BACKGROUND: Situational needs of health care facilities inform the optimal allocation of resources and quality improvement efforts. This study examines surgical care delivery metrics at a tertiary care institution in Liberia. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed operative and ward logbooks from January 1 to December 31, 2012. Data parameters included patients' age, diagnosis, procedure, mortality,

To study the integrative impact of macronutrients on postprandial glycemia, β-cell function, glucagon and incretin hormones in man.

Experimental and analytical results are presented regarding the temperature evolution in 100Cr6 steel under uniaxial loading. Differently heat-treated conditions of the material are studied at different strain rates. In the annealed state, the materials exhibits a pronounced initial yield stress as it passes from the elastic region to the plastic through discontinuous yielding. In contrast, the qu

In this article, we experimentally investigate the substrate, wavelength, and time dependence of the plasmon-assisted surface-catalyzed dimerization of 4-nitrobenzenethiol to form p,p'-dimercaptoazobenzene on Au, Ag, and Cu films. We provide direct experimental evidence that surface plasmon resonance plays the most important role in these surface-catalyzed reactions. It is found that the reaction

This study was designed with three objectives: to assess perceptions of untreated hypospadias and quality of life in culturally disparate low- or middle-income countries (LMICs), to highlight the demographic and care differences of patient groups treated for hypospadias in the surgical workshop context, and to evaluate the long-term outcomes achieved by these workshop groups.

The synthesis and structural characterization of five Cu(II)-Ln(III) heteronuclear metal-organic frameworks of formula {[Ln(4)Cu(4)(H2O)(26)(bta)(5)]center dot mH(2)O} and {[Ln(4)Cu(4)(H2O)(24)(bta)(5)]center dot pH(2)O} [Ln = La-III (1A/1B), Ce-III (2A/2B), Pr-III (3A/3B), Nd-III (4A/4B) and Sm-III (5A/5B) with m/p = 20 (1A)/16 (1B), 18 (2A)/16 (2B), 14 (3016 (3B), 22 (4A)/16 (4B) and 21 (5A)/14

Hybrid graphene-PbS quantum dot devices are fabricated on an n-type silicon substrate capped with a thin SiO2 layer and are characterized by photoelectrical measurements. It is shown that the resistance of the graphene channel in the devices exhibits detectable changes when a laser beam is switched on and off on the quantum dots. The model that explains the observed photoresponse phenomenon is ill

Interview with Professor Carl Borrebaeck DSc by Claire Raison (Commissioning Editor) Professor Carl Borrebaeck DSc, is the Director of CREATE Health (Lund, Sweden), a translational cancer center, previous Vice President of Lund University and specializes in immunotechnology, diagnostics and treatments for cancer. He has had remarkable success in co-founding collaborative working groups and related

The complex life cycle of streptomycetes involves two distinct filamentous cell forms: the growing (or vegetative) hyphae and the reproductive (or aerial) hyphae, which differentiate into long chains of spores. Until recently, little was known about the signalling pathways that regulate the developmental transitions leading to sporulation. In this Review, we discuss important new insights into the

Jean Piaget, along with Sigmund Freud and B. F. Skinner, is one of the most influential thinkers in psychology. His influence on developmental and cognitive psychology, pedagogy and the so-called cognitive revolution is without doubt. The contributors to the book under review aim to show his past, contemporary as well as future relevance to important areas of psychology. I argue that they fail bec

Two series of oligomers TQ and rhodanine end-capped TQ-DR were synthesized using a facile one-step method. Their optical, electrical, and thermal properties and photovoltaic performances were systematically investigated and compared. The TQ series of oligomers were found to be amorphous, whereas the TQ-DR series are semicrystalline. For the TQ oligomers, the results obtained in solar cells show th

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) holds promise for reduced emissions and increased efficiency compared to conventional internal combustion engines. As HCCI lacks direct actuation over the combustion phasing, much work has been devoted to designing controllers capable of set-point tracking and disturbance rejection. This paper presents results on model predictive control (MPC) of the

Purpose: To investigate detection performance for calcification clusters in reconstructed digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) slices at different dose levels using a Super Resolution and Statistical Artifact Reduction (SRSAR) reconstruction method. Method: Simulated calcifications with irregular profile (0.2 mm diameter) where combined to form clusters that were added to projection images (1-3 clus

Using the Swedish Family-Cancer Database, we assessed the effect of a detailed family history of melanoma on risk for other tumors (other than melanoma). Among 248,011 individuals with a family history of melanoma, 43,931 other tumors were diagnosed from 1958 to 2010. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for other tumors in patients who had a family history of melanoma, as compared

The ultimate goal of MALDI-Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) is to achieve spatial localization of analytes in tissue sections down to individual tissue compartments or even at the level of a few cells. With compound tissue imaging, it is possible to track the transportation of an unlabelled, inhaled reference compound within lung tissue, through the application of MALDI-IMS. The procedure for

Calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) has a key role in migraine and recently CGRP receptor antagonists have demonstrated clinical efficacy in the treatment of migraine. However, it remains unclear where the CGRP receptors are located within the CGRP signaling pathway in the human trigeminal system and hence the potential antagonist sites of action remain unknown. Therefore we designed a study to

Every year about 2500 patients in Sweden undergo surgery due to heart valve disease. A mechanical heart valve prosthesis causes risk of thromboembolic stroke or thrombus formation in the valve while anticoagulant treatment increases the risk of bleeding. Treatment quality with warfarin is crucial for patients with mechanical valve prostheses. It has previously been shown that poorly controlled war

Phylogenetically conserved serine protease cascades play an important role in invertebrate and vertebrate immunity. The mammalian coagulation system can be traced back some 400 million years and it shares homology with ancestral serine proteinase cascades involved for instance in Toll receptor signaling in insects and release of antimicrobial peptides during hemolymph clotting. Here we show that b

Aims/hypothesis The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) lifestyle intervention successfully achieved its goal of increasing leisure physical activity levels. This current study examines whether the lifestyle intervention also changed time spent being sedentary and the impact of sedentary time on diabetes development in this cohort. Methods 3,232 DPP participants provided baseline data. Sedentary beh