Background: Thailand is not only a popular destination for Swedish tourists, it is also the foreign country where the largest numbers of Swedish males contract HIV. This study investigated sexual risk-behaviour of Swedish men who have sex with commercial sex workers (CSW) in Thailand. Method: Eligible men were approached on location in red-light districts of Pattaya and Bangkok with a self-adminis

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) is involved in the breakdown of the extracellular matrix increasing the vulnerability of atherosclerotic lesions. We analysed the diagnostic value of serum MMP-8 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) concentrations in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and their prognostic value in ACS recurrence. Methods: The population comprised 343 patien

Dilute aqueous solutions of the atmospheric organic surfactant sodium decanoate have been studied using surface sensitive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy combined with synchrotron radiation. We studied the decanoate/decanoic acid speciation and preferential adsorption at the vapor-liquid interface, and the responses to mixing in solution with some of the most common atmospheric inorganic ions, Na

Viruses are candidate causative agents in the pathogenesis of autoimmune (type 1) diabetes. We hypothesised that children with a rapid onset of type 1 diabetes may have been exposed to such agents shortly before the initiation of islet autoimmunity, possibly at high dose, and thus study of these children could help identify viruses involved in the development of autoimmune diabetes. We used next-g

Insights into oceanographic environmental conditions such as paleoproductivity, deep-water temperatures, salinity, ice volumes, and nutrient cycling have all been obtained from geochemical analyses of biomineralized carbonate of marine organisms. However, we cannot fully understand geochemical proxy incorporation and the fidelity of such in species until we better understand fundamental aspects of

Objectives: To estimate seroprevalence of 11 high-risk (hr) HPV types and four low-risk (lr) HPV types among 20-64 years old Slovenian women participating in the population-based cervical cancer screening program. Methods: Serum samples from 3259 women were tested for HPV type-specific antibodies with a multiplexed pseudovirion-based serological assay (PsV-Luminex). Results: Seropositivity for any

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) encodes a rate-limiting catalytic subunit of telomerase that maintains genomic integrity. TERT expression is mostly repressed in somatic cells with exception of proliferative cells in self-renewing tissues and cancer. Immortality associated with cancer cells has been attributed to telomerase over-expression. The precise mechanism behind the TERT activa

This paper introduces a network perspective to Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As). The literature on M&As commonly focuses on only the parties directly involved in mergers and acquisitions, while the present perspective points to M&As as embedded activities. The paper provides empirical illustrations from 12 acquisitions to indicate the consequences when M&A studies acknowledge busine

Collapses of timber structures are negative for the competitiveness of timber on the construction market. The question is what can be done to reduce the risk for failure in timber structures in the future. For this purpose a comprehensive survey and analysis of failures in 127 timber structures have been made. The present paper summarises the results from this survey with an analysis of the underl

The relative complexity of the mechanisms underlying savanna ecosystem dynamics, in comparison to other biomes such as temperate and tropical forests, challenges the representation of such dynamics in ecosystem and Earth system models. A realistic representation of processes governing carbon allocation and phenology for the two defining elements of savanna vegetation (namely trees and grasses) may

Evolutionary divergence in the coloration of toxic prey is expected when geographic variation in predator composition and behavior favours shifts in prey conspicuousness. A fundamental prediction of predator-driven colour divergence is that the local coloration should experience lower predation risk than novel prey phenotypes. The dorsal coloration of the granular poison frog varies gradually from

This paper introduces and explores the psychological and social factors that both contribute to and inhibit behaviour change vis-a-vis sustainable (tourist) mobility. It is based on papers presented at the Freiburg 2012 workshop. Specifically, it reviews climate change attitudes and perceptions, the psychological benefits of tourism mobilities, addictive elements of mobility and social norming eff

The interplay between diet and immune-parameters which could affect type 1 diabetes (T1D) pathogenesis is not sufficiently clarified. Intestinal upregulation of the activating receptor NKG2D(CD314) and its ligands is a hallmark of celiac disease (CD). However, the direct effect of gluten on NKG2D expression is not known. We studied, by FACS (lymphoid tissues) and RT-qPCR (intestine and pancreatic

In order to investigate the potential role of vegetation changes in megafaunal extinctions during the later part of the last glacial stage and early Holocene (42-10 ka BP), the palaeovegetation of northern Eurasia and Alaska was simulated using the LPJ-GUESS dynamic vegetation model. Palaeoclimatic driving data were derived from simulations made for 22 time slices using the Hadley Centre Unified M

Regional climate models are used by a large number of groups, for more or less all regions of the world. Regional climate models are complementary to global climate models. A typical use of regional climate models is to add further detail to global climate analyses or simulations, or to study climate processes in more detail than global models allow. The relationship between global and regional cl

A search for direct production of supersymmetric gauginos and sleptons in final states with two and three leptons is presented. The two lepton analysis uses 4.7 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 7 TeV, while the three lepton analysis uses 13 fb(-1) at root s = 8 TeV. All data were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results are interpreted in the pheno

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate criterion-related validity and test–retest repeatability of the heart rate monitor Polar RS400 versus electrocardiogram (ECG). Methodology: Ten healthy subjects, 19–34 years, performed a cycle ergometer test 5 min on each load (50, 100 and 150 W). Heart rate (HR) was measured with ECG and Polar RS400 and recorded digitally. After at least one hour