Normalizing physical performance tests for body size: a proposal for standardization

There is a lack of standardized methodology for normalizing various indices of muscle strength and movement performance tests for differences in body size in human movement-related disciplines. Most of the data presented in the literature have been body size dependent, which precludes both comparisons between subjects and establishment of standards for specific subject populations. The goal of the present review was to propose standardized tests that normalize physical performance tests to body size. Specifically, we propose (a) using an allometric normalization based on theoretical models that presume geometric similarity, (b) using classification of performance tests based on particular values of the allometric parameters required for normalization, and (c) using a simple "performance index" that represents an individual or group performance relative to a reference population. Correspondences between theory and experimental findings and limitations are discussed.     

League tables and school effectiveness: a mathematical model

'School performance tables', an alphabetical list of secondary schools along with aggregates of their pupils' performances in national tests, have been published in the UK since 1992. Inevitably, the media have responded by publishing ranked 'league tables'. Despite concern over the potentially divisive effect of such tables, the current government has continued to publish this information in the same form. The effect of this information on standards and on the social make-up of the community has been keenly debated. Since there is no control group available that would allow us to investigate this issue directly, we present here a simple mathematical model. Our results indicate that, while random fluctuations from year to year can cause large distortions in the league-table positions, some schools still establish themselves as 'desirable'. To our surprise, we found that 'value-added' tables were no more accurate than tables based on raw exam scores, while a different method of drawing up the tables, in which exam results are averaged over a period of time, appears to give a much more reliable measure of school performance.     

Detection and enumeration of coliforms in drinking water: current methods and emerging approaches.

The coliform group has been used extensively as an indicator of water quality and has historically led to the public health protection concept. The aim of this review is to examine methods currently in use or which can be proposed for the monitoring of coliforms in drinking water. Actually, the need for more rapid, sensitive and specific tests is essential in the water industry. Routine and widely accepted techniques are discussed, as are methods which have emerged from recent research developments.Approved traditional methods for coliform detection include the multiple-tube fermentation (MTF) technique and the membrane filter (MF) technique using different specific media and incubation conditions. These methods have limitations, however, such as duration of incubation, antagonistic organism interference, lack of specificity and poor detection of slow-growing or viable but non-culturable (VBNC) microorganisms. Nowadays, the simple and inexpensive membrane filter technique is the most widely used method for routine enumeration of coliforms in drinking water.The detection of coliforms based on specific enzymatic activity has improved the sensitivity of these methods. The enzymes beta-D galactosidase and beta-D glucuronidase are widely used for the detection and enumeration of total coliforms and Escherichia coli, respectively. Many chromogenic and fluorogenic substrates exist for the specific detection of these enzymatic activities, and various commercial tests based on these substrates are available. Numerous comparisons have shown these tests may be a suitable alternative to the classical techniques. They are, however, more expensive, and the incubation time, even though reduced, remains too long for same-day results. More sophisticated analytical tools such as solid phase cytometry can be employed to decrease the time needed for the detection of bacterial enzymatic activities, with a low detection threshold.Detection of coliforms by molecular methods is also proposed, as these methods allow for very specific and rapid detection without the need for a cultivation step. Three molecular-based methods are evaluated here: the immunological, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in-situ hybridization (ISH) techniques. In the immunological approach, various antibodies against coliform bacteria have been produced, but the application of this technique often showed low antibody specificity. PCR can be used to detect coliform bacteria by means of signal amplification: DNA sequence coding for the lacZ gene (beta-galactosidase gene) and the uidA gene (beta-D glucuronidase gene) has been used to detect total coliforms and E. coli, respectively. However, quantification with PCR is still lacking in precision and necessitates extensive laboratory work. The FISH technique involves the use of oligonucleotide probes to detect complementary sequences inside specific cells. Oligonucleotide probes designed specifically for regions of the 16S RNA molecules of Enterobacteriaceae can be used for microbiological quality control of drinking water samples. FISH should be an interesting viable alternative to the conventional culture methods for the detection of coliforms in drinking water, as it provides quantitative data in a fairly short period of time (6 to 8 h), but still requires research effort.This review shows that even though many innovative bacterial detection methods have been developed, few have the potential for becoming a standardized method for the detection of coliforms in drinking water samples.     

