Abstract Background Endogenous sex hormones associated with both the left atrial (LA) and ventricular (LV) structures in peri-menopausal women, but association of menopause status atrioventricular coupling is not well established. Purpose To assess prognostic value a index (LACI) pre- post-menopausal women without history cardiovascular disease (CVD) at baseline Multi-Ethnic Study Atheroscleros...

The pluripotency factor Nanog is expressed in peri-implantation embryos and primordial germ cells (PGCs). Nanog-deficient mouse embryos die soon after implantation. To explore the function of Nanog in germ cells, Nanog RNA was conditionally knocked down in vivo by shRNA. Nanog shRNA transgenic (NRi-Tg) mice were generated through the formation of germline chimeras with NRi-Tg embryonic stem cel...

BACKGROUND An increasing number of studies evaluate the ability of predictors to change risk stratification and alter medical decisions, i.e. reclassification performance. We examined the reported design and analysis of recent studies of reclassification and the robustness of their claims for improved reclassification. METHODS Two independent investigators searched PubMed and citations to the...

The Agaricomycotina are a phylogenetically diverse group of fungi that includes both saprotrophic and mycorrhizal species, and that form species--rich communities in forest ecosystems. Most species are infrequently observed, and this hampers assessment of the role that environmental heterogeneity plays in determining local community composition and in driving beta-diversity. We used a combinati...

The Readiness Estimate and Deployability Index Revised for Air Force Nurses (READI-R-AFN) was derived from modifications of Reineck's Readiness Instrument. Reliability and validity of the READI-R-AFN was estimated on completed questionnaires of 181 active duty Air Force nurses. The READI-R-AFN was evaluated based on item analysis, internal consistency (alpha coefficient, >0.70), confirmatory fa...

Since the 1980’s the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has used technology readiness level (TRL) as a means to assess the maturity of a particular technology and a scale to compare technologies. In 1999, the Department of Defense (DoD) embraced a similar TRL concept in their programs. The TRL scale is a measure of maturity of an individual technology, with a view towards oper...

This study aimed to derive a novel classification of blood flow pattern in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) based on computational fluid dynamics (CFDs), and determine the predictive value patterns AAA rupture. was an age sex matched case control study. Cases were identified as patients who underwent emergency endovascular or open repair due ruptured at risk impending Controls with asymptomatic...

BACKGROUND A fundamental part of prevention is prediction. Potential predictors are the sine qua non of prediction models. However, whether incorporating novel predictors to prediction models could be directly translated to added predictive value remains an area of dispute. The difference between the predictive power of a predictive model with (enhanced model) and without (baseline model) a cer...

OBJECTIVES Cardiovascular risk estimation is a key element of current primary prevention strategies, despite its limited accuracy. Several biomarkers are being tested to assess their capacity to improve coronary (CHD) and cardiovascular (CVD) prediction. One of these biomarkers is ankle brachial index (ABI). The aim of this study was to assess whether the inclusion of ABI improved the predictiv...