An unavoidable problem in speech technology, particularly in the development of robust automatic speech recognition systems, is the extreme variability in the acoustic attributes of segments. Segments are highly sensitive to context and bear little resemblance to their intrinsic characteristics manifested when they are uttered in isolation. However, the problem can become tractable if we model the linguistic and physiological aspects of coarticulatory processes, the main source of systemic variability at the segmental level.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗

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[Comparison of methods for the determination of blood creatinine].

Creatinine is the criterion the most widely used for kidney exploration, either directly or through algorithms. Up to now, it appears that methods of creatinine determination are still very heterogenous. The aim of the present study was to compare the different available methods and to evaluate their impact on the formula of predicted clearance. The study revealed that significant discrepancies can be observed depending on the methodology and analitycal principe. The results suggest that standardization of methods and comprehensive analysis of the different formula are necessary.

Adult↗

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[Improving the interlaboratory variation for creatinine serum assay].

PURPOSE: To assess inter-assay variation and accuracy of blood creatinine measurements as well as the effect of the standardization of the calibration procedures on inter-assay variation. METHODS: Inter-assay variation and accuracy were assessed using 30 frozen human sera and 3 certified reference materials, which were analysed by 17 creatinine assays (colorimetric: 12, enzymatic: 4, HPLC: 1). Usual calibration procedure was compared with two common calibration procedures using either a reference material (404.1 micromol/L), or secondary sera calibrators (69, 115 et 180 micromol/L). RESULTS: Most of the commercially available methods display inaccuracy, > 10% for creatininemia < 150 micromol/L in most cases. For this concentration range, the mean creatininemia was statistically significantly different as a function of the assay used (p < 0.001). Enzymatic assays produced lower results than colorimetric ones for low creatinine levels but higher results for high creatinine levels. Assays being calibrated according to the manufacturer's recommendations, the median dispersion factor was 14% for the 20 samples between 45 and 150 micromol/L, and 8% for the 10 samples between 250 and 350 micromol/L. The calibration procedure modified inter-assay variation significantly (p < 0.001) but we gained little advantage from both common calibration procedures. A significant decrease of inter-assay variation occurred within each technical group (colorimetric or enzymatic) when a common calibration was performed using calibrators which concentration(s) was(were) close to the concentrations to be measured. CONCLUSIONS: Inter-assay variation is too high to allow prediction of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) or creatinine clearance from serum creatinine level. Our results highlight the interest of a calibration procedure using several concentrations with at least one between 90 and 150 micromol/L. The marketing of such a calibrator should be considered in order to decrease inter-assay variation in the range of creatinine levels which defines a mild chronic renal failure. Such an approach will certainly reduce inter-assay variation only within each technical group but could allow to include technical group as a co-variable in the algorithms developed for predicting GFR or creatinine clearance. A global transferability will certainly need the correlation of all types of creatinine assays versus a definitive method, whom definition remains uncertain.

Blood Chemical Analysis↗

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[Corneal precipitation of fluoroquinolones with magnesium].

Infrared spectrophotometric analysis (FTIR) was performed on a crystalline deposit developed in a corneal ulcer by an old woman who received ciprofloxacine ophthalmic drops. We collected the data of the literature on the subject. After in vitro crystallization experiments, we conclude that ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin corneal precipitates occur at physiological lachrymal pH with magnesium.

Aged↗

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