ROC analysis of CT hemodynamic in the diagnosis of breast cancer

Objective:The aim of this study was evaluate the diagnostic value of computed tomography(CT) perfusion in breast cancer by the method of receiver operator characteristic curve(ROC) analysis.Methods:Eighty-one cases with breast masses found by health examination or mammography were scanned by multi-slice spiral CT(MSCT) perfusion and hemodynamic parameters of blood flow(BF), mean transit time(MTT) and blood volume(BV) were calculated by deconvolution arithmetic.According to the pathologic results, two groups, benign and malignant were classified and statistical analysis were performed between them.The ROC characteristics of BF, MTT, BV were compared for each and the diagnostic value of the hemodynamic parameters were confirmed.Results:In the malignant group, BF was(0.735 ± 0.440) mL/min/mL, MTT was(22.771 ± 7.647) s and BV was 0.234 ± 0.082.In the benign group, BF was(0.466 ± 0.527) mL/min/mL, MTT was(26.712 ± 12.934) s and BV was 0.179 ± 0.117.There was a significant difference for BF and BV between the benign and malignant groups.When the hemodynamic parameters were used to discriminate the breast lesions, the area under the ROC curve(AUCROC) of BF was 0.832 ± 0.086, the maximum, while AUCROC of BV was 0.695 ± 0.092.There was no significant statistical difference between BF and BV.AUCROC of MTT was 0.473 ± 0.102, which was minimal.Since the threshold of BF was 0.381 mL/min/mL, the sensitivity was 82.3%, the specificity was 73.2%, the positive likelihood ratio(LR) was 3.071 and the negative LR was 0.242.The threshold of BV was 0.190 with sensitivity 73.3%, specificity 56.5%, positive likelihood ratio 1.685 and negative LR 0.473.Conclusion:BF and BV among CT hemodynamic parameters have certain diagnostic value in breast cancer, but BF or BV can not yet be single index to confirm or deny the diagnosis.

ROC and SAT Analysis of Different Grayscale Test Images (Distractors L and Target T) to Customize a Visual-Search Attention Task

Nowadays, there is a great need to investigate the effects of fatigue on physical as well as mental performance. The issues that are generally associated with extreme fatigue are that one can easily lose one’s focus while performing any particular activity whether it is physical or mental and this decreases one’s motivation to complete the task at hand efficiently and successfully. In the same line of thought, myriads of research studies posited the negative effects of fatigue on mental performance, and most techniques to induce fatigue to require normally long-time and repetitive visual search tasks. In this study, a visual search algorithm task was devised and customized using performance measures such as d’ (d-prime) and Speed Accuracy Trade-Off (SATF) as well as ROC analysis for classifier performance. The visual search algorithm consisted of distractors (L) and a target (T) whereby human participants had to press the appropriate keyboard button as fast as possible if they notice a target or not upon presentation of a visual stimulus. It was administered to human participants under laboratory conditions, and the reaction times, as well as accuracy of the participants, were monitored. It was found that the test image Size35Int255 was the best image to be used in terms of sensitivity and AUC (Area under Curve). Therefore, ongoing researches can use these findings to create their visual stimuli in such a way that the target and distractor images follow the size and intensity characteristics as found in this research.

Predictors for Efficacy of Combination Therapy with a Nucleos(t)ide Analogue and Interferon for Chronic Hepatitis B

