Demands on surgical inpatient services after mass mammographic screening.

The changes in the demand for surgical inpatient care created by mammographic screening for breast cancer were analysed by comparing two counties, one with and one without a mass screening campaign. A comprehensive computerised register of inpatient care in the region was used. The results indicate that population based screening offered to women above 40 years and repeated every two to three years will increase the number of operations required for breast cancer and inpatient days by at least 150% during the initial screening round. During the second round the figures tend to return to previous levels. Of decisive importance for the demands on health service resources are the specificity of screening, the duration of the first screening round, and the age groups included.     

A 2-step procedure for comparing binomial populations available when given differences are to find out

A two-step procedure for comparing two binomial probabilities is presented. The method is compared with the exact test of FISHER. In average it needs essentially smaller sample sizes. In situations like drug screening it is desired to minimize the type II error rates for great differences of the binomial probabilities and to maximize it for small differences, simultaneously. In this point the method is superior to the FISHER test. Examples from drug screening demonstrate the advantages of the method.     

Functional screening of adrenergic receptors by measuring intracellular calcium using the FlexStation scanning fluorimeter

In this study we test whether functional screening of compounds to adrenergic G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) would provide data that correlated significantly with radiolabeled binding data, thereby permitting researchers to replace expensive radioligand-binding experiments with non-radioactive screening. An increase in intracellular calcium levels represents an important second messenger signal for several recombinant GPCRs. In this study, we describe the affinities of three alpha adrenoceptor antagonists (terazosin, tamsulosin and alfuzosin), determined by monitoring the changes in intracellular calcium levels and comparing them with their radioligand-binding affinities. In addition to determining the functional affinities of the three alpha adrenoceptor antagonists, we evaluate their binding at two alpha adrenoceptor subtypes and optimized the assay for high-throughput screening.     

Marginal variable screening for survival endpoints

When performing survival analysis in very high dimensions, it is often required to reduce the number of covariates using preliminary screening. During the last years, a large number of variable screening methods for the survival context have been developed. However, guidance is missing for choosing an appropriate method in practice. The aim of this work is to provide an overview of marginal variable screening methods for survival and develop recommendations for their use. For this purpose, a literature review is given, offering a comprehensive and structured introduction to the topic. In addition, a novel screening procedure based on distance correlation and martingale residuals is proposed, which is particularly useful in detecting nonmonotone associations. For evaluating the performance of the discussed approaches, a simulation study is conducted, comparing the true positive rates of competing variable screening methods in different settings. A real data example on mantle cell lymphoma is provided.     

EST-SSRs的开发及应用研究进展

综述了EST-SSR标记的开发方法及其在构建遗传学图谱,筛选与定位目的基因,遗传多样性的研究,比较基因组学的研究和品种鉴别等方面的应用。     

Exploring the influence of rural residence on uptake of organized cancer screening – A systematic review of international literature

Lower screening uptake could impact cancer survival in rural areas. This systematic review sought studies comparing rural/urban uptake of colorectal, cervical and breast cancer screening in high income countries. Relevant studies (n = 50) were identified systematically by searching Medline, EMBASE and CINAHL. Narrative synthesis found that screening uptake for all three cancers was generally lower in rural areas. In meta-analysis, colorectal cancer screening uptake (OR 0.66, 95 % CI = 0.50−0.87, I² = 85 %) was significantly lower for rural dwellers than their urban counterparts. The meta-analysis found no relationship between uptake of breast cancer screening and rural versus urban residency (OR 0.93, 95 % CI = 0.80–1.09, I² = 86 %). However, it is important to note the limitation of the significant statistical heterogeneity found which demonstrates the lack of consistency between the few studies eligible for inclusion in the meta-analyses. Cancer screening uptake is apparently lower for rural dwellers which may contribute to poorer survival. National screening programmes should consider geography in planning.     

