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PubMed2001

Reliability of the isokinetic trunk extensor test, Biering-Sørensen test, and Astrand bicycle test: assessment of intraclass correlation coefficient and critical difference in patients with chronic low back pain and healthy individuals.

STUDY DESIGN: A reliability study was performed. OBJECTIVE: To determine the intersession reproducibility of the isokinetic trunk extensor strength test, the Biering-Sørensen test, and the Astrand test by calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient and the critical difference. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Several physical measurements have been used in clinical evaluation of patients with chronic low back pain. Reliability can be evaluated by calculation of either intraclass correlation coefficient or critical difference, but interpretation of the results may vary depending on which method is used. METHODS: For this study, 31 patients with chronic low back pain carried out the isokinetic trunk extensor test, the Biering-Sørensen test, and the Astrand test as also did age- and gender-matched healthy individuals. Measurements were performed in three separate sessions at the same time of the day and by the same experienced examiner. The intervals between the sessions were 5 to 10 days. RESULTS: The isokinetic tests showed a learning effect between Tests 1 and 2. For the isokinetic test, the critical difference increased with increased angular velocities from 28% to 63% in the patients and from 27% to 39% in the healthy subjects. The critical differences for the patients and the healthy individuals were 57% vs 54% for the Biering-Sørensen test and 21% vs 23% for the Astrand test, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient ranged from 93% to 98% in the patients and 80%-98% in the healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS: The reliability was found to be acceptable for the Astrand test and the isokinetic test at 60 degrees per second, as evaluated by the critical difference. All the tests were highly reliable according to the intraclass correlation coefficient, except for Biering-Sørensen test for healthy individuals. The critical difference is the preferable measure because calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient may give a misleading high estimate of reliability.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Testing high SPF sunscreens: a demonstration of the accuracy and reproducibility of the results of testing high SPF formulations by two methods and at different testing sites.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The goals of this study were (i) to demonstrate that existing and widely used sun protection factor (SPF) test methodologies can produce accurate and reproducible results for high SPF formulations and (ii) to provide data on the number of test-subjects needed, the variability of the data, and the appropriate exposure increments needed for testing high SPF formulations. METHODS: Three high SPF formulations were tested, according to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) 1993 tentative final monograph (TFM) 'very water resistant' test method and/or the 1978 proposed monograph 'waterproof' test method, within one laboratory. A fourth high SPF formulation was tested at four independent SPF testing laboratories, using the 1978 waterproof SPF test method. All laboratories utilized xenon arc solar simulators. RESULTS: The data illustrate that the testing conducted within one laboratory, following either the 1978 proposed or the 1993 TFM SPF test method, was able to reproducibly determine the SPFs of the formulations tested, using either the statistical analysis method in the proposed monograph or the statistical method described in the TFM. When one formulation was tested at four different laboratories, the anticipated variation in the data owing to the equipment and other operational differences was minimized through the use of the statistical method described in the 1993 monograph. CONCLUSIONS: The data illustrate that either the 1978 proposed monograph SPF test method or the 1993 TFM SPF test method can provide accurate and reproducible results for high SPF formulations. Further, these results can be achieved with panels of 20-25 subjects with an acceptable level of variability. Utilization of the statistical controls from the 1993 sunscreen monograph can help to minimize lab-to-lab variability for well-formulated products.

Drug Evaluation↗
PubMed1989

Reproducibility of patch test results: comparison of TRUE Test and Finn Chamber test results.

To evaluate the reproducibility of patch test results, duplicate patch test series comprising 12 allergens were simultaneously applied to either side of the back in 63 patients by the use of a newly developed patch test system, TRUE Test. When a positive test result occurred on only one side of the back, it was regarded as nonreproducible. For evaluation of the concordance of test reactions between the TRUE Test and the Finn Chamber test, the same 12 allergens mixed in petrolatum were also applied to the upper back according to the Finn Chamber technique. The reproducibility of TRUE Test results was compared with the reproducibility of the Finn Chamber test in 76 other patients. The concordance of positive reactions between the two tests was 57%, somewhat lower than in recently published studies. The percentage of nonreproducible positive results was more than twice as high with Finn Chambers, (22 of 58 positive reactions, or 37.9%) as with the TRUE Test (5 of 28 reactions, or 17.9%). However, this difference in reproducibility in the two test systems was not significant as determined by the chi 2 test (p less than 0.05).

