Aim: To study the development of early knee osteoarthritis (OA) in subjects with and without risk factors for knee OA. Methods: We studied 340 subjects from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), aged 45–55 years (51% women), free of radiographic knee OA at baseline (n = 294 with and n = 46 without knee pain and other OA risk factors). At baseline, 24, 48, 72 and 96 months we compared the two groups

Introduction: Obese women have increased leptin levels and longer duration of labor compared with normal-weight women. Leptin has an inhibitory effect on myometrial contractility in vitro. Our purpose was to examine whether maternal leptin levels in active labor were associated with the duration of the active phase of labor. Material and methods: This prospective cohort study included 914 women. M

With increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) attention has been drawn to these children’s physical health. We aimed to identify the prevalence of defined physical problems (epilepsy, migraine, asthma, cancer, diabetes, psoriasis, lactose intolerance, celiac disease, diarrhea, constipation, daytime enuresis, encopresis) in a nationwide population of 9

Membrane-bound water channels known as aquaporins (AQPs) facilitate water transport across biological membranes along osmotic gradients. Since all living cells depend on their ability to maintain water homeostasis, this must be tightly regulated. In eukaryotes, this is achieved by gating, which involves a conformational change of the protein, thereby physically blocking water transport, or by traf

The human genome encodes 13 aquaporin isoforms with characteristic substrate specificity that are expressed at specific locations throughout the body. Of these isoforms, AQPs 1-4 serve important functions in renal water reabsorption. Consequently, specific AQP inhibitors have been proposed as 'aquaretics', a new class of drugs suitable to induce diuresis without concomitant salt wasting. Furthermo

Wilms tumors in patients with constitutional WT1 mutations are examples of Knudson's tumor suppressor paradigm, with somatic inactivation of the second allele occurring through 11p loss of heterozygosity. The time point of this second hit has remained unknown. We analyzed seven Wilms tumors from two patients with constitutional WT1 mutations by whole exome sequencing and genomic array. All tumors

Time-lapse resistivity surveys are used to monitor changes in the subsurface. In some situations, it is expected the resistivity will only decrease (or vice versa) with time. The 4-D ERT inversion technique includes a temporal smoothness constraint to ensure that the resistivity changes in a smooth manner with time. However, it does not directly constrain the direction of the temporal changes in t

Like many jurisdictions that have implemented a general anti-avoidance tax legislation (GAAR), Swedish tax law faces the challenge of accurately defining the conditions for distinguishing abusive situations from others, especially as the notion of ‘abuse of law’ does not exist in Swedish law. Defined as a process in which a taxpayer follows both the wording of the law and its jurisprudential appli

There is growing interest in within-person associations of objectively measured physical and physiological variables with psychological states in daily life. Here we provide a practical guide with SAS code of multilevel modeling for analyzing physical activity data obtained by accelerometer and self-report data from intensive and repeated measures using ecological momentary assessments (EMA). We r

I sitt kapitel analyserar Cécile Brokelind EU:s arbete med att motverka urholkandet av skattebaser i medlemsstaterna. Fenomenet analyseras särskilt i samband med avslöjandet om att multinationella företag, såsom Apple, i princip undsluppit att betala bolagsskatt i Irland. Med utgångspunkt i att den alltmer globaliserade världsekonomin möjliggör för multinationella företag att utnyttja skillnader i

Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) plays a central role in haemostasis, and plasma TAFI concentrations are heritable. Candidate gene studies have identified several variants within the gene encoding TAFI, CPB2, that explain part of the estimated heritability. Here, we describe an exploratory genome-wide association study to identify novel variants within and outside of the CPB2 loc

The interaction between microorganisms that contain thick cell walls, such as the Gram-positive bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, and conductive surfaces can be improved by using redox polymers as mediators. Herein, we report a detailed electrochemical characterization of the communication between E. faecalis cells and a series of osmium redox polymers with different redox potentials. The current g

Amazonia is an environmentally heterogeneous and biologically megadiverse region, and its biodiversity varies considerably over space. However, existing knowledge on Amazonian biodiversity and its environmental determinants stems almost exclusively from studies of macroscopic above-ground organisms, notably vertebrates and trees. In contrast, diversity patterns of most other organisms remain elusi

This article focuses on the perspectives of young ethnic minorities in the Nordic countries who have experienced various forms of “police stops”, i.e. situations where the police stop them without any reference to a specific event of which the youth are aware. Analytically, the debate is positioned through an intersectionality approach of (un)belonging to majority societies. Across the Nordic coun

Background: Multimorbidity and frailty are often associated and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is considered the gold standard of care for these patients. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of outpatient Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) on frailty in community-dwelling older people with multimorbidity and high health care utilization. Methods: The Ambulatory Geriatric

The present study examines the association between depressive symptoms and inflammatory markers in peripheral artery disease (PAD) to better understand the mechanistic relationship between depression and PAD. A cross-sectional sample of 117 patients with PAD (97% male, 76% Caucasian) was recruited from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Patients were categorized into three subgroup

Nucleation of new peptide and protein aggregates on the surfaces of amyloid fibrils of the same peptide or protein has emerged in the past two decades as a major pathway for both the generation of molecular species responsible for cellular toxicity and for the autocatalytic proliferation of peptide and protein aggregates. A key question in current research is the molecular mechanism and driving fo