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BACKGROUND:: The use of league tables during the last decade has frequently been employed to assess quality in health care. However, few studies have attempted to assess quality by quantifying the variability across the organizational units or attempted to investigate whether the units are the correct context that really influences the outcome under study. OBJECTIVES:: To quantify the variation be

We report on the fabrication and characterization of amplitude and phase samples consisting of well defined Au or Al features formed on ultrathin silicon nitride membranes. The samples were manufactured using electron beam lithography, metallization and a lift-off technique, which allow precise lateral control and thickness of the metal features. The fabricated specimens were evaluated by conventi

It is increasingly being recognized that predation can be a strong diversifying agent promoting ecological divergence. Adaptations against different predatory regimes can emerge over short periods of time and include many different traits. We studied antipredator adaptations in two ecotypes of an isopod (Asellus aquaticus) that have, diverged in parallel in two Swedish lakes over the last two deca

Recension av Tommy Eriksson, En dödsvind för mitt folk : Sitting Bull : livet, komplotten, mordet

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between maximum oxygen uptake (VO2PEAK) and body fat in young children on a population-based level. Methods: Participants were 586 children (311 boys and 275 girls) aged 6.8 +/- 0.4 years, recruited from a population-based cohort. VO2PEAK was measured by indirect calorimetry during a maximal exercise test. Percent body fat (BF%) wa

Background: Activating KRAS and BRAF mutations predict unresponsiveness to EGFR-targeting therapies in colorectal cancer (CRC), but their prognostic value needs further validation. In this study, we investigated the impact of KRAS codons 12 and 13, and BRAF mutations on survival from CRC, overall and stratified by sex, in a large prospective cohort study. Methods: KRAS codons 12 and 13, and BRAF m

Written submissions or comments as a response on an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) rank as one of the most common forms of public participation. Within public participation research there appears to be an international dearth of knowledge concerning such written submissions. The possible impact of such responses on an EIS is - with few exceptions - seldom put in focus. The aim in the present

Soot particles can be formed in hydrocarbon flames as a result of an inefficient combustion process. The particles are near-spherical, and at later stages in the soot growth process, they form chainlike sparse aggregates. When applying optical diagnostic methods, this aggregation influences the evaluation of soot properties based on assumptions of isolated particles. In this paper an efficient and

Prevention and control of infectious diseases is seriously hampered by an increasing prevalence of bacteria that are resistant towards conventional antibiotics. Resistant bacteria are often the root cause of infections that trigger the complex clinical syndrome called sepsis, which is a concern for high morbidity and mortality. Despite extensive basic research and clinical studies, treatment of se

Objectives To describe clinical history and ultrasound findings in patients with tubal carcinoma. Methods Patients with a histological diagnosis of tubal cancer who had undergone preoperative ultrasound examination were identified from the databases of 13 ultrasound centers. The tumors were described by the principal investigator at each contributing center on the basis of ultrasound images, ultra

Previous research has found that weak institutions can hamper investment and alter patterns of trade. However, little is known about the impact of institutional quality on offshoring. This lack of knowledge is surprising, given that offshoring has become an important part of many firms' internationalization strategies. This study uses detailed firm-level data for the 1997-2005 period to examine th

Biobank samples stored in biobanks give researchers and respiratory healthcare institutions access to datasets of analytes valuable for both diagnostic and research practices. The usefulness of these samples in clinical decision-making is highly dependent on their quality and integrity. New procedures that better preserve sample integrity and reduce degradation are being developed to meet the need

We determine relative photoemission time delays between valence electrons in different noble gas atoms (Ar, Ne and He) in an energy range between 31 and 37 eV. The atoms are ionized by an attosecond pulse train synchronized with an infrared laser field and the delays are measured using an interferometric technique. We compare our results with calculations using the random phase approximation with

A unified description of solvation in dielectric media characterized by a static relative permittivity e is presented. The approach is based on probability distributions representing fluctuating dipole moments and electric fields and goes beyond the traditional mean-field approach. In addition to reproducing some standard results, we present an expression for the solvation free energy of a dielect

The surface and near-surface chemical composition of BiFe0.5Mn0.5O3 has been studied using a combination of low photon energy synchrotron photoemission spectroscopy, and a newly developed maximum entropy finite element model from which it is possible to extract the depth dependent chemical composition. In the uppermost few unit cells, an overabundance of Bi, and a deficiency of Fe and Mn are obser

Mutations in pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX-1) can cause a monogenic form of diabetes (maturity onset diabetes of the young 4) in humans, and silencing Pdx-1 in pancreatic β-cells of mice causes diabetes. However, it is not established whether epigenetic alterations of PDX-1 influence type 2 diabetes (T2D) in humans. Here we analyzed mRNA expression and DNA methylation of PDX-1 in human pancr

We assessed the relative merits of two approaches for including polarization effects in classical force fields for the sulfate anion. One of the approaches is the explicit shell model for atomic polarization and the other is an implicit dielectric continuum representation of the electronic polarization, wherein the polarizability density is spatially uniform. Both the solvation and ion association