Two-group Test Research Articles

Effectiveness of the Combination of Cat Stretching With Green Tea on Pain Intensity of Primary Dysmenorrhea

Dysmenorrhea is lower abdominal pain during menstruation which is usually accompanied by sweating, headaches, diarrhea, and vomiting. It can be treated non-pharmacologically, namely by stretching with green tea. The results of a preliminary study conducted on students at Hang Tuah University Pekanbaru were that they did not know that yoga (cat stretching) with herbal products (green tea) could reduce dysmenorrhoea. This research aimed to determine the effectiveness of the combination of stretching paint with green tea on the intensity of dysmenorrhea in midwifery undergraduate students at Hang Tuah University Pekanbaru in 2024. This research used a two-group test post-test design and was quasi-experimental. The sample population of 298 female students in this study used purposive sampling taking into account the inclusion criteria with a sample size of 40 respondents divided into 2 groups, 20 for the experimental group, 20 for the control group, and data collection via questionnaire links and questionnaire sheets. Wilcoxon Test and Mann-Whitney Test analysis methods. The results of the Wilcoxon test showed that there was an effect of giving a combination of stretching paint and green tea on the intensity of dysmenorrhoea pain (p-value=0.000). The Mann-Whitney test showed that there was a difference in the intensity of dysmenorrhoea pain in the two groups (p-Value=0.000). It is hoped that future research can use samples that are not small or have more than 40 respondents.

Perception and Evaluation of Text from an Interview with a Real Person and an Interview with an Artificial Intelligence

The article presents a study of perception, understanding and evaluation of two interviews, the first one is performed with a real person (from an expert source), and the second is generated by the ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI). The study covers 84 participants between the ages of 20 and 23, students in “Psychology”, “Bulgarian Philology”, “Slavic Philology”, and “Russian Philology” from the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. The research design is of the “between-group” type (in this case, two-group). The first experimental group consisted of 40 subjects evaluates the interview with a real celebrity. The second experimental group consisted of 44 subjects evaluates the interview taken by an artificial intelligence. Both interviews consisted of ten identical questions and ten corresponding answers. Each of the ten answers is evaluated by the participants using a Likert Scale composed of 5-point score scales, each of which is “continuous” with 11 possible answer positions (from “0” to “10”), as follows: [1] inadequate / fully adequate; [2] non-specific (general) / completely specific; [3] non-exhaustive / fully exhaustive; [4] questionable / completely realistic; and [5] unsatisfactory / 10-completely satisfactory. A statistical analysis was made by a two-group test (Two Sample T-Test Unequal Variance). It was established that: consolidated answers (series of maximum ratings) when working with the “artificial” interview; in two of the ten questions asked, a statistically significant difference was observed in favor of the artificial text; in one of the questions, a statistically significant difference is observed in favor of the real interview; no difference in emotional impact and interest in summary assessment of the both pieces of text.

Comparative Analysis of the Components of a Child's Gait Pattern with Flat Foot Disorder

Flat foot is a condition that generally occurs in children. Flat-foot is a condition where the entire foot is on the ground. The condition of a flat foot often does not show symptoms because in pre-school children, this condition remains a physiological condition. However, this condition will become pathological if it continues with age. The gait pattern is a structured movement carried out by a person to move and have a step distance, speed, and footprints. This study aimed to determine the gait pattern of normal-foot children and flat-foot children between the ages of 4-6 years at PAUD Sahabat Ananda Dau. The method used is a case-control two-group test on 23 children who have met the inclusion and exclusion criteria at PAUD Sahabat Ananda Dau in March 2022. Measurements of the wet footprint test, Clarke‘s angle, and gait parameters were out after obtaining approval from the respondents. \ It was found that respondents with flat-foot were 57%. Based on the T2 Sample Independent Test, the results obtained on stride was p=0.263, step right was p=0.235, step left was p=0.69, cadence p=0.7, and speed p=0.311(p<0,05). It was discovered that there is no difference in gait pattern in normal foot and flat foot children aged 4-6 years at PAUD Sahabat Ananda Dau.
 Keywords: normal arch, flat foot, Gait pattern, Gait parameter, preschool children