Water jet: a simple method for classical conditioning in fish

Classical conditioning in animals is a learning procedure involving a biologically relevant stimulus paired with a previously neutral stimulus. In fish, light and sound are frequently used as previously neutral stimuli for conditioning tests. However, in laboratory experiments with replicates, such stimuli may influence the responses of fish in nearby aquariums. Herein, we developed a simple applicable methodology for classical conditioning in fish that prevents this type of influence. We isolated fish in individual aquariums and introduced a water jet that caused localized water movement, followed by the introduction of a food pellet. These procedures were repeated for each fish for 20 days. After 14 days, all fish were conditioned. Moreover, in subsequent probe trials (memory retention tests) conducted within 32 days after conditioning procedures, fish responded accordingly. These findings corroborate the applicability and usefulness of the method tested herein especially under lab conditions. Therefore, we suggest that a simple water jet is a useful and reliable tool for fish conditioning in future studies.     

A THEORETICAL NOTE ON DIFFERENCE TESTS: MODELS, PARADOXES AND COGNITIVE STRATEGIES

A simple nonmathematical introduction is given to Thurstonian modeling and its application to difference testing. The theoretical treatment explains differences in performance noted for various difference test protocols and the so-called paradox of discriminatory nondiscriminators, whereby a slight change in instructions to the judge can alter the proportion of tests performed correctly. From this, the assumptions in the use of binomial statistics for analyzing difference tests and their shortcomings, are discussed. New ideas on the generality of the paradox of discriminatory nondiscriminators are discussed, along with the effects of the cognitive strategy adopted by the judge during testing.     

Die Suche nach einem schnellen Test am lebenden Tier: BSE und Scrapie

In 1975 approximately 100,000 sheep were scrapie positive in the UK. Therefore the British government decided to produce meat and bonemeal from these animals which was part of the concentr ted feed diet of cattle. On February 11th, 1985 the first cow died of bovine transmissable spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the UK and in the following years there was a dramatic increase of BSE cases in the UK, culminating in 1992 with approximately 37,000 BSE cases. Although radical measures were taken to prevent further infections and the total number of cattle infected with BSE has been efficiently reduced since then, there are still around 1,000‐1,500 new cases each year until now. A major problem with the eradication of BSE is the long incubation period with a mean of 5‐6 years. Diagnosis of BSE positive animals is still only possible after the death of the animal (post mortem) and the tests available are based on the detection of infectious prions in a specific region of the brain stem, the socalled obex region. If there are typical clinical signs a suspicion may be expressed while the animal is still alive (intra vitam). Hence, the development of new and reliable tests are indespensible that can be used while an animal is still alive (in vivo test)and are highly sensitive. An advantage in sheep breeding is the presence of polymorphisms within the prion protein gene that are responsible for scrapie susceptibility and allow simple genetic screening. So far in cattle no such polymorphisms have been identified and it remains uncertain if there are any.     

Distinguishing positive selection from neutral evolution: boosting the performance of summary statistics

Summary statistics are widely used in population genetics, but they suffer from the drawback that no simple sufficient summary statistic exists, which captures all information required to distinguish different evolutionary hypotheses. Here, we apply boosting, a recent statistical method that combines simple classification rules to maximize their joint predictive performance. We show that our implementation of boosting has a high power to detect selective sweeps. Demographic events, such as bottlenecks, do not result in a large excess of false positives. A comparison to other neutrality tests shows that our boosting implementation performs well compared to other neutrality tests. Furthermore, we evaluated the relative contribution of different summary statistics to the identification of selection and found that for recent sweeps integrated haplotype homozygosity is very informative whereas older sweeps are better detected by Tajima's π. Overall, Watterson's was found to contribute the most information for distinguishing between bottlenecks and selection.     

Discrimination of Image Orientation in the Presence of Distractors

We studied the influence of additional images (distractors) on the recognition of test objects, which included low-contrast Landolt circles with sizes of 1.1, 1.5, and 2.2 angular degrees and were presented eccentrically at 13.2 degrees from fixation. The distractors were either Landolt Cs or full circles with the same spatial characteristics. The distance between the test objects and the distractors varied from 2.2 to 24.2 angular degrees. The subjects were required to report the orientation of the tests (simple task) or to report the orientation of the tests and the shape of the distractor (dual task). The first group of subjects performed both simple and dual tasks, while the second group only performed the simple task. A significant deterioration of performance was recorded at all tested separations in both tasks; it was more pronounced in the dual task. The percent of correct responses was lower when Landolt circles were distractors as compared with full circles. The subjects tended to report the orientation of the distractors instead of tests in the cases of small and large separations. The recognition of distractors was also performed at a lower level in the cases of small and large distances. The data show that attention contributes to the task performance in two ways: the features of tests and distractors are integrated, or the tests are substituted by distractors.     

