PURPOSE To evaluate cancer detection with targeted biopsy of the prostate performed on the basis of high-frequency Doppler ultrasonographic (US) imaging findings versus cancer detection with a modified sextant biopsy approach with laterally directed cores. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-two patients were prospectively evaluated with gray-scale, color, and power Doppler transrectal US performed w...

We propose a method (EXIA2) of catalytic residue prediction based on protein structure without needing homology information. The method is based on the special side chain orientation of catalytic residues. We found that the side chain of catalytic residues usually points to the center of the catalytic site. The special orientation is usually observed in catalytic residues but not in noncatalyti...

Prior research has shown that most known risk factors for suicide attempts in the general population actually predict suicide ideation rather than attempts among ideators. Yet clinical interest in predicting suicide attempts often involves the evaluation of risk among patients with ideation. We examined a number of characteristics of suicidal thoughts hypothesized to predict incident attempts i...

The increasing frequency of large, high-severity fires threatens the survival of old-growth specialist fauna in fire-prone forests. Within topographically diverse montane forests, areas that experience less severe or fewer fires compared with those prevailing in the landscape may present unique resource opportunities enabling old-growth specialist fauna to survive. Statistical landscape models ...

We aimed to determine the ability of a set of physical fitness tests to discriminate between presence/absence of fibromyalgia (FM) and moderate/severe FM. The sample comprised 94 female FM patients (52 ± 8 years) and 66 healthy women (54 ± 6 years). We assessed physical fitness by means of the 30-s chair stand, handgrip strength, chair sit and reach, back scratch, blind flamingo, 8-feet up and ...

As a performance measure for a prediction model, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) is insensitive to the addition of strong markers. A number of measures sensitive to performance change have recently been proposed; however, these relative-performance measures may lead to self-contradictory conclusions. This paper examines alternative performance measures for predi...

This review introduces some commonly used methods for assessing the performance of a diagnostic test. The sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratio of a test are discussed. The uses of the receiver operating characteristic curve and the area under the curve are explained.

Species distribution modeling was used to determine factors among the large predictor candidate data set that affect the distribution of Muscari latifolium, an endemic bulbous plant species of Turkey, to quantify the relative importance of each factor and make a potential spatial distribution map of M. latifolium. Models were built using the Boosted Regression Trees method based on 35 presence ...

Using AUC-based dosing compensates for variations in renal function between and within individual patients. It does not adjust for other factors such as previous chemotherapy, previous radiotherapy, or performance status. One empiric method to adjust for these factors would be reduction of the ideal AUC. However, because AUC-based dosing accounts for variations in renal function, this would not...

Many current dose-response methods assume a parametric shape of some form and do not accommodate comparisons between methods. Motivated by a need to be able to compare dose-response curves without assuming a parametric shape to the dose-response curve, we applied our technique to model them by non-parametric smoothing methods and also estimate area under the curves. Given that we do not know th...