The insulin hypoglycemia test: Hypoglycemic criteria and reproducibility

The insulin hypoglycemia test (IHT) is widely regarded as the 'gold standard' for dynamic stimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This study aimed to investigate the temporal relationship between a rapid decrease in plasma glucose and the corresponding rise in plasma adenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and to assess the reproducibility of hormone responses to hypoglycemia in normal humans. Ten normal subjects underwent IHTs, using an insulin dose of 0.15 U/kg. Of these, eight had a second IHT (IHT2) and three went on to a third test (IHT3). Plasma ACTH and cortisol were measured at 15-min intervals and, additionally, in four IHT2s and the three IHT3s, ACTH was measured at 2.5- or 5-min intervals. Mean glucose nadirs and mean ACTH and cortisol responses were not significantly different between IHT1, IHT2 and IHT3. Combined data from all 21 tests showed the magnitude of the cortisol responses, but not the ACTH responses, correlated significantly with the depth and duration of hypoglycemia. All subjects achieved glucose concentrations of of less than or equal to 1.6 mmol/l before any detectable rise in ACTH occurred. In the seven tests performed with frequent sampling, an ACTH rise never preceeded the glucose nadir, but occurred at the nadir, or up to 15 min after. On repeat testing, peak ACTH levels varied markedly within individuals, whereas peak cortisol levels were more reproducible (mean coefficient of variation 7%). In conclusion, hypoglycemia of less than or equal to 1.6 mmol/l was sufficient to cause stimulation of the HPA axis in all 21 IHTs conducted in normal subjects. Nonetheless; our data cannot reveal whether higher glucose nadirs would stimulate increased HPA axis activity in all subjects. Overall, the cortisol response to hypoglycemia is more reproducible than the ACTH response but, in an individual subject, the difference in peak cortisol between two IHTs may exceed 100 nmol/l.

Enabling computer access: Introduction to the Test of Mouse Proficiency

As the use of technological devices in everyday environments becomes more prevalent, it is clear that access to these devices has become an important aspect of occupational performance. Children are increasingly required to competently manipulate technology such as the computer to fulfil occupational roles of student and player. Occupational therapists are in a position to facilitate the successful interface between children and standard computer technologies. The literature has supported the use of direct manipulation interfaces in computing that requires mastery of devices such as the mouse. Identification of children likely to experience difficulties with mouse use will inform the development of appropriate methods of intervention promoting mouse skill and further enhance participation in occupational tasks. The aim of this paper is to discuss the development of an assessment of mouse proficiency for children. It describes the construction of the assessment, the content of the test, and its content validity.

The Limits of Rational Choice: New Institutionalism in the Test Bed of Central Banking Politics in Australia

This paper tests the explanatory capacities of different versions of new institutionalism by examining the Australian case of a general transition in central banking practice and monetary politics: namely, the increased emphasis on low inflation and central bank independence. Standard versions of rational choice institutionalism largely dominate the literature on the politics of central banking, but this approach (here termed RC1) fails to account for Australian empirics. RC1 has a tendency to establish actor preferences exogenously to the analysis; actors' motives are also assumed a priori; actor's preferences are depicted in relatively static, ahistorical terms. And there is the tendency, even a methodological requirement, to assume relatively simple motives and preference sets among actors, in part because of the game theoretic nature of RC1 reasoning. It is possible to build a more accurate rational choice model by re-specifying and essentially updating the context, incentives and choice sets that have driven rational choice in this case. Enter RC2. However, this move subtly introduces methodological shifts and new theoretical challenges. By contrast, historical institutionalism uses an inductive methodology. Compared with deduction, it is arguably better able to deal with complexity and nuance. It also utilises a dynamic, historical approach, and specifies (dynamically) endogenous preference formation by interpretive actors. Historical institutionalism is also able to more easily incorporate a wider set of key explanatory variables and incorporate wider social aggregates. Hence, it is argued that historical institutionalism is the preferred explanatory theory and methodology in this case.

Extensive multiple test centre evaluation of the VecTest malaria antigen panel assay

To determine which species and populations of Anopheles transmit malaria in any given situation, immunological assays for malaria sporozoite antigen can replace traditional microscopical examination of freshly dissected Anopheles. We developed a wicking assay for use with mosquitoes that identifies the presence or absence of specific peptide epitopes of circumsporozoite (CS) protein of Plasmodium falciparum and two strains of Plasmodium vivax (variants 210 and 247). The resulting assay (VecTest(TM) Malaria) is a rapid, one-step procedure using a 'dipstick' test strip capable of detecting and distinguishing between P. falciparum and P. vivax infections in mosquitoes. The objective of the present study was to test the efficacy, sensitivity, stability and field-user acceptability of this wicking dipstick assay. In collaboration with 16 test centres world-wide, we evaluated more than 40 000 units of this assay, comparing it to the standard CS ELISA. The 'VecTest(TM) Malaria' was found to show 92% sensitivity and 98.1% specificity, with 97.8% accuracy overall. In accelerated storage tests, the dipsticks remained stable for >15 weeks in dry conditions up to 45degreesC and in humid conditions up to 37degreesC. Evidently, this quick and easy dipstick test performs at an acceptable level of reliability and offers practical advantages for field workers needing to make rapid surveys of malaria vectors.

