BackgroundPatients with metastatic osteosarcoma at diagnosis or axial primary tumors have a poor prognosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of intensified treatment with high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and stem cell rescue in this group. MethodsFrom May 1996 to August 2004, 71 patients were included in a Scandinavian-Italian single arm phase II study. Preoperative c

Diatom-based assays have been successfully associated worldwide with the tropic status of lakes. Several studies have demonstrated a correlation between epiphytic diatoms and nutrient load in shallow lakes and wetlands. We examine the relative importance of environmental factors in explaining the structure of epiphytic diatom communities in a set of Western European shallow lakes. The effects of l

Background: The recently established international cystatin C calibrator makes it possible to develop non-laboratory specific glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimating (eGFR) equations. This study compares the performance of the arithmetic mean of the revised Lund-Malmo creatinine and CAPA cystatin C equations (MEAN(LM-REV+CAPA)), the arithmetic mean of the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Co

Traditional management of scarce water resources has been practiced in the Middle East for thousands of years. They were developed to encompass a sustainable agricultural production in spite of small rainfall amounts in often harsh arid to semiarid environments with poor soil quality (e.g., jessour, tabiah, meskat, khooshab, qanat). Due to their efficiency, revitalized systems have been suggested

In this paper we use monthly time series data for not less than 64 countries and a new sequential approach to test for purchasing power parity (PPP). The results are strong in that the evidence in favor of PPP is very weak. In fact, for the US-dollar-based exchange rates the evidence is basically non-existent. In order to eliminate the effect of the base currency, we also apply the sequential PPP

Haemophilia is an X-linked inherited rare bleeding disorder affecting mainly men. The treatment consists of replacement therapy that has been associated with severe side effects, such as blood transmitted viral infections, but has markedly improved over the last decades. The aim of this study was to study family structure over time among Swedish persons with haemophilia (PWH), focusing on children

In this paper we study the convergence behaviour and geometric properties of Strang splitting applied to semilinear evolution equations. We work in an abstract Banach space setting that allows us to analyse a certain class of parabolic equations and their spatial discretizations. For this class of problems, Strang splitting is shown to be stable and second-order convergent. Moreover, it is shown t

Understanding the effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees is vital because of reported declines in bee diversity and distribution and the crucial role bees have as pollinators in ecosystems and agriculture. Neonicotinoids are suspected to pose an unacceptable risk to bees, partly because of their systemic uptake in plants, and the European Union has therefore introduced a moratorium on three

The aim of every patient with hip fracture is to regain previous function but we know little about the outcome, especially patient-reported outcome. We wanted to investigate what factors influence the result one year after hip fracture, including fast-track for hip fracture patients, as well as investigating the patients' satisfaction with their rehabilitation and to what degree they regained thei

A novel traffic flow model based on stochastic microscopic dynamics is introduced and analyzed. Vehicles advance based on the energy profile of their surrounding traffic implementing the "look-ahead" rule and following an underlying asymmetric exclusion process with Arrhenius spin-exchange dynamics. Monte Carlo simulations produce numerical solutions of the microscopic traffic model. Fluctuations

The molar mass and theological properties of an exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Pediococcus damnosus 2.6 were investigated. The molar mass was determined by asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation coupled with multiangle light scattering and refractive index detection. The EPS was observed to be a flexible chain polymer with a molar mass value of 4 x 10(6) g mol(-1). Heating the sample at 80 degre

The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter- and intra-observer variability and to find differences in diagnostic safety between digital and analog technique in diagnostic zones around hip prostheses. In 80 patients who had had a total hip replacement (THR) for more than 2 years, a conventional image and a digital image were taken. Gruen's model of seven distinct regions of interest was used f

Sediment stratigraphies from three sites, one lake, one overgrown lake, and an exposed section, on the island Tristan da Cunha in the temperate South Atlantic were analysed by means of pollen analysis, total carbon, nitrogen and sulphur content determination, magnetic susceptibility measurements and detailed radiocarbon dating. The aim of these studies was to reconstruct the late Holocene vegetati

The effects of nitrogen ion sputtering and thermal anneal processing on the surface electronic structure of the ternary III-V semiconductor In0.12Ga0.88N have been studied using scanning photoemission microscopy. No phase separation of the material is observed for annealing temperatures up to 650degreesC. However, samples annealed at 700degreesC for 5 h show clear evidence of phase separation. Fur

Starches from three potato varieties and their respective transformants producing amylopectin starch were studied over a period of 3 years. The gelatinisation, swelling and dispersion properties were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction, swelling capacity measurements and a Brabender Viscograph. The potato amylopectin starches (PAP) exhibited higher endothermic