Method evaluation of an enzymatic method for serum creatinine

Selecting the correct method for routine analysis by ‘method evaluation’ is an important component of quality assurance. It is a step-wise procedure that evaluates various analytical parameters like accuracy, precision etc of the given method. Finally reference intervals are established for selected population. We evaluated an enzymatic method for serum creatinine. The results show that it is an acceptable method based on the above mentioned criteria.     

Troponin T and Heart Type Fatty Acid Binding Protein (h-Fabp) as Biomarkers in Patients Presenting with Chest Pain

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a term for a range of clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of myocardial ischemia. It results in functional and structural changes and ultimately releasing protein from injured cardiomyocytes. These cardiac markers play a major role in diagnosis and prognosis of ACS. This study aims to assess the efficacy of heart type fatty acid binding protein (h-FABP) as a marker for ACS along with the routinely used hs-TropT. In our observational study, plasma h-FABP (cut-off 6.32 ng/ml) and routinely done hs-Trop T (cutoff 0.1 and 0.014 ng/ml) were estimated by immunometric laboratory assays in 88 patients with acute chest pain. Based on the clinical and laboratory test findings the patients were grouped into ACS (n = 41) and non-ACS (n = 47). The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV and ROC curve at 95 % CI were determined. Sensitivity of hs-TropT (0.1 ng/ml), hs-TropT (0.014 ng/ml) and h-FABP were 53, 86 and 78 % respectively and specificity for the same were 98, 73 and 70 % respectively. Sensitivity, specificity and NPV calculated for a cut-off combination of hs-TropT 0.014 ng/ml and h-FABP was 100, 51 and 100 % respectively. These results were substantiated by ROC analysis. Measurement of plasma h-FABP and hs-TropT together on admission appears to be more precise predictor of ACS rather than either hs-Trop T or h-FABP.     

Prostate specific antigen in patients of benign prostate hypertrophy and carcinoma prostate

Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) has emerged as the most applicable and important tumor marker for carcinoma prostate. In the present study PSA was determined in serum of healthy subjects, patients of benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH) and Carcinoma Prostate (Ca−P) to evaluate its diagnostic efficiency in day to day management of prostate cancer patients and in differentiating patients of early prostate cancer from those with BPH. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) revealed 2 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml cut off serum PSA level for BPH and untreated carcinoma prostate patients (Ca−P). An extremely significant increase (P<0.0001) was observed in mean PSA concentration in BPH patients and adenocarcinoma prostate patients when compared to healthy males. Clinical relevance of PSA was highlighted by a case study of cancer patient prior to any therapy till death.     

Infant joint attention, temperament, and social competence in preschool children

Infant joint attention has been observed to be related to social-emotional outcomes in at-risk children. To address whether this relation is also evident in typically developing children, 52 children were tested at 12, 15, 24, and 30 months to examine associations between infant joint attention and social outcomes. Twelve-month initiating and responding to joint attention were related to 30-month social competence and externalizing behavior, even when accounting for 15-month temperament ratings, 24-month cognition and language, and demographic variables. These results suggest that, in addition to associations with language and cognition, infant joint attention reflects robust aspects of development that are related to individual differences in the emergence of social and behavioral competence in childhood.     

ISM-CMAP-Combine (ICMC) for hierarchical knowledge scenario in quality engineering education

Quality assurance in engineering education is a multifaceted problem further augmented by the stakeholders of engineering education. Students, parents and employers are rightfully questioning the quality of the curriculum, the instructional delivery, the learning environment, accessibility to learning technologies and equipment, employability as well as the possibilities of lifelong learning and the improvement of knowledge (Karapetrovic 2002 Karapetrovic, S. 2002. Why and how to develop a meaningful quality assurance system in engineering schools. Int. J. Engg. Educ, 18(3): 285–294. [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). The purpose of the study is, therefore, to identify the parameters that influence the quality of an engineering education system and develop an integrated model of hierarchical structuring and a concept map for pre-identified concept elements through a process of iterative-interactive consensus-driven methodology, as advocated by second-generation system design paradigm for evolving knowledge scenario of concepts related to quality engineering education.     

University press publishing and the ecology of disciplinary fluidity: General observations

Academic book and journal publishing constitutes the majority focus of university presses. Besides commercial scholarly publishers, academic scholars and researchers view the opportunities provided by university presses as important venues for the dissemination of their research. This discussion focuses on the disciplinary imperative to publish scholarship that is ever more fluid and specialized as academic disciplines continue to become further nuanced in their response to the increasing knowledge produced by humanities and social science inquiry. The focus is on university presses and not commercial scholarly presses, although constitute a significant locus of scholarly publishing. What are the general characteristics of academic specialization and university press publishing? Further, how is disciplinary fluidity, especially evolving specialization, reflected in university press book publishing nomenclature and how scholarship is tied to the intellectual preoccupations of academic specialization? Multi- and inter-disciplinarities further articulate disciplinary publishing, accelerating disciplinary fluidity. Examples from disciplinary and emerging configurations of disciplinary nomenclature utilized by university presses offers insight into specialization and publishing. Academic history publishing is used to illustrate newly emerging fluid disciplinary configurations.     

Literacy,languages and development in Africa: a policy perspective

International Review of Education - In the multilingual environments of Africa, national literacy policies vary in terms of the attention they give to the roles and purposes of local, national and...     

Frequent sit-to-stand transitions and several short standing periods measured by hip-worn accelerometer are associated with smaller waist circumference among adults

This cross-sectional study analysed the association of sedentary behaviour (SB) and standing with waist circumference. Finnish adults aged 30-75 years from a sub-sample of population-based Health 2011 Study used a hip-worn tri-axial accelerometer (Hookie AM20, Traxmeet, Ltd, Espoo, Finland) for seven days. Those 1405 participants (57% women) who used accelerometer at least four days, minimum of 10 hours/day, were included. SB and standing were analysed in 6s epochs using validated algorithm. Daily total time, daily number and accumulated time from bouts (30s–5min,30s–10min,30s–15min,30s 30min,>5min,>10min,>15min, >30min) as well as daily number of sit-to-stand transitions were determined. Waist circumference (cm) was measured in standardized way. Participants’ mean age was 52 years (SD 12.2). Mean waist circumference was 97cm (SD 12.3) in men and 87cm (SD 12.7) in women. According to multivariable stepwise linear regression analysis, sit-to-stand transitions [standardised regression coefficient (β)= -0.14, 95%CI -0.20 to -0.09], standing bouts of 30s–5min (β= -0.21, 95%CI -0.26 to -0.15) and number of 30s-30min SB bouts (β=0.12, 95%CI 0.06 to 0.17) were most strongly associated with waist circumference. Besides assessing total SB time, future studies should assess also different bout lengths of SB and sit-to-stand transitions and standing times should be assessed separately.