No abstract

This paper complements the results of (Andresen and Spokoiny, 2014) on profile estimators in semiparametric models. We present two examples. One that illustrates that the smoothness constraint on the expected value of the contrast functional used to define the profile M-estimator is necessary for the bound derived for the critical ratio of dimension to sample size. A second one to show that in the case that the target dimension is proportional to the full dimension the critical ratio for the Fisher type result stays the same while for the Wilks phenomenon it is multiplied with the square root of the full dimension, just as in the upper bound in (Andresen and Spokoiny, 2014). = maxυ∈Υ : Π 0 υ=θ L(υ).

Purpose: To develop a self-administered diagnostic screening questionnaire for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) consisting of items with high content validity and to investigate the diagnostic value of the questionnaire and the items. Patients and Methods: A self-reported diagnostic LSS screening questionnaire was developed based on items from the existing literature describing key symptoms of LSS. The screening questionnaire (index test) was to be tested in a cohort of patients with persistent lumbar and/or leg pain recruited from a Danish publicly funded outpatient secondary care spine clinic with clinicians performing the reference test. However, to avoid unnecessary collection of data if the screening questionnaire proved to be of limited value, a case-control design was incorporated into the cohort design including an interim analysis. Additional cases for the case-control study were recruited at two Danish publicly funded spine surgery departments. Prevalence, sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio (OR) were calculated for each individual item, and AUC (area under the curve) was calculated to examine the performance of the full questionnaire. Results: A 13-item Danish questionnaire was developed and tested in 153 cases and 230 controls. The interim analysis was not in favour of continuing the cohort study, and therefore, only results from the case-control study are reported. There was a positive association for all items except the presence of back pain. However, the association was only moderate with ORs up to 3.3. When testing the performance of the whole questionnaire, an AUC of 0.72 was reached with a specificity of 20% for a fixed sensitivity of 95%. Conclusion: The items were associated with LSS and therefore have some potential to identify LSS patients. However, the association was not strong enough to provide sufficient accuracy for a diagnostic tool. Additional dimensions of symptoms of LSS need identification to obtain a reliable questionnaire for screening purposes.

Eyes with a well-controlled intraocular pressure following trabeculectomy seem to have a favorable prognosis after subsequent cataract surgery. Eyes with qualified success or failure before cataract surgery have a slight chance of improvement in intraocular pressure control. Cataract surgery had no markedly negative effect on the intraocular pressure overall. Performing trabeculectomy and cataract surgery at different times may still be a feasible option as opposed to combined procedures.