scholarly journals Comparing Theories of Selection Tasks: A Critical Assessment of Boundaries and Benchmarks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kellen ◽  
Karl Christoph Klauer

The Wason selection task is one of the most prominent paradigms in the psychology of reasoning, with hundreds of published investigations in the last fifty odd years. Butdespite its central role in reasoning research, there has been little to no attempt tomake sense of the data in way that allows us to discard potential theoretical accounts. In fact, theories have been allowed to proliferate without any comprehensive evaluation of their relative performance. In an attempt to address this problem, Ragni, Kola, and Johnson-Laird (2018) reported a meta-analysis of 228 experiments using the Wason selection task. This data corpus was used to evaluate sixteen different theories on the basis of three predictions: 1) the occurrence of canonical selections, 2) dependencies in selections, and 3) the effect of counter-example salience. Ragni et al. argued that all three effects cull the number of candidate theories down to only two, which are subsequently compared in a model-selection analysis. The present comment argues against the diagnostic value attributed to some of these predictions. Moreover, we revisit Ragni et al.’s model-selection analysis and show that the model they propose is non-identifiable and often fails to account for the data. Altogether, the problems discussed here suggest that we are still far from a much-needed theoretical winnowing.

Breast Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemin Liu ◽  
Qingyu Chang ◽  
Haiqiang Wang ◽  
Hairong Qian ◽  
Yikun Jiang

Abstract Background MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) may function as a diagnostic biomarker of breast cancer (BC). Nevertheless, the available evidence is controversial. Therefore, we performed this study to summarize the global predicting role of miR-155 for early detection of BC and preliminarily explore the functional roles of miR-155 in BC. Methods We first collected published studies and applied the bivariate meta-analysis model to generate the pooled diagnostic parameters of miR-155 in diagnosing BC such as sensitivity, specificity and area under curve (AUC). Then, we applied function enrichment and protein–protein interactions (PPI) analyses to explore the potential mechanisms of miR-155. Results A total of 21 studies were finally included. The results indicated that miR-155 allowed for the discrimination between BC patients and healthy controls with a sensitivity of 0.87 (95% CI 0.78–0.93), specificity of 0.82 (0.72–0.89), and AUC of 0.91 (0.88–0.93). In addition, the overall sensitivity, specificity and AUC for circulating miR-155 were 0.88 (0.76–0.95), 0.83 (0.72–0.90), and 0.92 (0.89–0.94), respectively. Function enrichment analysis revealed several vital ontologies terms and pathways associated with BC occurrence and development. Furthermore, in the PPI network, ten hub genes and two significant modules were identified to be involved in some important pathways associated with the pathogenesis of BC. Conclusions We demonstrated that miR-155 has great potential to facilitate accurate BC detection and may serve as a promising diagnostic biomarker for BC. However, well-designed cohort studies and biological experiments should be implemented to confirm the diagnostic value of miR-155 before it can be applied to routine clinical procedures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Mai Thi Giang Thanh ◽  
Ngo Van Toan ◽  
Do Thi Thanh Toan ◽  
Nguyen Phu Thang ◽  
Ngoc Quang Dong ◽  
...  

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the efficacy of fluorescence-based methods, visual inspections, and photographic visual examinations in initial caries detection. A literature search was undertaken in the PubMed and Cochrane databases. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed, and eligible articles published from 1 January 2009 to 30 October 2019 were included if they met the following criteria: they (1) assessed the accuracy of methods of detecting initial tooth caries lesions on occlusal, proximal, or smooth surfaces in both primary and permanent teeth (in clinical); (2) used a reference standard; (3) reported data regarding the sample size, prevalence of initial tooth caries, and accuracy of the methods. Data collection and extraction, quality assessment, and data analysis were conducted according to Cochrane standards Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2. Statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager 5.3 and STATA 14.0. A total of 12 eligible articles were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the sensitivity and specificity of fluorescence-based methods were 80% and 80%, respectively; visual inspection was measured at 80% and 75%, respectively; photographic visual examination was measured at 67% and 79%, respectively. We found that the visual method and the fluorescence method were reliable for laboratory use to detect early-stage caries with equivalent accuracy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Michifumi Yamashita ◽  
Mercury Y. Lin ◽  
Jean Hou ◽  
Kevin Y.M. Ren ◽  
Mark Haas

