BACKGROUND Elective single embryo transfer (eSET) in a selected group of patients (i.e. young patients with at least one good quality embryo) reduces the number of multiple pregnancies in an IVF programme. However, the reduced overall multiple pregnancy rate (PR) is still unacceptably high. Therefore, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted comparing eSET and double embryo transfer (D...

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Randomisierte kontrollierte Studien („randomized controlled trials“ [RCT]) sind der Goldstandard für die Evaluation von Interventionen. Allerdings wird oft angeführt, dass diese nur schwer durchzuführen seien und sie daher ggf. unter kleinen Fallzahlen leideten. Zudem häufig kritisiert, RCT aus diesem Grund sowie durch (zu) enge Einschlusskriterien zu starke Standard...

BACKGROUND Inflammation is proposed to impair reverse cholesterol transport (RCT), a major atheroprotective function of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The present study presents the first integrated functional evidence that inflammation retards numerous components of RCT. METHODS AND RESULTS We used subacute endotoxemia in the rodent macrophage-to-feces RCT model to assess the effects of inf...

Evidence synthesized based on randomized controlled trials (RCT) results are recognized as the pinnacle of research excellence; however, the conduction of RCT in workplace environment is not always possible. This study comparatively reviewed evidence from RCT and non-RCT studies in which participants performed workplace exercise for musculoskeletal pain control. Up to February 2011, PubMed, MED...

Cholesterol efflux from macrophages, the first step in reverse cholesterol transport (RCT), is assumed to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, in vivo proof supporting this hypothesis is lacking, due to difficulties in determining the activity of this first step in RCT. In this issue of the JCI, Zhang et al. apply their recently developed method for measuring RC...

Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) constitutes a key part of the atheroprotective properties of high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Hepatic lipase (HL) and endothelial lipase (EL) are negative regulators of plasma HDL cholesterol levels. Although overexpression of EL decreases overall macrophage-to-feces RCT, knockout of both HL and EL leaves RCT essentially unaffected. With respect to important ...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of developing pneumonia in acute stroke patients comparing the early anatomical stroke location and laryngeal cough reflex (LCR) testing. METHODS A prospective study of 818 consecutive acute stroke patients utilizing a reflex cough test (RCT), which assesses the neurological status of the LCR compared to magnetic resonance imaging ...

BACKGROUND To determine if the search technique that is used to sample randomized controlled trial (RCT) manuscripts from a field of medical science can influence the measurement of the change in quality over time in that field. METHODS RCT manuscripts in the field of brain injury were identified using two readily-available search techniques: (1) a PubMed MEDLINE search, and (2) the Cochrane ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review evaluated gender and race/ethnic representation in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). RECENT FINDINGS Whites comprise 33% of prevalent SLE cases and comprised 51% of RCT enrollees. Blacks encompass 43% of prevalent SLE cases, but only represented 14% of RCT enrollees. Hispanics comprise 16% of prevalent SLE ca...

In this paper, we propose a reversible color transform (RCT) for color images acquired through a Bayer pattern color filter array. One existing RCT with fixed coefficients is simple to implement. However, it is not adaptive to each of input images. Another existing RCT based on eigenvector of covariance matrix of color components, which is equivalent to Karhunen–Loève transform (KLT), is adapti...