Background: Studies on the temporal variation in stroke incidence have reported inconsistent results. Few have studied the temporal variations in case fatality. No study on incidence and case fatality of stroke by season in Sweden has been found. This study explores the weekly, monthly and seasonal variations in incidence and 28-day case fatality of stroke. Methods: A total of 7,129 patients with

We show that the travelling salesman problem in bounded-degree graphs can be solved in tune O((2 - epsilon)(n)), where epsilon > 0 depends only on the degree bound but not on the number of cities, n. The algorithm is a variant of the classical dynamic programming solution due to Bellman, and, independently; Held and Karp. In the case of bounded integer weights on the edges, we also present a polyn

We propose a spin current diode which can work even in a small applied bias condition (the linear-response regime). The prototypal device consists of a hornlike electron waveguide with Rashba spin-orbit interaction, which is connected to two leads with different widths. It is demonstrated that when electrons are incident from the narrow lead, the generated spin conductance fluctuates around a cons

A two-phase hollow-fiber (HF) liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) method was developed for determination of a quaternary ammonium compound surfactant, dicocodimethylammonium chloride, in aqueous samples. The porous HF was fixed on a metal rod support and was impregnated with approximately 6.6 mu L of organic extractant, which was immobilized in the HF pores. Surfactant extraction was facilitated b

Core-level spectroscopy and valence band photoelectron spectroscopy were used to study H2O adsorption on the Si(100) and Ge(100) surfaces. We find that H2O dissociates into H and OH on both surfaces at 300 K. The H and OH are adsorbed in on top positions on the surface. The OH group is tilted with respect to the surface normal on the Si(100) surface. We consider two possible interpretations for th

Twenty-five patients with colorectal liver metastases had a subcutaneous portal connection with a peritoneal catheter implanted for the intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In five patients, the malignant disease rapidly progressed and the implanted catheter system was never used. Among the remaining 20 patients, seven patients had i.p. 5-FU as adjuvant treatment followi

BACKGROUND: The metabolism of sphingomyelin generates important signals regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis. Previous studies found that the administration of colon carcinoma carcinogen was associated with an accumulation of membrane sphingomyelin, and that dietary sphingomyelin inhibited promotion of experimental colon carcinoma in mice, indicating that the abnormal metabolism of sphingom

During screening of genes upregulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS; endotoxin) treatment of bone marrow-derived mouse macrophages, it was unexpectedly found that cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (Ch25h) was strongly upregulated. Treatment of macrophages with 10 ng/ml of LPS for 2 h resulted in a 35-fold increase in the expression of Ch25h. In contrast, LPS treatment did not increase the expression of Cyp2

Recently it was discovered that composites of Terfenol-D alloys with an insulating binder produce very large magnetostrictions. Resistivities of these composites reach high values, making them attractive for high-frequency applications which require small eddy current losses. In this paper the magnetostriction, magnetization, and Young's moduli measurements made under constant magnetic field condi

Humans are poorly adapted for underwater vision. In air, the curved corneal surface accounts for two-thirds of the eye's refractive power, and this is lost when air is replaced by water [1]. Despite this, some tribes of sea gypsies in Southeast Asia live off the sea, and the children collect food from the sea floor without the use of visual aids [2]. This is a remarkable feat when one considers th

A model for an electric infrared (IR) heater has been developed. The model includes non-grey radiative heat transfer between the different parts of the IR heater, as well as conduction in reflector material and convective cooling of surfaces. The geometry is simplified into one dimension. Using IR module voltage, as the only input, the model predicts the temperature of heater components and coolin

The aim of treatment of von Willebrand's disease (VWD) is to correct the dual defect of haemostasis, i.e. the abnormal platelet adhesion due to reduced and/or dysfunctional von Willebrand factor (VWF) and the abnormal coagulation expressed by low levels of factor VIII (FVIII). Desmopressin (DDAVP) is the treatment of choice for type 1 VWD because it can induce release of normal VWF from cellular c

This study uses aggregate data for 23 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries over the 1960-1997 period to examine the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and deaths. The main finding is that total mortality and deaths from several common causes rise when labor markets strengthen. For instance, controlling for year effects, location fixed-effects (FE), coun

Diffusion measurements by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were used to investigate the host-guest association between beta-cyclodextrin (CD) and alkyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactants with different chain lengths, ranging from 6 up to 16 carbons. The scope and limitations of the method in the study of formation of inclusion complexes are discussed. The influences of the presence

The ground and excited state properties (e.g., the intramolecular charge and energy transfer, and electron-hole coherence) of the chromophore of the asFP595 chromoprotein from Anemonia sulcata in the neutral and anionic forms are theoretically studied with quantum chemistry methods. The ground-state properties of the asFP595 in the neutral and anionic forms, such as the alternations of the bond le

Studies have indicated that females are more vulnerable to the deleterious effect of tobacco smoking than males. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between tobacco smoking and reported respiratory symptoms, self-rated health, and lung function by sex. In 1995-1997 65,225 subjects aged greater than or equal to 20 yrs (71% of invited) attended for screening within the Nord-Trond