Background: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has replaced axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) as the standard axillary staging procedure in breast cancer. Follow-up studies in SLN-negative women treated without ALND report low rates of axillary recurrence, but most studies have short follow-up, and few are multicentre studies. Methods: Between September 2000 and January 2004, patients who were S

Background: The haem-binding protein alpha(1)-microglobulin (alpha(1)m) is involved in protection against oxidative damage induced by extracellular haem/haemoglobin. A carboxy-terminally truncated form of alpha(1)m (t-alpha(1)m), formed by reactions with haemoglobin, degrades haem into a yellow-brown chromophore linked to the protein. The aim of this work was to investigate if t-alpha(1) in is pre

Emersonella curculiovora sp. nov. ( Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is described from the Central Valley in Costa Rica. The species is diagnosed and compared to other species in the genus. It was reared from eggs of an undescribed species of Camptocheirus ( Coleoptera: Curculionidae), from stems of Cinnamomum cinnamomifolium ( Lauraceae). The parasitoid is mainly solitary, but occasionally two individual

The bulking index (i.e. the increase in faecal fresh weight in gram per gram indigestible carbohydrate ingested) with oligofructose and inulin is similar to that produced with other easily fermented fibres such as pectins and gums. Most studies in man have been performed at a level of 15 g/d and more investigations on lower intakes are needed to appoint the least intake for an effect. Concerning s

In their seminal work, Im et al. (1997, 2003) suggested that time series for several cross-sectional units could be used to increase the power of the Dickey-Fuller unit root test. They argued that when cross-sectional correlation is a problem that can be modelled by a time-specific factor, demeaning across the cross-sectional units can solve the problem. In this study, this proposition is proven v

BACKGROUND: This clinical study aimed at investigating the impact of postoperative thoracic epidural analgesia on extracellular glycerol concentration and glucose metabolism in subcutaneous adipose tissue, using the microdialysis technique. The sympathetic nervous activity, which can be attenuated by epidural anesthesia, influences lipolysis and the release of glycerol. METHODS: Fourteen patients

Objective. To study one aspect of the development of primary care research from 1975 to 2003. Design. Quantitative bibliometric study. Setting. Pub Med database. Subjects. Four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), seven countries from the rest of Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK), and seven countries from the rest of the world (Austral

Rheumatoid arthritis as well as collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) is thought to involve T cell autoimmunity of the Th1 type and the Th2 cytokine IL-4 has been proposed to play a suppressive role. To exclude a possible skewing role of the mycobacteria used in the complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) we induced CIA with type II collagen (CII) in incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA). Ourresults show that IL

Low-density polethylene disks with smooth or course surfaces were implanted in the abdominal wall of rats, and the tissue response was evaluated after 1, 6, or 12 weeks. Cell damage was detected by two different methods. Cells with increased membrane permeability could be identified using fluorescence microscopy by injection of propidium iodide prior to the killing of the rats. Second, cell death

This paper introduces a new algorithmic technique for solving certain problems in geometric computer vision. The main novelty of the method is a branch-and-bound search over rotation space, which is used in this paper to determine camera orientation. By searching over all possible rotations, problems can be reduced to known fixed-rotation problems for which optimal solutions have been previously g

A fundamental assumption of theories of the ecology and evolution of inducible defences is that protective responses to attacks by parasites or predators should not only have benefits, but also costs. The vertebrate immune system is by far the best studied example of an inducible defence, yet little is known about the costs of an immune response, especially in natural populations. To test: if an i

Decision-making in the European Union is subject to the risk of negotiation failure, because of governments' incentives to conceal their true preferences. This article argues that the EU Presidency possesses a set of informational and procedural resources that can help unlock incompatible negotiating positions and secure efficient agreements, while simultaneously allowing the government in office

Group B Neisseria meningitidis is a human pathogen, for which a universally effective vaccine is still not available. Immune responses to bacteria are initiated by dendritic cells (DC), which internalize and process bacterial antigens for presentation to T cells. We show here that optimal IL-12 and TNF-alpha production by human monocyte derived DC in response to killed serogroup B N. meningitidis

In vitro studies suggest that the G protein-coupled receptor GPR30 is a functional estrogen receptor. However, the physiological role of GPR30 in vivo is unknown, and it remains to be determined if GPR30 is an estrogen receptor also in vivo. To this end, we studied the effects of disrupting the GPR30 gene in female and male mice. Female GPR30((-/-)) mice had hyperglycemia and impaired glucose tole

Deadwood is a key indicator for assessing policy and management impacts on forest biodiversity. We developed an approach to include deadwood in the large-scale European Forest Information Scenario (EFISCEN) model and analysed impacts of intensifying forest biomass removal on the amount and type of deadwood in forests of 24 European Union member states. In EFISCEN, deadwood consists of standing and

5-fluorouracil (5FU) and mitomycin C (MMC)-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is standard treatment for anal squamous cell carcinoma. In this phase I study cetuximab was added and the primary aim was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of 5FU and MMC in this combination.

This article offers an empirical example of how power and rationality interact in coastal resource planning and management and reveals their implications for meaningful public participation in such processes. Participation has gained significant popularity over the last decades especially regarding the need to develop appropriate and democratic opportunities for meaningful public involvement in re