Evaluation of the performance of five diagnostic tests for Fasciola hepatica infection in naturally infected cattle using a Bayesian no gold standard approach

The clinical and economic importance of fasciolosis has been recognised for centuries, yet diagnostic tests available for cattle are far from perfect. Test evaluation has mainly been carried out using gold standard approaches or under experimental settings, the limitations of which are well known. In this study, a Bayesian no gold standard approach was used to estimate the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of five tests for fasciolosis in cattle. These included detailed liver necropsy including gall bladder egg count, faecal egg counting, a commercially available copro-antigen ELISA, an in-house serum excretory/secretory antibody ELISA and routine abattoir liver inspection. In total 619 cattle slaughtered at one of Scotland’s biggest abattoirs were sampled, during three sampling periods spanning summer 2013, winter 2014 and autumn 2014. Test sensitivities and specificities were estimated using an extension of the Hui Walter no gold standard model, where estimates were allowed to vary between seasons if tests were a priori believed to perform differently for any reason. The results of this analysis provide novel information on the performance of these tests in a naturally infected cattle population and at different times of the year where different levels of acute or chronic infection are expected. Accurate estimates of sensitivity and specificity will allow for routine abattoir liver inspection to be used as a tool for monitoring the epidemiology of F. hepatica as well as evaluating herd health planning. Furthermore, the results provide evidence to suggest that the copro-antigen ELISA does not cross-react with Calicophoron daubneyi rumen fluke parasites, while the serum antibody ELISA does

SolarPACES Guideline for Heliostat Performance Testing - Release v1.0

Based on national drafts, a group of R&D and industry experts as members of the SolarPACES task III heliostat working group has been working since 2012 on the creation of a guideline for heliostat performance testing. It contains a well-defined list of parameters to describe heliostats and their performance, as well as a list for deriving these parameters. After applying the draft to several industrial and research heliostats (e.g. [1]) and iterative improvements, version 1.0 of the guideline has been released

Health care costs before and after diagnosis of depression in patients with unexplained pain: a retrospective cohort study using the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database

Catherine Reed,1 Jihyung Hong,2 Diego Novick,1 Alan Lenox-Smith,3 Michael Happich41Global Health Outcomes, Eli Lilly and Company, Windlesham, Surrey, UK; 2Personal Social Services Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK; 3Eli Lilly UK, Basingstoke, UK; 4Eli Lilly and Company, Bad Homburg, GermanyPurpose: To assess the impact of pain severity and time to diagnosis of depression on health care costs for primary care patients with pre-existing unexplained pain symptoms who subsequently received a diagnosis of depression.Patients and methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed 4000 adults with unexplained pain (defined as painful physical symptoms [PPS] without any probable organic cause) and a subsequent diagnosis of depression, identified from the UK General Practice Research Database using diagnostic codes. Patients were categorized into four groups based on pain severity (milder or more severe; based on number of pain-relief medications and use of opioids) and time to diagnosis of depression (≤1 year or >1 year from PPS index date). Annual health care costs were calculated (2009 values) and included general practitioner (GP) consultations, secondary care referrals, and prescriptions for pain-relief medications for the 12 months before depression diagnosis and in the subsequent 2 years. Multivariate models of cost included time period as a main independent variable, and adjusted for age, gender, and comorbidities.Results: Total annual health care costs before and after depression diagnosis for the four patient groups were higher for the groups with more severe pain (£819–£988 versus £565–£628; P < 0.001 for all pairwise comparisons) and highest for the group with more severe pain and longer time to depression diagnosis in the subsequent 2 years (P < 0.05). Total GP costs were highest in the group with more severe pain and longer time to depression diagnosis both before and after depression diagnosis (P < 0.05). In the second year following depression diagnosis, this group also had the highest secondary care referral costs (P < 0.01). The highest drug costs were in the groups with more severe pain (P < 0.001), although costs within each group were similar before and after depression diagnosis.Conclusion: Among patients with unexplained pain symptoms, significant pain in combination with longer time from pain symptoms to depression diagnosis contribute to higher costs for the UK health care system.Keywords: depression, pain, cost, GPRD, U