Since 1986, 68% of the Listeria monocytogenes isolates from human cases of invasive listeriosis in Sweden are available for retrospective Studies. The aim of the present Study was to characterize 601 human invasive isolates of L. monocytogenes in Sweden from 1986 to 2007 by using serotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Since 1996, serovar 4b was permanently reduced to the second or third

Background: This is the first longitudinal study with a 22-year follow-up, based on a national and complete sample, to determine whether the prevalence of hip fracture and the age when it occurs are influenced by migration and by being foreign-born. Cultural background and environmental factors such as UV-radiation and lifestyle during childhood and adolescence may influence the risk of a hip frac

Pickering emulsions are emulsions that are stabilized by fine particles. They have been the focus of considerable research in the past decade due to their properties such as high stability with respect to coalescence and Ostwald ripening, as well as due to advances in nanotechnology that allows us to create and characterize nano-scale structures in new ways. This work reviews some of the recent wo

Background: High activity of cysteine proteases such as legumain and the cathepsins have been shown to facilitate growth and invasion of a variety of tumor types. In breast cancer, several recent studies have indicated that loss of the cysteine protease inhibitor cystatin E/M leads to increased growth and metastasis. Although cystatin E/M is normally expressed in the skin, its role in cysteine pro

Materials that are stored or used in damp climates may be subject to mould growth. However, all materials are not equally susceptible to mould growth. For each specific material, there is a critical moisture level. If this is exceeded, there is a risk that mould fungi will develop on the material. In a building, different constructions are exposed to different climatic conditions. To minimise the

This paper is concerned with model fitting in the presence of noise and outliers. Previously it has been shown that the number of outliers can be minimized with polynomial complexity in the number of measurements. This paper improves on these results in two ways. First, it is shown that for a large class of problems, the statistically more desirable truncated L-2-norm can be optimized with the sam

This thesis aimed to search for epidemiological evidence supporting the associations of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with cancer and autoimmune diseases (ADs) by analysing several Swedish national registries. T2DM shares risk factors with cancer, such as obesity, diet, stress, and physical inactivity. However, it is unclear whether the associations with several types of cancers are due to share

Levels of total human kallikrein 2 (hK2), a protein involved the pathology of prostate cancer (PCa), could be used as a biomarker to aid in the diagnosis of this disease. In this study, we report on a porous silicon antibody immunoassay platform for the detection of serum levels of total hK2. The surface of porous silicon has a 3-dimensional macro- and nanoporous structure, which offers a large bi

Objective: To evaluate two commonly used forms of hand training with respect to influence on dexterity and cortical reorganization. Subjects: Thirty healthy volunteers (mean age 24.2 years). Methods: The subjects were randomized to 25 min of shaping exercises or general activity training of the non-dominant hand. The dexterity and the cortical motor maps (number of excitable positions) of the abdu

Hummingbirds are specialized hoverers for which the vortex wake has been described as a series of single vortex rings shed primarily during the downstroke. Recent findings in bats and birds, as well as in a recent study on Anna's hummingbirds, suggest that each wing may shed a discrete vortex ring, yielding a bilaterally paired wake. Here, we describe the presence of two discrete rings in the wake

Charred seed conglomerates of Linum usitatissimum (flax) and Camelina sativa (gold of pleasure) were found at UppAyenkra 2:25, a Roman Iron Age site in SkAyenne, southern Sweden. The conglomerates showed no mixing with each other, as they were almost pure flax and gold of pleasure respectively. Together with other archaeobotanical data from the site, they provide new evidence on the use, processin

The Japanese government managed to implement the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets (SDS) in late 2014, making it easier for government agencies to withhold information. The debate that was ignited by the SDS is central to this thesis. Existing research on the SDS can be characterized as a battle for truth, with a focus on the superficial effects of the law. In contrast, this pa

This article argues that the high level of protest activity in France is, at least partly, the result of distrust between the government and the trade unions, and that such distrust is inevitable in a society where unions are sometimes strong enough to mobilise against the government but not confident in their own future strength. This trust problem can be overcome if governments are willing to ma

The concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has enjoyed immense popularity and thus has been the preferred approach for river basin management. IWRM generally has a strong focus on rational choice, based on a technocratic conceptual interpretation of the conventional hydrological cycle. However, uncritical acceptance of IWRM runs the risk of blinding policy makers and academics for

Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious pregnancy complication that manifests as hypertension and proteinuria after the 20(th) gestation week. Previously, fetal hemoglobin (HbF) has been identified as a plausible causative factor. Cell-free Hb and its degradation products are known to cause oxidative stress and tissue damage, typical of the PE placenta. A1M (α1-microglobulin) is an endogenous scavenger of

Conclusion. The gentamicin-induced pathological alteration in the cochlear nucleus is not exclusively a secondary consequence of the damage in the cochlea. Instead, the toxic effect of gentamicin on the cochlear nucleus may occur simultaneously or even earlier than that on the cochlea. Objectives. To investigate the pathological alteration of cochlear nucleus neurons in guinea pigs following syste