Objective: Suggested predictors of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) include environmental exposure, such as smoking. Our purpose was to investigate potential predictors of RA in a nested case-control study based on a prospective cohort. Method: Between 1991 and 1996, 30 447 persons were included in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS). Individuals who developed RA after inclusion up to 31 December 2004

Sorting mail into racks for postmen is visually demanding work. This can result in backward inclination of their heads, especially more pronounced for those who use progressive addition lenses.

An increasing amount of evidence suggests that in several amyloid diseases, the fibril formation in vivo and the mechanism of toxicity both involve membrane interactions. We have studied Alzheimer's disease related amyloid beta peptide (Abeta). Recombinant Abeta(M1-40) and Abeta(M1-42) produced in Escherichia coli, allows us to carry out large scale kinetics assays with good statistics. The amyloi

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ensuring data integrity in radiotherapy is of major importance and a complex task. The aim of this study was to compare three different combinations of treatment planning and record and verify systems with respect to data integrity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A software for comparison of treatment parameters in DICOM-RT files was developed using the MATLAB R2010a (MathWorks I

P>Purpose: To describe the 3-year risk of cataract after intravitreal triamcinolone (IVTA) injections for diabetic macular oedema and the outcomes of cataract surgery. Methods: Prospective data from a randomized clinical trial were analysed. At baseline, 27 phakic eyes with diabetic macular oedema were randomized to receive IVTA and 25 to receive sham injection. After 2 years, initial sham-treated

Dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI (DSC-MRI) tends to return elevated estimates of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral blood volume (CBV). In this study, subject-specific calibration factors (CFs), based on steady-state CBV measurements, were applied to rescale the absolute level of DSC-MRI CBF.

Arctic waders are well known for their impressive long-distance migrations between their high northerly breeding grounds and wintering areas in the Southern hemisphere. Performing such long migrations requires precise orientation mechanisms. We conducted orientation cage experiments with juvenile sharp-tailed sandpipers (Calidris acuminata) to investigate what cues they rely on when departing from

We review, discuss and compare different, but related, approximations to the stochastic dynamics of populations, all of them having as limit the same deterministic dynamics. The diffusion approximation, linearized diffusion approximation and the Poisson approximation are briefly revisited and their quality as approximations for large, but given, populations is addressed analytically as well as wit

Combining insulin with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors as glucose-lowering therapy for type 2 diabetes is a promising strategy that has gained considerable interest over the past few years. One advantage of this combination is the complementary mechanistic actions of insulin and GLP-1. Insulin increases glucose utilization and retards

Soluble inflammatory markers obtained from non-invasive airway sampling such as induced sputum may be useful biomarkers for targeted pharmaceutical interventions. However, before these soluble markers can be used as potential targets, their variability and reproducibility need to be established in distinct study populations.

Drug attitude inventory (DAI-30) is considered to be the best predictor of poor adherence in first-episode schizophrenia. We compared the short version (DAM 0) with DAI-30 in long-term schizophrenia, documented if DAI was associated with poor insight, PANSS and GAF and constructed DAI-10 percentiles. DAI-30 and DAI-10 were homogenous (r = 0.82 and 0.72, respectively) with good test-retest reliabil

BACKGROUND: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is an important cause of fulminant or acute viral myocarditis. However, insufficiency of standard antiviral treatment against HHV-6 is an emerging problem. OBJECTIVES: To describe the case of child with HHV-6 myocarditis who was treated by unloading with a left ventricular assist device and Artesunate. STUDY DESIGN: Case report supported by histological and

Background: Dead biomass, including woody debris (WD), is an important component of the carbon cycle in tropical forests. Aims: This study analyses WD (>2 cm) and other above-ground fluxes in mature tropical forest plots along an elevational gradient (210-3025 m above sea level) in southern Peru. Methods: This work was based on inventories of fine and coarse WD (FWD and CWD, respectively), above-g

Fiber based frequency-modulated light scattering interferometry (FMLSI) is developed for optical properties studies of liquid phantoms, made of Intralipid (R). By employing optical frequency modulation on a tunable diode laser, the power spectrum of the heterodyne-detected intensity fluctuations through the dynamic turbid medium is a combination of the time-of-flight distribution and the Doppler p

Despite growing interest in animal social networks, surprisingly little is known about whether individuals are consistent in their social network characteristics. Networks are rarely repeatedly sampled; yet an assumption of individual consistency in social behaviour is often made when drawing conclusions about the consequences of social processes and structure. A characterization of such social ph

This study relates the concept of recognition to processes of conflict transformation. The recognition concept has been underdeveloped in recent IR literature, where the main emphasis has been on interstate relations and on recognition as cause of conflict. This article challenges that understanding through the introduction of the concept of thick recognition. Thus an understanding of recognition

Salt ions were found to have an influence on template binding to two model molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), targeted to penicillin G and propranolol, respectively, in water-acetonitrile mixtures. Water was detrimental to rebinding of penicillin G whereas propranolol bound in the entire water-acetonitrile range tested. In 100% aqueous solution, 3-M salt solutions augmented the binding of both