Cohen's Concordance Research Articles

The effect of the chemical composition on the sensory characterization of Ecuadorian coffee

The study aims to test if Ecuadorean coffee's symbolic and material contents agree with the instrumental analysis and grading protocols. We studied the relationship between the chemical composition and the organoleptic characteristics of eight non-specialty and six specialty coffee samples. Firstly, the study addresses the grading following the Specialty Coffee American Association (SCAA) method. The second stage focuses on the qualitative composition of the coffee brews employing GC-MS and caffeine concentrations using HPLC. Then, we employed statistical tools such as Cohen's concordance coefficients, dissimilarity dendrograms, and linear correlations between the chemical compounds in the beverage and the attributes' scores. The grading panel consisted of 6 semi-trained-testers who would assess if the primary cultural capital can provide a criterion to identify specialty coffee. The variety of compounds allowed the evaluators to distinguish between commercial and specialty coffees. However, the composition analysis identified molecules that would imply greater gradation in the tasting, a prevision that was not reflected in the results. Finally, we confirmed that basic training could create cultural capital to distinguish non-specialties from specialty coffees through their chemistry and organoleptic attributes.

Clinical utility of a traditional score system for the evaluation of the peritoneal dialysis exit-site infection in a national multicentric cohort study.

Exit-site infection (ESI) is an important risk factor for peritonitis in patients under chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD). The International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) recommend its diagnosis as the presence of purulent drainage in the exit site (ES) but time-consuming scores using others skin signs are routinely used. To investigate the correlation between the diagnosis of ESI with a score based on five clinical signs obtained from ES inspection, and also if there are interaction with patient's race. Multicenter and prospective cohort. We included adult patients from 122 clinics, incident on PD and with a 12-month stay in therapy. The event of interest was ESI, defined as purulent drainage. The clinical score used was composed of hyperemia, edema, pain, scab, and granuloma. Statistical analysis was performed using multilevel logistic regression model, likelihood test, and Cohen concordance analysis. A total of 35,354 ES assessments were performed during the first year of dialysis in 3297 patients. There was a rate of 10.1 (9.1-11.2) episodes of ESI per 1000 patients/month. In patients with ESI, the prevalence of hyperemia was 55.9%, edema 67.3%, pain 31.8%, and scab 23.2%. The agreement with the score was 60.6% and showed differences according to the patient's race, being 53.2% for African Americans descendants and 65.4% for others. The use of scales for the diagnosis of ESI does not add much information in addition to the presence of purulent secretion as currently recommended by the ISPD.

The Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Automated Angiography in the Type II Endoleaks Detection: Comparison with Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound

Introduction - The presence of type II endoleak (ELII) after endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) can be investigated with different methods. Since intraoperative completion angiography (ICA) may underestimate their presence, particularly if they are at low flow, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been proposed as the gold standard during EVAR follow-up. Intra-procedural carbon dioxide (CO2) angiography has been shown to be useful in this setting, however no comparative studies including these three techniques are currently available. Aim of our study is to investigate the accuracy of a new automated CO2 angiographic (CO2A) system in the detection of ELII, by comparing it with ICA and CEUS. Methods - A series of consecutive patients undergoing EVAR for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) were enrolled and submitted to ICA and CO2A during the procedure. The iodinate contrast media were delivered through an automatic injector connected to a pigtail catheter in the suprarenal aorta, with constant flow velocity and volume injection. The CO2 was delivered through a recently available automatic injector connected to a 10F, 11mm long sheet positioned in the external iliac artery, with constant CO2 injection in terms of flow velocity and volume rate. All patients were blindly evaluated by CEUS on postoperative day1. The presence of ELII was defined as contrast enhancement into the residual sac appearing with a ≥ 5 seconds delay from contrast injection. The ICA and CO2A ability to detect ELII was compared with that of CEUS through the Cohen's concordance Index (K).s Results - Twenty-one patients with a mean AAA size of 56±8mm, were entered in the study. There were no intra or peri-operative complications related to ICA or CO2A. No type I-III endoleak were detected by ICA or CO2A, as confirmed also by CEUS. One (5%), 7(33%) and 4(19%) ELII, were detected by ICA, CO2A and CEUS, respectively. The only ELII detected by ICA was also detected by CO2A and CEUS. Three cases of ELII detected by CO2A were not detected by CEUS. No cases of ELII undetected by CO2A were visualized by CEUS. A perfect agreement between CEUS and both ICA and CO2A was observed for type I/III endoleak (Cohen's K:1). CEUS and ICA showed a poor agreement for ELII detection (Cohen's K:0.35). A substantial agreement was observed between CEUS and CO2A for ELII (Cohen's K:0.65). Conclusion - CO2A is safe and effective method for ELII detection in EVAR, with a significantly higher agreement with CEUS if compared with ICA.

Carpal pseudoerosions: a plain X-ray interpretation pitfall.

To examine in detail images of pseudoerosion of the wrist and hand on plain radiographs. The study was conducted with 28 cadaver wrists. During a single imaging session three techniques-plain radiography, tomosynthesis, and computed tomography-were used to visualize the wrist and hand specimens. For each technique, 20 radio-ulno-carpo-metacarpal sites known to present bone erosions in rheumatoid arthritis were analyzed by two radiologists using a standard system to score the cortical bone: normal, pseudoerosion, true erosion, or other pathology. Cohen's concordance analysis was performed to determine inter-observer and intra-observer (for the senior radiologist) agreement by site and by technique. Serial sections of two cadaver specimens were examined to determine the anatomical correlation of the pseudoerosions. On the plain radiographs, the radiologists scored many images as pseudoerosion (7.3%), particularly in the distal ulnar portion of the capitate, the distal radial portion of the hamate, the proximal ulnar portion of the base of the third metacarpal, the proximal radial portion of the base of the fourth metacarpal, the distal ulnar portion of the hamate, and the proximal portion of the base of the fifth metacarpal. The computed tomography scan revealed that none of these doubtful images corresponded to true erosions. The anatomical correlation study showed that these images could probably be attributed to ligament insertions, thinner lamina, and enhanced cortical bone transparency. Knowledge of the anatomical carpal localizations where pseudoerosions commonly occur is a necessary prerequisite for analysis of plain radiographs performed to diagnose or monitor rheumatoid arthritis.