The growth of outsourcing has led outsourcing strategies to become an increasingly important component of firm success (Gottfredson et al., 2005). While the purported goal of outsourcing in supply chains is to derive a competitive advantage, it is not clear whether the outsourcing decisions of firms are always strategically aligned with their overall competitive strategy. In this paper we evalu...

BACKGROUND In adults and children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, a polymorphism in the interleukin 6 (IL-6) promoter at position -174 predicts illness magnitude. In addition, polymorphisms in the interleukin 10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) genes are associated with immune responsiveness and the frequency of complications. ...

BACKGROUND We investigated the association between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the risk of major osteoporotic fracture in Taiwan. METHODS Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database for the period 2000-2007, we classified 43 874 patients aged 50 years or older with newly diagnosed CVD (coronary artery disease, heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, or peripheral atherosclerosis)...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important post-transcriptional regulators involved in animal adipogenesis, however, their roles in bovine fat deposition remain poorly understood. In the present study, we conducted a comparative RNA sequencing to identify the key miRNAs involved in beef lipid accumulation by comparing the backfat small RNA samples between Wagyu (high intramuscular fat) and Holstein (mode...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the influence of various biological, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors on premenstrual syndrome (PMS). DESIGN Random-digit dialing technique. Of 7900 calls from all area codes, exchanges, and 2 digits known to be open in Virginia, with a pair of random digits, 1700 women were eligible for telephone interviews. A total of 874 women completed interviews, for a respo...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) may be important mediators of the profound molecular and cellular changes that occur after traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the changes and possible roles of miRNAs induced by voluntary exercise prior to TBI are still not known. In this report, the microarray method was used to demonstrate alterations in miRNA expression levels in the cerebral cortex of TBI mice that we...

A total of 874 fecal specimens (446 diarrheal cases and 428 controls) from diarrheal children admitted in the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kolkata and age and sex matched asymptomatic subjects from an urban community were assessed for the prevalence of enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF). Isolates of B. fragilis were tested for the presence of enterotoxin gene (bft) by PCR. The detecti...

BACKGROUND Based on differences in individual immune responses to the hepatitis B virus (HBV), between 5% and 10% of patients become persistently infected with the virus, which leads to the determination of chronic HBV. Cytokines such as interferon gamma (IFN-γ) are secretory proteins that play important roles in both innate and adaptive immune responses. Functional studies have demonstrated th...

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory systemic disease for which there exist topical, ultraviolet, systemic, and biologic treatments. Biologic agents selectively interfere with the immune mechanisms responsible for psoriasis. Etanercept, infliximab, and adalimumab target tumor necrosis factor-alpha and have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Alefacept and...