P>Aims To determine health-related quality of life (HRQL) in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) before and after surgical treatment. Methods In a prospective study, 35 consecutive diabetic patients with CTS were age and gender matched with 31 non-diabetic patients with idiopathic CTS. At baseline (preoperatively), 6, 12 and 52 weeks after surgical carpal tunnel re

In this work we report on the evolution of the structure of two model ionic liquid families, N-alkyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium (Pyr(1n)-TFSI) and 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium (C(n)MIm-TFSI) (n = 3, 4, 6 and 8) both containing the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TFSI) anion, upon the addition of LiTFSI using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The introduction of a lithium salt (Li-salt) tunes the

The objectives of this study were: (1) to assess nutrient flows and balances at land management systems and cropping seasons levels, and (2) to determine rate of nutrient depletion. The study was conducted in dry lands of Northern Kordofan, Sudan, at El Demokeya Forest Reserve (lat.13° 16′ ′′ ′N; long. 30° 29′ ′′ ′E, and alt. 560 m), over three cropping seasons (2002, 2003 and 2004). Flows and

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine whether Swedish employers implicitly/automatically hold negative attitudes toward Arab-Muslims, an ethnic minority group subjected to substantial labor market discrimination in Sweden and, more specifically, associate members of this minority group with lower work productivity, as compared with native Swedes. Design/methodology/approach – Adapted vers

Stratagems adopted by democratic leaders to try to insinuate, or anchor, a preferred course of action into the larger collective will have a variety of repercussions. Beyond the apparent success of the venture itself, the long-term integrity of the democratic fabric may be at stake if simmering rancour and discontent is left unheeded. These questions would seem particularly pertinent when studyi

Currently there is no coherent or sustainable water cooperation among the five states—Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories and Syria—that share the Jordan River. Why do people not cooperate on sustainable river basin management, even if it seems the most rational course from the perspective of economic benefits? I hypothesize that the political uses of citizenship, identity and securit

While the risk of TB is elevated in HIV-positive subjects with low CD4 cell counts, TB may in itself be associated with CD4 lymphocytopenia. We investigated markers of immune activation (neopterin) and inflammation (CRP) in TB patients with and without HIV coinfection and their association with CD4 cell levels, and determined their predictive capacity as alternative markers of advanced immunosuppr

Aims. The nature of the thick disc and its relation to the thin disc is presently an important subject of debate. In fact, the structural and chemo-dynamical transition between disc populations can be used as a test of the proposed models of Galactic disc formation and evolution. Methods. We used the atmospheric parameters, [alpha/Fe] abundances, and radial velocities, which were determined from t

The title compound, (C21H22P)(2)[Cu2I4], prepared from reaction between copper powder, iodine and isopropyl triphenylphosphonium iodide in hydroxyacetone (acetol), shows an already known Cu2I42- anion with a planar conformation [Cu-I range = 2.5108 (3)-2.5844 (3) angstrom and I-Cu-I range = 110.821 (10)-125.401 (10)degrees].

Program parallelization and distribution becomes increasingly important when new multi-core architectures and cheaper cluster technology provide ways to improve performance. Using declarative languages, such as constraint programming, can make the transition to parallelism easier for the programmer. In this paper, we address parallel and distributed search in constraint programming (CP) by proposi

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) can interfere with male reproductive function, but evidence in humans is limited. Six hundred four fertile men (199 from Greenland, 197 from Poland and 208 from Ukraine) were enrolled in the study. We measured four PFASs in serum (PFOS, PFOA, PFNA and PFHxS) and concurrent DNA damage in spermatozoa by sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) and in situ terminal deo

We have investigated the structure of a microbial community in semi-natural sandy grassland in southeast Sweden. The sand is rich in lime, but in most places the soil is decalcified in the upper layers, and therefore this site shows a large variation in pH within short distances. We collected samples at three different soil depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm) and found the pH to range from 5 t

The present work is based on the Kantian (AaO)-axiom and conceptualised as a textbook. As scientific method in the true sense of the notion science, the Vertex version of Perspective Text Analysis (PTA) represents a completely new approach to text-based studies. The inter-lingual character of Vertex has been tested and established in the context of six different languages, four belonging to the Ge

Objective: To explore the association between the stability or instability of services' organizational structure and patient- and therapist-initiated discontinuation of therapy in routine mental health. Method: Three groups, comprising altogether 750 cases in routine mental health care in eight different clinics, were included: cases with patient-initiated discontinuation, therapist-initiated disc

We present a theoretical investigation of a model clay dispersion in 1-1 salt solutions by varying the particle volume fraction and ionic strength as well as the charge distribution on the clay platelets. The platelets are modeled as discs with charged sites distributed on a hexagonal lattice. The edge sites can be positively charged while the remaining sites are negative giving rise to a strong c

Gene-lifestyle interactions have been suggested to contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes. Glucose levels 2 h after a standard 75-g glucose challenge are used to diagnose diabetes and are associated with both genetic and lifestyle factors. However, whether these factors interact to determine 2-h glucose levels is unknown. We meta-analyzed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) X BMI and SN