It is uncertain whether the incidence of stroke is increased in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and whether COPD is associated with all subtypes of stroke (i.e. ischemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage and subarachnoid haemorrhage). We evaluated the association between COPD and incidence of stroke in a nation-wide cohort study. All individuals between 40 and 84 years

SUMMARY: Graphical Gaussian Models (GGMs) are a promising approach to identify gene-regulatory networks. Such models can be robustly inferred by solving the sparse inverse covariance selection (SICS) problem. With the high dimensionality of genomics data, fast methods capable of solving large instances of SICS are needed.We developed a novel network modeling tool, Ultranet, that solves the SICS pr

In daily clinical practice, patients are frequently asked about their swallowing as part of the patient-clinician interview. This study compares the diagnostic performance of a single open question 'What about swallowing?' (usual care) with the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) as reference test in screening for oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD). 303 outpatients at risk of OD were recruited at three univ

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and other neurotrophins are believed to play an important role in affective disorders. In this study we investigated plasma-BDNF response during an incremental exercise test in 18 patients suffering from moderate major depressive disorder (MDD) and 18 controls. The patients were not treated with antidepressants or neuroleptics. Possible associations between

PURPOSE: Therapeutic traditions at health care practices (HCPs) influence physicians' adherence to prescription guidelines for specific drugs, however, it is not known if such traditions affect all kinds of prescriptions or only specific types of drug. Our goal was to determine whether adherence to prescription guidelines is a common trait of HCPs or dependent on drug type. METHODS: We fitted sepa

Cerebral ischaemia results in enhanced endothelin B (ETB ) receptor-mediated contraction and receptor protein expression in the affected cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells (SMC). Organ culture of cerebral arteries is a method to induce similar alterations in ETB receptor expression. We hypothesize that rapid and sustained reduction in wall tension/stretch is a possible trigger mechanism for this

Obesity is associated with a risk of at least 20 different cancers. We aimed at defining cancer risks in prospectively recruited patients with a novel subgroup, those with a family history of obesity. We defined a cohort of 30 020 patients who had been hospitalized since 1964. Cancer risks in these patients were followed through 2006. Standardized incidence ratios were calculated for cancer using

Abstract: A randomised controlled trial was performed to investigate if the short rotators affected the compliance of the capsule in osteoarthritis (OA). 68 OA patients admitted for total hip arthroplasty (THA) were randomised to have their compliance estimated during surgery with either their short rotators intact or released. Radiographic severity of OA, range of motion and pain were assessed in

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to ascertain whether treatment of GAD65 autoantibody (GADA)-positive diabetic patients with alum-formulated recombinant GAD65 (GAD-alum) is safe and does not compromise beta cell function. METHODS: This Phase 2, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation clinical trial, which was randomized through a central office, was performed in 47 GADA-positive type 2 diabe

BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that a myocardial topical negative pressure (TNP) of -50 mmHg significantly increases microvascular blood flow in the underlying myocardium in normal, ischemic, and reperfused porcine myocardium. The present study was designed to elucidate the effect of different TNP levels between -50 and -150 mmHg on microvascular flow in normal and ischemic myocardium. MATER

Summary. The haemophilia literature increasingly contains reports describing the use of bypassing agent prophylaxis (BAP) in patients with severe haemophilia A and inhibitors. However, it is difficult to interpret and compare the results and draw conclusions about treatment efficacy because of small patient numbers and a lack of standardization among BAP studies. This article presents consensus re

We study experimentally how to control and improve phase matching of high-order harmonic generation. We use a birefringent lens and a birefringent compensator to obtain a fundamental laser pulse (150 fs, 800 nm, similar to 4 mJ) With two foci Separated by 6.2 mm along the propagation axis and with a controllable phase delay between the polarizations along the optic axes of the birefringent optical

beta-Microseminoprotein (MSP), a 10kDa protein in human seminal plasma, binds human cysteine-rich secretory protein-3 (CRISP-3) with high affinity. CRISP-3 is a member of the family of CRISPs, which are widespread among animals. In this work we show that human as well as porcine MSP binds catrin, latisemin, pseudecin, and triflin, which are CRISPs present in the venoms of the snakes Crotalus atrox

PURPOSE: The development of tumor-specific markers to select targeted therapies and to assess clinical outcome remains a significant area of unmet need. We evaluated the association of baseline circulating tumor cell (CTC) number with clinical characteristics and survival in patients with castrate metastatic disease considered for different hormonal and cytotoxic therapies. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: CT

The literature identifies two forms of business organization, Neocorporatist and firm-level, and the strength of each respective type has changed over time; whereas Neocorporatism has remained steady or declined, firm-level organization has become stronger in all countries. The literature underscores the differential effects of these two forms of business organization on employer support for activ

BACKGROUND: It is widely assumed that apoptosis of eosinophils is a central component of resolution of allergic airway disease. However, this has not been demonstrated in human allergic airways in vivo. Based on animal in vivo observations we hypothesised that steroid-induced resolution of human airway eosinophilic inflammation involves inhibition of CCL5 (RANTES), a CC-chemokine regulating eosino

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) trauma often occurs in combination with injury to the articular cartilage of the knee, this can result in earlier radiographic evidence of post traumatic osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee compared to the contralateral, ACL intact knee; however, the biomechanical and biological mechanisms associated with the onset and progression of this disease are not understood. We

Background: Vascular access failure is a common cause of morbidity in patients with end-stage renal failure on hemodialysis (HD). Activation of the coagulation system and formation of a thrombus play important roles in recurrent arteriovenous fistula/graft (AVFG) failure. Thrombin in complex with thrombomodulin (TM) activates the anticoagulant protein C and creates activated protein C (APC), which