A disk assay for poly- -hydroxybutyrate

The preparation of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate from bacterial samples for assay by the spectrophotometric method of Law and Slepecky (12) may be carried out on glass fiber disks. The procedure permits faster assay and facilitates the handling of more and smaller samples.     

Restriction endonuclease analysis for the identification of baculovirus pesticides.

Gel electrophoresis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragments generated by digesting the DNA genomes of nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPV) with restriction endonucleases provides DNA fragment patterns that may be used to identify different viruses of this group. Characteristic fragment patterns were obtained for three NPVs, which are important as biological pesticides (Autographa californica NPV, Orgyia pseudotsugata NPV, and Heliothis zea NPV). The DNA fragment patterns of the A. californica NPV genoms did not change with passage through the alternate insect host, Trichoplusia ni. Heterogeneity in one preparation of O. pseudotsugata NPV was observed. The identification procedure is direct and precise. Applications of this procedure include quality control of commercial preparations of viral pesticides and screening for genetic alterations in the viruses.     

General Practice Observed: Survey of General Practice Records

A study of a sample of records from eight general practices showed that 10% of patients'' ages were not recorded, that 99% of males had no indication of their marital state, and 60% did not have an occupation recorded. In recording of disease episodes a diagnosis was recorded in a little over half of the episodes and was the only recorded item in 10% of records. The recording of the therapeutic agent used was the most frequently recorded item, occurring in 70% of episodes, but the amount prescribed was recorded in only one-quarter of the episodes and the dosage in less than one-fifth. Less than half of the episodes had any symptoms recorded and only one-third had a physical sign recorded.     

The Use of Bayesian Networks to Assess the Quality of Evidence from Research Synthesis: 2. Inter-Rater Reliability and Comparison with Standard GRADE Assessment

Background

The grades of recommendation, assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE) approach is widely implemented in systematic reviews, health technology assessment and guideline development organisations throughout the world. We have previously reported on the development of the Semi-Automated Quality Assessment Tool (SAQAT), which enables a semi-automated validity assessment based on GRADE criteria. The main advantage to our approach is the potential to improve inter-rater agreement of GRADE assessments particularly when used by less experienced researchers, because such judgements can be complex and challenging to apply without training. This is the first study examining the inter-rater agreement of the SAQAT.

Methods

We conducted two studies to compare: a) the inter-rater agreement of two researchers using the SAQAT independently on 28 meta-analyses and b) the inter-rater agreement between a researcher using the SAQAT (who had no experience of using GRADE) and an experienced member of the GRADE working group conducting a standard GRADE assessment on 15 meta-analyses.

Results

There was substantial agreement between independent researchers using the Quality Assessment Tool for all domains (for example, overall GRADE rating: weighted kappa 0.79; 95% CI 0.65 to 0.93). Comparison between the SAQAT and a standard GRADE assessment suggested that inconsistency was parameterised too conservatively by the SAQAT. Therefore the tool was amended. Following amendment we found fair-to-moderate agreement between the standard GRADE assessment and the SAQAT (for example, overall GRADE rating: weighted kappa 0.35; 95% CI 0.09 to 0.87).

Conclusions

Despite a need for further research, the SAQAT may aid consistent application of GRADE, particularly by less experienced researchers.