Upper respiratory tract diseases (URTD) are common clinical problem in cats worldwide. Feline calicivirus (FCV) and feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) are the main primary pathogens. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) are also among the most common infectious diseases of cats which suppress the immunity. Oropharyngeal and conjunctival swabs and blood samples wer...

Content balancing is often required in the development and implementation of computerized adaptive tests (CATs). In the current study, we propose a modified a-stratified method, the a-stratified method with content blocking. As a further refinement of a-stratified CAT designs, the new method incorporates content specifications into item pool stratification. Simulation studies were conducted to ...

Negative FIV-antibody test results remain reliable (see the 2001 Report of the AAFP/AFM Advisory Panel on Feline Retrovirus Testing and Management at www.aafponline.org/resources/guidelines/Felv_FIV_Guidelines.pdf. But until tests that differentiate vaccinated cats from infected cats become readily available, it will be impossible to assess the significance of positive test results. (Is a posit...

the classical test theory (ctt) and item response theory (irt) are widely used in construction and analysis of exams and questionnaires. because of the various shortcomings of ctt, irt has been designed. even though irt has overcome most of the limitations of ctt and has made computer adaptive testing possible, it is still important to point out that not enough reasons exist to totally discard ...

The Community Reintegration of Injured Service Members (CRIS) measure consists of three scales measuring extent of, perceived limitations in, and satisfaction with community reintegration. Length of the CRIS may be a barrier to its widespread use. Using item response theory (IRT) and computer-adaptive test (CAT) methodologies, this study developed and evaluated a briefer community reintegration...

OBJECTIVE To determine the sensitivity, specificity, and overall diagnostic accuracy of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays offered by commercial diagnostic laboratories for diagnosis of FIV infection in cats. DESIGN Prospective clinical trial. ANIMALS 124 cats. PROCEDURE Blood was collected from cats that were neither infected with nor vaccinated against FIV, uninfected cats that were...

background: cat as definitive host of toxoplasma gondii is important in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. the object of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of t. gondii as well as parasite isolation from faeces and brain tissues of stray cats in kashan, central iran. methods: the prevalence of t. gondii was determined in serum, feces and brain tissue of 50 stray cats. igg specific a...

OBJECTIVE Evaluation of known-group validity, ecological validity, and test-retest reliability of 4 domain instruments from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) in osteoarthritis (OA) patients. METHODS We recruited an OA sample and a comparison general population (GP) sample through an internet survey panel. Pain intensity, pain interference, physical function...

BACKGROUND Cats with diabetes mellitus can have subclinical pancreatitis but prospective studies to confirm this are lacking. Metabolic control of diabetic cats with pancreatitis is difficult. HYPOTHESIS Subclinical pancreatitis occurs in diabetic cats at the time diabetes is diagnosed or might develop during the follow-up period, hampering diabetic remission. ANIMALS Thirty cats with newly...