Objective To evaluate whether the paper titled “Application of tumor type M2 pyruvate kinase in the diagnosis of lung cancer” met the standards set in the STARD statement. Methods Based on each of the 25 items of STAndards for the Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy studies (STARD statement), the paper titled “Application of tumor type M2 pyruvate kinase in the diagnosis of lung cancer” was checked and evaluated. Results In the paper titled “Application of tumor type M2 pyruvate kinase in the diagnosis of lung cancer”, the reporting of 1 item of the STARD statement was adequately standardized, 7 items were relatively standardized, 5 items were inadequately standardized, 2 items were not standardized, and the other 10 were not reported. Conclusion Generally speaking, the reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies has not been standardized adequately in China. The methodological quality and applicability of diagnostic accuracy studies should be improved.
Objective To evaluate the accuracy of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 ( sTREM-1) as a diagnostic index for ventilator-associated pneumonia ( VAP) . Methods We searched the PubMed, EMBase, Cochrane Library,Wanfang Database, CNKI and VIP for clinical trials which assessed the diagnosis accuracy of sTREM-1 for VAP. The methodological quality of each study was assessed by the quality assessment for studies of diagnostic accuracy ( QUADAS) tool. The Meta-disc software was used to conduct merger analyses on sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio. The heterogeneity test was performed and summary receiver operating characteristic ( SROC) curve was completed. Results 8 studies were included ( 180 VAP patients and 224 non-VAP patients) . The value of merger sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio were 0. 80, 0. 74, and 13. 89, respectively. The area under of SROC curve was 0. 857, with Q point at 0. 788. Conclusion sTREM-1 showed moderate accuracy for VAP diagnosis in adult mechanically ventilated patients, which should be combined with other diagnostic markers to further improve the sensitivity and specificity.
ObjectiveTo compare the investigation results of compliance and accuracy of hand hygiene in medical staff achieved by Hospital Infection Management Department and Department Infection Management Teams, and analyze the reasons for differences of the results and take measures to improve the investigation ability of hand hygiene in hospitals. MethodsWe statistically analyzed the results of compliance and accuracy of hand hygiene from January to December 2013 investigated by the infection management department and 25 infection management teams. Both the hospital and departments used "WHO Standard Observation Form". Single-blind method was used to observe the implementation of hand hygiene in medical staff. ResultsThe hospital infection management department investigation showed that hand hygiene compliance and accuracy were 64.97% and 87.78%, respectively, while the investigation by infection management teams showed that hand hygiene compliance and accuracy were 90.54% and 93.37%, respectively. The differences between the investigation results of two-level organizations were statistically significant (χ2=286.2, P<0.001; χ2=532.6, P<0.001). ConclusionWe should take measures to enforce the training of hand hygiene implementation and the observation method, and improve the guidance and assessment, promote investigators' working responsibility and observation ability, so that the survey data can accurately reflect the actual situation to urge medical staff to form good hand hygiene habits.
This paper presents the preliminary design of data acquisition system of a portable uroflowmeter. The system uses double-hole cantilever pressure sensor. The signal is transferred to ATmega644PA microprogrammed control unit (MCU), converted by A/D (analog to digital) convertor. Then the further data are processed and get the corresponding relationship of weight-time and two curves of urine flow and urinary flow rate. In the measurement accuracy of the device about urine flow, two factors about the placement and height of the data acquisition are analyzed to show the accuracy of the equipment through the Origin 8.0 data analysis software. The design is characterized by low cost and high speed of data collection, real-time, high accuracy.
This paper proposes algorithm in predicting the RNA secondary structure that combines several sequence comparisons, searches the eigenvalue for subsequence division with dynamic programing, utilizing the minimum free energy method. Moreover, the paper assesses the results derived from this new algorithm based on base-pairs distance, climbing distance and morphology distance. The paper also compares the assessment result and the prediction results of different prediction tools, and analyzes the advantages of the new method and its improvement direction.
Brain computer interface is a control system between brain and outside devices by transforming electroencephalogram (EEG) signal. The brain computer interface system does not depend on the normal output pathways, such as peripheral nerve and muscle tissue, so it can provide a new way of the communication control for paralysis or nerve muscle damaged disabled persons. Steady state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) is one of non-invasive EEG signals, and it has been widely used in research in recent years. SSVEP is a kind of rhythmic brain activity simulated by continuous visual stimuli. SSVEP frequency is composed of a fixed visual stimulation frequency and its harmonic frequencies. The two-dimensional ensemble empirical mode decomposition (2D-EEMD) is an improved algorithm of the classical empirical mode decomposition (EMD) algorithm which extended the decomposition to two-dimensional direction. 2D-EEMD has been widely used in ocean hurricane, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Lena image and other related image processing fields. The present study shown in this paper initiatively applies 2D-EEMD to SSVEP. The decomposition, the 2-D picture of intrinsic mode function (IMF), can show the SSVEP frequency clearly. The SSVEP IMFs which had filtered noise and artifacts were mapped into the head picture to reflect the time changing trend of brain responding visual stimuli, and to reflect responding intension based on different brain regions. The results showed that the occipital region had the strongest response. Finally, this study used short-time Fourier transform (STFT) to detect SSVEP frequency of the 2D-EEMD reconstructed signal, and the accuracy rate increased by 16%.
The approaches of rating the quality of evidence of systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy tests are different from systematic reviews of interventional studies. This article systematically introduces the application of GRADE in systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy tests by a case interpretation and analysis. In this article we present rating workflow in systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy tests and introduce how to use the GDT website to display the rating results, and interpret the conclusion of systematic reviews based on GRADE results.
The mada package is a type of package that is especially used for implementing meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy tests. This package is developed on basis of classical statistical theories and it can be used to calculate all relevant effect size of diagnostic accuracy tests; however, it does not provide pooled values of sensitivity and specificity. This article uses an example to introduce the whole functions of mada package in implementing meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy tests, including data preparation, calculation implementation, result summary, and plots drawing.
The standards for reporting of diagnostic accuracy (STARD) was developed for guiding the reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies. Its newest version was published in 2015. The study mainly introduced the checklist, terminology, and diagram of the STARD 2015. It is hoped that domestic researchers could use the STARD 2015 to guide the implementation and reporting of their diagnostic accuracy studies, so as to improve the reporting quality of diagnostic accuracy studies.
The method of network meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy is in the exploratory stage. We had explored and introduced several methods of network meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy before. Based on example, we introduce ANOVA model for performing network meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy step-by-step.