MétaCan
← all works

Comparison of a Manual and an Automated Method to Estimate the Number of Uterine Eggs in Anisakid Nematodes: To Coulter or Not to Coulter. Is That the Question?

2007· article· en· 5 citations· W2139542370 on OpenAlex· 10.1645/ge-974r.1

Why is this work in the frame?

A frame that forgets how it found something cannot be audited. These are the routes that admitted this work.

Canadian affiliationAn author listed a Canadian institution. This is the only route the usual frame has.

The three-model screen

all 1,000 screened works →

1 of 3 models called this metaresearch. This work is contested: it sits on the field's empirical boundary, and whether it counts depends on which model you asked. It is one of the 51 works in the disagreement dossier.

stratum: aff_core · design weight: 5595.24 (the sample is stratified; any rate computed without the weight is wrong)
Claude Opus 4.8OUT
genre: empirical
about Canada: no
confidence: medium

Comparison of two laboratory techniques for counting nematode eggs; this is assay/measurement validation within parasitology, the polysemy trap the rubric flags, not a study of research practice.

GPT-5.6 (high)T1
genre: empirical
about Canada: no
confidence: medium

The primary object is a comparison of two research measurement methods and their precision, although it is narrowly domain-specific.

Grok 4.5OUT
genre: empirical
about Canada: no
confidence: high

Compares laboratory egg-counting techniques in parasitology; domain measurement methods, not research practice as object.

Abstract

Studies reporting numbers of eggs in vagina and utero in nematodes often give little information of the technique used for the estimations. This situation hampers comparison among studies, because, so far, differences in estimations provided by different techniques have not been assessed. This note examines whether a manual method based on visual counts in aliquots and an automated method using a Coulter counter yield equivalent estimations of egg numbers in vagina and utero of 3 anisakid nematode species (Anisakis simplex, Pseudoterranova decipiens, and Contracaecum osculatum). The number of eggs from 50 females per nematode species was estimated using both techniques. The automated and manual methods yielded similar egg counts (correlation coefficients >0.9 in the 3 species), but the methods were not always statistically equivalent. The automated method was more precise and seemed less dependent on egg density, whereas the manual method was less time-consuming (contrary to previous perceptions) and less expensive. Despite the higher precision of automated counts, the manual technique seemed to produce similar estimates; thus, it may be particularly useful in developing countries where nematode parasitism is prevalent in humans and domestic animals, but scientific resources are limited.

Stored with the screening record, where it is evidence for the labels above.

The record

Venue
Journal of Parasitology
Topic
Parasite Biology and Host Interactions
Field
Environmental Science
Canadian institutions
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Funders
Keywords
BiologyNematodeCoulter counterAnisakis simplexHelminthsZoologyEcologyLarva
Has abstract in OpenAlex
yes