The measurement of specific dynamic action in fishes.

Specific dynamic action (SDA) is the postprandial increase in oxygen uptake. Whereas it is easy to measure in fishes that remain calm and motionless during the entire digestion period, spontaneous locomotor activity is a frequent problem that leads to overestimation of SDA amplitude and magnitude (area under the curve, bound by the standard metabolic rate, SMR). Few studies have attempted to remove the effect of fish activity on SDA.

Quantile regression methods for reference growth charts.

Estimation of reference growth curves for children's height and weight has traditionally relied on normal theory to construct families of quantile curves based on samples from the reference population. Age-specific parametric transformation has been used to significantly broaden the applicability of these normal theory methods. Non-parametric quantile regression methods offer a complementary strategy for estimating conditional quantile functions.

Automated hands-free image manipulation and viewing: a useful macro feature that assists radiologists in the viewing of chest and extremity digital radiographs.

The authors present an adaptation of the macro recording feature on the Siemens Magic View 1000 workstation, which, with the click of one button, launches a macro that performs 3 clinically useful image manipulations. Using a Magic View 1004 Siemens unix workstation, the following Macro sequence was programmed: (1) select all images, (2) reverse grayscale, (3) edge enhancement, (4) display full-resolution all screens, (5) reverse grayscale, (6) enable zoom/pan function. This sequence of commands takes 11 seconds to complete for a 2-view chest x-ray, and 16 seconds for a 3-view hand series.

Predictive value of image-guided adrenal biopsy: analysis of results of 101 biopsies.

A retrospective study of 97 patients undergoing 101 image-guided adrenal biopsies (IGABs) was performed to analyze the effects of specific pathologic results on test characteristics. Three categories of pathologic results (benign adrenal tissue, malignant tissue, and nondiagnostic) were compared with outcomes. Diagnostic samples were obtained in 86% of cases.