Date registered: May 14, 2011
May
09
I read two books on Alzheimer’s from the caretaker’s perspective: The Little Girl in the Radiator Tangles Tangles and The Little Girl in the Radiator are written from the perspective of the caregiver. Tangles is written by Sarah Leavitt about her mother. The main caretaker is her father. In The Little Girl in the Radiator, …
Apr
16
My significant other (SO) has a good chance of getting Alzheimer’s, based on his family history and genetics (he’s ApoE4 homozygous). We discovered this when he got his DNA tested. So my goal (that sounds really ambitious – maybe I should say “aim”? Trying again…) My aim is to find preventive measures for Alzheimer’s, specifically …
Jan
03
Precision measures the consistancy of results. Precision is not accuracy. While accuracy is getting the answer right, precision is about getting the same answer over and over again. You don’t want to get an answer one day, and the next day, because it’s raining or the lab technician didn’t have their cup of coffee, it’s …
Dec
21
The Reportable Range plan validates the test under many different conditions. 3 RNA input levels (low, medium, high) and the target at 12 different concentrations, ranging from 0.0488% to 100%. By testing 36 different conditions (12*3), we’ll get: Summary statistics for each fusion concentration and RNA input level Amplification efficiencies at the different % fusion …
Dec
11
The purpose of run control specification is to find what is the acceptable range of values to accept a sample. For example, if a Texas Red value is detected in cycle 38 (Ct 38), this is too late in the PCR cycles and the signal could be due to contamination. Thus the sample is thrown …
Dec
04
Limit of detection is the sensitivity of the assay — how low a concentration can the test detect? To test this, the lab did a dilution series over a range of concentrations. When the concentration is low enough, the fusion won’t be detected. Using the data from the dilution series, we used 4 models to …
Nov
27
In the Accuracy study, we will: Set the acceptable working range Set the cutoffs for calling a sample positive or negative Assess how well our assay agrees with an alternative assay Clinical samples can be FFPE or fresh frozen. FFPE is usually poorer quality than fresh frozen, so the two sample types are treated separately. …
Nov
27
Analytical specificity shows how robust the test is to contamination. Positive controls with the fusion were spiked with EDTA or ethanol at various concentrations. We determined at which concentration the PCR no longer worked. The figures and results in this blogpost were generated by R code corresponding to “AnalyticalSpecificity_R_scripts.txt” on github Pictures always help, so these …
Nov
27
All of the data analyzed used the same format to make it easy to re-use code . The data for each PCR experiment was in an Excel file or a comma-delimited (.csv) file with the following format. To be able to complete the FDA sections above, data from the different runs need to be combined …
Mar
15
Is it worth paying more for a “top 10” school? You get accepted to a private school / Ivy League that will cost a fortune. You’re also accepted by a public university which doesn’t have as good a reputation but costs much less. Does it matter which one you choose? One factor in your decision …