The creation of an efficient public transport system increasingly requires collaboration between independent organizations. Institutional reforms in Europe have created governance situations where collaboration between organizations is a critical issue, and examples include the integration of transport and land-use planning and the planning of large public transport projects. The organizational co

Background: Listening effort seems to depend on input-related listening demands and several factors internal to the individual listener. Input-related demands may be listening in noise compared with listening in quiet, and internal factors may be cognitive functions. Purpose: The purpose was to apply measures of listening effort and perceived listening effort in participants with normal hearing, t

Purpose: Doctoral student well-being is an important matter that shapes the well-being of academics throughout their careers. Given that well-being has been found to be closely related to employee productivity and efficiency, strategies associated with maintaining well-being during PhD studies might be crucial for higher education, its outcomes and—just as importantly—for a balanced life of PhD st

Engineering Aspects of Membrane Separation and Application in Food Processing presents an overview and introduction to a wide range of membrane processes, their unique characteristics and challenges. In the food industry, as in many industries, membranes have an environmental advantage over conventional processes that they displace, because they are less energy intensive. The processing at near-am

Data from an F2 cross between breeds of livestock are typically analysed by least squares line-cross or half-sib models to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) that differ between or segregate within breeds. These models can also be combined to increase power to detect QTL, while maintaining the computational efficiency of least squares. Tests between models allow QTL to be characterized into thos

A whole-genome scan to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for functional traits was performed in the German Holstein cattle population. For this purpose, 263 genetic markers across all autosomes and the pseudoautosomal region of the sex chromosomes were genotyped in 16 granddaughter-design families with 872 sons. The traits investigated were deregressed breeding values for maternal and direct ef

BACKGROUND: Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), a bone-derived hormone that regulates phosphorus and vitamin D metabolism, contributes to the pathogenesis of mineral and bone disorders in CKD and is an emerging cardiovascular risk factor. Central elements of FGF23 regulation remain incompletely understood; genetic variation may help explain interindividual differences.METHODS: We performed a meta

Background: Besides the incidence of esophageal atresia (EA) being higher in males, no other gender-specific differences in EA have been reported. The aim of this study was to search for gender-specific differences in EA.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary center for pediatric surgery. The medical charts of infants born with EA were reviewed. 20 girls were identified, and 20

Self-propagating, amyloidogenic mutant huntingtin (mHTT) aggregates may drive progression of Huntington's disease (HD). Here, we report the development of a FRET-based mHTT aggregate seeding (FRASE) assay that enables the quantification of mHTT seeding activity (HSA) in complex biosamples from HD patients and disease models. Application of the FRASE assay revealed HSA in brain homogenates of presy

We predict bond betas conditioning on a number of macro-finance variables. We explore differences across long-term government bonds, investment grade corporate bonds, and high yield corporate bonds. We conduct out-of-sample forecasting using the new approach of combining predictor variables through complete subset regressions (CSR). We consider the robustness of CSR forecasts across the 1-month, 3

Sugars and starches belong to the category of carbohydrates, which are important energy sources for organisms and nonessential nutrients in the human diet. Sugars are mono- or disaccharides that can be immediately transformed to energy by organisms. Starches, on the other hand, are polysaccharides, a space-efficient storage of energy for organisms. Before transforming polysaccharides into energy f

OBJECTIVE: To explore changes in pain, spasticity, range of motion, activities of daily living, bowel and lower urinary tract function and quality of life of individuals with spinal cord injury following robotic exoskeleton gait training.DESIGN: Prospective, observational, open-label multicentre study.METHODS: Three training sessions per week for 8 weeks using an Ekso™ GT robotic exoskeleton (EKSO

The early molecular response to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) was evaluated using biopsies of structurally normal-appearing cortex, obtained at location for intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring, from 16 severe TBI patients. Mass spectrometry (MS; label free and stable isotope dimethyl labeling) quantitation proteomics showed a strikingly different molecular pattern in TBI in comparison to

Background: In spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), the role of surgical treatment remains controversial, particularly in deep-seated ICHs. We hypothesized that early mortality and long-term functional outcome differ between patients with surgically treated lobar and deep-seated ICH. Method: Patients who underwent craniotomy for ICH evacuation from 2009 to 2015 were retrospec