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Pay-per-use business models where consumers pay for the unit of service (e.g. a wash) without gaining product ownership are often linked to increased environmental performance. Consumers would become more conscious about consumption patterns and companies would take responsibility for product life cycle issues. Such benefits can only be achieved when the business model is intentionally designed to
Background and purpose: Pain is highly prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD), impacting patients’ ability, mood and quality of life. Detecting the presence of pain in its multiple modalities is necessary for adequate personalized management of PD. A 14-item, PD-specific, patient-based questionnaire (the King's Parkinson's Disease Pain Questionnaire, KPPQ) was designed corresponding to the rater-ba
Many individuals with prediabetes, as presently defined, will progress to diabetes (T2D) despite the considerable benefit of lifestyle modification. Therefore, it is paramount to screen individuals at increased risk with a more sensitive method capable of identifying prediabetes at an even earlier time point in the lengthy trajectory to T2D. This petition reviews findings demonstrating that the 1-
Open testicular wedge biopsy has electively been performed prior to completion of maintenance therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 25 boys during 6 years were included in this prospective study. Three boys developed testicular enlargement while on maintenance therapy and biopsies confirmed testicular leukemia. The remaining 22 boys were biopsied at termination of maintenance therapy. Occult t
A sensitivity analysis on test outcomes from the microscale combustion calorimeter was performed using flexible polyurethane foam as the sample material. Three input factors were investigated: sample preparation, heating rate and pyrolysis chamber atmosphere. The experiments were setup according to the principles of design of experiments and a full factorial design was implemented. In total, 39 ex
The holotype (KUVP 1301) of Styxosaurus snowii—one of the earliest described elasmosaurid plesiosaurians—consists of a well-preserved cranium, mandible and articulated sequence of anterior–mid-series cervical vertebrae found in the lowermost Campanian strata of the Smoky Hill Chalk Member in the Niobrara Formation of Kansas, USA. This particular specimen has proven important for recent phylogenies
During the recent years improved operation techniques and administrative procedures have been developed for early rehabilitation. At the same time preoperative lifestyle intervention (prehabilitation) has revealed a large potential for additional risk reduction. The aim was to assess the quality of life and to estimate the cost-effectiveness of standard care versus an integrated programme includin
Based on a modified force balance model, new correlations were proposed for the prediction of vapor bubble departure radius in saturated and subcooled pool boiling under atmospheric pressure. To predict the departure radius, the wall temperature and contact angle are two important input parameters. Instead of the static contact angle, the present correlations use the dynamic advancing contact angl
Many trees form ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with fungi. During symbiosis, the tree roots supply sugar to the fungi in exchange for nitrogen, and this process is critical for the nitrogen and carbon cycles in forest ecosystems. However, the extents to which ectomycorrhizal fungi can liberate nitrogen and modify the soil organic matter and the mechanisms by which they do so remain unclear since they h
Purpose: To find a practical method for estimating the degree of sliding that occurs in screw-plate devices used in hip-fracture surgery. Greater understanding of the sliding mechanisms in different fracture types should improve surgical technique and reduce the failure rate. Methods and Results: In dynamic screw-plate devices, the lag screw slides inside the barrel of the plate. A recent innovati
Multiplex proteomic platforms provide excellent tools for investigating associations between multiple proteins and disease (e.g., diabetes) with possible prognostic, diagnostic, and therapeutic implications. In this study our aim was to explore novel pathophysiological pathways by examining 92 proteins and their association with incident diabetes in a population-based cohort (146 cases of diabetes
We reconsider the Generalized Kadanoff–Baym Ansatz (GKBA) approximation for non-equilibrium Green’s functions and extend it to self-consistently define an equilibrium correlated (within GKBA) state in closed systems. The advantage of the proposed prescription is to avoid the preparation of the initial equilibrium correlated state via adiabatic switching-on of the correlations. A simple model syste
Fifteen polymorphic markers were developed from a microsatellite-enriched library for the lizard Podarcis gaigeae. The loci were checked for variability in 68 individuals from a population on the island of Skyros, Greece. The number of alleles ranged from 3 to 23 per locus and expected heterozygosity from 0.29 and 0.94. Most markers were also polymorphic in three closely related Podarcis species,
This paper presents the coupled cluster/molecular mechanics (CC/MM) and self-consistent field/molecular mechanics (SCF/MM) approaches for wavefunctions, energies and response properties. Two physically different theories are derived, the mean-field and the direct-field interaction approaches, together with expressions for the optimization condition of both variational and non-variational wavefunct
Aims/hypothesis Post-translational modifications, such as isomerisation of native proteins, may create new antigenic epitopes and play a role in the development of the autoimmune response. Protein-L-isoaspartate (D-aspartate) O-methyltransferase (PIMT), encoded by the gene PCMT1, is an enzyme that recognises and repairs isomerised Asn and Asp residues in proteins. The aim of this study was to asse
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of stent-graft design and operator skills on outcomes after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred sixty-four patients (mean age 71 years) underwent stent-graft repair. Patients were treated with four different types of stent-graft: first-generation (n = 58) and second-generation (n = 17) Ivancev-Malm
A method is presented on how to quantify the moisture conditions of nuclear concrete containment walls. The method is based on first quantifying the boundary conditions at the outer and inner surfaces and then describing the moisture fixation and moisture transport within the concrete wall. The temperature and humidity conditions of the outdoor air and of the air close to the wall surfaces are mon
