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Arsenic (As) is one of the most important dangerous elements as more than 100 million of people are exposed to risk, globally. The permissible threshold of As for drinking water is 10 μg/L according to both the WHO’s drinking water guidelines and the Iranian national standard. However, several studies have indicated that As concentrations exceed this threshold value in several regions of Iran. Thi
Background: Cancer Antigen 125 (CA125) is currently the best available ovarian cancer screening biomarker. However, CA125 has been limited by low sensitivity and specificity in part due to normal variation between individuals. Personal characteristics that influence CA125 could be used to improve its performance as screening biomarker. Methods: We developed and validated linear and dichotomous (≥3
AIMS: Remodelling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a key mechanism involved in the development and progression of heart failure (HF) but also functional in associated pulmonary hypertension (PH). Our aim was to identify plasma ECM proteins associated to end-stage HF and secondary PH in relation to haemodynamics, before and after heart transplantation (HT).METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty ECM plasma
BackgroundAccumulating evidence suggests that many psychiatric disorders etiologically represent the extreme end of dimensionally distributed features rather than distinct entities. The extent to which this applies to eating disorders (EDs) is unknown.MethodsWe investigated if there is similar etiology in (a) the continuous distribution of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), (b) the extremes
Background: First-line treatment for hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) including education and supervised exercises, delivered as a self-management program, is considered one of the mainstays in OA treatment. However, the socioeconomic profile of the population that utilizes first-line treatment for hip and knee OA is unclear. The aim of this study was to describe the socioeconomic status (SES) of
Background: For BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, the association between oral contraceptive preparation (OCP) use and breast cancer (BC) risk is still unclear.Methods: Breast camcer risk associations were estimated from OCP data on 6030 BRCA1 and 3809 BRCA2 mutation carriers using age-dependent Cox regression, stratified by study and birth cohort. Prospective, left-truncated retrospective and fu
Objective: To study the long-term effects of a workplace intervention in addition to structured physiotherapy regarding self-reported measures in patients with acute/subacute neck and/or back pain. Design: WorkUp – a cluster-randomised controlled trial in 32 primary care centers in Sweden, from January 2013 through December 2014 (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02609750). Intervention: Structured physio
Aim: The aim of the study was to identify sociodemographic, disease-related, physical and mental health-related determinants of fatigue at 2-year follow-up in individuals with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A longitudinal analysis of participants with symptomatic knee OA from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) was conducted to identify predictors of fatigue at 2-year follo
Background Sun exposure in combination with skin pigmentation is the main determinant for vitamin D status. Human skin color seems to be adapted and optimized for regional sun ultraviolet (UV) intensity. However, we do not know if fair, UV-sensitive skin is a survival advantage in regions with low UV radiation. Methods A population-based nested case-control study of 29,518 Caucasian women, ages 25
Background: High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is dependent on detailed morphology in diagnostic assessment of interstitial lung diseases. Photon-counting CT (PCCT) enables improved resolution while reducing radiation. Purpose: To compare if the image quality, detailed morphology, and radiation dose in HRCT of the lung improves with PCCT compared to energy-integrated CT (EICT). Material an
Background: Sex and gender influence many aspects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Limited data are available on this topic in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). We therefore aimed to investigate sex issues in the EARCO registry, a prospective, international, observational cohort study. Methods: Baseline data from PiZZ individuals, enrolled in the registry with complete data on
Objective To estimate the prevalence of the curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, Trichomonas vaginalis and Treponema pallidum, to identify associated risk factors and to assess ciprofloxacin resistance in N. gonorrhoeae-positive specimens among female sex workers (FSWs) in Guinea-Bissau. Methods For this cross-sectional
Wheat straw (WS) constitutes a considerable biomass resource and can be used to produce the energy carrier methane through anaerobic digestion. Due to the low contents of several nutrient elements and water in harvested WS, the use of sewage sludge (SS), consisting of primary sludge and waste-activated sludge, as a nutrient source in co-digestion with steam-pretreated wheat straw (PWS) was investi
Background: The diagnosis and treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may impact mental health. We investigated the long-term risk of psychiatric disorders among survivors of ALL in a population-based cohort study. Methods: We identified patients diagnosed with ALL in Denmark and Sweden before age 20 during 1982–2008. Survivors of ALL (n = 2026), their siblings (n = 3027), and po
Aim: Assess effects on waist circumference from diet with or without cereal grains and with or without long-term physical exercise. Background: Elevated waist circumference is an indicator of increased abdominal fat storage and is accordingly associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. This is likely due to the association between lifestyle-induced changes in waist circumference and cardio
A novel pretreatment approach was developed in the present study to simultaneously reduce the content of inorganic troubling elements (TEs) and improve biomass energy density, i.e., combined leaching and steam explosion (SE) pretreatment with mechanical pressing. Three different high-ash-containing biomass feedstocks were studied – wheat straw (WS), spruce bark (SB), and empty fruit bunches of oil
RATIONALE: Preterm infants diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are thought to have fewer and larger alveoli than their term peers, but it is unclear to what degree this persists later in life.OBJECTIVES: To investigate to what degree the distal airspaces are enlarged in adolescents born preterm and to evaluate the new Airspace Dimension Assessment (AiDA) method in investigating this gr
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether malnutrition or nutrition impact symptoms (NIS) affect the possibility of returning to work after treatment for head and neck cancer. Methods: Patients of working age with head and neck cancer were followed up from treatment initiation to 3 months (n = 238), 1 year (n = 182), and 2 years (n = 130) after treatment completion. The observed decrease in
Objectives: Decision-analytic models assessing the value of emerging Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatments are challenged by limited evidence on short-term trial outcomes and uncertainty in extrapolating long-term patient-relevant outcomes. To improve understanding and foster transparency and credibility in modeling methods, we cross-compared AD decision models in a hypothetical context of disease-m
Objectives: The enormous burden that cardiovascular diseases put on individuals and societies warrants reliable biomarkers of disease risk to optimize disease prevention. We studied longitudinal movement (LMov) in arterial walls using ultrasound of the common carotid artery (CCA). We believe that LMov could be a sensitive biomarker of cardiovascular health and in this study, we evaluate the intra-
