Egger’s test与Begg’s test的功效差异比较与原因分析

目的比较Meta分析中Egger’s test、Begg’s test方法在检测发表偏倚时的功效(检验效能)差异并探讨其原因。方法收集28篇相关文献建立数据库,采用倾向性缺失手段产生11份新的Meta分析资料样本,然后行Egger’stest、Begg’s test检验其发表偏倚,比较结果的差异,并同时做纳入研究的异质性和样本含量的正态性检验,寻找影响发表偏倚检验功效的因素。结果①11个倾向性缺失样本中,Begg’s test有5项的P值小于0.05,而Egger’s test的P值都大于0.27;②异质性检验P值全部小于0.05,正态性检验有9项P值小于0.05。结论①倾向性缺失导致发表偏倚,此时Begg’s test较Egger’s test更容易检出发表偏倚的真实情况,而Egger’s test的检验效能此时并不高;②导致Egger’s test对发表偏倚的检验效能下降的可能因素有样本含量非正态和异质性等。

Validity Consideration in Designing an Oral English Test

To make oral test accurately reflect the actual English spoken ability of candidates and play its role in guiding and promoting the improvement of English learners in the teaching, we must ensure that the design of scientific questions, the feasibility and validity of judgments to make an accurate and fair measurement of testers' language ability.

基于数据流的K-S变化检测的动态多目标规划算法

为了更加准确地判断环境是否发生变化并快速追踪动态多目标规划问题(dynamicmulti-objectiveoptimization problem,DMOP)当前时刻的Pareto前沿,提出了一种基于数据流的Kolmogorov-Smirnov(K-S)变化检测的动态多目标规划(DSK-SDMOP)算法。该算法以NSGA-Ⅱ为基础,通过数据流建立2个时刻的检验窗口,再利用K-S检验基于数据流的Pareto最优前沿是否发生变化,检测2个窗口的数据是否服从同一分布来判断环境是否发生变化,并就环境变化的剧烈程度实行相应的应答机制,以提高对环境的适应程度。利用基于数据流的K-S检测方法,对环境变化不会过于敏感,而且不用提前假设对应目标值的分布,易于操作。通过5个动态多目标规划标准测试函数对该算法进行测试,并和现有的2种算法进行对比分析,结果表明该算法处理动态多目标规划问题具有良好的性能。

New fecal test for non-invasive Helicobacter pylori detection:A diagnostic accuracy study

AIM To assess the diagnostic accuracy of a new fecal test for detecting Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori), using ^(13)Curea breath test as the reference standard, and explore bacterial antibiotic resistance. METHODS We conducted a prospective two-center diagnostic test accuracy study. We enrolled consecutive people≥ 18 years without previous diagnosis of H. pylori infection, referred for dyspepsia between February and October 2017. At enrollment, all participants underwent 13 C-urea breath test. Participants aged over 50 years were scheduled to undergo upper endoscopy with histology. Participants collected stool samples 1-3 d after enrollment for a new fecal investigation(THD fecal test). The detection of bacterial 23 S rRNA subunit gene indicated H. pylori infection. We also used the index diagnostic test to examine mutations conferring resistance to clarithromycin and levofloxacin. Independent investigators analyzed index test and reference test standard results blinded to the other test findings. We estimated sensitivity, specificity, positive(PPV) and negative(NPV) predictive value, diagnostic accuracy, positive and negative likelihood ratio(LR), together with 95% confidence intervals(CI).RESULTS We enrolled 294 consecutive participants(age: Median 37.0 years, IQR: 29.0-46.0 years; men: 39.8%). Ninetyfive(32.3%) participants had a positive ^(13)C-urea breath test. Twenty-three(7.8%) participants underwent upper endoscopy with histology, with a full concordance between ^(13)C-urea breath test and histology in detecting H. pylori infection. Four(1.4%) out of the 294 participants withdrew from the study after the enrollment visit and did not undergo THD fecal testing. In the 290 participants who completed the study, the THD fecal test sensitivity was 90.2%(CI: 84.2%-96.3%), specificity 98.5%(CI:96.8%-100%), PPV 96.5%(CI: 92.6%-100%), NPV 95.6%(CI: 92.8%-98.4%), accuracy 95.9%(CI: 93.6%-98.2%), positive LR 59.5(CI: 19.3-183.4), negative LR 0.10(CI: 0.05-0.18). Out of 83 infected participants identified with the THD fecal test, 34(41.0%) had bacterial genotypic changes consistent with antibiotic-resistant H. pylori infection. Of these, 27(32.5%) had bacterial strains resistant to clarithromycin, 3(3.6%) to levofloxacin, and 4(4.8%) to both antibiotics. CONCLUSION The THD fecal test has high performance for the non-invasive diagnosis of H. pylori infection while additionally enabling the assessment of bacterial antibiotic resistances.

