The number of CT examinations giving a relatively high patient exposure is increasing. It is therefore important to optimize the imaging conditions at these investigations. Many steps have been taken to reduce the radiation doses in CT examinations. Currently much work is related to iterative image reconstruction methods as alternative to the filtered back projection method. The aim of this work w

Diabetes mellitus (DM) type II is increasing rapidly worldwide. Patients with DM II have a greater atherosclerotic burden and higher risk of developing cardiovascular complications. Inflammation has been proposed as the main cause for the high risk of atherosclerotic disease in DM II. In this study, we compared markers of inflammation and fibrous repair in plaques from subjects with and without DM

Purpose: Quantification of cerebral blood flow can be accomplished by model-free arterial spin labeling using the quantitative STAR labeling of arterial regions (QUASAR) sequence. The required deconvolution is normally based on block-circulant singular value decomposition (cSVD)/oscillation SVD (oSVD), an algorithm associated with nonphysiological residue functions and potential effects of arteria

A genome-wide study performed in a Japanese population identified a strong association between SNP rs2294008 (Met1Thr) in the Prostate Stem Cell Antigen gene (PSCA) and diffuse-type gastric cancer (GC). This association was validated in different Asian populations, and, very recently, a study has been published in Caucasians. In this study, we analyzed the association between PSCA variation and GC

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of a one-dimensional interacting particle system that is a mixture of the voter model and the exclusion process. With the process started from a finite perturbation of the ground state Heaviside configuration consisting of 1’s to the left of the origin and 0’s elsewhere, we study the relaxation time τ, that is, the first hitting time of the ground state config

Not only the fat content but also the composition of fatty acids (FAs) in stored triglycerides might be of interest in the research on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. In this study, a novel reconstruction approach is proposed that uses theoretical knowledge of the chemical structure of FAs to simultaneously quantify the fat fraction (FF) and the FAs composition (

This paper addresses Test Application Time (TAT) reduction under power constraints for core- based 3D Stacked ICs (SICs) connected by Through Silicon Vias (TSVs). Unlike non-stacked chips, where the test flow is well defined by applying the same test schedule both at wafer sort and at package test, the test flow for 3D TSV-SICs is yet undefined. In this paper we present a cost model to find the op

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly used in waste management to identify strategies that prevent or minimise negative impacts on ecosystems, human health or natural resources. However, the quality of the provided support to decision- and policy-makers is strongly dependent on a proper conduct of the LCA. How has LCA been applied until now? Are there any inconsistencies in the past practice

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing provides significant benefits by reducing prostate cancer mortality, but also leads to important harms by detecting clinically insignificant cancers. Hence, there are urgent needs for complementary tools for middle-aged men with modest PSA elevations in blood. This review includes research on prostate cancer biomarkers in blood published from March 2013 thro

cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) is required for the induction of adipogenic transcription factors such as CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins (C/EBPs). Interestingly, it is known from other tissues that LKB1 and its substrates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and salt-inducible kinases (SIKs), negatively regulate gene expression by phosphorylating the CREB co-activator CRTC2 and class

Most bacteria with a rod-shape morphology contain an actin-like cytoskeleton consisting of MreB polymers which form helical spirals underneath the cytoplasmic membrane to direct peptidoglycan synthesis for elongation of the cell wall. In contrast MreB of Streptomyces coelicolor is not required for vegetative growth, but has a role in sporulation. Beside MreB, S. coelicolor encodes two further MreB

The largest family of lichen-forming fungi, the Parmeliaceae, is reviewed. It includes 79 genera in current use and ca 2726 species, a large majority of which belong to one of five main clades: the parmelioid, cetrarioid, usneoid, alectorioid and hypogymnioid. However, 21 genera are positioned outside these clades, and four genera in current use still lack DNA- data. The family has been shown to b

The identification of ligands in metalloorganic complexes is crucial for understanding many important biological and chemical systems. Nonresonant K beta valence-to-core X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) has been demonstrated as a ligand identification technique which is complementary to other spectroscopies, such as X-ray absorption. In this study we show the K beta valence-to-core XES alongside

This study presents a novel approach to determine the steady-state performance of a self-excited induction generator (SEIG). The method gives an intuitive understanding of the effects of loading on the steady-state performance of the SEIG, without requiring any major mathematical effort. The steady-state no-load voltage of the SEIG is determined as the intersection between the generator no-load cu

Growing research on social capital and health has fuelled the debate on whether there is a place effect on health. A central question is whether health inequality between places is due to differences in the composition of people living in these places (compositional effect) or differences in the local social and physical environments (contextual effects). Despite extensive use of multilevel approa

Review article of two books on British documentary film.

To analyze visual outcomes after cataract surgery in patients with previous corneal refractive surgery.

Drought threatens tropical rainforests over seasonal to decadal timescales, but the drivers of tree mortality following drought remain poorly understood. It has been suggested that reduced availability of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) critically increases mortality risk through insufficient carbon supply to metabolism ('carbon starvation'). However, little is known about how NSC stores are af