Infectious diseases remain a major health problem, and sepsis and other severe infectious diseases are common causes of morbidity and mortality. There is a need for clinical and laboratory tools to identify patients with severe infections early and to distinguish between bacterial and nonbacterial conditions. Heparin-binding protein (HBP), also known as azurocidin or cationic antimicrobial protein

Background: Gallbladder cancer is a rare neoplasm with a poor prognosis. Early diagnosis and correct treatment strategy is important. The aim of this study was to identify predictors for incidental gallbladder cancer. Methods: Data from cholecystectomies registered in the nationwide Swedish Register for Gallstone Surgery between 2007 and 2014 were analyzed for incidental gallbladder cancer. Exclus

This paper seeks to understand how distance to urban centres influences necessity and opportunity-based firm start-ups. The results show that closeness to urban centres is not necessarily beneficial for firm start-ups. On the contrary, regions further away from urban centres of any size experience more firm start-ups. One explanation of this result is that regions experience spatial protection fro

This paper presents a freely distributed, open-source toolbox to predict the behaviour of urban wastewater systems (UWS). The proposed library is used to develop a system-wide Benchmark Simulation Model (BSM-UWS) for evaluating (local/global) control strategies in urban wastewater systems (UWS). The set of models describe the dynamics of flow rates and major pollutants (COD, TSS, N and P) within t

The development of new materials for solar-to-energy conversion should consider stability, ease of fabrication, and beneficial photophysical properties. In this context, a set of novel π-conjugated building blocks, with phospha- and arsaalkenes possessing a unique dithienyl annulated heterofulvenoid core, have been prepared as air- and moisture-stable sensitizers. These compounds unify electron-do

Efficient and clean production of electrical energy and mechanical (shaft) energy for use in industrial and domestic applications, surface- and ground transportation and aero-propulsion is currently of significant general concern. Fossil fuels are mainly used for transportation and aero-propulsion, but also for power generation. Combustion of fossil fuels typically give rise to undesired emissions

We present a consistent framework for treating the energy and angularmomentum dependence of the shape evolution in the nuclear fission. It combines microscopically calculated level densities with the Metropolis-walk method, has no new parameters, and can elucidate the energy-dependent influence of pairing and shell effects on the dynamics of warm nuclei.

Previous findings suggest that working memory capacity (WMC) is influenced by a dysphonic voice quality. The present study examines the influence of voice quality on sentence processing and word recall in a working memory task. Fifty-seven children (8:1–9:1 years old) with normal hearing participated. Working memory capacity (WMC) was assessed using a competing language processing task (CLPT) whic

Scope: The molecular mechanisms underlying the cholesterol-lowering properties of oats are only partly known. To study possible pathways involved, we investigated gene expressions in the liver and small intestine of mice fed oats. Method and results: Cholesterol and bile acids were analyzed in plasma and feces from LDL-receptor deficient (LDLr-/-) mice fed Western diet with wholegrain oats. A tran

Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is caused by biallelic variants in genes regulating granule secretion in cytotoxic lymphocytes. In FHL3–5, the affected genes UNC13D, STX11 and STXBP2 have further been shown to regulate the secretion of platelet granules, giving rise to compromised platelet function. Therefore, we aimed to investigate platelet degranulation in patients heterozygou

Purpose Cholesterol-lowering medication (CLM) has been reported to have a role in preventing breast cancer recurrence. CLM may attenuate signaling through the estrogen receptor by reducing levels of the estrogenic cholesterol metabolite 27-hydroxycholesterol. The impact of endocrine treatment on cholesterol levels and hypercholesterolemia per se may counteract the intended effect of aromatase inhi

Introduction and hypothesis: Irregular or infrequent voiding due to avoiding school toilets can contribute to a number of urinary problems among school children. There is, however, a lack of studies on younger women. The aim of this study was to investigate toileting behavior and the correlation to lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) among young women (age 18–25 years). A further aim was to valida

Background: Myocardial performance index (MPI) has been investigated in a variety of populations, but the effect of food intake has not been evaluated. We assessed whether myocardial performance index is affected by food intake in healthy subjects. Methods: Twenty-three healthy subjects aged 25.6 ± 4.5 years were investigated. MPI was measured before, 30 min after, and 110 min after a standardized

Biologiskt flyktiga organiska ämnen (BVOCs) är spårämnen förutom CO2 och CH4 som produceras och släpps ut av växter. Termen innehåller tusentals olika ämnen i varierande former och storlekar och där ämnena har korta atmosfäriska livstider. Några av de vanligaste BVOC grupperna kallas isopren, monoterpener och sesquiterpener. Växterna använder sig av BVOCs för att kommunicera med varandra, attraherBiogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are trace gases other than CO2 and CH4 produced and emitted by the vegetation. The group consists of thousands of compounds in various shapes and sizes and with short atmospheric lifetimes. Some of the most common BVOC groups are called isoprene, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. For the plant, the emission of BVOCs is used for plant communication, attrac

Mass-flowering crops lead to spatial redistributions of pollinators and to transient shortages within nearby semi-natural grasslands, but the impacts on plant-pollinator interactions remain largely unexplored. Here, we characterised which pollinator species are attracted by oilseed rape and how this affected the structure of plant-pollinator networks in nearby grasslands. We surveyed 177 networks

To date, conservation-status saproxylic beetle species in the UK have been monitored by chance findings or by monitor-based observational studies. Here, using Elater ferrugineus as our target species, we present the first national distribution survey carried out in the UK or across mainland Europe on such a species using chemicals produced by the insect. Over 3 years, mark-release-recapture studie

The XXL survey currently covers two 25deg2 patches with XMM observations of ∼10ks. We summarize the scientific results associated with the first release of the XXL dataset, which occurred in mid-2016. We review several arguments for increasing the survey depth to 40ks during the next decade of XMM operations. X-ray (z

The most abundant plasma protein, human serum albumin (HSA), plays a key part in the body's antioxidant defense against reactive species. This study was aimed at correlating oxidant-induced chemical and structural effects on HSA. Despite the chemical modification induced by the oxidant hypochlorite, the native shape is preserved up to oxidant/HSA molar ratio