Quantification Criteria Research Articles

Simultaneous detection of HER2/neu gene amplification and protein overexpression in paraffin‐embedded breast cancer

The determination of HER2/neu status in breast carcinomas has become essential for the selection of breast cancer patients for Herceptin therapy. Herceptin treatment is used in patients with metastatic breast carcinoma with HER2/neu protein overexpression detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or gene amplification analysed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). A multiparametric fluorescent approach based on the simultaneous detection of HER2/neu gene amplification and protein expression was established to increase the accuracy, and to improve the reproducibility, of HER2/neu diagnostics. Based on four paraffin-embedded breast cancer cell lines, a combined fluorescent immunostaining (FIHC) and FISH method was developed by using the PathVysion HER2 DNA Probe Kit (VYSIS) and the polyclonal antibody from the HercepTest (DAKO). Diagnostic applicability was documented on 215 formalin-fixed primary breast carcinomas. Criteria for immunofluorescence quantification were chosen by analogy with the FDA-approved HercepTest scoring, ranging from 0 to 3+. There was 97.7% concordance between conventional IHC and fluorescence IHC. The FISH data resulting from the multiparametric approach did not differ from conventional FISH. Breast carcinomas with HER2/neu protein overexpression and simultaneous gene amplification were detected with 100% sensitivity. In addition, five of the 215 cases (2.3%) had HER2/neu gene amplification without protein overexpression. The main advantage of this novel approach is that polysomy, aneuploidy, gene amplification, and protein content can be analysed simultaneously in the same cell.

Performance assessment of the (Trans)Varestraint tests for determining solidification cracking susceptibility when using welding processes with filler metal

This work is aimed at verifying if the Varestraint and Transvarestraint tests are adequate to assess solidification cracking susceptibility in welding of aluminium when a process with filler metal is employed. The main goal was to compare the performance of a reasonably new process (double pulsed GMAW) for welding aluminium alloys. Both tests and three cracking quantification criteria were analysed and compared to determine which was the most robust and reliable. The results showed that the most adequate ones were the Transvarestraint test and the maximum cracking length criterion. Some steps must be taken so as to guarantee reliability of the results if a small number of experiments are expected. The application of this methodology in comparison between a conventional pulsed GMAW and a double pulsed GMAW still showed that the latter reduces cracking susceptibility, appearing as an alternative solution for this critical phenomenon in aluminium welding.

Weight optimisation of hinges for light mechanisms: criteria and design aspects

One of the main challenges of structural shape control is how to conciliate load-carrying capability and geometry adaptability. Machine-inspired solutions with moveable parts are functional but imply additional weight. Quantification criteria for this effect can be very useful for lightweight applications in order to evaluate the net advantage of geometry adaptability or for comparison with alternative solutions based on compliant structures.

Capillary electrophoresis method for determination of related substances in glutathione reduced drug substance

A sensitive capillary electrophoretic method using low pH with direct UV detection has been developed to evaluate the impurity profile of reduced glutathione obtained from its production and purification. The method is characterized by high detection sensitivity and selectivity. Validation has been performed with model mixtures consisting of the main known related substances—oxidized glutathione, glutamylcystein, cysteinylglycine and cysteine. The results from this study show that with respect to quantification criteria the method is acceptable for routine control of reduced glutathione for pharmaceutical application.

Cohesion and Coherence in Children's Written English: Immersion and English-only Classes

This study investigates the nature of cohesion, coherence, content, and grammar emergent in children 's essays, with a greater emphasis given to the understanding of cohesion and coherence. Conceptual definitions of these constructs are summarized based on prior research. The measurement of these constructs is operationalized into a picture-based narrative writing task for elicitation and scoring criteria for quantification. 192 first and second graders from an immersion program and English-only classes participated in the study. The analysis uses percentages, correlations, multiple regression, and qualitative analyses. Main findings include the following: (a) the measurement of cohesion and coherence can be operationalized; (b) referential and lexical cohesion correlate highly with the overall writing quality defined as the sum of the ratings of coherence, content, and grammar; (c) ellipses and substitution show a weak correlation with the overall writing quality; (d) lexical and referential cohesion are significant predictors of coherence while other types of cohesion are not; (e) dominant reference types are pronominal forms and proper nouns, and prominent types of conjunctive relation are temporal and additive; and (f) the most common error in cohesion is inaccurate reference. The substance and method of this study can provide a foundation for investigating subsequent topics with latent variables and different linguistic backgrounds and grade levels.

