As our understanding of genetics has increased, so has the number of genetic tests that have entered clinical practice. Given the need of many European health care systems to contain costs, the question of how to prioritise genetic tests fairly has become an emerging concern. This study uses a discrete-choice experiment to assess the value judgements of clinical geneticists, patient representative

A probabilistic fracture mechanics method is presented and applied to glulam beams with holes. The method is based on a combination of Weibull weakest link theory and a mean stress method which is a generalization of linear elastic fracture mechanics. Combining these two methods means that the global strength will be governed by both fracture energy and material strength and also that the stochast

Future production of hydrogen must be sustainable. To obtain it, renewable resources have to be employed for its production. Fermentation of biomasses could be a viable way. The process evaluated is a two-step fermentation to produce hydrogen from biomass. Process options with barley straws, PSP, and thick juice as feedstocks have been compared on the basis of process balances. Aspen Plus has been

This clinical study was performed to investigate hand problems in individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in comparison with healthy controls, and to explore problems in the performance of daily activities related to these hand problems, in order to objectify findings from a previous mail survey. We also investigated whether a simple hand test could detect hand problems in SLE. All ind

The aim of this article is to contribute to literature with new findings from biogenetics that are becoming increasingly important. In particular, we will discuss the new analytic frameworks that may open as a result of the incorporation of epigenetics in evolutionary economic thinking. This new approach is illustrated by studying the evolution of big Internet industry groups such as Apple, Google

Aim An inverse relationship exists between vitamin D levels and diabetes mellitus However, little is known about the correlation of sun exposure habits and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) Methods A South Swedish cohort study comprising 1000 women from each age group between 25 and 64 (n = 40,000) drawn from the Southern Swedish population registry 1990-1992 At the inception of the study 74% answered

To evaluate the feasibility and incremental value of using an integrated bullseye model for presenting data from cardiac computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in combination with echocardiography evaluation of segmental mechanical delay for guiding optimal left ventricular lead placement in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Maturation of dendritic cells (DC) serves a deterministic role in the link between innate and adaptive immunity, constituting a checkpoint with regard to whether responses from the lymphocyte compartment shall be raised and what class of response is needed to protect the host against invading pathogens. Since DC have not been shown to possess mechanisms such as gene recombination or somatic mutati

The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis proposes that testosterone (T)-dependent sexual signals are honest indicators of male health or genetic quality because only high-quality males are able to withstand the obligate effects of T-induced immunosuppression. In birds, the basic assumption that T suppresses immune function is equivocal, and the physiological mechanisms underlying T-induced immunos

To study the role of cytotoxin-associated protein (cagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin (vacA) in Helicobacter pylori infection in an experimental murine model, mice were infected with seven strains with different cagA and vacA status. Groups of 10 NMRI mice were challenged and were killed 5 weeks later. In a second study, 20 mice were challenged with a mixture of the same seven strains and killed 1, 3

Objective: To describe the characteristics, of women seeking treatment for Symptoms of urinary incontinence (UI) in European countries. Design: Prospective urinary incontinence research (PURE) was a 6-month, observational, pan-European Study, primarily aimed at determining the direct costs of urinary incontinence treatment. The secondary objectives of PURE were to describe the impact of UI on heal

Objectives: The role of persistent chlamydial infection of the Fallopian tubes in ectopic pregnancy is still unresolved. Therefore, we examined tissue of the Fallopian tubes from patients with ectopic pregnancy for the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis. In addition, other markers of C. trachomatis infection implicated in the pathogenesis of tubal damage were studied including antibodies to heat sh

Background: The objective of this study was to determine whether the frequency of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and some reproductive events in women with experience of casual travel sex (CTS) abroad with previously unknown male partners differed when compared to women lacking such experience. Methods: Nine hundred and ninety-six women seeking contraceptive advice from two family planning c

Purpose To test the value of serum CA-125 measurements alone or as part of a multimodal strategy to distinguish between malignant and benign ovarian tumors before surgery based on a large prospective multicenter study (International Ovarian Tumor Analysis). Patients and Methods Patients with at least one persistent ovarian mass preoperatively underwent transvaginal ultrasonography using gray scale

This paper presents theory related to stability analysis and stability criteria relevant for observer-based feedback control systems. To this purpose, a special formulation of the Yakubovich-Kalman-Popov (YKP) lemma is provided. We exploit that controllability is not necessary for existence of Lur'e-Lyaptinov functions as used in stability criteria. Constructive means for dynamic output feedback s