Granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis are ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAVs). The Vasculitis Damage Index (VDI) quantifies damage. This study aims to determine the factors associated with long-term damage in the AAVs.

Stress-laminated timber (SLT) bridge decks are generally designed using either linear hand calculation methods or linear finite-element models. Several studies have shown, however, that the behavior of SLT decks is nonlinear when loaded until failure. In this paper, several linear design methods are compared with one another and with an ultimate load test of a full-scale SLT deck subjected to an e

Epidemiological evidence suggests that the Mediterranean diet (MD) could reduce the risk of breast cancer (BC). As evidence from the prospective studies remains scarce and conflicting, we investigated the association between adherence to the MD and risk of BC among 335,062 women recruited from 1992 to 2000, in ten European countries, and followed for 11 years on average. Adherence to the MD was es

Background: A post marketing surveillance study was conducted to evaluate safety and efficacy of natalizumab in Swedish multiple sclerosis (MS) patients since its introduction in August 2006 until March 2010. Methods: Patients were registered in the web-based Swedish MS-registry at 40 locations and evaluated every 6 months. Adverse events and clinical outcomes were recorded. Results: One thousand

We present results from the anodization of an aluminum single crystal [Al(111)] and an aluminum alloy [Al 6060] studied by in situ x-ray reflectivity, in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and ex situ scanning electron microscopy. For both samples, a linear increase of oxide film thickness with increasing anodization voltage was found. However, the slope is much higher in the single cryst

Amorphous materials represent a large and important emerging area of material's science. Amorphous oxides are key technological oxides in applications such as a gate dielectric in Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor devices and in Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon and TANOS (TaN-Al2O3-Si3N4-SiO2-Silicon) flash memories. These technologies are required for the high packing density of today's

The combinatorial nature of many important mathematical problems, including nondeterministic-polynomial-time (NP)-complete problems, places a severe limitation on the problem size that can be solved with conventional, sequentially operating electronic computers. There have been significant efforts in conceiving parallel-computation approaches in the past, for example: DNA computation, quantum comp

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) efficiently produce large amounts of type I IFN in response to TLR7 and TLR9 ligands, whereas conventional DCs (cDCs) predominantly secrete high levels of the cytokines IL-10 and IL-12. The molecular basis underlying this distinct phenotype is not well understood. In this study, we identified the MAPK phosphatase Dusp9/MKP-4 by transcriptome analysis as selectiv

This article examines the selection, marketing and reception of African fiction on the Swedish book market of the 1960s and 70s, through the series Afrika berättar, launched by Bo Cavefors Publishing, Ltd. Bo Cavefors was a Swedish publisher of writers such as Wole Soyinka, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and José Luandino Vieira. The article discusses the way in which these literary works were received taking

Despite significant progress towards the Millennium goals, more than one billion people live on less than 1.25 US dollars per day. Previous research suggests that globalization stimulates poverty reduction, but does not investigate what role institutions play in this relationship. Theoretically, globalization could act as either a complement or a substitute to institutional quality in reducing pov

Based on a large data-set, spanning the Ordovician-Early Silurian (Telychian) interval, this study explores the phylogeographic distributional pattern for higher orders of rhynchonelliformean brachiopods through four time slices: Tremadocian, Dapingian-Darriwilian, Katian and Telychian. In addition, a palaeobathymetrical analysis has been conducted for the latter two time slices to assess the phyl

Background: It has been suggested that exhaled breath temperature (EBT) is increased in asthmatic subjects. Objectives: Our aim was to investigate EBT in asthmatics compared to healthy controls before and after eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (EVH) and a methacholine challenge test (MCT). Methods: A total of 26 asthmatics and 29 healthy controls were included. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (

Haemophilia A and B are hereditary X-linked disorders due to deficiency (or absence) of coagulation factor VIII or IX, respectively. Bleeding risk is related to the severity of factor deficiency. Repeated joint bleeding can lead to a severe haemophilic arthropathy resulting in disabilities. Outcome measurements in persons with haemophilia (PWH) have been limited to laboratory evaluation (factor VI

By analyzing spatio-temporal characteristics of short optical pulses diffusively transmitted through compacted granular materials, we reveal that powder compaction can give rise to strongly anisotropic light diffusion. Our disclosure represents a revision of the understanding of optics of powder compacts. Routes to material characterization and investigation of compression-induced structural aniso

Background: Regional myocardial function is typically evaluated by visual assessment by experienced users, or by methods requiring substantial post processing time. Visual assessment is subjective and not quantitative. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop and validate a simple method to derive quantitative measures of regional wall function from velocity encoded Cardiovascular Magnet

The Nieboer-Domar hypothesis has proved to be a powerful tool for identifying the economic conditions under which slavery was more likely to emerge as a dominant form of labour. It states that in cases of land abundance and labour shortages the use of slavery was likely to become a vital alternative means of increasing production. These conditions have been identified for large parts of pre-coloni

Thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAm) containing terminal boronic acid was synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) in combination with Cu(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction. Alkyne-terminated polyNIPAm was first synthesized by ATRP using an alkyne-containing initiator. A fluorogenic boronic acid, 3-(2-azido-acetylamino)phe