A round robin on combined electrochemical and friction tests on alumina/stainless steel contacts in sulphuric acid

A round robin on tribo-electrochemical measurements was organised by the Tribology Committee of the CEFRACOR. Seven European laboratories participated in this round robin aimed at evaluating the reproducibility and comparability of experiments. The electrochemical and tribological behaviour of an Al 2O 3 ceramic sliding against a 316L stainless steel was determined in sulphuric acid according to a previously defined procedure. The recommended procedure describes the surface preparation, the electrochemical treatment and the operating conditions of load, velocity, frequency and sliding time. The following experiments were performed: polarisation curves, polarisation curves during rubbing, friction test, friction test at an applied electrochemical potential. The reproducibility at laboratory level was good for both tribological (friction, wear) and electrochemical parameters. The convergence of the electrochemical measurements among different laboratories was satisfactory and not affected by simultaneous rubbing. The participants, despite the large differences in tribometer design used, found a good agreement for the coefficients of friction. The extent of scattering on wear results depends on the quantification criterion used. The concept of dissipated energy allows one to compare and to rationalise the wear results obtained using different tribometers.

Mites on birds: Comment from Harper & Randall

Mites on birds: Comment from Harper & Randall

Development of feasibility approaches for studying the behavior of passive cooling systems in buildings

This study is a contribution to European projects Pascool/Joule II and Altener/Sink that deals with feasibility of passive cooling systems in Europe. The first aim of this work was to define a design methodology to evaluate natural cooling potential according to the climatic quantification criteria of the site, the cooling system performance, and comfort criteria defined by the couple of temperature and relative humidity set points. A simplified approach, based on climatic potential criteria as theoretical cooling potential index, the available potential index, the cooling need index, and the natural cooling normalized capacity, was developed. It was applied to 105 European sites for different types of evaporative cooling systems (direct and indirect), and for various temperature and relative humidity set points. During the second stage, a refined approach taking into account building characteristics and the cooling system performance, was developed. This method is based on the integration of numerical models of passive cooling systems in a thermal building software in order to consider interaction phenomena between cooling system and building. Application of this approach to one building has been done in order to assess energy consumption gain achieved by using passive cooling systems. These two complementary approaches provide helpful information dealing with the feasibility of a passive cooling technique based on comfort and energy saving criteria. They could be used by architects and building designers as helpful decision making tools during the different stages of building design.

LCA에 있어 영향정량화 인자의 산정과 적용

The purpose of LCA is to quantify resources, energy consumption and environmental loads for environmental improvement and to pursuit finally the sustainable development and balance of ecosystem. Because strategies for envrionmental protection are different from each country depending on the environmental situation, these must be considered in LCA standardization of each country. Theories of impact quantification criteria were examined and the degree of environmetal impact was calculated on the basis of level of each impact category. Impact quantification criteria calculated on the basis of Korea environmental level were different from each criterium calculated by each method and environmental level of each country. High criteria could be obtained in the case of highly polluted region. Therefore, if impact quantification criteria is standardized uniformly regardless of environmental level of each country, it could be underestimated for improving properly the regional environment. Children diaper was analyzed as a case study for LCA and environmental loads were unified to make enviroment load index using impact quantification criteria on the basis of environmental level of Korea.

