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Background: Randomized placebo-controlled trials represent the gold standard in evaluating healthcare interventions but are rarely performed within orthopedics. Ethical concerns or well-known challenges in recruiting patients for surgical trials in general have been expressed and adding a placebo component only adds to this complexity. The purpose of this study was to report the challenges of recr
Background: Bronchial smooth muscle cells (BSMCs) from severe asthmatics have been shown to overexpress the Th2-driving and asthma-associated cytokine IL-33. However, little is known regarding factors involved in BSMC production of IL-33. Rhinovirus (RV) infections cause asthma exacerbations, which exhibit features of Th2-type inflammation. Here, we investigated the effects of epithelial-derived m
Surface chemistry and catalysis studies could significantly gain from the systematic variation of surface active sites, tested under the very same conditions. Curved crystals are excellent platforms to perform such systematics, which may in turn allow to better resolve fundamental properties and reveal new phenomena. This is demonstrated here for the carbon monoxide/platinum system. We curve a pla
Due to the wide range of possible applications, there is a strong current interest in semiconductor nanowires, that began around the start of the millennia. As a result, a number of important new surface science challenges of both fundamental and practical nature have emerged. Surfaces govern important processes for nanowire growth, physical properties and the ability of nanowires to interact with
To address the problems of climate change and energy security, Chinese government strived to develop renewable power as an important alternative of conventional electricity. In this paper, the learning curve model is employed to describe the decreasing unit investment cost due to accumulated installed capacity; the technology diffusion model is used to analyze the potential of renewable power. Com
Studies have suggested poorer health in the homosexual and bisexual groups compared to heterosexuals. Tobacco smoking, which is a health-related behavior associated with psychosocial stress, may be one explanation behind such health differences. Social capital, i.e. the generalized trust in other people and social participation/social networks which decreases the costs of social interaction, has b
We report on the fabrication and characterisation of a gold-nanoparticle (AuNP)-based mediatorless sugar/oxygen biofuel cell (BFC) operating in neutral sugar-containing buffers and human physiological fluids, such as blood and plasma. First, Corynascus thermophilus cellobiose dehydrogenase (CtCDH) and Myrotheciumverrucaria bilirubin oxidase (MvBOx), used as anodic and cathodic bioelements, respect
BACKGROUND: Intense exercise has been reported as one risk factor for hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA). PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate (1) whether this is true for both former impact and nonimpact athletes, (2) if the risk of a hip or knee arthroplasty due to OA is higher than expected, and (3) if joint deterioration is associated with knee injuries. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evi
We performed a genome-wide association study of melanoma in a discovery cohort of 2,168 Australian individuals with melanoma and 4,387 control individuals. In this discovery phase, we confirm several previously characterized melanoma-associated loci at MC1R, ASIP and MTAP-CDKN2A. We selected variants at nine loci for replication in three independent case-control studies (Europe: 2,804 subjects wit
GaN:Mn dilute magnetic semiconductors with zinc-blende type of lattice and room temperature ferromagnetism were investigated by the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) with a high accuracy approach of the multidimensional interpolation, which makes it possible to determine the nanoscale local atomic structure around Mn impurities. It is found that Mn atoms are substantially incorporated i
Background and purpose - Postoperative muscle strength and component alignment are important factors affecting functional results after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We are not aware of any studies that have investigated the relationship between them. We therefore investigated whether coronal malalignment of the mechanical axis and/or of individual implant components would affect knee muscle stre
Background: Few studies have assessed the metabolic syndrome (MetS) as an entity in relation to breast cancer risk, and results have been inconsistent. We aimed to examine the association between MetS factors (individually and combined) and risk of breast cancer incidence and mortality. Methods: Two hundred ninety thousand women from Austria, Norway, and Sweden were enrolled during 1974-2005, with
To investigate the role of factors that modulate the association between alcohol and mortality, and to provide estimates of absolute risk of death.
Erysipelas is a common infection that often recurs, but the impact of specific risk factors for reoccurrence remains elusive. In the present study we aimed at clarifying predisposing conditions for reoccurrence.
We use monodisperse poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels as a model system for soft repulsive colloids and study their density dependent structural ordering and phase behaviour using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The experiments are carried out at low temperatures, where the particles are in the swollen state and interact via a Hertzian potential, evidenced through a quantit
Background and Purpose-Previous studies demonstrated association between mitochondrial DNA variants and ischemic stroke (IS). We investigated whether variants within a larger set of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) genes encoded by both autosomal and mitochondrial DNA were associated with risk of IS and, based on our results, extended our investigation to intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods-
The main theme of this review is the many-body physics of vortices in quantum droplets of bosons or fermions in the limit of small particle numbers. Systems of interest include cold atoms in traps as well as electrons confined in quantum dots. When set to rotate, these in principle different quantum systems show remarkable analogies. The topics reviewed include the structure of the finite rotating
Recent experimental progress in coupling nanoscale conductors to superconducting microwave cavities has opened up for transport investigations of the deep quantum limit of light-matter interactions, with tunneling electrons strongly coupled to individual cavity photons. We have investigated theoretically the most basic cavity-conductor system with strong, single photon induced nonlocal transport e