脳<sup>18</sup>F-FDG PETにおけるCT画像を用いた部分容積効果補正の検討

We performed partial volume effect correction of PET images using 18F-FDG-PET and CT images taken consecutively, compared it with correction using MRI images, and investigated the usefulness of correction using CT images. A total of 9 clinically normal subjects were included in the study, and the CT and MRI images of each subject were segmented and normalized. PET images were coregistered to each morphological image and then normalized. The normalized morphological images of each subject were used to mask the brain atlas and to correct for the partial volume effect. For each brain region, comparison of counts, two-group test between CT- and MRI-corrected groups, and correlation analysis were performed. As a result of correction, some error was observed between the two groups. Correlation analysis showed strong positive correlations in many areas, but weak correlations were found in some areas. In the region where significant differences were found, the two groups showed strong positive correlation, and in the region where weak correlation was found, the error tended to be small. It is suggested that the correction by CT can be performed with the same accuracy, although some errors are generated compared with MRI.

Electroencephalographic dynamics of etomidate\u2010induced loss of consciousness

BackgroundHighly structured electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations can occur in adults during etomidate-induced general anesthesia, but the link between these two phenomena is poorly understood. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the electroencephalogram dynamics of etomidate-induced loss of consciousness (LOC) in order to understand the neurological mechanism of etomidate-induced LOC.MethodsThis study is a prospective observational study. Etomidate-induced anesthesia was performed on eligible patients undergoing elective surgery. We analyzed EEG data from 20 patients who received etomidate for the induction of general anesthesia. We used power spectra and coherence methods to process and analyze the EEG data. Our study was based on 4-channel EEG recordings.ResultsCompared with the baseline (awake period), etomidate induced an increase in power in delta, theta, alpha and beta waves during LOC. Compared with the awake period, the delta-wave (1–4 Hz), alpha-wave(8–13 Hz), and theta-wave(4–8 Hz) coherence increased significantly during LOC, while the slow-wave (< 1 Hz) coherence decreased. However, the delta wave (1.0–4.0 Hz) during etomidate-induced LOC was more coherent than during the awake period (1.86–3.17 Hz, two-group test for coherence, p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe neural circuit mechanism of etomidate-induced LOC is closely related to the induction of oscillation in delta, theta, alpha and beta waves and the enhancement of delta-wave coherence.Trial registrationChiCTR1800017110

A statistical test for detecting discordance in rankings between k groups

ABSTRACTIn several research areas such as psychology, social science, and medicine, studies are conducted in which objects should be ranked by different judges/raters and the concordance of the different rankings is then analyzed. In such studies, it is also frequently of interest to compare the rankings between different groups of judges, e.g. female vs. male judges or judges from different professions. In the two-group case, the two-group concordance test of Schucany & Frawley can be employed for such a comparison. In this article, we propose an extension of this test enabling the comparison of rankings from more than two groups of judges. This test aims to detect disagreement in the average rankings of the objects between k groups with an at least moderate intra-group concordance. We evaluate this test in an extensive simulation study and in an application to data from an aesthetics study. This simulation study shows that the proposed test is able to detect differences between average rankings and performs well even in situations in which the disagreement is comparably small or the intra-group concordance is inhomogeneous.

F91. Early quantitative EEG reactivity predicts 6-month outcome in hypoxic ischemic brain injury

Early EEG background reactivity is a strong predictor of neurological recovery after hypoxic-ischemic brain injury despite hypothermia and sedation. Unfortunately, expert interrater-agreement on visual scoring of EEG background reactivity ranges from 24% to 50%. Recent studies indicate that machine-learning approaches using quantitative EEG (QEEG) might yield equivalent or superior performance to current EEG reactivity assessment practices, however its ability to predict outcomes has not been tested. We hypothesized that a QEEG reactivity method can predict long-term functional outcome in hypoxic ischemic brain injury. We retrospectively reviewed clinical and EEG data of cardiac arrest patients managed with hypothermia at two university hospitals. EEG reactivity was tested daily using a structured exam consisting of auditory, tactile, and visual stimulation. Our quantitative EEG method evaluated changes in EEG spectra, entropy, and frequency features during 30 s before and after each stimulation-step (30 QEEG features used). Only the first EEG reactivity assessment for each subject was used in the final analysis. Good outcome was defined as Cerebral Performance Category of 1–2 at six months. A penalized multinomial logistic regression was utilized for feature selection and a random-forest classifier was employed in the training and validation sets. Model performance evaluation metric was the area under the curve. Outcome and EEG data was available for a total 77 subjects, and 30 cases were excluded due to presence of burst-suppression, periodic epileptiform discharges, or EEG artifact. Forty-seven subjects were included in the final analysis. Mean age was 57.8 (standard deviation 17.9) years and 29.8% had good outcome. The combination of four features provided best outcome prediction performance with an AUC of 0.87 (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, skewness, Two-group test, and Renyi entropy). Early QEEG reactivity is predictive of good outcome at six months. A quantitative approach to EEG reactivity analysis might facilitate accurate and individualized prognostication in hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.

