Haemorrhagic stroke vs ischaemic stroke: length of stay and functional outcome measures in stroke survivors

published_or_final_versio

Prediction of persistence of neurogenic dysphagia in stroke patients

published_or_final_versio

An analysis on reasons of non-compliant to cardiac rehabilitation programme

Abstract no. 09published_or_final_versio

Cardiac rehabilitation improves functional and clinical status of patients after AMI or PTCA - a randomised controlled study

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Influence of clinical parameters on short-term outcome in cardiac rehabilitation patients after actue myocardial infarction

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Active cardiac rehabilitation program is able to improve risk factors profile

Abstract no. 08published_or_final_versio

Kawasaki disease in Hong Kong, 1994 to 2000

OBJECTIVE. To describe the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and management of Kawasaki disease in children in Hong Kong. DESIGN. Retrospective survey of medical records from July 1994 to June 1997, and prospective data collection from July 1997 to June 2000. SETTING. Hospitals with a paediatric unit in Hong Kong. PATIENTS. Patients diagnosed with Kawasaki disease between July 1994 and June 2000 in public hospitals in Hong Kong. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. Incidence of Kawasaki disease and coronary artery aneurysm rates. RESULTS. A total of 696 cases of Kawasaki disease were reported. There were 435 (62.5%) boys and 261 (37.5%) girls giving a male to female ratio of 1.7:1. The age ranged from 1 month to 15 years 5 months with a median of 1.7 years. Infants (<1 year) constituted the largest group of patients (223,32.0%) and overall, 638 (91.7%) were younger than 5 years. Skin rash, conjunctivitis, and oral signs were among the principal clinical features present in over 80% of cases. Prominent cervical lymph nodes larger than 1.5 cm were less commonly found (24%). Coronary artery aneurysms or ectasia were present in 15.7% (109/696), 8.5% (59/696), and 5.0% (35/696) of patients at 2, 4, and 8 weeks, respectively. The incidence of Kawasaki disease per 100 000 children under 5 years was significantly higher in the prospective study period than in the retrospective period (39 vs 26, <0.001). CONCLUSION. The incidence of Kawasaki disease is high in Hong Kong and is 39 per 100 000 children below 5 years of age. The coronary artery aneurysm prevalence is 5%. Intravenous gamma-globulin and high-dose aspirin is the mainstay of treatment.published_or_final_versio

Structure, chemistry, and charge transfer resistance of the interface between Li7La3Zr2O12 electrolyte and LiCoO2 cathode

All-solid-state batteries promise significant safety and energy density advantages over liquid-electrolyte batteries. The interface between the cathode and the solid electrolyte is an important contributor to charge transfer resistance. Strong bonding of solid oxide electrolytes and cathodes requires sintering at elevated temperatures. Knowledge of the temperature dependence of the composition and charge transfer properties of this interface is important for determining the ideal sintering conditions. To understand the interfacial decomposition processes and their onset temperatures, model systems of LiCoO2 (LCO) thin films deposited on cubic Al-doped Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) pellets were studied as a function of temperature using interface-sensitive techniques. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) data indicated significant cation interdiffusion and structural changes starting at temperatures as low as 300°C. La2Zr2O7 and Li2CO3 were identified as decomposition products after annealing at 500°C by synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD). X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results indicate the presence of also LaCoO3, in addition to La2Zr2O7 and Li2CO3. Based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and depth profiling of the Li distribution upon potentiostatic hold experiments on symmetric LCO|LLZO|LCO cells, the interfaces exhibited significantly increased impedance, up to 8 times that of the as-deposited samples after annealing at 500°C. Our results indicate that lower-temperature processing conditions, shorter annealing time scales, and CO2-free environments are desirable for obtaining ceramic cathode-electrolyte interfaces that enable fast Li transfer and high capacity

The Hubbard model within the equations of motion approach

The Hubbard model has a special role in Condensed Matter Theory as it is considered as the simplest Hamiltonian model one can write in order to describe anomalous physical properties of some class of real materials. Unfortunately, this model is not exactly solved except for some limits and therefore one should resort to analytical methods, like the Equations of Motion Approach, or to numerical techniques in order to attain a description of its relevant features in the whole range of physical parameters (interaction, filling and temperature). In this manuscript, the Composite Operator Method, which exploits the above mentioned analytical technique, is presented and systematically applied in order to get information about the behavior of all relevant properties of the model (local, thermodynamic, single- and two- particle ones) in comparison with many other analytical techniques, the above cited known limits and numerical simulations. Within this approach, the Hubbard model is shown to be also capable to describe some anomalous behaviors of the cuprate superconductors.Comment: 232 pages, more than 300 figures, more than 500 reference

The prolyl hydroxylase enzymes are positively associated with hypoxia-inducible factor-1α and vascular endothelial growth factor in human breast cancer and alter in response to primary systemic treatment with epirubicin and tamoxifen

Introduction: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship of expression of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α-modifying enzymes prolyl hydroxylase (PHD)1, PHD2 and PHD3 to response of tumours and survival in breast cancer patients enrolled in a phase II trial of neoadjuvant anthracycline and tamoxifen therapy.Methods: The expression of PHD1, PHD2 and PHD3 together with HIF-1α and the HIF-inducible genes vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) and carbonic anhydrase IX were assessed by immunohistochemistry using a tissue microarray approach in 211 patients with T2-4 N0-1 breast cancer enrolled in a randomised trial comparing single-agent epirubicin versus epirubicin and tamoxifen as the primary systemic treatment.Results: PHD1, PHD2 and PHD3 were detected in 47/179 (26.7%), 85/163 (52.2%) and 69/177 (39%) of tumours at baseline. PHD2 and PHD3 expression was moderate/strong whereas PHD1 expression was generally weak. There was a significant positive correlation between HIF-1α and PHD1 (P = 0.002) and PHD3 (P &lt; 0.05) but not PHD2 (P = 0.41). There was a significant positive relationship between VEGF and PHD1 (P &lt; 0.008) and PHD3 (P = 0.001) but not PHD2 (P = 0.09). PHD1, PHD2 and PHD3 expression was significantly increased after epirubicin therapy (all P &lt; 0.000) with no significant difference in PHD changes between the treatment arms. There was no significant difference in response in tumours that expressed PHDs and PHD expression was not associated with survival.Conclusions: Although expression of the PHDs was not related to response or survival in patients receiving neoadjuvant epirubicin, our data provide the first evidence that these enzymes are upregulated on therapy in breast cancer and that the biological effects independent of HIF make them therapeutic targets. © 2011 Fox et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd