Sensitivity Of Different Methods Research Articles

An Overview of Evolutionary Algorithms in Multiobjective Optimization

The application of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) in multiobjective optimization is currently receiving growing interest from researchers with various backgrounds. Most research in this area has understandably concentrated on the selection stage of EAs, due to the need to integrate vectorial performance measures with the inherently scalar way in which EAs reward individual performance, that is, number of offspring. In this review, current multiobjective evolutionary approaches are discussed, ranging from the conventional analytical aggregation of the different objectives into a single function to a number of population-based approaches and the more recent ranking schemes based on the definition of Pareto optimality. The sensitivity of different methods to objective scaling and/or possible concavities in the trade-off surface is considered, and related to the (static) fitness landscapes such methods induce on the search space. From the discussion, directions for future research in multiobjective fitness assignment and search strategies are identified, including the incorporation of decision making in the selection procedure, fitness sharing, and adaptive representations.

Comparative Sensitivity of Different Methods to Detect and Quantify Circulating Fibrinogen/Fibrin Split Products

This study compared the sensitivity of three methods: staphyloccocal clumping test, SCT (Sigma and Calbiochem-Behring, CBC, reagents); Thrombo-Wellcotest (TWT); and Dade degradation products detection set, to quantify fibrinogen/fibrin split products (FSP) in blood samples from 696 patients and 124 normal donors using as the reference value. The Dade method gave quantitative results closely approaching the stated amount of fibrinogen. The SCT using Sigma reagents gave higher fibrinogen values, while the CBC reagents gave markedly lower fibrinogen values. The TWT detected only 25% of the standard. Detection of FSP following plasmin digestion of varied considerably for each test. The TWT, insensitive to most of the native fibrinogen, detected most of the FSP following only 15 minutes of plasmin digestion. In contrast, both assays relying on the SCT were completely negative after 24 hours of plasmin digestion. All four methods yielded FSP titers of less than 10 micrograms/mL in 97 (78.2%) of 124 blood samples from normal donors. The SCT Sigma reagents consistently gave results of less than 10 micrograms/mL in all normal donors. No instance of an FSP value greater than 40 micrograms/mL was noted for the 124 normal donors. Of the 696 patient blood samples tested, the Dade assay gave the highest or equally highest (with respect to another FSP method) value in 604 (87%) cases; the Sigma SCT did so in 360 (52%); the TWT in 316 (45%); and the CBC assay in 184 (26%) cases. The Dade test classified the largest number of blood samples, 328 (47.1%), in the greater than 10 less than 40 micrograms/mL titer category; however, the proportion of cases (32.2%) in which this test yielded values greater than 40 micrograms/mL was about the same as those produced by the Sigma SCT (29.9%) and TWT products (25.8%). Thus, with the exception of the normal (less than 10 micrograms/mL) and the suspicious (10-40 micrograms/mL) range, all three methods (Dade, Sigma, and TWT) are comparable in their abilities to detect abnormal levels of FSP. In the normal range, the Dade method will yield results that are frequently in the suspicious range. The CBC was noticeably inferior in detecting both suspicious and frankly abnormal values of FSP. Eight patients with acute leukemia were monitored sequentially with FSP and fibrinopeptide A (FpA) assays during their first course of chemotherapy. In all instances, elevated FpA levels correlated with elevated FSP values, as determined by the Dade, Sigma, or TWT assays.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

2607. The incidence of lanolin allergy: Epstein, E. (1972). The detection of lanolin allergy. Archs Derm.106, 678

Studies were conducted to compare the sensitivity of different methods of assessing liver damage and to identify enzymes in serum which respond quantitatively to low doses of hepatotoxins. Male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were killed 18 hr after single po doses of thioacetamide (TA), dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) or diethanolamine (DEA). Serum sorbitol dehydrogenase activity increased when 9.4 mg TA/kg or 5.1 mg DMN/kg was given and the activity of 7 other enzymes in serum increased when larger doses were given. Serum concentrations of arginine decreased and ornithine increased when 25.4 mg TA/kg or 13.7 mg DMN/kg was given. When 800 mg/kg of diethanolamine (DEA) was given the serum activity of sorbitol dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, fructose-1-phosphate aldolase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and malic dehydrogenase increased. When the dose was increased to 1600 mg/kg the serum activity of ornithine carbamyl transferase, glutamic dehydrogenase, fructose-1,6-phosphate aldolase and lactic dehydrogenase increased. Serum concentrations of urea increased and arginine decreased when 800 mg DEA/kg was given. Activities of several enzymes were dose-dependent. Minimal morphological changes were seen in liver sections at dosage levels of each compound below those required to produce changes in serum enzyme activity. Sorbitol dehydrogenase was the most sensitive serum parameter studied.

Sensitivity of several serum enzymes for the detection of thioacetamide-, dimethylnitrosamine- and diethanolamine-induced liver damage in rats

Studies were conducted to compare the sensitivity of different methods of assessing liver damage and to identify enzymes in serum which respond quantitatively to low doses of hepatotoxins. Male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were killed 18 hr after single po doses of thioacetamide (TA), dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) or diethanolamine (DEA). Serum sorbitol dehydrogenase activity increased when 9.4 mg TA/kg or 5.1 mg DMN/kg was given and the activity of 7 other enzymes in serum increased when larger doses were given. Serum concentrations of arginine decreased and ornithine increased when 25.4 mg TA/kg or 13.7 mg DMN/kg was given. When 800 mg/kg of diethanolamine (DEA) was given the serum activity of sorbitol dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, fructose-1-phosphate aldolase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and malic dehydrogenase increased. When the dose was increased to 1600 mg/kg the serum activity of ornithine carbamyl transferase, glutamic dehydrogenase, fructose-1,6-phosphate aldolase and lactic dehydrogenase increased. Serum concentrations of urea increased and arginine decreased when 800 mg DEA/kg was given. Activities of several enzymes were dose-dependent. Minimal morphological changes were seen in liver sections at dosage levels of each compound below those required to produce changes in serum enzyme activity. Sorbitol dehydrogenase was the most sensitive serum parameter studied.