MOTIVATION Searches of biological sequence databases are usually focussed on distinguishing significant from random matches. However, the increasing abundance of related sequences on databases present a second challenge: to distinguish the evolutionarily most closely related sequences (often orthologues) from more distantly related homologues. This is particularly important when searching a dat...

Presently most adolescent anxiety disorder screening instruments make their determination of running a high risk for an anxiety disorder on the basis of a cut-off score measured by a single screening which can lead to false positives. Therefore, the goal of this study is to examine whether a repeated administration of the SCARED screening instrument for DSM-5 anxiety disorder symptoms could hel...

OBJECTIVE To determine the minimum detectable change at 95% confidence for the Berg Balance Scale in a group of elderly people, undergoing physiotherapy rehabilitation. DESIGN Multi-centre, test-retest design. SUBJECTS Cross-sectional sample of convenience of people over 65 years (n = 118) without a previous history of stroke, Parkinson's disease or recent hip arthroplasty. RATERS: Physioth...

Finite sample inference procedures are considered for analyzing the observed scores on a multiple choice test with several items, where, for example, the items are dissimilar, or the item responses are correlated. A discrete p-parameter exponential family model leads to a generalized linear model framework and, in a special case, a convenient regression of true score upon observed score. Techni...

We construct statistical models to assess whether hospital size will impact the ability to identify "true" hospital ranks in pay-for-performance (P4P) programs. We use Bayesian hierarchical models to estimate the uncertainty associated with the ranking of hospitals by their raw composite score values for three medical conditions: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and commun...

Prior studies of radical prostatectomies have reported a small percentage of men with biochemical progression after radical prostatectomy showing organ-confined, Gleason Score 6. One might predict that this should virtually never occur. We identified 2551 (1983-2005) radical prostatectomies coded by the urologists at our institution as pathologically organ-confined, Gleason score 6 cancer with ...