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BACKGROUND: Live vaccines including BCG and measles may have non-targeted beneficial effects on childhood survival in areas with high mortality. The authors therefore undertook a survey of vaccinia scars to evaluate subsequent mortality. SUBJECTS: Based on a population census, a cohort of 1893 adults in urban Guinea-Bissau was examined in 1998 and followed until 2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: All cau
New radiative lifetimes of eight levels in Pr III have been measured using the time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence method. A tunable frequency-doubled dye laser with 1-ns pulse duration was used to excite selectively doubly ionized praseodymium in a laser-produced plasma. The experimental results agree generally well with theoretical data, provided core-polarization effects are considered in
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: To study the heritability and familiality of type 2 diabetes and related quantitative traits in families from the Botnia Study in Finland. METHODS: Heritability estimates for type 2 diabetes adjusted for sex, age and BMI are provided for different age groups of type 2 diabetes and for 34 clinical and metabolic traits in 5,810 individuals from 942 families using a variance compone
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To examine the occurrence and pathophysiology of vasculitis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), describe the epidemiology and clinical features, and provide a therapeutic perspective. RECENT FINDINGS: With improved control of RA over the past two decades, the risk of severe outcomes such as vasculitis may be decreasing. Rheumatoid vasculitis continues to be associated with longstandin
Background: There are no data showing that disperse dyes, used to patch test patients, are currently being used for dyeing synthetic garments. It is unknown whether disperse dyes, which are currently routinely patch tested, are in fact present in synthetic textiles on the market. Objectives: To determine whether eight disperse dyes, hitherto most widely cited as allergenic, are still used in tex
The authors describe a case of a 38-year-old male with minor stroke due to exacerbation of hereditary deficiency of ADAMTS 13 resulting in a chronic relapsing form of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). The clue to the unusual pathogenesis was given by laboratory findings of a mild anaemia and thrombocytopenia. After two days of observation, the patient was treated with plasmapheresis resul
Comparing two objects falling together is a small-scale version of Galileo’s classical experiment, demonstrating the equivalence between gravitational and inertial mass. We present here investigations by a group of ten-year-olds, who used iPads to record the drops. The movie recordings were essential in the follow-up discussions, enabling the students to compare the different situations and to dis
Introduction: Endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is an emerging minimally invasive option for pathologic examination of intrathoracic lymphadenopathy as well as for staging lung cancer. Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic yield and possible learning curve effects on diagnostic performance using EBUS-TBNA in mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Methods: A retrospect
We consider the authentication problem, using the model described by Simmons. Several codes have been constructed using combinatorial designs and finite geometries. We introduce a new way of constructing authentication codes using LFSR-sequences. A central part of the construction is an encoding matrix derived from these LFSR-sequences. Necessary criteria for this matrix in order to give authentic
OBJECTIVE: The incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) has decreased in general but not among younger middle-aged adults. We performed a cohort study of the association between neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) at the age of 40 and risk of MI before the age of 50 years. METHODS: All individuals in Sweden were included in the year of their 40th birthday, if it occurred between 1998 and 20
OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to investigate possible predictors of response to cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) treatment, including pre-treatment progression rates and levels of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. A secondary objective was to evaluate whether treatment with ChEI changed progression. METHODS: Out-patient individuals (n = 191) with the clinical diagnosis of
This paper investigates the relationship between anticipation that employers may discriminate against certain people (not specified, but not specifically the respondent) according to race, colour of skin, religion or cultural background, and self-rated health, adjusting for social capital in the form of generalised (horizontal) trust in other people. It also investigates ethnic differences in anti
A growing public awareness of the potential negative impacts of corporate activities on the natural environment and society compels large companies to invest increasing resources in the communication of their responsible conduct. This article employs Appraisal theory in a comparative analysis of BP’s and IKEA’s 2009 social reports, each company’s record of their non-financial performance. The main
OBJECTIVE:: To evaluate the prognostic implication of changes in postoperative B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass for cardiac surgery. DESIGN:: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected clinical data. SETTING:: Cardiothoracic surgery and an intensive care unit (ICU) in a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS:: The present study inclu
PURPOSE: To report an alternative to the fenestrated stent-graft for preserving blood flow to side branches in the sealing zones of aortic stent-grafts. TECHNIQUE: A covered stent is deployed parallel to the main aortic stent-graft, protruding somewhat proximally, like a chimney, to preserve flow to a vital side branch covered by the aortic stent-graft. Use of a chimney graft makes it possible to
A method to evaluate and recondition lungs ex vivo has been tested on donor lungs that have been rejected for transplantation. In the present paper, we compare early postoperative course between the six patients who received reconditioned lungs and the patients who received conventional donor lungs during the same period of time. During 2006 and 2007, a total of 21 patients underwent double sequen
Background: A moderate elevation of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is considered a potential risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: We have investigated the main determinants (age, renal impairment, cobalamin/folate status and the presence of vascular disease) of plasma tHcy in 326 patients with AD, and also in 281 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), since about half of th
