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Sex differences in parasite load and immune responses are found across a wide range of animals, with females generally having lower parasite loads and stronger immune responses than males. Intrigued by these general patterns, we investigated if there was any sign of sex-specific selection on an essential component of adaptive immunity that is known to affect fitness, the major histocompatibility c
In this paper we consider a mobile platform with two cameras directed towards the floor mounted the same distance from the ground, assuming planar motion and constant internal parameters. Earlier work related to this specific problem geometry has been carried out for monocular systems, and the main contribution of this paper is the generalization to a binocular system and the recovery of the relat
Objective: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a major cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Murine models indicate key roles for chemokines CCL19 and CCL21 and their receptor CCR7 in lung inflammation leading to PAH. The objective of this study was to assess the chemokine CCL19–CCL21 axis in patients with SSc-related PAH. Methods: Serum samples obtained from 2 independent prospective SSc cohort
Preventing the worst consequences of climate change would require that GHG emissions be reduced to levels near zero by the middle of the century. To respond to such a daunting challenge, we need to rethink and redesign the currently highly energy-dependent infrastructures of industrial societies and particularly the urban infrastructures to become low- or even zero-carbon cities. Sustainable urban
The objective was to provide a clinical setup for photoacoustic imaging (PAI) of the temporal artery in humans and to describe the challenges encountered and methods of overcoming them. The temporal artery was examined in 7 patients with suspect giant cell arteritis (GCA), both in vivo and ex vivo, and the results were compared to that of histology. To adapt PAI to human studies, the transducer wa
Kernel based learning algorithms are sensitive to the choice of appropriate kernel function and parameter setting. Classification accuracies yielded by the kernel based classifiers may show variation depending on the choice of the kernel and its associated parameters. Suggesting an efficient kernel function and effective setting of kernel parameters are thus important problems for kernel based cla
Pixel classification of mixed pixels in overlapping regions of remote sensing images is a very challenging task. Efficiency and detection of uncertainty are always the key ingredients for this task. This paper proposes an approach for pixel classification using Shannon's entropy-based fuzzy distance norm. Unsupervised clustering is used to group the objects based on some similarity or dissimilarit
The global society has started a journey from using fossil-based raw material to the utilisation of climate-smart sustainable raw materials. Biorefineries have been identified as one of the backbones of the new bioeconomy using fermentation processes to convert biomass to biofuels and –chemicals and thus replacing the conventional C2/C3 chemistry with biotechnological processes. In current petro-c
The demand for water recovery in the industry is increasingly important partly due to water shortage and partly due to tightening of regulatory requirements. In this paper water recovery solutions for two challenging types of wastewater - oily and polyvinylchloride (PVC) wastewater - are presented. The first part of the presentation analyses the operation and performance of a membrane unit operate
Lymph node metastasis is the most important prognostic characteristic of colorectal cancer. Carcinoembryonic antigen messenger RNA was shown to detect tumor cells that have disseminated to lymph nodes of colorectal cancer patients and to be at least as good as the hematoxylin and eosin method to predict survival in colorectal cancer patients. CXCL17 was recently shown to be ectopically expressed i
The use of cross-flow ultrafiltration for the recovery of coating ma-terial from aqueous streams started about 30 years with electro deposition paint in the automotive industry. This early success can be related to both environmental and economical advantages of using ultrafiltration. Ultrafiltration recovers and concentrate electro deposition paint on the retentate side and produces purified wa
Recently, we reported a microfabricated "DNA prism" device that continuously sorts large DNA molecules (61 kilobase pair to 209 kb) according to size in 15 seconds. In this paper, we develop models to understand and optimize the device. The device's complicated characteristics are explained poorly by a simple model based on the assumption that DNA molecules are fully stretched. Assuming DNA molecu
Today, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists are established glucose-lowering drugs used in the management of type 2 diabetes. Their development emerged from the understanding that a combined islet dysfunction comprising of impaired insulin secretion and exaggerated glucagon secretion is the key defect of hyperglycemia. GLP-1 was shown to target these defects, and after the discovery t
A set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for manufacturing operation management is introduced in the ISO 22400 standard. However, KPIs are only defined at a high abstraction level and this hampers the standard's practical adoption. In this paper, a framework is introduced in order to solve this weakness. Starting from the analysis of the relevant measurements used in the KPIs’ formulas, a classi
Wildfires are increasingly affecting forest landscapes around the world. In the Bolivian Chiquitania, southern Amazonia, large wildfires during recent droughts have intensified public debate around more systemic solutions to address the possible root causes. While the integration of different forms of fire knowledge is gaining acceptance as an approach to dealing with increasing wildfire risk, lit
This study re-examines standard econometric approaches for detecting adverse and advantageous selection in insurance contracts based on variables that are not used for calculating the insurance premium. We formally demonstrate that existing strategies for detecting selection based on such ‘unused characteristics’ can lead to incorrect conclusions if the estimated coefficients of interest are drive
Background: Oxygen is liberally administered in intensive care units (ICUs). Nevertheless, ICU doctors’ preferences for supplementing oxygen are inadequately described. The aim was to identify ICU doctors’ preferences for arterial oxygenation levels in mechanically ventilated adult ICU patients. Methods: In April to August 2016, an online multiple-choice 17-part-questionnaire was distributed to 10
The detection of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in Galactic globular clusters (GCs) has so far been controversial. In order to characterize the effectiveness of integrated-light spectroscopy through integral field units, we analyse realistic mock data generated from state-of-the-art Monte Carlo simulations of GCs with a central IMBH, considering different setups and conditions varying IMBH
