Can a Clinical Prediction Rule Reliably Predict Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis?

Can serum procalcitonin measurement help monitor the treatment of acute bacterial meningitis? A prospective study

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the value of serum procalcitonin (PCT) as a marker of bacterial infection, as well as the rapid decrease in its concentration with appropriate antibiotic treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the variation in serum PCT levels over time during the treatment of acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) in adults. Methods: In this prospective analy...

Does this child have bacterial meningitis? A systematic review of clinical prediction rules for children with suspected bacterial meningitis.

BACKGROUND Acute meningitis is a relatively common phenomenon in children. Identifying which children are most likely to have bacterial meningitis vs. self-limiting aseptic meningitis is important, as these children require investigation and antibiotic treatment. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to systematically identify and review the quality and performance of published clinical prediction rules (CPR...

Can contact potentials reliably predict stability of proteins?

The simplest approximation of interaction potential between amino acid residues in proteins is the contact potential, which defines the effective free energy of a protein conformation by a set of amino acid contacts formed in this conformation. Finding a contact potential capable of predicting free energies of protein states across a variety of protein families will aid protein folding and engi...

Relationship Competence: Can Trainee Interpersonal Skills Be Measured Reliably and Do They Predict Clinical Effectiveness?

Clinical prediction rule for identifying children with cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis at very low risk of bacterial meningitis.

CONTEXT Children with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis are routinely admitted to the hospital and treated with parenteral antibiotics, although few have bacterial meningitis. We previously developed a clinical prediction rule, the Bacterial Meningitis Score, that classifies patients at very low risk of bacterial meningitis if they lack all of the following criteria: positive CSF Gram stain...