The overall aim of this thesis was to explore loneliness by identifying associated factors and predictors for loneliness among older people. This research was also undertaken to examine the association between loneliness and healthcare consumption. In addition, the reserach explored the experience of loneliness and evaluated the effects on loneliness, symptoms of depression and life satisfaction o

The nomenclature of Gallowayella, Golubkovaea, Oxneria, and some species of Gyalolechia, Leproplaca, and Rusavskia in the Teloschistaceae is corrected and commented. Rusavskia ectaniza is a new combination. Also the earlier invalidly published combinations Gyalolechia bassiae, Leproplaca chrysodeta, and Rusavskia aspera are validated.

This article examines the explosion of artistic production in the Arab world during the so-called Arab Spring. Focusing on music, poetry, theatre, and graffiti and related visual arts, I explore how these do-it-yourself scenes represent, at least potentially, a return of the aura to the production of culture at the edge of social and political transformation. At the same time, the struggle to reta

Introduction: In contact zones, genetic mixing of two taxa can be restricted by prezygotic (e.g. assortative mating) or postzygotic (lower fitness of hybrid offspring) barriers, or a combination of the two. A hybrid zone between two willow warbler subspecies (Phylloscopus trochilus trochilus, P. t. acredula) with distinctive migratory strategies occurs in central Sweden. These subspecies exhibit d

Background: Testosterone has been attributed importance for various aspects of behaviour. The aim of our study was to investigate the potential influence of 2 functional polymorphisms in the amino terminal of the androgen receptor on personality traits in men. Methods: We assessed and genotyped 141 men born in 1944 recruited from the general population. We used 2 different instruments: the Karolin

In this study, numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of dimple positions on the endwall heat transfer and friction factor in a pin fin wedge duct. The dimple diameter is the same as the pin fin diameter, while the ratio between dimple depth and dimple diameter is 0.2. Three different dimple positions are investigated (i.e., directly upstream of the pin fins, in a staggered

The integration of scheduling and control in the process industry is a topic that has been frequently discussed during the recent years, but many challenges remain in order to achieve integrated solutions that can be implemented for large-scale industrial sites. In this paper we consider production control under disturbances in the supply of utilities at integrated sites together with the integrat

The binding of mucin to water-soluble copolymers of N,N-dimethylacrylamide and N-acryloyl-m-aminophenylboronic acid grafted on the surface of glass is studied. Atomic force microscopy studies show that many graft copolymer islands 20-200 nm in diameter and 50 nm in height occur on the modified surface of flat glass. Owing to the presence of phenyl boronate groups, the copolymer behaves as a weak p

We have recently shown that low plasma levels of mid-regional atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-ANP) predict development of diabetes and glucose progression over time, independently of known risk factors for diabetes development. However, since MR-ANP levels might be influenced by unknown factors causing diabetes, we cannot rule out that such relationship might be confounded. Previous studies have sh

N-Lauroyl-N-methylglucamide is a biodegradable surfactant derived from renewable resources. In an earlier study, we presented an enzymatic solvent-free method for synthesis of this compound. In the present report, the HPLC method developed to follow the reaction between lauric acid/methyl laurate and N-methyl glucamine (MEG) and its environmental assessment are described.

This study investigated cognitive performance in patients with burnout, in relation to the flexibility of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Clinical cases with work stress-induced burnout (n = 65), and demographically matched, healthy reference subjects (n = 65), were given six neuropsychological tests and a self-rating scale for cognitive problems. Diurnal salivary cortisol was measu

Understanding bio-based protein polymer structures is important when designing new materials with desirable properties. Here the effect of urea on the wheat gluten (WG) protein structure in WG–urea films was investigated. Small-angle X-ray scattering indicated the formation of a hexagonal closepacked (HCP) hierarchical structure in the WG–urea materials. The HCP structure was influenced significan

We reviewed published and unpublished written reports on bat mortality at wind farms in northwestern Europe. The estimated number of bats killed per turbine annually was relatively low (0-3) on flat, open farmland away from the coast, higher (2-5) in more complex agricultural landscapes, and highest (5-20) at the coast and on forested hills and ridges. The species killed almost exclusively (98%) b

Background Meniscus surgery is a high-volume surgery carried out on 1 million patients annually in the USA. The procedure is conducted on an outpatient basis and the patients leave the hospital a few hours after surgery. A critical oversight of previous studies is their failure to account for the type of meniscal tears. Meniscus tears can be categorised as traumatic or non-traumatic. Traumatic tea

Background: Paraphenylenediamine (PPD) in hair dyes can cause systemic as well as cutaneous allergic reactions such as neutrophilic and eosinophilic dermatitis. The symptoms are often severe. The acute lesion is normally histologically indistinguishable from any eczematous reaction with marked spongiosis. Observations: We report a case of allergic contact dermatitis caused by the use of hair dye c

Rare Earth Elements are in growing demand globally. This paper presents a case study of applied mathematical modeling and multi objective optimization to optimize the separation of heavy Rare Earth Elements, Terbium-Lutetium, by means of preparative solid phase extraction chromatography, which means that an extraction ligand, HDEHP, is immobilized on a C18 silica phase, and nitric acid is used as