Pcr: an R package for quality assessment, analysis and testing of qPCR data.

BackgroundReal-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) is a broadly used technique in the biomedical research. Currently, few different analysis models are used to determine the quality of data and to quantify the mRNA level across the experimental conditions.MethodsWe developed an R package to implement methods for quality assessment, analysis and testing qPCR data for statistical significance. Double Delta CT and standard curve models were implemented to quantify the relative expression of target genes from CT in standard qPCR control-group experiments. In addition, calculation of amplification efficiency and curves from serial dilution qPCR experiments are used to assess the quality of the data. Finally, two-group testing and linear models were used to test for significance of the difference in expression control groups and conditions of interest.ResultsUsing two datasets from qPCR experiments, we applied different quality assessment, analysis and statistical testing in the pcr package and compared the results to the original published articles. The final relative expression values from the different models, as well as the intermediary outputs, were checked against the expected results in the original papers and were found to be accurate and reliable.ConclusionThe pcr package provides an intuitive and unified interface for its main functions to allow biologist to perform all necessary steps of qPCR analysis and produce graphs in a uniform way.

MetaComp: comprehensive analysis software for comparative meta-omics including comparative metagenomics

BackgroundDuring the past decade, the development of high throughput nucleic sequencing and mass spectrometry analysis techniques have enabled the characterization of microbial communities through metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics data. To reveal the diversity of microbial communities and interactions between living conditions and microbes, it is necessary to introduce comparative analysis based upon integration of all four types of data mentioned above. Comparative meta-omics, especially comparative metageomics, has been established as a routine process to highlight the significant differences in taxon composition and functional gene abundance among microbiota samples. Meanwhile, biologists are increasingly concerning about the correlations between meta-omics features and environmental factors, which may further decipher the adaptation strategy of a microbial community.ResultsWe developed a graphical comprehensive analysis software named MetaComp comprising a series of statistical analysis approaches with visualized results for metagenomics and other meta-omics data comparison. This software is capable to read files generated by a variety of upstream programs. After data loading, analyses such as multivariate statistics, hypothesis testing of two-sample, multi-sample as well as two-group sample and a novel function—regression analysis of environmental factors are offered. Here, regression analysis regards meta-omic features as independent variable and environmental factors as dependent variables. Moreover, MetaComp is capable to automatically choose an appropriate two-group sample test based upon the traits of input abundance profiles. We further evaluate the performance of its choice, and exhibit applications for metagenomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics samples.ConclusionMetaComp, an integrative software capable for applying to all meta-omics data, originally distills the influence of living environment on microbial community by regression analysis. Moreover, since the automatically chosen two-group sample test is verified to be outperformed, MetaComp is friendly to users without adequate statistical training. These improvements are aiming to overcome the new challenges under big data era for all meta-omics data. MetaComp is available at: http://cqb.pku.edu.cn/ZhuLab/MetaComp/and https://github.com/pzhaipku/MetaComp/.

