Accuracy of Subclinical Ketosis Detection with Rapid Test Methods for BHBA in Blood in Commercial Dairy Farms

This study gives an overview of the performance and accuracy of devices used for the fast measurement of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) in blood for the on-farm indication of subclinical ketosis. Data were collected on ten dairy farms. In each farm, blood samples were taken from ten cows on four test days (2, 4, 9 and 11), resulting in 400 samples. The reference method was the BHBA concentration in blood serum (BHBALAB). Four different devices that measure BHBA in whole blood were tested. The thresholds applied for identifying subclinical ketosis were ≥1.0, ≥1.2 and ≥1.4 mmol/L in blood serum. The BHBALAB was assigned in three classes: low—≤0.9 mmol/L; high—>0.9 mmol/L; and total—all values unclassified. Due to initial negative effects on the health and performance of cows with BHBA levels ≥0.9 mmol/L, this cut-off was chosen. The Passing–Bablok regression revealed different constant as well as absolute biases for each device in the aforementioned classes. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve indicated highly accurate results, with 94–97% accuracy levels. As an overall conclusion, the performance of the devices was good and supports their use by farmers for the detection of subclinical ketotic cows in their herds.

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Diagnostic performance of a point-of-care saliva urea nitrogen dipstick to screen for kidney disease in low-resource settings where serum creatinine is unavailable

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002312 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

pp. e002312

Author(s):

Rhys D R Evans ◽

Ulla Hemmila ◽

Henry Mzinganjira ◽

Mwayi Mtekateka ◽

Enos Banda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Kidney Disease ◽

Point Of Care ◽

Test Accuracy ◽

Operating Characteristics ◽

Urea Nitrogen ◽

Low Resource Settings ◽

Low Resource ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Receiver Operating Characteristics Curve ◽

And Performance

BackgroundKidney disease is prevalent in low-resource settings worldwide, but tests for its diagnosis are often unavailable. The saliva urea nitrogen (SUN) dipstick is a laboratory and electricity independent tool, which may be used for the detection of kidney disease. We investigated the feasibility and performance of its use in diagnosing kidney disease in community settings in Africa.MethodsAdult patients at increased risk of kidney disease presenting to three community health centres, a rural district hospital and a central hospital in Malawi were recruited between October 2016 and September 2017. Patients underwent concurrent SUN and creatinine testing at enrolment, and at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months thereafter.ResultsOf 710 patients who presented at increased risk of kidney disease, 655 (92.3%) underwent SUN testing at enrolment, and were included (aged 38 (29-52) years, 367 (56%) female and 333 (50.8%) with HIV). Kidney disease was present in 482 (73.6%) patients and 1479 SUN measurements were made overall. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) correlated with SUN (r=−0.39; p<0.0001). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.61 for presenting SUN to detect acute or chronic kidney disease, and 0.87 to detect severe (eGFR <15 mL/min/1.73 m2) kidney disease (p<0.0001; sensitivity 82.3%, specificity 81.8%, test accuracy 81.8%). In-hospital mortality was greater if enrolment SUN was elevated (>test pad #1) compared with patients with non-elevated SUN (p<0.0001; HR 3.3 (95% CI 1.7 to 6.1).ConclusionsSUN, measured by dipstick, is feasible and may be used to screen for kidney disease in low resource settings where creatinine tests are unavailable.

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Comparing Two Diagnostic Processes: Operating Characteristics of Nonparametric Methods

Dhaka University Journal of Science ◽

10.3329/dujs.v61i1.15114 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 131-138

Author(s):

Md. Akhtar Hossain ◽

Nahid Sultana Sumi

Keyword(s):

Simulation Study ◽

Roc Curves ◽

Nonparametric Test ◽

Nonparametric Methods ◽

Test Methods ◽

Operating Characteristics ◽

Extensive Simulation ◽

Wide Range ◽

Area Under Roc Curve ◽

And Performance

The area under ROC curve (AUC) is frequently used as a measure for the effectiveness of diagnostic processes. The aim of this paper is to explore and evaluate several nonparametric test methods of comparing the effectiveness and performance of two competing diagnostic processes producing quantitative ratings. These nonparametric methods make use of ROC curves when comparing the diagnostics processes. An extensive simulation study is performed to investigate the operating characteristics of the test methods in a wide range of settings. Dhaka Univ. J. Sci. 61(1): 131-138, 2013 (January) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dujs.v61i1.15114

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Undesirable Effects of Goal Setting on Perceived Fairness, Commitment, and Unethical Behavior

Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie A&O ◽

10.1026/0932-4089/a000267 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 62 (2) ◽

pp. 97-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nina Keith

Keyword(s):

Goal Setting ◽

Unethical Behavior ◽

The United States ◽

Goal Commitment ◽

Management Technique ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Perceived Fairness ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Positive Effects ◽

And Performance

Abstract. The positive effects of goal setting on motivation and performance are among the most established findings of industrial–organizational psychology. Accordingly, goal setting is a common management technique. Lately, however, potential negative effects of goal-setting, for example, on unethical behavior, are increasingly being discussed. This research replicates and extends a laboratory experiment conducted in the United States. In one of three goal conditions (do-your-best goals, consistently high goals, increasingly high goals), 101 participants worked on a search task in five rounds. Half of them (transparency yes/no) were informed at the outset about goal development. We did not find the expected effects on unethical behavior but medium-to-large effects on subjective variables: Perceived fairness of goals and goal commitment were least favorable in the increasing-goal condition, particularly in later goal rounds. Results indicate that when designing goal-setting interventions, organizations may consider potential undesirable long-term effects.

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