Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death worldwide and increasing cost for society. Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified common variants associated with CAD. Combining single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) into a genetic risk score (GRS) can estimate an individual's genetic burden. Objectives: To investigate whether GRS for CAD can predict hospitaliz

Background: Recurrent severe Dupuytren contracture of the small finger's proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint is a difficult problem. Further surgery carries high risk of complications and poor outcome. Patients are often offered finger amputation. We have devised a novel surgical procedure consisting of middle phalanx monoblock resection and ligament reconstruction to create a new functioning int

Necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum (NLD) is a chronic condition, which is characterized by single or multiple lesions on the legs, and occurs in 0.3% of patients with diabetes. Recently, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used in several clinical settings to promote sustained healing and better outcome. We propose the use of PRP for the treatment of NLD-associated recalcitrant wounds. In this stu

Fat Embolism Syndrome (FES) is a rare and often lethal condition, associated with trauma or surgery. It is more serious than a typical fat embolism seen after a fracture in a long bone. FES is a triad of symtoms, including respiratory failure, abnormal neurology and petechial bleeding. FES is a diagnosis of exclusion. The incidence of FES is higher among adults compared to children. One possible e

We analyze the sensitivity of hadronic τ decays to nonstandard interactions within the model-independent framework of the standard model effective field theory. Both exclusive and inclusive decays are studied, using the latest lattice data and QCD dispersion relations. We show that there are enough theoretically clean channels to disentangle all the effective couplings contributing to these decays

In this paper we study the problem of estimating receiver and sender positions from time-difference-of-arrival measurements, assuming an unknown constant time-difference-of-arrival offset. This problem is relevant for example for repetitive sound events. In this paper it is shown that there are three minimal cases to the problem. One of these (the five receiver, five sender problem) is of particul

It has been known for more than 2000 years that several skin diseases improve upon exposure to the sun. However, it was not until the end of the 19th century before Niels R. Finsen started to use sunlight as well as electric light for the treatment of skin tuberculosis.1 He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903 “in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgar

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to enhance the heat transfer and thermal performance in the trailing edge region of the vane with vortex generators (VGs). Design/methodology/approach: This numerical study presents the enhancement of thermal performance in the trailing part of a gas turbine blade. In the trailing part, generally, pin fins are used either in staggered or in-line arrangements t

Using electrically connected metal-coated posts in a deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) device and applying electric fields, electrokinetics is used to tune separations, significantly decrease the critical size for separation, and increase the dynamic range with switching times on the order of seconds. The strength of DLD stems from its binary behavior. To first approximation, particles move

With increasing emphasis on the control of greenhouse gases, power plants may move towards oxy-fuel technologies rather than air-fired plants. This move leads to a change in the feed to the desulfurization unit, which also needs to be adapted along with the power plant. Most existing plants already have functioning desulfurization units, which need to be retrofitted for the new conditions. In the

Finite element (FE) models based on quantitative computed tomography (CT) images are better predictors of bone strength than conventional areal bone mineral density measurements. However, FE models require manual segmentation of the femur, which is not clinically applicable. This study developed a method for automated FE analyses from clinical CT images. Clinical in-vivo CT images of 13 elderly fe

Behavioral adaptations play an important role in predator–prey interactions as they reduce predation risk. Prey organisms have therefore evolved a tremendous variability in behavioral adaptations. In case of small crustaceans of the genus Daphnia, which are common and important herbivores transferring energy from primary producers to higher trophic levels, such as predatory fish, and insects, alte

We investigate the relation between large negative house price co-movements in the cross-section of US cities and the national business cycle. The occurrences of large negative house price co-movements across cities cluster over time and these clusters are closely linked to NBER recession dates. A simple co-movement measure that aggregates large negative city-level house price returns reliably pre

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common autoimmune disease. Recent findings have shown that a major single nucleotide variant predisposing to SLE is associated with low production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). A variant amino acid in a frequent NCF1 allele causing deficient ROS production leads to an exaggerated type I interferon (IFN) response, earlier disease onset, and higher suscept

Background and purpose — Patient-specific data on multiple total arthroplasties (TA) of the lower limbs due to osteoarthritis (OA) are limited. We investigated the sequence of surgical procedures and risk factors for additional surgery in such patients. Patients and methods — 305,996 patients operated with a TA of the hip and/or knee due to OA were extracted from the Swedish National Hip (SHAR) an

A large body of research has found an association between short birth intervals and the risk of infant mortality in developing countries, but recent work on other perinatal outcomes from highly developed countries has called these claims into question, arguing that previous studies have failed to adequately control for unobserved heterogeneity. Our study addresses this issue by estimating within-f

Approximately 1%–2% of cutaneous melanoma (CM) is classified as strongly familial. We sought to investigate unexplained CM predisposition in families negative for the known susceptibility genes using next-generation sequencing of affected individuals. Segregation of germline variants of interest within families was assessed by Sanger sequencing. Several heterozygous variants in oculocutaneous albi