Increased intestinal permeability in inflammatory bowel diseases assessed by iohexol test

AIM:To study intestinal permeability(IP) and its relationship to the disease activity in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases(IBD)-Crohn's disease(CD) and ulcerative colitis(UC).METHODS:Fifty-eight patients with active IBD(32 with CD and 26 with UC) and 25 healthy controls consented to participate in the study.The clinical activity of CD was estimated using the Crohn's Disease Activity Index(CDAI),and the endoscopic activity of UC using the Mayo scoring system.IP was assessed by the rise in levels of iohexol,which was administered orally(25 mL,350 mg/mL) 2 h after breakfast.Three and six hours later serum(SIC mg/L) and urine(UIC g/mol) iohexol concentrations were determined by a validated HPLC-UV technique.RESULTS:In the CD group,SIC values at 3 h(2.95 ± 2.11 mg/L) and at 6 h after ingestion(2.63 ± 2.18 mg/L) were significantly higher compared to those of healthy subjects(1.25 ± 1.40 mg/L and 1.11 ± 1.10 mg/L,respectively,P < 0.05).UIC(g/mol) values were also higher in patients,but the differences were significant only for UIC at 6 h.Significant positive correlation(P < 0.05) was found between the CDAI and IP,assessed by SIC at 3 h(r = 0.60) and 6 h(r = 0.74) after the ingestion.In comparison to controls,SIC and UIC of UC patients were higher in the two studied periods,but the differences were significant at 6 h only.Significantly higher values of SIC(P < 0.05) were found in patients with severe endoscopic activity of UC compared to those of patients with mild and moderate activity(3.68 ± 3.18 vs 0.92 ± 0.69 mg/L).CONCLUSION:Serum levels of iohexol at 3 h and 6 h after its ingestion reflect increased IP,which is related to the disease activity in patients with IBD.

Mechanical Characterization of Electroplated Ni Films by Micro-tensile Testing

Mechanical properties of structural materials are particularly important for design, performance realization and reliability analysis of microelectromechanical systems （MEMS）. Furthermore, accurate database of mechanical properties at the micro scale can provide indispensable reference for establishing MEMS standard. Electroplated nickel film is one of the most favored structural materials used in MEMS, thus its mechanical properties has been studied for many years. However, the measured values show large scatter in Yotmg＇s modulus of nickel film. Young＇s modulus and yield stress of electroplated nickel film are measured by using a micro-tensile testing instrument. The tensile load applied on the specimen is measured by a load cell with accuracy 0.25 mN directly, without additional friction. Through measuring the axial stiffness coefficient of the tensile instnunent in situ, the tensile strain of the specimen is obtained by using two-serial spring model. The electroplated nickel films were fabricated from sulfarnate baths, and the gauge section is 500μm long and 10μm wide nominally, and thickness range between 25 μm and 50μm. The obtained Young＇s modulus from tensile testing is 83＋6 GPa for nickel specimens electroplated at current density of 20 mA/cm2 and it increases to 124＋5 GPa as current density is decreased to 10 mA/cm2. The phenomena are interpreted in terms of porosity of microstructure. The higher current density produced rnicrostucture with low density and high volume fraction of pores, and the microstructure of high porosity corresponds to a lower modulus. The measured values of Young＇s modulus are consistent with those of calculated from the exponential empirical formula between Young＇s modulus and porosity. The micro-tensile testing instrument can also be used for mechanical measurement of other MEMS films.

Study on soil-pile-structure-TMD interaction system by shaking table model test

The success of the tuned mass damper (TMD) in reducing wind-induced structural vibrations has been well established. However, from most of the recent numerical studies, it appears that for a structure situated on very soft soil, soil-structure interaction (SSI) could render a damper on the structure totally ineffective. In order to experimentally verify the SSI effect on the seismic performance of TMD, a series of shaking table model tests have been conducted and the results are presented in this paper. It has been shown that the TMD is not as effective in controlling the seismic responses of structures built on soft soil sites due to the SSI effect. Some test results also show that a TMD device might have a negative impact if the SSI effect is neglected and the structure is built on a soft soil site. For structures constructed on a soil foundation, this research verifies that the SSI effect must be carefully understood before a TMD control system is designed to determine if the control is necessary and if the SSI effect must be considered when choosing the optimal parameters of the TMD device.

