Objective: To determine whether high DNA stainability (HDS), as assessed by the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA), predicts the risk of early miscarriage after in vitro fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI). Design: Retrospective cohort study of consecutive pregnancies after IVF and ICSI treatment. Setting: Reproductive medicine center. Patient(s): A total of 1,602 pr

Pulmonary hypertension is a common consequence of left heart disease, associated with poor prognosis. The pulmonary hypertension in left heart disease is initially caused by a passive congestion of the pulmonary circuit but may, if longstanding, result in endothelial dysfunction and excessive vasoconstriction. In some cases pulmonary vascular remodeling occur, further complicating the condition an

Objectives: To study associations between different anthropometric measures and incident gout, and to find the best predictive measure. Method: We used the baseline investigation from the Malmö Diet and Cancer study, excluding cases of prevalent gout (n = 28 081). Cox regression for each anthropometric measurement was calculated per standard deviation increment for men and women, with hazard ratio

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease in which the formation of extracellular aggregates of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide, fibrillary tangles of intraneuronal tau and microglial activation are major pathological hallmarks. One of the key molecules involved in microglial activation is galectin-3 (gal3), and we demonstrate here for the first time a key role of gal3 in AD pa

Lignin is a heterogeneous aromatic biopolymer and a major constituent of lignocellulosic biomass, such as wood and agricultural residues. Despite the high amount of aromatic carbon present, the severe recalcitrance of the lignin macromolecule makes it difficult to convert into value-added products. In nature, lignin and lignin-derived aromatic compounds are catabolized by a consortia of microbes s

Educational collaboration activities are generally under-researched part of the interactive learning between universities and industry. The study based on 529 Master of Science (MSc) theses from a major Swedish engineering school, the faculty of engineering LTH at Lund University, shows that MSc theses are a frequently used collaboration mechanism between university and industry in engineering edu

Streptomyces spp. grow as branching hyphae, building the cell wall in restricted zones at hyphal tips. The organization of this mode of polar growth involves three coiled-coil proteins: DivIVA and Scy, which form apical protein complexes referred to as polarisomes; and the intermediate filament-like protein FilP, which influences cell shape and interacts with both Scy and DivIVA. Here, we use live

This paper presents a novel polynomial constraint for homographies compatible with the general planar motion model. In this setting, compatible homographies have five degrees of freedom-instead of the general case of eight degrees of freedom-and, as a consequence, a minimal solver requires 2.5 point correspondences. The existing minimal solver, however, is computationally expensive, and we propose

This paper is a reflection on market failure analysis in EU State aid law. Today, reliance upon market failure analysis is becoming more and more common in the practice of the Commission. Under Article 106(2) TFEU, it appears that market failure has increasingly been conceptualised as a part of the analysis of services of general economic interest (SGEI), which has been the subject to some researc

Indoor localization and navigation is a much researched and difficult problem. The best solutions, usually use expensive specialized equipment and/or prior calibration of some form. To the average person with smart or Internet-Of-Things devices, these solutions are not feasible, particularly in large scales. With hardware advancements making Ultra-Wideband devices more accurate and low powered, th

The potential of yacon roots as a food ingredient was evaluated to determine its application in the food industry, especially in the meat industry. The understanding of yacon and its interactions with the sarcoplasmic andmyofibrillar proteins of meat was the key part of this study.The initial part of the work was focused on the properties of the yacon roots on drying as a way to preserve yacon roo

Taking a psychological and philosophical outlook, we approach making as an embodied and embedded skill via the skilled artisan’s experience of having a corporeal, nonlinguistic dialogue with the material while working with it. We investigate the dynamic relation between maker and material through the lens of pottery as illustrated by wheel throwing, claiming that the experience of dialogue signals

This article explores the international treaty base of the diplomatic law of international organizations and its role in protecting personnel of international organizations. The main diplomatic treaties and conventions, the participation of Uzbekistan in these treaties and conventions, as well as their role in the protection of diplomatic staff of international organizations were reviewed.

This article examines the legal content and frameworks of the application of the privileges and immunities of the representative offices of international organizations in member states. It contains a detailed analysis and deliberation of the legal basis of privileges and immunities of representative offices of international organizations in Member States. The article tries to clarify and highlight

In the light of the digital influence of literature and art, my paper focuses on a rather small topic that is traditionally strongly placed in the aesthetics of the interart and intermedia discourse, namely ekphrasis. Whereas the conventional discourse outlines ekphrasis as a “verbal representation of a visual representation” (Hefferan 1993, p. 3) to call attention to poems describing paintings, m