Semi‐quantitative assessment of wing feather mite (Acarina) infestations on passerine birds from Portugal. Evaluation of the criteria for accurate quantification of mite burdens

AbstractWing feather mite burdens on seven species of passerine birds (Carduelis carduelis– goldfinch;C. chloris– greenfinch;Serinus serinus– serin;Sylvia atricapilla– blackcap;Sylvia melanocephala– Sardinian warbler;Turdus merula– blackbird;Passer domesticus– house sparrow) from Portugal were assessed by the subjective semi‐quantitative scoring system of Behnkeet al. (1995) in order to evaluate more fully the accuracy and reliability of the technique. Our analysis indicated that in all species, scores allocated to flight feathers showed a significant positive relationship with mite counts as assessed through microscopical examination of the same feathers. However, there were differences between species of birds. Of the species examined, goldfinches and greenfinches showed the weakest relationships between assigned mite scores and actual mite numbers indicating that the technique was less accurate when applied to these species compared with the remaining five. No evidence was found that anything more was to be gained from scoring both wings, rather than just one. Feather mites (Proctophyllodesspp.,Trouessartia incisa) were also detected on tail feathers, but the assessment of these feathers presented additional problems and it was concluded that in the interests of minimizing handling time of birds, tail scores had little more to offer. We conclude that scoring all the flight feathers (including all primary, secondary, and tertiary feathers) on one entire wing, but alternating between left and right wings of birds within a species, represents an acceptable compromise between sufficiently detailed examination and minimization of bird handling time in the field.

Semi-quantitative assessment of wing feather mite (Acarina) infestations on passerine birds from Portugal. Evaluation of the criteria for accurate quantification of mite burdens

Wing feather mite burdens on seven species of passerine birds (Carduelis carduelis– goldfinch; C. chloris– greenfinch; Serinus serinus– serin; Sylvia atricapilla– blackcap; Sylvia melanocephala– Sardinian warbler; Turdus merula– blackbird; Passer domesticus– house sparrow) from Portugal were assessed by the subjective semi-quantitative scoring system of Behnke et al. (1995) in order to evaluate more fully the accuracy and reliability of the technique. Our analysis indicated that in all species, scores allocated to flight feathers showed a significant positive relationship with mite counts as assessed through microscopical examination of the same feathers. However, there were differences between species of birds. Of the species examined, goldfinches and greenfinches showed the weakest relationships between assigned mite scores and actual mite numbers indicating that the technique was less accurate when applied to these species compared with the remaining five. No evidence was found that anything more was to be gained from scoring both wings, rather than just one. Feather mites (Proctophyllodes spp., Trouessartia incisa) were also detected on tail feathers, but the assessment of these feathers presented additional problems and it was concluded that in the interests of minimizing handling time of birds, tail scores had little more to offer. We conclude that scoring all the flight feathers (including all primary, secondary, and tertiary feathers) on one entire wing, but alternating between left and right wings of birds within a species, represents an acceptable compromise between sufficiently detailed examination and minimization of bird handling time in the field.

Quantification of topographic structure by scanning probe microscopy

Several mathematical approaches for quantifying the three-dimensional topographical structure from scanning probe microscopy images are evaluated. Variational, i.e., scale-dependent, roughness based on root-mean-square roughness, Fourier deconvolution, and the two-dimensional autocovariance function are compared for surfaces with widely varying character in order to develop criteria for accurate quantification. Thermally evaporated gold, a calibration grid, polycrystalline Si3N4, and silicon fracture surfaces serve as models for these techniques. The role of image artifacts on each approach is detailed.

β-amyloid deposition and other measures of neuropathology predict cognitive status in Alzheimer's disease

