Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has a well-documented positive effect on mortality and heart failure morbidity. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term survival and the predictive value of self-assessed functional status on the long-term prognosis of patients treated with CRT-pacemaker (CRT-P).METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were retrospectively collected from medical records of 446 co

Haemophilia A severity is closely correlated to the factor VIII (FVIII) activity, which can be measured in different ways. The original one-stage clotting assay is still the most widely used. The two-stage coagulation assay eliminated many of the drawbacks of the one-stage assay and was further developed into the chromogenic assay, a two-staged test with purified coagulation factors in the first s

Simulations of climate over the Last Millennium (850-1850 CE) have been incorporated into the third phase of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP3). The drivers of climate over this period are chiefly orbital, solar, volcanic, changes in land use/land cover and some variation in greenhouse gas levels. While some of these effects can be easily defined, the reconstructions of sol

Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with extensive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons originating in the substantia nigra pars compacta, but neuronal loss is also found in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The VTA projects to areas involved in cognitive and emotional processes, including hippocampus, amygdala, nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex, and has thus been proposed to play a role

In this work we demonstrate experimentally the dependence of InSb crystal structure on the ratio of Sb to In atoms at the growth front. Epitaxial InSb wires are grown by a self-seeded particle assisted growth technique on several different III-V substrates. Detailed investigations of growth parameters and post-growth energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy indicate that the seed particles initially c

Bone and soft tissue sarcomas are a group of histologically heterogeneous and relatively uncommon tumors. To explore their genetic origins, we sequenced the exomes of 13 osteosarcomas, eight myxoid liposarcomas (MLPS), and seven synovial sarcomas (SYN). These tumors had few genetic alterations (median of 10.8). Nevertheless, clear examples of driver gene mutations were observed, including canonica

A fast and simple method for the identification of nonlinear constitutive functions in scalar convection–diffusion equations is presented. No a priori information is needed on the form of the constitutive functions, which are obtained as continuous piecewise affine functions. Accurate and frequent measurements in space and time are required. Synthetic data of batch sedimentation of particles in a

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children and adolescents. Alveolar (ARMS) and embryonal (ERMS) histologies predominate, but rare cases are classified as spindle cell/sclerosing (SRMS). For treatment stratification, RMS is further subclassified as fusion-positive (FP-RMS) or fusion-negative (FN-RMS), depending on whether a gene fusion involving PAX3 or PAX7 is prese

A detailed study of inelastic x-ray scattering from the ground state to the (3)Sigma(g)(3 sigma(-1)(g)3s(g)(1)) state of the O-2 molecule is presented. The observed angular anisotropy shows that the vibrational excitations within this final state are strongly dependent on the polarization of the incident radiation. The analysis demonstrates that this is a manifestation of interference between reso

Classical control theory does not scale well for large systems such as power networks, traffic networks and chemical reaction networks. However, many such applications in science and engineering can be efficiently modeled using the concept of positive systems and the nonlinear counterpart monotone systems. It is therefore of great interest to see how such models can be used for control. This paper

This work utilizes a combination of theory and experiments to explore the adsorption of two different cationic polyelectrolytes onto oppositely charged silica surfaces at pH 9. Both polymers, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), PDADMAC, and poly(4-vinyl N-methylpyridinium iodide), PVNP, are highly charged and highly soluble in water. Another important aspect is that a silica surface carries a

Drawing on the organizational trust literature and research on postmerger integration, the authors develop a model that conceptually synthesizes the antecedents and consequences of trust in acquired organizations. The model proposes that the acquiring and target firms' relationship history, the interfirm distance, and the acquirer's integration approach will affect target firm member trust in the

The magnetic field integral equation for axially symmetric cavities with perfectly conducting piecewise smooth surfaces is discretized according to a high-order convergent Fourier--Nyström scheme. The resulting solver is used to accurately determine eigenwavenumbers and normalized electric eigenfields in the entire computational domain.

The phosphorus and nitrogen removing capacity of a microalgal treatment step in Sweden was studied during an annual cycle. The treatment step had been constructed for extended phosphorus removal in a hydroponic wastewater treatment system, which had been built in a greenhouse. Two culture depths (17 and 33 cm) were compared as well as the effect of additional illumination during winter. The result

Arranging organisms into functional groups aids ecological research by grouping organisms (irrespective of phylogenetic origin) that interact with environmental factors in similar ways. Planktonic protists traditionally have been split between photoautotrophic "phytoplankton" and phagotrophic "microzooplankton". However, there is a growing recognition of the importance of mixotrophy in euphotic aq

Hard-scattered parton probes produced in collisions of large nuclei indicate large partonic energy loss, possibly with collective produced-medium response to the lost energy. We present measurements of pi(0) trigger particles at transverse momenta p(T)(t) = 4-12 GeV/c and associated charged hadrons (p(T)(a) = 0.5-7 GeV/c) vs relative azimuthal angle Delta phi in Au + Au and p + p collisions at roo

The few panel data tests for predictability of returns that exist are based on the prerequisite that both the number of time series observations, $T$, and the number of cross-section units, $N$, are large. As a result, these tests are impossible for stock markets where lengthy time series data are scarce. In response to this, the current paper develops a new test for predictability in panels where

To describe wild-type distributions of the MIC of fluoroquinolones for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in relation to current critical concentrations used for drug susceptibility testing and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data. A 96-stick replicator on Middlebrook 7H10 medium was used to define the MICs of ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, moxifloxacin and levofloxacin for 90 consecutive clinical stra