Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) emerged as a powerful technology for studying copy number variations at higher resolution in many cancers including colorectal cancer. However, the lack of standardized systematic protocols including bioinformatic algorithms to obtain and analyze genomic data resulted in significant variation in the reported copy number aberration (CNA) data....

The present study was conducted to assess the relationship between metabolic syndrome and metabolic syndrome score (MSS) and serum vitamin D levels in adults aged 20 or older (n = 5,483) using 2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, which represents national data in Korea. Key study results were as follows: First, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels decreased s...

BACKGROUND Although maternal serum screening (MSS) for Down's syndrome has become routinely available in most obstetric clinics in many countries, few studies have addressed the reasons why women agree to undergo the MSS test. OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were to describe the circumstances in which MSS was offered to pregnant women and their reasons for undertaking it. METHODS Particip...

The European Union Directive on cross-border health care places an obligation on member states (MSs) to establish one or more national contact points (NCPs). We evaluated whether MSs were meeting their legal obligations. Two researchers created a set of criteria, drawn from the Directive, to evaluate the information that 18 MSs provide on their NCP websites. Some 15 of the 18 MSs evaluated prov...

The purpose of this study was to develop and characterize a chitosan gel/gelatin microsphere (MSs) dual delivery system for sequential release of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to enhance osteoblast differentiation in vitro. We made and characterized the delivery system based on its degree of cross-linking, degradation, and release kinetics. We als...

This study used a quasi-experimental pre-post design to test whether short training can improve medicine sellers' (MSs) practices and skills for prevention and control of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Bangladesh. The training included lectures, printed materials, and identification of referral sites. Difference-in-differences estimation was used to determine the effects of intervent...

Obesity is an established risk factor for endometrial cancer, but this association is not well understood for subtypes of endometrial cancer. We evaluated the association of recent and adult-life obesity with subtypes of endometrial cancer based on microsatellite status (microsatellite-stable (MSS) vs. microsatellite-instable (MSI)) and histology (type I vs. type II). Analyses were based on a p...

In this study, a Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy rule-based (FRB) model is used for ensembling precipitation time series. The TS FRB takes predictions of grid-based regional climate models (RCMs) from the EUR11 domain, available CORDEX database, as inputs to generate ensembled series two meteorological stations (MSs) in Mediterranean region Turkey. For each MS, RCM data that are at closest grid corres...

Objective To review the literature on the effectiveness, safety and long-term patency of ureteric metal mesh stents (MSs), as a variety of MSs have been used for managing malignant ureteric obstruction over the last three decades. Materials and methods A systematic review using the search string; Ureter∗ AND (stent OR endoprosthesis) AND metal∗ was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, Web of science ...

Polymeric microspheres (MSs) have received attention for their potential to improve the delivery of drugs with poor oral bioavailability. Although MSs can be absorbed into the absorptive epithelium of the small intestine, little is known about the physiologic mechanisms that are responsible for their cellular trafficking. In these experiments, nonbiodegradable polystyrene MSs (diameter range: 5...