that may be the first to exhibit signs of environmental degradaAbstract tion. An index of interannual variability for natural and manThe southern Great Plains may be one of the first areas in the aged LULC types was developed using phase components United States to show significant and detectable changes in derived from harmonic analysis of a nine-year (1989–1997) vegetation cover as a result o...

STUDY DESIGN Psychometric assessment. OBJECTIVES To determine test-retest reliability and concurrent validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) in patients after total hip arthroplasty or total knee arthroplasty. BACKGROUND Despite recognized benefits of regular physical activity, little is known about the physical activity level of patients after total hip arthrop...

Our objective was to develop a working definition of nonresponse to analgesic treatment of arthritis, focusing on the measurement of pain on the 0-100 mm pain visual analog scale (VAS). We reviewed the literature to assess the smallest detectable difference (SDD), the minimal detectable change (MDC), and the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). The SDD for improvement reported in thr...

We propose a novel approach to preference change. We treat a set of preferences as a special kind of theory, and define minimal change contraction and revision operations in the spirit of minimal change as advocated by the Alchourron, Gardenfors, and Makinson (AGM) theory of belief revision. We characterise minimal contraction of preference sets by a set of postulates and prove a representation...

Minimal change disease (MCD) is a major cause of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS), characterized by intense proteinuria leading to edema and intravascular volume depletion. In adults, it accounts for approximately 15% of patients with idiopathic NS, reaching a much higher percentage at younger ages, up to 70%-90% in children >1 year of age. In the pediatric setting, a renal biopsy is usually ...

BACKGROUND This study was conducted to establish the minimal detectable change (MDC) and clinically important differences (CIDs) of the physical category of the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale in patients with stroke. METHODS MDC and CIDs scores were calculated from the data of 74 participants enrolled in randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of two rehabilitation progr...