Objectives: To investigate: (i) changes in sick-leave benefits from 1 year prior to multimodal rehabilitation to 1 and 2 years after rehabilitation; (ii) sex differences in sick leave; and (iii) the impact of policy changes on sick leave. Methods: All patients undergoing multimodal rehabilitation registered in a national pain database for 2007–11 (n?=?7,297) were linked to the Swedish Social I

A self-tuning algorithm is proposed for the control of the air-fuel ratio in internal combustion engines. Such a controller can overcome problems connected with unknown bias of the engine dynamics, slowly varying engine parameters and excess oxygen sensor characteristics. The simulation study has focused on near-steady-state situations and shows the feasibility of self-tuners in comparison with co

Encapsulation with edible films is a promising approach that may solve the disadvantages associated with the use of bioactive compounds as food additives. This is particularly relevant in the case of probiotics, since their stability in food matrices and in the gastrointestinal tract may be rather poor. Therefore, new cellulose-based edible films have been successfully developed and characterized.

Diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS) is a powerful optical technique suitable to investigate turbid samples in a nondestructive and reproducible way, providing information on the static and dynamic properties of the system. This includes the relative displacement of emulsion droplets over time and changes in the viscoelastic properties. Here, novel and promising cellulose-based oil-in-water (O/W) emu

Probiotics are increasingly gaining popularity in vast food applications due to their recognized health benefits to the host. However, their passage through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is not smooth and a significant number of physiological barriers (e.g. low pH, bile salts, enzymes, peristaltic movements, etc.) may considerably affect their viability. The entrapment of probiotics in protectiv

n this work the prebiotic effect of different cyclodextrins, CDs, on the viability of model probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG) encapsulated in carboxymethyl cellulose-chitosan (CMC-Cht) hybrid particles was studied. All the CDs tested were observed to considerably improve the viability (quantitatively like common prebiotics, such as corn starch) and encapsulation efficiency when compa

Novel carboxymethyl cellulose-chitosan (CMC-Cht) hybrid micro- and macroparticles were successfully prepared in aqueous media either by drop-wise addition or via nozzle-spray methods. The systems were either physically or chemically crosslinked using genipin as the reticulation agent. The macroparticles (ca. 2 mm) formed are found to be essentially of the core-shell type, while the microparticles

We report a facile in situ synthesis of spherical copper nanoparticles (NPs) templated by a gelled cellulose II matrix under alkaline aqueous reaction conditions. In under 20 min, the hybrid material could be obtained in a one-pot reaction. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) revealed that the polycrystalline NPs of 200-500 nm were well distributed in the regenerated cellulose mat

Neutron and X-ray reflection measurements have been used to study the structure of the adsorbed layer of a chelating surfactant at the air/liquid interface. The chelating surfactant 2-dodecyldiethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (C-12-DTPA) has a large headgroup containing eight donor atoms that can participate in the coordination of metal ions. The donor atoms are also titrating, resulting in an amp

Novel cellulose-chitosan nanocomposite particles with spherical shape were successfully prepared via mixing of aqueous biopolymer solutions in three different ways. Macroparticles with diameters in the millimeter range were produced by dripping cellulose dissolved in cold LiOH/urea into acidic chitosan solutions, inducing instant co-regeneration of the biopolymers. Two types of microspheres, chemi