Rheumatologists’ beliefs about medication barely differ from patients’ medication beliefs

Rationale, aims and objectivesStudies suggest that both healthcare providers’ and patients’ beliefs about medication influence medication adherence. This study aims to describe and compare rheumatologists’ and patients’ beliefs about medication. MethodData were collected in a specialized rheumatology clinic in the Netherlands. An adapted version of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) was used to measure beliefs about medication in rheumatologists. (Dichotomized) scores on the BMQ of rheumatologists were compared to RA patients’ scores on the BMQ, using t-tests and two-group tests of proportions with 95% confidence intervals. ResultsTwenty-seven (96% of the eligible) rheumatologists (mean age 42 years, 63% female) and 580 (71% of the eligible) RA patients (mean age 63 years, 68% female) were included. Generally, beliefs about medication did not differ between rheumatologists and patients. Both groups strongly perceived the need to take prescribed medication, but also had significant concerns about the long-term effects of the medication (63% of rheumatologists and 68% of patients expressed concerns). Some differences in beliefs were also present: Fewer rheumatologists worried about the fact that patients have to take medicines (15% versus 44%, respectively) and about the possibility that patients become too dependent on the medicines (15% versus 30%, respectively). ConclusionsThis study indicates that, generally, rheumatologists’ beliefs about medication barely differ from those of patients. However, in some respects, patients do have stronger concerns about medication than rheumatologists. Future research should focus on the interplay between rheumatologists’ and patients’ beliefs about medication and its impact on medication adherence.

The Impact of Time of Admission on the Delivery of Care and Outcomes in High Risk Patients with Acute Leukemia

BACKGROUNDAt a large academic teaching hospital, there are a variety of physicians and midlevel providers at the point of initial contact, and the extent of supervision of specifically trained oncology personnel may vary based on time of admission. Patients with acute leukemia may present with high risk disease processes that must be recognized and require prompt intervention to reduce both morbidity and short-term mortality. This is a retrospective review of the delivery of care at admission and key clinical outcomes for high risk patients presenting with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) based on time of admission. The hypothesis of this study was that high risk patients with AML or ALL admitted overnight may have significant delays in management of the complications of acute leukemia with subsequent increases in morbidity and short-term mortality. METHODSAn institutional electronic database was queried to identify patients with ICD9 codes specific for AML/ALL. Inclusion criteria consisted of adults >18 years admitted to a single institution from 2010-2013. Key clinical data were then abstracted from the electronic medical records including lab values, time of admission (Daytime: 7am-8pm vs Nightime: 8pm-7am), and specific clinically important outcomes (time to specific therapy, time to chemotherapy, length of stay, ICU length of stay, organ failure, and mortality). Patients were categorized as high risk if they met established criteria requiring specific intervention [hyperleukocytosis defined as WBC >50 10^9/L, hyperuricemia defined as uric acid >8 mg/dL, and clinical suspicion for acute promyleocytic leukemia (APL)]. Variables with binary outcomes were tested for association with overnight admission using Fisher's exact test. All other variables were tested using the Wilcoxon two-group test. RESULTSBetween 2010 and 2013, 161 patients with AML/ALL were included in our analysis. Of those, 66 were classified as high risk (Table 1). In the high risk patients there were no significant differences in time to intervention based on time of admission including patients presenting with hyperleukocytosis and time to hydroxyurea administration (p=.32), patients presenting with hyperuricemia and time to allopurinol administration (p=.71) or rasburicase administration (p=.22), and in time to tretinoin (ATRA) administration in patients presenting with APL (p=.23). Time to definitive chemotherapy was significantly less for high risk patients admitted overnight (overnight median=48 hours, day median=56 hours, p=.042). However, rates of mechanical ventilation (p=.09), vasopressor usage (p=.37), and renal failure (p=.43) appeared similar between the groups. Additionally, length of stay (p=.83) and ICU length of stay (p=.44) was not significantly different for the two groups. 30-day mortality did not statistically differ between the two groups (overnight=19.4%, daytime=20%, p=.57). CONCLUSIONSThis is the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the time of admission of acute leukemia patients at an academic tertiary cancer hospital, to our knowledge. Interestingly, nighttime admissions did not appear to significantly impact time to key clinical interventions or clinical outcomes in high risk patients admitted with acute leukemia. Although time to definitive chemotherapy was found to be significantly less in patients admitted overnight, confounding variables such as severity of illness at the time of admission may have impacted this analysis, and 30-day mortality rates were similar. Overall, this data supports the triage of patients with newly diagnosed or suspected acute leukemia to tertiary care centers as soon as possible.Table 1Baseline Characteristics of High Risk PatientsAge at DiagnosisNumber%<503147.050-642436.365+1116.7SexMale3857.6DiagnosisNumber%AML (Excluding APL)3756.1APL1827.2ALL1116.7High Risk FeaturesHyperleukocytosis4263.6Hyperuricemia2030.3APL1827.2>1 High Risk Feature66100.0Initial Point of ContactNumber%Referring Hospital4568.2Admission TimeNumber%Day Shift (7a-8p)3045.5Night Shift (8p-7a)3654.5Admission LocationNumber%Oncology Inpatient Service5380.3Internal Medicine Inpatient Service23.0Medical ICU1116.7 DisclosuresFoster:Celgene: Research Funding.

