BACKGROUND We studied the differences in immunoreactive trypsin (IRT) in neonatal screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) associated individually with the age of the newborn, ethnicity and environmental temperature. In this study, we determine the overall influence of environmental temperature at birth, gender, feeding, gestational age, maternal age and ethnic origin on an abnormal IRT result. MET...

OBJECTIVE To examine regional wall acceleration and its relation to relaxation. STUDY DESIGN 8 sheep were examined by tissue Doppler ultrasound imaging (VingMed Vivid FiVe) in apical four chamber views to evaluate the left ventricular wall divided into six segments and the mitral annulus in two segments. Peak myocardial acceleration during isovolumic periods (pIVA) derived from tissue Doppler...

Missing responses resulting from omitted or not-reached items are beyond researchers’ control and potentially threaten the validity of test results. Empirical evidence concerning the relationship between missingness and test takers’ performance on the test have suggested that the missing data mechanism is nonignorable and needs to be taken into account. Various IRT-based models for nonignorable...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to assess the utility of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) for nightmares in an inpatient psychiatric setting. Although IRT enjoys a substantial evidence base for efficacy in various populations, data with psychiatric inpatients are lacking. PARTICIPANTS Participants were 20 adult psychiatric inpatients (11 male, 9 female; mean age=43.4), in an extended stay psychia...

Deterioration of road infrastructure has been a serious worldwide problem. In the USA, degradation of concrete bridge decks is a widespread problem among several bridge components. Traditionally, qualified engineers implemented sounding and visual inspections for concrete bridge deck evaluations, yet these methods require substantial field labor and lane closures. Under these circumstances, Non...

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a competitive swim season on the strength, balance, and endurance of shoulder rotator cuff muscles in young swimmers. A repeated measures design was used with 3 measurements performed during the swim season. A swimmers group (n = 20) of young men with no dry land training and a sedentary group (n = 16) of male students with the same charac...

BACKGROUND The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) proposes three main health outcomes, Impairment (I), Activity Limitation (A) and Participation Restriction (P), but good measures of these constructs are needed The aim of this study was to use both Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) methods to carry out an item analysis to improve me...

In a survey of resistance to amoxicillin among clinical isolates of Proteus mirabilis, 10 TEM-type beta-lactamases were characterized: (i) the well-known penicillinases TEM-1 and TEM-2, the extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) TEM-3 and TEM-24, and the inhibitor-resistant TEM (IRT) TEM-44 and (ii) five novel enzymes, a penicillinase TEM-57 similar to TEM-1, an ESBL TEM-66 similar to TEM-3,...

BACKGROUND Early detection of cystic fibrosis (CF) by newborn screening (NBS) reduces the rate of avoidable complications. NBS protocols vary by jurisdiction and the cost effectiveness of these different protocols is debated. OBJECTIVE To compare the cost effectiveness of various CF NBS options. METHODS A Markov model was built to simulate the cost effectiveness of various CF-NBS options fo...