Portable Device for Preparation and Delivery of Gas Mixtures

A simple, portable device for the preparation and delivery of gas mixtures has been designed and constructed. The basic feature of the device is the use of gas flow controllers to maintain stable flow rates over a wide range of downstream pressures, instead of the capillary tubes and water-filled barostats commonly used in gas-mixing devices. Elimination of the barostat avoids problems such as water leakage, the loss of gases through the barostat, and changes in gas pressure due to evaporative loss of water from the barostat. The absence of a barostat also provides a closed system, allowing the use of the device for mixing and delivering of toxic gases. The prototype of the device has been used to prepare mixtures of different gases for more than 1 year and has been found to operate consistently and reproducibly. The actual concentrations of O₂, CO₂, and N₂ in gas mixtures (determined by gas chromatography) immediately after mixing were between 2.2 and 6.6% of the desired values in four performance tests. Fluctuations in concentration of gases in mixtures after 9 days of continuous gas delivery was less than 2% in four performance tests.     

Helium Tracer Tests for Assessing Contaminant Vapor Recovery and Air Distribution During In Situ Air Sparging

Helium tracer tests are used as an alternative to soil-gas pressure measurements to assess the effectiveness of soil vapor extraction (SVE) systems for capturing contaminant vapors liberated by in situ air sparging (IAS). The tracer approach is simple to conduct and provides more direct and reliable measures than the soil-gas pressure approach. The tracer test described here can be used to both determine SVE system capture efficiency and to evaluate air distribution during IAS pilot tests. The tests can also be conducted on operating, full-scale systems to confirm system performance. In addition, the tests can be easily repeated, which allows system parameters to be modified and the impact of those modifications to be quickly assessed. Whether used alone or in conjunction with other diagnostic tools, helium tracer tests provide an important measure of IAS system performance.     

Sexually dimorphic responses to neonatal basal forebrain lesions in mice: I. Behavior and neurochemistry

The nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nBM) provides the primary source of cholinergic input to the cortex. Neonatal lesions of the nBM produce transient reductions in cholinergic markers, persistent abnormalities in cortical morphology, and spatial navigation impairments in adult mice. The present study examined sex differences in the effects of an electrolytic nBM lesion on postnatal day 1 (PND 1) in mice on behavior and neurochemistry in adulthood. Mice were lesioned on PND 1 and tested at 8 weeks of age on a battery of behavioral tests including passive avoidance, cued and spatial tasks in the Morris water maze, simple and delayed nonmatch to sample versions of an odor discrimination task, and locomotor activity measurements. Following behavioral testing, mice were sacrificed for either morphological assessment or neurochemical analysis of a cholinergic marker or catecholamines. There were no lesion or sex differences in acquisition or retention of passive avoidance, performance of the odor discrimination tasks, or activity levels. Control mice showed a robust sex difference in performance of the spatial water maze task. The lesion produced a slight cued but more dramatic spatial navigation deficit in the water maze which affected only the male mice. Neurochemical analyses revealed no lesion-induced changes in either choline acetyltransferase activity or levels of norepinephrine or serotonin at the time of testing. The subsequent report shows a sex difference in lesion-induced changes in cortical morphology which suggests that sexually dimorphic cholinergic influences on cortical development are responsible for the behavioral deficits seen in this study. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 37: 582–594, 1998     

好氧反硝化微生物学机理与应用研究进展

近年来,关于好氧反硝化过程的研究主要集中在三个方面:分别是好氧反硝化菌株的分离和脱氮性能表征,好氧反硝化微生物的应用潜力分析,以及好氧反硝化过程的机理研究。好氧反硝化菌株分布范围广泛,可从多种环境中分离得到,种属以Pseudomonas sp.、Alcaligenes sp.和Paracoccus sp.为主。好氧反硝化菌株及菌群在实验室条件下表现出优良的耐冷、耐盐特性,并具有可降解毒性有机物及N_2O减排的潜力。关于好氧反硝化过程的机理研究表明,虽然硝酸盐作为电子受体的竞争力比氧气弱,但反硝化作为辅助电子传递途径,可提高产能效率,防止NAD(P)H的过量积累。因此,硝酸盐可与氧气同时参与微生物的新陈代谢,即发生好氧反硝化现象。未来除了继续分离更新更好的好氧反硝化菌株外,应加强对好氧反硝化机理及实际生物强化方面的研究。     

Balneoprevention: new approaches

The present study outlines a strategy for studying application of balneotreatment in preventive medicine (balneoprevention). Prophylactic use of spa treatment and mineral water consumption can be studied using epidemiological methods in the involved population. Calculated toxicological risk of balneological treatment can be decreased by performing a complete chemical analysis (including high performance organic analyses) and specific toxicity tests of medicinal water and mud (peloid) samples.     

