We have recently described a novel cyclic peptide inhibitor CTTHWGFTLC (CTT) for matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 and MMP-9, also called type IV collagenases or gelatinases (E. Koivunen et al., NAT: BIOTECHNOL:, 17: 768-774, 1999). As indicated by its amino acid composition, CTT is hydrophobic, and its partitioning into phospholipid films could be verified by the monolayer technique. Augmented...

The Church–Turing Thesis (CTT) is often employed in arguments for computationalism. I scrutinize the most prominent of such arguments in light of recent work on CTT and argue that they are unsound. Although CTT does nothing to support computationalism, it is not irrelevant to it. By eliminating misunderstandings about the relationship between CTT and computationalism, we deepen our appreciation...

PURPOSE Each ethnic group has a unique life style, including diets. Life style affects bowel movement. The aim of this study is to describe the results of colon transit time (CTT) tests in Korean children who had chronic functional constipation based on highly refined data. METHODS One hundred ninety (86 males) out of 415 children who performed a CTT test under the diagnosis of chronic consti...

PURPOSE Increased awareness of the importance of dietary fibre has led to increased interest in "functional" fibre components like digestion-resistant maltodextrin (RMD). This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study assessed the effects of RMD in the colonic transit time (CTT) and defecation characteristics (frequency, stool volume and consistency). METHODS Sixty-six healthy adult ...

We compare test construction using CTT and IRT in several sample sizes (from N=20 to N=5000) and degrees of representativeness (represented by selecting the top 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% or 100% of a population) using a Monte-Carlo simulation design. Little support was found for our hypothesis that IRT would outperform CTT in building informative tests, especially in large or unrepresentative samples....

Despite theoretical differences between item response theory (IRT) and classical test theory (CTT), there is a lack of empirical knowledge about how, and to what extent, the IRTand CTT-based item and person statistics behave differently. This study empirically examined the behaviors of the item and person statistics derived from these two measurement frameworks. The study focused on two issues:...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the diagnostic value of plain abdominal radiography in stroke patients with bowel dysfunction. METHODS A total of 59 stroke patients were recruited and assigned into constipation or non-constipation group. Patients were interviewed to obtain clinical information, constipation score, and Bristol stool form scale. The total and segmental colon transit time (CTT) was measur...

Despite the well-known theoretical differences between item response theory (IRT) and classical test theory (CTT), research examining their empirical properties has failed to reveal consistent, demonstrable differences due to usage of samples with errors, incorrect assumptions & incorrect calculations. Dr. Natarajan (India, 1984) had proved the item invariance with his classic 20 X 76 test data...