PurposeEating patterns have been linked to obesity, an established risk factor for hypertension; however, their contribution to hypertension is poorly understood. This study aimed to examine associations of frequency of meals, snacks and all eating occasions (EO), and temporal eating patterns, with blood pressure (BP) and hypertension.MethodsDietary data collected via two 24-h...
This paper presents a mathematical programming model for dynamic cell formation to minimize changeover-related costs (i.e., machine relocation costs and machine setup cost) and inter-cell material handling cost to cope with the volatile production environments in apparel manufacturing industry. The model is formulated through findings of a comprehensive literature review...
Little is known about the distribution of symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) across the lifespan. In this cross-sectional study, we examined differences between subscales of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) between different age groups. 654 Subjects referred to an outpatient University Clinic with specialized expertise in ASD were included. Data collection, including...
Knowledge of the strength and elastic modulus of a reservoir rock is important for the optimisation of a particular geothermal resource. The reservoir rock for many geothermal projects in the Upper Rhine Graben, such as those at Soultz-sous-Forêts and Rittershoffen (both France), is porphyritic granite. High fracture densities (up to ~ 30 fractures/m) in this reservoir rock...
Les changements climatiques, déjà perceptibles, ont et auront des conséquences sur le fonctionnement des services publics d’eau potable, sur les ressources en eau et les milieux aquatiques. Eau de Paris a mis en place un programme d’actions pour pallier tant aux effets d’une sécheresse que ceux liés aux inondations. La pertinence de ce programme a été testée avec succès lors de...
Using a semiclassical approach, we have calculated electron-, proton-, and He III-impact line widths and shifts for 114 P IV multiplets for perturber densities and temperatures . The obtained results have been compared with results obtained by using various simpler approaches.
Surgical and non-surgical aesthetic treatments are very popular throughout Asia and in particular in China. With the globalisation and immigration of Chinese people to other countries where many seek treatment from Western-trained doctors, it is important to understand the ideals of beauty amongst Chinese people so as to achieve optimal results. We conducted an online survey to...
The recent accumulation of gene expression data in the form of RNA sequencing creates unprecedented opportunities to study gene regulation and function. Furthermore, comparative analysis of the expression data from multiple species can elucidate which functional gene modules are conserved across species, allowing the study of the evolution of these modules. However, performing...
We have previously shown that aberrant promoter methylation of ZNF331 is a potential biomarker for colorectal cancer detection with high sensitivity (71%) and specificity (98%). This finding was recently confirmed by others, and it was additionally suggested that promoter methylation of ZNF331 was an independent prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer (n = 146). In the current...
A three-scale crystal plasticity model is applied to simulate microstructure evolution in hcp titanium subjected to cold rolling. Crystallographic texture and misorientation angle development, as an indicator of grain refinement, are studied. The impact of twinning activity on both phenomena is accounted for by combining the original three-scale formulation with the probabilistic...
The incidence of type-1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) has increased steadily in Kuwait during recent years and it is now considered amongst the high-incidence countries. An interaction between susceptibility genes, immune system mediators and environmental factors predispose susceptible individuals to T1DM. We have determined the prevalence of protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor...
Evolution in the Hawaiian Islands has produced a unique avian assemblage. Unfortunately, many of these bird species are highly endangered or extinct. Despite numerous and increasing threats and great effort aimed at saving endemic birds, we lack basic science necessary for understanding many species of concern. One such species is the critically endangered Puaiohi (Myadestes...
Policymakers increasingly draw on scientific methods, including simulation modeling, to justify their decisions. For these purposes, scientists and policymakers face an extensive choice of modeling strategies. Discussing the example of smallpox epidemiology, this paper distinguishes three types of strategies: Massive Simulation Models (MSMs), Abstract Simulation Models (ASMs) and...
Exercise ventilation/perfusion matching in continuous-flow left ventricular assist device recipients (LVAD) has not been studied systematically. Twenty-five LVAD and two groups of 15 reduced ejection fraction chronic heart failure (HFrEF) patients with peak VO2 matched to that of LVAD (HFrEF-matched) and ≥14 ml/kg/min (HFrEF≥14), respectively, underwent cardiopulmonary exercise...
BackgroundObstruction of the left main bronchus is a rare but life-threatening complication following the closure of patent ductus arteriosus by surgical clips. We report a successful rescue procedure for this complication in a premature infant.Case presentationA 24-week gestational age premature girl weighing 903 g underwent surgical clipping for patent ductus arteriosus at the...
Mutations in the GBA gene, encoding the lysosomal hydrolase glucocerebrosidase (GCase), are the most common known genetic risk factor for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The present study aims to gain more insight into changes in lysosomal activity in different brain regions of sporadic PD and DLB patients, screened for GBA variants. Enzymatic...
Background Integrin α8 (ITGA8) heterodimerizes with integrin β1 and is highly expressed in stromal cells of the lung. Platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRβ+) cells constitute a major population of contractile myofibroblasts in the lung following bleomycin-induced fibrosis. Integrin α8β1 is upregulated in fibrotic foci in bleomycin-induced lung injury. However, the...
In der letzten Phase des Lebens setzt die palliativmedizinische Leitlinie bei Patienten mit nicht heilbarer Krebserkrankung auf die Gesprächsbegleitung. Doch sie findet noch zu selten statt.
We present a catalogue of 517 discrete X-ray sources in a field covering the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The catalogue was derived from the pointed ROSAT PSPC observations performed between October 1991 and May 1994 and is complementary to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) catalogue published by Haberl & Pietsch (1999). We followed the same identification scheme and used, among...
Whether statins and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) / angiotensin receptor blockors (ARBs) are associated with reduced risks of infection events is still inconclusive. This study aimed to explore the risk of hospitalization for pneumonia among patients who had received treatment with ACEIs/ARBs and/or statins using a population-based dataset. This study...
To overcome the technological and economic obstacles of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO)-based display backplane for industrial production, a clean etch-stopper (CL-ES) process is developed to fabricate a-IGZO-based thin film transistor (TFT) with improved uniformity and reproducibility on 8.5th generation glass substrates (2200 mm × 2500 mm). Compared with a-IGZO...
