Objective. Our aim was to investigate the effect of soy isoflavone (SI) on liver fibrosis in a thioacetamide (TAA)-induced rat model. Materials and methods. Twenty-eight rats were assigned to four groups: sham group, fibrosis group, low-dose treatment group (LDg) and high-dose treatment group (HDg). SI (90 or 270 mg/kg) was administered daily during the model development by TAA. Standard liver tes

The essence of the chemical mechanism for surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) is the charge transfer (CT) between the metal and the molecule at the resonant electronic transition, which results in the mode-selective enhancement in the SERRS spectrum. The site-orientated CT can directly interpret the mode-selective chemical enhancement in SERRS. However, it is a great challenge to i

Predation is a major cause of breeding failure in bird species with open nests. Although many studies have investigated nest predation rates, direct identification of nest predators is sporadic, especially in (semi-)natural habitats. We quantified nest success and identified nest predators in a population of Skylarks Alauda arvensis and Woodlarks Lullula arborea breeding in a protected semi-natura

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) post-adoption stages (use and value) and small and medium enterprises (SME) are of high interest among both academics and practitioners. Grounded in the diffusion of innovation theory to explain ERP use and resource-based view theory to explain ERP value the authors postulate that use is an important link to value. The authors propose and test a model using a uni

Objective: To investigate (i) the performance and agreement between various activity indices and response criteria in TNF-blockade of RA; (ii) the predictive ability of different response criteria and disease activity states regarding continuation of anti-TNF treatment of RA; (iii) Euro-QoL-5-dimensions utility development during TNF blockade of RA, PsA and SpA. Also, (iv) to develop a simple, uti

During the last decades there has been an upsurge in research on xenophobic populist parties, mirroring their political successes. In the Swedish context, characterised by neoliberal restructuring, issues of race', citizenship and belonging have been important elements of the public debate. These issues have unfolded in parallel with the presence of a neo-Nazi social movement and the emergence of

Popular Abstract in Swedish Kroppens immunförsvar brukar delas in i det medfödda och det adaptiva immunförsvaret. Det medfödda immunförsvaret reagerar snabbt på yttre hot såsom bakterier. Olika sorters vita blodkroppar är väldigt viktiga för detta snabba svar på infektion och i min avhandling har jag koncentrerat mig på en av dessa; neutrofilen. Neutrofilen är den vita blodkropp som först komNeutrophil elastase (NE) has important roles in innate immunity, killing pathogens and controlling the immune response; but how NE is targeted to developing granules is not understood. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to investigate the sorting of NE. Transfection experiments in a leukemic cell line, which were confirmed in normal hematopoietic cells, showed that a population of proNE was ta

Twenty-three south-Swedish public supply wells were studied to assess pesticide pollution of regional groundwater resources. Relations between pesticide occurrence, hydrogeology, and land use were analyzed using Kohonen's Self-Organizing Maps approach. Pesticides are demonstrated to be substantially present in regional groundwater, with detections in 18 wells. Concentrations above the drinking wat

This study pools published data to describe the increase in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) from very premature neonates to young adults. The data comprises measured GFR (using polyfructose, Cr-51-EDTA, mannitol or iohexol) from eight studies (n=923) and involved very premature neonates (22 weeks postmenstrual age) to adulthood (31 years). A nonlinear mixed effects approach (NONMEM) was used to e

We present electrical characterization of broken gap GaSb-InAsSb nanowire heterojunctions. Esaki diode characteristics with maximum reverse current of 1750 kA/cm2 at 0.50 V, maximum peak current of 67 kA/cm2 at 0.11 V, and peak-to-valley ratio (PVR) of 2.1 are obtained at room temperature. The reverse current density is comparable to that of state-of-the-art tunnel diodes based on heavily doped p-

The 'Technological Innovation System' (TIS) framework and its system functions have become a popular analytical tool for the study of clean-tech innovation. There is increasing attention for the role of emerging economies in global clean-tech innovation, but the applicability of TIS to emerging economies cases is not entirely straightforward. A key issue is the limited geographical considerations,

The acute-phase protein C-reactive protein (CRP) recruits C1q to the surface of damaged cells and thereby initiates complement activation. However, CRP also recruits complement inhibitors, such as C4b-binding protein (C4bp) and factor H, which both block complement progression at the level of C3 and inhibits inflammation. To define how CRP modulates the classic complement pathway, we studied the i

We analyze the frequency and nature by which new firms are acquired by established businesses. Acquisitions are often considered to reflect a technology transfer process and to also constitute one way in which a "symbiosis" between new technology-based firms (NTBFs) and established businesses is realized. Using a micro-level dataset for Sweden in which we follow new entrants up to 18 years after e

Photoexcited states of a pyrazolate bridged PtPt dimer and a supramolecular RuCo complex with bipyridine-type ligands were studied using the pump-and-probe X-ray absorption spectroscopy method. The local structure refinement based on the fitting of XANES difference spectra has been performed. The theoretical analysis included the full multiple scattering calculations and the multidimensional inter

Background: Little is known about how parental gender equality early in their children lives can influence daughters’ decision to use contraceptive pills. Aim:The study aimed at exploring whether maternal working time and paternity leave in Sweden during the first two years of their daughters’ lives is associated with the use of oral contraceptives when they are adolescents or young adults. Materi

Abstract in German In diesem Kapitel beschäftigen wir uns mit vier Hindernissen, die einer produktiven Forschung über einen möglichen Einfluss der Sprache auf das Denken im Weg stehen. Zunächst ist da die Behauptung, es sei unmöglich, Sprache vom Denken zu trennen, die Frage des „Einflusses“ sei also nichtig. Als zweites gibt es das Argument, es sei unmöglich, Sprache von Kultur allgemein, insbesoIn this article, we discuss four obstacles that stand in the way for a productive investigation into the kind of influence that language may have on thinking. The first is that it is impossible to distinguish language from thought, so that the question of possible “influence” is mute. The second is that it is impossible to disentangle language from culture in general, and from social interaction i

According to the social defeat (SD) hypothesis, published in 2005, long-term exposure to the experience of SD may lead to sensitization of the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system and thereby increase the risk for schizophrenia. The hypothesis posits that SD (ie, the negative experience of being excluded from the majority group) is the common denominator of 5 major schizophrenia risk factors: urban upb