The relationship between progressive cognitive decline and underlying neuropathology associated with Alzheimer s disease (AD) is a key issue in defining the mechanisms responsible for functional loss. This has been a subject of much controversy, with separate studies comparing various clinical and neuropathological indices in AD. Further, it is difficult to compare studies with differences in histochemical staining protocols, brain regions examined, and data quantification criteria. There are many difficulties in designing a clinical-pathological correlative study involving AD patients. It is necessary to control for several key parameters. For example, a broad range of cognitively impaired subjects is needed, as well as short postmortem delays, brief intervals between cognitive testing and death, and the most sensitive detection and quantification techniques. In this study, we carefully controlled for each of these parameters to determine if there is a relationship between global cognitive dysfunction and multiple neuropathological indices. We selected 20 individuals representing a broad range of cognitive ability from normal to severely impaired based on the MMSE, Blessed IMC, and CDR. We counted plaque number, NFT number, dystrophic neurite number, and the relative extent of thioflavine positive plaques and neuritic involvement within plaques. We also quantified cortical area occupied by β-amyloid immunoreactivity ( Aβ Load) and PHF-1 positive neuropil threads and tangles ( PHF Load) using computer-based image analysis. Interestingly, we found that most pathologic measures correlated highly with the severity of dementia. However, the strongest predictor of premortem cognitive dysfun of entorhinal cortex occupied by β-amyloid deposition. In conclusion, our data show that in a carefully controlled correlative study, a variety of neuropathological variables are strongly correlated with cognitive impairment. Plaque related variables may be as strongly related to cognitive dysfunction as other established measures, including synapse loss, cell death and tau hyperphosphorylation, although no correlative study can demonstrate causality.

Quality criteria for the isotope dilution method with HRGC/MS.

The isotope dilution method is characterized by the use of appropiately labelled standard compounds in conjunction with mass spectrometry coupled to chromatographic systems. Although the isotope dilution method seems to be a simple procedure, some quality criteria for sample preparation, measurement and quantification have to be considered. Furthermore, archiving and documentation of analysis data as well as the use of reference materials to validate the analysis method are important with regard to European standard regulations for quality assurance. In view of this background and the increasing application tendency to environmental problems, essential quality critera for the isotope dilution method are presented and discussed, with special respect to sample extraction, separation performance and sensitivity. Also the quantification procedures are summarized.

Evaluation of Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry for Environmental Protection Agency Method 8270 (Semivolatiles in Solid Wastes)

A capillary gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometric (GC/ITMS) method was investigated for the analysis of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in water, solid, and mixed waste samples. The approach was evaluated by comparing the results obtained by GC/ITMS analysis with those obtained using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) method (SW-846 Method 8270) as a benchmark. Results for the analysis of over 70 SVOCs in various sample matrices showed good agreement with, and met all, EPA Method 8270 quantification criteria. Data obtained from method validation studies demonstrated the ability to quantitate accurately target compounds in extracts that were ⩾100 times more dilute than those analyzed by standard EPA technology. The ability to detect surrogates, matrix spike compounds, and analytes in oily radioactive mixed waste sample extracts, five times more dilute than those analyzed by the standard EPA method, was shown.

RELIGION AND CULTURAL EVOLUTION

Abstract. The end of the twentieth century marks the slow disintegration of both the Marxist and capitalist socioeconomic theories, inasmuch as both have proven inadequate to meet basic issues of human existence. Their inadequacy rests on the tendency to use the criteria of extrinsic rewards, quantification, production, and consumption to evaluate human personhood and human activity. What is needed is a third alternative to these two systems, one that is based on intrinsic rewards and cultivates internal values rather than production, consumption, and quantification. Religious communities have traditionally been such an alternative and seem to represent an ordered nucleus of information that can counter the inadequacies of Marxism and capitalism. To carry out this function, religions must (1) minimize the trivial differences that set belief systems against one another; (2) support bimodal cultural evolution that allows the old and the new to coexist; and (3) discover the unifying factors that cut across human groups.

What Is a Neonatal Seizure? Problems in Definition and Quantification for Investigative and Clinical Purposes

Despite the clinical and basic scientific importance of neonatal seizures, a standard operational definition of them is lacking. Virtually all quantitative studies of phenomenology, prevalence, treatment efficacy, and prognosis have been undermined by inadequate or inconsistent criteria for the object of investigation. This is not so much a fault of the studies, however, as a consequence of the very nature of neonatal seizures themselves, which seem to defy universally applicable definitions and criteria for quantification. The main obstacles to formulating such definitions are reviewed, and directions for further research are suggested.

Intelligence Requirements for the 1990s

In April 1979, a group of American social scientists set up a Consor tium for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) to venture into an area traditionally off limits to academics?the world of spying, referred to in polite circles as intelligence. As befits academics, the members of the CSI were moti vated by the desire to develop a theory of intelligence, which, in the best traditions of social science, would analyze the process itself and endeavor to devise methods of measuring its efficiency. Having thus attempted to satisfy the academic criteria of analysis and quantification, the CSI was to encourage teaching and research in this new field. Last, but by no means least, the group was concerned to study the conflict existing between intelligence, as an instrument of the modern nation-state and the demo cratic and constitutional values of American society. Proceeding from these laudable objectives, the CSI then held a series of conferences involv ing not only academics, but a number of persons associated with the activity itself in its various manifestations, holders of government offices, and potentially critical commentators in the form of leading journalists. From these deliberations emerged a series of books under the general title Intelligence Requirements for the 1980ys. Earlier specific titles, which indi cate the topic covered, were Elements of Intelligence, Analysis and Estimates, Counterintelligence, and Covert Action. The volume here reviewed, Clandestine Collection, is the fifth in this series. Following a pithy Preface by Frank R. Barnett, president of the National Strategy Information Center, Clandestine Collection opens with an intro duction to the theme by Roy Godson, general editor for the series, coordi nator for the CSI, and associate professor of government, Georgetown University, Washington. Having enunciated that Clandestine Collection

The postnatal ontogeny of rat uterine glands and age-related effects of 17 beta-estradiol.

In the uterus of the newborn rat, only the luminal epithelium is differentiated. Differentiation of musculature and glandular epithelium occurs postnatally, the latter originating as invaginations of the luminal epithelium into the stroma. Using unambiguous criteria for quantification of uterine glands, we find that uterine glands first appear on postnatal day 9 after which the increase in the number of glands is rapid and synchronous, with approximately 4.4 glands per uterine section reached by day 15. Between days 15 and 35, the number of glands per uterine section varied in a cyclic manner with an amplitude of approximately one gland per uterine section and a period of 6-7 days. Although exogenous 17 beta-estradiol (E2) administered on postnatal days 1-5 induced slight premature gland genesis, the number of glands per uterine section was approximately 30% lower between days 15-26 compared to untreated animals. Administration of E2 during the period of normal gland genesis (days 10-14) induced a dose-related delay in the onset of appearance of glands. After this, gland genesis proceeded at a normal rate; however, the maximum levels reached were again generally below those observed in untreated controls. E2 administered after uterine glands were established (days 20-24) induced a small increase in gland number compared to controls. E2 also induced temporary hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and cellular degeneration in the luminal epithelium during each of the dosing periods without corresponding changes in the stroma or myometrium. These data demonstrate that uterine gland genesis occurs between postnatal days 9-15 and that exogenous estrogen can alter, in an age-specific manner, both uterine gland genesis and the number of glands per uterine section.

Immunoreactive Prolactin in Subcellular Fractions from Bovine Mammary Tissue

Mammary tissue from lactaring Holsteins at slaughter was homogenized and fractionated into subcellular compartments. Bovine prolactin was quantified in each subcellular fraction and in pre-slaughter milk by radioimmunoassay procedures validated for this purpose. Prolactin concentrations were ng prolactin/mg protein for all samples. Immuno-reactive prolactin was in rough endoplasmic reticulum (24.8 ng/mg), Golgi apparatus (18.8 ng/mg), and secretory vesicle (10.2 ng/mg). All of these concentrations exceeded that in samples of milk (2.7 ng/mg). Nuclear fractions contained a material that reacted in the prolactin radioimmunoassay, but criteria for valid quantification could not be satisfied. These results confirm prolactin inside bovine mammary cells, and they are consistent with an intracellular pathway for transfer of prolactin from plasma into milk.