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Theodorsson E. Issues in assessing analytical performance specifications in healthcare systems assembling multiple laboratories and measuring systems. Clin Chem Lab Med 2024; 0:cclm-2023-1208. [PMID: 38329003 DOI: 10.1515/cclm-2023-1208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Analytical performance specifications (APS) are usually compared to the intermediate reproducibility uncertainty of measuring a particular measurand using a single in vitro diagnostic medical device (IVD MD). Healthcare systems assembling multiple laboratories that include several IVD MDs and cater to patients suffering from long-term disease conditions mean that samples from a patient are analyzed using a few IVD MDs, sometimes from different manufacturers, but rarely all IVD MDs in the healthcare system. The reproducibility uncertainty for results of a measurand measured within a healthcare system and the components of this measurement uncertainty is useful in strategies to minimize bias and overall measurement uncertainty within the healthcare system. The root mean squares deviation (RMSD) calculated as the sample standard deviation (SD) and relative SD includes both imprecision and bias and is appropriate for expressing such uncertainties. Results from commutable stabilized internal and external control samples, from measuring split natural patient samples or using big-data techniques, are essential in monitoring bias and measurement uncertainties in healthcare systems. Variance component analysis (VCA) can be employed to quantify the relative contributions of the most influential factors causing measurement uncertainty. Such results represent invaluable information for minimizing measurement uncertainty in the interest of the healthcare system's patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elvar Theodorsson
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Division of Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden
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Ren D, Loh WW, Chung JM, Brandt MJ. Person-specific priorities in solitude. J Pers 2024. [PMID: 38279643 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/01/2024] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE People value solitude in varying degrees. Theories and studies suggest that people's appreciation of solitude varies considerably across persons (e.g., an introverted person may value solitude more than an extraverted person), and solitude experiences (i.e., on average, people may value some functions of solitude, e.g., privacy, more than other functions, e.g., self-discovery). What are the unique contributions of these two sources? METHOD We surveyed a quota-based sample of 501 US residents about their perceived importance of a diverse set of 22 solitude functions. RESULTS Variance component analysis reveals that both sources contributed to the variability of perceived importance of solitude (person: 22%; solitude function: 15%). Crucially, individual idiosyncratic preferences (person-by-solitude function interaction) had a substantial impact (46%). Further analyses explored the role of personality traits, showing that different functions of solitude hold varying importance for different people. For example, neurotic individuals prioritize emotion regulation, introverted individuals value relaxation, and conscientious individuals find solitude important for productivity. CONCLUSIONS People value solitude for idiosyncratic reasons. Scientific inquiries on solitude must consider the fit between a person's characteristics and the specific functions a solitary experience affords. This research suggests that crafting or enhancing positive solitude experiences requires a personalized approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongning Ren
- Department of Work and Social Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
| | - Wen Wei Loh
- Department of Quantitative Theory and Methods, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Joanne M Chung
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mark J Brandt
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
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Ávila-Lovera E, Goldsmith GR, Kay KM, Funk JL. Above- and below-ground functional trait coordination in the Neotropical understory genus Costus. AoB Plants 2022; 14:plab073. [PMID: 35035869 PMCID: PMC8757582 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plab073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The study of plant functional traits and variation among and within species can help illuminate functional coordination and trade-offs in key processes that allow plants to grow, reproduce and survive. We studied 20 leaf, above-ground stem, below-ground stem and fine-root traits of 17 Costus species from forests in Costa Rica and Panama to answer the following questions: (i) Do congeneric species show above-ground and below-ground trait coordination and trade-offs consistent with theory of resource acquisition and conservation? (ii) Is there correlated evolution among traits? (iii) Given the diversity of habitats over which Costus occurs, what is the relative contribution of site and species to trait variation? We performed a principal components analysis (PCA) to assess for the existence of a spectrum of trait variation and found that the first two PCs accounted for 21.4 % and 17.8 % of the total trait variation, respectively, with the first axis of variation being consistent with a continuum of resource-acquisitive and resource-conservative traits in water acquisition and use, and the second axis of variation being related to the leaf economics spectrum. Stomatal conductance was negatively related to both above-ground stem and rhizome specific density, and these relationships became stronger after accounting for evolutionary relatedness, indicating correlated evolution. Despite elevation and climatic differences among sites, high trait variation was ascribed to individuals rather than to sites. We conclude that Costus species present trait coordination and trade-offs that allow species to be categorized as having a resource-acquisitive or resource-conservative functional strategy, consistent with a whole-plant functional strategy with evident coordination and trade-offs between above-ground and below-ground function. Our results also show that herbaceous species and species with rhizomes tend to agree with trade-offs found in more species-rich comparisons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleinis Ávila-Lovera
