Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of most common viral infections worldwide. While chronic HBV infection has been shown consistently to be associated with hepatocellular carcinoma, data on associations with cancers at other sites are limited. In this study a total of 10,197 patients were diagnosed with chronic HBV infection in Sweden, and they were retrieved from the nationwide Swedish Hosp

Why does the rate of population growth decline in the face of economic growth? We show that growing product variety may induce a permanent reduction in the demand for children and a continuous rise in income and consumption. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phenological shifts linked to global warming reflect the ability of organisms to track changing climatic conditions. However, different organisms track global warming differently and there is an increasing interest in the link between phenological traits and plant abundance and distribution. Long-term data sets are often used to estimate phenological traits to climate change, but so far little has

Studies of a range of taxa, including birds, have revealed latitudinal clines in allele length at the conserved Clock locus, a gene with known influences on behaviour and physiology. Such clines might reflect adaptation to seasonal variation, a suggestion supported by a recent within-population analysis of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus, which found associations between Clock genotype and timing of

[Context & motivation] Growing software companies with increasing product complexity face the issue of how to scale up their Requirements Engineering (RE) practices. In market-driven requirements engineering, release planning and scoping decisions are increasingly challenging as the size and complexity increases. [Problem] This paper presents initial results of an on-going exploratory, qualita

Topological insulators are a class of quantum materials in which time-reversal symmetry, relativistic effects and an inverted band structure result in the occurrence of electronic metallic states on the surfaces of insulating bulk crystals. These helical states exhibit a Dirac-like energy dispersion across the bulk bandgap, and they are topologically protected. Recent theoretical results have sugg

Purpose: This study aimed to explore if dysphonic voice quality affects children's performance on a language comprehension test, the Test for Reception of Grammar-2 (TROG-2), performed in simultaneous background noise (non-semantic babble). A further aim was to investigate the role of Working Memory Capacity (WMC) and Executive Functioning (EF) in coping with the voice against a background of babb

Pheromones are central to the mating systems of a wide range of organisms, and reproductive isolation between closely related species is often achieved by subtle differences in pheromone composition. In insects and moths in particular, the use of structurally similar components in different blend ratios is usually sufficient to impede gene flow between taxa. To date, the genetic changes associated

The adsorption to hydrophilic silica surfaces in relation to the bulk phase behavior was investigated by in situ null ellipsometry and bulk turbidity measurements for four cationic copolymers of varying hydrophobicity in mixtures with anionic surfactant sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS). The purpose was to reveal the effect of polyion hydrophobicity on the association with surfactant at surfaces and in

The aim of palate repair is to restore normal eating and drinking function and normal speech development and still maintain undisturbed facial growth. The repair should be performed with a low frequency of complications. A number of factors are thought to contribute to the formation of fistulas after palatoplasty; they include patient factors and treatment issues. The aim of this study was to revi

Purpose: To explore clients' experience of the housing adaptations (HAs) over time in relation to housing and health. Method: A multiple longitudinal case study, employing an embedded mixed-method design was used. Four participants were included and data from semi-structured interviews were combined with data from structured survey assessments. Results: HA made it possible to maintain valuable

The understanding of how fibre-rich meals regulate molecular events at a gene level is limited. This pilot study aimed to investigate changes in gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy subjects after consumption of an oat bran-rich meal. Fifteen subjects (8 men and 7 women, aged 20-28 years) ingested meals with oat bran or a control meal after an overnight fast.

Soil pH is one of the most influential factors for the composition of bacterial and fungal communities, but the influence of soil pH on the distribution and composition of soil archaeal communities has yet to be systematically addressed. The primary aim of this study was to determine how total archaeal abundance (qPCR based estimates of 16S rRNA gene copy numbers) is related to soil pH across a pH

We show how one can back out implied forward volatility term structures from credit default swap spreads. Such forward stock volatility term structures are useful for instance in forward start option pricing. We find the term structure to be downward-sloping, and the credit market's volatility forecasts tend to vary more across time than across maturities. Long-term volatility expectations, in tur

The mode of protection against cardiac reperfusion injury by mild hypothermia and TRO40303 was investigated in various experimental models and compared to MitoQ in vitro. In isolated cardiomyocytes subjected to hypoxia/reoxygenation, TRO40303, MitoQ and mild hypothermia delayed mPTP opening, inhibited generation of mitochondrial superoxide anions at reoxygenation and improved cell survival. Mild h

Human aquaporin 2 (AQP2) is a water channel found in the kidney collecting duct, where it plays a key role in concentrating urine. Water reabsorption is regulated by AQP2 trafficking between intracellular storage vesicles and the apical membrane. This process is tightly controlled by the pituitary hormone arginine vasopressin and defective trafficking results in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI

The synthesis of an orthogonal topological pentamer analogue of helicene is presented. This analogue forms a tubular structure with its aromatic systems directed parallel to the axis of propagation, which creates a cavity with the potential to function as a host molecule. The synthetic strategy reported, based on a series of repeating Friedländer condensations that utilize pyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidine