Grading of age-related maculopathy:slit-lamp biomicroscopy versus an accredited grading center

To compare clinical age-related maculopathy (ARM) grading using slit-lamp biomicroscopy (SLB) versus photographic grading of stereoscopically captured fundus photographs (FP) using a high-resolution fundus camera.

PROSTATIC INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA (PIN) - PERFORMANCE OF BAYESIAN BELIEF NETWORK FOR DIAGNOSIS AND GRADING

Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) diagnosis and grading are affected by uncertainties which arise from the fact that almost all knowledge of PIN histopathology is expressed in concepts, descriptive linguistic terms, and words. A Bayesian belief network (BBN) was therefore used to reduce the problem of uncertainty in diagnostic clue assessment, while still considering the dependences between elements in the reasoning sequence. A shallow network was used with an open-tree topology, with eight first-level descendant nodes for the diagnostic clues (evidence nodes), each independently linked by a conditional probability matrix to a root node containing the diagnostic alternatives (decision node). One of the evidence nodes was based on the tissue architecture and the others were based on cell features. The system was designed to be interactive, in that the histopathologist entered evidence into the network in the form of likelihood ratios for outcomes at each evidence node. The efficiency of the network was tested on a series of 110 prostate specimens, subdivided as follows: 22 cases of non-neoplastic prostate or benign prostatic tissue (NP), 22 PINs of low grade (PINlow), 22 PINs of high grade (PINhigh), 22 prostatic adenocarcinomas with cribriform pattern (PACcri), and 22 prostatic adenocarcinomas with large acinar pattern (PAClgac). The results obtained in the benign and malignant categories showed that the belief for the diagnostic alternatives is very high, the values being in general more than 0.8 and often close to 1.0. When considering the PIN lesions, the network classified and graded most of the cases with high certainty. However, there were some cases which showed values less than 0.8 (13 cases out of 44), thus indicating that there are situations in which the feature changes are intermediate between contiguous categories or grades. Discrepancy between morphological grading and the BBN results was observed in four out of 44 PIN cases: one PINlow was classified as PINhigh and three PINhigh were classified as PINlow. In conclusion, the network can grade PlN lesions and differentiate them from other prostate lesions with certainty. In particular, it offers a descriptive classifier which is readily implemented and which allows the use of linguistic, fuzzy variables.

University Competition, Grading Standards, and Grade Inflation

We develop a model of strategic grade determination by universities distinguished by their distributions of student academic abilities. Universities choose grading standards to maximize the total wages of graduates, taking into account how the grading standards affect firms' productivity assessment and job placement. We identify conditions under which better universities set lower grading standards, exploiting the fact that firms cannot distinguish between good and badA''s. In contrast, a social planner sets stricter standards at better universities. We show how increases in skilled jobs drive grade inflation, and determine when grading standards fall faster at better schools. (JEL I21)

Rente à 3 pour cent sur la ferme générale des postes. Edit de mai 1751. Liste générale des remboursements de partie des capitaux desdites rentes, montant à la somme de 316300 l. échus par le sort de la loterie tirée dans l'hôtel de ville de Paris, en présence de MM. les prévôt des marchands échevins

[Acte. 1752-12-29]

Rentes à 3 pour cent sur la ferme générale des postes. Edit de mai 1751, 4e tirage du remboursement des capitaux desdites rentes. Liste générale des remboursements de partie des capitaux desdites rentes, montant à la somme de 459800 l. échus par le sort de la loterie tirée dans l'Hôtel de Ville de Paris, le 28 juin 1754

[Acte. 1754-06-28]

Liste des numéros des actions et dixièmes d'action de la loterie de la compagnie des Indes, tirée le 25 mai 1730, en conséquence de l'arrêt du 2 du même mois

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Liste des lots de la loterie tirée à Paris dans la grande salle de l'Hôtel de ville le samedi 8 janvier 1729 pour le remboursement des rentes de l'Hôtel de ville

[Acte. 1729]

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[Acte. 1729]

Liste des lots de la loterie tirée à Paris dans la grande salle de l'Hôtel de Ville... le mardi 8 mars 1729, pour le remboursement des rentes de l'Hôtel de Ville

[Acte. 1729]

Liste des lots de la loterie tirée à Paris dans la grande salle de l'Hôtel de Ville en présence de MM. les prévôts des marchands et échevins, le vendredi 8 avril 1729, pour le remboursement des rentes de l'Hôtel de Ville

[Acte. 1729]

Liste des lots de la loterie tirée à Paris dans la grande salle de l'Hôtel de Ville... le lundi 9 mai 1729 pour le remboursement des rentes de l'Hôtel de Ville

[Acte. 1729]