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

Cyanobacteria are known to negatively affect their herbivores either by being of low nutritional value, by clogging the feeding apparatus or by producing toxins, and specifically, the role of toxins has been debated. Hence, in order to assess to what extent cyanobacterial toxins affect a major herbivore (Daphnia magna) that has had previous experience of cyanobacterial toxins, we conducted a life-

Migration is commonly associated with large scale movements of people, from one country to another, both in terms of refugee displacement and voluntary migration. The internal movement within countries is however less studied despite the fact that this is an important indicator for imbalance and also crucial for planning the future for the country. In Iraq, a major reason for migration has been se

Background Alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency is the only recognised genetic risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Since A1AT is the major inhibitor of neutrophil elastase (NE), this enzyme has become widely implicated in the pathogenesis of COPD in general; however, there is currently no specific biomarker for its pr

A covariance function estimate of a zero-mean nonstationary random process in discrete time is accomplished from one observed realization by weighting observations with a kernel function. Several kernel functions have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we prove that the mean square error (MSE) optimal kernel function for any parameterized family of random processes can be computed as

For single molecule spectroscopy (SMS), molecules under study are usually immobilized in a polymer matrix e. g. poly(methyl methacrylate). We show a very significant improvement of the conjugated polymer MEH-PPV photo-stability and decrease of the luminescence impurities concentration when the matrix is purified. We identify benzoyl peroxide (a common radical initiator) as a possible oxidizing age

We show that conformational entropies calculated for five proteins and protein-ligand complexes with dihedral-distribution histogramming, the von Mises approach, or quasi-harmonic analysis do not converge to any useful precision even if molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of 380-500 ns length are employed (the uncertainty is 12-89 kJ mol(-1)). To explain this, we suggest a simple protein model inv

1. Human activities have promoted the spread of species worldwide. Several crayfish species have been introduced into new areas, posing a threat to native crayfish and other biota. Invader success may depend on the ability to utilise a wide variety of habitats and resources. Successful invaders are generally expected to have broader niches and to be more plastic than non-invasive species. 2. Using

We investigated effects of concurrent cognitive task difficulty (n-back) on the regularity of whole-body movements during treadmill walking in women and men from 3 age groups (20-30, 60-70, and 70-80 years old). Using principal component analysis of individual gait patterns, we separated main (regular) from residual (irregular) components of whole-body motion. Proportion of residual variance (RV)

Abstract Background: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has emerged as a treatment for patients with aortic stenosis (AS) and high surgical risk. To date, reports of short- and mid-term survival have been favourable. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate early safety, risk assessment and late survival following TAVI. Methods: In this work we studied clinical outcome, prediction of 3

Control of the grain size in a material is vital in many engineering applications. Evolving through recrystallization, the grain size is strongly influenced by the presence of impurity particles. These particles exert drag forces on migrating grain boundaries and prevent grain boundary motion by pinning of the boundaries. Taking copper as example material, the present work establishes a novel simu

”Alltså säg inte mötesplats! Och möjlighet! Alltså dom här M-orden har jag egentligen lite svårt för liksom. Och mångkultur!”Tjänstemannen blir plötsligt irriterad. Hon brinner för mångfald i kulturlivet, men retoriken, orden och jargongen gör henne frustrerad. Den här avhandlingen handlar till stor del om dessa ord och hur personer som arbetar med teater och integration förhåller sig till dem. TeThe purpose of this thesis is to investigate the notion of multiculturalism in relation to theatre and drama. In Swedish public discourse, culture and the arts are frequently referred to as a social glue which keeps society together. In this context theatre holds a particular position. On the one hand theatre is looked upon as a magic key capable of opening up all sorts of discriminatory structure

The past few decades have witnessed the development of numerous catchment models, often with increasing structural complexity and mathematical sophistication. While such models have certainly provided a better understanding of catchments and associated processes, they are also often catchment-specific, region-specific, or process-specific. Serious concerns on this modeling trend have been increasi

Background: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) based screening for prostate cancer (PCa) has been shown to reduce prostate specific mortality by 20% in an intention to screen (ITS) analysis in a randomised trial (European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer [ERSPC]). This effect may be diluted by nonattendance in men randomised to the screening arm and contamination in men randomised to

In timber housing constructions, vibrations can be a nuisance for inhabitants. Notably, the vibrational response of wooden floor systems is an issue in need of being dealt with more adequately in the designing of such buildings. Studies addressing human response to vibrations are needed in order to be able to better estimate what level of vibrations in dwellings can be seen as acceptable. In the p