Power system voltage security assessment is generally applied by considering the power system loadability surface. For a large power system, the loadability surface is a complicated hyper-surface in parameter space, and local approximations are a necessity for any analysis. Unfortunately, inequality constraints due to for example generator overexitation limiters, and higher codimension bifurcation

Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a marker of cardiovascular risk. It is unclear whether measurement of mean common CIMT improves 10-year risk prediction of first-time myocardial infarction or stroke in individuals with elevated blood pressure. We performed an analysis among individuals with elevated blood pressure (ie, a systolic blood pressure 140 mm Hg and a diastolic blood pressure 90 m

After oesophageal cancer surgery quality of life (QOL) is severely reduced for a long time. Even though this is a well-documented fact no previous studies have focused on the patients' experiences of supportive care after surgery. PURPOSE: To illuminate patients' experiences of supportive care from a long-term perspective after oesophagectomy or oesophagogastrectomy for cancer. METHOD: Data collec

To investigate the hospital cost and short-term clinical outcome of traditional minimally invasive versus robot-assisted hysterectomy in women primarily considered unavailable for vaginal surgery.

This paper follows directly from an earlier paper where we discussed the requirements for an artifact to be a moral agent and concluded that the artifactual question is ultimately a red herring. As before, we take moral agency to be that condition in which an agent can appropriately be held responsible for her actions and their consequences. We set a number of stringent conditions on moral agency.

OBJECTIVES:: In a recent study hypnosis has been found to relieve persistent idiopathic orofacial pain. Quantitative sensory testing (QST) is widely used to evaluate somatosensory sensitivity, which has been suggested as a possible predictor of management outcome. The objectives of this study were to examine: (1) possible associations between clinical pain relief and baseline somatosensory sensiti

We report an element-specific investigation of electronic and magnetic properties of the graphene/Ni(111) system. Using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, the occurrence of an induced magnetism of the carbon atoms in the graphene layer is observed. We attribute this magnetic moment to the strong hybridization between C pi and Ni 3d valence band states. The net magnetic moment of carbon in the grap

Novel adjuvants and antigen-delivery systems with immunomodulatory properties that shift the allergenic Th2 response towards a Th1 or regulatory T cell response are desired for allergen-specific immunotherapy. This study demonstrates that 200-nm sized biodegradable poly(gamma-glutamic acid) (gamma-PGA) nanoparticles (NPs) are activators of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). gamma-PGA

Diamond-Blackfan anemia is a congenital erythroid hypoplasia caused by functional haploinsufficiency of genes encoding ribosomal proteins. Mutations involving the ribosomal protein S19 gene are detected in 25 % of patients. Enforced expression of ribosomal protein S19 improves the overall proliferative capacity, erythroid colony-forming potential and erythroid differentiation of hematopoietic prog

Irish peat soils are extensive, covering approximately 14-20% of the national land area. They contain between 53% and 62% of the national soil organic carbon stock. Montane blanket bog covers approximately 25% or 242650ha of the total peatland area in Ireland and is the dominant peatland type covering the upland area of Wicklow. Blanket bogs are very sensitive systems and have experienced much dis

Insomnia and short and long sleep durations have all been linked to cardiovascular disease. Male gender and low socioeconomic status are also related to cardiovascular disease, but it is unclear whether these two factors modify the impact of poor sleep on cardiovascular disease incidence.

Family history of stroke is an established risk factor for stroke. We evaluated whether family history of stroke predisposed to certain stroke subtypes and whether it differed by sex in young patients with stroke.

A combined two-cell reaction system containing Gluconobacter oxydans and Ralstonia eutropha was evaluated with regard to asymmetric ketone reduction using H(2) as the reductant. Whole cells permeabilized by EDTA/toluene were used, and synthesis was performed in a biphasic aqueous/organic reaction medium. The two-cell system was compared with a system in which G. oxydans alone was used for both ket

It is important that any patient with a urinary diversion can accept the psychological impact alongside the surgical and physical aspects. However, there are currently no validated methods or instruments available to allow direct measurement of this phenomenon in these patients. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is often high following different types of urinary diversion - this may suggest a

Using kilometric arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes at short wavelengths, intensity interferometry may increase the spatial resolution achieved in optical astronomy by an order of magnitude, enabling images of rapidly rotating hot stars with structures in their circumstellar disks and winds, or mapping out patterns of nonradial pulsations across stellar surfaces. Intensity interferometry (once pio

We investigate the survival performance of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) over the business cycle and compare them against other entrepreneurial firms. Our data comprise the entire population of entrepreneurial firms entering the Swedish economy from 1991 to 2002, which we follow until 2007. Discrete-time duration models are employed to investigate whether the business cycle impacts differentl

This Letter describes a model-independent search for the production of new resonant states in photon + jet events in 2.11 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at root s = 7 TeV. We compare the photon + jet mass distribution to a background model derived from data and find consistency with the background-only hypothesis. Given the lack of evidence for a signal, we set 95% credibility level limits on

The rationale for long-term prophylaxis in more severe forms of von Willebrand's disease (VWD) is obvious, as mucosal bleeding and haemophilia-like joint bleeds resulting in chronic morbidity may occur. However, the experience with prophylactic treatment in this group is scanty. An international VWD Prophylaxis Network (VWD PN) was established in 2006. The VWD PN will investigate prophylaxis with