Hauserpacheco7233

4 %), and in patients tested 14 days or more after the onset of symptoms, the sensitivity was 88.0 %. Regarding the 61 group-3 patients, median time after symptom onset was also 17 days, and the test was positive in 54 (88.5 % positivity). Conclusions Our study shows that Alltest lateral flow immunoassay is reliable as a complement of PCR to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection after 14 days from the onset of symptoms and in patients with pneumonia and negative PCR for SARS-CoV-2.Background The COVID-19 Ag (Antigen) Respi-Strip assay is a new immunochromatographic diagnostic tool recently available for antigenic diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. The proposed sensitivity is not higher than 60 %, but its high specificity allows both quick decisions for the management of patients and confirmation by molecular diagnosis for only negative tests. However, from the first tests performed, we suspected that the sensitivity observed with routine use was much lower than that announced by the manufacturer. Materials and methods Over a period of one month, we compared the negative results obtained with the COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip kit with those obtained from qRT-PCR performed in a laboratory qualified for the molecular diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. All samples tested were naso-pharyngeal smears from UTM-RT medium. Results Of 774 patients tested, 714 negative samples were sent for confirmation, and 159 were found to be positive by qRT-PCR. The median positive percentage agreement was 23.9 % (95 % CI 14.2 %-38.2 %). The Cohen's kappa score was 0.35. Conclusion Using this immunochromatographic assay as a triage test did not significantly reduce the number of samples outsourced for COVID-19 confirmation by qRT-PCR. In addition, even if the turn-around time is short, the assay is completely manual, which is not suitable for large volumes of routine samples. The sensitivity of this rapid test is poor, and improvements are needed to enhance its performance.Background The Foot Posture Index (FPI) was originally validated only against two dimensional radiographic imaging at the time of its inception since weight bearing three dimensional (3D) imaging did not exist. This technology is now widely available but it is not known if the FPI will continue to correlate well against it. Research question How does the clinical assessment tool of FPI correlate against 3D biometrics of foot alignment assessed on weight bearing computerised tomography (WBCT)? Methods The FPI and 3D biometrics of 66 feet in 33 patients presenting to a single foot and ankle unit were assessed by two observers independently. All measurements were assessed for intra-rater and inter-rater reliability, and the association between the clinically assessed FPI and radiologically assessed 3D biometrics was identified. Results The FPI demonstrated excellent intra-rater and good inter-rater reliability. All 3D biometric measures demonstrated excellent intra-rater and inter-rater reliability. A strong and significant correlation was identified between the FPI and 3D biometrics overall although subgroup analysis revealed the strength of association dropped when the hindfoot had a valgus alignment. Significance This study confirmed that the FPI is a valid tool for assessing foot position. However, correlation between the FPI and 3D biometrics fell in the valgus aligned hindfoot so caution must be used when the FPI is used for assessment in this population.Background Hallux valgus (HV) contributes to deficits in static balance and increased fall risk in older adults. Very limited research has examined dynamic balance deficits in walking in this population. These individuals generally walk slowly, as balance challenge is lesser at slow speeds. Research question How does the dynamic balance of older adults with HV differ from healthy controls at controlled slow and fast walking speeds? Methods Nineteen older adults with HV and 13 healthy controls completed 5 continuous walking trials at 1.0 and 1.3 m·s-1 as whole body marker position and ground reaction force data were captured. Dynamic balance was evaluated using whole body center of mass (COM) and center of pressure (COP) inclination angles (IA) and duration of double support. click here Results There were no differences in measures of dynamic balance between older adults with and without HV at slow and fast speeds. At the faster speed, the peak sagittal plane COM-COP IA increased and the double support duration decreased, while the peak frontal plane COM-COP IA were not affected. Significance Older adults with HV do not exhibit deficits in dynamic balance during continuous walking at comfortable speeds when compared to healthy older adults.Background Manual annotation of initial contact (IC) and end contact (EC) is a time consuming process. There are currently no robust techniques available to automate this process for Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with freezing of gait (FOG). Objective To determine the validity of a data-driven approach for automated gait event detection. Methods 15 freezers were asked to complete several straight-line and 360 degree turning trials in a 3D gait laboratory during the off-period of their medication cycle. Trials that contained a freezing episode were indicated as freezing trials (FOG) and trials without a freezing episode were termed as functional gait (FG). Furthermore, the highly varied gait data between onset and termination of a FOG episode was excluded. A Temporal Convolutional Neural network (TCN) was trained end-to-end with lower extremity kinematics. A Bland-Altman analysis was performed to evaluate the agreement between the results of the proposed model and the manual annotations. Results For FOG-trials, F1 scores of 0.995 and 0.992 were obtained for IC and EC, respectively. For FG-trials, F1 scores of 0.997 and 0.999 were obtained for IC and EC, respectively. The Bland-Altman plots indicated excellent timing agreement, with on average 39% and 47% of the model predictions occurring within 10 ms from the manual annotations for FOG-trials and FG-trials, respectively. Significance These results indicate that our data-driven approach for detecting gait events in PD patients with FOG is sufficiently accurate and reliable for clinical applications.