OBJECTIVES: To study baseline serum hepatocyte growth factor (s-HGF) as a predictor of spinal radiographic progression overall and by sex and to analyse factors correlated to changes in s-HGF in patients with AS. METHODS: At baseline and the 5-year follow-up, s-HGF was analysed with ELISA. Spinal radiographs were graded according to modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score. Radiographic

High-quality biosecurity practices are critical to restarting international tourism. Effective market segmentation improves the communication and efficacy of health advice. Travel frequency is an important basis for health-related consumer segmentation, as it is closely related to risk of greater exposure to infectious diseases. Theoretically grounded studies of tourist biosecurity behavior and tr

Surface chemistry and nanotopography of dental implants can have a substantial impact on osseointegration. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of surface chemistry and nanotopography on the osseointegration of titanium‐zirconium (TiZr; Roxolid®) discs, using a biomechanical pull‐out model in rabbits. Two discs each were placed in both the right and left tibiae of 16 rabbits.

We study in detail the linear flow of particles on a graph with one vertex and k+1 infinite edges. This has a rich environment with many different emergent behaviours depending on the system parameters. The abrupt change in the behaviour of the system along a continuous change of the parameters manifests multiple phase transitions.We discuss the physical interpretation of the considered simple modWe study in detail the linear flow of particles on a graph with onevertex and k+1 infinite edges. This has a rich environment with many differentemergent behaviours depending on the system parameters. The abrupt changein the behaviour of the system along a continuous change of the parametersmanifests multiple phase transitions.We discuss the physical interpretation of the considered simple model ofpa

The housing environment is important for health and well-being among older people, and it is important to consider both physical and perceived aspects of housing. Psychometrically sound scales are necessary to assess perceived housing. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of two instruments that measure perceived aspects of housing among a younger cohort of older adults in Sweden. Meth

Radioresistance, the failure to achieve a desired outcome, is an obstacle in clinical radiotherapy. In this thesis we investigate factors affecting radioresistance and strategies to overcome it, both with established clinical approaches and by using novel pre-clinical discoveries. Study I & II concern the impact of tumour volume in patients with oropharyngeal cancer. In a large, pooled cohort

This letter proposes a two-port MIMO smartphone antenna for frequency bands below 1 GHz, which is robust to user effects. The design is achieved by first analyzing the characteristic modes of a chassis that includes the large screen. Two modes predicted to be less affected by the user than other commonly used modes are selected. The modal currents and near-fields of the two desired modes then guid

The rise in CDOM (coloured dissloved organic matter) is likely to be relatively more pronounced in remote northern regions. However, there is a lack of monitoring to confirm this. For this reason, there is a strong incentive to develop remote sensing-based methods to map CDOM in lakes across broader geographical scales and to include geograghic contex in such analysis. There is a lack of understan

The concept of “Sustainable water use” (SWU) aims to assure three pillars of sustainability related to the water sector: the social, environmental, and economical. Industrial development, especially in developing countries, requires an adequate response, as industrial activities are recognized as one of the major sources of water pollution, what leads to deterioration of environmental safety and w

We introduce the natural notion of (p,q)-harmonic morphisms between Riemannian manifolds. This unifies several theories that have been studied during the last decades. We then study the special case when the maps involved are complex-valued. For these we find a characterisation and provide new non-trivial examples in important cases.

Sexual dimorphism is typically thought to result from sexual selection for elaborated male traits, as proposed by Darwin. However, natural selection could reduce expression of elaborated traits in females, as proposed by Wallace. Darwin and Wallace debated the origins of dichromatism in birds and butterflies, and although evidence in birds is roughly equal, if not in favor of Wallace's model, butt

Soaking small molecules into the solvent channels of protein crystals is the most common method of obtaining crystalline complexes with ligands such as substrates or inhibitors. The solvent channels of some protein crystals are large enough to allow the incorporation of macromolecules, but soaking of protein guests into protein crystals has not been reported. Such protein host crystals (here given