Objectives: As exposures to airborne particulates in the European rubber industry might still be causing genotoxic risks, it is important to assess trends in levels of inhalable dust and its cyclohexane soluble fraction (CSF) between the 1970s and 2003. Methods: 13 380 inhalable and 816 respirable dust and 5657 CSF measurements, collected within the framework of the European Union Concerted Action

BACKGROUND: Sexual reproduction entails the encounter of the sexes and the multiplicity of rituals is parallel to the diversity of mating systems. Evolutionary mechanisms such as sexual selection and sexual conflict have led to the elaboration of traits to gain attention and favours from potential partners. A paradox exists about how coordinated systems can evolve and diverge when there would seem

Polarized light (PL) sensitivity is relatively well studied in a large number of invertebrates and some fish species, but in most other vertebrate classes, including birds, the behavioural and physiological mechanism of PL sensitivity remains one of the big mysteries in sensory biology. Many organisms use the skylight polarization pattern as part of a sun compass for orientation, navigation and in

Popular Abstract in Swedish Avhandlingen består av fyra uppsatser som handlar om individers hälsorelaterade beteende och investeringar i högre utbildning. Tre av uppsatserna fokuserar på olika aspekter av läkemedelsanvändning och syftar till att förklara varför individer med liknande medicinska behov är olika benägna att använda receptbelagda läkemedel. Den fjärde uppsatsen studerar hälsans betydeThis thesis consists of four essays on individual health behaviour and investment in higher education. Three of them consider different aspects of pharmaceutical utilization and aim at explaining some of the observed individual variation in access and adherence to treatment regimens. The fourth explores the potential link from health in young adulthood to subsequent university education. The firs

An ongoing discussion whether traditional toxicological methods are sufficient to evaluate the risks associated with nanoparticle inhalation has led to the emergence of Air-Liquid interface toxicology. As a step in this process, this study explores the evolution of particle characteristics as they move from the airborne state into physiological solution. Airborne gold nanoparticles (AuNP) are gene

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Differences in risk factor profiles between lacunar and other ischemic stroke subtypes may provide evidence for a distinct lacunar arteriopathy, but existing studies have limitations. We overcame these by pooling individual data on 2875 patients with first-ever ischemic stroke from 5 collaborating prospective stroke registers that used similar, unbiased methods to define ri

Homoleptic ([Ru(L)(3)](2+)) and heteroleptic (Ru(NCS)(2)(bpy)(L)) complexes carrying rigid anchor-cum-spacer ligands (L), comprised of ethynylene-phenylene spacer groups and a designated anchor group, including the isophthalic group (Ipa), have been studied computationally using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. The results of the c

This paper concerns the use of sequential Monte Carlo methods (SMC) for smoothing in general state space models. A well-known problem when applying the standard SMC technique in the smoothing mode is that the resampling mechanism introduces degeneracy of the approximation in the path space. However, when performing maximum likelihood estimation via the EM algorithm, all functionals involved are of

Several organic cations, such as guanidino compounds and polyamines, have been found to accumulate in plasma of patients with kidney failure due to inadequate renal clearance. Here, we studied the interaction of cationic uremic toxins with renal organic cation transport in a conditionally immortalized human proximal tubule epithelial cell line (ciPTEC). Transporter activity was measured and valida

In this article I show how aesthetic disciplines, to which musicology belongs, have suffered from a crisis of creativity for the past decade or so. By crisis of creativity I mean the development of new theories, which can contribute to new knowledge about music, from both historical and contemporary prespectives. With help from theories that normally lies outside of the institutional discourse of

Measurements of bottomonium production in heavy-ion and p + p collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) are presented. The inclusive yield of the three states, (1S + 2S + 3S), was measured in the PHENIX experiment via electron-positron decay pairs at midrapidity for Au + Au and p + p collisions at root sNN = 200 GeV. The (1S + 2S + 3S) -> e(+)e(-) differential cross section at midra

We tracked three juvenile and 14 adult Marsh Harriers Circus aeruginosus from southern Sweden via satellite to investigate migration strategies. Four individuals were tracked for at least two years. All three juveniles and four of the adults made west-oriented pre-migratory movements well before the onset of autumn migration, and trans-Saharan migrants visited post-migratory stopover areas in trop

This study evaluated the sample sizes necessary to estimate several soil and vegetation characteristics within 10% confidence intervals with 95% probability in three terra firme tropical rainforest sites. Across all three plots, the most spatially heterogeneous variables were measurements of total standing crop root mass, ground surface litter mass, litter fall, root growth and soil respiration wh

Popular Abstract in Swedish Avhandlingen utgår från förhållandet att mödradödligheten traditionellt varit en tungt vägande faktor för kvinnors totala sjukdomsbörda i låginkomstländer. Mödradödligheten är starkt knuten till såväl allmänna levnadsförhållanden i samhället som till tillgång och kvalitet av professionell hälsovård. Det är därför inte förvånande att mer än 99 av 100 mödradödsfall i värlMaternal health services are the least equitable health care services in most low- and middle-income countries. Improving maternal health in Ghana continues to be a major public health challenge. Socio-economic inequalities within the country are greatly reducing the use of maternal health care services despite government policy reforms to improve access to maternal health care services and interv

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem in Tanzania with limited health care interventions. Objectives: To study the feasibility of using an abuse screening tool for women attending an outpatient department, and describe how health care workers perceived its benefits and challenges. Methods: Prior to screening, 39 health care workers attended training on gender-based violence an