The purpose of this investigation was to determine the severity of pure restrictive ventilatory impairment that results in right ventricular (RV) dilatation, increased RV wall thickness, and pulmonary hypertension. Two dimensional (2-D) echocardiography, Doppler measurements of pulmonary flow, and spirometry were performed on 26 unselected patients (17 female, 9 male) with a pure restrictive ve...

Unmet need for contraception is highest within 12 months post-delivery, according to research. Using longitudinal data from the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System, we assess the dynamics of contraceptive use during the postpartum period among women in Nairobi's slums. Results show that by 6 months postpartum, 83 percent of women had resumed sexual activity and 51 percent h...

Between 1996 and 2009 the annual number of emergency department (ED) visits in the United States increased by 51 percent while the number of EDs nationwide decreased by 6 percent, which placed unprecedented strain on the nation's EDs. To investigate the effects of an ED's closing on surrounding communities, we identified all ED closures in California during the period 1999-2010 and examined the...

This paper estimates the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) of CO2 emissions in China based on a provincial panel for the period of 2001-2010. The provincial marginal abatement cost (MAC) of CO2 emissions is estimated using a parameterized directional output distance function. Four types of model specifications are applied to fit the MAC-carbon intensity pairs. The optimal specification contr...

Two issues may have a tremendous impact on the adequacy of retirement income for American workers. The first is the growth of 401(k) pension plans, which allow participants to contribute, before taxes, a portion of their salary to a qualified retirement account.1 By 1998, the most recent year that published information is available, 401(k) plans accounted for about 41 percent of all pension pla...

A prospective in vivo investigation was conducted to determine radiographic and clinical factors associated with contemporary nonsurgical endodontic retreatments. Approximately 1,100 failing endodontically treated teeth were screened to determine an appropriate treatment plan. Using magnification, 337 consecutive retreatment cases were evaluated and treated. The vast majority of the retreated c...

Two of the most popular dosimetry systems used for calibration of megavoltage photon and electron beams in radiation therapy are (i) cylindrical Farmer-type chambers in liquid water and (ii) Holt Memorial parallel-plate chambers in clear polystyrene. Since implementation of the AAPM TG-21 calibration protocol, the Radiological Physics Center (which uses the Farmer in-water system) has compared ...

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) infections have recently been found in rural regions of Zhejiang. A severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) surveillance and sero-epidemiological investigation was conducted in the districts with outbreaks. During the study period of 2011-2014, a total of 51 SFTSV infection cases were identified and the case fatality rate was ...