OBJECTIVES To investigate the criterion-related validity, test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities of the modified sphygmomanometer test (MST) for assessment of the strength of the trunk and lower limb muscles in subjects with chronic stroke, and to verify whether the number of trials affected the results. PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty-nine subjects with stroke (mean age 57.80 years; standard d...

In this paper a left ventricle segmentation approach in shortaxis MRI is proposed. It is based on an active contour method and gradient vector flow field forces. Firstly, algorithm delineates endocardium using active contour method approach assisted by gradient vector flow field forces. After that, the epicardium is outlined by proposed divergence rays method and corrected by Fourier descriptor...

A longitudinal study was conducted to validate a 68-item semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for assessing nutrient intake among pregnant women in rural China. The interview administrated FFQs were conducted at the start of the third trimester (FFQ1) and repeated three months later prior to delivery (FFQ2), and compared with six repeated 24-hour recalls collected between the FF...

Most current gene coexpression databases support the analysis for linear correlation of gene pairs, but not nonlinear correlation of them, which hinders precisely evaluating the gene-gene coexpression strengths. Here, we report a new database, MIrExpress, which takes advantage of the information theory, as well as the Pearson linear correlation method, to measure the linear correlation, nonline...

INTRODUCTION This study aimed at investigating the applicability of a polynomial function laterally, combined with a parabola or hyperbolic cosine function in the front, for mandibular curve-fitting purposes in late mixed dentition patients with crowding. The possible advantages of using a bilateral center of gravity for curve construction were examined. METHODS After digitizing 30 mandibular...

Herein we introduce software, Numericware i to compute a matrix consisting of all pairwise identical in state (IIS) coefficients from genotypic data. Since the emergence of high throughput technology for genotyping, calculating an IIS matrix between many pairs of entities has required large computer memory and lengthy processing times. Numericware i addresses these limitations with two algorith...

Limited information is available on the reproducibility and validity of dietary glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) estimated by habitual diet assessment methods such as FFQ, including the FFQ used in the Dutch cohorts of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. To examine the reproducibility and relative validity of GI and GL, we used data from 121 Dutch...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate and compare the correlations of various circulating persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with fat mass percentages (FM%) of trunk, leg, and whole body measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. METHODS This study included 2358 adults (≥20 years) in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004. Partial Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated,...