Penetration resistance in a latosol under different moisture and penetration speeds

The soil penetration resistance has been used to represent the compaction situation and several authors have attempted to relate the cone index (CI) with the bulk density. The importance of using the CI as source of information for decisions in agricultural activities, livestock and forestry manner, has become increasingly larger, which requires more knowledge about the penetrometers and penetrographs behavior. This study aimed to verify, in controlled laboratory conditions, the influence of soil water content and cone penetration rate to obtain the cone index, when density variation occurs. The soil was compacted by compression through a universal press cylinder which was specially designed to produce the test specimens. Bulk densities were determined from samples taken from the test specimens and their moisture content. The CI values obtained were between 0.258 and 4.776 MPa, measured in 4 moistures and 7 soil densities with 3 penetration speeds. It was concluded that the determination of IC is strongly influenced by the soil moisture but the penetration speed variation, used in this study, was not sufficient to influence the IC determination. However, the decrease in soil water content may increase the sensitiveness to detect a variation in bulk density by the use of cone index.

Paleomagnetic study of the Great Foum Zguid dyke (southern Morocco): A positive contact test related to metasomatic processes

When a paleomagnetic pole is sought for in an igneous body, the host rocks should be subjected to a contact test to assure that the determined paleopole has the age of the intrusion. If the contact test is positive, it precludes the possibility that the measured magnetization is a later effect. Therefore, we investigated the variations of the remanent magnetization along cross-sections of rocks hosting the Foum Zguid dyke (southern Morocco) and the dyke itself. A positive contact test was obtained, but it is mainly related with Chemical/Crystalline Remanent Magnetization due to metasomatic processes in the host-rocks during magma intrusion and cooling, and not only with Thermo-Remanent Magnetization as ordinarily assumed in standard studies. Paleomagnetic data obtained within the dyke then reflect the Earth magnetic field during emplacement of this well-dated (196.9 +/- 1.8 Ma) intrusion.

Design of a new test chamber for evaluation of the toxicity of rubber infill

A test chamber was projected and built (according to ISO 16000-9 Standard) to simulate atmospheric conditions experienced by rubber infill (when applied in synthetic turf pitches) and measure accurately the airborne emissions of pollutants such as dusts and volatile organic compounds (VOC), as well as pollutants present in leachates. It should be pointed out that standard ISO 16000-9 is only concerned with the determination of the emission of VOC from building products and furnishing (not specific of synthetic turf materials), whereas other standards are concerned with the emission of leachates only. This procedure is to be considered as a technical option to the lysimeter "global turf system evaluation" when the rubber infill alone is to be evaluated. The advantage of the proposed option considering this "test chamber" is its simplicity and economy. This test chamber is actually installed and being used for tests in LAIST.

Electric vehicles in urban areas: test cases using a scenario simulator

Electric vehicles introduction will affect cities environment and urban mobility policies. Network system operators will have to consider the electric vehicles in planning and operation activities due to electric vehicles’ dependency on the electricity grid. The present paper presents test cases using an Electric Vehicle Scenario Simulator (EVeSSi) being developed by the authors. The test cases include two scenarios considering a 33 bus network with up to 2000 electric vehicles in the urban area. The scenarios consider a penetration of 10% of electric vehicles (200 of 2000), 30% (600) and 100% (2000). The first scenario will evaluate network impacts and the second scenario will evaluate CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

Development of triplet repeat primed PCR (TP-PCR) technique as a support of molecular test in Machado-Joseph disease

Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências Biomédicas, 3 de Fevereiro de 2016, Universidade dos Açores.

On the development of a test-bed application for the ART-WiSe architecture

The ART-WiSe (Architecture for Real-Time communications in Wireless Sensor Networks) framework aims at the design of new communication architectures and mechanisms for time-sensitive Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). We adopted a two-tiered architecture where an overlay Wireless Local Area Network (Tier 2) serves as a backbone for a WSN (Tier 1), relying on existing standard communication protocols and commercial-off-the-shell (COTS) technologies – IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee for Tier 1 and IEEE 802.11 for Tier 2. In this line, a test-bed application is being developed for assessing, validating and demonstrating the ART-WiSe architecture. A pursuit-evasion application was chosen since it fulfils a number of requirements, namely it is feasible and appealing and imposes some stress to the architecture in terms of timeliness. To develop the testbed based on the previously referred technologies, an implementation of the IEEE 8021.5.4/ZigBee protocols is being carried out, since there is no open source available to the community. This paper highlights some relevant aspects of the ART-WiSe architecture, provides some intuition on the protocol stack implementation and presents a general view over the envisaged test-bed application.

