Evaluation of a fluorescent immunoassay rapid test (Sofia™) for detection of influenza A+B and RSV in a tertiary pediatric setting.

In response to the lack of sensitivity and reproducibility of previously marketed rapid antigen detection tests, a novel fluorescent immunoassay was recently developed. This new assay offers rapidity and automated reading. More characterization of this assay is needed.

Impairment in workers with isocyanate-induced occupational asthma and removed from exposure in the province of Québec between 1985 and 2002.

Objective: The objective of this project was to assess both the outcome for patients diagnosed with proven isocyanate-induced occupational asthma (IIOA) by specific inhalation challenge (SIC) and the functional impairment, 2 years after cessation of exposure to isocyanates, using the compensation insurance scale proposed in the province of Quebec.

Methods: We used a retrospective cohort of 233 patients diagnosed in the province of Quebec between 1985 and 2002 and randomly chose 105 of those patients. We kept 89 subjects with complete data at T0 (the time of diagnosis) and 79 were reevaluated at T2, approximately 2 years after their removal from exposure, for final impairment-disability assessment.

A mathematical model of the dynamic geometry of the intact left ventricle and its application to clinical data.

In this paper we examine the relations that may exist between the geometric variables most frequently used to describe left ventricular contraction. The left ventricle is represented by a thick-walled cylinder contracting both radially and longitudinally. For this model, wall thickening, mid-wall radius shortening and longitudinal axis shorteining can be shown to be uniquely related during contraction, whereas it can be demonstrated that internal radius shortening is not uniquely related to these variables, but is also determined by the specific geometry of the cylinder, expressed in terms of the mid-wall radius-to-wall thickness (R/h) ratio of the cylinder.