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Background: Patients with Acute Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure (AHRF) who are unresponsive to appropriate medical treatment, are often treated with Noninvasive Positive Pressure Ventilation (NPPV). Clinical predictors of the outcome of this treatment are scarce. Therefore, we evaluated the role of the biomarkers IL-8 and GDF-15 in predicting 28-day mortality in patients with AHRF who receive trea

Context: Areal bone mineral density (aBMD) measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is used clinically to predict fracture but does not discriminate between trabecular and cortical bone assessment. Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether information on cortical and trabecular bone predict fracture risk independently of aBMD and clinical risk factors. Design and Participants

Disasters and climate change impacts, as well as increased water demand, pose serious risks to the provision of sustainable urban water services, e.g., drinking water, sanitation, and safe drainage, especially in cities. These challenges call for a transition toward improved water management, including considerations of “resilience.” However, because the resilience concept has multidisciplinary or

Aims.: Marriage is associated with a reduced rate of criminal recidivism, but the underlying mechanisms have only partly been elucidated. We seek to clarify the nature of the association between marriage and recidivism and how that relationship may be moderated as a function of gender, deviance of spouse, a history of violence and familial risk. Method.: We utilise a longitudinal cohort design con

Increased liver fat may be caused by insulin resistance and adipose tissue inflammation or by the common I148M variant in PNPLA3 at rs738409, which lacks both of these features. We hypothesised that obesity/insulin resistance rather than liver fat increases circulating coagulation factor activities. We measured plasma prothrombin time (PT, Owren method), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT

Insulin sensitivity declines in overweight and obese individuals and, under normal conditions, insulin secretion adaptively increases which in healthy non-diabetic subjects maintains normal glycemia. This adaptation is best described by the disposition index derived from modeling of insulin and glucose data from an intravenous glucose tolerance testing (IVGTT). One caveat of the IVGTT is that basi

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) is a glycoprotein synthesised in the liver. Its main role is to protect lung tissue from destruction by neutrophil elastase. In severe (PiZZ) AAT deficiency, there is an increased risk of emphysema, especially in smokers. The deficiency is caused by the retention and aggregation by polymerization of the AAT molecules in the liver, which increases the risk of neonatal chol

Background Progression of joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is partly heritable; knowledge of genetic factors may increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying joint destruction. The activity of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway influences osteoblast differentiation. Dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1) and sclerostin (Sost) are negative regulators and lipoprotein receptor-related protein-5 (LRP-5

The performance of truck drivers is crucial to the sustainability, in particular profitability, of motor carrier operations. Despite this, driver efficiency has received scarce attention in the transport and logistics literature. While the literature has focused on mathematical optimization, generic logistics frameworks and conceptual technology applications, measurement of drivers’ efficiency has

This dissertation studies the effects that the use of a word-processing program can have on pupils' writing. The study was conducted with a consideration of the context in which the writing was done. It examined not just changes in the quality of the pupils' writing but also the attitudes of pupils, teachers, and parents to computer-aided writing. In addition, it studied the functional reliability

Shippers can play a key role in addressing the environmental impact of transport by placing environmental demands on the transports they operate, or in the process of purchasing transport services. Several research studies of shippers’ environmental initiatives regarding transport have been carried out during the last few years. Research investigations have mapped out environmental actions impleme

This thesis explores the conditions to improve collaborative behaviour between organizations in crisis response management. It takes an explorative approach and begins by identifying several challenges to interorganizational collaboration. A systematic review of the international scientific literature in conjuction with semi-structured interviews with crisis management professionals in civil-milit

Multimodal transportation in the European continent is an integral part of cross border trade and in particular the use of sea and river carriers. The phenomenon of short sea shipping has reached a level of importance of which all European states must take cognisance. One of the policies associated with this issue is the development of the motorways of the sea. While Ukraine is not yet a part of t

OBJECTIVES: Alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is a common genetic cause of chronic liver disease. According to retrospective studies, up to 25% of those with homozygous ZZ (Glu 342 to Lys) AATD suffer from liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer in late adulthood. We hypothesized that the plasma markers for liver fibrosis, necrosis, and apoptosis may identify AATD individuals at higher risk for liv

In recent years, exterior thermal insulation systems became more and more important leading to an increasing amount of houses equipped with biocide-containing organic façade coatings or fungicide treated wood. It is known that these biocides, e.g. terbutryn, carbendazim, and diuron, as well as wood preservatives as propiconazole, leach out of the material through contact with wind driven rain. Hen

Increased age, BMI and HbA1c levels are risk factors for several non-communicable diseases. However, the impact of these factors on the genome-wide DNA methylation pattern in human adipose tissue remains unknown. We analyzed DNA methylation of ∼480,000 sites in human adipose tissue from 96 males and 94 females, and related methylation to age, BMI and HbA1c. We also compared epigenetic signatures i

Background-The PR interval, as measured by the resting, standard 12-lead ECG, reflects the duration of atrial/atrioventricular nodal depolarization. Substantial evidence exists for a genetic contribution to PR, including genome-wide association studies that have identified common genetic variants at 9 loci influencing PR in populations of European and Asian descent. However, few studies have exami