Allergens↗
PubMed1997

Genotoxicity assessment of suspended particulate matter in the Elbe river: comparison of Salmonella microsome test, arabinose resistance test, and umu-test.

This study evaluates the applicability of three bacterial short-term genotoxicity test systems to aquatic suspended particulate matter of the Elbe river. This material was sampled in sedimentation vessels after deposition periods of one month. It was extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus with toluene and methanol. Aqueous elutriates were prepared additionally. A solid phase method was developed that enables to incubate bacteria in contact with the particulate material. The test battery consists of two mutagenicity assays (the Ames-test and the Ara-test) and an SOS induction assay (the umu-test). Both mutagenicity assays came to nearly the same assessment of the samples of particulate matter of the Elbe. The quantitative response, however, was higher in the Ara-test. The particulate river material generally induced lower genotoxic potencies in the umu-test than in the mutagenicity assays. This lead to a completely different outcome of the umu-test; 29 out of 35 mutagenic samples were not SOS inducing. No quantitative or rank correlations between the concentrations of anthropogenic contaminants (PAHs, chlorinated hydrocarbons and metals) and the observed effects could be established on a 90% confidence limit. However, there is obvious correspondence between more contaminated regions of the river system and mutagenic effects (Ames- and Ara-test) in the samples from this region, as well as correspondence between low contaminated regions and the absence of mutagenicity. For this reason, the mutagenicity assays appear more favourable to describe the anthropogenic contamination with genotoxins in complex mixtures than the umu-test. The authors recommend the Ara-test for a first genotoxicity screening of complex environmental mixtures. This forward mutagenicity assay is advantageous due to higher effects and lower costs compared to the Ames-test. The development and use of a solid phase version of Ames- and Ara-test revealed the occurrence of a major part of particle-bound mutagens. The hydrophobic nature of these mutagens was also confirmed by the gradually decreasing effects with decreasing lipophilicity of the solvents. The results suggest that the solid phase test and the use of extracts complement each other in detecting mutagens of different lipophilicity. Both versions should be used in order to include a broad variety of compounds.

Arabinose↗
PubMed2004

[Visual acuity testing in pre-school children: a comparison between the Sheridan-Gardiner test and the Räder (broken wheel) test].

PURPOSE: To evaluate the comparability between the well-established Sheridan-Gardiner test (SGT) and a new type of visual acuity test, called the Räder test (RT = broken wheel test) in pre-school children, and to compare test durations of these infant visual acuity tests. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The RT consists of 16 cards with visus values of 0.16, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0. One pair of cards depicting a car is used for testing. On one of the cards the car has intact wheels, on the other the wheels are incomplete, symbolized by a Landolt ring. The child must indicate, at a viewing distance of 3 meters, which of the wheels is incomplete. The SGT consists of seven visus plates: 5/60, 5/36, 5/24, 5/18, 5/12, 5/9 and 5/6. Each level is tested with one letter and can be repeated by the presentation of a further letter (A, H, O, T, U, V, X). The examination distance is 5 meters. The child must indicate, with reference to a card depicting all seven symbols, which letter the examiner is showing. The SGT and RT were performed in a randomized cross-over sequence in 30 children (20male, 10 female) of pre-school age (from 2 years up to and including the age of 5 years, mean 3.4 years +/- 0.77 SD, median 3.0 years). In all cases, the right eye was examined first. Examination duration was assessed for each acuity test, and for each eye separately with a stopwatch. The instruction time was not considered. The possible visual acuity values of both bests were replaced by a unified scale of visual acuity levels (ranging from 1 to 10). A difference of at least two levels was considered as relevant. The results were compared by means of the sign test at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: In particular, for higher visual acuity levels there were considerable differences, with SGT generally showing better results than RT: in 11 of 29 children, in both eyes RT values turned out to be at least 2 lines better than those obtained with SGT. The contrary situation, i. e., favoring SGT by more than 2 lines compared to RT, never occurred. According to the sign test, these differences were significant (p < 0.001). SGT revealed also clearly better visual acuity levels in those 22 children out of the 30, who exhibited differences by 2 lines or more in at least one eye (p < 0.001). The examination procedure with RT revealed problems in making the required directional decisions, especially between 2 and 4 years of age. This might interfere with the test interpretation and lead to distortion of the RT results. Total examination duration did not differ considerably between SGT (1.6 to 5.8 minutes, median 3.0 minutes) and RT (1.6 to 9.4 minutes, median 4.6 minutes), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The Sheridan-Gardiner test generally shows better results than the new Räder (RT = broken wheel) test in pre-school children. Problems in making the required directional decisions may interfere with RT in this age group.