<b><i>Background:</i></b> For the better part of the past 6 decades, transmission electron microscopy (EM), together with routine light microscopy and immunofluorescence and/or immunohistochemistry (IHC), has been an essential component of the diagnostic workup of medical renal biopsies, particularly native renal biopsies, with increasing frequency in renal allograft biopsies as well. Studies performed prior to the year 2000 have indeed shown that a substantial fraction of renal biopsies cannot be accurately diagnosed without EM. Still, EM remains costly and labor-intensive, and with increasing pressure to reduce healthcare costs, some centers are de-emphasizing diagnostic EM. This trend has been coupled with advances in IHC and other methods in renal biopsy diagnosis over the past 2–3 decades. <b><i>Summary:</i></b> Nonetheless, it has been our experience that the diagnostic value of EM in the comprehensive evaluation of renal biopsies remains similar to what it was 20–30 years ago. In this review, we provide several key examples from our practice where EM was essential in making the correct renal biopsy diagnosis, ranging from relatively common glomerular lesions to rare diseases. <b><i>Key Messages:</i></b> EM remains an important component of the diagnostic evaluation of medical renal biopsies. Failure to perform EM in certain cases will result in an incorrect diagnosis, with possible clinical consequences. We strongly recommend that tissue for EM be taken and stored in an appropriate fixative and ultrastructural studies be performed for all native renal biopsies, as well as appropriate renal allograft biopsies as recommended by the Banff consortium.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-Xi Chen ◽  
Mei-Ling Liu ◽  
Kai Cao ◽  
Mayinuer Yusufu ◽  
Jin-Da Wang

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in detecting the choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in agerelated macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed by searching Pubmed, Science Direct, Embase and Web of Science. The pooled sensitivity and specificity with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), area under the summary receiver operator characteristic curve (sROC), and the total accurate classification rate were used to evaluate OCTA’ diagnostic value of CNV in AMD patients. Results: Seven studies involving 517 eyes were included in the analysis. The mean age of subjects in each study ranged from 58.5 years to 81.7 years. Fluorescein angiography was applied as the gold standard in five studies. There were 350 eyes diagnosed with CNV, OCTA detected 301 eyes correctly, while among the 167 eyes without CNV, OCTA identified 150 correctly. The total accurate classification rate was 87.23%. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was 0.5, indicating that there was no significant threshold effect in the current study (S=8, p=0.103). The pooled sensitivity and pooled specificity were 0.89 (95%CI: 0.82,0.94) and 0.96 (95%CI: 0.85,1.00) respectively. The area under sROC was up to 0.911. Conclusion: The specificity of OCTA for the detection of CNV in AMD patients is extremely high, however, the sensitivity still needs to be improved. In general, the metaanalysis revealed that OCTA had a high diagnostic value for the detection of CNV in AMD patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Xi ◽  
Chunqing Yang

AbstractObjectivesThe main aim of the present study was to assess the diagnostic value of alpha-l-fucosidase (AFU) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsStudies that explored the diagnostic value of AFU in HCC were searched in EMBASE, SCI, and PUBMED. The sensitivity, specificity, and DOR about the accuracy of serum AFU in the diagnosis of HCC were pooled. The methodological quality of each article was evaluated with QUADAS-2 (quality assessment for studies of diagnostic accuracy 2). Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) analysis was performed. Statistical analysis was conducted by using Review Manager 5 and Open Meta-analyst.ResultsEighteen studies were selected in this study. The pooled estimates for AFU vs. α-fetoprotein (AFP) in the diagnosis of HCC in 18 studies were as follows: sensitivity of 0.7352 (0.6827, 0.7818) vs. 0.7501 (0.6725, 0.8144), and specificity of 0.7681 (0.6946, 0.8283) vs. 0.8208 (0.7586, 0.8697), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 7.974(5.302, 11.993) vs. 13.401 (8.359, 21.483), area under the curve (AUC) of 0.7968 vs. 0.8451, respectively.ConclusionsAFU is comparable to AFP for the diagnosis of HCC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Peng ◽  
Jinze Li ◽  
Chunyang Meng ◽  
Jinming Li ◽  
Dandan Tang ◽  
...  