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA
| | - Gregory R Goldsmith
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA
| | - Kathleen M Kay
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Jennifer L Funk
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA
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Huysmans MA, Srinivasan D, Mathiassen SE. Consistency of Sedentary Behavior Patterns among Office Workers with Long-Term Access to Sit-Stand Workstations. Ann Work Expo Health 2019; 63:583-591. [PMID: 31008506 DOI: 10.1093/annweh/wxz022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2018] [Revised: 02/22/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Sit-stand workstations are a popular intervention to reduce sedentary behavior (SB) in office settings. However, the extent and distribution of SB in office workers long-term accustomed to using sit-stand workstations as a natural part of their work environment are largely unknown. In the present study, we aimed to describe patterns of SB in office workers with long-term access to sit-stand workstations and to determine the extent to which these patterns vary between days and workers. METHODS SB was objectively monitored using thigh-worn accelerometers for a full week in 24 office workers who had been equipped with a sit-stand workstation for at least 10 months. A comprehensive set of variables describing SB was calculated for each workday and worker, and distributions of these variables between days and workers were examined. RESULTS On average, workers spent 68% work time sitting [standard deviation (SD) between workers and between days (within worker): 10.4 and 18.2%]; workers changed from sitting to standing/walking 3.2 times per hour (SDs 0.6 and 1.2 h-1); with bouts of sitting being 14.9 min long (SDs 4.2 and 8.5 min). About one-third of the workers spent >75% of their workday sitting. Between-workers variability was significantly different from zero only for percent work time sitting, while between-days (within-worker) variability was substantial for all SB variables. CONCLUSIONS Office workers accustomed to using sit-stand workstations showed homogeneous patterns of SB when averaged across several days, except for percent work time seated. However, SB differed substantially between days for any individual worker. The finding that many workers were extensively sedentary suggests that just access to sit-stand workstations may not be a sufficient remedy against SB; additional personalized interventions reinforcing use may be needed. To this end, differences in SB between days should be acknowledged as a potentially valuable source of variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maaike A Huysmans
- Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Research Center for Insurance Medicine, AMC-UMCG-UWV-VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden
| | - Divya Srinivasan
- Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden.,Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Svend Erik Mathiassen
- Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden
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Livshits G, Ni Lochlainn M, Malkin I, Bowyer R, Verdi S, Steves CJ, Williams FMK. Shared genetic influence on frailty and chronic widespread pain: a study from TwinsUK. Age Ageing 2018; 47:119-125. [PMID: 28985290 PMCID: PMC5860041 DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afx122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction frailty is an increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes, across multiple physiological systems, with both environmental and genetic drivers. The two most commonly used measures are Rockwood’s frailty index (FI) and Fried’s frailty phenotype (FP). Material and methods the present study included 3626 individuals from the TwinsUK Adult Twin Registry. We used the classical twin model to determine whether FI and FP share the same latent aetiological factors. We also investigated the relationship between frailty and chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain (CWP), another holistic age-related condition with significant clinical impact. Results FP and FI shared underlying genetic and environmental aetiology. CWP was associated with both frailty measures, and health deficits appeared to mediate the relationship between phenotypic frailty and pain. Latent genetic factors underpinning CWP were shared with frailty. While frailty was increased in the twins reporting pain, co-twin regression analysis indicated that the relationship between CWP and frailty is reduced after accounting for shared genetic and environmental factors. Conclusions both measures of frailty tap the same root causes, thus this work helps unify frailty research. We confirmed a strong association between CWP and frailty, and showed a large and significant shared genetic aetiology of both phenomena. Our findings argue against pain being a significant causative factor in the development of frailty, favouring common causation. This study highlights the need to manage CWP in frail individuals and undertake a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in individuals presenting with CWP. Finally, the search for genetic factors underpinning CWP and frailty could be aided by integrating measures of pain and frailty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Livshits
