concordance together with the R-fMRI indices through the scan, which may suggest a decrease in arousal. The current study demonstrated an enriched picture regarding the relationship among the R-fMRI indices, as well as provided new insights in examining dynamic states within and between individuals.
基金New Century Excellent Talents in University, No.NCET-08-0056 National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.40971110 National Key Technologies R&D Program, No.2007BAC30B02
文摘Qinghai Lake Watershed (QLW) is a hot place of a series of ecological restoration and environmental remediation programs nowadays.However,little information is available on change of ecosystem service and economic practice in this area.As ecosystem service and natural capital are closely related with social and economic development,an index of concordance between environment and economy (ICEE) has been proposed to compare the annual variation rate of ecosystem service value (RESV) with that of gross domestic product (RGDP).Using this Index,we have assessed concordance between environment and economy (CEE) for the QLW in the period 1977-2004.The result showed that from 1977 to 2004,the ecosystem service value in the QLW descended from 128.81×10 8 yuan to 127.32×10 8 yuan;In contrast,the GDP increased from 0.931×10 8 yuan to 8.856×10 8 yuan.The values of the I CEE were -1.14,-0.22,and -0.14 in the stages of 1977-1987,1987-2000 and 2000-2004,respectively.The result indicated that during the first stage 1977-1987,the relationship between environment and economy in the QLW was not concordant but at a high conflict;from 1987 to 2004,there was a low conflict between environment and economy,and the CEE appeared to increase slowly.Analysis of the assessment results showed that the national policies and industrial adjustment practice play an important role in the CEE changes.
文摘<strong>Introduction:</strong> Tendinopathy of the thoracic limb (TMT) is frequent, and is responsible for an important socio-professional handicap. Medical imaging, in particular, ultrasound has a major role in contributing to the diagnosis. As the use of ultrasound is recent in osteoarticular pathology, especially in Africa, we proposed to determine the contribution of imaging in the diagnosis of tendinopathy of the thoracic limbs in a country with limited resources. <strong>Patients and Method:</strong> A descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study of patients with tendinopathy of the thoracic limb who consulted the rheumatology department of the CNHU-HKM of Cotonou from August 6, 2019 to October 6, 2019. We evaluated the concordance of thoracic limb tendinopathy between imaging (radiography and ultrasound) and the clinic on the one hand and then between radiography and ultrasound on the other hand. The analysis of the collected data was carried out with the Epi-info software version 7.2.1.0. Then the concordance was evaluated by the kappa coefficient. <strong>Results:</strong> Fifty- two (52) patients with 104 joints were evaluated. The average age was 54.92 ± 3.40 years. Clinically, rotator cuff tendinopathy was the most frequent abarticular pathology (45.19%). The clinical-ultrasound agreement was strong (k = 0.7527) for the shoulders, very strong (k = 0.9360) for the elbows and moderate for the wrists (k = 0.6695). The clinical-radiographic agreement was weak (k = 0.2316) at the shoulder level and very weak (k = 0.2087) at the elbow level. The radio-ultrasound agreement was very low in the shoulders (k = 0.1522), elbows (k = 0.1859) and wrists (k = 0.0001). <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The contribution of imaging in the diagnosis of TMT remains certain even in a country with limited resources like ours. Ultrasound is a reliable examination for the diagnosis of non-traumatic tendinopathy of the thoracic limb with a good clinical-ultra- sound concordance and a weak radio-clinical and radio-ultrasound concordance.
文摘AIM: To investigate the liver stiffness measurement (LSM) applicability and variability with reference to three probe positions according to the region of liver biopsy. METHODS: The applicability for LSM was defined as at least 10 valid measurements with a success rate greater than 60% and an interquartile range/median LSM < 30%. The LSM variability compared the inter-position concordance and the concordance with FibroTest. RESULTS: Four hundred and forty two consecutive patients were included. The applicability of the anterior position (81%) was significantly higher than that of the reference (69%) and lower positions (68%), (both P = 0.0001). There was a signif icant difference (0.5 kPa, 95% CI 0.13-0.89; P < 0.0001) between mean LSM estimated at the reference position (9.3 kPa) vs the anterior position (8.8 kPa). Discordance between positions was associated with thoracic fold (P = 0.008). The discordance rate between the reference position result and FibroTest was higher when the 7.1 kPa cutoff was used to define advanced fibrosis instead of 8.8 kPa (33.6% vs 23.5%, P = 0.03).CONCLUSION: The anterior position of the probe should be the fi rst choice for LSM using Fibroscan, as it has a higher applicability without higher variability compared to the usual liver biopsy position.
文摘Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of Ki-67 expression on core needle biopsy (CNB) and the surgical specimens of invasive breast cancer. We examined the concordance rate of Ki-67 expressions, hormone receptors, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status from a CNB with from a surgery in invasive breast cancer. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on a clinical database of patients who underwent surgery for early breast cancer. Of these, 193 patients who underwent CNB before the surgery were enrolled. A cut-off value of 20% was used for Ki-67-positive criteria. Expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and HER2 were examined and compared with that of Ki-67. To evaluate discordance between the pathologists’ earlier assessments, we re-examined Ki-67 expression among the Ki-67 discordant group in a central laboratory. Results: The concordance rate for Ki-67 expression between the two specimen types was 77.7%, which was significantly lower than that for ER, PgR, and HER2 expression (95.9%, 88.1%, and 91.6%, respectively). The concordance rate for re-examined Ki-67 expression among the Ki-67 discordant group improved to 93.8% and was not significantly different from that for the other receptors. Conclusion: The concordance rate for Ki-67 expression between biopsy and surgical specimens was significantly lower than that for ER, PgR, and HER2 expressions, but re-examination of Ki-67 expression in a central laboratory revealed no significant difference among the receptors, suggesting the need for standard pathological assessment of Ki-67 expression for clinical use as a predictive marker of breast cancer.