BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis remains a leading infectious cause of death in resource-limited settings. Effective treatment is the cornerstone of tuberculosis control, reducing mortality, recurrence and transmission. Supporting treatment adherence through facility-based observations of medication taking can be costly to providers and patients. Digital adherence technologies (DATs) may facilitate treatm

BackgroundLoss to follow-up (LTFU) from tuberculosis (TB) treatment and care is a major public health problem as patients can be infectious and also may develop a multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). The study aimed to assess whether LTFU differs by the distance TB patients travelled to receive care from the nearest health facility.MethodsA total of 402 patient cards of TB patients who received care

We perform, to our best knowledge, the first systematic mapping of the foundational economy (FE) at the sub-national level by looking at the FE employment in Swedish regions between 2007 and 2016. We show that the FE itself not only suffered less than traded activities from employment decline during the Great Recession of 2007–2009 but was also a domain of substantial job creation in the post-cris

During the last several decades, important new research has been published on the Swedish Caribbean colony of Saint Barthélemy, but this has almost exclusively focused on its early years, during the early modern period. By the time it was returned to France in 1878, its heyday was long past. Nevertheless, this article argues that press coverage of the island’s transfer to France in the 1870s provi

Aim: Crohn's anal fistula (CAF) is a complex condition, with no agreement on which patient characteristics should be routinely reported in studies. The aim of this study was to develop a core descriptor set of key patient characteristics for reporting in all CAF research. Method: Candidate descriptors were generated from published literature and stakeholder suggestions. Colorectal surgeons, gastro

Introduction: Health problems in people with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) are traditionally known to be common in adults of all age, with at least twice as many health problems in this group as the general ageing population. In addition, there is considerable international evidence indicating an earlier death for people with IDD compared to the general population, exacerbated by

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are key platform chemicals used in a multitude of industries including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and agriculture. The current route for VFA production is petrochemical based. VFAs can be biologically produced using organic wastes as substrate, therefore directly contributing to a sustainable economy. This process is commonly known as acidogenic fermentation (AF).

Diversification of anaerobic digestion into higher value products, namely volatile fatty acids (VFAs), is receiving interest. One of the biggest challenges with this is recovery of the VFAs. Membrane extraction can be used, and a novel process configuration using a non-porous silicone membrane and water for an extractant is proposed here. This process would enable the reduction in the number of d

The production of biobutanol is hindered by the product's toxicity to the bacteria, which limits the productivity of the process. In situ product recovery of butanol can improve the productivity by removing the source of inhibition. This paper reviews in situ product recovery techniques applied to the acetone butanol ethanol fermentation in a stirred tank reactor. Methods of in situ recovery inclu

The productivity of the Acetone Butanol Ethanol (ABE) fermentation can be significantly increased by application of various in situ product recovery (ISPR) techniques. There are numerous technically viable processes, but it is not clear which is the most economically viable in practice. There is little available information about the energy requirements and economics of ISPR for the ABE fermentati

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an atomic resolution technique that allows for in depth analysis of the properties of different materials by passing high energy electrons through a thin sample and detecting how they are affected. However, due to the strong interaction between electrons and matter, the probability of the sample remaining unperturbed by the electron irradiation is small. T

Although the effects of captive offshoring on firm innovation have increasingly become a subject of study, the literature did so far not distinguish between the effects on introducing innovation as opposed to the effects their market diffusion. This distinction is important. By integrating insights from the innovation diffusion literature, we argue that the effects of captive offshoring on home ba

Background: Intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) is a major complication of preterm birth. Large haemorrhages are associated with a high risk of disability and hydrocephalus. Instability of blood pressure and cerebral blood in the newborn flow are postulated as causative factors. Another mechanism may involve reperfusion damage from oxygen free radicals. It has been suggested that phenobarbital stab

Background: Workers in the construction industry are highly exposed to vibration from handheld equipment, which can have negative effects on the nerves and blood vessels in the hands. Employers in this industry often fail to comply with legislation regarding vibration exposure. Aims: To assess carpenters' perceptions of proactive health and safety (H&S) management regarding hand-arm vibration

We first define a new multiplication on triangular Banach algebras. Then study amenability, weak amenability, biflatness and biprojectivity of these algebras.

This thesis consists of three self-contained papers studying different topics in health economics. The first chapter studies the substitution effect between in-person physician visits and a new type of doctor visits, direct-to-consumer (DCT) telemedicine, where a person can call a doctor directly via an app. To causally assess to which degree DCT consultations substitute for in-person consultation