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London, UK
- Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Mary Ni Lochlainn
- Clinical Age Research Unit, King’s College Hospitals Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Ida Malkin
- Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ruth Bowyer
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Serena Verdi
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Claire J Steves
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London, UK
- Clinical Age Research Unit, King’s College Hospitals Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Frances M K Williams
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London, UK
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Abstract
Genomic selection is an upgrading form of marker-assisted selection for quantitative traits, and it differs from the traditional marker-assisted selection in that markers in the entire genome are used to predict genetic values and the QTL detection step is skipped. Genomic selection holds the promise to be more efficient than the traditional marker-assisted selection for traits controlled by polygenes. Genomic selection for pure breed improvement is based on marker information and thus leads to cost-saving due to early selection before phenotypes are measured. When applied to hybrid breeding, genomic selection is anticipated to be even more efficient because genotypes of hybrids are predetermined by their inbred parents. Hybrid breeding has been an important tool to increase crop productivity. Here we proposed and applied an advanced method to predict hybrid performance, in which a subset of all potential hybrids is used as a training sample to predict trait values of all potential hybrids. The method is called genomic best linear unbiased prediction. The technology applied to hybrids is called genomic hybrid breeding. We used 278 randomly selected hybrids derived from 210 recombinant inbred lines of rice as a training sample and predicted all 21,945 potential hybrids. The average yield of top 100 selection shows a 16% increase compared with the average yield of all potential hybrids. The new strategy of marker-guided prediction of hybrid yields serves as a proof of concept for a new technology that may potentially revolutionize hybrid breeding.
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Abstract
It was recently shown that monotone gene action, i.e., order-preservation between allele content and corresponding genotypic values in the mapping from genotypes to phenotypes, is a prerequisite for achieving a predictable parent-offspring relationship across the whole allele frequency spectrum. Here we test the consequential prediction that the design principles underlying gene regulatory networks are likely to generate highly monotone genotype-phenotype maps. To this end we present two measures of the monotonicity of a genotype-phenotype map, one based on allele substitution effects, and the other based on isotonic regression. We apply these measures to genotype-phenotype maps emerging from simulations of 1881 different 3-gene regulatory networks. We confirm that in general, genotype-phenotype maps are indeed highly monotonic across network types. However, regulatory motifs involving incoherent feedforward or positive feedback, as well as pleiotropy in the mapping between genotypes and gene regulatory parameters, are clearly predisposed for generating non-monotonicity. We present analytical results confirming these deep connections between molecular regulatory architecture and monotonicity properties of the genotype-phenotype map. These connections seem to be beyond reach by the classical distinction between additive and non-additive gene action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arne B Gjuvsland
- Centre for Integrative Genetics (CIGENE), Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås, Norway
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Qin S, Kim J, Arafat D, Gibson G. Effect of normalization on statistical and biological interpretation of gene expression profiles. Front Genet 2013; 3:160. [PMID: 23755061 PMCID: PMC3668151 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2012.00160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2012] [Accepted: 08/06/2012] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
An under-appreciated aspect of the genetic analysis of gene expression is the impact of post-probe level normalization on biological inference. Here we contrast nine different methods for normalization of an Illumina bead-array gene expression profiling dataset consisting of peripheral blood samples from 189 individual participants in the Center for Health Discovery and Well Being study in Atlanta, quantifying differences in the inference of global variance components and covariance of gene expression, as well as the detection of variants that affect transcript abundance (eSNPs). The normalization strategies, all relative to raw log2 measures, include simple mean centering, two modes of transcript-level linear adjustment for technical factors, and for differential immune cell counts, variance normalization by interquartile range and by quantile, fitting the first 16 Principal Components, and supervised normalization using the SNM procedure with adjustment for cell counts. Robustness of genetic associations as a consequence of Pearson and Spearman rank correlation is also reported for each method, and it is shown that the normalization strategy has a far greater impact than correlation method. We describe similarities among methods, discuss the impact on biological interpretation, and make recommendations regarding appropriate strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaopu Qin
- School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA, USA
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