Bird use of solar photovoltaic installations at US airports: Implications for aviation safety

Several airports in the US have recently installed large photovoltaic (PV) arrays near air-operations areas to offset energy demands, and the US Federal Aviation Administration has published guidelines for new solar installations on airport properties. Although an increased reliance on solar energy will likely benefit airports from environmental and economic perspectives, bird use of solar installations should be examined before wide-scale implementation to determine whether such changes in land use adversely affect aviation safety by increasing risk of bird-aircraft collisions. We studied bird use of five pairs of PV arrays and nearby airport grasslands in Arizona, Colorado, and Ohio, over one year. Across locations, we observed 46 species of birds in airfield grasslands compared to 37 species in PV arrays. We calculated a bird hazard index (BHI) based on the mean seasonal mass of birds per area surveyed. General linear model analysis indicated that BHI was influenced by season, with higher BHI in summer than fall and winter. We found no effect of treatment (PV arrays vs. airfields), location, or interactions among predictors. However, using a nonparametric two-group test across all seasons and locations, we found greater BHI in airfield grasslands than PV arrays for those species considered especially hazardous to aircraft (species≥1.125kg). Our results suggest that converting airport grasslands to PV arrays would not increase hazards associated with bird-aircraft collisions.

Maintaining the exchangeability assumption for a two-group permutation test in the non-randomized setting

In this note, we develop a new two-group bootstrap-permutation test that utilizes the tail-extrapolated quantile function estimator for the bootstrap component. This test is an extension of the standard two-group permutation test, that through its construction is defined to meet the exchangeability assumption, and thus it guarantees that the type I error is appropriately bounded by definition. This methodology is particularly useful in the non-randomized two-group setting for which the exchangeability assumption for the traditional two-group permutation test is untestable. We develop some theoretical results for the new test, followed by a simulation study and an example.

What Hypotheses do “Nonparametric” Two-Group Tests Actually Test?

In this article, I discuss measures of effect size for two-group comparisons where data are not appropriately analyzed by least-squares methods. The Mann–Whitney test calculates a statistic that is a very useful measure of effect size, particularly suited to situations in which differences are measured on scales that either are ordinal or use arbitrary scale units. Both the difference in medians and the median difference between groups are also useful measures of effect size.

Effects of Koryo Hand Therapy on Serum Hormones and Menopausal Symptoms in Korean Women

Although previous studies have shown the effectiveness of Koryo hand therapy (KHT) in alleviating menopausal symptoms in middle-aged women, few studies have examined physiological data to evaluate the effect of KHT on menopausal symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of KHT on biological markers such as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E(2)), and self-reported symptoms. A two-group pre-post test design was used in the study. Data were collected from October 18 to December 25, 2006. The participants were 23 people in the experimental group and 21 people in the control group. The experimental group received KHT three times per week for a total of 8 weeks. Findings show that the levels of FSH and LH were significantly different in both groups, but levels of E(2) were statistically insignificant. The data support the hypothesis that KHT may have a role in reducing menopausal symptoms in the experimental group. KHT is effective in alleviating certain menopausal symptoms and affects the serum level of FSH and LH as shown by physiological evidence and participants' self-reported symptoms. Further studies are necessary to examine the effects of KHT through more objective data.