Dyspnoea,disability, and distance walked: comparison of estimates of exercise performance in respiratory disease.

Forty-four patients with airway obstruction and 18 with pulmonary infiltration were studied in an attempt to correlate exercise tolerance, as assessed by a simple walking test, with basic respiratory function values and differing subjective assessments of exercise performance. The distance walked in 12 minutes was significantly correlated with the response to a structured questionnaire and with the patients'' assessment of performance using an oxygen-cost diagram. The distance walked did not agree well with simple subjective estimates obtained in the clinical history. It was better correlated with forced vital capacity than with forced expiratory volume in one second in both groups of patients, and was well correlated with carbon monoxide transfer factor in those with pulmonary infiltration. The scatter of results, however, was such that exercise performance could not usefully be predicted from the respiratory function values or from subjective assessments. Simple exercise tests are an essential part of assessing disability and response to treatment in patients with respiratory impairment.     

Performance of open-fronted microbiological safety cabinets: the value of operator protection tests during routine servicing

The performance of class I and II microbiological safety cabinets over 7 years, employed in a force-ventilated containment level 3 (CL-3) laboratory, is described. Operator Protection (OP) provided by the cabinets, assessed by still and latterly limited 'in-use' KI-Discus tests, showed no overall deterioration during the review period. Comparisons show that a selected class II unit, but not a second, and a new class II MSC in a recently commissioned, similar CL-3 facility, provide the same order of OP as a class I cabinet. From the experiences described, it is strongly recommended that OP tests (OPTs) should be part of the routine servicing regime to ensure that cabinets meet required performance levels, and additionally to allow detection and rectification of poor containment, particularly where induced by environmental factors. The value of OPTs is discussed with reference to certain national standards.     

Water uptake by some chamber materials

Abstract. The characteristics of water uptake by several materials have been studied. Nitrile rubber, silicone rubber and perspex retained substantial quantities of water. Metals took up smaller, but still significant, amounts of water, and glass was the least water-retentive material used in the tests. The surface structure of the material, revealed by scanning electron microscopy, does not necessarily account for its water uptake characteristics. The results are discussed in relation to the design and construction of psychrometer and porometer chambers.     

Effects of treatment-induced mortality and tumor-induced mortality on tests for carcinogenicity in small samples

Statistical tests of carcinogenicity are shown to have varying degrees of robustness to the effects of mortality. Mortality induced by two different mechanisms is studied--mortality due to the tumor of interest, and mortality due to treatment independent of the tumor. The two most commonly used tests, the life-table test and the Cochran-Armitage linear trend test, are seen to be highly sensitive to increases in treatment lethality using small-sample simulations. Increases in tumor lethality are seen to affect the performance of commonly used prevalence tests such as logistic regression. A simple survival-adjusted quantal response test appears to be the most robust of all the procedures considered.     

Toxicity tests with Daphnids: Its application in the management of water quality

The possible role of Daphnia species in toxicity tests is discussed. In screening tests, effluent monitoring tests and legal tests daphnids are recommended as useful test organisms. They also may help to establish concentration limits for chemical water pollution (water quality criteria). As biological indicator organisms their use is limited.     

Visceral leishmaniasis: what are the needs for diagnosis, treatment and control?

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a systemic protozoan disease that is transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies. Poor and neglected populations in East Africa and the Indian sub-continent are particularly affected. Early and accurate diagnosis and treatment remain key components of VL control. In addition to improved diagnostic tests, accurate and simple tests are needed to identify treatment failures. Miltefosine, paromomycin and liposomal amphotericin B are gradually replacing pentavalent antimonials and conventional amphotericin B as the preferred treatments in some regions, but in other areas these drugs are still being evaluated in both mono- and combination therapies. New diagnostic tools and new treatment strategies will only have an impact if they are made widely available to patients.     

Objective test for food sensitivity in asthmatic children: increased bronchial reactivity after cola drinks.

Ten asthmatic children with a history of cough and wheeze after drinking a cola drink performed histamine inhalation tests before and 30 minutes after a drink of Pepsi-Cola, soda water, and water on three separate study days. There was no significant change in baseline peak expiratory flow after any of the three drinks. Sensitivity to histamine was increased after the cola drink (p less than 0.005) but was not significantly different after soda water or water. The detection of change in sensitivity to histamine appears to be a simple and effective method of testing for food sensitivity in asthma.