Background: The aim of the study was to describe the technique of two-trocar laparoscopic appendectomy and compare the outcome between two- and three-trocar techniques in children. Methods: All children who underwent laparoscopic surgery for suspected appendicitis from 2006 to 2014 in a center for pediatric surgery were included in the study. Converted surgeries and patients with appendiceal absce

The Finnish population of White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) has gone through two major demographic bottlenecks during the last two centuries. Strong conservation measures have allowed the population to recover, but despite the rapid population growth during recent years the species is still classified as endangered. We studied the genetic population structure at both individual and populat

A method and a model are presented aiming at enabling collection, structuring and analyzes of data concerning interdependencies between critical infrastructures and societal functions. A key distinction of the approach is the separation of actors and flows, where dependencies between actors, ranging from small municipal authorities to international private companies, are mediated through flows. Fl

A third of Sweden's two million single-family houses were built in the period 1961-1980, and many of them are in need of renovation. These houses have a high energy use and are in technical terms fairly homogenous. This investigation evaluates the theoretical energy savings potential of renovating houses from this period. Four reference houses were selected and simulated using common renovation me

Assortative mechanisms can overcome tragedies of the commons that otherwise result in dilemma situations. Assortativity criteria include various forms of kin selection, greenbeard genes, and reciprocal behaviors, usually presuming an exogenously fixed matching mechanism. Here, we endogenize the matching process with the aim of investigating how assortativity itself, jointly with cooperation, is dr

There is considerable enthusiasm for the prospect of using common polymorphisms (primarily single nucleotide polymorphisms; SNPs) in candidate genes to unravel the genetics of complex disease. This approach has generated a number of findings of loci which are significantly associated with sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the present study, a total of 15 genes of interest were chosen from amon

Among the available agricultural byproducts, corn stover, with its yearly production of 10 million t (dry basis), is the most abundant promising raw material for fuel ethanol production in Hungary. In the United States, more than 216 million t of corn stover is produced annually, of which a portion also could possibly be collected for conversion to ethanol. However, a network of lignin and hemicel

Consider a transitive value ordering of outcomes and lotteries on outcomes, which satisfies substitutivity of equivalents and obeys ‘continuity for easy cases’, i. e., allows compensating risks of small losses by chances of small improvements. Temkin (2001) has argued that such an ordering must also - rather counter-intuitively - allow chances of small improvements to compensate risks of huge loss

Summary. Fifty-six ankle joints in 38 haemophilic boys were investigated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the findings were classified according to both the Denver- and the European scoring schemes. The different MRI scores were compared with each other and with clinical data on number of joint bleeds and the orthopaedic joint score. MRI changes that were more advanced than a small effusion

In this paper we investigate the impact of nitrate (NO3-) concentration and temperature on the production of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). We studied sediment collected during spring, summer and autumn from a constructed pond in South Sweden. Homogenised sediment samples were dark incubated in vitro under N-2 atmosphere at 13 degrees C and 20 degrees C after addition

This experimental study examines the influence of moisture variations on the load-bearing capacity of steel-timber dowel joints. The glulam specimens used to manufacture the joints were first exposed to controlled climate changes. After being stored in the climate chambers, holes were drilled and dowels were inserted. Then, the joints were loaded to failure. The main aim of this study was to inves

Members of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta family play pivotal roles in the control of differentiation, proliferation and tolerance in peripheral T cells. Recently, they have been implicated in thymic selection, but their role is so far not well characterized. In the present study, we demonstrate that specific thymocyte populations are under the influence of either the TGF-beta and/or Ac

The thermophile Rhodothermus marinus produces extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) that forms a distinct cellular capsule. Here, the first data on EPS production in strains DSM4252(T) and MAT493 are reported and compared. Cultures of both strains, supplemented with either glucose, sucrose, lactose or maltose showed that the EPS were produced both in the exponential and stationary growth phase and

Purpose: Long-term evaluation of the surgical outcome after puberty, particularly patient reported outcome is rare in the literature. The aims of this study were to investigation the patients' satisfaction with the long-term results and their views and memories of their childhood surgery and follow-up. Methods: A modified version of previously used questionnaire was sent to 134 patients ages 18 ye

Objective. To study the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis (GCA) with visual complications, and to evaluate the incidence rate of visual complications in GCA compared to the background population. Methods. Data from 840 patients with GCA in the county of Skane, Sweden, diagnosed between 1997 and 2010, were used for this analysis. Cases with

Background: Oat prolamin (avenin) is a family of proteins that contain several polymorphic components. The highinterspecific variability of avenin among cultivars, electrophoretic patterns have been used for grain protein comparisonand species relationships. Therefore, the present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of environment onavenin constitution following an effort to increase prot

Objectives: HIV-positive people have increased risk of infection-related malignancies (IRMs) and infection-unrelated malignancies (IURMs). The aim of the study was to determine the impact of aging on future IRM and IURM incidence. Methods: People enrolled in EuroSIDA and followed from the latest of the first visit or 1 January 2001 until the last visit or death were included in the study. Poisson

During the Proterozoic, several mafic dykes with variable trends and mineralogies intruded the Archaean basement of Southeast Greenland. Some of the younger ENE-trending dykes are interpreted to represent a prolongation of the Mesoproterozoic Gardar Province, and have been termed Timmiarmiit dykes. Extrapolations of their trends across the inland ice sheet coincide with the northernmost so-called

BACKGROUND: Health-promoting interventions tailored to support older persons to remain in their homes, so-called "ageing in place" is important for supporting or improving their health. The health-promoting programme "Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone," (EPRZ) was set up for this purpose and has shown positive results for maintaining independence in activities of daily living for older persons 80 y