Optimum sample size allocation to minimize cost or maximize power for the two‐sample trimmed mean test

When planning a study, sample size determination is one of the most important tasks facing the researcher. The size will depend on the purpose of the study, the cost limitations, and the nature of the data. By specifying the standard deviation ratio and/or the sample size ratio, the present study considers the problem of heterogeneous variances and non-normality for Yuen's two-group test and develops sample size formulas to minimize the total cost or maximize the power of the test. For a given power, the sample size allocation ratio can be manipulated so that the proposed formulas can minimize the total cost, the total sample size, or the sum of total sample size and total cost. On the other hand, for a given total cost, the optimum sample size allocation ratio can maximize the statistical power of the test. After the sample size is determined, the present simulation applies Yuen's test to the sample generated, and then the procedure is validated in terms of Type I errors and power. Simulation results show that the proposed formulas can control Type I errors and achieve the desired power under the various conditions specified. Finally, the implications for determining sample sizes in experimental studies and future research are discussed.

Chemoanticoagulation versus chemotherapy in advanced pancreatic cancer (APC): Results of the interim analysis of the FRAGEM trial

4583 Background: Randomised phase III studies in APC, reveal that many patients (pts) (∼20–25%) die within 3 months from randomisation [(Early Death Burden) (EDB)]. More compared to studies done in other cancers despite pts entered on similar ‘global’ clinical criteria (e.g. 7% in colorectal cancer). We hypothesised that EDB in APC is related to hyper-coagulability. Prevention of veno-thromboembolism (VTE) may result in reduction of EDB. To test this we initiated the randomised phase IIb FRAGEM study. Methods: Upon written informed consent pts with inoperable APC, are eligible for the study (MREC N° 07/02/129, UKCRN 1290). Concurrent VTE or anticoagulant therapy are exclusion criteria. Standard arm pts (arm A) receive gemcitabine 1gr/m2 weekly (Burris schedule). Arm B also receives daily dalteparin injections for 12 weeks at therapeutic dose (CLOT schedule). Primary end point is the reduction of VTE, secondary endpoint the reduction of EDB. To detect a reduction of VTE from around 25% to 5% (odds ratio of 0.158), using a two-group chi-squared test with a two-sided 5% significance level and 80% power, a minimum of 59 pts per treatment group are required. Interim analysis was planned after the first 25 pts entered into arm B to exclude toxicity from dalteparin’s therapeutic, given prophylactically, dose. These results are presented here. Results: 26 pts (50% male, 61% with metastases) in arm A and 25 pts (60% male, 44% with metastases) in arm B have been treated so far. The incidence of VTE in arm A was 31% with 3 pts developing leg deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with pulmonary embolism (PE), 2pts DVT, 1 pt splanchnic vein thrombosis and PE, 1 pt PE without DVT and 1 patient a stroke. No VTE observed in arm B. Haemorrhagic events were 7.5% and 4% in arm A and B respectively. Within the first 12 weeks period 4 pts (15%) in arm A died, 2 from PE (autopsy- confirmed in one ‘sudden death’), 1 from stroke and one from progressive cancer. The VTE related mortality was 37%. In arm B the EDB was 4% as 1 pt died from sepsis. Conclusions: Results of the interim analysis indicate that the dose of dalteparin is safe. They also support our hypothesis that reduction of VTE may result in reduction of the EDB. The trial is on course to achieve its primary endpoint. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

An ‘exact’ two-group median test with an extension to censored data

In this note, we develop an ‘exact’ bootstrap test for comparing medians that is applicable for both censored and uncensored data. It is deemed ‘exact’ in the sense that an analytic solution is available such that no Monte-Carlo methods are necessary. The advantage of our analytic bootstrap hypothesis testing approach, as compared to standard parametric tests or permutation tests (oftentimes denoted randomization tests), is that the nonparametric bootstrap approach is completely nonparametric and asymptotically correct. In addition, we will illustrate that it has good finite sample behavior and is robust to departures from the classic exchangeability assumption that is a key component of permutation testing.

Testing ternary content addressable memories with active neighbourhood pattern-sensitive faults

With shrinking transistor sizes and growing transistor density, testing neighbourhood pattern-sensitive faults (NPSFs) is increasingly important for semiconductor memories. A test methodology for detecting active NPSFs (ANPSFs) and static NPSFs (SNPSFs) in ternary content addressable memories (TCAMs) is presented. March-like and two-group test methods are two commonly used testing techniques for NPSFs in random access memories. Because of the special TCAM cell structure, however, using a unique test algorithm with only either a March-like or a two-group test operations are not time-efficient. A test methodology that employs both March-based and two-group testing to cover 100% ANPSFs and SNPSFs in TCAMs is proposed. The total test complexity of the proposed test methodology is 156 N for an N×K-bit TCAM. No TCAM circuit modification is needed to support the proposed test methodology.

