Objective To assess the effect of a multimodal group exercise intervention, as an adjunct to conventional care, on fatigue, physical capacity, general wellbeing, physical activity, and quality of life in patients with cancer who were undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy or treatment for advanced disease. Results Adjusted for baseline score, disease, and demographic covariates, the intervention group showed an estimated improvement at six weeks for the primary outcome, fatigue, of −6.6 points (95% confidence interval −12.3 to −0.9, P=0.02; effect size=0.33, 0.04 to 0.61). Significant effects were seen on vitality (effect size 0.55, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.82), physical functioning (0.37, 0.09 to 0.65), role physical (0.37, 0.10 to 0.64), role emotional (0.32, 0.05 to 0.59), and mental health (0.28, 0.02 to 0.56) scores. Improvement was noted in physical capacity: estimated mean difference between groups for maximum oxygen consumption was 0.16 l/min (95% CI 0.1 to 0.2, P<0.0001) and for muscular strength (leg press) was 29.7 kg (23.4 to 34.9, P<0.0001). No significant effect was seen on global health status/quality of life. Conclusion A supervised multimodal exercise intervention including high and low intensity components was feasible and could safely be used in patients with various cancers who were receiving adjuvant chemotherapy or treatment for advanced disease. The intervention reduced fatigue and improved vitality, aerobic capacity, muscular strength, and physical and functional activity, and emotional wellbeing, but not quality of life. Trial registration Current Controlled trials ISRCTN05322922.

Summary: The present study aimed to study the relation between the release of arachidonic acid (AA) and the en ergy state in cerebral cortices of rats during single epi sodes of cortical spreading depression (CSD). The changes in concentrations of AA, labile phosphate com pounds [ATP, ADP, AMP, and phosphocreatine (PCr)], and glycolytic metabolites (lactate, pyruvate, glucose, and glycogen) were studied during and following the large change of the local direct current (DC) potential. Free AA increased markedly during the DC shift, continued to in crease during the subsequent 3 min, and returned to con trol levels at 4-5 min after CSD. PCr decreased by 38% in the first minutes following the DC shift, while ADP in creased by 38%. Both returned to normal within a few minutes. ATP, AMP, and energy charge remained conCortical spreading depression (CSD) is associated with a spontaneously reversible failure of brain ion homeostasis that spreads across the cortical surface at the rate of 3-5 mmlmin (Leao, 1944;Hansen and Zeuthen, 1981;Nicholson and Kraig, 1981). The mechanisms underlying CSD are incompletely un derstood, but it is likely that excitatory amino acids are involved since local application of glutamate or any agonist of the glutamate receptor readily trig gers CSD (Van Harreveld, 1959; Curtis and Wat kins, 1961;Lauritzen et al., 1988), glutamate is re leased during CSD (Van Harreveld and Fifkova, 1970), and glutamate blockade effectively inhibits

Does foreign ownership enhance or decrease a firm's chances of survival? Over the 100 year period 1895-2001 this paper compares the survival of foreign subsidiaries in Denmark to a control sample matched by industry and firm size. We find that foreign-owned companies have a higher survival probability. On average exit risk for domestic companies is 2.3 times higher than for foreign companies. First movers like Siemens, Philips, Kodak, Ford, GM or Goodyear have been active in the country for almost a century. Relative foreign survival increases with company age. However, the foreign survival advantage appears to be eroded by globalization, it decreases over time and disappears at the end of the century.

In an urban area of Guinea-Bissau, 71 children exposed to measles before age 6 months had a mortality risk of 34% (95% confidence interval (Cl) 24-47) between 6 and 60 months of age. The mortality risk for the 205 other children of the same birth cohort who had not been exposed to or developed measles was 11% (95% Cl 9-15), a significant difference compared with exposed children. With a version of the Cox regression model, maternal education was found to be the only background factor with a significant effect on mortality. When background factors were controlled for, the mortality of children exposed to measles was significantly higher than that of controls in each of the age intervals 6-11, 12-23, and 24-35 months. For the large subgroup of children of mothers without any formal education, exposed children had 5.7 times (95% Cl 2.7-12.0) higher mortality than did the control children in the age interval 6-35 months. Diarrhea deaths were particularly common among exposed children. Of 22 children who had been exposed before age 6 months during a subsequent epidemic and had a blood test taken, there was a significantly higher mortality risk (27%) between 6 months and 5 years than in the 26 controls who had a blood test (0%). Children who had elevated antibody titers to measles after exposure had a particularly high mortality compared with controls. These results suggest that later childhood mortality may be related to infectious experiences during the first months of life. The possible long-term health consequences of exposure to measles virus should be considered when assessing the value of measles control programs.