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in Iraq

Summary Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was tested in the blood of 305 males and 394 females, with Beutler's fluorescent spot test being used for screening. The percentage of deficiency was estimated at 12.4% for males and 8.8% for females of all ages; it was, however, highest among children and lowest among those over 50 years.The efficiency of the fluorescent screening test in detecting heterozygote females was estimated at 35% and was derived by determining gene frequencies and comparing the expected and the observed.     

Survival after breast cancer according to participation in organised or opportunistic screening and deprivation

BackgroundMany studies have investigated the survival of women by comparing those who participated in organised screening with those who did not. However, among those who do not participate in organised screening, some women undergo opportunistic screening, but these women remain difficult to identify, particularly in France. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify opportunistic screening, and then to study survival after breast cancer separately according to participation in organised, opportunistic or no screening, and taking into account sociodemographic inequalities.MethodsThe study population was identified from 3 French cancer registries, whose data was crossed with the screening coordination centers and the National Health Data System to identify the different type of screening. The European Deprivation Index was used to define the level of deprivation. We estimated net survival using the Pohar-Perme method.ResultsThe 5-year net survival probabilities were higher for women who attended organised screening (97.0 %) than for women with opportunistic screening (94.1 %) or non-attenders (78.1 %). According to the level of deprivation, a significant difference was observed between the groups of women screened by organised and opportunistic screening, compared to the non-attenders.ConclusionThe identification of opportunistic screening is an important element in identifying women who do not screening. It enables to us to see that women who do not attend any screening have a much higher loss-of-opportunity in terms of survival than those who participate in organised or opportunistic screening, and even more so in the most deprived areas.     

An adaptive weighted log-rank test with application to cancer prevention and screening trials.

A class of adaptive weighted log-rank statistics is described where the vector of weights is chosen in a data-dependent way from a family of "smooth" weight vectors. A parametric family of weight vectors is identified which includes most shapes of weighting vectors that will be near optimal in many cancer prevention and screening trials. This family of weight vectors is used in an application of the proposed method to data from a breast cancer screening trial. Results from a small simulation study comparing the power of the adaptive statistic to that of the unweighted log-rank statistic are presented.     

Anti-MRSA agent discovery using Caenorhabditis elegans -based high-throughput screening

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of hospital- and community-acquired infections. Despite current advances in antimicrobial chemotherapy, the infections caused by S. aureus remain challenging due to their ability to readily develop resistance. Indeed, antibiotic resistance, exemplified by methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a top threat to global health security. Furthermore, the current rate of antibiotic discovery is much slower than the rate of antibiotic-resistance development. It seems evident that the conventional in vitro bacterial growth-based screening strategies can no longer effectively supply new antibiotics at the rate needed to combat bacterial antibiotic-resistance. To overcome this antibiotic resistance crisis, screening assays based on host–pathogen interactions have been developed. In particular, the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been used for drug screening against MRSA. In this review, we will discuss the general principles of the C. elegans-based screening platform and will highlight its unique strengths by comparing it with conventional antibiotic screening platforms. We will outline major hits from high-throughput screens of more than 100,000 small molecules using the C. elegans–MRSA infection assay and will review the mode-of-action of the identified hit compounds. Lastly, we will discuss the potential of a C. elegans-based screening strategy as a paradigm shift screening platform.     

紫外线诱变和恒化器培养筛选耐高温的高产乳酸菌

本文探讨了利用紫外线诱变结合恒化器富集筛选耐高温高产乳酸菌的方法。首先以一株鼠李糖乳杆菌为出发菌种,并用紫外线的方法进行诱变,然后通过恒化器培养的方法在55oC下进行了耐高温高产菌株的富集。最终获得了9株耐高温菌株,其在高温下的产酸能力较出发菌株有了较大提高,其中一株突变株HT1发酵48h后L-乳酸产量达到了62.9g/L,比出发菌株提高了18.1g/L。本方法比一般平板筛选方法的效率高,大大减轻了复筛的工作量。     

