Background: Recent biotechnological developments have resulted in increasing interest in immunology biomarkers. These biomarkers have potential clinical utility in the near future as predictors of treatment response. Hence, clinical validation of these predictive markers is critical. Findings: The process of clinically validating a predictive biomarker is reviewed. Validation of a predictive bi...

We describe a novel study design for validating marker-based treatment strategies meant to select among possible therapeutic options using a biologic marker. Studying existing designs in realistic scenarios, we demonstrate that this design is more than four times more efficient for testing the interaction between a marker and its intended treatment. Our analysis employs a simple parametric fram...

The 4-D scanner registers a surface image of the object changing in time, then calculates its kinematics. It is intended to be used in the project to capture kinematics of human lower extremities and feed the TLEM model. The desired output should be similar in quality and quantity to the output of currently used Vicon motion capture system. Our goal in this task (WP1.3) is to confront the 4-D s...

Materials and methods Biplane Fluoroscopy System: The system consists of two Philips BV Pulsera C-arms set in custom frames around a raised floor with a radiolucent imaging area. X-ray images are captured with high speed (1000fps) cameras. Validation Object: 1.6mm tantalum beads were placed in a machined block (wand) then measured to 7 microns with a Coordinate Measuring Machine to determine th...

Marker-based XROMM requires software tools for: (1) correcting fluoroscope distortion; (2) calibrating X-ray cameras; (3) tracking radio-opaque markers; and (4) calculating rigid body motion. In this paper we describe and validate XMALab, a new open-source software package for marker-based XROMM (C++ source and compiled versions on Bitbucket). Most marker-based XROMM studies to date have used X...

Determining the gender of the source of forensic DNA evidence is based on the amelogenin test. However, at times the assay may not be indicative of gender assignment, because of deletions at the amelogenin site. Previously, we described successful coamplification of a marker residing within the SRY gene with the short tandem repeat markers from two commercially available human identification ki...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Logistic and financial constraints limit application of several available immunohistochemical (IHC) markers and molecular analysis in every case of synovial sarcoma, diagnosed in our settings. Recently, TLE1 has been recognized as a robust IHC marker for diagnosing a synovial sarcoma. Here, we present IHC features of synovial sarcomas, including TLE1 expression in these ...

Loss-of-function by means of RNA interference in cultured human cells enables rapid pathway dissection on a genome-scale. Improved siRNA design and key validation protocols are required to eliminate falsely identified phenotypes resulting from potential off-target consequences. Here, we demonstrate a validation strategy involving several steps for verifying cell death phenotypes revealed during...

PURPOSE To investigate the prognostic and predictive biomarker value of type IV collagen in colorectal cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Retrospective evaluation of two independent cohorts of patients with colorectal cancer included prospectively in 2004-2005 (training set) and 2006-2008 (validation set). Plasma samples were available from 297 (training set) and 482 (validation set) patients. Type ...

Purpose: To investigate the prognostic and predictive biomarker value of type IV collagen in colorectal cancer. Experimental Design: Retrospective evaluation of two independent cohorts of patients with colorectal cancer included prospectively in 2004–2005 (training set) and 2006–2008 (validation set). Plasma samples were available from 297 (training set) and 482 (validation set) patients. Type ...