This study aims to explore the efficacy of interferon-α（IFN-α） combined with either entecavir（ETV） or adefovir（ADV） therapy versus IFN-α mono-therapy for chronic hepatitis B（CHB） patients, and to identify the factors associated with treatment outcomes. Totally, 159 CHB patients receiving interferon-based treatment for 48 weeks were enrolled in this retrospective study, including IFN-α mono-therapy group（group A, n=44）, IFN-α plus ADV group（group B, n=53） and IFN-α plus ETV group（group C, n=62）. The primary measures of efficacy assessments were the changes in HBs Ag. Cox regression analysis was used to identify the predictors of treatment outcomes. The predictive values of the factors were assessed by ROC analysis. For patients with baseline hepatitis B surface antigen（HBs Ag） level 〈1000 IU/m L, the reductions in mean HBs Ag levels at week 48 were greater in group C than that in group A（P〈0.05）. Higher rate of HBeAg seroconversion was achieved in the combined therapy group than in IFN-α mono-therapy group at week 48（P〈0.05）. Two factors were independently associated with HBeAg seroconversion： baseline HBeAg level 〈2.215 log10 index/m L and △HBeAg（decline in HBeAg from baseline） 〉0.175 log10 at week 12. In conclusion, interferon-α plus ETV therapy can accelerate HBs Ag decline as compared with interferon-α mono-therapy in CHB patients with lower baseline HBs Ag levels, and the combination therapy was superior to IFN-α mono-therapy in increasing the rate of HBeAg seroconversion. Baseline HBeAg and △HBeAg at week 12 can independently predict HBeAg seroconversion in patients subject to interferon-based therapy for 48 weeks.

Role of C-Peptide in Relation to Levels of Anti-GAD and Islet Cell Antibodies in Characterizing Types of Diabetes in the Young, in Eastern India

Background: Measuring fasting C-peptide (FCP) and antibodies against Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA) and Islet cell antibodies (ICA) are not so commonly explored in children and young adults. Objectives: To assess the levels of FCP, GADA and ICA in subjects below the age of 25 years with DM and compare their levels to differentiate between Autoimmune and Non-Autoimmune Type 1 DM. Methodology: Blood samples of 93 subjects diagnosed with DM, reporting to the tertiary care hospital, were analysed for ICA, GADA and FCP. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were analysed to check the ability of autoimmune markers, BMI and C-peptide to differentiate between Autoimmune (Ai) and Non-Autoimmune (NonAi) diabetes. Results: 30/93 (32.2%) were positive for anti-GAD ab and/or ICA and categorised as Autoimmune (Ai), the most common antibody being, anti-GAD ab (80%) in them. The level of FCP among Ai compared to NonAi, was significantly low (p 20.75 nmol/l) as a very dependable test for diagnosing Ai, Type 1 DM, in children and young adults. Its sensitivity and specificity are in the range of 86.2% and 96.8% respectively. Low level of C-peptide (Conclusion: This study revealed predominant positivity for anti-GAD ab (80%) among Ai+ patients. ROC analysis shows GADA above 20.75 nmol/l and Fasting C-peptide < 0.36 nmol/l as a good indicator for diagnosing Ai in children and young adults.

Strong Earthquakes in the Yunnan-Sichuan Region: Evaluation of a Forward Long-to-intermediate-term PI Forecast

Since the initial international cooperation in the framework of Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability(CSEP)in 2007,a lot of forecast models have been developed and served for the earthquake forecasting experiment in different CSEP testing centers(Schorlemmer et al.,2018).

Assessing the Accuracy of the Modified Chinese Autism Spectrum Rating Scale and Social Responsiveness Scale for Screening Autism Spectrum Disorder in Chinese Children

The reported prevalence of autism spectrum disorder（ASD） has been increasing rapidly in many parts of the world. However, data on its prevalence in China are largely missing. Here, we assessed the suitability of the modi？ed Chinese version of a newly-developed ASD screening tool, the Modi？ed Chinese Autism Spectrum Rating Scales（MC-ASRS） in screening for ASD in Chi nese children aged 6–12 years, through comparison with the Social Responsiveness Scale（SRS） that has been widely used for ASD screening. We recruited the par ents/caregivers of 1588 typically-developing children and190 children with ASD aged 6–12 years to complete the MC-ASRS and SRS, and evaluated the validity of both scales in discriminating children with ASD from those developing typically. The results showed that MC-ASRSperformed as well as SRS in sensitivity, speci？city, and area-under-the-curve（both [0.95） in receiver operating characteristic analysis, with a fair false-negative rate.These results suggest that MC-ASRS is a promising tool for screening for children with ASD in the general Chinese population.