Aptima Combo Research Articles

Positive Predictive Value of Gen-Probe APTIMA Combo 2 Testing for Neisseria gonorrhoeae in a Population of Women with Low Prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae Infection

We collected specimens from women who tested positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae using the Gen-Probe APTIMA Combo 2 (AC2), and we performed confirmatory tests using a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) that targets alternate gonococcal nucleic acid sequences. Among 59,664 specimens, 280 (0.47%) had positive results using AC2; 265 of these specimens were tested using the confirmatory NAAT, of which 258 yielded positive results (positive predictive value, 97.4%; 95% confidence interval, 95.1%-98.8%). Routine confirmatory testing of specimens with positive AC2 gonorrhea test results is not indicated.

Individual variation in sleeping metabolic rates in infants.

To measure the variation in sleeping metabolic rate (SMR) of healthy infants in the first year of life. Attempts were made to measure SMR in the home of one group of infants at monthly intervals over the first year of life and of another group in the 1 to 12 age range, over three consecutive days. Sixty one infants were recruited and 181 measurements made. In 11 infants six or more satisfactory measurements were made a monthly intervals and in another 11 infants, three consecutive daily measurements were obtained. Parents chose the clothing and bedding that they judged their infant needed to fall asleep. The room air and radiative temperatures, humidity, and amount of insulation were recorded. The mean (SD) SMR was 2.4 (0.4) watts (W)/kg or 45 (10) W/m2. The rate was the same for infants in the age groups 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 years; individual infants did not show a systematic change with age. There was wide variation. Ninety eight per cent of infants had a SMR between 1.8 and 3.1 W/kg. The mean SMR for the infants measured on three consecutive days varied from 1.7 to 3.1 W/kg, and SMR varied within infants, from 0.06 to 0.86 W/kg. The variation within six to 11 measurements on infants over the first year of life ranged from 0.38 to 1.05 W/kg. Infants in the first year of life exhibit wide variations in SMR from day to day and from month to month. As the range is wide, guidance on clothing and bedding for thermal comfort can be given only in broad terms.