The infection by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) has different forms of evolution, ranging from self-limited infection to chronic hepatic disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of cytokine genetic polymorphisms in the disease evolution. The patients were divided into two groups, one with chronic HBV (n = 30), and the other with self-limited infection (n = 41). The genoty...

INTRODUCTION Current guidelines recommend completion axillary lymph node dissection (cALND) in case of a sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis larger than 0.2 mm. However, in 50%-65% of these patients, the non-SLNs contain no further metastases and cALND provides no benefit. Several nomograms and scoring systems have been suggested to predict the risk of metastases in non-SLNs. We have evaluated...

In the summer of 2005, simultaneous with the initial admission of a freshman class to a new general engineering program at the Polytechnic campus, ASU entered into an agreement with the Hopi nation in northern Arizona to assess the potential for development of wind energy resources on Hopi land. This provided a unique opportunity to involve students at the freshmen level in a problem based lear...

We extract Transit Timing Variation (TTV) signals for pairs of transiting planet candidates that are near first-order Mean Motion Resonances (MMR), using publicly available Kepler lightcurves (Q0-Q9). We are able to solidly confirm the planetary nature of 12 new pairs because their TTV signals exhibit sinusoidal variations at the expected timescale and with reasonable phases. Applying the analy...

Despite a close association between adiponectin and both hypertension and type 2 diabetes, the relationship between adiponectin and metabolic syndrome has not yet been well-investigated. To examine and evaluate the association between serum adiponectin levels and metabolic syndrome based on Japanese diagnostic criteria, we analyzed adiponectin and anthropometric parameters in 869 male employees...

The crystal structure of the xanthine oxidase-related molybdenum-iron protein aldehyde oxido-reductase from the sulfate reducing anaerobic Gram-negative bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas (Mop) was analyzed in its desulfo-, sulfo-, oxidized, reduced, and alcohol-bound forms at 1.8-A resolution. In the sulfo-form the molybdenum molybdopterin cytosine dinucleotide cofactor has a dithiolene-bound fac-[...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether cardiometabolic factors are associated with hand osteoarthritis (HOA) symptoms, radiographic severity and progression in a post hoc analysis of the phase III Strontium ranelate Efficacy in Knee OsteoarthrItis triAl (SEKOIA) trial, designed to determine the effect of strontium ranelate on knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Among the 1683 patients randomised in the...

In contrast to their name, biofilms are not always flat and homogeneous but instead often exhibit complex structural heterogeneity. It has been suggested that nonhomogeneous geometry is selected in order to increase biofilm growth rate. A previous study (Dockery and Klapper (2002) SIAM J. Appl. Math., 62, 853-869) of a model biofilm system in a static bulk fluid demonstrated that under some cir...

BACKGROUND Prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) may affect the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR). We aimed to determine the incidence of PPM, its effect on short-term mortality, and the factors contributing to PPM in China. METHODS We retrospectively examined all consecutive patients with isolated or concomitant AVR at our hospital between January 1, 2013 an...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the mean value for reliability coefficients reported by studies using Mathematics Anxiety Scale Primary School Students (MASPSS) and examine sources variation in each study. A generalization meta-analysis conducted combining Cronbach's alpha values 34 that met inclusion criteria. Cronbach’s used were converted transformed coefficient applying Bonett tra...