Derivation and internal validation of an equation for albumin-adjusted calcium

YesFunding provided by the Open Access Authors Fund

Search for fast particles produced at large lab angles at NAL

An experiment is proposed to look for charged particles emitted at large lab angles that are normally forbidden kinematically. These particles if found would correspond to hitherto unobserved events such as the production of particles with imaginary mass values (''tachyons''). Also, they wish to look for fractionally-charged particles produced at these angles. These particles, if found, would correspond to strongly-bound quark-quark states formed in a dissociation of the target nucleon. The detection system will consist of wire-chambers, dE/dx and time-of-flight counters. The basic hardware is under construction and the final system will be ready for test runs at a lower-energy machine in six months. The detection telescope will view interactions of the primary proton beam from backward (in lab) directions and the first choice experimental site is the straight section B with a thin internal target. They would like to use the highest available beam at NAL and since the beam transport and intensity requirements are very minimal, they will be able to run parasitically during the tuning periods of the NAL machine in the next year. The machine time required for this experiment is about three months

Quality assessment of an interferon-gamma release assay for tuberculosis infection in a resource-limited setting

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>When a test for diagnosis of infectious diseases is introduced in a resource-limited setting, monitoring quality is a major concern. An optimized design of experiment and statistical models are required for this assessment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Interferon-gamma release assay to detect tuberculosis (TB) infection from whole blood was tested in Hanoi, Viet Nam. Balanced incomplete block design (BIBD) was planned and fixed-effect models with heterogeneous error variance were used for analysis. In the first trial, the whole blood from 12 donors was incubated with nil, TB-specific antigens or mitogen. In 72 measurements, two laboratory members exchanged their roles in harvesting plasma and testing for interferon-gamma release using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. After intervention including checkup of all steps and standard operation procedures, the second trial was implemented in a similar manner.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The lack of precision in the first trial was clearly demonstrated. Large within-individual error was significantly affected by both harvester and ELISA operator, indicating that both of the steps had problems. After the intervention, overall within-individual error was significantly reduced (<it>P </it>< 0.0001) and error variance was no longer affected by laboratory personnel in charge, indicating that a marked improvement could be objectively observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>BIBD and analysis of fixed-effect models with heterogeneous variance are suitable and useful for objective and individualized assessment of proficiency in a multistep diagnostic test for infectious diseases in a resource-constrained laboratory. The action plan based on our findings would be worth considering when monitoring for internal quality control is difficult on site.</p