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Objectives The aim of this study was to confirm the influence of TNFSF4 polymorphisms on systemic sclerosis (SSc) susceptibility and phenotypic features. Methods A total of 8 European populations of Caucasian ancestry were included, comprising 3014 patients with SSc and 3125 healthy controls. Four genetic variants of TNFSF4 gene promoter (rs1234314, rs844644, rs844648 and rs12039904) were selected
Background: High expression of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (PIGR) has previously been associated with a favourable prognosis in a few cancer forms, but its expression and relationship with clinical outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has not yet been reported. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the clinicopathological correlates and prognostic significance of PIGR expr
X-ray diffraction methods have been used to study the crystal structure of different compounds, both organic and inorganic. The inorganic compounds were all synthesized by solid state reactions. A new compound, Re4As6S3, was synthesized and its structure was solved by Rietveld methods. Re4As6S3 is a cluster compound described by a
Nature has been recognized as a rich source of potentially useful chemicals. Throughout the years, phytochemical studies have led to the discovery of an enormous number of natural products, their chemical diversity is unique and many of them possess various biological activities. As a contribution, this thesis presents the results obtained from the phytochemical study of four Bolivian plants. Sene
På den Indokinesiska halvön ligger Mekongflodens avrinningsområde. De senaste årtiondena har Kina, som innehar den nordligaste delen av flodbassängen, startat ett omfattande vattenkraftsprojekt på flodens huvudfåra. Åtta mycket stora dammar är planerade varav tre redan är byggda. Länderna som ligger nedströms från Kina, nämligen Laos, Kambodja och Vietnam har på senare tid också beslutat att byggaThe Mekong River catchment on the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia is currently one of the world’s most active regions in terms of hydropower planning and development. In recent decades China has launched a hydropower plan comprising eight large dams on the main stream river in the upper part of the catchment. Three dams have already been built and now also the countries in the lower basin,
Inhalation as a method for drug delivery has been employed for more than 2000 years and serves many advantages for diseases in the respiratory tract, like cystic fibrosis and asthma. When administrating the drug directly to the respiratory tract it results in rapid effects and elimination of systemic side effects due to more targeted delivery. Dry powder inhalers (DPI) typically consist of the act
Overheating in buildings is becoming a major concern and cause for various health issues. Existing research and previous studies on the issue were examined to acquire relevant information about the definition of overheating, its possible causes, and the heath impacts it could have on human health. The review included data on the current status of thermal comfort and overheating regulations in Swed
Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains a controversial entity. Specific clusters of MetS components - rather than MetS per se - are associated with accelerated arterial ageing and with cardiovascular (CV) events. To investigate whether the distribution of clusters of MetS components differed cross-culturally, we studied 34,821 subjects from 12 cohorts from 10 European countries and one coho
Background: Topical negative pressure (TNP), widely used in wound therapy, is known to stimulate wound edge blood flow, granulation tissue formation, angiogenesis, and revascularization. We have previously shown that application of a TNP of -50 mmHg to the myocardium significantly increases microvascular blood flow in the underlying tissue. We have also shown that a myocardial TNP levels between -
Background: The metabolic syndrome describes a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors that frequently appear together. Its diagnosis is generally based on several well-recognized indicators in clinical practice, such as abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein, raised blood pressure, and elevated fasting plasma glucose. Today, decisive importance must be attached
Background: Currently available biomarkers for the early tissue process leading to joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis are insufficient and lack prognostic accuracy, possibly a result of variable activity of the disease over time. This study represents a novel approach to detect an altered activity of the disease process detected as increasing serum-COMP levels over a short time and whether this
Purpose: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the visibility of simulated lesions in 2D digital mammography (DM) and breast tomosynthesis (BT) images of patients. Methods: Images of the same women were acquired on both a DM system (Mammomat Novation, Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany) and a BT prototype system adapted from the same type of DM system. Using the geometrical properties of the
Background: Different foods can modulate cardiometabolic risk factors in persons already affected by metabolic alterations. The objective of this study was to assess, in healthy overweight individuals, the impact of a diet combining multiple functional concepts on risk markers associated with cardiometabolic diseases (CMD). Methods: Fourty-four healthy women and men (50-73 y.o, BMI 25-33, fasting
Autochthonous blockfield mantles may indicate alpine surfaces that have not been glacially eroded. These surfaces may therefore serve as markers against which to determine Quaternary erosion volumes in adjacent glacially eroded sectors. To explore these potential utilities, chemical weathering features, erosion rates, and regolith residence durations of mountain blockfields are investigated in the
Abstract in Undetermined Directional properties of the radio channel are of high importance for the development of reliable wireless systems operating in the 60 GHz frequency band. Using transfer functions measured from 61 to 65 GHz in a conference room we have extracted estimates of the multi-path component parameters using the SAGE algorithm. In the paper we compare results for line-of-sight (LO
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The two-step dilute acid hydrolysis (DAH) of softwood is costly in energy demands and capital costs. However, it has the advantage that hydrolysis and subsequent removal of hemicellulose-derived sugars can be carried out under conditions of low severity, resulting in a reduction in the level of sugar degradation products during the more severe subsequent steps of cellulose hy
Objective To compare drug survival on adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods Patients with RA (n=9139; 76% women; mean age 56 years) starting their first tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor between 2003 and 2011 were identified in the Swedish Biologics Register (ARTIS). Data were collected through 31 December 2011. Drug survival over up to 5 ye
Objective To investigate the possible association of the BANK1 gene with genetic susceptibility to systemic sclerosis (SSc) and its subphenotypes. Methods A large multicentre case-control association study including 2380 patients with SSc and 3270 healthy controls from six independent case-control sets of Caucasian ancestry ( American, Spanish, Dutch, German, Swedish and Italian) was conducted. Th
In this work, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was combined with dielectrophoresis (DEP) to realize a controllable in situ detection method of enhanced Raman signals from molecules in suspension environment. Polymer beads coated with gold nanoparticles were prepared as SERS ‘hot spot’ substrates. Several DEP electrode designs were evaluated and the stripe electrode succeeded in manipulat