Schneiderian First-Rank Symptoms and Right Parietal Hyperactivation: A Replication Using fMRI

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Letter to the EditorFull AccessSchneiderian First-Rank Symptoms and Right Parietal Hyperactivation: A Replication Using fMRIVENKATASUBRAMANIAN GANESAN, M.B.B.S., M.D., MIKE D. HUNTER, M.B.Ch.B., M.R.C.Psych., and SEAN A. SPENCE, M.D., M.B.B.S., B.Sc., M.R.C.Psych., VENKATASUBRAMANIAN GANESANSearch for more papers by this author, M.B.B.S., M.D., MIKE D. HUNTERSearch for more papers by this author, M.B.Ch.B., M.R.C.Psych., and SEAN A. SPENCESearch for more papers by this author, M.D., M.B.B.S., B.Sc., M.R.C.Psych., Sheffield, U.K.Published Online:1 Aug 2005https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.8.1545AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail To the Editor: Schneiderian first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia may reflect defective “internal monitoring” of intentions and actions by aberrant sensory systems. Previous positron emission tomography (PET) studies have implicated right parietal hyperactivation (Brodmann’s area 40) (1, 2). The latter may arise from a failure of “forward-modeling” so that endogenous sensory data (consequent upon voluntary motor activity) are felt to originate outside the subject (3, 4). Failure to predict the sensory consequences of actions might be associated with failure to attenuate sensory-related neural activity; hence, the parietal hyperactivation observed with PET (1–4).Using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm, permitting subjects to choose the timing of their own movements, we examined the hypothesis that patients experiencing first-rank symptoms exhibit hyperactivation of right Brodmann’s area 40 (compared to patients without first-rank symptoms). Also, consistent with the “forward-modeling” hypothesis, we predicted that aberrant right Brodmann’s area 40 activation would follow that of the primary motor cortex (Brodmann’s area 4).Functional imaging data were acquired on a 1.5-T system in 13 right-handed, male schizophrenia (DSM-IV) patients, each studied twice, with written informed consent and ethics committee approval. Patients with first-rank symptoms (N=7) (age: mean=36 years, SD=11; illness duration: mean=15 years, SD=11; premorbid IQ: mean=102.1, SD=9.7; chlorpromazine equivalents: mean=507.1 mg/day, SD=255.7; extrapyramidal symptom score: mean=5.6, SD=10.5) were comparable with those without first-rank symptoms (N=6) (independent-sample t test, df=11, p>0.05 on all measures). The patients performed spontaneous, freely timed movements using their right index finger in an event-related fMRI paradigm (5). Images were analyzed by using a random-effects model in statistical parametric mapping. The validity of the parametric results was examined with nonparametric permutation tests. We examined the response latency in left Brodmann’s area 4 and right Brodmann’s area 40 by using time to half-maximum blood-oxygen-level-dependent response as a measure of latency (5).Statistical parametric mapping analysis revealed that patients with first-rank symptoms had significant hyperactivation of right Brodmann’s area 40 (Talairach coordinates=57, –29, 36) (t=4.7, df=24, uncorrected p<0.0001, two-sample t test; family-wise error corrected: p<0.02 [volume-of-interest right Brodmann’s area 40]) relative to patients without first-rank symptoms. A two-group test (5,000 permutations) in statistical parametric mapping supported the validity of this finding (t=4.7, df=24, p=0.0002). Mean time to half-maximum response was 177 msec later in right Brodmann’s area 40 than left Brodmann’s area 4.To our knowledge, this is the first fMRI study replicating previous PET findings with regard to first-rank symptoms (1, 2). Of importance, the observations derive from an ecologically valid spontaneous movement paradigm (approximating “truly” spontaneous behavior, as might occur outside the scanner [5]). The observation that parietal cortex activation occurs later than that of motor cortex supports the “forward-modeling” hypothesis.