Therapeutic advances using targeted biologicals and small-molecule drugs have achieved significant success in the treatment of chronic allergic, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases particularly for some patients with severe, treatment-resistant forms. This has been aided by improved identification of disease phenotypes. Despite these achievements, not all severe forms of chronic inflammatory and

The lichen family Teloschistaceae from the Galapagos is revised. Most of the species belong to the Caloplacoideae, two to Teloschistoideae and a few to Xanthorioideae, three subfamilies not validly published, which is remedied here. Four different datasets were analyzed using Bayesian inference. For the bulk of the species, a combined dataset of nrITS, nrLSU and mrSSU was analyzed. Additionally, t

Objective:The relationship between fatigue and cognition has not been fully elucidated in children and adolescent survivors of brain tumours. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential relationship between fatigue and cognitive impairments in these survivors, as this group is at risk for both types of deficits.Methods:Survivors of paediatric brain tumours (n = 45) underwent a ne

An open-label, crossover randomized study was performed to compare the pharmacokinetics (PK) of damoctocog alfa pegol and rurioctocog alfa pegol, two recombinant factor VIII (FVIII) products indicated in patients with hemophilia A, both conjugated to polyethylene glycol to reduce clearance and extend time in circulation. Adult patients (N = 18) with severe hemophilia A (FVIII < 1 IU/dL), previousl

Background: Previous clinical studies have suggested that apolipoprotein M (apoM) is involved in glucose metabolism and plays a causative role in insulin sensitivity. Objective: The potential mechanism of apoM on modulating glucose homeostasis is explored and differentially expressed genes are analyzed by employing ApoM deficient (ApoM-/-) and wild type (WT) mice. Methods: The metabolism of glucos

Tipping is a social norm in many countries and has important functions as a source of income, with significant social welfare effects. Tipping can also represent a form of lost tax revenue, as service workers and restaurants may not declare all cash tips. These interrelationships remain generally insufficiently understood. This paper presents the results of a comparative survey of resident tipping

Composite adaptive control schemes, which use both the system tracking error and the prediction error to drive the updating law, have become widespread in achieving an improvement of system performance. However, a strong persistent-excitation (PE) condition is required to guarantee the convergence of the parameter estimation errors. This paper proposes a novel composite adaptive control for nonlin

Aim: The study was designed to document the incidence of non-immune hydrops fetalis (NIHF) at birth and characterise associated outcomes and obstetric complications. Methods: Data on more than 1.9 million births were extracted from the Swedish Birth Register for 1997-2015. Pregnancies not affected by NIHF served as controls. National registers on mortality and hospitalisations provided follow-up i

Many-body physics describes phenomena that cannot be understood by looking only at the constituents of a system1. Striking examples are broken symmetry, phase transitions and collective excitations2. To understand how such collective behaviour emerges as a system is gradually assembled from individual particles has been a goal in atomic, nuclear and solid-state physics for decades3–6. Here we obse

Accelerated telomere shortening has been associated with several age-related diseases and/or decreased lifespan in humans. The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is considered to be 1 of the most recognized diets for disease prevention and healthy aging, partially due to its demonstrated anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties which may impact on telomere length (TL). The aim of this meta-analysi

Protein-based drugs often require targeted drug delivery for optimal therapy. A successful strategy to increase the circulation time of the protein in the blood is to link the therapeutic protein with an albumin-binding domain. In this work, we characterized such a proteinbased drug, GA-Z. Using asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation coupled with multi-angle light scattering (AF4-MALS) we inve

Migration and mobility is an increasingly important topic within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The very first ENP Strategy Papers already acknowledged that perspectives for lawful migration and common efforts to combat illegal migration, as well as the establishment of efficient mechanisms for return, are crucial determinants for successful cooperation with neighbouring countries. With

Background: Incidental perforation in rectal cancer surgery is considered a risk factor for poorer oncological outcome. Most studies emanate from the era before total mesorectal excision when staging, neoadjuvant treatment and surgical technique were suboptimal. This study assessed the impact of incidental perforation on oncological outcome in a cohort of patients with optimized management. Method

The present study generally aims to provide a comparison between the performance and suitability of different types of models for estimation of daily global solar radiation in Iran, based on duration of sunshine hours and diurnal air temperature. These models consist of empirical, ordinary ANN, and ANN models coupled with genetic algorithm (so called coupled ANN models). The models’ performance wa

PURPOSE: Free skin grafts are frequently used in reconstructive surgery. However, little is known about the course of reperfusion due to the previous lack of reliable perfusion monitoring techniques. The aim of this study was to use state-of-the-art laser speckle contrast imaging to monitor free skin grafts in the periocular area.METHODS: Seven patients needing surgery due to tumor removal or cica

OBJECTIVE: Assess the quality of healthcare across African countries based on health providers' clinical knowledge, their clinic attendance and drug availability, with a focus on seven conditions accounting for a large share of child and maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, pneumonia, diabetes, neonatal asphyxia and postpartum haemorrhage.METHODS: With nation

Understanding the complex interplay of mass transport, heat transport and deformation in swelling cellulose based materials is a challenging task. To aid in this endeavour a multiphysics model is developed within the mixture theory framework. The model is macroscopic and accounts for swelling, non-equilibrium mass exchange of water, elastic deformation and multiphase transport phenomena, where non

We report on the fabrication and transport properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) blended with P3HT (poly 3-hexyl thiophene-2, 5-diyl). The composite is used as a hybrid organic active channel transistor. The performances of the fabricated devices were investigated as a function of the SWCNTs' loads in the composite, and their response evaluated under white light illumination. Our re

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the guiding policy for agriculture and the largest single budget item in the European Union (EU). Agriculture is essential to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but the CAP's contribution to do so is uncertain. We analyzed the distribution of €59.4 billion of 2015 CAP payments and show that current CAP spending exacerbates income inequality withi

Background: Mitral valve (MV) and tricuspid valve (TV) apparatus geometry are essential to define mechanisms and etiologies of regurgitation and to inform surgical or transcatheter interventions. Given the increasing use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) for the evaluation of valvular heart disease, we aimed to establish CMR-derived age- and sex-specific reference values for mitral annula