赤霉素产生菌~#85104菌株原生质体的形成再生和紫外光对原生质体诱变条件的研究

赤霉产生菌在正常条件下不产生孢子,育种材料以多核菌丝体及其碎片为主,大部分常用的诱变剂对它们诱变效应较差。本文报导有关赤霉素产生菌~#85104菌株原生质体的获得、再生和紫外光诱变原生质体的条件,甘氨酸对菌丝体生长的影响,以及采用二硫苏糖醇预处理菌丝体等方面条件的研究。在采用紫外光照射原生质体的诱变处理下,已获得数株高产的新菌株。     

DEVELOPMENT OF A PCR ASSAY SUITABLE FOR CAMPYLOBACTER SPP. MASS SCREENING PROGRAMS IN BROILER PRODUCTION

Campylobacter is the most common cause of human acute bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. In order to comply with the demands of consumers for food free of bacterial pathogens, a mass screening program for Campylobacter in Danish broilers has been carried out based on conventional bacterial culture techniques since 1998. However, using conventional culture methods is time consuming and laborious, and therefore a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Campylobacter detection assay suitable for mass screening of cloacal swab samples from broilers was developed. By comparing the PCR detection with conventional culture methods, significantly more samples were found positive for Campylobacter with the PCR method. The PCR method is rapid, sensitive and suitable for mass screening for Campylobacter in poultry. Using this PCR method Campylobacter can be detected within 15 h. Notably, the method can be applied to detect Campylobacter directly from chicken feces at the species level.     

60Coγ射线诱变褐色高温单孢菌及其在粪便发酵中的应用研究

本试验以褐色高温单孢菌(Therm om onospora fusca)为出发菌株,通过60Coγ射线诱变孢子悬液,采用透明圈法初筛和摇瓶培养复筛的方法,获得了一株纤维素酶高产菌株AV5,与出发菌株相比,其产酶能力提高1.8倍。接种牛粪发酵后,牛粪中粗纤维含量降低率为32.95%,是接种出发菌株相对降解率的1.7倍。     

Automatically Detecting Workflows in PubChem

Public databases that store the data from small-molecule screens are a rich and untapped resource of chemical and biological information. However, screening databases are unorganized, which makes interpreting their data difficult. We propose a method of inferring workflow graphs-which encode the relationships between assays in screening projects-directly from screening data and using these workflows to organize each project's data. On the basis of four heuristics regarding the organization of screening projects, we designed an algorithm that extracts a project's workflow graph from screening data. Where possible, the algorithm is evaluated by comparing each project's inferred workflow to its documentation. In the majority of cases, there are no discrepancies between the two. Most errors can be traced to points in the project where screeners chose additional molecules to test based on structural similarity to promising molecules, a case our algorithm is not yet capable of handling. Nonetheless, these workflows accurately organize most of the data and also provide a method of visualizing a screening project. This method is robust enough to build a workflow-oriented front-end to PubChem and is currently being used regularly by both our lab and our collaborators. A Python implementation of the algorithm is available online, and a searchable database of all PubChem workflows is available at http://swami.wustl.edu/flow.     

A Cellular Screening Assay Using Analysis of Metal-Modified Fluorescence Lifetime

Current methods for screening cell receptor internalization often require complex image analysis with limited sensitivity. Here we describe a novel bioassay based on detection of changes in global fluorescence lifetime above a gold substrate, with superresolution axial sensitivity and no need for image analysis. We show that the lifetime of enhanced green fluorescent protein expressed in a cellular membrane is greatly reduced in close proximity to the gold, resulting in a distance-dependent lifetime distribution throughout the cell. We demonstrate the application of this phenomenon in a screening assay by comparing the efficacies of two small molecule inhibitors interfering with the internalization process of a G protein-coupled receptor.     

Single-item screening for agoraphobic symptoms: validation of a web-based audiovisual screening instrument

The advent of web-based treatments for anxiety disorders creates a need for quick and valid online screening instruments, suitable for a range of social groups. This study validates a single-item multimedia screening instrument for agoraphobia, part of the Visual Screener for Common Mental Disorders (VS-CMD), and compares it with the text-based agoraphobia items of the PDSS-SR. The study concerned 85 subjects in an RCT of the effects of web-based therapy for panic symptoms. The VS-CMD item and items 4 and 5 of the PDSS-SR were validated by comparing scores to the outcomes of the CIDI diagnostic interview. Screening for agoraphobia was found moderately valid for both the multimedia item (sensitivity.81, specificity.66, AUC.734) and the text-based items (AUC.607-.697). Single-item multimedia screening for anxiety disorders should be further developed and tested in the general population and in patient, illiterate and immigrant samples.     