Bias↗
PubMed2006

Increasing HIV testing among latinos by bundling HIV testing with other tests.

Latinos in the United States are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. They accounted for 20.4% of the AIDS cases reported in 2003, despite the fact that they represent 13.3% of the civilian non-institutional population of the United States. Thus it is important to identify ways to increase HIV testing among Latinos engaging in high risk behaviors. One approach that has been proposed for increasing HIV testing is the "bundling" of HIV prevention interventions with other relevant services. This study examined whether offering HIV testing with screening for other conditions would increase HIV testing among Latino men who frequent gay bars. A cross-sectional survey of 394 Latino men was conducted at both urban and suburban gay bars. Overall, no statistical differences were found in the number of individuals who took the HIV test or who tested HIV-positive when the HIV test was offered with screening for other conditions (alcohol problems, drug dependence, depression, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia) compared to when it was offered by itself. However, multivariate analysis found that three groups of Latino men were more likely to test for HIV when it was bundled with other tests: those who reported having sex primarily with women, those with other risk factors that could also be tested through a bundled test approach, and those who were clients of the suburban gay bar that was farthest from a large geographical gay community. Further studies of bundled HIV testing should be conducted with other key subpopulations that may be more willing to take an HIV test when it is offered with other relevant tests than when offered by itself.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

The Kim test: a novel test for posteroinferior labral lesion of the shoulder--a comparison to the jerk test.

BACKGROUND: Detection of a posteroinferior labral lesion by physical examination is often difficult. PURPOSE: To introduce a novel diagnostic test for detecting a posteroinferior labral lesion of the shoulder. HYPOTHESIS: The Kim test can detect a posteroinferior labral lesion of the shoulder. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 1. METHODS: In 172 painful shoulders, the Kim test was compared with the jerk test and was verified by arthroscopic examination. A sudden onset of posterior shoulder pain and click with or without clunk indicated a positive test result. RESULTS: Thirty-three shoulders had a positive Kim test result, in which 24 had a posteroinferior labral lesion and 9 had a normal posteroinferior labrum. Of 139 shoulders with a negative Kim test result, 6 had a posteroinferior labral tear and 133 had a normal posteroinferior labrum. The sensitivity of the Kim test was 80%, specificity was 94%, positive predictive value was 0.73, and negative predictive value was 0.96. The interexaminer reliability between 2 examiners was 0.91. The accuracy of the jerk test in detecting a posteroinferior labral lesion was the following: sensitivity, 73%; specificity, 98%; positive predictive value, 0.88; and negative predictive value, 0.95. The location of the posterior labral lesion was predominantly posterior in 19 shoulders and predominantly inferior in 11 shoulders. The Kim test was more sensitive in detecting a predominantly inferior labral lesion, whereas the jerk test was more sensitive in detecting a predominantly posterior labral lesion. The sensitivity in detecting a posteroinferior labral lesion increased to 97% when the 2 tests were combined. CONCLUSION: The Kim test is a reliable diagnostic test for detection of a posteroinferior labral lesion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Carrier testing of children for two X-linked diseases: A retrospective study of comprehension of the test results and social and psychological significance of the testing.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate long-term consequences of genetic carrier testing performed in childhood in terms of awareness and comprehension of the test result, and the social and psychological significance of such testing. STUDY DESIGN: The families of 66 young females who had been tested for carriership during childhood between 1984 and 1988 were approached. Of the 66 families, 23 young females in families affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), 23 young females in families affected by hemophilia A (HA), and their mothers participated in our study. We used a questionnaire including multiple-choice and open-ended questions. RESULTS: Of the young female participants tested in the families affected by DMD or HA, 65% knew their test results. Only 65% of DMD mothers and 78% of HA mothers remembered correctly the test results of their daughters. The majority (83%) of the young females tested sought no genetic counseling when reaching adulthood. The reason for this was not determined. Most (78%) reported that the test result had not influenced their lives, whereas some felt relieved to know they had not been carriers. Talking about hereditary disease in the family and between friends was open, and results of the carrier test had usually been told to friends. CONCLUSION: Carrier testing was in most cases correctly understood and the matter openly discussed. Our results do not suggest that testing in childhood had caused serious harm to the young individuals tested. On the other hand, we found no obvious benefits from this early testing.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Clinical hip tests and a functional squat test in patients with knee osteoarthritis: reliability, prevalence of positive test findings, and short-term response to hip mobilization.

