Background: Patients with ostium secundum atrial septal defects (ASDs) were studied to determine the prevalence of Selvester anteroseptal myocardial infarction QRS points, and to test the hypothesis that there is a relationship between these criteria and thinning and/or scarring of the inter-ventricular septum (IVS). Methods: Demographic, electrocardiographic (ECG), and cardiac magnetic resonance

CONTEXT: High-quality fatigue rating scales are needed to advance the understanding of fatigue and determine the efficacy of interventions. Several fatigue scales are used in Parkinson's disease, but few have been tested using modern psychometric methodology (Rasch analysis). OBJECTIVES: To examine the measurement properties of the generic Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (

This study examines the dialogic functions of EXPANSION and CONTRACTION of first-person epistemic and evidential Complement-Taking Predicate (CTP) constructions, such as I think COMPLEMENT, I suppose COMPLEMENT and I know COMPLEMENT, in spoken discourse. It combines corpus and experimental methods (i) to investigate whether CTP constructions are used to open up the dialogic space for new ideas or

P>Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated neuropeptide Y (NPY) overexpression in areas of seizure onset or generalization may be effective for the treatment of pharmacoresistant seizures in focal onset epilepsy. NPY overexpression mediates anticonvulsant activity in various seizures models and antiepileptogenic effects in kindling. Side effects are limited thus suggesting that this therapeutic appro

To resist infections, robust defense mechanisms of the airways are essential. Retinoic acid promotes differentiation and maintains the phenotypic characteristics of bronchial epithelium. In addition, it induces the expression of the antibacterial growth factor midkine (MK). In the present study, we explored the expression and antibacterial activity of MK in an airway context. MK was detected in br

Beta cell apoptosis is a hallmark of diabetes. Since we have previously shown that galectin-3 deficient (LGALS3/) mice are relatively resistant to diabetes induction, the aim of this study was to examine whether beta cell apoptosis depends on the presence of galectin-3 and to delineate the underlying mechanism. Deficiency of galectin-3, either hereditary or induced through application of chemical

Background: Chronic depression is a particularly disabling mood disorder and treatment outcomes are poor with either psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy alone. There is growing evidence that an integrative treatment approach may be optimal. A novel multi-modal, multi-disciplinary treatment program, Re-ChORD, was developed at the University of British Columbia and evaluated in this pilot study. Method

Sexual selection research has always been a subject for debate. Much of the criticism has concerned the imposition of conventional sex roles based on an anthropomorphic view of animals imposed by the researcher. This conventional view may have hampered research, for example from acknowledging male mate choice. Sexual conflict theory is a fast-growing research field, which initially stems from sexu

Violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) catalyses the conversion of violaxanthin to zeaxanthin at the lumen side of the thylakoids during exposure to intense light. VDE consists of a cysteine-rich N-terminal domain, a lipocalin-like domain and a negatively charged C-terminal domain. That the cysteines are important for the activity of VDE is well known, but in what way is less understood. In this study, w

The use of quantitative performance measures to evaluate the productivity, impact and quality of research has spread to almost all parts of public R&D systems, including Big Science where traditional measures of technical reliability of instruments and user oversub- scription have been joined by publication counts to assess scientific productivity. But such performance assessment has been show

The aim of this paper is to describe the extent and content of information regarding incubator management structure, selection, support and network mediation on Swedish incubators websites and analyse connections between different incubator management structure and the content of incubator best practice. The data is based on information reported on 44 incubator websites in Sweden processed within

Prior work on an engine combustion network Diesel fuel injector led to the conclusion that under Diesel engine conditions (combustion chamber pressure and temperature) the jet was transitionally supercritical; meaning that the core of the jet would be condensed liquid while the edge of the jet would be supercritical. We report initial experiments aimed at observing the thickened turbulent mixing l

Signal transduction and neurotransmitter release in the vertebrate central nervous system are confined to the structurally complex presynaptic electron dense projections called "active zones." Although the nature of these projections remains a mystery, genetic and biochemical work has provided evidence for the active zone (AZ) associated proteins i.e. Piccolo/Aczonin, Bassoon, RIM1/Unc10, Munc13/U

Cancer screening aims to detect cancer at an asymptomatic stage, although side effects from screening also occur. We investigated the prevalence, longitudinal development, and predictors of psychosocial consequences of false-positive breast cancer screening.

A recent experimental paradigm that tests young children’s understanding of social norms by modelling norms on Searle’s notion of constitutive rule is examined. The experiments and the reasons provided for their design are discussed in detail. The concepts of a social norm and of a constitutive rule are compared, and it is shown that they are distinct. It is argued that the experiments do not prov

Objective: To describe the characteristics of activity bursts in the early preterm EEG, to assess inter-rater agreement of burst detection by visual inspection, and to determine the performance of an automated burst detector that uses non-linear energy operator (NLEO). Methods: EEG recordings from extremely preterm (n = 12) and very preterm (n = 6) infants were analysed. Three neurophysiologists i

Ensuring occupants' safety in building fires is one of the most important aspects for fire safety engineering. Many uncertainties are inevitably introduced when estimating the occupant safety level, due to the high complexity of fire dynamics and the human behaviour in fires. Safety factor methods are traditionally employed to deal with such uncertainties. This kind of methods is easy to apply but

Abstract in French Une analyse de serie chronologique nous sert a evaluer les effets de la temperature et de la densite sur les fluctuations des recoltes d'ecrevisses adultes de grande taille. Nous verifions si la temperature durant les differents stades du cycle biologique des ecrevisses influence les recoltes observees entre 1946 et 2007 dans le lac Bunn (Suede). De 1946 a 1974, l'ecrevisse a pi