Purpose: To assess the growth plates of the knee in a healthy population of young adults and adolescents using DTI, and to correlate the findings with chronological age and skeletal maturation. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study to assess the tibial and femoral growth plates with DTI in 155 healthy volunteers aged between 14.0 and 21 years old. Echo-planar DTI with 15 directions and b v

Urban green spaces are important for climate change adaptation, in particular to reduce the negative impacts of heat waves on human well-being. However, in growing cities urban green spaces are under pressure due to increasing housing demand and densification. Municipalities face the challenge of addressing both the housing shortage and the need for climate change adaptation on limited space. This

Growing preclinical and clinical evidence highlights neurosteroid pathway imbalances in Parkinson's Disease (PD) and L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias (LIDs). We recently reported that 5α-reductase (5AR) inhibitors dampen dyskinesias in parkinsonian rats; however, unraveling which specific neurosteroid mediates this effect is critical to optimize a targeted therapy. Among the 5AR-related neurosteroids, s

Background: Persistent breathlessness is debilitating and increases in prevalence with advanced age and at end of life. This study aimed to evaluate any relationship between self-reported global impressions of change (GIC) in perceived health and breathlessness in older men.Design: Cross-sectional study of 73-year-old Swedish men in the VAScular and Chronic Obstructive Lung disease study. A postal

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the 9-month cost and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes of resistance versus viral load testing strategies to manage virological failure in low-middle income countries. Methods: We analyzed secondary outcomes from the REVAMP clinical trial: a pragmatic, open label, parallel-arm randomized trial investigating resistance versus viral load testing

While tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a critical mediator of appropriate immune response and tissue repair, its misregulation is linked to cancer, autoimmunity, bone marrow failure, and aging. Understanding the context-dependent roles of TNF is essential for elucidating normal and pathogenic conditions and to guide clinical therapy advancements. Prior studies suggested that TNF restricts the self-r

Background: A neuroinflammatory response that may lead to edema and secondary brain damage is elicited in severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Previous studies using microdialysis (MD) membranes with 100 k Dalton (kDa) cut-off found a transient intracerebral release of cytokines and chemokines without significant correlations to clinical course, intracranial pressure (ICP) or metabolites. In this

Even though membrane technology is used in numerous industrial applications, membrane fouling is still a major challenge. Valuable information on the formation kinetics and structure of the fouling layer can be obtained by in situ real-time monitoring. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) enables the study of adsorptive fouling in situ on a model membrane. However, so fa

Passivation behavior of a N- and V-containing martensite stainless steel was studied by synchrotron-based near ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electrochemical analyses, and thermodynamic calculation. The passive film consists of Cr3+, Fe(2, 3)+, and V(2, 3, 4)+ oxides as inner layer, and Cr3+ and Fe3+ hydroxides as outer layer. Austenitization at 1080 oC (rather than 1010 oC) an

Atopic dermatitis is a relapsing inflammatory skin condition, in which bacteria, fungi and viruses may colonize the skin and aggravate the condition. Mannose-binding lectin is part of the innate immune system. Polymorphism in the mannose-binding lectin gene can result in deficiency of mannose-binding lectin, which may affect defence against microbes. The aim of this study was to investigate whethe

The purpose of this paper is to (a) establish whether meaning recall and meaning recognition item formats test psychometrically distinct constructs of vocabulary knowledge which measure separate skills, and, if so, (b) determine whether each construct possesses unique properties predictive of L2 reading proficiency. Factor analyses and hierarchical regression were conducted on results derived from

Long-term follow-up data from trials of digital mental health interventions are rare. This study reports 2-year follow-up data from a non-inferiority trial (N = 152) comparing stepped-care (internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT] followed by traditional in-person CBT if needed) vs in-person CBT for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. Both treatment groups had comparable long-ter

Agencies that regulate electricity providers often apply nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the relative efficiency of each firm. The reliability and validity of DEA are contingent upon selecting relevant input variables. In the era of big (wide) data, the assumptions of traditional variable selection techniques are often violated due to challenges related to high-dimensional

Background: In the strive towards a circular economy, metal waste recycling is a growing industry. During the recycling process, particulate matter containing toxic and allergenic metals will be emitted to the air causing unintentional exposure to humans and environment. Objective: In this study detailed characterization of particle emissions and workplace exposures were performed, covering the fu

Purpose Hypertension is a leading causeof premature death worldwide and a major public health problem. This study investigated the long-term effects (>1 year) of digital hypertension monitoring by home blood pressure (HBP) measurements in combination with individualized remote treatment via a Swedish Digital Therapeutics platform in a large patient population. Methods The primary endpoint, HBP, an

The 90 kDa ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) family of proteins is a group of highly conserved Ser/Thr kinases. They are downstream effectors of the Ras/ERK/MAPK signaling cascade. ERK1/2 activation directly results in the phosphorylation of RSKs, which further, through interaction with a variety of different downstream substrates, activate various signaling events. In this context, they have been shown t