STUDY DESIGN: One group pretest-posttest exploratory design. OBJECTIVES: Primary purposes of this study were to examine the short-term effect of hip mobilizations on pain and range of motion (ROM) measurements in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to determine the prevalence of painful hip and squat test findings in both patients with knee OA and asymptomatic subjects. The secondary purposes were to assess intrarater reliability and to determine whether fewer subjects experienced painful test findings following hip mobilization. BACKGROUND: Conservative intervention, including manual physical therapy applied to the lower extremity, has been shown to reduce impairments associated with knee OA. METHODS AND MEASURES: One rater pair administered 4 clinical hip tests to 22 patients with knee OA (mean age, 61.2 years; SD, 6.1 years) and 17 subjects without lower extremity symptoms or known pathology (mean age, 64.0 years; SD, 7.9 years). Intrarater reliability was examined for each clinical test. Patients with knee OA and painful-hip and squat test findings received hip mobilizations. Pain and ROM responses for each test were dependent variables. RESULTS: Intraclass correlation coefficients for all tests were greater than 0.87. Composite and individual test pain scores and ROM scores improved significantly following hip mobilization. All clinical test findings were more frequent in the group with knee OA, except for those of the FABER test, and the number of subjects with painful test findings following hip mobilization was reduced for all tests except the hip flexion test. CONCLUSIONS: Patients experienced increases in ROM, decreased pain, and fewer subjects had painful test findings immediately following a single session of hip mobilizations. Examination and intervention of the hip may be indicated in patients with knee OA.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Noninvasive Helicobacter pylori testing for the "test-and-treat" strategy: a decision analysis to assess the effect of past infection on test choice.

BACKGROUND: Clinical guidelines support a noninvasive Helicobacter pylori "test-and-treat" strategy for individuals with uncomplicated dyspepsia. However, consensus is lacking regarding the preferred noninvasive testing method. OBJECTIVE: To use decision analytic modeling to estimate the clinical and economic outcomes associated with noninvasive tests designed to detect either H pylori antibody or active H pylori infection. DESIGN: Decision analytic model. PATIENTS: A simulated patient cohort with uncomplicated dyspepsia. INTERVENTIONS: The simulated dyspepsia cohort underwent antibody testing or testing to detect active H pylori infection (active testing). Individuals testing positive received eradication therapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Appropriate and inappropriate treatment prescribed, cost per patient treated, incremental cost per unnecessary treatment avoided. RESULTS: Active testing led to a substantial reduction in unnecessary treatment for patients without active infection (antibody, 23.7; active, 1.4 per 100 patients) at an incremental cost of $37 per patient. The clinical advantage and cost-effectiveness of active testing was enhanced as the percentage of individuals with a positive antibody test result from past, but not current, infection increased. CONCLUSIONS: Active testing for H pylori infection significantly decreases the inappropriate use of antimicrobial therapy when compared with antibody testing. The advantages of active testing should be enhanced as the widespread use of antimicrobial agents increases the proportion of patients with antibody to H pylori, but without active infection.

