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PACs (polycylic aromatic compounds) are air pollutants formed in incomplete combustion, e.g., in vehicle engines. Vegetation can potentially remove substantial amounts and act as bioindicators of these pollutants. Increased knowledge of the pollutant removal efficiencies of different tree species is essential for understanding the potential benefits trees can provide urban residents. We investigat

The ancient Ventspils Lagoon is an area where human settlements have been located on former coastal landforms and sediments. However, the chronology of its development has so far not been studied in detail. Since the ancient lagoon is dominated by sand deposition, optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL) was used to determine when the ancient coast was formed. Twenty-one OSL samples gave a w

Air pollution poses a threat to human health, with pregnant women and their developing fetuses being particularly vulnerable. A high dual burden of ambient and indoor air pollution exposure has been identified in Ethiopia, but studies investigating their effects on adverse birth outcomes are currently lacking. This study explores the association between ambient air pollution (NOX and NO2) and indo

The usage of induction hardening in the industry has increased in the last years due to its efficiency and repeatability. Induction hardening produces a hard martensitic layer on the specimen surface, which is accompanied by the generation of compressive residual stresses in the hardened case and tensile stresses in the untreated core. Residual stresses generated by induction hardening greatly imp

This investigation aims to obtain a thermosensitive platform useful for specific nanomedicine applications through the addition of suitable salts. An aqueous mixture consisting of the copolymer Pluronic F127 and sodium carboxymethyl-cellulose, in a ratio of 20/4 by weight, in the presence of different concentrations of Na2SO4, NaCl, and NaSCN, was investigated using the visual inversion tube appro

Background: Men are more severely affected by COVID-19. Testosterone may influence SARS-CoV-2 infection and the immune response. Objective: To clinically, epidemiologically, and experimentally evaluate the effect of antiandrogens on SARS-CoV-2 infection. Designs, settings, and participants: A randomized phase 2 clinical trial (COVIDENZA) enrolled 42 hospitalized COVID-19 patients before safety eva

We report a multi-modal study of the electrical, chemical and structural properties of a kesterite thin-film solar cell by combining the spatially-resolved X-ray beam induced current and fluorescence imaging techniques for the evaluation of a fully functional device on a cross-section. The data allowed the correlation of the chemical composition, defects at interfaces and inhomogeneous deposition

Metal halide perovskites have shown a great performance in a broad range of optoelectronic devices. The variety of preparation methods makes perovskites especially attractive, yet preparation of complex nanostructures based on these materials remains challenging. Here we present a template assisted method allowing to achieve any pre-designed arrangement of methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) po

Left-right asymmetry is a conserved property in nature and observed in the human body, a property known as cell chirality. Cell chirality is often studied using micropatterned in vitro models. However, micropattern geometry and size often varies across different studies, making it challenging to compare results. Here, we utilized micropatterned RGD-peptide lines on hyaluronic acid hydrogels to inv

Context. After more than two decades of relevant radial velocity surveys, the current sample of known brown dwarfs (BDs) around FGK stars is only of the order of 100, limiting our understanding of their occurrence rate, properties, and formation. The ongoing ESA mission Gaia has already collected more than its nominal 5 years of mission data, and is expected to operate for up to 10 years in total.

Thermal phase curves of exoplanet atmospheres have revealed temperature maps as a function of planetary longitude, often by sinusoidal decomposition of the phase curve. We construct a framework for describing two-dimensional temperature maps of exoplanets with mathematical basis functions derived for a fluid layer on a rotating, heated sphere with drag/friction, which are generalisations of spheri

Rationale & Objective: There is a dearth of data characterizing patients receiving kidney replacement therapy (KRT) for kidney failure due to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and their clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to describe trends in incidence and prevalence of KRT among these patients as well as to compare their outcomes versus those of patients treated with KRT for diseas

For optimal design of anti-amyloid-β (Aβ) and anti-tau clinical trials, we need to better understand the pathophysiological cascade of Aβ- and tau-related processes. Therefore, we set out to investigate how Aβ and soluble phosphorylated tau (p-tau) relate to the accumulation of tau aggregates assessed with PET and subsequent cognitive decline across the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum. Using hu

We investigate the interfaces and polarity domains at the atomic scale in epitaxial AlN and GaN/AlN grown by hot-wall metal organic chemical vapor epitaxy on the carbon face of SiC. X-ray diffraction, potassium hydroxide (KOH) wet chemical etching, and scanning transmission electron microscopy combined provide an in-depth understanding of polarity evolution with the film thickness, which is crucia

Human-induced salinization caused by the use of road deicing salts, agricultural practices, mining operations, and climate change is a major threat to the biodiversity and functioning of freshwater ecosystems. Yet, it is unclear if freshwater ecosystems are protected from salinization by current water quality guidelines. Leveraging an experimental network of land-based and in-lake mesocosms across

The self-assembly of amyloid β peptide (Aβ) to fibrillar and oligomeric aggregates is linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Aβ binders may serve as inhibitors of aggregation to prevent the generation of neurotoxic species and for the detection of Aβ species. A particular challenge involves finding binders to on-pathway oligomers given their transient nature. Here we construct two phage–display libraries

Evaluating competing metaphor theories against each other implies the need for theory-independent criteria of comparison. We propose translation validity, the closeness in which theoretical constructs and operationalizations match one another, to be such a criterion. Applying this to Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Deliberate Metaphor Theory (DMT) we note that the translation validity of CMT

Objective: The prevalence of functional gastrointestinal (FGI) symptoms and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is high in the society, but the etiology is mainly unknown. This population-based, cross-sectional study aimed to examine the associations between self-reported IBS or gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms within the past 2 weeks and concomitant diseases, drug consumption and family history of disea

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is used as a complementary intervention in psychiatric healthcare. The reasons for using or not using CAM in psychiatric care in Sweden, and how such decisions are taken, are largely unknown. The aim was to investigate arguments for and against the use of CAM in Swedish psychiatric care, and how decisions are made. Interviews with 10 persons in decision