Improved understanding of the disease mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes (T2D) is needed, and so are new treatments.A new T2D risk variant was recently identified in ADRA2A, which encodes the α2A-adrenergic receptor. The risk allele leads to receptor overexpression in β-cells that causes increased adrenergic signaling and impaired insulin secretion. We showed that the α2A-adrenergic receptor an

Atmosfäriska partiklar (aerosoler) finns överallt i jordens atmosfär. Masskoncentrationen av dessa varierar kraftigt beroende på i vilken miljö man mäter. I stadsluft kan man uppmäta tiotals mikrogram per kubikmeter medan man i arktiska områden uppmäter nanogram per kubikmeter. Den kolhaltiga aerosolen utgör en betydande del av atmosfärsaerosolens massa och är känd för att påverka människors och dCarbonaceous aerosols are known to affect human health negatively and to affect the climate of Earth. As specific types of aerosols originate from specific sources, it is important to know the amount of aerosols emitted from each source. Aerosol source apportionment is an important tool in mitigating air pollution and improving air quality. The subject of this thesis was the evaluation and develop

ABSTRACTAs a part of a democratic demand for transparency in urban development processes it is important that design professionals hold the ability to scrutinise their own work process, and at certain stages let go of predefined ideas of future realities. This work revolves around how design professionals perceive options for design in such situations. A basic assumption in this work is that a des

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) most commonly affects individuals in their early forties but can occur at any age. In most instances,the initial treatment is non-surgical and a clear majority of the patients recover with this management. Surgical treatment isgenerally an option first after 6-8 weeks of non-surgical management with unsuccessful outcome in terms of pain, disability andquality of life.

En majoritet av de nordliga torvmarkerna utvecklades under holocen som ett resultat av en positiv massbalans mellan nettoprimärproduktion och heterotrofa nedbrytningshastigheter. Sedan dess har de lagrat stora mängder kol i terrestra ekosystem. En betydande del av dessa områden sammanfaller också med regioner med underliggande permafrost och uppvisar olika ackumulationsmönster av torv. Således, föThe majority of the northern peatlands developed during the Holocene as a result of a positive mass balance between net primary productivity (NPP) and heterotrophic decomposition rates. Over that time they have sequestered a huge amount of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. A significant proportion of these areas also coincides with areas underlain with permafrost and shows a diverse range of peat

The core feature of vascular ageing is the age-associated stiffening of the large, elastic arteries, or arteriosclerosis. This results in a diminished volume-buffering function and is therefore central for the increase in systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure seen with advancing age. Since there are considerable individual differences regarding the rate of vascular ageing, the aim was to desc

Background: Radiotherapy reduces the risk of local recurrence in rectal cancer. However, the optimal radiotherapy fractionation and interval between radiotherapy and surgery is still under debate. We aimed to study recurrence in patients randomised between three different radiotherapy regimens with respect to fractionation and time to surgery. Methods: In this multicentre, randomised, non-blinded,

IMPORTANCE Standard dosing of chemotherapy based on body surface area results in marked interpatient variation in pharmacokinetics, toxic effects, and efficacy.Whether tailored dosing can improve outcomes is unknown, as is the role of dose-dense adjuvant chemotherapy. OBJECTIVE To determine whether tailored dose-dense adjuvant chemotherapy improves the outcomes of early breast cancer compared with

Background: One of the global targets for non-communicable diseases is to halt, by 2025, the rise in the age standardised adult prevalence of diabetes at its 2010 levels. We aimed to estimate worldwide trends in diabetes, how likely it is for countries to achieve the global target, and how changes in prevalence, together with population growth and ageing, are aff ecting the number of adults with d

Diversity in lifestyles and socioeconomic status among European populations, and recent socio-political and economic changes in transitional countries, may affect changes in adiposity. We aimed to determine whether change in the prevalence of obesity varies between the socio-politically transitional North-East European (Łódź, Poland; Szeged, Hungary; Tartu, Estonia), and the non-transitional Medit

Parkinsons sjukdom (PS) är den näst vanligaste neurodegenerativa sjukdomen efter Alzheimers sjukdom och drabbar över 1 % av personer över 65 år. Även om denna progressiva och försvagande sjukdom brukar anses vara en motorsjukdom, med symtom som stelhet, långsamma rörelser och vilotremor, så påverkas också icke-motoriska funktioner som sömn, kognition och mag-tarmfunktion. Dessa symtom förekommer vParkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and affects over 1% of people above the age of 65. This progressive and debilitating disease is usually thought of as a motor disease, with symptoms such as muscle rigidity, slowness of movement, and tremor at rest.PD can be familial, where a single inherited gene mutation causes the disease, but most cases of PD (90%) a

Background: The pathological process in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) probably starts decades before the onset of symptoms and the clinical AD diagnosis. In patients with AD, the level of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid-β1-42 (Aβ42) is usually lower, and the levels of total tau (T-tau) and phosphorylated tau (P-tau) higher than in healthy elderly people. However, the cutoffs differ between studies an

Information and communication are increasingly being conveyed over the Internet. The forms of service and commerce that we are familiar with today will most likely be reduced in scale in the future to be replaced by new electronic solutions. For this reason, it is important that new technology be designed so that as many people as possible can utilize it. Accessibility to a range of services and i

The study makes an inventory of learning opportunities young people were offered in connection with CEI 2016, one of the annual international conferences organized by the NGO named Caretakers of the Environment International (CEI), which year 2016 took place in Aalborg in Denmark. The learning opportunities offered by this transnational learning community are discussed in relation to some essentia

IMPORTANCE The positron emission tomography (PET) tracer [18F]flortaucipir allows in vivo quantification of paired helical filament tau, a core neuropathological feature of Alzheimer disease (AD), but its diagnostic utility is unclear. OBJECTIVE To examine the discriminative accuracy of [18F]flortaucipir for AD vs non-AD neurodegenerative disorders. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this cross-

Artificial outdoor lighting for pedestrians should provide for a safe and secure outdoor environment after dark. Pedestrian lighting thereby has implications for active transportation and sustainable mobility. Installations of new energy efficient lighting applications should be evaluated in terms of pedestrian’s perception, evaluation and behaviour in the lit environment. Today there is a lack of

Endocrine disorders that lead to a state of chronic high blood glucose levels are collectively referred to as diabetes. This metabolic disease is mainly categorized into type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). These diabetic forms originate from distinct triggering environmental, genetic, and altered mechanisms. T2D is a consequence of metabolic load, peripheral insulin resistance, and failure of

Lung cancer is a common cancer type associated with poor prognosis. Even in the group of patients with earlystage tumors, for which curative treatment is possible, lung cancer recurrence is frequent. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the potential prognostic role of mutations in tumor specimens, blood-based proteins and circulating tumor DNA.In study I, we performed EGFR mutation detection