2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles↗
PubMed2005

Comparison of 13C- urea blood test to 13C-breath test and rapid urease test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection.

At present, the available methods to diagnose active H. pylori infection are endoscopy with biopsy for histology, culture, rapid urease tests, 13C or 14C urea breath test, urine antibody and the stool antigen test. The aims of this study were to simplify the 13C urea test by measuring 13C in blood rather than breath, and to evaluate the usefulness of the 13C urea blood test for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. Patients who underwent upper endoscopy for standard clinical indications (e.g. dyspepsia, abdominal pain) were enrolled. A total of 161 patients (93F, 68M, mean age 47 +/- 14.2) were evaluated; 50 (31%) of them were H. pylori positive, and 111(69%) were H. pylori negative. H. pylori infection was diagnosed with a rapid urease test (CLO-test) and 13C urea breath test (UBT). Performance characteristics for the 13C urea blood test for diagnosis and evaluation of H. pylori eradication were calculated using UBT and CLO as gold standards. The fifty H. pylori-positive patients were treated with triple antibiotic therapy for two weeks. Four weeks after finishing antibiotic therapy patients were retested with a commercial UBT and urea blood test. The 13C blood test had sensitivities of 92 and 98% and specificities of 96 and 100% as compared with urea breath test and CLO, respectively. We conclude that the 13C urea blood test is highly sensitive and specific for the initial diagnosis and control of eradication of H. pylori infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Mutagenicity testing of protein-containing and biological samples using the Ames/Salmonella plate incorporation test and the fluctuation test.

Mutagenicity testing of biological samples and proteins is complicated by the presence of histidine and histidine-related growth factors which may produce a false positive result in the Ames/Salmonella plate incorporation test. A bioassay method, utilizing an automated dispenser-photometer and Salmonella typhimurium strain TA1535 as the indicator bacteria, was used to estimate the presence of histidine-related growth factors in three enzyme solutions submitted for mutagenicity testing. One of the solutions was clearly positive in the Ames/Salmonella test and also contained the highest amount of L-histidine-HCl-equivalents. The two other solutions, with low or undetectable amounts of L-histidine-HCl-equivalents, gave equivocal and negative results, respectively, in the Ames/Salmonella test. Studies were also performed with strains TA98, TA100 and TA1535 to determine the amount of added L-histidine-HCl that would result in a 'positive' result in the Ames/Salmonella test. Because the minimum amount of L-histidine-HCl required to double the number of revertant colonies was 150 nmol/plate, and the maximum amount of L-histidine-HCl-equivalents supplied by the enzyme preparations was 40 nmol/plate at the highest tested dose, the mutagenicity test results of the enzyme solutions cannot be explained solely by histidine or related compounds. Smokers' and non-smokers' urines, concentrated with liquid extraction (CHCl3) and adsorbent (XAD-2 and XAD-2/Sep-Pak C18) techniques, were studied to reveal differences in efficiencies to extract histidine and histidine-related compounds in the urines. Amounts of 'histidine' in concentrates of urine were measured using the bioassay method and a chemical method employing derivatization with fluorescamine. The fluorescamine method also efficiently detected 3-methyl-L-histidine, a product of muscle metabolism excreted in urine, which was found to be unable to support auxotrophic growth in TA1535, leading to exaggerated estimations of the auxotrophic growth enhancing properties of urine extracts. The urine extracts, and pure L-histidine-HCl, were tested using a two-step fluctuation test to estimate auxotrophic growth factor effects in this type of test. Because of a strong dilution effect when adding the histidine-free selection medium, the fluctuation test employed in this study was not found to be particularly sensitive to growth factors. The results of this study indicate that use of a bioassay, employing the same indicator bacteria as the mutagenicity test themselves, is a reliable way to measure histidine-related growth factors in biological samples.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Enzymes↗
PubMed2004

Correlations of patch test reactivity and the repeated open application test (ROAT)/provocative use test (PUT).