Validity and reliability of the Questionnaire for Compliance with Standard Precaution

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE : To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Questionnaire for Compliance with Standard Precaution for nurses. METHODS : This methodological study was conducted with 121 nurses from health care facilities in Sao Paulo's countryside, who were represented by two high-complexity and by three average-complexity health care facilities. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach's alpha and stability was calculated by the intraclass correlation coefficient, through test-retest. Convergent, discriminant, and known-groups construct validity techniques were conducted. RESULTS : The questionnaire was found to be reliable (Cronbach's alpha: 0.80; intraclass correlation coefficient: (0.97) In regards to the convergent and discriminant construct validity, strong correlation was found between compliance to standard precautions, the perception of a safe environment, and the smaller perception of obstacles to follow such precautions (r = 0.614 and r = 0.537, respectively). The nurses who were trained on the standard precautions and worked on the health care facilities of higher complexity were shown to comply more (p = 0.028 and p = 0.006, respectively). CONCLUSIONS : The Brazilian version of the Questionnaire for Compliance with Standard Precaution was shown to be valid and reliable. Further investigation must be conducted with nurse samples that are more representative of the Brazilian reality. The use of the questionnaire may support the creation of educational measures considering the possible gaps that can be identified, focusing on the workers' health and on the patients' safety.

Hyperimmune antirabies sera titration by standard mouse neutralization and counterimmunoelectrophoresis tests, comparing results of different laboratories

To determine the rabies antibody level of twenty-four hyperimmune equine sera, Standard Mouse Neutralization (SMN) and Couterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE) tests were carried out, both at the Instituto Butantan (IB) and Instituto Panamericano de Protección de Alimentos y Zoonosis (INPPAZ). Statistical analysis has shown a correlation (r) of 0.9317 between the SMN and CIE performed at the IB, while at the INPPAZ it scored 0.974. Comparison of CIE data of both laboratories yielded a correlation of 0.845. The CIE technique has shown to be as sensitive and efficient as the SMN in titrating antirabies hyperimmune equine sera. Based on CIE results, a simple, rapid and inexpensive technique, tilers of sera antibody can be reliably estimated in SMN test.

Evaluation of a rapid dipstick test, Malar-CheckTM, for the diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Brazil

The present study was carried out to evaluate the Malar-CheckTM Pf test, an immunochromatographic assay that detects Plasmodium falciparum Histidine Rich Protein II, does not require equipment, and is easy and rapid to perform. In dilution assays performed to test sensitivity against known parasite density, Malar-CheckTMwere compared with thick blood smear (TBS), the gold standard for diagnosis. Palo Alto isolate or P. falciparum blood from patients with different parasitemias was used. The average cut-off points for each technique in three independent experiments were 12 and 71 parasites/mm³ (TBS and Malar-CheckTM, respectively). In the field assays, samples were collected from patients with fever who visited endemic regions. Compared to TBS, Malar-CheckTMyielded true-positive results in 38 patients, false-positive results in 3, true-negative results in 23, and false-negative result in 1. Malar-CheckTMperformed with samples from falciparum-infected patients after treatment showed persistence of antigen up to 30 days. Malar-CheckTM should aid the diagnosis of P. falciparum in remote areas and improve routine diagnosis even when microscopy is available. Previous P. falciparum infection, which can determine a false-positive test in cured individuals, should be considered. The prompt results obtained with the Malar-CheckTM for early diagnosis could avoid disease evolution to severe cases.

Tensile fracture characterization of adhesive joints by standard and optical techniques

The use of adhesive joints has increased in recent decades due to its competitive features compared with traditional methods. This work aims to estimate the tensile critical strain energy release rate (GIC) of adhesive joints by the Double-Cantilever Beam (DCB) test. The J-integral is used since it enables obtaining the tensile Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) law. An optical measuring method was developed for assessing the crack tip opening (δn) and adherends rotation (θo). The proposed CZM laws were best approximated by a triangular shape for the brittle adhesive and a trapezoidal shape for the two ductile adhesives.

Validation of a rapid stool antigen test for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection

The aim of this study was to validate the rapid lateral flow Helicobacter pylori stool antigen test (One step H. pylori antigen test, ACON laboratories, San Diego, USA; Prime diagnostics, São Paulo), using 13C-Urea Breath Test as the gold standard for H. pylori infection diagnosis. A total of 98 consecutive patients, asymptomatic or dyspeptic, entered the study. Sixty-nine were women, with a mean age of 45.76 ± 14.59 years (14 to 79 years). In the H. pylori-positive group, the rapid stool antigen test detected H. pylori antigen in 44 of the 50 positive patients (sensitivity 88%; 95% CI: 75.7-95.5%), and six false-negative; and in the H. pylori-negative group 42 presented negative results (specificity 87.5%; 95% CI: 74.7-95.3%), and six false-positive, showing a substantial agreement (Kappa Index = 0.75; p < 0.0001; 95% CI: 0.6-0.9). Forty four of fifty patients that had positive stool antigen were H. pylori-positive, the PPV of the stool antigen test was 88% (95% CI: 75.7-95.5%), and 42 patients with negative stool antigen test were H. pylori-negative, the NPV of the stool antigen test was 87.5% (95% CI: 74.7-95.3%). We conclude that the lateral flow stool antigen test can be used as an alternative to breath test for H. pylori infection diagnosis especially in developing countries.