BACKGROUND: Cadmium is a non-essential toxic metal with multiple adverse health effects. Exposure in the general population occurs by smoking and diet. Cadmium in erythrocytes is a valid biomarker of exposure and body burden of cadmium.OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify genetic variants related to concentrations of cadmium in erythrocytes.METHODS: Erythrocyte cadmium was analyzed in 4432 individuals

Wind turbine towers are large structures designed to withstand the unique loading conditions imposed on them by the turbine's nacelle and dynamic forces from the rotating blades. Observations and noise measurements of a particular wind turbine showed high noise levels at approximately 48 Hz, which could not be explained from the usual known potential noise sources. Correlated far field noise measu

The dynamics of electron acceleration driven by laser wakefield inside a 30.5 mm long dielectric capillary tube is analyzed using radiation emitted in the x-ray range. 3D particle-in-cell simulations, performed with parameters close to the experimental ones, show that in long plasmas, the accelerated electrons catch up and finally overrun the driving laser owing to a higher velocity of the electro

Low frequency vibrations in footbridges is a cause of annoyance for pedestrians crossing the bridge. Bagers bro, a footbridge built in Malmö (Sweden) had several constraints in the physical design that caused the first eigenmode of the bridge to be at 1.8Hz which is a severe problem for pedestrians. Therefore the bridge was fitted with tuned mass dampers to mitigate the vibration problem. To evalu

In the last few years, technologies for broadband delivery over copper have dealt with increased capacity demands by using high frequencies and transmitter coordination, also known as vectoring. At the same time, to provide high capacity mobile broadband, operators have resorted to small cells. The work compiled into this dissertation covers both vectoring in traditional and future wireline servic

We present a non-contact platelet functional analysis platform based on acoustic trapping of platelet clusters and activation monitoring using impedance spectroscopy. The system was characterized using polystyrene particles and human platelets. The system was also capable of transferring platelets from plasma into a controlled buffer. Trapped platelets were activated using 20 and 40 μM TRAP and th

Studies of nanoconfined circular DNA are of interest both from a biological as well as a fundamental polymer physics perspective. We here present the use of nanofluidic channels as a tool for comparing statics and dynamics of the linear and circular configuration of the same DNA molecule.

The theme of innovation (understood as the introduction of new products, processes, or organizational forms in the marketplace) is interdisciplinary in nature. Economic geographers started participating in the field early, but scholars from fields such as economics and innovation studies have also contributed to understanding the geography of innovation. Core topics have been to examine how innova

BACKGROUND: Chronic leg ulcers remain a challenge to the treating physician. Such wounds often need skin grafts to heal. This necessitates a readily available, fast, simple, and standardized procedure for grafting.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work was to test a novel method developed for outpatient transplant procedures.METHODS: The procedure employs a handheld disposable dermatome and a roller min

Objective. To describe the effects of implementing a robotic surgical program within gynecologic oncology and gynecology at a tertiary referral hospital. Design: Prospective study. Setting: University Hospital, Lund and Lund University, Sweden. Methods. Based on prospective data retrieved for all patients, we evaluated intraoperative times, estimated blood loss, rate of conversion and rate of intr

Field choice was recorded during counts of geese in South-west Scania, South Sweden in autumn (October and November) and in winter (January), 1977/1978-2011/2012. Sugar beet spill was the most important field type in autumn and during the last ten years also in winter. Bean Geese Anserfabalis used this food source when the study started while Canada Geese Branta canadensis, Greylag Geese Anser ans

AIM: The aim of this study was to explore and understand the complexity of ageing in relation to factors of importance for extending working life.METHOD: Discourse analysis of documents was used in an integrative review including 128 articles.RESULT: Four different conceptualisation of ageing are shown to affect older workers' ability to extend their working life: (a) biological ageing people's he

Recent news of an impending clinical cell transplantation trial in Parkinson's disease using parthenogenetic stem cells as a source of donor tissue have raised hopes in the patient community and sparked discussion in the research community. Based on discussions held by a global collaborative initiative on translation of stem cell therapy in Parkinson's disease, we have identified a set of key ques

Support of the anterior and posterior vaginal wall is related to the support and position of the vaginal apex. Therefore, support of the vaginal apex, with or without a concomitant procedure to prevent the formation of an enterocele, is the base for prolapse surgery. A number of surgical approaches, vaginal, open or laparoscopic have been described with or without preservation of the uterus. The u

This paper presents an investigation of a skeleton based coupling technique used for the assembly of different modules, i.e. walls and floors, in a modular finite element model. For simplicity the skeleton is introduced in the intersections of the panels. In this way all panels can be constrained to the global skeleton, leading to a removal of the constrained degrees of freedom (DOFs) in the indiv

The objectives were to evaluate possible associations between the SLC30A8 R325W polymorphism and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as well as postpartum development of type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, we wanted to confirm the prevalence of zinc transporter 8 autoantibodies (ZnT8A), as previously reported, in a larger population and study its predictive value in relation to other β cell specific aut

Genetic and epigenetic factors may predispose women to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common heritable disorder of unclear etiology. Here we investigated differences in genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation in adipose tissue from 64 women with PCOS and 30 controls. In total, 1720 unique genes were differentially expressed (Q < 0.05). Six out of twenty selected genes with largest exp

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this investigation was to describe tumour characteristics, treatments and survival in patients with urinary bladder cancer (UBC) in a national population-based cohort, with special reference to gender-related differences.MATERIAL AND METHODS: All primary UBC patients with urothelial pathology reported to the Swedish National Registry of Urinary Bladder Cancer (SNRUBC) from 19