Individuals identified in the Swedish neonatal alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) screening study were followed prospectively from their first to their eighteenth year of life. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of environmental factors, i.e. active and passive smoking, and of clinical factors on lung function and the occurrence of respiratory symptoms in AAT-deficient adolescents. The study gr

A nonlinear dynamic handling model for a tractor-semitrailer combination vehicle is presented in this report. The equations of motion are derived from the fundamental equations of dynamics in Euler's formulation without approximations. The model is modular in the sense that it is easy to change axle configuration, tyre model, suspension model, or to add new features. The primary aim of the model i

Bone strength is determined by bone mineral density (BMD) and bone structure. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measures BMD. Whether quantitative ultrasound (qUS) measures a property of bone distinct from BMD is uncertain. To evaluate this, DXA and qUS were measured in 58 fracture patients and 428 controls. To study the independent effects of age and gender on qUS measurements and control fo

Models and experiments of the evolution of age- and/or size-at-maturation in response to population harvesting have consistently shown that selective harvesting of older and larger individuals can cause earlier maturation. These predictions, however, are all based on single-species considerations and thus crucially neglect the selective forces caused or mediated by species interactions. Here we de

Aims: Adverse social factors predict increased mortality. This study aimed to assess the influence of social class and marital status on mortality, adding an adult life course perspective. Methods: In total, 32,907 males and 20,204 females were evaluated based on census data in Malmo, Sweden. Of these subjects, 22,444 males and 10,902 females also took part in health screening. The main outcomes w

Women are a neglected group for cardiovascular disease. Whereas young women tend to have lower incidences of coronary artery disease, stroke and myocardial infarctions than men, the situation changes drastically at menopause, after which women are at greater risk than men. Despite this, women at all ages receive less treatment, less attention and not enough information about health risks. Most ris

In this paper we extend Merton's (Rev. Econom. Stud. 42 (1975) 375) classic stochastic version of the Ramsey model by allowing the government to control the expected growth rate of the labor supply. We characterize the solution to this control problem for general time-separable preferences, and derive an analytical solution for the CRRA case. The results show to what extent the planner, or governm

European air traffic control is undergoing changes in organization and technology in order to increase efficiency in air traffic. Change processes can have a negative impact on existing safety cultures, the foundations of safety work, and on safety. This paper reports on an assessment of safety culture at one administrative and two operative units in a Swedish air traffic control setting, using qu

We propose a modified layered structure for multiple-input multiple-output systems, where the layer detection order is fixed and the data rate for each layer is allocated based on the detection order and channel statistics. Using a Gaussian approximation of the layer capacities, we derive an asymptotic optimum data-rate-allocation approach. For optimum data-rate allocation, the amount of backoff f

1. The present study was aimed at examining P2 receptor-mediated vasodilatation in human vessels. The isometric tension was recorded in isolated segments of the human left internal mammary artery branches precontracted with 1 muM noradrenaline. 2. Endothelial denudation abolished the dilator responses. 3. The selective P2Y1 agonist, 2-MeSADP, induced a potent vasodilatation (pEC50=6.9plusminus0.1)

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has eight genotypes which have distinct geographical distributions. Studies comparing differences in the clinical outcomes of infections caused by strains with genotype-related variations in the HBV genome have largely compared genotypes B and C and genotypes A and D but not all four genotypes. The present study included 196 HBV-infected patients attending an infectious dis

This paper assesses the performance of poverty alleviation projects, asks why so many have failed, and why successful projects have been successful. It gives a retrospective. overview of the development of the concept of poverty, and argues that the way towards poverty eradication goes through holistic, participatory, approaches that build on sharing of knowledge and learning by doing. Projects an