The clinical relevance of patch test reactions is often difficult to determine. Use tests have been developed to further evaluate the significance of patch test results. We review studies that have defined correlations between the threshold concentrations at patch testing and the outcome of use tests for particular chemical allergens. Results of patch testing with serial dilutions of colophony, cinnamic aldehyde, and isoeugenol have shown concordance with the outcome of use tests. On the other hand, poor correlations between patch test reactivity and the use test were demonstrated in another study on isoeugenol and on studies on hydroxycitronellal, formaldehyde and chromium. These studies shed light on some factors that may influence the outcome of use tests. Individual factors such as patch test sensitivity, regional variations in reactivity and percutaneous penetration appear to play significant roles. Exposure dose, length of time of exposure, and other factors yet to be determined also affect degree of reactivity. Because patients with low thresholds in serial dilution patch testing are known to react to lower concentrations of products at use testing, results of these studies may be used to help identify subjects with a high risk of developing clinical disease. From the public health standpoint, data obtained may be used as a guide in limiting exposure concentrations in consumer products.

Acrolein↗
PubMed1992

Comparison of five methods, including the PDM Epsilometer test (E test), for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The antimicrobial susceptibilities of 100 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to six antipseudomonal antibiotics were tested by five methods: the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) methods for broth microdilution, agar dilution, and agar disk diffusion; the Vitek Automicrobic System method (Vitek Systems, Hazelwood, Mo.); and the PDM Epsilometer test (E test) (AB Biodisk, Solna, Sweden). The E test results showed excellent correlation with agar dilution results, with over 90% agreement within 1 doubling dilution between the E test and reference agar dilution MICs for all antimicrobial agents tested. The E test results also showed good correlation with the results from the reference agar disk diffusion method, with 90 to 99% complete agreement and 100% essential agreement on categories for all antibiotics tested (essential agreement is the agreement obtained when minor discrepancies are ignored). Comparison of categories with the E test and broth microdilution methods, using the broth microdilution method as the reference method, gave only 59% complete agreement for gentamicin, with 28 minor discrepancies and 13 very major discrepancies. Some discrepancies were observed between results from the E test and broth methods for gentamicin, with the broth microdilution and Vitek methods giving higher MICs than the E test and other methods using agar. The most recent NCCLS guidelines for broth dilution testing have reduced the recommended levels of cation supplementation, which may enhance future agreement between results for the aminoglycosides and P. aeruginosa on broth and on agar. We found that the E test offers a simple, labor-efficient, and accurate method for MIC determination on an agar medium.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

The micronucleus test as part of a short-term mutagenicity test program for the prediction of carcinogenicity evaluated by 143 agents tested.

To evaluate the usefulness of the micronucleus test as a short-term assay for the detection of carcinogens, the correlation between micronucleus test data for 143 chemicals and corresponding cancer data, has been analyzed. For comparison, analogous data from Ames's test have also been collected for the same chemicals. In a comparison of the micronucleus test and Ames's test it was found that they had about the same specificity (around 80%) and predictive value (around 90%), while there was a significant difference in sensitivity in favor of Ames's test. The difference in sensitivity could be partly explained by differences in metabolizing capacities of these two test systems. It is concluded that a more elaborate test procedure for the micronucleus test would increase that sensitivity of this test. The principal value of the micronucleus test lies in the fact that it is an in vivo method, which may pick up effects at the chromosomal level not covered by bacterial assays. This is emphasized by the finding that the combination of Ames's test and the micronucleus test did increase the sensitivity of the screening procedure for the prediction of carcinogenic effects.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

An examination of the Runs Test, Reverse Arrangements Test, and modified Reverse Arrangements Test for assessing surface EMG signal stationarity.

