OBJECTIVE : To evaluate the efficacy and safety of therapy for patients with histologically mild hepatitis C virus (HCV) liver disease. DESIGN : A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled trial of interferon alpha-2b with or without ribavirin. SETTING : Regional and university hospitals. PARTICIPANTS : One hundred and sixteen treatment naive patients with mild chronic HCV infection. Mild HCV i

Background: Local pain at the site of intravenous (iv) injection of propofol remains a considerable problem in clinical anaesthesiology, and particularly so in infants. The aim of the present study was to compare the influence of two different emulsions of propofol on local pain following iv administration. Methods: Eighty adult patients (ASA I-II) scheduled for ear-nose-throat or plastic surgery

BACKGROUND: Pin-site infection and pin loosening are complications that can cause discomfort to the patients. The purpose of present study was to evaluate pin-site infection, pain, and the use of medications using the XCaliber pin (Orthofix) with optimized thread and tip design, and the commonly used standard pin (Orthofix) during the procedure of hemicallotasis osteotomy (HCO). MATERIAL AND METHO

dAlcohol intoxication affects the vestibular system and balance control in many ways. We have investigated how acute, moderate (blood alcohol concentrations of 0.06 +/- 0.01%), and high (0.10 +0.02%) alcohol intoxication affects the ability to perceive the visual horizontal and vertical and the visual field dependence measured with the rod and frame tests in 24 healthy participants. Alcohol ingest

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We examined to what extent visual acuity and perimetric sensitivity as measures of central and paracentral visual function would be useful for evaluating the presence and severity of diabetic macular oedema.MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 59 eyes of 59 diabetic patients by identifying the presence (n=20) or absence (n=39) of macular oedema on stereo fundus photographs. The are

A state of the art review on industrial applications of membrane technology in the pulp and paper industry is presented. Applications have been arranged under three headlines, effluent treatment, concentration and fractionation. Among new and promising applications are treatment of waste paper white water, effluent after deresination and concentration of spent liquor from chemi-mechanical pulping

Extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding conidia and germlings of B. sorokiniana was studied using light microscopy (LM), scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Conidial ECM surrounding dry-inoculated, ungerminated conidia was fluid-like and observed only using a cryo-preparation technique, suggesting that the material was water soluble. ECM enveloping germlings appeared fibrilla

The effects of long-term heavy metal deposition on microbial community structure and the level of bacterial community tolerance were studied along two different gradients in Scandinavian coniferous forest soils. One was near the Harjavalta smelter in Finland, and one was at Ronnskar in Sweden. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis revealed a gradual change in soil microbial communities along bot

HbA1C is the stable glucose adduct to the N-terminal group of the beta-chain of HbA0. The measurement of HbA1c in human blood is most important for the long-term control of the glycaemic state in diabetic patients. Because there was no internationally agreed reference method the IFCC Working Group on HbA1c Standardization developed a reference method which is here described. In a first step haemog

The lung proteome is a dynamic collection of specialized proteins related to pulmonary function. Many cells of different derivations, activation states, and levels of maturity contribute to the changing environment, which produces the lung proteome. Inflammatory cells reacting to environmental challenge, for example from allergens, produce and secrete proteins which have profound effects on both r

The ages of the oldest stars in the Galaxy indicate when star formationbegan, and provide a minimum age for the Universe. Radioactive dating ofmeteoritic material and stars relies on comparing the present abundanceratios of radioactive and stable nuclear species to the theoreticallypredicted ratios of their production. The radioisotope 232Th(half-life 14Gyr) has been used to date Galactic stars, b

The runoff from and the water balance of a thin extensive green roof with sedum-moss have been studied. The soil cover is about 3 cm underlain by a thin drainage layer. The water balance is determined on a monthly basis. The runoff from the green roof is much reduced compared to runoff from hard roofs because of evapotranspiration. The annual runoff is rather close to that of natural river basins.

Among birds, falcons are high-performance flyers, in many cases adapted for aerial hunting and hence suitable targets for investigating limits to flight performance. Using an optical range finder, we measured flight tracks of Eleonoras falcon (Falco eleonorae), a species breeding in the Mediterranean region and specialised for hunting autumn passage bird migrants, when commuting between their nest

In order to clarify the mechanism of the selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia over a V2O5(WO3)/TiO2 commercial SCR catalyst, measurements were made on the reaction rate, r(NO), as a function of partial pressure of nitric oxide, P-NO, partial pressure of ammonia, P-NH3, and partial pressure of oxygen, P-O2, from 513 to 553 K under steady-state conditions. The adsorption of NO

Background: Natural antibodies specific for phosphorylcholine (anti-PC) have been implicated as protective factors in atherosclerosis. We herein determined the relationship between IgM anti-PC and incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: We studied 349 incident cases (200 men) of first events of CVD (coronary heart disease (CHD; n = 203 or ischemic stroke; n = 146) and 693 age- and sex-