The pancreatic remnant (PR) corresponding to the body and tail is best assessed using an oblique-coronal plane (Fig. 2).
However, atrophy is best assessed using two time points, therefore the absence of associations between atrophy and tCBF should be replicated in a longitudinal study.
Thus, OGTT-induced levels of incretins, compared to glucose, may exert more prolonged effects on the β-cell which are best assessed using indices covering the entire OGTT period.
Nutritional status is best assessed using a combination of measures on a regular basis as recommended by national guidelines [ 6].
The global rating items were best assessed using a four-category response format, as in the VF&QOL questionnaire, given its high range and even categories.
Although the two former variables are best assessed using workers as study units, efficiency requires managers or employers as study units.
The effects of such variables are best assessed using the methods that have been established for examining small area variation; this was beyond the scope of the current study.
Contextual factors are best assessed using methods that engage diverse perspectives, consider multiple levels, consider changes over time, look at both formal and informal systems and culture, and assess interactions between contextual factors and process and outcomes measures [ 24], all of which are hallmarks of ethnography.
The motor component is possibly best assessed using simple reaction time tasks and free Tapping tasks in which timing is minimized.
It can be estimated using an in vitro phantom (Kärrholm et al. 1997, Ryd et al. 2000, Onsten et al. 2001, Börlin et al. 2002, Bragdon et al. 2002, Makinen et al. 2004, Von Schewelov et al. 2004) but, since random effects are brought into play for each particular radiographic set-up and each patient, it is best assessed from patient radiographs using the "double-examination" technique.
