Background Previous trials of interferon in multiple sclerosis (MS) have shown efficacy, but the degree of clinical benefit remains uncertain, and the optimum dose is not known. We undertook a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in relapsing/remitting MS to investigate the effects of subcutaneous interferon -1a. Methods 560 patients with Kurtzke expanded disability status scale (EDSS) scores of

Aluminium-based adjuvants (ABAs) have been used in human and veterinary vaccines for decades, and for a long time, the adjuvant properties were believed to be mediated by an antigen depot at the injection site, prolonging antigen exposure to the immune system. The depot hypothesis is today more or less abandoned, and instead replaced by the assumption that ABAs induce an inflammation at the inject

Do you know silica, the tetrahedra of silicon and oxygen constituting the crystals of New Agers and the desiccant in a box of new shoes? It’s no mere mundane mineral. As chemically reacting silicate rocks, silica set off the chain of events known as the origin of life. As biomineralized opal, it is the cell wall, skeleton, spicules, and scales of organisms ornamenting numerous lobes of the tree of

Antenna current optimization is often used to analyze the optimal performance of antennas. Antenna performance can be quantified in <i>e.g.</i>, minimum Q-factor and radiation efficiency. The performance of MIMO antennas is more involved and, in general, a single parameter is not sufficient to quantify it. Here, the capacity of an idealized channel is used as th

Laser based spectroscopic techniques can be used in the detection and therapy of many human diseases. Examples will be given from a variety of clinical areas, such as oncology, orthopedics and pediatrics, and also from the field of food safety and antibiotic control.

Reprogramming of cellular identity using exogenous expression of transcription factors (TFs) is a powerful and exciting tool for tissue engineering, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine. However, generation of desired cell types using this approach is often plagued by inefficiency, slow conversion, and an inability to produce mature functional cells. Here, we show that expression of constit

Meteorites have captured our fascination since our early history-they have evoked awe, fear, an irresistible curiosity, and numerous lively debates. Former historians have indicated that many of the ancient cultures and civilizations in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Inuit, and the native Indians in America regarded both the meteorite and the location of their fall as sacred. Thus, they used the meteor

Pathologic complete response (pCR) is a predictor for favorable outcome after neoadjuvant treatment in early breast cancer. Modulation of gene expression may also provide early readouts of biological activity and prognosis, offering the possibility for timely response-guided treatment adjustment. The role of early transcriptional changes in predicting response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus beva

This paper concerns the VSC-HVDC application to improve the long-term voltage stability. For this purpose the NORDIC32 test system is considered. All necessary dynamics to study the long-term voltage stability are included in the test system. An appropriate control strategy for VSC-HVDC is proposed in the paper. The goal is to reach the best condition from long-term voltage stability perspective w

A systematic review of shaken baby syndrome by the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services generated numerous reactions from professional organisations, even before the review was published. There was also a lively debate after a paper summarising its findings were published in Acta Paediatrica The various responses are worth debating further, as they rais

Nitrogen molecules in ambient air exposed to an intense near-infrared femtosecond laser pulse give rise to cavity-free superradiant emission at 391.4 and 427.8 nm. An unexpected pulse duration-dependent cyclic variation of the superradiance intensity is observed when the central wavelength of the femtosecond pump laser pulse is finely tuned between 780 and 820 nm, and no signal occurs at the reson

This paper describes a method to accurately determine the electromagnetic material properties of thin dielectric sheets. For non-magnetic materials, free space transmission measurements relative to an empty setup are sufficient to determine the complex permittivity of the sheet material. Measurements have been performed on a thin resistive sheet and a transformation procedure has been applied wher

In order to fulfil the requirements of available energy resources, there is a great need to obtain a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy utilization using combustion processes. In order to do this, it is of utmost importance to utilize non-intrusive diagnostic techniques with high spatial and temporal resolution which can characterize the combustion process and also validate combustion

This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the level of and change in cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and body weight in Nordic countries and compares them with non-Nordic OECD countries. Our results show that the average prevalence of daily smokers is significantly lower for Nordic countries compared to non-Nordic countries. Four out of five Nordic countries are below the non-