OBJECTIVE To purpose an inflammatory risk score for aortic aneurysm endovascular treatment. METHODS Twenty-five patients were followed-up from preoperative period to third month postoperatively (1-hour, 6-hour, 24-hour, 48-hour, 7-day, 1-month, 2- month and 3month). Inflammatory variables were C-reactive protein, hemosedimentation velocity, interleukins (IL-6, IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-Alp...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prognostic significance of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is unclear. The objective of this study was to determine the association between LDL-C and mortality in ICH. METHODS Consecutive patients (n=88) presenting with ICH were included in the study. Lipid profile was obtained during the first hours after admission. We analy...

Nonparametric correlation estimators as the Kendall and Spearman correlation are widely used in the applied sciences. They are often said to be robust, in the sense of being resistant to outlying observations. In this paper we formally study their robustness by means of their influence functions and gross-error sensitivities. Since robustness of an estimator often comes at the price of an incre...

BACKGROUND The influences of potential bone-to-implant contact (BIC) area (pBICA), BIC area (BICA), and three dimensional (3D) BIC percentage (3D BIC%; defined as BICA divided by pBICA) in relation to the implant length on initial implant stability were studied. Correlations between these parameters were also evaluated. METHODS Implants with lengths of 8.5, 10, 11.5, and 13 mm were placed in ...

OBJECTIVES To assess the effects on dry eye symptoms and tear dynamics of switching from a prostaglandin with a preservative to a preservative-free prostaglandin. MATERIAL AND METHODS Fourteen patients (N=28 eyes) with open-angle glaucoma and dry eye symptons, treated with preserved latanoprost, travoprost or bimatoprost were included in this uncontrolled prospective study. Ocular symptoms we...

The expression of a specific repressor of estrogen receptor activity (REA) was investigated by a semiquantitative reverse transcription-PCR assay in 40 human breast tumor biopsy samples with respect to steroid hormone receptor status and other known prognostic variables. The data showed that REA expression was positively correlated with estrogen receptor (ER) levels as defined by ligand-binding...

OBJECTIVE To determine the concurrent validity of the Balance Outcome Measure for Elder Rehabilitation (BOOMER) with both the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and gait speed. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Two geriatric rehabilitation units. PARTICIPANTS Elderly adults (N=134) admitted to inpatient rehabilitation. INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The BOOMER consis...

BACKGROUND The assessment of food intake is challenging and prone to errors; it is therefore important to consider the reliability and validity of the assessment methods. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the reproducibility and validity of a developed food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for use among adolescents. DESIGN In total, 58 students (aged 13-14) from four different sch...

PURPOSE This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between microleakage and screw loosening at different types of implant-abutment connections and/or geometries measuring the torque values before and after the leakage tests. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three different abutment types (Intenal hex titanium, internal hex zirconium, morse tapered titaniuım) with different geometries were connected to...

PURPOSE This study assessed test-retest reliability of an interviewer-administered trail survey. METHODS An intercept survey was conducted with adults using 2 paved trails in Indiana and South Carolina (N = 295; mean age = 46.9 +/- 18 y). The survey included items on frequency and duration of trail use for recreation and transportation, other patterns of trail use, and sociodemographic charac...