The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of the Runs Test, Reverse Arrangements Test, and modified Reverse Arrangements Test for assessing stationarity of surface electromyographic (EMG) signals. Five stationary signals were generated by custom programs written with LabVIEW programming software. These signals consisted of sine waves, sums of sine waves, and sums of sine waves and random noise. The sixth signal was a stationary computer generated surface EMG signal downloaded from the surface EMG for the non-invasive assessment of muscles (SENIAM) project database. There were no changes in the amplitude or frequency contents of the stationary signals over time. Several nonstationary signals were also created, including a nonstationary chirp signal generated with LabVIEW programming software, a nonstationary computer generated surface EMG signal downloaded from the SENIAM project database, and a real surface EMG signal recorded from the biceps brachii during a concentric isokinetic muscle action of the forearm flexors at a velocity of 30 degrees s(-1). Both the stationary and nonstationary signals were tested for stationarity using the Runs Test, Reverse Arrangements Test, and modified Reverse Arrangements Test. The results indicated that each of the three stationarity tests demonstrated at least one form of inaccuracy (i.e. false positive and/or false negative results) in examining the stationarity of the test signals. These findings may reflect the fact that these tests were designed to determine whether or not a signal is random, rather than examine signal stationarity exclusively. Thus, the Runs Test, Reverse Arrangements Test, and modified Reverse Arrangements Test may not be appropriate for assessing stationarity in surface EMG signals.

Databases, Factual↗
PubMed1986

Strain A mouse pulmonary tumor test results for chemicals previously tested in the National Cancer Institute carcinogenicity tests.

Sixty-five chemicals were coded and examined for their ability to induce lung tumors in strain A/St (laboratory A) or strain A/J (laboratory B) mice. Thirty-five chemicals were tested in laboratory A only, 6 in laboratory B only, and 24 in both laboratories. Two-year carcinogenicity test results as well as genotoxicity test data are available for most of these chemicals. There was poor interlaboratory agreement in strain A test results for the 24 chemicals tested in both laboratories. In addition, there was poor agreement between strain A test results from either laboratory and 2-year carcinogenicity test results or genotoxicity results. Possible explanations for these findings include selection of a large number of aromatic amines in the group of chemicals submitted for strain A testing, differences in strain A testing protocols and in statistical analysis of results from the two laboratories, low sensitivity of the strain A/St mice used in this particular study, and general problems inherent in comparing any relatively short-term animal tumor model with 2-year carcinogenicity tests. Since there is no absolute reference for carcinogenicity, no one test system is better than another. Carcinogenicity test data are relevant only to the test model employed.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Reliability of the anterior drawer test, the pivot shift test, and the Lachman test.

In 147 patients with arthroscopically proved chronic injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament, the anterior drawer test, the Lachman test, and the pivot shift test were done before operation under general or spinal anesthesia. Results of the anterior drawer test were positive in 79.6% of the patients, in 98.6% patients having the Lachman test, and in 89.8% of patients having the pivot shift test. In 19 cases (12.9%), arthroscopic examination showed reattachment of the proximally torn end of the anterior cruciate ligament to the posterior cruciate ligament. In these cases, results of the anterior drawer test were positive in 13 patients (68.4%), in 17 (89.5%) patients having the Lachman test, and in 12 patients (63.2%) having the pivot shift test. In 15 cases with a false negative pivot shift test, arthroscopy showed blockage of anterior subluxation of the lateral tibial condyle by a partially functioning portion of the anterior cruciate ligament, which was reattached to the posterior cruciate ligament in 7 cases. In 2 cases with a false negative Lachman test, there was firm reattachment of the torn end of the anterior cruciate ligament to the proximal portion of the posterior cruciate ligament combined with a bucket handle tear of the medial meniscus. The Lachman test was most sensitive in diagnosing chronic injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament. The pivot shift test was also sensitive but was influenced by many factors.

Adolescent↗