Introduction: Smoking may reduce the efficacy of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but its impact on bronchodilator efficacy is unclear. This analysis of the EMAX trial explored efficacy and safety of dual- versus mono-bronchodilator therapy in current or former smokers with COPD. Methods: The 24-week EMAX trial evaluated lung function, sy

BACKGROUND: In recent years, telemedicine consultations have evolved as a new form of providing primary healthcare. Telemedicine options can provide benefits to patients in terms of access, reduced travel time and no risk of disease spreading. However, concerns have been raised that access is not equally distributed in the population, which could lead to increased inequality in health. The aim of

Solid-state klystron modulators are typically based on oil-immersed high-voltage (HV) pulse transformers because of their high performance, robustness, simplicity, and straightforward design. However, pulse transformer size is fundamentally linked to application pulse length, pulse power, and pulse rise time. For high-power applications transformer size quickly becomes very problematic when approa

Rapeseed press cake (RPC), the by-product of rapeseed oil production, contains proteins with emulsifying properties, which can be used in food applications. Proteins from industrially produced RPC were extracted at pH 10.5 and precipitated at pH 3 (RPP3) and 6.5 (RPP6.5). Emulsions were formulated at three different pHs (pH 3, 4.5, and 6) with soy lecithin as control, and were stored for six month

Living with relatives can be highly beneficial, enhancing reproduction and survival. High relatedness can, however, increase susceptibility to pathogens. Here, we examine whether the benefits of living with relatives offset the harm caused by pathogens, and if this depends on whether species typically live with kin. Using comparative meta-analysis of plants, animals, and a bacterium (nspecies = 56

Pathogens possess the ability to adapt and survive in some host species but not in others–an ecological trait known as host tropism. Transmitted through ticks and carried mainly by mammals and birds, the Lyme disease (LD) bacterium is a well-suited model to study such tropism. Three main causative agents of LD, Borrelia burgdorferi, B. afzelii, and B. garinii, vary in host ranges through mechanism

Floral scent is considered an important long-distance signal that attracts pollinators, but also has been suggested to function at shorter distances such as within-flower nectar guides or as a defense against antagonists. Indeed, in some species floral scent production and emission show spatial patterns of variation within flowers, as certain compounds are exclusively emitted from specific floral

The contact burn injury model is an experimental contact thermode-based physiological pain model primarily applied in research of drug efficacy in humans. The employment of the contact burn injury model across studies has been inconsistent regarding essential methodological variables, challenging the validity of the model. This systematic review analyzes methodologies, outcomes, and research appli

WNT signalling is known to be a crucial regulator of embryonic development and tissue homeostasis. Aberrant expression of WNT signalling elements or their mutations has been implicated in carcinogenesis and/or the progression of several different cancer types. Investigations of how WNT signalling affects carcinogenesis and cancer progression have revealed that it has essential roles in the regulat

On February 18, 2021 NASA's Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater, located at the northwestern edge of the Isidis basin on Mars. The uppermost surface of the present-day crater floor is dominated by a distinct geologic assemblage previously referred to as the dark-toned floor. It consists of a smooth, dark-toned unit overlying and variably covering light-toned, roughly eroded deposits showing

Background: Different textile constituents may act as allergens and/or irritants and provoke textile contact dermatitis (TCD). Objectives: To report a case of TCD caused by ethylene glycol monododecyl ether and 2.4-dichlorophenol, present in a bikini. Methods: A woman presented with an eczematous, pruritic rash in the area of the bikini straps and back. Patch testing was performed with the Europea

Vibration injuries are the most common approved occupational diseaseamong men in Sweden. Vibration injuries often involves chronic nerve and vascular damage, reduced ability to work, and great personal suffering. In a project, newdesign solutions have reduced harmful vibrations for several hand-held machines.The machines were tested in demonstration environments in the construction,stone, and stee

PET, CSF and plasma biomarkers of tau pathology may be differentially associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related demographic, cognitive, genetic and neuroimaging markers. We examined 771 participants with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment or dementia from BioFINDER-2 (n = 400) and ADNI (n = 371). All had tau-PET ([18F]RO948 in BioFINDER-2, [18F]flortaucipir in ADNI) and CSF p-tau18

Objective: To explore the interplay between (changes in) medial meniscus volume, meniscus extrusion and radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) development over 30 months follow-up (FU). Methods: Data from the PRevention of knee Osteoarthritis in Overweight Females study were used. This cohort included 407 middle-aged women with a body mass index ≥27 kg/m2, who were free of knee OA at baseline. Demo

Objective: The incidence of benign ureteroenteric strictures following radical cystectomy (RC) for urinary bladder cancer (UBC) is investigated mainly in single-centre studies from high-volume centres. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cumulative incidence of strictures and risk factors in a population-based cohort. Patients and methods: Data was collected from Bladder Cancer Data Base Swe

Introduction: The Models of Patient Engagement for Alzheimer's Disease (MOPEAD) project was conceived to explore innovative complementary strategies to uncover hidden prodromal and mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia cases and to raise awareness both in the general public and among health professionals about the importance of early diagnosis. Methods: Four different strategies or RUNs were used

At the beginning of the millennium, consumer culture researchers predicted that people would increasingly demand that marketplace actors subscribe to contemporary ethics of liberal democracy. Although their prediction indeed came true, they did not foresee that an algorithm-powered media ecosystem in combination with growing authoritarian movements would soon come to fuel an increasingly polarized