In market-driven software development there is a strong need for support to handle congestion in the requirements engineering process, which may occur as the demand for short time-to-market is combined with a rapid arrival of new requirements from many different sources. Automated analysis of the continuous flow of incoming requirements provides an opportunity to increase the efficiency of the requi

OBJECTIVES: To measure and compare the urinary cotinine concentration (U-cotinine) in non-smoking cabin attendants (C/A) working with the Scandinavian Airlines System, before and after work on intercontinental flights with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). METHODS: The study material consisted of 24 cabin attendants and one pilot, all volunteers and all without exposure to ETS in the

This volume contains extracts from The Cultural Revolution in Inner Mongolia, an unpublished 600-page account by a Chinese historian "W. Woody" based exclusively on original archive material and interviews with survivors. The focus of the extracts is on the ethnicidal political movement to “uproot” the so-called “New Inner Mongolian People’s Party.” This movement, which took place in 1968-69, led

Preterm birth is the major cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity in the developed world. Where there are no contraindications to their use, tocolytics can improve neonatal survival rates by approximately 3% per day between 23 and 27 weeks gestation with a concomitant reduction in morbidity. The ultimate aim of tocolytic therapy is to prolong pregnancy until growth and maturation is complete,

We screened six populations of the clonal forest floor moss Plagiomnium affine from forests of different ages for genetic variation at 23 allozyme loci. Samples consisting of two adjacent, unconnected shoots were taken at regular intervals along one transect from each population. Transect lengths varied from 22 to 52 m, depending on the size of the local populations. From a sample of 602 shoots, w

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the intensity of telomerase activity measured on the cellular level in effusions correllates to survival time in cases of metastatic spread to the serous cavities. Study Design Telomere repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) in situ was applied to 46 effusions containing metastatic cancer cells. Results Weak telomerase activity in tumor cel

To examine and compare the diagnostic accuracy of retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness measurements using different Stratus optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanning protocols. Stratus OCT data for 90 healthy subjects and 62 glaucoma patients with mild or moderate visual field loss were prospectively collected and analysed using four RNFL thickness protocols that differed in terms of image

The skeletal development of 51 recent beavers (Castor fiber L.) from Sweden has been studied, with the purpose to put forward a method for ageing individuals from this species. The study of the epiphyseal fusion in 45 epiphyses allowed for the establishment of a calendar. The results indicate that the skeletal maturation of the beaver occurs as late as 12 years. It is suggested that such prolonged

Abstract is not available

BACKGROUND: Macrophage foam cell formation is a prominent feature of human atherosclerotic plaques, usually considered to be correlated to uptake of and inflammatory response to oxidized low density lipoproteins (OxLDL). However, there are alternative pathways for formation of macrophage foam cells and the effect of such lipid loading on macrophage function remains to be fully characterized. In th

Abstract is not available

Objective: To evaluate the cumulative risk of having a prostate cancer diagnosis in a repeated screening situation in relation to the free-to-total prostate specific antigen ratio (F/T-PSA). Patients and Methods: The present study includes 1385 men (aged 50-70 years) who underwent prostate biopsy for the first time in the screening program that started in 1995. In case of a benign finding, the men

A 4 pi silicon bail for detection and identification of light charged particles in large multidetector gamma-arrays as EUROBALL is presented. The design is based on a N = 42 ball with 12 pentagons and 30 hexagons as used in the GASP array. The absorptive material for gamma-rays is minimized to the detector thickness of 300 or 500 mu m and a 0.63 mm ceramic backing. The geometrical coverage is desi