BACKGROUND The transmural distribution of apamin-sensitive small conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (SK) current (IKAS) in failing human ventricles remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS We optically mapped left ventricular wedge preparations from 12 failing native hearts and 2 rejected cardiac allografts explanted during transplant surgery. We determined transmural action potential duration (AP...

BACKGROUND In earlier work, we found important selection biases when we tried to obtain consent for participation in a national stroke registry. Recognizing that not all registries will be exempt from requiring consent for participation, we examine here in greater depth the reasons for the poor accrual of patients from a systems perspective with a view to obtaining as representative sample as p...

BACKGROUND Government legislators and research ethics boards in some jurisdictions require all patients to give written informed consent before enrollment in clinical registries. However, the effect of such a requirement on the use of clinical registries and the extent to which registry data can be generalized remain uncertain. METHODS We examined the effectiveness of a comprehensive attempt ...

The paper offers an exploratory empirical investigation of the determinants of cooperative advertising participation rates. Using data for 2,286 brands, we examine the relationship of participation rates to national advertising expenditures by brand. We also consider how participation rates vary with average manufacturers’ margins by industry, average retail margins by category, and additional ...

This commentary talks about patient involvement in one of the biggest EU projects to date-U-BIOPRED. It describes how people and carers of people with asthma have been able to develop and drive their input and have their voice heard among the >200 healthcare professional project members. Five key principles for the success of the patient involvement group are presented: involve early, involve d...

INTRODUCTION Patient and public involvement in healthcare planning, service development and health-related research has received significant attention. However, evidence about the role of patient involvement in quality improvement work is more limited. We aimed to characterize patient involvement in three improvement projects and to identify strengths and weaknesses of contrasting approaches. ...

Length The structured abstracts were, as expected, longer than the traditional ones. Indeed, they were approximately 30 percent longer, which is 10 percent more than the average 20 percent increase in length reported by Hartley (2002) for nine studies. It is interesting to note, however, that the average Hartley / CLARITY OF JOURNAL ABSTRACTS IN PSYCHOLOGY 371 TABLE 2 The Average Scores and Sta...

*Prepared in the Program Division, B u reau of Employment Security. D U R I N G 1946, employers subject to State unemployment insurance laws were taxed at an estimated average rate of 1.4 percent of taxable pay rolls (table l ) 1 —the lowest average rate since the first year of the program (1936) when the Federal tax rate was only 1 percent. The 1.4percent revenue rate is expected to yield $828...

This paper provides empirical evidence regarding the impact of agricultural technologies on smallholders’ output market participation. The analysis is based on Farmer Innovation Fund impact evaluation survey collected by the World Bank in 2010-2012 covering 2,675 households in Ethiopia. Endogenous treatment effect and sample selection models are employed to account for the self-selection bias i...