Assessment of lead-time bias in estimates of relative survival for breast cancer

Relative survival ratios (RSRs) can be useful for evaluating the impact of changes in cancer care on the prognosis of cancer patients or for comparing the prognosis for different subgroups of patients, but their use is problematic for cancer sites where screening has been introduced due to the potential of lead-time bias. Lead-time is survival time that is added to a patient's survival time because of an earlier diagnosis irrespective of a possibly postponed time of death. In the presence of screening it is difficult to disentangle how much of an observed improvement in survival is real and how much is due to lead-time bias. Even so, RSRs are often presented for breast cancer, a site where screening has led to early diagnosis, with the assumption that the lead-time bias is small. We describe a simulation-based framework for studying the lead-time bias due to mammography screening on RSRs of breast cancer based on a natural history model developed in a Swedish setting. We have performed simulations, using this framework, under different assumptions for screening sensitivity and breast cancer survival with the aim of estimating the lead-time bias. Screening every second year among ages 40–75 was introduced assuming that screening had no effect on survival, except for lead-time bias. Relative survival was estimated both with and without screening to enable quantification of the lead-time bias. Scenarios with low, moderate and high breast cancer survival, and low, moderate and high screening sensitivity were simulated, and the lead-time bias assessed in all scenarios.     

Quantification of overdiagnosis in randomised trials of cancer screening: an overview and re-analysis of systematic reviews

The degree of overdiagnosis in common cancer screening trials is uncertain due to inadequate design of trials, varying definition and methods used to estimate overdiagnosis. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the risk of overdiagnosis for the most widely implemented cancer screening programmes and assess the implications of design limitations and biases in cancer screening trials on the estimates of overdiagnosis by conducting an overview and re-analysis of systematic reviews of cancer screening. We searched PubMed and the Cochrane Library from their inception dates to November 29, 2021. Eligible studies included systematic reviews of randomised trials comparing cancer screening interventions to no screening, which reported cancer incidence for both trial arms. We extracted data on study characteristics, cancer incidence and assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias tool. We included 19 trials described in 30 articles for review, reporting results for the following types of screening: mammography for breast cancer, chest X-ray or low-dose CT for lung cancer, alpha-foetoprotein and ultrasound for liver cancer, digital rectal examination, prostate-specific antigen, and transrectal ultrasound for prostate cancer, and CA-125 test and/or ultrasound for ovarian cancer. No trials on screening for melanoma were eligible. Only one trial (5%) had low risk in all bias domains, leading to a post-hoc meta-analysis, excluding trials with high risk of bias in critical domains, finding the extent of overdiagnosis ranged from 17% to 38% across cancer screening programmes. We conclude that there is a significant risk of overdiagnosis in the included randomised trials on cancer screening. We found that trials were generally not designed to estimate overdiagnosis and many trials had high risk of biases that may draw the estimates of overdiagnosis towards the null. In effect, the true extent of overdiagnosis due to cancer screening is likely underestimated.     

玉米抗镰刀菌穗腐病接种方法及抗病资源筛选研究

对玉米抗穗腐病性鉴定中采用的牙签法与花丝通道注射法进行比较研究表明,牙签法接种果穗的发病程度重于花丝通道注射法接种。牙签法接种病菌于果穗子粒与穗轴之间,有利于病原菌的发育扩展,是一种比较理想的、容易操作的接种方法。采用牙签法接种串珠镰刀菌,对178份玉米自交系和15份杂交种进行抗穗腐病鉴定,筛选出高抗(HR)自交系1份、抗病(R)玉米自交系34份、抗病(R)玉米杂交种12份。