Serum 1,3-beta-D-glucan as a noninvasive test to predict histologic activity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND 1,3-beta-D-glucan(BG)is a ubiquitous cell wall component of gut microorganisms.We hypothesized that the serum levels of BG could reflect active intestinal inflammation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.AIM To determine whether the serum BG concentrations correlate with intestinal inflammation.METHODS A prospective observational study was performed in a tertiary referral center,from 2016 to 2019,in which serum BG was determined in 115 patients with Crohn’s disease(CD),51 with ulcerative colitis(UC),and 82 controls using a photometric detection kit.Inflammatory activity was determined by ileocolonoscopy,histopathology,magnetic resonance enterography,and biomarkers,including fecal calprotectin(FC),C-reactive protein,and a panel of cytokines.The ability of BG to detect active vs inactive disease was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.In subgroup analysis,serial BG was used to assess the response to therapeutic interventions.RESULTS The serum BG levels were higher in CD patients than in controls(P=0.0001).The BG levels paralleled the endoscopic activity in CD patients and histologic activity and combined endoscopic and histologic activity in both CD and UC patients.The area under the curve(AUC)in receiver operating characteristic analysis to predict endoscopic activity was 0.694[95%confidence interval(CI):0.60-0.79;P=0.001]in CD,and 0.662(95%CI:0.51-0.81;P=0.066)in UC patients.The AUC in receiver operating characteristic analysis to predict histologic activity was 0.860(95%CI:0.77-0.95;P<0.001)in CD,and 0.786(95%CI:0.57-0.99;P=0.015)in UC patients.The cut-off values of BG for both endoscopic and histologic activity were 60μg/mL in CD,and 40μg/mL in UC patients.Performance analysis showed that the results based on BG of 40 and 60μg/mL were more specific for predicting endoscopic activity(71.8%and 87.2%for CD;and 87.5%and 87.5%for UC,respectively)than FC(53.3%and 66.7%for CD;and 20%and 80%for UC,respectively);and also histologic activity(60.5%and 76.3%for CD;and 90.0%and 95.0%for UC,respectively)than FC(41.7%and 50.0%for CD;and 25%and 50%for UC,respectively).Regarding the clinical,endoscopic,and histologic activities,the BG levels were reduced following therapeutic intervention in patients with CD(P<0.0001)and UC(P=0.003).Compared with endoscopic(AUC:0.693;P=0.002)and histologic(AUC:0.868;P<0.001)activity,no significant correlation was found between serum BG and transmural healing based on magnetic resonance enterography(AUC:0.576;P=0.192).Positive correlations were detected between BG and IL-17 in the CD(r:0.737;P=0.001)and the UC group(r:0.574;P=0.005),and between BG and interferon-gamma in the CD group(r:0.597;P=0.015).CONCLUSION Serum BG may represent an important novel noninvasive approach for detecting mucosal inflammation and therapeutically monitoring inflammatory bowel diseases,particularly in CD.

Non-Contact Stress Measurement during Tensile Testing Using an Emat for SH₀-Plate Wave and Lamb Wave

The stress on a test specimen during tensile testing is generally measured by a strain gauge. This method has some problems in that it would influence the measurement conditions of the tensile test and can evaluate only the position at which the strain gauge is attached. The acoustoelastic method is proposed as a method replacing the strain gauge method. However, an ultrasonic sensor with a piezoelectric oscillator requires a coupling medium to inject an ultrasonic wave into a solid material. This condition, due to the error factor of the stress measurement, makes it difficult for the ultrasonic sensor to move on the specimen. We then tried to develop a non-contact stress measurement system during tensile testing using an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) with an SH0-plate wave and S0-Lamb wave. The EMAT can measure the propagation time in which the ultrasonic wave travels between a receiver and a transmitter without a coupling medium during the tensile testing and can move easily. The interval between the transmitter and the receiver is 10mm and can be moved along the parallel direction or the vertical direction of the tensile load. The transit time was measured by a cross-correlation method and converted into the stress on the test specimen using the acoustoelastic method. We confirmed that the stress measurement using an SH0-plate wave was superior to that with an S0-Lamb wave.

Property changes of anchor grout calcined ginger nuts admixed with fly ash and quartz sand after accelerated ageing tests

Calcined ginger nuts admixed by fly ash and quartz sand (CGN-(F+S)) has been validated to be basically compatible to earthen sites as an anchor grout. Accelerated ageing tests including water stability test, temperature and humidity cycling test, soundness test and alkali resistance test are conducted with the objective to further research the property changes of CGN-(F+S) grout. Density, surface hardness, water penetration capacity, water permeability capacity, soluble salt, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) spectrum of these samples have been tested after accelerated ageing tests. The results show that densities of samples decrease, surface hardness, water penetration capacity and water permeability capacity of samples increase generally. Besides, soluble salt analysis, SEM and EDS results well corroborate the changes. Based on the results it can be concluded that property changes are most serious after temperature and humidity cycling test, followed by water stability, soundness and alkali resistance test in sequence. But in general, CGN-(F+S) still has good durability.

