Background Smoking is a risk factor for the development of anti -citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) positive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Whether smoking predisposes to severe joint damage progression is not known, since deleterious, protective and neutral observations have been made. Objective To determine the effect of smoking on joint damage progression. Methods Smoking status was assessed i

Popular Abstract in Swedish Bedömning av höger sida av hjärtat är viktig hos patienter med hjärtsjukdom; i synnerhet hos patienter med förhöjt tryck i lungkretsloppet. Sänkt högerkammarfunktion och förhöjt tryck i höger förmak har visats vara prognostiskt dåligt. Två-dimensionellt ultraljud av hjärtat (ekokardiografi) är den vanligaste metoden för att bedöma hjärtats funktion, men högerkammaren ärAssessment of the right side of the heart is important in patients with heart disease; especially in patient with elevated pressure in the lung circulation. Decreased right ventricular function and elevated pressure in the right atrium are of poor prognostic value. Two-dimensional echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart) is the most commonly used method to assess the hearts function, but the rig

Health-economic models of diabetes are complex since the disease is chronic, progressive and there are many diabetic complications. External validation of these models helps building trust and satisfies demands from decision makers. We evaluated the external validity of the IHE Cohort Model of Type 2 Diabetes; the impact of using alternative macrovascular risk equations; and compared the results t

Postmodernist perspectives in research have tended to embrace ambiguity, complexity, interconnectedness and contradiction, and have sometimes been described as a rejection of the ‘Grand Theories’ of Modernism. They have been said to reflect a view that previously taken-for-granted assumptions about the organizing principles of social phenomena must be regarded sceptically, and often make use of ir

Lars Fröberg har under många år studerat samspelet mellan lavar och snäckor. Här presenterar han en del av de resultat han och hans kollegor kommit fram till efter studier på alvaret på Öland.

Abstract: The main player of this thesis is glucose, both on a cellular level and with a clinical approach. Too much or wrongly handled glucose contributes to increased inflammation and oxidative stress, which is reinforced by the negative influences of uraemia and dialysis treatment. In addition, trace element status is also affected in dialysis patients. Hyperglycaemia contributes to glucose deg

Popular Abstract in Swedish Övervikt och fetma fortsätter öka världen över, och har redan nått enorma proportioner. Med dessa tillstånd följer en rad sjukdomar, så som diabetes typ 2, hjärtoch kärlsjukdomar och en del cancersjukdomar. Idag är det globalt sett fler människor som dör av fetma och de sjukdomar som är relaterade till övervikt, än som dör av undervikt och svält. Övervikt orsakas främstThe incidence of overweight and obesity has reached alarming proportions. Today, overweight, obesity and the metabolic diseases cause more death than starvation. To counteract an increasing body weight gain, regulation of appetite and a controlled food intake is of greatest importance. Simply put, body weight is regulated by the amount of energy ingested, and the amount of energy expended. In toda

The aim of this study was to evaluate the determinants of kidney function and the role of heritable factors in a sample of 249 siblings free from known cardiovascular disease and without antihypertensive drugs belonging to 110 families. Four different measures and estimates of kidney function were considered. Blood pressure was recorded during 24 h by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Heritabi

We have developed a rotatable hemispherical spectrometer with good energy and angular resolution, which can be positioned with the lens axis arbitrarily within a solid angle of 1 pi. The collection angle of the emitted electrons with respect to the polarization axis of the light is set by means of a three-axes goniometer, operating under vacuum. An important requirement for this setup was the poss

We present evidence for mixed molecular and dissociative water adsorption at monolayer coverage on a rutile TiO2(110) surface free from oxygen vacancies using synchrotron radiation photoemission. At monolayer coverage the OH:H2O ratio is close to 0.5 and reducing the coverage by heating yields an increased OH:H2O ratio. At room temperature neither species originating from the monolayer on the defe

The co-assembly of DNA and lipids has broad implications, from the structure of the cell nucleus to gene delivery formulations. To progress in the fundamental understanding of DNA-lipid interactions the self-assembly behavior of a cationic surfactant (dodecyltrimethylammonium, DTA) with DNA as a counterion in mixtures of water and lecithin was investigated. The phase diagram was established and th

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are multipotent cells with immunomodulatory and regenerative properties. During recent years, the interest in using MSC for clinical approaches for various diseases have increased. The lung field is no exception, and several clinical trials using MSC as a cell-based therapy for severe lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, idiopathic pulmonary

Environmental management in the City Tunnel Project was a three-year, sociology of law research project (1999-2003) on how the new Environmental Code was applied to one of the largest infrastructural projects in Sweden: the City Tunnel in Malmö. The aim of this article is, after some years, to reflect on and re-examine what happened during the two extended consultations processes to try to find an

Coastal habitats are heavily subjected to eutrophication and commercial fisheries, and such alterations can affect organism interaction strengths and potentially influence trophic dynamics. A key species inhabiting coastal environments in temperate waters is the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, which utilises coastal areas for food and shelter. We used an experimental mechanistic approach to assay prey

Background: Apoptosis is the primary means for eliminating unwanted cells in multicellular organisms in order to preserve tissue homeostasis and function. It is characterized by distinct changes in the morphology of the dying cell that are orchestrated by a series of discrete biochemical events. Although there is evidence of primitive forms of programmed cell death also in prokaryotes, no informat

Low-intensity laser prepulses (