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Biomedical subjects

R Nicol

Publications and source records attributed to R Nicol.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

BCG osteitis: a case report.

Osteomyelitis of the left tibia of a two year old boy secondary to neonatal BCG immunisation is described. He made a good recovery following surgical debridement and anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy.

BCG Vaccine↗
PubMed1986

The use of the simplex method for the optimisation of non-linear functions on a laboratory microcomputer.

The use of the microcomputer for the processing of analytical data in the laboratory is currently increasing. However, computational methods which have been used successfully on minicomputers may not be suitable for microcomputer implementation due to the lack of available precision. This paper describes a technique, namely the simplex method, which may be successfully applied to the processing of laboratory data on an 8-bit microcomputer. The method is used to optimise a non-linear function in order to fit a curve to radioimmunoassay (RIA) and immunoradiometricassay (IRMA) data. The microcomputer package described has been tested on laboratory data and is currently in use in a clinical biochemistry laboratory.

Biometry↗
PubMed1986

A survey of the state of the art of clinical biochemistry laboratory computerisation.

This paper presents the results of a survey which was recently carried out in order to clarify the current 'state of the art' regarding the use of computers in hospital biochemistry laboratories. Information was obtained by means of a questionnaire which was mailed to a sample of United Kingdom hospital laboratories. The results obtained from the analysis of the data from the questionnaire replies are presented, and conclusions are drawn regarding the implications of hospital laboratory computerisation.

Chemistry, Clinical↗
PubMed1985

A robust microcomputer routine for the identification of outlying and influential points in radioimmunoassay standard curves.

This paper describes a suite of robust logit-log optimization routines for the fitting of a linear relation to laboratory data. The microcomputer routines assign a weighting value to each data point corresponding to the relative importance of that point. This procedure ensures that the routines identify and deal with any outlying data points. The routines are designed to generate the results of both a standard, unweighted least-squares algorithm and a robust, weighted algorithm thus providing the laboratory analyst with invaluable information concerning the data and the fitted relation. The routines are thoroughly tested on "perfect" and perturbed laboratory data.

Biometry↗
PubMed1985

The relevance of the multiple criterion screen to an adolescent population.

The 4th- and 5th-year pupils of four large comprehensive schools, which were broadly typical of the schools serving an urban population, were screened using a multiple criterion approach. The screen results were compared with those found in a younger population drawn from the same area, and a similar rate of efficiency was found. However, in the adolescent age group the screen was more accurate at detecting true negative cases (specificity) but less able to identify true positive cases (sensitivity). Overall, the multiple criterion screen proved more efficient than a variety of single screen criteria, and the findings also suggest that certain screen measures used in adolescence may be more effective at identifying disturbed girls while others are more effective at identifying disturbed boys. This confirms the principle that the choice of screening instruments must be made with reference to their proposed use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Measurement of the immune response to an allograft: amino acid incorporation by peripheral white blood cells in man.

The uptake in vitro of 3H-thymidine and of 3H-uridine by white blood cells freshly taken from the recipients of renal transplants has been followed at regular intervals during the period of the patients' hospitalization. In addition, groups of subjects without renal failure undergoing operation and of patients on chronic dialysis have been studied. Of 33 patients undergoing rejection of their kidney, 28 showed a marked rise in the incorporation of thymidine over the period of rejection. However, a similar rise appears to accompany episodes of inter-current infection.

Graft Rejection↗