Determination of reduced Young s modulus of thin films using indentation test

The flat cylindrical indentation tests with different sizes of punch radius were investigated using finite element method （FEM） aimed to reveal the effect of punch size on the indentation behavior of the film/substrate system. Based on the FEM results analysis, two methods was proposed to separate film＇s reduced Young＇s modulus from a film/substrate system. The first method was based on a new weight function that quantifies film＇s and substrate＇s contributions to the overall mechanical properties of the film/substrate system in the flat cylindrical indentation test. The second method, a numerical approach, including fitting and extrapolation procedures was put forward. Both of the results from the two methods showed a reasonable agreement with the one input FE model. At last, the effect of maximum indentation depth and the surface micro-roughness of the thin film on the reduced Young＇s modulus of the film/substrate system were discussed. The methods proposed in the present study provide some new conceptions on evaluating other properties of thin films, e.g. creep, for which a flat-ended punch is also employed.

Information content method for evaluating diagnostic tests and its comparison of power with other methods

This paper derives the variance of the information content and develops its statistical inference method. We describe the relations between information content and sensitivity, specificity, efficiency, prevalence rate. If sensitivity, specificity and efficiency are fixed, the closer to 0. 5 the prevalence rate is, the more the information content. If prevalence rate and efficiency are fixed, the closer to each other the sensitivity and specificity are, the more the information content. We compare the power of information content method, efficiecy test, Youden's index test and kappa coefficient method. The information content method has higher power than the other methods in most conditions. It is especially sensitive to the difference between two sensitivities. It comes to conclusion that the information content method has more virtues than the other methods mentioned in this paper.

Acceptance Sampling Plans with Truncated Life Tests for the Length-Biased Weighted Lomax Distribution

In this paper,we considered the Length-biased weighted Lomax distribution and constructed new acceptance sampling plans(ASPs)where the life test is assumed to be truncated at a pre-assigned time.For the new suggested ASPs,the tables of the minimum samples sizes needed to assert a specific mean life of the test units are obtained.In addition,the values of the corresponding operating characteristic function and the associated producer’s risks are calculated.Analyses of two real data sets are presented to investigate the applicability of the proposed acceptance sampling plans;one data set contains the first failure of 20 small electric carts,and the other data set contains the failure times of the air conditioning system of an airplane.Comparisons are made between the proposed acceptance sampling plans and some existing acceptance sampling plans considered in this study based on the minimum sample sizes.It is observed that the samples sizes based on the proposed acceptance sampling plans are less than their competitors considered in this study.The suggested acceptance sampling plans are recommended for practitioners in the field.

Routine blood tests to predict liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C

AIM: To verify the usefulness of FibroQ for predicting fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, compared with other noninvasive tests. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 237 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C who had undergone percutaneous liver biopsy before treatment. FibroQ, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), AST to platelet ratioindex, cirrhosis discriminant score, age-platelet index (API), Pohl score, FIB-4 index, and Lok's model were calculated and compared. RESULTS: FibroQ, FIB-4, AAR, API and Lok's model results increased significantly as fibrosis advanced (analysis of variance test: P < 0.001). FibroQ trended to be superior in predicting signifi cant fi brosis score in chronic hepatitis C compared with other noninvasive tests. CONCLUSION: FibroQ is a simple and useful test for predicting signifi cant fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Isolation,Identification and Antibiotics Susceptibility Test of Citrobacter freundii from Procambarus clarkia

This experiment was conducted to clarify species and drug resistance of pathogen from the diseased Procambarus clarkia. Pathogenic bacteria from hepatopancreas of the diseased P. clarkia were examined using conventional methods,and then were isolated. The further tests and analysis of the isolated strain were developed,including the regression experiment to P. clarkia,the morphology,physiological and biochemical characteristics,sequence analysis of their 16 S rRNA and gyr B genes,and the susceptibility test to antibiotics. Large colonies with similar morphology and color were obtained. Strain X120523 was identified as Citrobacter freundii,proved to have strong pathogenicity,and was susceptible to quinolones and aminoglycosides.

