Sources of airborne particulate matter and their seasonal variation in urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa are poorly understood due to lack of long-term measurement data. In view of this, filter samples of airborne particulate matter (particle diameter ?2.5 ?m, PM2.5) were collected between May 2008 and April 2010 at two sites (urban background site and suburban site) within the Nairobi metropolita

OBJECTIVE:: To outline the prevalence of nonhormonal drug use in middle-aged women and to assess plausible associations between serum androgen levels and variables associated to health such as drug use and planned visits to healthcare units. METHODS:: This was a population-based study of women aged 50 to 59 years (n = 6,893). Women were divided into three groups according to their menopause status

Billions of people are without access to surgical care, in part because of the inequitable distribution of the surgical workforce. Drawing on recently collected data for the number of surgeons, anaesthesiologists, and obstetricians worldwide, we sought to show their global maldistribution by identifying thresholds of surgical workforce densities, and by calculating the number of additional provide

BACKGROUND: Changes in P-wave morphology have recently been shown to be associated with interatrial conduction route used, without noticeable changes of P-wave duration. This study aimed at exploring the association between P-wave morphology and future atrial fibrillation (AF) development in the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Trial II (MADIT II) population. METHODS: Patients included in MADIT

Purpose – This paper presents a questionnaire study of brand-specific perceptions of automotive design using subjective rating methods. The purpose of the paper is to explore the multiple modalities of the visual product experience of automobile design as perceived by the general public. Furthermore, the experiences were analysed using a framework for visual product experience (VPE). Design/method

To examine age at onset of substance abuse in relation to other factors of relevance to criminal behavior, we compared Life History of Aggression (LHA) scores, traits of psychopathy according to the Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (PCL-R), and violent recidivism in 100 violent offenders with early (before the age of 18) versus late onset of abuse or dependence. Of 56 subjects with a history of alco

Close to 50 genetic loci have been associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D), but they explain only 15% of the heritability. In an attempt to identify additional T2D genes, we analyzed global gene expression in human islets from 63 donors. Using 48 genes located near T2D risk variants, we identified gene coexpression and protein-protein interaction networks that were strongly associated with islet ins

Knowledge about nerve regeneration after nerve injury and reconstruction in appropriate diabetic animal models is incomplete. Short-term nerve regeneration after reconstruction of a 10 mm sciatic nerve defect with either a hollow chitosan conduit or an autologous nerve graft was investigated in healthy Wistar and diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats. After 21 days, axonal outgrowth, presence of activa

The introduction of Vehicular ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) leads to the possibility to re-evaluate many traditional functions and views of road traffic networks. The ability for vehicles and infrastructure to commu- nicate and collaborate will enable many novel solutions for problems as diverse as collision avoidance and traffic management with the view of re- ducing traffic congestion, increasing the

Review of Malte Hagener's account and analysis of the European art film culture 1919 - 1939.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex disorder that is affected by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Extensive efforts have been made to identify the disease-affecting genes to better understand the disease pathogenesis, find new targets for clinical therapy, and allow prediction of disease. CONTENT: Our knowledge about the genes involved in disease pathogenesis has increased su

The purpose of the present study was to test the psychometric properties and dimensionality of the Quality in Psychiatric Care - Outpatient (QPC-OP) instrument, in order to determine whether the model of QPC that is applicable to the inpatient clinic is also applicable to the outpatient clinic, and to briefly describe the patients' perceptions of quality of psychiatric outpatient care. A sample of

The evidence for central stimulant (CS) treatment in ADHD is strong in some respects but not with respect to unselected clinical material and long-term effects over the life course cycle. The objective of this study was to explore differences in vocational, psychiatric, and social impairment, including crime and substance abuse, among adults with ADHD, treated or not, with CS drugs before age 18.

Background: Knowledge of the radiographic catheter tip position after central venous cannulation is normally not required for short-term catheter use. Detection of a possible iatrogenic pneumothorax may nevertheless justify routine post-procedure chest X-ray. Our aim was to design a clinical decision rule to select patients for radiographic evaluation after central venous cannulation. Methods: A t

Objective: To examine the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on experimental liver tumours in rats. Design: An experimental liver tumour model was used. Each of a group of Fats had two tumours simultaneously inoculated into its liver. The tumour located in the left hepatic robe was used for PDT, and the other one, in the median lobe, as a control. The haem precursor delta-amino laevulinic acid (

An 'early streamer emission' (ESE) terminal, for lightning protection, stimulates a burst of streamers from its tip before producing streamers induced by the field of a downward leader, approaching from a thundercloud. It has been claimed to enhance the probability of attachment of a lightning channel to a protection system. Experiments are described in which the performance of a simulated 'early

Most research on global governance has focused either on theoretical accounts of the overall phenomenon or on empirical studies of distinct institutions that serve to solve particular governance challenges. In this article we analyze instead “governance architectures,” defined as the overarching system of public and private institutions, principles, norms, regulations, decision-making procedures a

Complete deficiency of complement inhibitor factor I (FI) results in secondary complement deficiency due to uncontrolled spontaneous alternative pathway activation leading to susceptibility to infections. Current genetic examination of two patients with near complete FI deficiency and three patients with no detectable serum FI and also close family members revealed homozygous or compound heterozyg