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Group testing involves discovering a small subset of distinguished subjects from a large population while efficiently reducing the total number of tests. It has been widely used for industrial testing, information technology, and biology, especially epidemic screening. Tests, in reality, are noisy for the presence of false outcomes. Some tests are accurate but time-consuming, while others are cheaper but less accurate. Exactly which test to use is constrained by various considerations, such as availability, cost, accuracy, and efficiency. In this paper, we propose flexible, efficient, and accurate tests (FEATs). FEATs are based on group testing with simple but careful designs by incorporating ideas such as close contact cliques and repeated tests. FEATs could dramatically improve the efficiency or accuracy of existing tests. For example, for accurate but slow tests, the FEAT can improve efficiency multiple times without compromising accuracy. On the other hand, for fast but inaccurate tests, the FEAT can sharply reduce the false-negative rate (FNR) and significantly increase efficiency. Theoretical justifications are provided. We point out some scenarios where the FEAT can be effectively employed. © Science China Press 2024.

Nurses and patient in the Nha Trang hospital. One man is seated at a table while a nurse takes his blood., Acetate negatives; Safety film negatives, 35 mm, Title supplied by staff.

High rates of Campylobacter fluoroquinolone resistance highlight the need to evaluate diagnostic strategies that can be used to assist with clinical management. Diagnostic tests were evaluated with U.S. soldiers presenting with acute diarrhea during deployment in Thailand. The results of bedside and field laboratory diagnostic tests were compared to stool microbiology findings for 182 enrolled patients. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from 62% of the cases. Clinical and laboratory findings at the time of presentation were evaluated to determine their impact on the posttest probability, defined as the likelihood of a diagnosis of Campylobacter infection. Clinical findings, the results of tests for inflammation (stool occult blood testing [Hemoccult], fecal leukocytes, fecal lactoferrin, plasma C-reactive protein), and the numbers of Campylobacter-specific antibodysecreting cells in peripheral blood failed to increase the posttest probability above 90% in this setting of Campylobacter hyperendemicity when these findings were present. Positive results by a Campylobacter-specific commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and, less so, a research PCR were strong positive predictors. The negative predictive value for ruling out Campylobacter infection, defined as a posttest probability of less than 10%, was similarly observed with these Campylobacter-specific stool-based tests as well the fecal leukocyte test. Compared to the other tests evaluated, the Campylobacter EIA is a sensitive and specific rapid diagnostic test that may assist with diagnostic evaluation, with consideration of the epidemiological setting, logistics, and cost., The original document contains color images. Pub. in Journal of Clinical Microbiology, v46 n4, p1418-1425, Apr 2008.

A newspaper clipping from the Springfield Student newspaper titled "Blood Specialist Resumes S.C. teaching post. The article is dated October 15, 1965. It talks about Dr. Harry M. Smith's return to Springfield College to teach classes. It also talks about the work that he had done in the middle east in studying the population's blood characterists of the population. There is a portrait photograph of him as well., Harry M. Smith was a noted blood specialist, specializing in genetics in the Middle East. Specifically he was studying and classifying what was termed "Population Genetics" or the blood charateristics of a given community or peoples. He was a professor at Springfield College from 1962 until 1968. Much of the time he spent over in Beruit, Labanon in a laboratory supported by an NIH grant.

This academic article is reprinted from the Journal of the Medical Society of New Jersey, and was originally published in 1935 by John H. Irwin, M.D., attending surgeon at Englewood Hospital in Englewood, N.J. Irwin's article describes the efficacy of predicting post-operative shock with the Crampton Test. The Crampton Test, developed by Charles Ward Crampton (May 26, 1877 - 1964), evaluates "the gravity resisting ability" of circulation using a sphygmomanometer. It represents an index which is high in persons exhibiting sound health and low in persons exhibiting poor health. The second page has three charts. The first compares heart rate to blood pressure when the patient is standing and lying down. The second lists the total number of cases by type of surgery. The final chart is an analysis of deaths by cause, surgery, Crampton Value, age, and time between surgery and death. The article concludes that the Crampton Test will, most times, successfully predict patients who are likely to die of post-operative shock. With this conclusion, he advises doctors to use digitalis to increase their patient's Crampton Value and to forgo surgery if the value remains low. The text ends on page three, with page four showing the fifth chart and a brief list of references. The fifth chart examines typical cases not digitalized before operations, lists the operations themselves, the Crampton Value of the patients, and the results. Crampton first described his test in an article titled "Blood Ptosis: A Test of Vasomotor Efficiency," published in the New York Medical Journal. The Crampton Test was excluded from Guy Montrose Whipple's 1910 "Manual of Mental and Physical Tests," replaced in this volume by the spirometer test., For a biography of C. Ward Crampton, see: https://springfield.as.atlas-sys.com/agents/people/551, There are two duplicates (ms510-01-b-02-10-015, ms510-01-b-02-10-016). The first two (014, 015) are more fragile than the third. All three have horizontal creases from having been folded in half as well as thirds. 014 is less faded than the other two, but all show some wear. Across the top of 014 are the words: "Please return to C. Ward Crampton, M.D. 1035 Park Avenue, NY 28."

This glass negative shows the changes in blood pressure and pulse in four situations: before exercise and strength routine, during exercise and strength routine, before exercise and speed routine, and after exercise and speed routine. It is part of a series demonstrating the benefits of the International YMCA Training School (now known as Springfield College) education for both physical directors and secretaries of YMCA facilities. The graph was painted onto a long piece of paper and suspended from a blackboard.

This photograph shows Dr. Peter V. Karpovich, a physiology professor at Springfield College, sitting in front of a table covered with equipment. On his left is Laurence Morehouse (assistant in physiology) and on his right is Lester Hawke (student). The three are designing a test to measure sugar content in blood., For more information on Peter V. Karpovich, see: https://springfield.as.atlas-sys.com/agents/people/571