A reduced finite element model for determining the maximum principal stress of a glass pane subjected to dynamic impact load is developed and compared to a full dynamic finite element model. The reduced model is based on the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The Ritz vectors used are determined by simple static load-cases. The model is applicable to centrically and eccentrically applied impact and to glass of

A moderate association exists between body mass index (BMI) and colorectal cancer. Less is known about the effect of weight change.

OBJECTIVE: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) regulates gametogenesis through binding to its receptor (FSHR). In women, the Thr307Ala and Asn680Ser polymorphisms in the FSHR gene affect reproductive function, but it is not clear whether they have any impact on spermatogenesis and have mainly been investigated in infertile men of varying ages. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine

Background: This prospective multicenter registry used intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in patients with definite stent thrombosis (ST) to compare rates of incomplete stent apposition (ISA), stent fracture and stent expansion in patients treated with drug-eluting (DES) versus bare metal (BMS) stents. ST is a rare, but potential life threatening event after coronary stent implantation. The etiology

To study biomarkers of angiogenesis in Parkinson disease (PD), and how these are associated with clinical characteristics, blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, and cerebrovascular disease.

Background and aims: Two Amerindian populations - Shuar women living in the Amazonian rain forest under traditional conditions and urbanized women in a suburb of Lima were studied. The fatty acid composition in plasma lipids and the relationships between fatty acid composition and metabolic variables were studied, as well as in a reference group of Swedish women. Methods and results: Fasting plasm

In semiconductor heterostructures with a type II band alignment, such as GaSb-InAs, conduction can be tuned from electron- to hole-dominated using an electrostatic gate. However, traditional conductance measurements give no direct information on the carrier type, and thus limit the ability to distinguish transport effects originating from the two materials. Here, we employ thermovoltage measuremen

We report on a single-step coating process and the resulting colloidal stability of silica-coated spindle-type hematite nanoparticles (NPs) decorated with a layer of poly-(acrylic acid) (PAA) polyelectrolyte chains that are partially incorporated into the silica shell. The stability of PAA coated NPs as a function of pH and salt concentration in water was compared to bare hematite particles and si

Are serum levels of micro-RNAs miR-155 and miR-146a associated with male fertility, low-grade systemic inflammation (LGSI) and androgens?

Genomic selection is a new technology in which selection decisions are based on direct genomic values (DGVs) or genomic enhanced breeding values (GEBVs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the relations between DGVs and several milk traits important for both the nutritional value and processability of milk. This is a new approach and can be used to increase the knowledge on how genomic se

To assess ecological consequences of bushmeat hunting in African lowland rainforests, we compared paired sites, with high and low hunting pressure, in three areas of southeastern Nigeria. In hunted sites, populations of important seed dispersers-both small and large primates (including the Cross River gorilla, Gorilla gorilla diehli)-were drastically reduced. Large rodents were more abundant in hu

Objective: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a recently introduced treatment modality for post-sternotomy mediastinitis. The aim of this study was to compare the mortality rate, the sternal re-infection rate and the length of hospital stay in patients with post-sternotomy mediastinitis after NPWT and conventional treatment. Methods: We retrospectively analysed 118 patients with post-sterno

We propose a method to quantify semantic linguistic maturity (SELMA) based on a high dimensional semantic representation ofwords created from the co-occurrence of words in a large text corpus. The method was applied to oral narratives from 108 children aged 4;0–12;10. By comparing the SELMA measure with maturity ratings made by human raters we found that SELMA predicted the rating of semantic matu

ActiGraph acceleration data are processed through several steps (including bandpass filtering to attenuate unwanted signal frequencies) to generate the activity counts commonly used in physical activity research. We performed three experiments to investigate the effect of sampling frequency on the generation of activity counts. Ideal acceleration signals were produced in the MATLAB software. There

The catalyst layers (CLs) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are porous composites of complex microstructures of the building blocks, i.e., Pt nano-particles, carbonaceous substrates and Nafion ionomers. It is important to understand the factors that control the microstructure formation in the fabrication process. A coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CG-MD) method is employed to inves

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of lateral tension as a survival factor for retinal explants in vitro. The central nervous system (CNS) resides in a highly mechanical milieu. However, the importance of biomechanical homeostasis for normal CNS function has not been extensively explored. Diseases in which normal mechanical forces are disrupted, such as retinal detachment