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Background Peer review is important to the scientific process. However, the present system has been criticised and accused of bias, lack of transparency, failure to detect significant breakthrough and error. At the British Journal of Surgery (BJS), after surveying authors' and reviewers' opinions on peer review, we piloted an open online forum with the aim of improving the peer review process. Met
S100 protein is a marker for brain damage easily analysed in blood. The serum level immediatly after termination of extracorporeal circulation (ECC) is increased and associated to age and the duration of perfusion. A prolonged residual concentration indicates cellular brain damage. The objective of this study was to ascertain if the prognosis of individual patients, with stroke following ECC, coul
We consider designing demodulators for linear vector channels that use reduced-size trellis descriptions for the received signal. We assume an iterative receiver and use interference cancellation (IC) with soft-information provided by an outer decoder to mitigate the signal part that is not covered by a reduced-size trellis description. In order to reach a trellis description, a linear filter is a
The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) is an international study aiming to investigate associations between dietary and other environmental factors and the risk of developing islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes. Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-h recall and repeated 3-day food records and analyzed using country-specific food composition databases (FCDBs) in Finlan
β-1,4-Galactosyltransferase 7 (β4GalT7) is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains. Natural and synthetic xylosides can be used to both inhibit and prime GAG synthesis by acting as inhibitors or substrates for β4GalT7. In this report, we exploit hydroxylated oxanes as deoxygenated xyloside analogs to clarify the minimum protein-ligand interactions required for galactosyl
Neurological disorders are among the main clinical problems affecting preterm children and often result in the development of communication and learning disabilities later in life. Several factors are of importance for brain development, however the role of immunoglobulins (passive immunity transfer) has not yet been investigated. Piglets are born agammaglobulinemic, as a result of the lack of tra
A number of studies have analysed how multinational enterprises (MNEs) develop appropriate strategies for managing the institutionally different contexts of various markets. However, we still know rather little about how MNEs manage different institutional pressures when they operate in emerging markets. These markets have a higher level of uncertainty as their values and structures undergo change
CTLA-4 is important to down-regulating T cell responses and has been implicated in type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus in both linkage and association studies. The aim of our study was to relate the polymorphic (AT)(n) microsatellite in the 3' untranslated sequence of the CTLA-4 gene to diabetes risk. We studied 616 consecutively diagnosed 0-34 year-old Swedish patients and 502 matched co
BACKGROUND - Multiple laboratory tests are used to diagnose and manage patients with diabetes mellitus. The quality of the scientific evidence supporting the use of these tests varies substantially. APPROACH - An expert committee compiled evidence-based recommendations for the use of laboratory testing for patients with diabetes. A newsystemwas developed to grade the overall quality of the evidenc
Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a common human pathogen and the etiologic agent of a large number of diseases ranging from mild, self-limiting infections to invasive life-threatening conditions. Two prominent virulence factors of this bacterium are the genetically and functionally linked pore-forming toxin streptolysin O (SLO) and its cotoxin NAD+-glycohydrolase (NADase). Overexpression of these to
This study is considering turbocharger turbine performance at "on-engine" conditions with respect to turbine design variables and exhaust manifold volume. The highly unsteady nature of the internal combustion engine will result in a very wide range of turbine operation, far from steady flow conditions. As most turbomachinery design work is conducted at steady state, the influence of the chosen tur
Background: In low- and middle-income countries, there is a gap between the need for surgery and its equitable provision, and a lack of proxy indicators to estimate this gap. Sierra Leone is a West African country with close to three million children. It is unknown to what extent the surgical needs of these children are met. Aim: To describe a nationwide provision of pediatric surgical procedures
Background: Proliferative diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of visual impairment in working-age adults worldwide. Panretinal photocoagulation is a cornerstone in its management; however, it may include a range of side effects and complications, one of these being serous retinal detachment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the use of intravitreal injection of bevacizuma
Lungs represent the essential part of the mammalian respiratory system, which is reflected in the fact that lung failure still is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Establishing the connection between macroscopic observations of inspiration and expiration and the processes taking place at the microscopic scale remains crucial to understand fundamental physiological and
The aim of model calibration is to estimate unique parameter values from available experimental data, here applied to a biocatalytic process. The traditional approach of first gathering data followed by performing a model calibration is inefficient, since the information gathered during experimentation is not actively used to optimize the experimental design. By applying an iterative robust model-
