We present a new and simple definition of the Rain Flow Cycle count method for the analysis of a random load process. It is combined with the Palmgren-Miner damage rule, and a stochastic model for the fatigue life and fatigue limit variability. Algorithms are presented which make it possible to calculate the RFC-amplitude distribution, based on a Markov Chain approximation of local maxima and mini

purpose of this study was to elaborate a model for estimating the caries-reducing effect of a preventive measure with due consideration of background factors. The material comprised 50 children, who had consumed NaF tablets regularly during preschool age, and 76 comparable children who had never consumed NaF tablets. They were all examined at 12 and 13 yr of age. Information on caries and, as conf

Background: It is highly important in nursing care for persons with stroke to screen for, assess and manage eating difficulties. The impact on eating after stroke can be of different types, comprising dysphagia as well as eating difficulties in a larger perspective. Eating difficulties can cause complications such as malnutrition, dehydration, aspiration, suffocation, pneumonia and death. There is

Large clinical studies describing the typical clinical presentation of diabetic foot ulcers are limited and most studies were performed in single centres with the possibility of selection of specific subgroups. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of diabetic patients with a foot ulcer in 14 European hospitals in ten countries. The study population included 1,229 consecutiv

The strong correlation between smoking and exposure to oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs) has made it difficult to verify the independent role of smoking in cervical carcinogenesis. Thus, the authors evaluated this role. Five large Nordic serum banks containing samples from more than 1,000,000 subjects were linked with nationwide cancer registries (1973-2003). Serum samples were retrieved fro

Abstract not available. Errata to article Spedding GR, Hedenström A, Rosén M (2003) Quantitative studies of the wakes of freely flying birds in a low-turbulence wind tunnel. Exp Fluids 34:291–303

We consider an iterated function system (with probabilities) of isometrics on an unbounded metric space (X, d). Under suitable conditions it is proved that the random orbit {Z(n)}(ngreater than or equal to0) of the iterations corresponding to an initial point Z(0) is an element of X 'escapes to infinity' in the sense that P(Z(n) is an element of K) --> 0, as n --> infinity for every bounded set K

This study gives an outlook on the carbon balance of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by presenting a summary of currently available results from the project CarboAfrica (namely net ecosystem productivity and emissions from fires, deforestation and forest degradation, by field and model estimates) supplemented by bibliographic data and compared with a new synthesis of the data from national communications

The Department of Urology in Lund, Sweden, has a long association with innovations in reconstructive urology. The authors from that department describe their experience over a long period with orthotopic bladder substitution and continent cutaneous urinary diversion. They conclude that continent urinary tract reconstruction is associated with a high incidence of early and late complications. They

The effect of rapid lowering of blood glucose on cerebral blood flow (CBF) was studied in 10 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients (age 23.5 ± 3.8 years; mean ± S.D.) with longstanding, poor metabolic control (HbA1c 11.2 ± 1.0%; normal value 4.0–5.3%) using an intravenous xenon 133 single photon emission computed tomography technique. After a fall in blood glucose, during 81 ± 11 min (mean

The C and N isotopes of feathers from two subspecies of willow warblers (Phylloscopus trochilus trochilus and Phylloscopus trochilus acredula) are isotopically distinct. Our analysis of 138 adult males from 14 sites distributed across Sweden shows that the mean delta(15)N and delta(13)C values of subspecies acredula (from latitudes above 63 degrees N) were significantly higher than the mean delta(

A phenomenological thermodynamic approach used for describing elasto-plasticity coupled with isotropic damage is considered. Using this approach it was recently shown by the authors that certain unwanted features exist in the plasticity-induced damage theories. This paper gives a suggestion on how to solve these issues. Based on physical arguments a simple modification of the postulate of strain e

Case studies have claimed that private consumption growth is higher during fiscal contractions due to the very fact that government spending is cut. Indeed, neoclassical theory has this implication. This paper uses regression analysis of a panel of 19 OECD countries and shows that this is not true in general. On the contrary, contraction (expansion) periods experience lower (higher) private consum

The affinity of AMD3100, a symmetrical nonpeptide antagonist composed of two 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane (cyclam) rings connected through a 1,4-dimethylene(phenylene) linker to the CXCR4 chemokine receptor was increased 7, 36, and 50-fold, respectively, by incorporation of the following: Cu2+, Zn2+, or Ni2+ into the cyclam rings of the compound. The rank order of the transition metal ions co