A significant percentage of young children present cardiac murmurs. However, only one percent of them are caused by a congenital heart defect; others are physiological. Auscultation of the heart is still the primary diagnostic tool for judging the type of cardiac murmur. An automated system for an initial recording and analysis of the cardiac sounds could enable the primary care physicians to make

Objective: High fractions of inspired oxygen (FIO2) used in acute lung injury (ALI) may promote resorption atelectasis. The impact of derecruitment related to high FIO2 in ALI is debated. We evaluated derecruitment with 100% vs. 60% FIO2 at two levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). Patients: Fourteen consecutive patients with ALI were studied. Interventions: Recruited volume at two PE

An efficient adaptive optics (AO) simulation code was developed, which enables first-order simulations of extremely high-order systems. The Monte-Carlo-type code employs a sparse conjugate gradient algorithm for wavefront reconstruction, and a separation of spatial frequencies into two domains to economize on the number crunching. High-order multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) systems are there

Nematophagous fungi are soil-living fungi that are used as biological control agents of plant and animal parasitic nematodes. Their potential could be improved by genetic engineering, but the lack of information about the molecular background of the infection has precluded this development. In this paper we report that a subtilisin-like extracellular serine protease designated PII is an important

Interactions between foragers may seriously affect individual foraging efficiency. In a laboratory study of handling time, prey value and prey-size prefer ence in northern pike and signal crayfish, we show that risk of intraspecific interactions between predators does not affect handling time or value of prey. However, the presence of agonistic intraspecific interactors shifts prey-size preference

P>The coordination of swallowing and respiration is essential for a safe swallow. Swallowing consists of several subsecond events. To study this, it is important to use modalities with high temporal resolution. In this study, we have examined young healthy individuals with simultaneous videofluoroscopy, videomanometry and respiratory recording, all with high temporal resolution. The onset of 13 pr

INTRODUCTION: Analogues of vitamin A have been shown to influence growth of malignant tissue, such as pancreatic cancer. AIMS: To study the expression of retinoic acid receptors (RAR) in pancreatic cancer cells and the effect of three different retinoids on the cell number in vitro were studied. METHODOLOGY: Cell lines were established from 13 patients who underwent surgery for pancreatic adenocar

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the signs, symptoms and changes in the vaginal milieu that could be associated with cervical human papillomavirus infection (CHPI). STUDY DESIGN: Women (n = 972) attending for contraceptive advice were tested for human papillomavirus in cervical samples. Results of gynecological history, examination, and vaginal wet smear findings were compared between CHPI patients and

Purpose: Longitudinal prospective study before, during and after normal pregnancy of the effect of short-term submaximal exercise on maternal oxygen saturation. Methods: Fourteen healthy women were recruited to the study before a planned pregnancy, and were followed seven times during the pregnancy and for up to 6 month after delivery. A submaximal bicycle exercise test with a target heart rate of

A novel approach for boosting antimicrobial peptides through end tagging with hydrophobic oligopeptide stretches is demonstrated. Focusing on two peptides derived from kininogen, GKHKNKGKKNGKHNGWK (GKH17) and HKHGHGHGKHKNKGKKN (HKH17), tagging resulted in enhanced killing of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative Escherichia coli, and fungal Candida albicans. Microbicidal potency incre

The present study had two aims: (1) to investigate potential differences in proportion of myosin heavy chain isoforms in the trapezius muscle between female cleaners with and without trapezius myalgia and healthy teachers, and (2) to elucidate if myosin heavy chain composition and surface electromyogram (EMG) during an isokinetic endurance test of shoulder flexors are significantly related. The su

Cutting edge deteriorations are attributed to higher mechanical and thermal stresses working on it during metal cutting. However, the stress estimation is a difficult task, especially when on-line estimation is desired. This paper presents a new approach for cutting edge mechanical stress estimation and load simulation. The approach can be applied in the implementation of on-line stress estimation

The ionizable amino acid side chains of proteins are usually located at the surface. However, in some proteins an ionizable group is embedded in an apolar internal region. Such buried ionizable groups destabilize the protein and may trigger conformational changes in response to pH variations. Because of the prohibitive energetic cost of transferring a charged group from water to an apolar medium,

The initial phase of inflammation in bronchial asthma appears to be triggered by the expression of leucocyte-endothelial adhesion molecules on endothelial cell surfaces. Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) cause adhesion of leucocytes to the endothelium prior to their subsequent extravasation into inflamed tissue. We wanted to determine whether circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (cICAM-1) an

Epithelial shedding occurs in health and, extensively, in inflammatory airway diseases. This study describes deepithelialisation, reepithelialisation and associated events in guinea-pig trachea after shedding-like epithelial denudation in vivo. Mechanical deepithelialisation of an 800-microns wide tracheal zone was carried out using an orotracheal steel probe without bleeding or damage to the base

Lack of knowledge prevents us from exactly calculating the behavior of electromagnetic fields. We study two extremes in this respect: scattering against randomly distributed particles ( no idea of the position or orientation of the scatterers), and random errors in antenna technology ( small deviations from what we think are the proper parameters). Random variables are used to model our lack of kn

The interaction between composite colloidal particles composed of a spherical core and grafted AB-diblock polyampholytes (diblock copolymers with oppositely charged blocks) are investigated by using a coarse-grained model solved with Monte Carlo simulations. The B block is end-grafted onto the core of the colloid and its linear charge density is varied, whereas the linear charge density of the A b