Matrix-based concordance correlation coefficient for repeated measures

Summary In many clinical studies, Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) is a common tool to assess the agreement of a continuous response measured by two raters or methods. However, the need for measures of agreement may arise for more complex situations, such as when the responses are measured on more than one occasion by each rater or method. In this work, we propose a new CCC in the presence of repeated measurements, called the matrix‐based concordance correlation coefficient (MCCC) based on a matrix norm that possesses the properties needed to characterize the level of agreement between two p× 1 vectors of random variables. It can be shown that the MCCC reduces to Lin's CCC when p= 1. For inference, we propose an estimator for the MCCC based on U‐statistics. Furthermore, we derive the asymptotic distribution of the estimator of the MCCC, which is proven to be normal. The simulation studies confirm that overall in terms of accuracy, precision, and coverage probability, the estimator of the MCCC works very well in general cases especially when n is greater than 40. Finally, we use real data from an Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN) study and the Penn State Young Women's Health Study for demonstration.     

2014 年热门生物技术公司的研发动态

FierceBiotech 网站报道了2014 年最热门的16 家生物技术公司,其涉足生物制药、体外诊断以及医疗器械研发等热门医疗领域,其中多家公司与包括葛兰素史克、罗氏、拜耳、默克等公司在内的制药巨头展开合作,值得医疗行业的投资者关注。对这16 家热门生物技术公司的研发重点、主打产品的适应证/ 用途、合作伙伴、并购交易信息进行归纳总结,旨在为新一代生物技术药物的深入研发提供参考。     

安徽黄缘闭壳龟（ Cuora flavomarginata） 野生种群的现状及其保护建议

安徽是濒危物种黄缘闭壳龟的重要分布区之一,由于人类活动使得该龟栖息地日益减少,生存空间被挤占。加之近年来日益频繁的黄缘闭壳龟贸易所带来的肆意滥捕以及缺乏有效的保护措施,导致其野生种群衰减严重,数量已经十分稀少,同时买卖和饲养也进一步加剧了黄缘闭壳龟的非自然扩散和引入。目前黄缘闭壳龟在安徽的具体产地一直缺乏一个较为科学的研究,而了解黄缘闭壳龟在安徽的具体分布状况,对于该龟的保护至关重要。2011年—2012年5月至10月间,采用市场和访问调查以及野外实地调查相结合的方法,对安徽黄缘闭壳龟野生种群现状进行了研究,并对调查结果进行了报道,同时针对保护管理中存在的问题,提出相应的保护建议。     

Evaluation of the Accuracy of the EasyTest? Malaria Pf/Pan Ag,a Rapid Diagnostic Test,in Uganda

In recent years, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have been widely used for malaria detection, primarily because of their simple operation, fast results, and straightforward interpretation. The Asan EasyTest™ Malaria Pf/Pan Ag is one of the most commonly used malaria RDTs in several countries, including Korea and India. In this study, we tested the diagnostic performance of this RDT in Uganda to evaluate its usefulness for field diagnosis of malaria in this country. Microscopic and PCR analyses, and the Asan EasyTest™ Malaria Pf/Pan Ag rapid diagnostic test, were performed on blood samples from 185 individuals with suspected malaria in several villages in Uganda. Compared to the microscopic analysis, the sensitivity of the RDT to detect malaria infection was 95.8% and 83.3% for Plasmodium falciparum and non-P. falciparum, respectively. Although the diagnostic sensitivity of the RDT decreased when parasitemia was ≤500 parasites/µl, it showed 96.8% sensitivity (98.4% for P. falciparum and 93.8% for non-P. falciparum) in blood samples with parasitemia ≥100 parasites/µl. The specificity of the RDT was 97.3% for P. falciparum and 97.3% for non-P. falciparum. These results collectively suggest that the accuracy of the Asan EasyTest™ Malaria Pf/Pan Ag makes it an effective point-of-care diagnostic tool for malaria in Uganda.     

Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging of Mouse Diaphragm Function

Function analysis of rodent respiratory skeletal muscles, particularly the diaphragm, is commonly performed by isolating muscle strips using invasive surgical procedures. Although this is an effective method of assessing in vitro diaphragm activity, it involves non-survival surgery. The application of non-invasive ultrasound imaging as an in vivo procedure is beneficial since it not only reduces the number of animals sacrificed, but is also suitable for monitoring disease progression in live mice. Thus, our ultrasound imaging method may likely assist in the development of novel therapies that alleviate muscle injury induced by various respiratory diseases. Particularly, in clinical diagnoses of obstructive lung diseases, ultrasound imaging has the potential to be used in conjunction with other standard tests to detect the early onset of diaphragm muscle fatigue. In the current protocol, we describe how to accurately evaluate diaphragm contractility in a mouse model using a diagnostic ultrasound imaging technique.     

