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This paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary study encompassing data collected from 108 in-depth interviews and 15 participatory workshops aimed at exploring the requirements of a diverse range of stakeholders in relation to assistive augmentative technologies. The study involved 39 poststroke patients with hand paresis, 39 individuals with spinal cord injuries affecting upper limb func
Long time series of satellite remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as an indicator of vegetation greenness can be used in a broad range of research topics such as climate change, vegetation dynamics and desertification monitoring. The first phase of this study tests a practical method using Hyperion imagery onboard on Earth Observing-1 (EO1) spacecraft for simulation of MO
A reputation good is a good that you have to consume before you can assess its quality. Therefore, there is asymmetric information in favor of the seller. This good is also characterized by the fact that people often turn to friends and family for recommendations. On the contrary to standard economic theory of competition, an increased number of sellers on a market for reputation goods may lead to
The evolution of the party system in Eastern Europe is, according to scientist like Jack Bielasiak and Gary Reich, very similar to each other. According to them, the system will first polarize into two competing factions, the communist party or its successor on the one hand and the por-democratic opposition on the other. The party system will then fragment into a jungle of parties that fight for t
Abstract Purpose: This thesis, first, sets out how the collective action strategies of prime movers and the manner in which they form networks affect the pace of legitimacy of a newly emerging bioenergy system. Under the light of this information, the second purpose is to see if it is possible to provide some lessons and good examples of networking strategies for prenatal or infant bioenergy case
This thesis studies the extent at which five factors affect the democratization process in Kuwait: elections & opposition, gender, media, mass belief and international influence. This thesis finds that there are two factors that affect the process of democratization more than the rest; gender and media. Recent reforms in these respective factors affects the democratization process, the politic
Purpose: The aim was to study the prevalence of hip displacements, dislocations, and the hip surgeries performed in a Finnish cohort of children with cerebral palsy not followed up in a hip surveillance program and to compare these with previous studies performed in Northern European countries before and after the implementation of hip surveillance programs.Methods: A cross-sectional study. A coho
BACKGROUND: Neuropsychiatric (NP) involvement and fatigue are major problems in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). S100A8/A9 is a marker of inflammation and responds to therapy in SLE patients. S100A8/A9 has an immunopathogenic role in various neurological diseases. We investigated S100A8/A9 in relation to NP-involvement and fatigue in SLE.METHODS: 72 consecutive SLE outpatients at a tertiary cen
This prospective study reports the design and results obtained after the EMPODaT project implementation. This project was funded by the Tempus programme of the European Commission with the objective to implement a common postgraduate programme on organ donation and transplantation (ODT) in six selected universities from Middle East/North Africa (MENA) countries (Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco). The co
Purpose: To assess the feasibility of characterizing gene copy number alteration by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of circulating tumor cells (CTC) isolated using the Cell Search system in patients with progressive castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. Experimental Design: We used probe combinations that included the androgen receptor (AR)and MYC genes for FISH analysis of CT
BACKGROUND: Exclusive breastfeeding is the optimal infant nutrition, providing infants immunoprotection against many diseases including SARS-CoV-2 infection. Restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic may have negatively affected breastfeeding practices in maternity care facilities. The aims of the study were to examine exclusive breastfeeding rates at discharge over time and to identify factors as
Objective: The heterogeneity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) constitutes clinical and therapeutical challenges. We therefore studied whether unrecognized disease subgroups can be identified by using autoantibody profiling together with HLA-DRB1 alleles and immunological and clinical data. Methods: An unsupervised cluster analysis was performed based on detection of 13 SLE-associated autoanti
Background and ObjectivesIdentifying a clinically meaningful change in cognitive test score is essential when using cognition as an outcome in clinical trials. This is especially relevant because clinical trials increasingly feature novel composites of cognitive tests. Our primary objective was to establish minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) for commonly used cognitive tests, using a
Introduction: Cyanide exposure can occur in various settings such as industry and metallurgy. The primary mechanism of injury is cellular hypoxia from Complex IV (CIV) inhibition. This leads to decreased ATP production and increased reactive oxygen species production. The brain and the heart are the organs most affected due to their high metabolic demand. While the cardiac effects of cyanide are w
INTRODUCTION: Administration of large volumes of fluids is associated with poor outcome in septic shock. Recent data suggest that non-resuscitation fluids are the major source of fluids in the intensive care unit (ICU) patients suffering from septic shock. The present trial is designed to test the hypothesis that a protocol targeting this source of fluids can reduce fluid administration compared w
Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques have been developed as imaging biomarkers, aiming to improve the specificity of MRI to underlying pathology compared to conventional weighted MRI. For assessing the integrity of white matter (WM), myelin, in particular, several techniques have been proposed and investigated individually. However, comparisons between these methods are lacking
This article draws on socio-legal theory in relation to growing concerns over fairness, accountability and transparency of societally applied artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The purpose is to contribute to a broad socio-legal orientation by describing legal and normative challenges posed by applied AI. To do so, the article first analyzes a set of problematic cases, e.g., image
Background: Early-onset pancreatic cancer (< 50 years, EOPC) is uncommon and limited data exist on clinical presentation and long-term survival. The aim of this study was to compare outcomes between patients with EOPC and those with later-onset pancreatic cancer (≥ 50 years, LOPC) using a large population-based cohort. Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was qu