BackgroundThis study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of telomerase activity (TA) for bladder cancer (BC) by meta-analysis.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search of studies published on PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science up to June 1, 2019. We used Stata 15 and Review Manager 5.3 for calculations and statistical analysis.ResultsTo evaluate the diagnostic value of TA for BC, we performed a meta-analysis on 22 studies, with a total of 2,867 individuals, including sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratio (PLR, NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The pooled parameters were calculated from all studies, and we found a sensitivity of 0.79 (95% CI: 0.72–0.84), a specificity of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87–0.94), a PLR of 8.91 (95% CI: 5.91–13.43), an NLR of 0.24 (95% CI: 0.15–0.37), a DOR of 37.90 (95% CI: 23.32–61.59), and an AUC of 0.92 (95% CI: 0.90–0.94). We also conducted a subgroup analysis based on the different stages and grades of BC. Results from the subgroup analysis showed that there was no significant difference in TA in either high and low stages of BC, but that low-grade tumors had a lower TA than high-grade tumours.ConclusionsTA can be used as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of bladder cancer with its high specificity. Rigorous and high-quality prospective studies are required to verify our conclusion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weixing Liu ◽  
Gui Chen ◽  
Xin Gong ◽  
Yingqi Wang ◽  
Yaoming Zheng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Numerous individual studies have investigated the diagnostic value of EBV-DNA, EA-IgA, VCA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA and Rta-IgG detection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the conclusions remain controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the value of EBV-DNA, EA-IgA, VCA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA and Rta-IgG detection in the diagnosis of NPC. Methods PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019145532. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Chinese data libraries (Wanfang, CNKI, and CBM) were searched up to January 2019. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and positive likelihood, negative likelihood, and diagnostic odds ratios were conducted in this meta-analysis. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves evaluated the test-performance global summary. Publication bias was examined by Deek’s funnel plot asymmetry test. Results Forty-seven studies with 8382 NPC patients (NPC group) and 15,089 individuals without NPC (Control group) were included in this meta-analysis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood (+ LR), negative likelihood (-LR), DOR and AUC of EBV-DNA in diagnosis of NPC were: 0.76 (95% CI 0.73–0.77), 0.96 (95% CI 0.95–0.97), 14.66 (95% CI 9.97–21.55), 0.19 (95% CI 0.13–0.28), 84 (95% CI 50.45–139.88), 0.96 (SE: 0.001), and 0.55 (95% CI 0.54–0.57), 0.96 (95% CI 0.96–0.97), 12.91 (95% CI 9.55–17.45), 0.35 (95% CI 0.29–0.43), 39.57 (95% CI 26.44–59.23), 0.94 (SE: 0.002) for the EA-IgA, and 0.85 (95% CI 0.84–0.85), 0.89 (95% CI 0.88–0.89), 6.73 (95% CI5.38–8.43), 0.17 (95% CI 0.12–0.23), 43.03 (95% CI 31.51–58.76), 0.93 (SE: 0.007) for the VCA-IgA, and 0.86 (95% CI 0.85–0.88), 0.87 (95% CI 0.88–0.90), 7.55 (95% CI 5.79–9.87), 0.16 (95% CI 0.13–0.19), 50.95 (95% CI 34.35–75.57), 0.94 (SE: 0.008) for the EBNA1-IgA, and 0.70 (95% CI 0.69–0.71), 0.94 (95% CI 0.94–0.95), 9.84 (95% CI 8.40–11.54), 0.25 (95% CI 0.21–0.31), 40.59 (95% CI 32.09–51.35), 0.95 (SE: 0.005) for the Rta-IgG. The EBV-DNA had larger AUC compared with other EBV-based antibodies (P < 0.05), while the difference between EA-IgA, VCA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA and Rta-IgG was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusions EBV-DNA, VCA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA and Rta-IgG detection have high accuracy in early diagnosis NPC. In addition, EBV-DNA detection has the higher diagnosis accuracy in NPC. On the other hand, EA-IgA is suitable for the diagnosis but not NPC screening.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. S95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Su ◽  
Shuqin Xie ◽  
Ling Zhong ◽  
Yan Wu ◽  
Yuan Tian ◽  
...  

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