Search results

Filter

Filetype

Your search for "*" yielded 530187 hits

Risk comparisons of premium rules: optimality and a life insurance study

Consider a risk Y-1 (x) depending on an observable covariate x which is the outcome of a random variable A with a known distribution, and consider a premium p(x) of the form p(x) = EY1 (x) + etap(1) (x). The corresponding adjustment coefficient gamma is the solution of E exp{gamma[Y-1(A) - p(A)]} = 1, and we characterize the rule for the loading premium p(1)((.)) which maximizes gamma subject to t

Additive effects of the major risk alleles of IRF5 and STAT4 in primary Sjogren's syndrome

Primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS) shares many features with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Here we investigated the association of the three major polymorphisms in IRF5 and STAT4 found to be associated with SLE, in patients from Sweden and Norway with primary SS. These polymorphisms are a 5-bp CGGGG indel in the promoter of IRF5, the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs10488631 downstream of

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDE) 3 and 4 in normal, malignant, and HTLV-I transformed human lymphocytes

Intracellular cyclic AMP, determined in part by cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs), regulates proliferation and immune functions in lymphoid cells. Total PDE, PDE3, and PDE4 activities were measured in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC-PHA), normal natural killer (NK) cells, Jurkat and Kit225-K6 leukemic T-cells, T-cell lines transformed with huma

The search for a peptide ligand targeting the lipolytic enzyme cutinase

A constrained nonapeptide phage display library was evaluated as a potential source of affinity ligand(s) for purification of cutinase, a lipolytic enzyme. After seven cycles of biopanning, 500 clones were isolated and individually tested for their capability to interact with cutinase. Three out of six sequenced clones carrying a cutinase-specific constrained peptide showed the same insert sequenc

Experience with the new genetic variant of Chlamydia trachomatis in Orebro county, Sweden - proportion, characteristics and effective diagnostic solution in an emergent situation.

A Chlamydia trachomatis variant that contains a 377 bp deletion in the cryptic plasmid was recently reported in Sweden. This deletion includes the targets for Cobas Amplicor, Cobas TaqMan48, and Abbott m2000. We examined the proportion and characteristics of this variant in Örebro county, Sweden and developed an effective diagnostic solution. In total, 2,401 consecutive C. trachomatis culture samp

Fracture mechanics in timber engineering - Strength analyses of components and joints

Traditional timber engineering design approaches use for simple geometries stress- or strain-based criteria for strength analyses. For more complex cases purely empirical methods are also used. Although practical, purely empirical methods are not general, and could lead to estimations on the unsafe side, if extrapolated outside their original scope. It is furthermore known that stress- or strain-b

Density functional theories of surface interactions in salt solutions

Most current density functional theories rely upon the presence of hard cores, also between ions of like charge. These hard cores should in principle reflect exchange repulsion. However, by the way in which these theories are formulated, the hard cores effectively determine the range of ion-ion correlations. This is because the mutual repulsion between like-charged ions is truncated below the corr

Small local population sizes and high habitat patch fidelity in a specialised solitary bee.

Andrena hattorfiana is a rare solitary bee which has declined during the last decades throughout western Europe. It is specialised to forage pollen from plants of the family Dipsacaceae. Knowledge of distribution, dispersal propensity, and local population sizes is essential for successful conservation of A. hattorfiana. The investigated local bee populations (n = 78) were dominated by small local

Immunization of Rats with Homologous Type XI Collagen Leads to Chronic and Relapsing Arthritis with Different Genetics and Joint Pathology Than Arthritis Induced with Homologous Type II Collagen.

The most commonly used animal model for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), induced by immunization with type II collagen (CII), a cartilage restricted protein. In this work we show that type XI collagen (CXI), which is a minor component in cartilage, induces a different form of erosive and chronic relapsing polyarthritis in rats. Using a series of inbred rat strains inv

Evidence-based medicine in HBP surgery: Is there any?

Background. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has become widely accepted as a basis for clinical decision in many fields of medicine. This review examines the specific role of EBM in hepato-biliary and pancreatic (HBP) surgery. EBM relies on four main sources, including clinical guidelines, meta-analyses, primary information and clinical experience. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) constitute the c

The collagen structure of the tympanic membrane - Collagen types I, II, and III in the healthy tympanic membrane, during healing of a perforation, and during infection

Objective: To analyze the distribution of 3 collagen types in healthy tympanic membranes, during healing of a perforation, and during infection. Design: Immunohistochemical study of collagen types I, II, and III in the tympanic membranes of healthy rats as well as during healing of a perforation and in the presence of infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae at various time points. Setting: Laborat

The predictive value of prostate cancer biomarkers depends on age and time to diagnosis: Towards a biologically-based screening strategy

Both benign and malignant prostate diseases elevate total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA), and the incidence of benign disease increases markedly with age. There is evidence, however, that free-to-total PSA ratio (%fPSA) and human kallikrein 2 (hK2) more closely reflect the malignant process. We tested the hypothesis that tPSA levels are more strongly predictive of cancer in younger when compared

Efficient asymmetric synthesis of an azasugar in water

An extremely efficient asymmetric synthesis of a pyrrolidine azasugar was completed in only four steps in water, without the use of protecting groups and in 60% overall yield from a simple, achiral bis-electrophile.

The evaluation of the diet/disease relation in the EPIC study: considerations for the calibration and the disease models

Background International multicentre studies on diet and cancer are relatively new in epidemiological research. They offer a series of challenging methodological issues for the evaluation of the association between dietary exposure and disease outcomes, which can both be quite heterogeneous across different geographical regions. This requires considerable work to standardize dietary measurements a

Accurate ab initio density fitting for multiconfigurational self-consistent field methods.

Using Cholesky decomposition and density fitting to approximate the electron repulsion integrals, an implementation of the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) method suitable for large-scale applications is presented. Sample calculations on benzene, diaquo-tetra-mu-acetato-dicopper(II), and diuraniumendofullerene demonstrate that the Cholesky and density fitting approximations all