PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze three models of how patient-reported outcome measures can be connected to clinical outcome measures in cataract surgery to identify opportunities for improvement of quality of care. METHODS: Three models were used to analyze the following questions: Is there a relationship between clinical parameters and patient-reported outcomes? (1) Is there a re

Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are prominent means for corporate strategy. In many M&As information systems (IS), integration is critical for achieving the intended goals. By integrating previous research on M&A and IS integration, we develop a six-dimensional theoretical framework for IS integration in corporate M&As. The framework is used to describe and explain IS int

OBJECTIVE: To assess incidence and mortality effects of extraarticular rheumatoid arthritis (ExRA) in patients with incident RA in 1995-2007 compared to 1985-1994, in Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA. METHODS: Data on incident ExRA were abstracted from medical records of patients with RA - Olmsted County residents who first met the 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA between Januar

PURPOSEHuman papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) infection is causing an increasing number of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States and Europe. The aim of our study was to investigate whether HPV antibodies are associated with head and neck cancer risk when measured in prediagnostic sera. METHODSWe identified 638 participants with incident head and neck cancers (patients; 180 oral cancers, 135 oro

Nesfatin-1 is a novel anorexigenic regulatory peptide. The peptide is the N-terminal part of nucleobindin 2 (NUCB2) and is expressed in brain areas regulating feeding. Outside the brain, nesfatin-1 expression has been reported in adipocytes, gastric endocrine cells and islet cells. We studied NUCB2 expression in human and rodent islets using immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization and western b

Neural transplantation is developing into a therapeutic alternative in Parkinson's disease. A major limiting factor is that only 3-20% of grafted dopamine neurons survive the procedure. Recent advances regarding how and when the neurons die indicate that events preceding actual tissue implantation and during the first week thereafter are crucial, and that apoptosis plays a pivotal role. Triggers t

Diode-laser-based absorption spectroscopy for the evaluation of embedded gas concentrations in porous materials is demonstrated in measurements of molecular oxygen dispersed throughout scattering polystyrene foam, used here as a generic test material. The mean path length of light scattered in the material is determined with the temporal characteristics of the radiation transmitted through the sam

An explicit construction characterizing the operator-valued Bergman inner functions is given for a class of vector-valued standard weighted Bergman spaces in the unit disk. These operator-valued Bergman inner functions act as contractive multipliers from the Hardy space into the associated Bergman space, and they have a natural interpretation as transfer functions for a related class of discrete t

Cholecystokinin (CCK)-expressing basket cells encompass a subclass of inhibitory GABAergic interneurons that regulate memory-forming oscillatory network activity of the hippocampal formation in accordance to the emotional and motivational state of the animal, conveyed onto these cells by respective extrahippocampal afferents. Various excitatory and inhibitory afferent and efferent synapses of the

Background: Myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (MPS) can be used to assess myocardium at risk in occlusive coronary ischaemia. The aim was to develop a method to quantify myocardium at risk as perfusion defect size on ex vivo MPS using co-registration and fusion with ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Pigs (n = 19) were injected 99mTc-tetrofosmin prior

Overweight and obesity is associated with an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. However, less is known about the impact of anthropometric factors on tumor pathology and biology. A Swedish population-based prospective cohort study of 9,685 postmenopausal women not using hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) were followed for an average of 10.3 years during which 305 incident breast cancer

Objective. The aim was to evaluate the efficacy of a Family Weight School treatment based on family therapy in group meetings with adolescents with a high degree of obesity. Methods. Seventy-two obese adolescents aged 12-19 years old were referred to a childhood obesity center by pediatricians and school nurses and offered a Family Weight School therapy program in group meetings given by a multidi

Stability is a fundamental property affecting function, activity, and regulation of biomolecules. Stability changes are often found for mutated proteins involved in diseases. Stability predictors computationally predict protein-stability changes caused by mutations. We performed a systematic analysis of 11 online stability predictors' performances. These predictors are CUPSAT, Dmutant, FoldX, I-Mu

ObjectiveFibroproliferative diseases are common causes of morbidity and mortality. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a pleiotropic cytokine with multiple effects on cells of the immune system. Although IL-15 is also expressed in mesenchymal cells, its effects on the development of fibrosis are unknown. We have previously described an association between serum IL-15 levels and the extent of pulmonary fibro

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs), such as symptoms and perceived health status, are essential in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for determining disease severity, impact on daily life, effect of treatment and recovery from exacerbations. This field has evolved rapidly and there are a plethora of instruments assessing different PROs. Here, we aim to provide an understanding of the conc

The incidence of obesity in the developed world is increasing at an alarming rate. Concurrent with the increase in the incidence of obesity is an increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Cyclic AMP (cAMP) and cGMP are key second messengers in all cells; for example, when it comes to processes of relevance for the regulation of energy metabolism, cAMP is a key mediator in the regulation of lip

Economies in transition (EiTs) (e. g. Ukraine (UA), Belarus, Moldova, etc.) are signifi cantly dependent on energy imports, and require revitalization of their agricultural sectors and improvements in the state of the environment. Development of national bioenergy potentials can contribute to the solutions to these problems. However, EiTs face technical, political, fi nancial, and capacity-based c

OBJECTIVES: Overweight is associated with advanced stage at diagnosis in breast cancer patients. This could be explained by specific tumour characteristics or tumour promoting factors in the obese, but a diagnostic delay could also be of importance. Mammographic screening has caused a change towards diagnosis of less advanced tumours. This study investigates invitation to mammographic screening an

Several in vitro studies have emphasized the importance of toll-like receptor/myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) signaling in the inflammatory response to Streptococcus pyogenes. Since the extent of inflammation has been implicated in the severity of streptococcal diseases, we have examined here the role of toll-like receptor/MyD88 signaling in the pathophysiology of experimental S. pyogene