There is no consensus on the appropriate cut-off level for the ratio between forced expiratory volume and vital capacity (FEV1/VC) for the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Application of a fixed ratio of 0.7 carries the risk of false positive diagnoses in elderly subjects and false negative diagnoses in younger subjects. The use of the lower limit of normal (LLN) of an in

The proto-oncogene SKI is highly expressed in human myeloid leukemia and also in murine hematopoietic stem cells. However, its operative relevance in these cells remains elusive. We have over-expressed SKI to define its intrinsic role in hematopoiesis and myeloid neoplasms, which resulted in a robust competitive advantage upon transplantation, a complete dominance of the stem and progenitor compar

Tabulations of binary systematic and nonsystematic polynomial convolutional encoders with an optimum distance profile for rate 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 are given. The reported encoders are found by computer searches that optimize over the weight spectra. The free distances for rate 1/3 and 1/4 are compared with Heller's (1968) and Griesmer's (1960) upper bounds

Background and Objectives Thiopentone, a short-acting barbiturate, has been introduced as premedication for intubation in newborn infants. The objectives of this study were to assess the pharmacokinetics of thiopentone in newborn infants, and to unravel whether placental transfer of the drug should be taken into account if administered to infants exposed to it during delivery. Methods Plasma conce

Accounting based measures of exposure to macroeconomic shocks in exchange rates, interest rates and inflation do not capture the economic effects on the corporation of such shocks. We suggest measures that conceptually are coefficients in a multiple regression. The coefficients capture the sensitivity of a firm's real value or cash flows to unanticipated changes in each variable holding other vari

Background: Walking and cycling to school could be an important regular source of physical activity in growing children. The aim of this 12 months prospective observational study was thus to evaluate the effect of self-transportation to school on bone mineral accrual and gain in bone width in pre-pubertal children, both traits independently contributing to bone strength. Methods: Ninety-seven girl

Microvascular dysfunction in the brain, characterized by vasoconstriction, vascular occlusion, and disruption of the blood brain barrier, may adversely affect outcome following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Because of its vasodilating and antiaggregative properties, nitric oxide (NO) produced by nitric oxide synthase in the endothelium (eNOS) is a key regulator of vascular homeostasis. The objecti

The article examines the benevolence that young people who use wheelchairs encounter from unknown people. Benevolence is considered as a form of compassion that hides contempt for what is perceived as deviant from the norm. By using Sartre’s idea of the stickiness of matter and Young’s concept of ascribed identities, benevolence is also being studied as something that turns into internalized self-

The recently introduced time-resolved technique for enhanced medical transillumination imaging has been demonstrated for the important case of a diode laser transmitter. This type of gated-viewing technique utilizes early received light only to reject multiply scattered, delayed light, normally blurring the image. Human breast-cancer detection is demonstrated in vitro, and the observations are exp