Rating scales are increasingly the primary outcome measures in clinical trials. However, clinically meaningful interpretation of such outcomes requires that the scales used satisfy basic requirements (scaling assumptions) within the data. These are rarely tested. The SF-36 is the most widely used patient-reported rating scale. Its scaling assumptions have been challenged in neurological disorders

Endophytic bacteria often have beneficial effects on their host plants that can be exploited for bioremediation applications but, according to the literature, only 0.001-1% of all endophytic microbes should be cultivable. This study compared the cultivated endophytic communities of the roots and shoots of Cucurbita pepo with the total endophytic communities as determined by cultivation-dependent t

The effect of shallow water table fluctuations on the evaporation and CO2 fluxes in a peatland is investigated. The fluxes of evaporation and net ecosystem exchange of carbon were measured from mid-spring to the end of summer in 2005 and 2006 and simulated independently with process models. The observed and modelled data were then compared along a gradient of water levels. Any variation along the

This article shows how participation on national, regional and local levels is regulated in the infrastructure of the third generation of mobile telephony, 3G, in Sweden. This regulated participation, the “law in books”, is compared to participation in practice, the “law in action” perspective in the sense of the outcome and functionality of these regulations. This includes the identification of i

Background: Electroencephalography (EEG) is widely used to assess neurological prognosis in patients who are comatose after cardiac arrest, but its value is limited by varying definitions of pathological patterns and by inter-rater variability. The American Clinical Neurophysiology Society (ACNS) has recently proposed a standardized EEG-terminology for critical care to address these limitations. I

Varicose veins (VVs) have been associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE), but whether these diseases share familial susceptibility has not been determined. This nationwide study aimed to determine whether VTE shares familial susceptibility with VVs.

Objective To investigate whether head-perineum distance (HPD) measured by transperineal ultrasound is predictive of vaginal delivery and time remaining in labor in nulliparous women with prolonged first stage of labor and to compare the predictive value with that of angle of progression (AoP). Methods This was a prospective observational study at Stavanger University Hospital, Norway and Addenbroo

Popular Abstract in Swedish Frisöryrket har en lång historia av stolta yrkesutövare, men frisörer arbetar i en komplex arbetsmiljö, där de utsätts för olika risker, inte bara luftvägsbesvär, utan även handeksem, muskelrelaterade besvär, stress, och ögonbesvär. I Sverige är 85 - 90 % av frisörerna kvinnor, varav de flesta är egenföretagare antingen som ensamägare till en salong eller tillsammans meLittle is known of respiratory symptoms in female hairdressers, and of the impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), nor of knowledge of their own views on preventive work. The aim of this thesis was to examine the occurrence of asthma, symptoms and mechanism of bleaching-associated nasal symptoms, the effects on HRQoL and how young hairdressers reason about the work environment. A m

En studie har gjorts av samtliga exjobb om 3D-fastigheter och ägarlägenheter gjorda sedan slutet av 1990-talet. Ämnet har lockat 135 exjobbare på 17 olika universitet och högskolor i Sverige. De två nya rättsobjekten passar utmärkt för studier inom rättsvetenskap, fastighetsvetenskap, fysisk planering och andra ingenjörsämnen, ekonomi mm. Kunskap finns tillgänglig, i exjobben och hos alla dessa ny

Background : Legal empowerment of the poor is highly relevant to public health as it aims to relieve income poverty, a main determinant of health. The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (CLEP) has proposed legal empowerment measures in the following four domains: access to justice and the rule of law, property, labor, and business rights. Despite being overrepresented among the poor, CLEP

Background and Objective: Glioblastoma multiforme is a highly malignant primary brain tumor. It has no border but at best a marginal zone, however, invisible to the surgeon. An optical touch pointer (OTP) enabling differentiation of healthy and tumor tissue by means of fiber-optic fluorescence spectroscopy has been developed. In combination with an ultrasonic navigation system, the OTP may be used

Background: Mental disorders, especially depression, have been increasingly described as a growing burden to global public health. This description is, however, not without controversy, and some scholars are skeptical of how, for instance, depression is viewed as an increasing widespread ill health problem. Discussion: While public health medicine has long engaged in strategies of disease prevent

An increase in hip fracture incidence during the recent half-century has been reported worldwide and has been predicted to continue. Recent publications, however, have reported stable or even decreasing hip fracture incidence. No reports evaluate whether these changes in hip fracture incidence are associated with changes in bone mineral density (BMD), if they apply in both urban and rural settings

In this study, we first determined the low molecular weight dissolved organic carbon (LMW DOC) concentration-dependent kinetics of soil respiration in a temperate grassland soil sampled on successive occasions. We then used the established relationship to estimate in situ LMW DOC concentrations from basal respiration measurements. C-14-labelled glucose was used as a model substrate and was added t

Immunoglobulin D (IgD) is an enigmatic antibody isotype that mature B cells express together with IgM through alternative RNA splicing. Here we report active T cell-dependent and T cell-independent IgM-to-IgD class switching in B cells of the human upper respiratory mucosa. This process required activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) and generated local and circulating IgD-producing plasmabla

Popular Abstract in Swedish Varje år insjuknar mer än 8000 kvinnor i Sverige i bröstcancer, och 5 år efter diagnos är nära 90% fortfarande i livet. Trots att prognosen för majoriteten av patienterna är god, dör 1400 kvinnor årligen av bröstcancer. Till följd av detta pågår mycket forskningsarbete för att finna faktorer som bättre kan förutsäga prognos, prognostiska studier, men även för att finna Breast cancer is the most common tumour form and the second leading cause of death in solid tumours in women in the Western world. Despite improvements in the treatment, a considerable number of patients will relapse and die from their breast cancer. At the same time, a substantial number of patients will be over-treated, as they would have been cured by surgery and radiotherapy alone. In the meta

Popular Abstract in Swedish Varje dag producerar vår kropp många miljarder nya blodceller. Dessa celler är livsnödvändiga för att många funktioner i kropp ska fungera. Exempelvis hjälper de till med att skydda oss från sjukdomar, läka skador, och med att transportera syre och avfallsämnen. Blodsystemet (det hematopoetiska systemet) är uppbyggt som en hierarki där hematopoetiska stamceller finns påIn the blood system, knowledge on the regulation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and their immature progeny has provided roadmaps of differentiation. Such information can also have a value to understand the etiology of hematological cancers, since clinical heterogeneity and prognostic therapeutic outcomes have been proposed to associate with the specific developmental stage from which the trans