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Objective The complex genetic aetiology underlying irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) needs to be assessed in large-scale genetic studies. Two independent IBS cohorts were genotyped to assess whether genetic variability in immune, neuronal and barrier integrity genes is associated with IBS. Design 384 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering 270 genes were genotyped in an exploratory cohort (93
Objectives The aim of this study was to confirm the influence of TNFSF4 polymorphisms on systemic sclerosis (SSc) susceptibility and phenotypic features. Methods A total of 8 European populations of Caucasian ancestry were included, comprising 3014 patients with SSc and 3125 healthy controls. Four genetic variants of TNFSF4 gene promoter (rs1234314, rs844644, rs844648 and rs12039904) were selected
Although much attention in recent years has been devoted to methane (CH4) emissions from northern wetlands, measurement based data sets providing full annual budgets are still limited in number. This study was designed to help fill the gap of year-round measurements of CH4 emissions from subarctic mires. We report continuous eddy correlation CH4 flux measurements made during 2006 and 2007 over the
BACKGROUND: By gating image acquisition in myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) to ECG, left ventricular (LV) volumes and function can be determined. Several previous studies have shown that existing MPS software packages underestimate LV volumes compared to cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). The aim of this study was therefore to develop a new LV segmentation algorithm for gated MPS using CMR as refer
Background: Ultrasound-guided transvaginal oocyte retrieval is often performed under local anaesthesia on an outpatient basis. The objective of this study was to compare the overall pain experience of a newly designed reduced needle (RN) compared with a thicker standard needle (SN). Methods: A prospective, randomized, multi-centre study was performed at four different clinics from June to December
Background: The pathogenesis of COPD is complex and remains poorly understood. The European Respiratory Society Study on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (EUROSCOP) investigated long-term effects of budesonide; 18% of the COPD participants were atopic. So far effects of atopy on the long-term course of COPD have not been elucidated. Methods: Factors related to the presence of atopy (positive
Introduction: Many individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) live alone, and this figure is expected to increase. This study aimed to describe the cognitive and functional abilities of solitary-living AD patients, and the potential predictors of their usage of community-based services. Methods: This 3-year, prospective, multicenter study included 1,021 participants with mild-to-moderate AD (Mini-M
Aim The controls of gross radiation use efficiency (RUE), the ratio between gross primary productivity (GPP) and the radiation intercepted by terrestrial vegetation, and its spatial and temporal variation are not yet fully understood. Our objectives were to analyse and synthesize the spatial variability of GPP and the spatial and temporal variability of RUE and its climatic controls for a wide ran
Objective. Helicobacter pylori infection is an established risk factor for non-cardia gastric adenocarcinoma. Infection with H. pylori strains harbouring the cagA pathology island may augment this association. H. pylori infection may at the same time reduce the risk for oesophageal carcinoma. However, prospective data on the association between CagA seropositivity and gastric or oesophageal carcin
BACKGROUND: Reduced lung function has been associated with increased rates of myocardial infarction. Whether the occurrence and prognostic significance of ventricular arrhythmia is related to lung function is largely unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a population-based study of 68-year-old men without a history of stroke or myocardial infarction; 402 men participated. Mortality and corona
Do altered land management practices offer possibilities to sequester carbon in the soil and thereby mitigate increasing atmospheric CO2 as well as improve local soil fertility? This study investigates the impact of fallow periods on soil organic carbon in semiarid subsistence agroecosystems on sandy and poor soils in Kordofan, Sudan. The area is characterized by low-input cultivation of millet an
Objective: The concentration of the complex between activated protein C (APC) and protein C inhibitor (PCI) is a measure of thrombin generation. We studied whether it can provide information useful for the diagnosis and treatment of arterial vascular disease. Methods: Blood was obtained from 429 vascular patients admitted consecutively during September 2004 to March 2005. The APC-PCI complex was m
Den svenska successionsrätten innefattar en rätt för bröstarvingar att erhålla en laglott. Bestämmelserna har blivit anklagade för att vara föråldrade och har varit omdebatterad såväl i media som i riksdagen. Följande uppsats kommer att undersöka om laglotten har blivit föråldrad och utröna vilka argument som kan tänkas motivera ett bibehållande av lagstiftningen. Syftet är att se hur gällande rätThe Swedish law of succession includes a right for the direct heir to retain a part of the heritage if the deceased have drawn a will. This phenomenon is called statutory share of inheritance (in Swedish: laglott). The regulations have been accused of being out-of-date and have been up for debate in both media as well as in the parliament. Following essay will examine if the statutory share is out
Popular summary The fate of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs The knowledge about distribution of drugs between sewage sludge, water phases and water living organisms is vital for predictions of the fate and transport routes of toxic substances to the environment. And the distribution of drugs in the environment can be used as a base for risk assessments and it also can be used to define desir
Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning: Är klimatforskningen skev? En central fråga är om vi kan lita på att vetenskapliga tidskrifter återger en rättvis bild av aktuella forskningsresultat? Dessutom bör vi fråga oss hur rapporteringen påverkas då betydande händelser sker inom vetenskapsvärlden. I november 2007 och senare 2009 skedde två viktiga företeelser inom klimatforskningen som potentiellt kanAbstract The declaration of a scientific consensus concerning anthropogenic causes for climate change by the IPCC in their fourth assessment report (AR4), published in 2007, initiated a heated debate. During this debate, experts within the IPCC were accused of selective reporting and the AR4 got strong source criticism by politicians, stakeholders and climate skeptics in general. The debate furth
Background: The metabolic syndrome describes a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors that frequently appear together. Its diagnosis is generally based on several well-recognized indicators in clinical practice, such as abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein, raised blood pressure, and elevated fasting plasma glucose. Today, decisive importance must be attached
Background: Currently available biomarkers for the early tissue process leading to joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis are insufficient and lack prognostic accuracy, possibly a result of variable activity of the disease over time. This study represents a novel approach to detect an altered activity of the disease process detected as increasing serum-COMP levels over a short time and whether this
We analyze a similar to 70 ks Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer exposure of the globular cluster omega Cen (NGC 5139). The similar to 17' x 17' field of view fully encompasses three core radii and almost twice the half-mass radius. We detect 180 sources to a limiting flux of similar to 4.3 x 10(-16) erg cm(-2) s(-1) (L-x = 1.2 x 10(30) erg s(-1) at 4.9 kpc). After accounting for the number
Purpose: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the visibility of simulated lesions in 2D digital mammography (DM) and breast tomosynthesis (BT) images of patients. Methods: Images of the same women were acquired on both a DM system (Mammomat Novation, Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany) and a BT prototype system adapted from the same type of DM system. Using the geometrical properties of the
