Bayesian monotonic errors-in-variables models with applications to pathogen susceptibility testing.

Drug dilution (MIC) and disk diffusion (DIA) are the 2 most common antimicrobial susceptibility assays used by hospitals and clinics to determine an unknown pathogen's susceptibility to various antibiotics. Since only one assay is commonly used, it is important that the 2 assays give similar results. Calibration of the DIA assay to the MIC assay is typically done using the error-rate bounded method, which selects DIA breakpoints that minimize the observed discrepancies between the 2 assays.

Determination of disk diffusion susceptibility testing interpretive criteria using model-based analysis: development and implementation.

The determination of diffusion test breakpoints has become a challenging issue due to the increasing resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics. Currently, the most commonly-used method for determining these breakpoints is the modified error-rate bounded method. Its use has remained widespread despite the introduction of several model-based methods that have been shown superior in terms of precision and accuracy.

Unmet Need for Help With Activities of Daily Living Disabilities and Emergency Department Admissions Among Older Medicare Recipients.

Purpose Of The Study: This study determined whether self-reports of unmet need for help with activities of daily living (ADL) disabilities are prognostic of emergency department (ED) utilization.

Design And Methods: This prospective cohort study of 2,194 community-living, ADL-disabled subjects combined 2004 National Long-Term Care Survey responses with linked Medicare data through 2005. A negative binomial count model was computed to assess the association between unmet ADL need and number of subsequent ED admissions while statistically adjusting for predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics associated with ED admissions among older adults.

Prognostic Significance of Postoperative Subsyndromal Delirium.

Background: Whether postoperative subsyndromal delirium (SSD) is a separate syndrome from delirium and has clinical relevance is not well understood.

Objectives: We sought to investigate SSD in older surgical patients and to determine its prognostic significance.

Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study of patients who were 65 years or older and were scheduled for noncardiac surgery.

The temporal relationship between early postoperative delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction in older patients: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction are frequent phenomena in older patients; however, few studies have examined the temporal relationship between these two conditions in the early postoperative period. Therefore, this study aimed to determine if postoperative delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) coexist after major noncardiac surgery.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of patients who were ≥ 65 yr of age undergoing noncardiac surgery.

Vitamin D status and resistance exercise training independently affect glucose tolerance in older adults.

We assessed the influence of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations on oral glucose tolerance, body composition, and muscle strength in older, nondiabetic adults who performed resistance exercise training (RT) while consuming diets with either 0.9 or 1.2 g protein kg(-1) d(-1).

Association between intraoperative blood transfusions and early postoperative delirium in older adults.

Objectives: To determine whether intraoperative blood transfusion, a known trigger and amplifier of inflammation, is an independent risk factor for early postoperative delirium (POD), an acute state of confusion with fluctuating consciousness and inattention after surgery, in older adults undergoing surgery.

Design: Secondary analysis using a database created for a prospective cognitive outcomes study.

Setting: University hospital.

Impact of missing data on analysis of postoperative cognitive decline (POCD).

Background: There are a variety of techniques to handle missing data, such as removing observations with missing data from the analyses or estimating the missing values using various imputation algorithms. Dropping subjects from standard regression models and analyzing only completers, however, may bias results from the true value of reality. Likewise, 'last-observation-carried-forward' may not be an appropriate technique for studies measuring a particular variable over time.

Hospital readmission among older adults who return home with unmet need for ADL disability.

Purpose: This study determined whether returning to the community from a recent hospitalization with unmet activities of daily living (ADL) need was associated with probability of readmission.

Methods: A total of 584 respondents to the 1994, 1999, and/or 2004 National Long-Term Care Surveys (NLTCS) who were hospitalized within 90 days prior to the interview and reported ADL disability at the time of the interview were considered for analysis. Medicare claims linked to the NLTCS provided information about hospital episodes, so those enrolled in Health Maintenance Organizations or Veterans Affairs Medical Centers were not included (n = 62), resulting in a total sample size of 522.

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for the discrimination of Arthrobacter strains based on variations in cell surface composition.

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a rapid and highly sensitive spectroscopic technique that has the potential to measure chemical changes in bacterial cell surface in response to environmental changes. The objective of this study was to determine whether SERS had sufficient resolution to differentiate closely related bacteria within a genus grown on solid and liquid medium, and a single Arthrobacter strain grown in multiple chromate concentrations. Fourteen closely related Arthrobacter strains, based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences, were used in this study.