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Background: Hearing loss is estimated to affect more than 20% of the global population. Hearing aid fitting is a common intervention in audiological rehabilitation; however, there are still those who struggle with remaining communication difficulties that require additional intervention. The group rehabilitation program Active Communication Education (ACE) has been shown to be an effective alterna
BACKGROUND: The period immediately following psychiatric inpatient care is recognized as a time of elevated risk of suicide, yet little is known about factors that influence how soon suicide occurs after discharge.AIM: To examine the timing of suicide among persons after psychiatric discharge and identify sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with a shorter time to death by suicide.METH
The criteria for Brief Resolved Unexplained Events (BRUE) are used to stratify the risk in infants presenting with apneic episodes. However, these criteria often classify a high proportion of infants as higher risk. This study aimed to investigate the etiology of apneic episodes, particularly those compatible with BRUE, and to assess whether age ≤60 days is associated with serious underlying condi
Background: Selected patients with advanced germ cell tumors have a poor prognosis. These include patients with brain, bone or liver metastases, very elevated tumor markers or primary mediastinal tumor. High-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) with autologous stem cell support is recommended in the Swedish and Norwegian Testicular Cancer Group (SWENOTECA) guidelines in selected poor risk patients with poor r
BACKGROUND: Preoperative anaemia is associated with increased use of blood transfusions, a greater risk of postoperative complications, and patient morbidity. The IRON NOF trial aimed to investigate whether the administration of i.v. iron in anaemic patients during hip fracture surgery reduced the need for blood transfusion and improved patient outcomes.METHODS: This phase III double-blind, random
Environmental concerns such as global warming, the surge of crude oil prices and more stringent emission regulations are demanding the development of internal combustion engines that are highly efficient and low polluting. With classical internal combustion engine concepts such as diesel compression ignition and gasoline spark ignition engines, a trade-off exists between local and global emissions
OBJECTIVE: To study cause specific mortality and cancer morbidity in workers exposed to the dust of grinding materials, grinding agents, and stainless steel, especially with regard to a possibly increased risk of respiratory, stomach, and colorectal cancer. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study, using reference cohorts of blue collar workers and population rates for comparison. The exposed cohort c
Objectives This study sought to study the second-generation everolimus-eluting stent (EES) as compared with first-generation sirolimus-eluting (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. Background There are limited data available comparing clinical outcomes in this setting with EES and SES, whereas studies comparing EES with PES are not powered for low-frequency
A series of four new analogue phases Ca2M2X (M = Pd, Pt and X = Al, Ge) were prepared by direct combination of the respective elements in stoichiometric mixtures at high temperature in order to analyze the impact of valence electron count (vec) and electronegativity differences (Delta chi) on the structure selection and stability. Their crystal structures, as determined from single-crystal X-ray d
Background: Various plasma phosphorylated tau species have been shown to be associated with amyloid-β (Aβ) PET and Tau PET in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but whether APOE ε4 affects the interaction between glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and phosphorylated tau (pTau), and whether a three-way interaction exists among APOE ε4, GFAP, and pTau that influences AD progression remain unclear. Method
BACKGROUND: Differences in cardiac sarcoidosis between racial groups remain understudied. Therefore, this study aims to explore race differences in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Cardiac Sarcoidosis Consortium, an international registry including over 25 centers. The primary clinical outcome was a composite end point of all-cause mortality, left ventricular a
ObjectivesThis study investigates the impact of transitioning from restricted to 24/7 access to blood culture cabinets on blood culture processing.MethodA post-hoc retrospective study and a prospective laboratory simulation to evaluate the effects of delayed incubation were conducted. Data analysis evaluated clinical data comparing incubation-to-detection (ITD) and Collection-to-detection (CTD) in
Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) represent a group of rare and heterogenous tumors that optimally should be diagnosed and treated within multidisciplinary teams. This thesis has studied various aspects ? pathological, genetical, and clinical ? of STS. In study I, we demonstrated that 20% of the patients in a population-based series of 818 STS developed second primary malignancies. An increased risk of
Background: Podocalyxin-like 1 (PODXL) is a cell-adhesion glycoprotein and stem cell marker that has been associated with an aggressive tumour phenotype and adverse outcome in several cancer types. We recently demonstrated that overexpression of PODXL is an independent factor of poor prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to validate these results in two additional indepen
BACKGROUND: Hemostatic disorders are common in obstetric complications. Thromboelastography (TEG (R)) simultaneously measures coagulation and fibrinolysis within 10 to 20 minutes. Our primary aim in this prospective longitudinal study was to obtain knowledge about physiological changes in TEG (R) variables during normal pregnancy and 8 weeks postpartum. The secondary aims were to compare TEG (R) v
The complement system, a part of the innate immune system with several links to the adaptive immune system, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of many diseases. The purpose of this thesis was to document and clarify some of these mechanisms. The thesis is based on four papers (I-IV). (I and II) Autoantibodies to the C3 cleaving enzyme complex of the alternative pathway, C3 nephritic facto
Objective: Transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation has emerged as an option, in addition to reoperative surgical aortic valve replacement, to treat failed biologic heart valve substitutes. However, the clinical experience with this approach is still limited. We report the comprehensive experience of transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation in the Nordic countries from May 2008 to January 2012.
BACKGROUND: Certain immune-mediated diseases (IMDs), such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, have been linked to cardiovascular disorders. We examined whether there is an association between 32 different IMDs and risk of subsequent hospitalization for coronary heart disease (CHD) related to coronary atherosclerosis in a nationwide follow up study in Sweden. METHODS AND FIND
Aims/hypothesis Genetic and epidemiological studies suggest an association between gestational diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes. Both are polygenic multifactorial disorders characterised by beta cell dysfunction and insulin resistance. Our aim was to investigate whether common genetic variants that have previously been associated with type 2 diabetes or related phenotypes would also confer ri
The Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group (CSDG) occurs in five separate complexes in central Sweden and SW Finland. U-Pb baddeleyite ages of dolerite dikes and sills fall into three age intervals: 1264-1271 (the Dalarna complex), 1256-1259 (the Vdsterbotten-Ulvo-Satakunta complexes) and similar to 1247 Ma (the Jamtland complex). Timing and spatial distribution of CSDG are unlike expressions of the
