BACKGROUND Numerous published studies have shown the high diagnostic performance of both EUS and MRCP compared with ERCP for the detection of choledocholithiasis. DESIGN We undertook a systematic review of all published randomized, prospective trials that compared EUS with MRCP with the primary aim being to compare the overall diagnostic accuracy for the detection of choledocholithiasis in pa...

PURPOSE To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to define the role of procalcitonin (PCT) in identifying infectious complication in organ transplant recipients. METHODS We searched EMBASE, MEDLINE, the Cochrane database, and reference lists of relevant articles, with no language restrictions, published from inception through May 2013. We selected original research that reported the d...

In this article we explore statistical properties of the maximum-likelihood estimates (MLEs) of the selection and mutation parameters in a Poisson random field population genetics model of directional selection at DNA sites. We derive the asymptotic variances and covariance of the MLEs and explore the power of the likelihood ratio tests (LRT) of neutrality for varying levels of mutation and sel...

objective: although the etiology of schizophrenia is unknown, it has a significant genetic component. ‎a number of studies have indicated that neuregulin-1 (nrg1) gene may play a role in the ‎pathogenesis of schizophrenia. in this study, we examined whether the rs2439272 of nrg1 ‎is associated with schizophrenia and its negative symptoms in an iranian population.‎ method: rs2439272 was genotype...

Iwas interested to read the paper by N. P. Wiederhold and colleagues published in the November 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (1). The authors aimed to determine interlaboratory and interstudy reproducibility as well as to assess the effect of antifungal therapy on a lateral-flow device (LFD) developed for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) detection. They reported a goo...

background: proper placement of central venous catheter (cvc) tip could reduce early and late catheter-related complications.although the live fluoroscopy is standard of care for placement of the catheter, it is not available in many centers. therefore, the present study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of bedside chest x-ray (cxr) for proper positioning of the catheter tip. materials ...