In general, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC's) are designed to assess consistency or conformity between two or more quantitative measurements. They are claimed to handle a wide range of problems, including questions of reliability, reproducibility and validity. It is shown that care must be taken in choosing a suitable ICC with respect to the underlying sampling theory. For this purpose a decision tree is developed. It may be used to choose a coefficient which is appropriate for a specific study setting. We demonstrate that different ICC's may result in quite different values for the same data set, even under the same sampling theory. Other general limitations of ICC's are also addressed. Potential alternatives are presented and discussed, and some recommendations are given for the use of an appropriate method.

BackgroundEvidence for an increase in the prevalence of eating disorders is inconsistent. Our aim was to determine change in the population point prevalence of eating disorder behaviors over a 10-year period.Methodology/Principal FindingsEating disorder behaviors were assessed in consecutive general population surveys of men and women conducted in 1995 (n = 3001, 72% respondents) and 2005 (n = 3047, 63.1% respondents). Participants were randomly sampled from households in rural and metropolitan South Australia. There was a significant (all p<0.01) and over two-fold increase in the prevalence of binge eating, purging (self-induced vomiting and/or laxative or diuretic misuse) and strict dieting or fasting for weight or shape control among both genders. The most common diagnosis in 2005 was either binge eating disorder or other “eating disorders not otherwise specified” (EDNOS; n = 119, 4.2%).Conclusions/SignificanceIn this population sample the point prevalence of eating disorder behaviors increased over the past decade. Cases of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, as currently defined, remain uncommon.

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Purpose: To analyze the prognostic relevance and relative impact of circulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and regulatory T cells (Treg) compared with functional tumor antigen-specific T cells in patients with melanoma with distant metastasis.Experimental Design:Tregs, and the presence of NY-ESO-1-or Melan-A-specific T cells was analyzed in 94 patients and validated in an additional cohort of 39 patients by flow cytometry. Univariate survival differences were calculated according to Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests. Multivariate analyses were performed using Cox regression models.Results: NY-ESO-1-specific T cells, the M-category, and the frequency of MDSCs were associated with survival. The absence of NY-ESO-1-specific T cells and the M-category M1c independently increased the risk of death. In a second Cox model not considering results on antigen-specific T cells, a frequency of >11% MDSCs showed independent impact. Its association with survival was confirmed in the additional patient cohort. Median survival of patients with a lower frequency of MDSCs was 13 months versus 8 months for others (P < 0.001, combined cohorts). We observed a strong correlation between high levels of MDSCs and the absence of melanoma antigen-specific T cells implying a causal and clinically relevant interaction. No prognostic impact was observed for Tregs.Conclusions: Circulating CD14 þ CD11b þ HLA-DR À/low MDSCs have a negative impact on survival and inversely correlate with the presence of functional antigen-specific T cells in patients with advanced melanoma. Our findings provide a rationale to investigate MDSC-depleting strategies in the therapeutic setting especially in combination with vaccination or T-cell transfer approaches.