This paper compares the performance of several tests for stochastic dominance up to order three using Monte Carlo methods. The tests considered are the Davidson and Duclos (2000) test, the Anderson test (1996) and the Kaur, Rao and Singh (1994) test. Only unpaired samples of independent observations are considered, as this is a restriction for both the Anderson and Kaur-Rao-Singh tests. We find...

BACKGROUND An increasing number of studies have investigated associations between collagen IX alpha 2 chain (COL9A2) and collagen IX alpha 3 chain (COL9A3) gene polymorphisms and the risk of lumbar disc degeneration (LDD). However, these studies have yielded contradictory results. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to investigate the association between the collagen IX gene polymorphisms (rs1...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The pathogenesis of Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) has been extensively studied in the past. In particular, a role of matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) in the disease initiation and progression has been recently reported. However, an involvement of Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I)-stimulated phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3k) / Akt signaling pathway-mediated control of MMP...

Objective: Late-life depression (LLD) is associated with development of different types of dementia. Identification of LLD patients, who will develop cognitive decline, i.e., the early stage of dementia would help to implement interventions earlier. The purpose of this study was to assess whether structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in LLD patients can predict mild cognitive impair...

OBJECTIVE Osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis are often considered to lie at opposite ends of a spectrum of bone phenotypes. Lumbar degenerative disc disease (LDD) may be associated with low back pain (LBP) and is similar in many ways to OA. LDD is reported in small studies to be associated with increased spine bone mineral density (BMD). The present work aimed to confirm this association in a...

BACKGROUND Although conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could provide excellent detection of morphological changes in the diagnosis of lumbar disc degeneration (LDD), it has some difficulties in discriminating minimal changes associated with early LDD before morphological or clinical alterations. Therefore, newer MRI techniques have emerged for investigation of early LDD. OBJECTIVES...

PURPOSE First, to determine whether a silicone light-adjustable intraocular lens (IOL) can be fabricated and adjusted precisely with a light delivery device (LDD). Second, to determine the biocompatibility of an adjustable IOL and whether the lens can be adjusted precisely in vivo. METHODS After fabrication of a light-adjustable silicone formulation, IOLs were made and tested in vitro for cyt...

We present the first steps in the elaboration of an approach of extracellular matrix-targeted local drug delivery (ECM-LDD), designed to provide a high concentration, ubiquitous distribution, and long-term retention of a drug within the vessel wall after local intravascular delivery. The approach is based on the concept of a bifunctional drug comprising a "therapeutic effector" and an "affinity...

1. Dispersal is a key individual-based process influencing many life-history attributes and scaling up to population-level properties (e.g. metapopulation connectivity). A persistent challenge in dispersal ecology has been the robust characterization of dispersal functions (kernels), a fundamental tool to predict how dispersal processes respond under global change scenarios. Particularly, the r...

Activation of the NF-κB pathway requires the formation of Met1-linked 'linear' ubiquitin chains on NEMO, which is catalysed by the Linear Ubiquitin Chain Assembly Complex (LUBAC) E3 consisting of HOIP, HOIL-1L and Sharpin. Here, we show that both LUBAC catalytic activity and LUBAC specificity for linear ubiquitin chain formation are embedded within the RING-IBR-RING (RBR) ubiquitin ligase subun...