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BACKGROUND: Active smoking is the most important risk factor for pulmonary emphysema in subjects with severe alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of environmental risk factors other than active smoking on lung function and on respiratory symptoms in non-smoking PiZZ individuals. METHODS: Lifetime exposure to passive smoking, domiciliary use of a ke

Human preferences are likely to depend on such things as knowledge and information, propaganda and advertising, and formal (laws) and informal (norms) institutions. We focus on knowledge about how nature works and how this may be manifested in recognition of ecosystem services among the general public. Participants and non-participants in a plant nutrient abatement programme with detention ponds i

Objective: To investigate the trends in incidence of extra-articular rheumatoid arthritis (ExRA) in a well defined community based cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to examine possible predictors of ExRA occurrence. Methods: Using the resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a retrospective medical record review was conducted of a cohort of 609 cases of RA in Olmsted C

The glacial unloading and resulting isostatic land uplift have together with hydro-isostasy, eustatic rise of sea-level and geoidal changes, ruled the shore displacement of Fennoscandia. Within the Baltic basin, periods of damming and shifts of outlet further complicated the shore displacement during the period studied, c. 12,200-8400 BP. Information on the Baltic history was derived from shorelin

This thesis considers the design of PID controllers, the extensions of these controllers to improve their performance, and the applications of these design methods to industrial processes. New tuning methods for PI and PID controllers have been presented. These methods uses a model of the process to be controlled, given as a transfer function. The methods captures essential requirements of a cont

Objectives. To evaluate the relationship between anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) measured with two different methods and long-term clinical course in vasculitis. Design. Retrospective determination of ANCA with two different assays for detection of PR3-ANCA, conventional direct binding ELISA and capture ELISA using monoclonal antibodies against PR3. The 245 ANCA determinations were per

Osteoprotegerin (OPG), a secreted member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family, is a potent inhibitor of osteoclast activation and differentiation. In animal models OPG prevents bone loss, and in humans bone resorption can be reduced by injections of OPG. OPG may also play a role in cardiovascular disease since mice lacking the OPG gene display arterial calcification. In a screening effort