BACKGROUND The Foot Posture Index (FPI) is an observational tool designed to measure the position of the foot. Its reliability is well established, and it provides normative reference values for the general population. However, this is not so for the paediatric population. The aim of this study is to determine FPI reference values in childhood, taking into account age and gender. METHODS This...

A simple, sensitive method for estimating carbon monoxide in plasma is described. In this method, the carbon monoxide in plasma is trapped with hemoglobin and subsequently estimated by dithionite reduction. The method has an intra- and interassay precision (CV) of 10.7% and 12.8%, respectively, at a concentration of 1.12 mg of carbon monoxide per liter and has a detection limit of 0.1 mg/L. The...

Molybdenum creatinine levels in urine were measured in 128 Danish inhabitants by ICP-MS in order to establish reference intervals of molybdenum in urine for the Danish population as a part of the EURO-TERVIHT project (Trace Element Reference Values in Human Tissues). The Mo concentration was determined using the isotopes 95Mo and 98Mo. The values measured based on 98Mo were about 2% lower than ...

Stochastic modeling and analysis of international key comparisons (interlaboratory comparisons) pose several fundamental questions for statistical methodology. A key comparison (KC) is specifically designed to derive the key comparison reference value and to assess conformance of calibrations by participating national metrology laboratories at a few, “key”, settings for a particular measurement...

This paper proposes a method to select a set of genes from a large number of genes with the ability of classifying types of diseases. The proposed gene selection method is designed according to correlation analysis and the concept of 95% reference range. The method is very simple and uses the information of all genes. We have used the method in leukemia patients and achieved good classification...

In the Göttinger minipig, the reference values of 18 parameters in whole blood or plasma were determined. The results are expressed both as the mean value and +/- 2 SD presuming a symmetrical normal distribution and as the median value with the corresponding range. For most blood constituents, the results of the two modes of calculation were similar. Comparison of the values from young minipigs...

On 12-13 June 2001, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) convened a seven-member panel in Atlanta, Georgia, to review and discuss the current state of the science related to hair analysis, specifically its use in assessing environmental exposures in support of the agency's public health assessment activities. ATSDR invited scientific experts in the fields of hair analysi...

We measured Na, K, Cl, glucose, hemoglobin, erythrocytes, and hematocrit in the serum or blood from approximately 800 male and 200 female second-year medical students in an effort to define the size of an acceptable reference population. Using the data from the men and Monte Carlo simulations of 10-400 samples, each carried out 5000 times, we found that for most of the above tests, approximatel...

An important part of interlaboratory comparisons and proficiency testing is the determination of the reference value of the measurand and the associated uncertainty. It is desirable to have reference values with low uncertainty, but it is crucial that these values are reliable, i.e. they are correct within their stated uncertainty. In some cases it is possible to obtain reference values from la...