The microbial etiology and source of sepsis influence the inflammatory response. Therefore, the plasma levels of cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10), chemokines (CCL2/MCP-1, MIP-1β), heparin-binding protein (HBP), soluble CD14 (sCD14), and cortisol were analyzed in blood from septic patients obtained during the first 96 hours of intensive care unit hospitalization. The etiology was established in 56

The early Cambrian Sirius Passet fauna of northernmost Greenland (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) contains exceptionally preserved soft tissues that provide an important window to early animal evolution, while the surrounding sediment holds critical data on the palaeodepositional water-column chemistry. The present study combines palaeontological data with a multiproxy geochemical approach based on sa

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided periodic assessments of the state of knowledge on climate change for 30 years. While these assessments have been central to the making of international climate policy, their relevance has been questioned in the post-Paris era. Can the IPCC's global kinds of knowledge match the demands of an increasingly decentralized and polycentric

Proteiner är fascinerande makromolekyler som är fundamentala för alla levandeorganismer. De utgör byggstenar i våra celler, ansvarar för transport och signalering både inom och mellan våra celler, utgör en del av vårt immunförsvar och katalyserar bildningen av andra molekyler. Proteiner består av flexibla kedjor uppbyggda av olika aminosyror. Varje aminosyra har olika egenskaper och den specifika Proteins are complex macromolecules that are fundamental to all living species. The stability of proteins are governed by non-covalent forces within the protein and between the protein and its surrounding environment. At high concentrations proteins are susceptible to self-association, which may lead to amyloid fibril formation – a process linked to many diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Park

Neuropsychological test-based norms are vital for accurate assessment of older adults’ level of cognition. Hence, it is important that these scores are not conflated with birth cohort effects. With data drawn from the Swedish Good Ageing in Skåne (GÅS) population study, this study examined birth cohort effects on test scores measuring several cognitive domains. A time-lag design with three distinc

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate vitamin D status and effects of vitamin D intervention on bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) in children with fair and dark skin in Sweden during winter. Methods: In a 2-center prospective double-blinded randomized intervention study 5- to 7-year-old children (n=206) with fair and dark skin in Sweden (55°N-63°N) received daily vitamin D su

An accurate approximation is developed for the distribution of the instantaneous per-terminal signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) of a downlink multiuser multiple-input multiple-output system with zero-forcing (ZF) precoding. Our analysis assumes a Ricean fading environment, where we show that the SNR at a given terminal is well approximated by the gamma distribution and we derive its parameters. The anal

This thesis considers the analysis of current and future cellular communication systems. The main focus is on multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) antenna systems. The goal of this work is to characterize the achievable spectral efficiency of MU-MIMO systems, as well as to analyze the performance of practical, linear MU-MIMO transceiver structures in heterogeneous propagation environ

Timing of return to the breeding area presumably optimizes breeding output in migrants. How timing affects the other components of fitness — survival, has been comparatively little studied. Returning too early in spring is expected to be associated with high mortality in insectivorous migrants when weather conditions are still unsuitable. Yet, males in particular arrive early to get access to the

Members of the order Haemosporida are protist parasites that infect mammals, reptiles and birds. This group includes the causal agents of malaria, Plasmodium parasites, the genera Leucocytozoon and Fallisia, as well as the species rich genus Haemoproteus with its two subgenera Haemoproteus and Parahaemoproteus. Some species of Haemoproteus cause severe disease in avian hosts, and these parasites d

Analytical expressions to approximate the expected per-user signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (SINR) and ergodic sum-rate of a multiuser multiple-input-multiple-output system are presented. Our analysis assumes uncorrelated Ricean fading channels with regularized zero-forcing precoding on the downlink. The derived expressions are averaged with respect to the previously unknown arbitrary eige

Workplace involvement in rehabilitation for patients with musculoskeletal pain may improve work ability. Convergence Dialogue Meeting (CDM) is a model aimed at helping the patient, the care giver, and the employer to support work ability and return-to-work. Our aim was to study the effect on work ability when adding a workplace dialogue according to CDM in physiotherapy practice for patients with

Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) is the only allergy treatment that confers long-term symptom amelioration for patients suffering from allergy. The most frequently used allergen application route is subcutaneous injection (SCIT), commonly taken as the gold standard, followed by sublingual (SLIT) or oral (OIT) application of allergen preparations. This is an up-to-date review of the clinical e

Major climate and ecological changes affect the world’s oceans leading to a number of responses including increasing water temperatures, changing weather patterns, shrinking ice-sheets, temperature-driven shifts in marine species ranges, biodiversity loss and bleaching of coral reefs. In addition, ocean pH is falling, a process known as ocean acidification (OA). The root cause of OA lies in human

Protein diffusion is not only an important process ensuring biological function but can also be used as a probe to obtain information on structural properties of protein assemblies in liquid solutions. Here, we explore the oligomerization state of ovalbumin at high protein concentrations by means of its short-time self-diffusion. We employ high-resolution incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering

Studies conducted in historical populations and developing countries have evidenced the existence of clustering in infant deaths, which could be related to genetic inheritance and/or to social and cultural factors such as education, socioeconomic status or parental care. A transmission of death clustering has also been found across generations. One way of expanding the knowledge on intergeneration

The annual peak growth of vegetation is critical in characterizing the capacity of terrestrial ecosystem productivity and shaping the seasonality of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The recent greening of global lands suggests an increasing trend of terrestrial vegetation growth, but whether or not the peak growth has been globally enhanced still remains unclear. Here, we use two global datasets of

Background: Proteomics is an emerging field in the study of joint disease. Our two aims with this pilot analysis were to compare healthy human knee articular cartilage with meniscus, two tissues both known to become affected in the osteoarthritic disease process, and to compare two mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods: data-dependent acquisition (DDA) and data-independent acquisition (DIA). Method