AIMS: To investigate the association between political trust in the Riksdag (the national parliament in Sweden) and having purchased illegal liquor during the past 12 months. METHODS: The 2004 public health survey in Skåne is a cross-sectional postal questionnaire study answered by 27,757 respondents aged 18-80 with a 59% response rate. A logistic regression model was used to investigate the assoc

In recent work, the concentration index has been widely used as a measure of income-related health inequality. The purpose of this note is to illustrate two different methods for decomposing the overall health concentration index using data collected from a Short Form (SF-36) survey of the general Australian population conducted in 1995. For simplicity, we focus on the physical functioning scale o

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the future cumulative risk of prostate cancer in relation to levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in blood and to determine whether this information could be used to individualize the PSA testing interval. Methods: The study included 5855 of 9972 men (aged 50-66 years) who accepted an invitation to participate in a prospective, randomiz

Electron transfer (ET) in sulphite oxidase (SOx), a heme- and molybdopterin cofactor-containing enzyme, was studied spectroelectrochemically using capillary gold electrode modified with aldrithiol. Direct electron exchange between SOx and the surface of modified gold was observed, with a formal potential of -115 mV vs. AgAgCl, KClsat at pH 7.0. This value agreed well with that previously reported

We investigated the in vivo effects of two novel calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) binding molecules in the genuine closed cranial window model in the rat. The RNA-Spiegelmer (NOX-C89) and the monoclonal CGRP antibody are CGRP scavengers and might be used as an alternative to CGRP-receptor antagonists in the treatment of migraine. Rats were anaesthetized and a closed cranial window establishe

A Slepian model for the local behaviour near the level upcrossings of a chi²-process with dependent Gaussian components is presented. In case of independent components, this model is shown to take on a rather simple form, thereby simplifying earlier results by Aronowich and Adler. The Slepian model is applied to the envelope of a stationary Gaussian process and used to approximate the probabilit

Objective. Recent work has shown that several soluble biomarkers, detectable in peripheral blood, synovial fluid, and/or urine, reflect remodeling of joint tissues and may therefore constitute outcome measures that reflect joint damage. Consequently, it is now desirable to begin the process of developing criteria for validation of a soluble biomarker as an outcome measure reflecting structural dam

All virulent group A streptococcal isolates bind fibrinogen, a property that is closely linked to expression of type-specific antiphagocytic surface molecules designated M proteins. Here we show that although the M proteins from two different strains, M1 and M5, both bind fibrinogen with high affinity, they interact with different regions in the ligand. Moreover, mapping experiments demonstrated t

Objectives The aims of this study were to collect and review tuberculosis (TB)-HIV data for Europe and to provide an overview of current health policies addressing co-infection. Methods We collected reported cases of TB-HIV from the 25 most affected member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) European region. Countries were also asked whether they had implemented health policies covering

The optical properties of one-dimensional arrays of metal nanoshell dimers are studied systematically using the T-matrix method based on Mie theory, within the context of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). It is shown that the local electromagnetic enhancement can be as high as similar to 4.5x10(13) for nanoshell dimer arrays with optimal geometry, and sensitive tunability in the resonant f

The solution structures and dynamic behaviour of [Rh6(CO)14(µ-PX)][PX = diphenyl(2-pyridyl)phosphine, (PN); diphenyl(2-thienyl)phosphine, (PS); diphenyl(vinyl)phosphine, (PV)] have been studied by multinuclear NMR and the X-ray structure of [Rh6(CO)14(µ,3-PV)] is reported. In solution, the above clusters undergo a variety of localised CO-exchanges and the mechanisms of these are discussed. The PV

Carbon nanostripes of graphene structure prepared on the stepped Ni(771) surface have been studied by angle-resolved photoemission. The electronic structure is anisotropic: parallel to the stripe direction, a graphite-type dispersion is measured, whereas the perpendicular direction displays two entangled band structures shifted in energy with respect to each other. These are experimentally identif

Objective. Compare the initial stability at the fusion site of ankle arthrodesis fixed with two and three screws. Design. Finite element models of ankle arthrodesis were developed from computed tomography images. Two-screw constructs were augmented with a third screw in different orientations and Subjected to loads likely to affect the ankle postoperatively. Background More stable fixation seems t

Fish populations may be affected by predation and competition from various types of organisms, among which crayfish have been suggested as important actors. We here present results from stream surveys, suggesting that neither native noble, Astacus astacus, nor introduced signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, necessarily affect fish population densities in temperate stream communities. Compari

Understanding and predicting the distribution of organisms in heterogeneous environments lies at the heart of ecology, and the theory of density-dependent habitat selection (DDHS) provides ecologists with an inferential framework linking evolution and population dynamics. Current theory does not allow for temporal variation in habitat quality, a serious limitation when confronted with real ecologi

Multivariate analysis such as principal-components analysis (PCA) and partial-least-squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) have been applied to peptidomics data from clinical urine samples subjected to LC/MS analysis. We show that it is possible to use these methods to get information from a complex set of clinical data. The aim of the work is to use this information as a first step in the further