Mean Activity Index Research Articles

Pathological improvement of IgA nephropathy and Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis with urokinase therapy.

The pathological findings of 13 patients with immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy or Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis before and after urokinase (UK) administration were investigated retrospectively. The mean activity index value decreased significantly at the time of the second biopsy compared with that of the biopsy before UK treatment. The mean chronicity index value, which was considered to reflect the renal outcome, before and after UK treatment did not change significantly, although it improved significantly in six patients. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that the immune deposition of C3 decreased, but that of IgA and fibrin-related antigen were unchanged, by UK therapy. These results suggest that UK may prevent the mesangial proliferation associated with IgA nephropathy and Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis not only by its fibrinolytic action, but also by other mechanisms, such as digestion of the mesangial matrices.

The geomagnetic field in 1996 according to measurements of the geomagnetic observatory wingst

The Geomagnetic Observatory Wingst operated by the Bundesamt for Seeschiffahrt und Hydrographie (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) publishes annuals of its measurements (hourly, daily, monthly, annual mean values and activity indices). Because of the high workload involved, they are published with a time lag of up to several years. To close the resultant information gap, the Observatory Wingst issues yearly reports summarizing its main data.

Reliability of histologic scoring for lupus nephritis: a community-based evaluation.

To determine the reliability of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-modified semiquantitative histologic scoring system for lupus nephritis. Cross-sectional study, repeated after 8 to 9 months. Four community hospitals and one university medical center. Five pathologists, all experienced in reading renal biopsy specimens, assessed 25 specimens that had been obtained from patients with a clinical diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus and showed diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis. Biopsy specimens were scored independently and blindly by pathologists for components of nephritis chronicity and activity. Reliability was measured by percentage agreement, intraclass correlation coefficient or kappa statistic, and individual reader effect on the group arithmetic mean. As scored by the readers, the mean chronicity index score varied from 2.3 to 4.8 on a 12-point scale (P = 0.001) and the mean activity index score varied from 5.8 to 11.4 on a 24-point scale (P = 0.0001). Pairs of readers gave scores within 1 point for the chronicity index and within 2 points for the activity index in 50% of cases, and risk group assignments based on chronicity index (three strata) and activity index (two strata) were concordant in 59% and 76% of cases, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients for inter-reader agreement were 0.58 for the chronicity index (P < 0.01) and 0.52 for the activity index (P < 0.01). Intrareader agreement was uniformly higher than inter-reader agreement, but mean intraclass correlation coefficients exceeded 0.70 for only 1 of the 10 index components. Repeated readings yielded chronicity index scores that were more than 1 point discordant in 45% of cases and activity index scores that were more than 2 points discordant in 43% of cases. Risk group assignment changed on the basis of chronicity index and activity index in 36% and 21% of cases, respectively. In a nonreferral setting, the NIH-modified scoring system for lupus nephritis is only moderately reproducible and, if used to prognosticate renal outcome, may result in erroneous predictions of risk for renal failure and response to therapy.