vary among families carrying mutations across the four ankyrin repeats.
English translation: See restructured sentence.
| 01:06 Nov 13, 2005 |
| English language (monolingual) [PRO] Medical - Genetics / grammar/syntax | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: Michael Barnett Local time: 18:01 | ||||||
Grading comment
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| SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED | ||||
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| 4 +5 | See restructured sentence. |
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| 3 | PC cases have been found to be unevenly distributed among families.... |
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| Discussion entries: 1 | |
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Answers
8 hrs confidence: 
PC cases have been found to be unevenly distributed among families.... Explanation: I (not a native speaker, but then medical articles are not intended for native English speakers only) take your sentence to mean that in a "population" (statistical term) of "n" PC cases, >30% occurred in families with mutations in domains 3 and 4, >10% in families with mutations in domains 1 and 2, and the rest in families with no mutation in such domains. Let me add, however, that if this is the intended meaning I'd need to know about the absolute number of families (and of family members) to be able to assess the information (and I should be able to find the info as near as possible). Saying that 10% of, say, coffee drinkers in country X are Italian is only meaningful if I know whether Italians in country X are 1% or 90%... Comparing frequency data among groups, in fact, is meaningful only if the numerosity of such groups is taken into account (and here we should know numbers both for families and individuals, and the point should propbably be discused somewhere). The above, if the starting point of the analysis is a "population" of cases; if the starting point is a "population" is families (or people), of course, the sentence should be rephrased, IMO, as Michael suggests. |
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13 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +5
peer agreement (net): +5See restructured sentence. Explanation: The incidence of pancreatic cancer (PC) has been found to vary according to the type of the four ankyrin mutations (found in these families). -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 20 mins (2005-11-13 01:26:20 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- OR... The incidence of pancreatic cancer (PC) has been found to vary according to which of the four ankyrin domains have been affected by the mutation. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 25 mins (2005-11-13 01:31:33 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Note that it is not the "distribution" that varies, it is the incidence (or prevalance, a somewhat different but related concept) that varies. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 15 hrs 48 mins (2005-11-13 16:54:44 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Note to Alfredo: I think it is clear from the source text that the "population" is a sample of families with a mutation in at least one of the four ankyrin domains, not the general population. On studying the text again, I think it is also clear that the "frequency" mentioned is indeed the "prevalence" of PC among this population. To make this more explicit, I would modify my suggestion as follows: Among families with a mutation of the ankyrin domains, the prevalance of pancreatic cancer (PC) has been found to vary according to which of the four domains has been affected by the mutation. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 hrs 14 mins (2005-11-13 17:20:44 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- The corollary to Alfredo's question of course, is "What is the relative frequency of mutations among the four domains?" Does pancreatic cancer occur at three times the rate among mutations of domains three and four (compared to domains one and two) because mutations there are more carcinogenic, or simply because mutations in doamins three and four are three times more common than in domains one and two? |
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