Model test of negative Poisson’s ratio cable for supporting super-largespan tunnel using excavation compensation method

In recent years,there is a scenario in urban tunnel constructions to build super-large-span tunnels for traffic diversion and route optimization purposes.However,the increased size makes tunnel support more difficult.Unfortunately,there are few studies on the failure and support mechanism of the surrounding rocks in the excavation of supported tunnel,while most model tests of super-large-span tunnels focus on the failure characteristics of surrounding rocks in tunnel excavation without supports.Based on excavation compensation method(ECM),model tests of a super-large-span tunnel excavation by different anchor cable support methods in the initial support stage were carried out.The results indicate that during excavation of super-large-span tunnel,the stress and displacement of the shallow surrounding rocks decrease,following a step-shape pattern,and the tunnel failure is mainly concentrated on the vault and spandrel areas.Compared with conventional anchor cable supports,the NPR(negative Poisson’s ratio)anchor cable support is more suitable for the initial support stage of the super-large-span tunnels.The tunnel support theory,model test materials,methods,and the results obtained in this study could provide references for study of similar super-large-span tunnels。

Replace Psychometric Inferences with Direct Brain Measurements: LORETA Reflects Traditional Cerebral Loci for Neuropsychological Tests

Inferences of subtle cerebral injury and dysfunction have been historically dependent upon psychometric tests from which clinical neuropsychological profiles are generated. In addition to being secondary, over-inclusive and crude indicators of cerebral activity, psychometric tests are subject to economic incentives to “re-norm” traditional methods under the pretense of “ensuring” contemporary representations that are sanctioned by regulating organizations dominated by agendas of control over the interpretations of clinicians. The validity of neuropsychological tests is essential for their perspicacious application and interpretations. We measured the quantitative electroen-cephalographic profiles and calculated s-LORETA (standardized Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography) profiles in real time for normal men and women while they engaged in both traditional and novel neuropsychological tests that were employed to infer localized brain injury. Conspicuous alterations in source current density within specific frequency bands occurred within various regions of the right prefrontal region during performance of the Category, Design Fluency and Conditioned Spatial Association Test, the prefrontal medial surface during Toe Graphaesthesia, the caudal medial surface during Toe Gnosis, the left temporal region during Speech-Sounds, and within the right retrosplenial-parahippocampal region for Seashore Rhythms. Results supported the well established regional associations with the classic neuropsychological tests, verified the cerebral localization with more recent procedures, and emphasized the utility of modern real-time, direct cerebral imaging procedures.

METHOD FOR FAST TEST OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE VOIDED SLAB (V.S)

By practical experience and lots of actuel data on tens of prestressed concrete V.S,maximum strains of the midspan sectional concrete and Strains of tendon are calculated according to actual date of the midspan deflection Yc, which show Whole structual working condition, as a result,method for fast test of structural bearing capacity can be deduced, which would make determining bearing capacity of existing prestressed concrete V.S simply and quickly, and also improve accuracy of cxperimental results and working efficiency.

Incorporating S-shaped testing-effort functions into NHPP software reliability model with imperfect debugging

Testing-effort（TE） and imperfect debugging（ID） in the reliability modeling process may further improve the fitting and prediction results of software reliability growth models（SRGMs）. For describing the S-shaped varying trend of TE increasing rate more accurately, first, two S-shaped testing-effort functions（TEFs）, i.e.,delayed S-shaped TEF（DS-TEF） and inflected S-shaped TEF（IS-TEF）, are proposed. Then these two TEFs are incorporated into various types（exponential-type, delayed S-shaped and inflected S-shaped） of non-homogeneous Poisson process（NHPP）SRGMs with two forms of ID respectively for obtaining a series of new NHPP SRGMs which consider S-shaped TEFs as well as ID. Finally these new SRGMs and several comparison NHPP SRGMs are applied into four real failure data-sets respectively for investigating the fitting and prediction power of these new SRGMs.The experimental results show that：（i） the proposed IS-TEF is more suitable and flexible for describing the consumption of TE than the previous TEFs;（ii） incorporating TEFs into the inflected S-shaped NHPP SRGM may be more effective and appropriate compared with the exponential-type and the delayed S-shaped NHPP SRGMs;（iii） the inflected S-shaped NHPP SRGM considering both IS-TEF and ID yields the most accurate fitting and prediction results than the other comparison NHPP SRGMs.

在网络上共享测试资源—CoTest的实现及应用

将计算机支持的协同工作（ＣＳＣＷ）的概念引入计算机辅助测试领域，旨在实现对于大型贵重测试资源的共享，解决ＶＬＳＩ测试中的瓶颈问题。文章分别简述计算机协同测试系统ＣｏＴｅｓｔ的体系结构和系统的具体实现及其中关键技术。