Electroimmunoassay of albumin in human serum: accuracy and long-term precision.

1983 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1787-1790 ◽  
Author(s):  
M W Pascucci ◽  
D W Grisley ◽  
R N Rand

Abstract An improved procedure for the Laurell "rocket" technique is described. Samples were electrophoresed in an agarose gel containing anti-human albumin. The gel plates were processed, the peaks stained, and peak heights used to calculate albumin concentrations. Factors affecting precision were (a) adequate heating of agarose gel before antibody is added, (b) accurate leveling of the gel surface during plate formation, (c) applied voltage during sample application, and (d) avoidance of the "edge" effect on sample placement in the gel. Multi-plate long-term precision (CV) for the method was 6.2% at a mean albumin concentration of 13 g/L and 3.0% at 37 g/L. Analytical recovery of 8 and 11 g of albumin per liter was 99 to 100%. There was negligible interference from hemoglobin and dextran as well as several common substances that bind to albumin--bilirubin and salicylate. Because of its high accuracy and good long-term precision, the method is a possible candidate reference method for serum albumin.

1981 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
E P Diamandis ◽  
D S Papastathopoulos ◽  
T P Hadjiioannou

Abstract An automated potentiometric method for serum albumin determination by use of the picrate/albumin reaction is described. A continuous-flow system and a specially designed flow-through picrate ion electrode were used in making the measurements. Various factors affecting the reaction, such as pH, picrate ion concentration, and reaction time, were studied. Peak height in millivolts and albumin concentration were linearly related in the range 10-70 g/L. Both within-run and day-to-day, the CV for the method was about 2%. Analytical recovery of albumin added to serum samples ranged from 97.0 to 110.3%, averaging 102.2%. Results compare favorably with those by the established bromcresol green method. The proposed method is suitable for routine use and for screening tests.


1987 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Holloway

Net interest paid has been one of the most rapidly growing components of federal government expenditures since 1970. Unlike other components of the budget, public policy actions can have little effect on its rise—especially in the short run. For this reason, it is important to examine the forces “automatically” affecting net interest paid. This article examines the sources of change in net interest paid and provides an analytical framework to estimate the automatic effects of the business cycle and inflation. The framework incorporates the most important factors affecting net interest paid, including interest rates, budget deficits, and outstanding stocks (short-term and long-term debt and direct loans), and highlights the simultaneous relationship between net interest paid and changes in net debt (federal debt outstanding less direct loans outstanding). A sample application of the analytical framework is discussed.


1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (03) ◽  
pp. 349-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Toulon ◽  
Elyane Frere ◽  
Claude Bachmeyer ◽  
Nathalie Candia ◽  
Philippe Blanche ◽  
...  

SummaryThrombin clotting time (TCT) and reptilase clotting time (RCT) were found significantly prolonged in a series of 72 HIV-infected patients drawn for routine coagulation testing. Both TCT and RCT were highly significantly correlated with albumin (r = -0.64, and r = -0.73 respectively, p<0.0001). TCT and RCT were significantly higher (p<0.0001) in a series of 30 other HIV-infected patients selected on their albumin level below 30.0 g/l (group l) than in 30 HIV-infected patients with albumin level above 40.0 g/l or in 30 HIV-negative controls; the two latter groups were not different. In vitro supplementation of plasma from group 1 patients with purified human albumin up to 45.0 g/l (final concentration) lead to a dramatic shortening effect on both TCT and RCT, which reached normal values. The TCT and RCT of the purified fibrinogen solutions (2.0 g/l final concentration) were not different in the three groups, and normal polymerization curves were obtained in all cases. This further ruled out the presence of any dysfibrinogenemia in the plasma from group 1 patients. Using purified proteins, highly significant correlations were demonstrated between the albumin concentration and the prolongations of both TCT and RCT, which were of the same magnitude order than those found in the patients plasma. These results suggest that hypo-albuminemia is responsible for the acquired fibrin polymerization defect reported in HIV-infected patients. The pathophysiological implication of the low albumin levels was suggested by the finding of decreased albumin levels (associated with prolonged TCT and RCT) in a small series of the eight HIV-infected patients who developed thrombotic complications.


Author(s):  
Юлия Владимировна Татаркова ◽  
Татьяна Николаевна Петрова ◽  
Олег Валериевич Судаков ◽  
Александр Юрьевич Гончаров ◽  
Ольга Николаевна Крюкова

