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This paper develops a welfare theoretic foundation for cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) when survival is not affected. With this foundation, all costs and their corresponding utility-terms should be included. A key question, though, is whether these utility-terms are consistent with quality-adjusted life year (QALY) (utility) theory or not. The results show that health care costs and changes in t

The fast development of new organic sensitizers leads to the need for a better understanding of the complexity and significance of their adsorption processes on TiO2 surfaces. We have investigated a prototype of the triphenylamine-cyanoacrylic acid (donor-acceptor) on rutile TiO2 (110) surface with special attention on the monolayer region. This molecule belongs to the type of dye, some of which s

A new global two-fluid electromagnetic turbulence code, CENTORI, has been developed for the purpose of studying magnetically-confined fusion plasmas on energy confinement timescales. This code is used to evolve the combined system of electron and ion fluid equations and Maxwell equations in toroidal configurations with axisymmetric equilibria. Uniquely, the equilibrium is co-evolved with the turbu

Anaemia is a chief determinant of global ill health, contributing to cognitive impairment, growth retardation and impaired physical capacity. To understand further the genetic factors influencing red blood cells, we carried out a genome-wide association study of haemoglobin concentration and related parameters in up to 135,367 individuals. Here we identify 75 independent genetic loci associated wi

Stars ascending the red giant branch develop an inversion in mean molecular weight (mu) owing to the burning of He-3 in the region immediately above their hydrogen-burning shells. This inversion may drive thermohaline mixing and thereby be responsible for the extra mixing which is observationally indicated on the red giant branch. In this paper, we investigate the physical influences that determin

We report a method using in situ etching to decouple the axial from the radial nanowire growth pathway, independent of other growth parameters. Thereby a wide range of growth parameters can be explored to improve the nanowire properties without concern of tapering or excess structural defects formed during radial growth. We demonstrate the method using etching by HCl during InP nanowire growth. Th

[K+(2,2,2-crypt)] Ge-2(9)2- containing the deltahedral Zintl anion Ge-9(2-) has been isolated from a solution of K4Ge9 in ethylenediamine in the presence of 2,2,2-crypt, intended as an intermediate in mixed-cluster synthesis. The subsequent crystallographic characterisation shows the closo-Ge-9(2-) cluster unit to be tricapped trigonal-prismatic with a symmetry very close to D-3h. Each Ge-9(2-) un

This study addressed the contribution of ADAMTS13 deficiency to complement activation in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Renal tissue and blood samples were available from 12 TTP patients. C3 and C5b-9 deposition were demonstrated in the renal cortex of two TTP patients, by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry, respectively. C3 was also demonstrated in the glomeruli of Shiga toxi

Given a pattern graph H with l edges, and a host graph G guaranteed to contain at most one occurrence of a subgraph isomorphic to H, we show that the time complexity of the problem of finding such an occurrence (if any) in G as well as that of the decision version of the problem are within a multiplicative factor O(l) of the time complexity for the corresponding problem in the general case, when G

BACKGROUND: Immigrant women in Sweden have lower levels of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) than Swedish-born women. The reasons are unclear, although acculturation has been suggested to play a role. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional study design to investigate the association between LTPA and two indicators of acculturation: (i) language proficiency (ability to understand news reports on th

AIM: To investigate if and how the proinflammatory cytokine interferon gamma (IFN gamma) affects ghrelin expression in mice. METHODS: The plasma concentration of ghrelin, and gastric ghrelin and somatostatin expression, were examined in wild-type mice and mice infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylon). Furthermore, ghrelin expression was examined in two achlorhydric mouse models with varying de

Treatment of acute lung injury (ALI) remains an unsolved problem in intensive care medicine. Activation and recruitment of neutrophils are regarded as key mechanisms in the progression of ALI. As pioglitazone holds potent pleiotropic anti-inflammatory effects, we explored its effects during ALI. C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to aerosolised lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) (500 mu g.mL(-1)) and their alveola

delta C-13 values of numerous limestone samples from Katian (Upper Ordovician) successions in Oklahoma and the Upper Mississippi Valley document the presence of at least three of the four positive excursions that have been recognized in the lower-middle Katian interval in the Cincinnati region in Ohio. Kentucky, and Indiana. A comparison with Estonia reveals that five out of the six positive excur

Dominance by cyanobacteria hampers human use of lakes and reservoirs worldwide. Previous studies indicate that excessive nutrient loading and warmer conditions promote dominance by cyanobacteria, but evidence from global scale field data has so far been scarce. Our analysis, based on a study of 143 lakes along a latitudinal transect ranging from subarctic Europe to southern South America, shows th

Cloud computing is a promising paradigm which has emerged to overcome the main issues of the computational world. It acts as a torchbearer technology for realising a new computing model in which resources can be acquired and released on demand. However, a fundamental issue in the instantiation of resources is how to afford optimal allocation so that the service provider fulfils the users' service

Results are presented from data recorded in 2009 by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider for the double-longitudinal spin asymmetry, A(LL), for pi(0) and eta production in root s = 200 GeV polarized p + p collisions. Comparison of the pi(0) results with different theory expectations based on fits of other published data showed a preference for small positive values of gluon

PURPOSE: Cadmium in urine is positively associated with urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) concentrations, a sensitive marker of oxidative DNA damage. We determined whether kidney concentrations of cadmium, mercury, and lead, which may generate oxidative DNA damage, were associated with urinary 8-oxodG or not. METHODS: 8-OxodG was measured in separate 24 h and overnight urine sa

Although treaty interpretation is undoubtedly an activity governed by international law, and by Articles 31-33 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) in particular, some commentators continue repeating the pre-Vienna adage that treaty interpretation is a matter of art and not science, the implication of which is that no understanding of a treaty provision can ever be explained