Patients with hazardous alcohol intake are overrepresented in emergency departments and surgical wards. These patients have an increased risk of postoperative complications with prolonged hospital stays and admissions to intensive care unit after surgery. In elective surgery, preoperative alcohol cessation interventions can reduce postoperative complications, but no studies have investigated the e

I reconstruct Bruno Latour's ideas about science and religion and compare them to Ian G. Barbour's and Mikael Stenmark's models, as well as to the discussion of technology and religion developed by John C. Caiazza and Antje Jackelen. I show how using "Latour's App" enlightens some aspects of said models which Barbour and Stenmark themselves were seemingly struggling with, and that Caiazza's and Ja

In this paper, we report on the formation of magnetically levitating accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The structure of these disks is calculated by numerically modeling tidal disruption of magnetized interstellar gas clouds. We find that the resulting disks are entirely supported by the pressure of the magnetic fields against the component of gravitational force directed pe

N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate, PMG) is the most widely used herbicide, and its adsorption onto soil minerals plays a significant role in its mobility and rate of degradation. In this work, we present the results of the first serious effort to find a realistic surface complexation model that fits both adsorption and total proton concentration data for PMG on the common soil mineral, goethi

Background: Inflammation and immune activation have repeatedly been suggested as pathogentic factors in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The driving force for immune activation in IBS remains unknown. The aim of our study was to find out if the obligate intracellular pathogen Chlamydia could be involved in the pathogenesis of IBS. Methods: We studied 65 patients (61 females) with IBS and 42 (29 fem

A highly sensitive competitive capacitive glucose biosensor was constructed based on gold nanoparticles, which were employed as a platform to immobilize concanavalin A (Con A). Gold nanoparticles were fixed on a gold electrode, on which a layer of polytyramine was preformed via electrochemical polymerization. The sensing mechanism is based on the competitive dissociation of a glucose polymer or a

The partial unfolding of human lysozyme underlies its conversion from the soluble state into amyloid fibrils observed in a fatal hereditary form of systemic amyloidosis. To understand the molecular origins of the disease, it is critical to characterize the structural and physicochemical properties of the amyloidogenic states of the protein. Here we provide a high-resolution view of the unfolding p

ABSTRACT In high-risk pregnancies the chronic hypoxemic fetus redistributes its circulation to maintain the blood supply to the vital organs: brain, heart and adrenals. The aims of the studies included in this thesis were: 1) to establish reference curves for fetal cerebral venous blood velocity in normal pregnancies; 2) to determine in high-risk pregnancies the frequency of abnormal Doppler in

Background: Currently available biomarkers for the early tissue process leading to joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis are insufficient and lack prognostic accuracy, possibly a result of variable activity of the disease over time. This study represents a novel approach to detect an altered activity of the disease process detected as increasing serum-COMP levels over a short time and whether this

The period from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s saw a rapid increase in long-term sick leave in Sweden, primarily due to mental illness and often related to job burnout. This led to an urge for effective treatment programs that could prevent the often long sick leaves. In 2010 we presented a newly developed work-place intervention method, showing that 89% of the intervention group had returned to w

Saline soils around Lake Urmia in northern Iran constitute a stressed environment for plants and microbial communities, including arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Soil and root samples were collected from fields cultivated with the glycophytes Allium cepa L. and Medicago sativa L, and sites dominated by the halophyte Salicornia europaea L. Soil and root samples were analyzed for the AM fungal si

Prostate cancer (PC) develops from an androgen-dependent tissue that contains androgen receptors in both the stromal and glandular compartments. Surgical removal of the prostate may cure the patient, but if metastatic spread has occurred, androgen suppression therapy is the standard treatment. However, most men will eventually fail this therapy and develop recurrent androgen-independent disease, f

While only about 30% of California's usable water storage capacity lies at higher elevations, high-elevation (above 300 m) hydropower units generate, on average, 74% of California's in-state hydroelectricity. In general, high-elevation plants have small man-made reservoirs and rely mainly on snowpack. Their low built-in storage capacity is a concern with regard to climate warming. Snowmelt is expe