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1. The European Water Framework Directive requires the determination of ecological status in European fresh and saline waters. This is to be through the establishment of a typology of surface water bodies, the determination of reference (high status) conditions in each element (ecotype) of the typology and of lower grades of status (good, moderate, poor and bad) for each ecotype. It then requires
BACKGROUND: Patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) may be at lower risk for ventricular arrhythmias compared with those with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM). In addition, DCM has been identified as a predictor of positive response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of an additional implantable cardioverter-defibr
Increased levels of intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) have been documented after surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) despite normocalcemia. The pathogenesis remains to be elucidated. Seventeen consecutive patients operated on for solitary parathyroid adenoma were investigated before and at 8 weeks and 1 year after surgery with serum levels of intact PTH, biochemical variables known to re
Selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (SRM-MS) -based semi-quantitation was performed to assess the validity of 46 selected candidate proteins for specifically diagnosing large-cell neuroendocrine lung carcinoma (LCNEC) and differentiating it from other lung cancer subtypes. The scaling method was applied in this study using specific SRM peak areas (AUCs) derived from the endogenous refer
Metal matrix composites are the desired materials in aerospace and automotive industries since they possess high specific strength. However addition of reinforcement to the matrix material brings the adverse effects of high wear rate of tool materials used in their machining. The current study addresses the issues of wear and performance of superhard tools when high speed machining cast Al-Si allo
BACKGROUND: Muscle weakness is the most common impairment in the upper extremity after stroke, leading to a reduced ability to use the arm and the hand in daily activities. Grip strength is easier to measure than precise, but more time-consuming, isokinetic and isometric arm muscle strength measurements. It would therefore be advantageous in a clinical setting if grip strength could be used as a p
In the present study, we applied a regularized inversion method to extract the particle size, magnetic moment and relaxation-time distribution of magnetic nanoparticles from small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), DC magnetization (DCM) and AC susceptibility (ACS) measurements. For the measurements the particles were colloidally dispersed in water. At first approximation the particles could be assume
Objective Improved diagnostic tools, timely closure of the shunt and a better understanding of the complexity of Eisenmenger syndrome (ES) have led to improved care and treatment in tertiary centres. These may have decreased the incidence of ES and improved survival of patients with ES, although evidence is still lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate temporal changes in incidence, prev
Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that is expected to double in prevalence due to demographic shifts. Value-based healthcare is a proposed strategy to improve outcomes and decrease costs. To move towards an actual value-based health care system, condition-specific outcomes that are meaningful to patients are essential. Objective: Propose a global con
Hiatella is one of the most widespread marine bivalve genera, occurring in diverse habitats from the temperate to polar latitudes in both hemispheres, and in fossil strata since almost 150 Myr ago. Despite variation in some biological and morphological traits, characters to resolve the current systematic structure consistently across the range of the genus are not known: all samples are often refe
The potential catastrophic event of a landslide bringing contaminants to surface waters has been highlighted in public media, but there are still few scientific studies analyzing the risk of landslides with contaminated soil. The aim of this study is to present a method to estimate the risk of potential long-term ecological effects on water bodies due to contaminated soil released into a river thr
The classical tachykinin substance P (SP) has numerous potent neuroimmunomodulatory effects on all kinds of airway functions. Belonging to a class of neuromediators targeting not only residential cells but also inflammatory cells, studying SP provides important information on the bidirectional linkage between how neural function affects inflammatory events and, in turn, how inflammatory responses
Objective: We endeavored to create a comprehensive course in global surgery involving multinational exchange. Design: The course involved 2 weeks of didactics, 2 weeks of clinical rotations in a low-resource setting and 1 week for a capstone project. We evaluated our success through knowledge tests, surveys of the students, and surveys of our Zimbabwean hosts. Setting: The didactic portions were h
In order to generate high-voltage high-pulsed power, klystron modulators necessarily contain at least one capacitor bank charging structure supplying the energy to be released during the pulse. Conventional charging structures are based on ac/dc front-end units typically based on diode rectifiers combined with power charging structures operated in on/off mode as a second stage, producing prohibiti
Aims: The study investigated whether regional differences in choice of coronary revascularization affected outcomes in Sweden.Methods and results: We conducted a prospective nationwide study of outcome in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG, n = 47 065) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, n = 140 945) from 2001 through 2011, tracked for a median of 5 years. During thi
Objective: There are few guidelines for clinical trials of interventions for prevention of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA), reflecting challenges in this area. An international multi-disciplinary expert group including patients was convened to generate points to consider for the design and conduct of interventional studies following acute knee injury. Design: An evidence review on acute knee
Kraft lignin is the main source of technically produced lignin. For the development of valuable products based on Kraft lignin, its molecular structure is important. However, the chemical composition of Kraft lignin is still not well known. So far, the analysis of Kraft lignin by mass spectrometry (MS) has been mainly focused on monomeric compounds. Previous MS studies on lignin oligomers (LOs) co
In an anonymous 4-person economic game, participants contributed more money to a common project (i.e., cooperated) when required to decide quickly than when forced to delay their decision (Rand, Greene & Nowak, 2012), a pattern consistent with the social heuristics hypothesis proposed by Rand and colleagues. The results of studies using time pressure have been mixed, with some replication atte
PurposeTo estimate Swedish experience-based value sets for EQ-5D health states using general population health survey data.MethodsApproximately 45,000 individuals valued their current health status by means of time trade off (TTO) and visual analogue scale (VAS) methods and answered the EQ-5D questionnaire, making it possible to model the association between the experience-based TTO and VAS values
Background: Cohort studies have revealed an increased risk for ventricular fibrillation (VF) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). In this study, we hypothesized that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) previously associated with AF may be associated with the risk of VF caused by first ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods: We investigate
