this study was aimed at determining intra and inter-observer concordance rates in the gleason scoring of prostatic adenocarcinoma, before and after a web-based educational course. in this self-controlled study, 150 tissue samples of prostatic adenocarcinoma are re-examined to be scored according to the gleason scoring system. then all pathologists attend a free web-based course. afterwards, the...

INTRODUCTION The main goal of the resources project «Healthy claws - foundation for future» is to establish a Swiss national claw health monitoring programme cattle, similar what has already been established in other countries (e. g. Finland, Sweden). So far course project, 30 trimmers have trained use digital recording software. An appropriate training concept and information work environment ...

BACKGROUND Transient elastography (TE) is widely used for non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis in HIV-HCV co-infected patients. TE, however, cannot determine liver morphology. Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging is a novel procedure enabling assessment of liver fibrosis during a conventional ultrasonographic examination. This study evaluated the correlation between liver fibros...

BACKGROUND Postoperative recovery after abdominal surgery is measured mostly based on subjective or self-reported data. In this article we aim to evaluate whether recovery of daily physical activity levels can be measured postoperatively with the use of an accelerometer. METHODS In this multicenter, observational pilot study, 30 patients undergoing laparoscopic abdominal surgery (hysterectomy...

BACKGROUND There is a need for psychiatric assessment instruments that enable reliable diagnoses in persons with hearing loss who have sign language as their primary language. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the Norwegian Sign Language (NSL) version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). METHODS The MINI was translated into NSL. Forty-one signin...

BACKGROUND To assess the intra- and inter-rater agreement of chart abstractors from multiple sites involved in the evaluation of an Asthma Care Program (ACP). METHODS For intra-rater agreement, 110 charts randomly selected from 1,433 patients enrolled in the ACP across eight Ontario communities were re-abstracted by 10 abstractors. For inter-rater agreement, data abstractors reviewed a set of...

The weighted kappa statistic has been used as an agreement index for ordinal data. Using data on the comparability of primary and proxy respondent reports of alcohol drinking frequency we show that the value of weighted kappa can be sensitive to the choice of weights. The distinction between association and agreement is clarified and it is shown that in some respects weighted kappa behaves more...

BACKGROUND Establishing the validity of classification schemes is a crucial preparatory step that should precede multicenter studies. There are no studies investigating the reproducibility of arthroscopic classification of meniscal pathology among multiple surgeons at different institutions. HYPOTHESIS Arthroscopic classification of meniscal pathology is reliable and reproducible and suitable...