Background: Surgical mortality data are collected routinely in high-income countries, yet virtually no low-or middle-income countries have outcome surveillance in place. The aim was prospectively to collect worldwide mortality data following emergency abdominal surgery, comparing findings across countries with a low, middle or high Human Development Index (HDI).Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Self-selected hospitals performing emergency surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive patients from at least one 2-week interval during July to December 2014. Postoperative mortality was analysed by hierarchical multivariable logistic regression.

Abstract-Multiprocessors used in life-critical real-time systems must recover quickly from failure. Part of this recovery consists of switching to a new task schedule that ensures that hard deadlines for critical tasks continue to be met. We present a dynamic programming algorithm that ensures that backup, or contingency, schedules can be efficiently embedded within the original, "primary" schedule to ensure that hard deadlines continue to be met in the face of up to a given maximum number of processor failures. Several illustrative examples are included.

Carbohydrates are naturally occurring compounds that are biocompatible, biodegradable and offers good opportunities for chemical modifications. Also, it holds significant importance in numerous biological processes including immune response, growth regulation,...

Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) is a rare genetic disorder associated with diverse mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor beta-gene. TSH-dependent thyroid hyperstimulation, leading to goiter and elevated thyroid hormone levels, is a characteristic feature of RTH. However, about 60% of untreated resistance patients have circulating TSH levels within the normal range, raising the possibility that the biological activity of TSH is altered. We, therefore, assayed the bioactivity of circulating TSH in 11 patients from 8 different kindreds with RTH, measuring cAMP production in Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with the recombinant human TSH receptor as well as in FRTL-5 cells. The ratio of biologically active vs. immunoreactive TSH (B/I) was significantly higher in RTH patients than in 8 normal controls [TSH B/I, 4.2 +/- 0.9 (range, 2.2-11.9) vs. 1.3 +/- 0.2 (range, 0.6-2.1)]. TSH released in response to TRH had a bioactivity similar to that of circulating TSH under basal conditions. On the contrary, supraphysiological doses of T3 normalized the B/I ratio of circulating TSH. Concanavalin-A chromatography of TSH from RTH patients showed the presence of circulating forms with altered carbohydrate branching. Our data indicate that the bioactivity of circulating TSH in thyroid hormone resistance syndromes is enhanced and can be normalized after T3 administration. These findings may account for the occurrence of goiter and elevated thyroid hormone levels in RTH patients despite normal serum TSH concentrations.