Introduction and objective. Swine confinement buildings are known to contain large concentrations of airway irritants, and a number of studies have shown acute inflammatory effects in previously unexposed subjects when introduced to the environment in such buildings. However, studies comparing different methods of assessing such reactions are lacking, and it is not known if a measurable response c

In higher natural science education, the scientific report is the prevailing genre of writing. Despite the fact that communicative skills are highly valued in working life, earlier studies have shown deficiencies among science students. In this paper, we highlight the need for varied communication training, in particularly arguing for the possibilities that students’ popular science writing offers

Abstract in Undetermined Although ancient DNA from sediments (sedaDNA) has been used to investigate past ecosystems, the approach has never been directly compared with the traditional methods of pollen and macrofossil analysis. We conducted a comparative survey of 18 ancient permafrost samples spanning the Late Pleistocene (4612.5 thousand years ago), from the Taymyr Peninsula in northern Siberia.

PURPOSE: To assess and analyze refractive outcome after cataract surgery in Sweden from 2008 though 2010. SETTING: Swedish cataract surgery units participating in outcome registration of National Cataract Register. DESIGN: Cohort study. METHODS: Planned and actual postoperative refractions were analyzed for cataract procedures and preoperative and postoperative corneal astigmatism for procedures p

We are grateful to the commentators for taking the time to respond to our article. Too many interesting and important points have been raised for us to tackle them all in this response, and so in the below we have sought to draw out the major themes. These include problems with both the term ‘ultimate causation’ and the proximate-ultimate causation dichotomy more generally, clarification of the me

We studied the evolutionary history of the Parmeliaceae (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota), one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi with complex and variable morphologies, also including several lichenicolous fungi. We assembled a six-locus data set including nuclear, mitochondrial and low-copy protein-coding genes from 293 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The lichenicolous lifestyle ori

First, we study geometric variants of the standard set cover motivated by assignment of directional antenna and shipping with deadlines, providing the first known polynomial-time exact solutions. Next, we consider the following general (non-necessarily geometric) capacitated set cover problem. There is given a set of elements with real weights and a family of sets of the elements. One can use a s

The bioactivity of neuropeptide Y (NPY) is either N-terminally modulated with respect to receptor-selectivity by dipeptidyl-peptidase 4 (DP4)-like enzymes or proteolytic degraded by neprilysin or meprins, thereby abrogating signal transduction. However, neither the subcellular nor the compartmental differentiation of these regulatory mechanisms is fully understood. Using mass spectrometry, selecti

Evaporative resistance is an important parameter to characterise clothing thermal comfort. However, previous work has focused mainly on either total static or dynamic evaporative resistance. There is a lack of investigation of localised clothing evaporative resistance. The objective of this study was to study localised evaporative resistance using sweating thermal manikins. The individual and inte

Pancreatic cancer (PC) has a poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival of 3-4%. This is mainly due to late diagnosis because of diffuse symptoms, where 80-85% of the patients are inoperable. Consequently, early diagnosis would be of significant benefit, resulting in a potential 5-year survival of 30-40%. However, new technologies must be carefully evaluated concerning effectiveness and healthcare cos

B-cell lymphoma (BCL) heterogeneity represents a key issue, often making the classification and clinical management of these patients challenging. In this pilot study, we outlined the first resolved view of BCL disease heterogeneity on the protein level by deciphering disease-associated plasma biomarkers, specific for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma

Hypertension is a heritable and major contributor to the global burden of disease. The sum of rare and common genetic variants robustly identified so far explain only 1%-2% of the population variation in BP and hypertension. This suggests the existence of more undiscovered common variants. We conducted a genome-wide association study in 1,621 hypertensive cases and 1,699 controls and follow-up val

This paper argues that scholarly work is increasingly situated in narrowly circumscribed areas of study, which are encouraging specialization, incremental adding-to-the-literature contributions and a blinkered mindset. Researchers invest considerable time and energy in these specialized areas in order to maximize their productivity and career prospects. We refer to this way of doing research and s

Apart from a single study of the early Katian delta C-13 chemostratigraphy in two regions in China, no investigations of the Sandbian and Katian chemostratigraphy have been published from anywhere in Asia. A recent study of the conodont biostratigraphy of the classical Ordovician succession on Langkawi Islands, peninsular Malaysia, showed the presence there of strata coeval with those having the G

PURPOSE: To study 21st century trends in healthcare utilisation by patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with the general population. METHODS: Observational cohort study. Using Swedish healthcare register data, we identified 3977 Region Skåne residents (mean age in 2001, 62.7 years; 73% women) presenting with RA (International Classification of Diseases-10 codes M05 or M06) in 1998-2001

More scheduled outdoor stay is increasingly advocated for school children. This study measured 2(nd) , 5(th) and 8(th) graders' erythemal UV-exposure in September, March and May at four Swedish schools. We related those exposures, as fractions of total available ambient radiation, to the schools outdoor environments differing in amount of shade, vegetation, and peripheral city-scape quantified as

The toxic haptophyte Prymnesium parvum regularly forms fish-killing blooms in inland brackish water bodies in the south-central USA. Along the Texas coast smaller blooms have occurred in isolated areas. There appears to be an increasing risk that harmful P. parvum blooms will propagate into open coastal waters with implementation of future water plans. These plans will include increased interbasin