OBJECTIVES: Health utilities derived from answers to generic health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires such as the EuroQol 5-Dimensions (EQ-5D) are often used in cost-utility analyses (CUAs) of new and expensive treatments. Different preference sets (tariffs) used in the computation of utility values and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) from questionnaire responses (health states) y

Abstract: Animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD) are important for understanding the mechanisms of the disease and can contribute to developing and validating novel therapeutics. Ideally, these models should replicate the cardinal features of PD, such as progressive neurodegeneration of catecholaminergic neurons and motor defects. Many current PD models emphasize pathological forms of α-synucle

In this analysis of the retold experiences of 27 survivors of the war in northwestern Bosnia, the aim is to describe the informants’ portrayal of “war violence”, “sexual war violence”, “victimhood”, and “reconciliation” as a social phenomenon as well as analyzing the discursive patterns that contribute to constructing the category “victim” and “perpetrator”. The violence practice during the war is

Fuel cells are promising for future energy systems, because they are energy efficient and able to use renewable fuels. A fully coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach based on the finite element method (with the software COMSOL Multiphysics) in two-dimensions is developed to describe an intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) single cell. Governing equations covering heat

Objective. To describe a large kinship with inherited hip osteoarthritis (OA) and its associated susceptibility locus. Methods. Four generations of a kinship with familial hip OA were identified and characterized by family history and by clinical, radiographic, and histopathologic examination. In the genome-wide search for a susceptibility locus, OA cases were defined as those who had undergone to

Objective. To assess, in a population-wide study in Iceland, the genetic contribution to hip osteoarthritis (OA) leading to total hip replacement (THR). Methods. Information from 2 population-based databases in Iceland was combined: a national registry of all THRs performed between 1972 and 1996, and a genealogy database of all available Icelandic genealogy records for the last 11 centuries. A gen

To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study using validated questionnaires to assess patient-relevant outcomes after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. Data from the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), the SF-36 Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey, and the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale were available for 74 consecutive patients (50 males, 24 females; mean age, 4

Objective: To validate the WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index for use in Sweden. Methods: Test-retest reliability, internal consistency, validity, and responsiveness was determined in 52 patients (mean age 48 (20-69)) with arthroscopically assessed cartilage damage of the tibio-femoral knee joint. Results: All WOMAC scales were internally consistent with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.83, 0.87, and 0.

Sustainability and the Political Economy of Welfare raises the issue of what is required to make welfare societies ecologically sustainable. Consisting of three parts, this book regards the current financial, economic and political crisis in welfare state institutions and addresses methodological, theoretical and wider conceptual issues in integrating sustainability. Furthermore, this text is conc

The spot pricing scheme has been considered to be resource-efficient for providers and cost-effective for consumers in the Cloud market. Nevertheless, unlike the static and straightforward strategies of trading on-demand and reserved Cloud services, the market-driven mechanism for trading spot service would be complicated for both implementation and understanding. The largely invisible market acti

Disease modifying drugs for osteoarthritis (OA) that may halt or retard joint destruction and at the same time possibly improve symptoms are being developed and tested at various stages in clinical trials. This has, for at least two reasons, focused attention on the need for identification of patient groups at high risk for incident or progressive OA. First, well characterized such groups may be u

Osteoarthritis does not deserve the term "degenerative joint disease", the course of the disease is characterized by dynamic changes in both synthesis and degradation of cartilage and other joint tissues. At the end stage all tissues of the joint are involved, not only the cartilage. In the early phases of the disease, changes in cartilage metabolism can be detected through assay of biomarkers in

A simple and inexpensive method is described for the determination of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-MG) by enzyme-amplified single radial immunodiffusion. The values obtained with this method correlate well with those determined by means of a commerical RIA kit. Using the immunodiffusion method we have measured the plasma levels of beta 2-MG in 135 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and normal

Cartilage proteoglycans were measured, by the use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, in synovial fluids obtained from 109 unselected patients attending an outpatient rheumatology clinic because of inflammation of the knee. The content of proteoglycans in synovial fluid was inversely related to the degree of joint destruction shown on X-ray. The proteoglycan concentrations in knee-joint exuda