Search results

BACKGROUND: Ghana's maternal mortality ratio remains high despite efforts made to meet Millennium Development Goal 5. A number of studies have been conducted on maternal mortality in Ghana; however, little is known about how the causes of maternal mortality are distributed in different socio-demographic subgroups. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess and analyse the causes of maternal mor

OBJECTIVE:: To assess the prognostic value of continuous amplitude-integrated electroencephalogram in comatose survivors after cardiac arrest and treated with hypothermia. DESIGN:: Prospective observational study. SETTING:: General intensive care unit at a university hospital. PATIENTS:: Comatose patients after cardiac arrest and treated with hypothermia. INTERVENTIONS:: Patients were sedated and

The last years blackouts have indicated that the operation and control of power systems may need to be improved. Even if a lot of data was available, the operators at different control centers did not take the proper actions in time to prevent the blackouts. This depends partly on the reorganization of the control centers after the deregulation and partly on the lack of reliable decision support s

Paleogeographic proximity of Baltica and Laurentia in the supercontinent Rodinia has been widely accepted. However, robust paleomagnetic poles are still scarce, hampering quantitative tests of proposed relative positions of the two cratons. A recent paleomagnetic study of the early Neoproterozoic Blekinge-Dalarna dolerite (BDD) dykes in Sweden provided a 946–935 Ma key pole for Baltica, but earlie

Objective To evaluate if obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) modifies the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and diabetic complications in a gender-specific fashion. Design and setting A longitudinal population-based study with up to 25-year follow-up data on 36 963 individuals (>500 000 person years) from three population-based cohorts: the FINRISK study, the Health 2000 Cohort Stud

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital cardiac abnormality, occurring in 1% to 2% of the general population. Adults with degenerative aortic valve (AV) disease have been shown to have an elliptical shaped AV annulus. The goal of this study was to investigate the shape of the aortic annulus in children with BAV, coarctation of the aorta (CoA) with or without BAV, and normal contr

Background: Vitamin D is crucial for mineralized tissue formation and immunological functions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between vitamin D status and dental status in healthy children with vitamin D supplementation in infancy and at 6 years of age. Method: Eight-year-old children who had participated in a vitamin D intervention project when they were 6 years old wer

Purpose: Leptin is an adipokine which regulates appetite and energy balance through a mechanism partially mediated by neurotensin (NT) in central nervous system. Besides acting as a neurotransmitter, NT is expressed in human intestine where it promotes fat absorption and its circulating levels associate with obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease. Whether a relation ex

At the southern margin of permafrost in North America, climate change causes widespread permafrost thaw. In boreal lowlands, thawing forested permafrost peat plateaus (‘forest’) lead to expansion of permafrost‐free wetlands (‘wetland’). Expanding wetland area with saturated and warmer organic soils is expected to increase landscape methane (CH4) emissions. Here, we quantify the thaw‐induced increa

Background: Both lifestyle and genetic predisposition determine the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D), and studies have indicated interactions between specific dietary components and individual genetic variants. However, it is unclear whether the importance of overall dietary habits, including T2D-related food intakes, differs depending on genetic predisposition to T2D. We examined interaction

Background: Stunting is one of the most serious and challenging public health problems in Ethiopia, which constitute a significant obstacle to achieving better child health outcomes. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with stunting among 6-12 years old children in Humbo district, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 633 children

Pleiotropic effects of spices on health, particularly on glucose metabolism and energy regulation, deserve further clinical investigation into their efficacy. The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether consumption of a black pepper-based beverage (BPB) preload containing 20 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) would exert any effect on postprandial glycaemia, appetite sensations, gut hormones

Tundra regions are projected to warm rapidly during the coming decades. The tundra biome holds the largest terrestrial carbon pool, largely contained in frozen permafrost soils. With warming, these permafrost soils may thaw and become available for microbial decomposition, potentially providing a positive feedback to global warming. Warming may directly stimulate microbial metabolism but may also

Objectives Concerns have been raised about poor-quality palliative care research and low publication rate from conference abstracts. The study objectives: to estimate the publication rate for European Association for Palliative Care research conference abstracts (2008) and explore associated characteristics and to understand reasons for non-publication. Methods Full published papers were searched

A particular focus in this paper is the delicate issue of possible over-production of European films, a situation which has either been spelled out or implied in a number of reports, chapters, books and doctoral dissertations on European cinema during the last decade. In a 2014 eight page briefing (referenced below), for instance, it was suggested that between 2001 and 2008 total investment in EU

The last two decades have seen a significant increase in the number and quality of cross-national measures of institutions, which are also covering longer and longer time spans. However, despite the considerable progress that has been made, important measurement issues linger. This chapter argues that the key future challenge for the measurement of institutions is how to square objective or direct

Hip geometry is an important predictor of fracture. We performed a meta-analysis of GWAS studies in adults to identify genetic variants that are associated with proximal femur geometry phenotypes. We analyzed four phenotypes: (i) femoral neck length; (ii) neck-shaft angle; (iii) femoral neck width, and (iv) femoral neck section modulus, est

Foot problems complicating diabetes are a source of major patient suffering and societal costs. To prevent, or at least reduce, the adverse effects of foot problems in diabetes, the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF; www.iwgdf.org) was founded in 1996, consisting of experts from almost all the disciplines involved in the care of patients with diabetes and foot problems. An im