Search results

Background Treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with interferon beta is only partly effective, and new more effective and safe strategies are needed. Our aim was to assess the efficacy of oral methylprednisolone as an add-on therapy to subcutaneous interferon beta-1a to reduce the yearly relapse rate in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Methods NORMIMS (NORdic tr

This paper describes an architecture of a connected-cluster labeling algorithm for binary images based on contour tracing with feature extraction. The implementation is intended as a hardware accelerator in a self contained real-time digital surveillance system. The algorithm has lower memory requirements compared to other labeling techniques and can guarantee labeling of a predefined number of cl

Rhizoplaca Zopf is a genus characterized by an umbilicate thallus with an upper and a lower cortex, as well as a cupulate hypothecium. It has been considered to be related to Lecanora Ach., the type genus of the Lecanoraceae and, in particular, to the lobate species of this genus. The phylogeny of Rhizoplaca, the monotypic Arctopeltis thuleana Poelt, and a number of representatives of different gr

We have recently reported that a polymorphism in the cell division cycle (CDC2) gene, designated Ex6 + 7I/D, is associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The CDC2 gene is located on chromosome 10q21.1 close to the marker D10S1225 linked to AD. Active cdc2 accumulates in neurons containing neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), a process that can precede the formation of NFT. Therefore, CDC2 is a promising

Objective. To examine whether there is an association between country of birth in first-generation immigrants and first hospitalization for a rheumatic disease, and to study whether any such association remains in second-generation immigrants. Methods. In this followup study, the Swedish MigMed database at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm was used to identify all primary hospital diagnoses of

Purpose. To compare health-related quality of life (HRQL) and-pain symptoms in patients with PD with a matched control group. To our knowledge, controlled studies of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients within this area are rare. Scope. Fifty-seven patients and 95 controls took part in a self-administered questionnaire study. The instruments were the SF-36, visual analogue scales, pain drawing and pa

We would like to report a case of cerebral infarction associated with anti-cardiolipin syndrome occurring 8 years after cessation of successful treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 11 years after cranial irradiation.

A new method is presented for monitoring the conformational stability of various parts of a protein that is physically adsorbed onto nanometer-sized silica particles. The method employs hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange of amide hydrogens, a process that is extremely sensitive to structural features of proteins. The resulting mass increase is analyzed with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance

BACKGROUND: Serum creatinine is the most commonly used marker for estimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). To compensate for its drawbacks as a GFR marker, several prediction equations including several parameters are being used, with the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD), Schwartz, and Counahan-Barratt equations being the ones most widely accepted for estimation of relative GFR

Abstract not available

A study relating the properties of haematite (alpha-Fe2O3) produced by thermal oxidation of pyrite and marcasite (both FeS2) in air for 1 h at temperatures between 200 and 650 degreesC, to the iron disulphide polymorph and grain size of the sample is reported. Comparisons feature crystallite sizes of haematite from pyrite and marcasite oxidation, and the 125-250 and 710-1000 mum fractions. The cry

Objective Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is associated with heart disease. The aims of the present study were to evaluate how cardiac function and secretion of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) correlate in patients with mild PHPT, and how the plasma level of NT-proBNP is influenced by cure of the parathyroid disease. Design and patients Forty-two patients with PHPT without

Blood coagulation factor IX is composed of discrete domains with an NH2-terminal vitamin K-dependent gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla)-containing region, followed by two domains that are homologous with the epidermal growth factor (EGF) precursor and a COOH-terminal serine protease part. Calcium ions bind to the Gla-containing region and to the NH2-terminal EGF-like domain. To be able to determine

This study evaluated a routine psychiatric outpatient unit that admitted a variety of diagnoses and was staffed with a multi-professional team. The aim was to describe the problem severity among patients of a routine psychiatric outpatient unit in Sweden and to evaluate the statistical and clinical effectiveness of routine care assessed at the termination of treatment. Newly admitted patients were

Elevated blood pressure has been implicated as a risk factor for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but prospective studies were confined to men and did not consider the effect of antihypertensive medication. The authors examined the relation among blood pressure, antihypertensive medication, and RCC in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Blood pressure was measured i

As part of a systematic palaeohydrological reconstruction of lake level fluctuations during the Last Glacial Maximum, a transect of cores from ancient Lake Xinias in centra Greece has already been studied with respect to pollen, sediment and mineral magnetic analyses. The chronology was based on C-14 AMS dating of terrestrial plant macrofossil remains from peat and clayey peat (Palaeogeog. Palaeoc

Using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods for statistical inference is often troublesome in practice, because performance of the algorithm may hugely depend on the observed data, and what works well for one dataset may fail miserably for another. In this article, for spatial generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), we discuss problems with algorithms previously used, and we construct an algorithm wit