BACKGROUND New indications for misoprostol include medical abortion, cervical softening, induction of labor and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. Various routes of misoprostol administration under study include oral, vaginal, buccal, sublingual and rectal. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was an open-label, randomized, cross-over study of the pharmacokinetic differences of buccal vs. sublingual m...

BACKGROUND This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the ability of the delta neutrophil index (DNI) to predict histologically normal appendicitis preoperatively and to differentiate between simple and complicated appendicitis. METHODS The data from 650 patients were divided into positive and negative appendectomy groups (histologically normal appendicitis). The patients in the acute appendi...

Research in the area of predicting recidivism has produced several well-validated standardized risk assessment instruments. The question arises, which instruments best serve which purposes? The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare several actuarial and dynamic risk assessment instruments as to their predictive accuracy and their usefulness in forensic practice. The sample consist...

High concentrations of enterolignans in plasma are associated with a lower risk of acute coronary events. However, little is known about the absorption and excretion of enterolignans. The pharmacokinetic parameters and urinary excretion of enterodiol and enterolactone were evaluated after consumption of their purified plant precursor, secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG). Twelve healthy volun...

BACKGROUND No studies have examined if mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) can be an alternative screening tool for obesity in an international sample of children differing widely in levels of human development. OBJECTIVE Our aim is to determine whether MUAC could be used to identify obesity in children from 12 countries in five major geographic regions of the world. METHODS This observation...

BACKGROUND In this study, we compared the predictive accuracy of voluntary cough peak flow (V-CPF) and involuntary cough peak flow (IV-CPF) for re-intubation in mechanically ventilated subjects. METHODS Endotracheally intubated patients who passed a spontaneous breathing trial and assessment of readiness for extubation were enrolled. Before extubation, V-CPF and IV-CPF were measured. Re-intub...

Raltegravir is a novel human immunodeficiency virus-1 integrase inhibitor with potent in vitro activity (95% inhibitory concentration (IC95)=33 nM in 50% human serum). Three double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, pharmacokinetic, safety, and tolerability studies were conducted: (1) single-dose escalation study (10-1,600 mg), (2) multiple-dose escalation study (100-800 mg q12 h x 10 days)...

A nonlinear L2-gain property that generalizes the conventional (linear) notion of L2-gain for finite dimensional dynamical systems is studied. In particular, an optimizationbased approximation strategy that facilitates computation of gain bounds via a cascade is presented. The cascade in question consists of the dynamical system under test, driven by a nonlinear “energy saturation” operator tha...

Model-based testing is the comparison of a system under test to reference specifications in form of models. Tool support for model-based testing is of utter importance. In this paper, we present the model-based testing tool ParTeG, compare it with other modelbased testing tools in the same area, and show future extensions.

BACKGROUND In present-day life-insurance medical underwriting practice the risk assessment starts with a standard health declaration (SHD). Indication for additional medical screening depends predominantly on age and amount of insured capital. From a medical perspective it is questionable whether there is an association between the level of insured capital and medical risk in terms of mortality...