ABSTRACT
In the clinical application of genomic data analysis and modeling, a number of factors contribute to the performance of disease classification and clinical outcome prediction. This study focuses on the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) modeling strategy and its clinical use. Although KNN is simple and clinically appealing, large performance variations were found among experienced data analysis teams in the MicroArray Quality Control Phase II (MAQC-II) project. For clinical end points and controls from breast cancer, neuroblastoma and multiple myeloma, we systematically generated 463,320 KNN models by varying feature ranking method, number of features, distance metric, number of neighbors, vote weighting and decision threshold. We identified factors that contribute to the MAQC-II project performance variation, and validated a KNN data analysis protocol using a newly generated clinical data set with 478 neuroblastoma patients. We interpreted the biological and practical significance of the derived KNN models, and compared their performance with existing clinical factors.
Subject(s)
Models, Statistical , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis/statistics & numerical data , Animals , Biomarkers, Tumor , Brain Neoplasms/drug therapy , Brain Neoplasms/genetics , Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy , Breast Neoplasms/genetics , Disease-Free Survival , Endpoint Determination/statistics & numerical data , Female , Humans , Logistic Models , Multiple Myeloma/drug therapy , Multiple Myeloma/genetics , Neoplasm Staging , Neuroblastoma/drug therapy , Neuroblastoma/genetics , Predictive Value of Tests , Quality Control , Risk Assessment , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In cases of near-total ear avulsions, replantation is often successful without microsurgery. The purpose of our study was to investigate the relevant vascular anatomy associated for ear survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Four cases of successful surgical intervention in near-total ear avulsions are presented. Injection studies using latex were performed to identify the blood supply to the auricle on 13 cadaveric ears. RESULTS: A small superior branch of the superficial temporal artery above the tragus was identified extending along the upper border of the auricle and connecting with the helical arcade. Below the tragus, a second small horizontal branch of the superficial temporal artery was identified. CONCLUSION: The auricle can survive near-total amputation based on a skin bridge above or below the tragus. One of the auricular branches of the superficial temporal artery seems sufficient for the blood supply to the ear and allows for a successful non-microsurgical operative repair.