В настоящей статье представлен обзор основных решений, доступных сегодня для формирования как краткосрочных, так и долгосрочных проекций заболеваемости болезней глаза и его придаточного аппарата в студенческой среде. С другой стороны, существует ряд проблем, связанных с многообразием факторов, влияющих на заболеваемость, статистической необоснованностью и противоречивостью имеющихся результатов анализа данных. Представлены результаты математического моделирования зависимости показателя заболеваемости от наиболее влиятельных факторов образовательной и социальной среды. Перечислены важнейшие направления разработки математических моделей распространения заболеваемости. С помощью разработанного программного комплекса проведена серия вычислительных экспериментов по оценке и прогнозированию заболеваемости обучающихся в вузах разного профиля. Показана эффективность применения методики многовариантного моделирования и прогнозирования, указаны их ограничения и возможности практического применения. По расположению обобщенной области благоприятного прогноза в факторном пространстве можно определить время воздействия неблагоприятных для зрения факторов, которое должно составлять не более 10 ... 11 часов в сутки, количество профилактических мероприятий должно составлять не менее 3 ... 4. При этом риск развития миопии составит не более 0,4, вероятность усталости глаз за компьютером составит не более 0,4, вероятность дискомфорта глаз на занятиях составит не более 0,15. Исходя из характера прогноза, определяется длительность диспансерного наблюдения, а также потребность профилактических мероприятий по устранению или ослаблению действия неблагоприятно влияющих социально-гигиенических и медико-биологических факторов конкретного больного. Использование прогностической матрицы в практическом здравоохранении позволяет существенно улучшить работу по профилактике офтальмологической заболеваемости и является одним из эффективных мероприятий диспансеризации студенческой молодежи, так как дает возможность выделить из числа обучающихся группу с высоким риском неблагоприятного исхода заболевания This article provides an overview of the main solutions available today for the formation of both short-term and long-term projections of the incidence of eye diseases and its adnexa in the student environment. On the other hand, there are a number of problems associated with a variety of factors affecting the incidence, statistical unreasonability and inconsistency of the available data analysis results. The results of mathematical modeling of the dependence of the incidence rate on the most influential factors of the educational and social environment are presented. The most important areas of developing mathematical models for the spread of morbidity are listed. With the help of the developed software package, a series of computational experiments was carried out to assess and predict the incidence of students in universities of various profiles. The effectiveness of the application of multivariate modeling and forecasting methods is shown, their limitations and practical application possibilities are indicated. By the location of the generalized region of favorable prognosis in the factor space, it is possible to determine the exposure time of factors unfavorable for vision, which should be no more than 10 ... 11 hours a day, the number of preventive measures should be at least 3 ... 4. At the same time, the risk of development myopia will be no more than 0.4, the probability of eye fatigue at the computer will be no more than 0.4, the likelihood of eye discomfort in the classroom will be no more than 0.15. Based on the nature of the forecast, the duration of the follow-up observation is determined, as well as the need for preventive measures to eliminate or weaken the action of adverse social, hygienic and biomedical factors of a particular patient. The use of the prognostic matrix in practical health care can significantly improve the work on the prevention of ophthalmic morbidity and is one of the effective medical examinations for students, since it makes it possible to distinguish among the students a group with a high risk of an unfavorable outcome of the disease


2020 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. S211-S212
Author(s):  
Maurizio Baldassarre ◽  
Manuel Tufoni ◽  
Giacomo Zaccherini ◽  
Daniela Campion ◽  
Francesco Giuseppe Foschi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Poldrugovac ◽  
J E Amuah ◽  
H Wei-Randall ◽  
P Sidhom ◽  
K Morris ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Evidence of the impact of public reporting of healthcare performance on quality improvement is not yet sufficient to draw conclusions with certainty, despite the important policy implications. This study explored the impact of implementing public reporting of performance indicators of long-term care facilities in Canada. The objective was to analyse whether improvements can be observed in performance measures after publication. Methods We considered 16 performance indicators in long-term care in Canada, 8 of which are publicly reported at a facility level, while the other 8 are privately reported. We analysed data from the Continuing Care Reporting System managed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information and based on information collection with RAI-MDS 2.0 © between the fiscal years 2011 and 2018. A multilevel model was developed to analyse time trends, before and after publication, which started in 2015. The analysis was also stratified by key sample characteristics, such as the facilities' jurisdiction, size, urban or rural location and performance prior to publication. Results Data from 1087 long-term care facilities were included. Among the 8 publicly reported indicators, the trend in the period after publication did not change significantly in 5 cases, improved in 2 cases and worsened in 1 case. Among the 8 privately reported indicators, no change was observed in 7, and worsening in 1 indicator. The stratification of the data suggests that for those indicators that were already improving prior to public reporting, there was either no change in trend or there was a decrease in the rate of improvement after publication. For those indicators that showed a worsening trend prior to public reporting, the contrary was observed. Conclusions Our findings suggest public reporting of performance data can support change. The trends of performance indicators prior to publication appear to have an impact on whether further change will occur after publication. Key messages Public reporting is likely one of the factors affecting change in performance in long-term care facilities. Public reporting of performance measures in long-term care facilities may support improvements in particular in cases where improvement was not observed before publication.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bohan Liu ◽  
Pan Liu ◽  
Lutao Dai ◽  
Yanlin Yang ◽  
Peng Xie ◽  
...  

AbstractThe pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is causing enormous loss of life globally. Prompt case identification is critical. The reference method is the real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) assay, whose limitations may curb its prompt large-scale application. COVID-19 manifests with chest computed tomography (CT) abnormalities, some even before the onset of symptoms. We tested the hypothesis that the application of deep learning (DL) to 3D CT images could help identify COVID-19 infections. Using data from 920 COVID-19 and 1,073 non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients, we developed a modified DenseNet-264 model, COVIDNet, to classify CT images to either class. When tested on an independent set of 233 COVID-19 and 289 non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients, COVIDNet achieved an accuracy rate of 94.3% and an area under the curve of 0.98. As of March 23, 2020, the COVIDNet system had been used 11,966 times with a sensitivity of 91.12% and a specificity of 88.50% in six hospitals with PCR confirmation. Application of DL to CT images may improve both efficiency and capacity of case detection and long-term surveillance.


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