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BACKGROUND: Knowledge about the social and economical determinants of prescription is relevant in health care systems like the Swedish one, which is based on the principle of equity, and which aims to allocate resources on the basis of need and not on criteria that are based on social constructs. We therefore investigated the association between patient and health care practice (HCP) characteristi

Green spaces are recognized for improving mental health, but what particular kind of nature is required is yet not elucidated. This study explores the effect of specific types of recreational nature qualities on mental health. Longitudinal data (1999/2000 and 2005) from a public health survey was distributed to a stratified sample (n = 24,945) of a Swedish population. People from rural or suburban

Body-mass index (BMI) has become the standard proxy for obesity in social science research. This study deals with the potential problems related to, first, relying on self-reported weight and height to calculate BMI (misreporting), and, second, the concern that BMI is a deficient measure of body fat (misclassification). Using a regional Swedish sample, we analyze whether socioeconomic disparities

Understanding the in vivo regulation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) will be critical to identifying key factors involved in the regulation of HSC self-renewal and differentiation. The niche (microenvironment) in which HSCs reside has recently regained attention accompanied by a dramatic increase in the understanding of the cellular constituents of the bone marrow HSC niche. The use of sophisti

Background Current guidelines recommend tailoring of asthma management according to disease control, which is largely defined by increased symptoms and deterioration in lung function. These features do not reflect the severity nor the type of the asthmatic airway inflammation. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is a simple, non-invasive and cost-effective online test applicable in both adults

Most pediatric exercise intervention studies, that evaluates the effect on skeletal traits include volunteers and follow bone mass for less than three years. We present a population-based six-year controlled exercise intervention study in children with also bone structure and incident fractures as endpoints. Fractures were registered in 417 girls and 500 boys in the intervention group (3969 person

Measuring the thermopower of a confined quantum system reveals important information about its excitation spectrum. Our simulations show how this kind of transport spectroscopy is able to extract a clear signal for the onset of Wigner localization in a nanowire segment. This demonstrates that thermopower measurements provide a tool for investigating complex many-body quantum effects, which is less

Background There is debate about the value of assessing levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and other biomarkers of inflammation for the prediction of first cardiovascular events. Methods We analyzed data from 52 prospective studies that included 246,669 participants without a history of cardiovascular disease to investigate the value of adding CRP or fibrinogen levels to conventional risk factors

Background: Few studies have investigated the 24-hour symptom profile in patients with COPD or how symptoms during the 24-hour day are inter-related. This observational study assessed the prevalence, severity and relationship between night-time, early morning and daytime COPD symptoms and explored the relationship between 24-hour symptoms and other patient-reported outcomes. Methods: The study enr

Cigarette smoking among asthma patients is associated with worsening symptoms and accelerated decline in lung function. Smoking asthma is also characterized by increased levels of neutrophils and macrophages, and greater small airway remodeling, resulting in increased airflow obstruction and impaired response to corticosteroid therapy. As a result, smokers are typically excluded from asthma random

BACKGROUND: Percentage of free-to-total prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA) is an independent predictor of risk for prostate cancer among men with modestly elevated level of total PSA (tPSA) in blood. Physiological and pathological factors have been shown to influence the %fPSA value and diagnostic accuracy. MATERIALS/METHODS: To evaluate genetic determinants of %fPSA, we conducted a genome-wide ass

Boronic acid affinity gels are important for effective separation of biological active cis-diols, and are finding applications both in biotech industry and in biomedical research areas. To increase the efficacy of boronate affinity separation, it is interesting to introduce repeating boronic acid units in flexible polymer chains attached on solid materials. In this work, we synthesize polymer brus

BACKGROUND: Recently, a leveling off in hip-fracture incidence has been reported in several settings, but the annual number is nonetheless predicted to increase due to the growing elderly population. METHODS: Using Swedish national data for 1987-2002 for all inpatients 50 years or older, we examined the annual number and incidence of hip fractures and explored age, period, and cohort effects. Ag

Pharmacologically mediated bronchodilation is important in the management of asthma, and is primarily achieved with β2-agonists. Novel compounds should preferably have a longer duration of action and a better systemic side effect profile than established alternatives at comparable peak bronchodilation. This single-dose crossover study was conducted to investigate and compare with formoterol the br

An acute meal study was performed to determine postprandial glucose and insulin responses after consumption of two fermented oat bran-based beverages (with and without exopolysaccharides) and yoghurt. This randomized, single-blind, within-subject study included 18 healthy, overweight participants. Four breakfast meals, including a reference meal, were tested; all meals contained 50 g of available

Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome is frequently caused by Streptococcus pyogenes of the M1 serotype. The aim of this study was to determine the role of Ras-homologous (Rho)-kinase signaling in M1 protein-provoked lung damage. Male C57BL/6 mice received the Rho-kinase-specific inhibitor Y-27632 before administration of M1 protein. Edema, neutrophil accumulation and CXC chemokines were quantified i

We demonstrate a method that enables the study of photoluminescence of as-grown nanowires on a native substrate by non-destructively suppressing the contribution of substrate photoluminescence. This is achieved by using polarized photo-excitation and photoluminescence and by making an appropriate choice of incident angle of both excitation beam and photoluminescence collection direction. Using T-p