基于Lake模型的Pb胁迫对木荷和栾树幼树叶片叶绿素荧光参数的影响研究

以阔叶树种木荷和栾树1年生幼树为对象,采用室内盆栽,通过配制3个不同浓度梯度的Pb Cl_2溶液于盆栽土壤中(L1L2L3),对比研究Pb胁迫下两种幼树叶片叶绿素荧光参数的响应规律,运用Lake模型从能量平衡及分配的角度揭示不同浓度Pb胁迫下木荷和栾树光系统Ⅱ运转状况,并为木本植物幼树耐Pb程度的快速诊断提供数据支撑。结果表明:3个不同浓度的Pb处理下,两种供试幼树随着入射光强(PAR)的增大,除非调节性能量耗散(Y_(NO))以外其他叶绿素荧光参数均随着PAR的变化而变化,相对电子传递速率(r ETR)和可调节性能量耗散(Y_(NPQ))呈上升趋势,而光系统Ⅱ(PSⅡ)量子效率(Y_(Ⅱ))和光化学猝灭(q L)呈下降趋势。同时,两种供试幼树的最大光能利用效率(Fv/Fm)、r ETR、Y_(Ⅱ)、q L,随着Pb污染浓度的增加而降低,而Y_(NPQ)和Y_(NO)则随着Pb污染浓度的增加而升高。Pb对两种供试植物叶绿素荧光参数的抑制效果在最大净光合速率(Pn)上也有体现。本实验还得出,在L1浓度时木荷PSⅡ反应中心的开放程度能保持在较高水准,随着污染浓度的增大,其光能转化能力弱于栾树。同时,栾树调节能量耗散的能力和对Pb胁迫的敏感程度均高于木荷,进一步说明了栾树对Pb的耐性高于木荷。综合分析后得出,Y_(NO)和Y_(NPQ)可作为植物Pb胁迫的评价指标。     

微生物学模块式自设计研究性实验的构建与教学实践

为了以低成本、低课时、高个性化方式让低年级学生既能学习基本实验技术,又都有机会参与研究性实验,构思了以基本实验技术为依托的微生物学模块式自设计研究性实验,即教师以模块式专题形式提出系列实验项目,学生自主选择题目、思考和设计、实施操作、分析结果而教师恰当指导的实验教学方式,并将其在3年4轮的微生物学实验教学中应用。详细叙述了模块式自设计研究性实验设计思路和实施方法及实施中学生和教师的行为与表现,并分析了从3个班级收回的包含34个问题的实验教学效果调查问卷,深入探讨了该方法存在的不足和改进方法。教学实践表明,这种教学方法不会导致教师数量、实验成本、学时数的显著增加,对于较大规模学生的研究性实验具有较强的实用性和可行性;144份学生反馈问卷中每个问题平均得分均在4分以上(满分5分),表明有利于提高学生的多方面素质,使学生受到基本的科学研究素质和能力的初步训练;88%-96%的学生认为它是有效的教学方式;研究性实验的形式、学生主动性、实验方案设计的科学性、实验结果分析和讨论等方面还有待完善。     

不同修复措施对黄河源退化高寒草甸植物群落与土壤养分的影响

为了揭示退化高寒草甸逆向转变的驱动因子,通过野外调查和室内分析相结合的方法探究了黄河源不同修复措施(施有机肥F、免耕补播N、施有机肥+免耕补播FN)处理高寒草甸植物群落特征、土壤理化性质和两者相关性的变化规律,阐明不同修复措施对黄河源退化高寒草甸植物群落与土壤养分的影响。结果表明：免耕补播显著增加草甸物种丰富度指数(P<0.05);施有机肥+免耕补播显著增加草甸植物盖度、总生物量、Shannon Wiener多样性指数和Pielous均匀度指数(P<0.05)。不同人工修复后草甸植物功能群地上、地下生物量变化趋势基本一致(除豆科)。和对照相比,莎草科,杂类草地上和地下生物量含量在N、FN处理分别降低83.04%、73.86%、30.43%、92.37%和96.51%、84.09%、85.68%、95.36%;禾本科地上和地下生物量含量在F、N和FN处理分别增加7.29%、23.45%、17.93%和6.04%、4.03%、10.52%;豆科地上生物量含量基本保持不变,地下生物量含量在F、N和FN处理分别降低24.43%、82.19%和42.61%。F显著增加土壤有机碳含量(...