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Background: The negative impact of maternal smoking during pregnancy on offspring semen quality is well established. Less is known about the impact of paternal smoking. Methods: We estimated differences in semen parameters and testicle size according to paternal smoking in 772 adult sons of women enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort when pregnant. Parents’ smoking was reported around gesta
Background: The purpose of this work was to study usage of antibiotics, its possible determinants, and patterns of bacterial resistance in Swedish intensive care units (ICUs). Methods: Prospectively collected data on species and antibiotic resistance of clinical isolates and antibiotic consumption specific to each ICU in 1999 were analyzed together with answers to a questionnaire. Antibiotic usage
ABSTRACT. This study investigated a possible trade‐off between bark beetle reproductive effort and future survival. Parent adult Ips typographus (L.) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) were collected when they re‐emerged from a laboratory culture after completing their first brood and held at constant temperatures of 4 or 25oC. As a comparison, emerging brood adults were collected and held at 25oC. The lon
Introduction: There is little information on the late stages of parkinsonism. Methods: We conducted a multicentre study in 692 patients with late stage parkinsonism in six European countries. Inclusion criteria were disease duration of ≥7 years and either Hoehn and Yahr stage ≥4 or Schwab and England score of 50 or less. Results: Average disease duration was 15.4 (SD 7.7) years and mean total UPDR
CONTEXT: Whether multisystem morbidity in Cushing's disease (CD) remains elevated during long-term remission is still undetermined. OBJECTIVE: To investigate comorbidities in patients with CD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: A retrospective, nationwide study of patients with CD identified in the Swedish National Patient Register between 1987 and 2013. Individual medical records were reviewed to ver
Background Declines from high levels of under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) first occurred in Western Europe. Knowledge and technologies gained from early mortality reductions could accelerate the U5MR decline for countries that followed. We explored whether average annual reduction (AAR) in U5MR increased between countries over time in the 20th century.Methods We used U5MR time series from the Human Mo
To understand better the role of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in the pathogenesis of primary Raynaud's phenomenon (PRP), we investigated the basal ET-1 plasma levels and changes after whole-body cooling in healthy women and those with PRP. The study was performed as an open parallel-group comparison during the month of February. The Raynaud group included 21 female patients (mean age 45.3 years, range 21-5
The study was an extension of our earlier work on antiinflammatory and anticancer properties of G. asiatica fruit. We aimed to develop a bioassay guided multistep purification technique for producing bioactive fractions of G. asiatica crude extracts. Dried fruit powder was sequentially fractionated with 100% dichloromethane, 100% methanol (MeOH), and 50% MeOH. Active extracts were subjected to liq
Context: Rapid growth has been suggested to promote islet autoimmunity and progression to type 1 diabetes (T1D). Childhood growth has not been analyzed separately from the infant growth period in most previous studies, but it may have distinct features due to differences between the stages of development. Objective: We aimed to analyze the association of childhood growth with development of islet
BACKGROUND: Lichens, which represent symbiotic associations of fungi and algae, are potential sources of numerous natural products. Physciosporin (PHY) is a potent secondary metabolite found in lichens and was recently reported to inhibit the motility of lung cancer cells via novel mechanisms.PURPOSE: The present study investigated the anticancer potential of PHY on colorectal cancer (CRC) cells.M
Harvesting whole-tree biomass for biofuel combustion intensifies removal of nutrients from the ecosystem. This can be partly abated by applying ash from the combustion back to the system, as the ash is rich in nutrients. Ash is very alkaline and ash application raises soil pH, which in turn can stimulate microbial activity and thus decomposition and mineralization. Our aim was to test if ash induc
Climate change and its associated challenges may have an impact on people and communities. Studies provide conceptual and empirical insight of the relationship between social capital and resilience. However, the social dimensions of resilience have received little attention in climate change research. This short article provides a rapid review of published studies that investigate the social dimen
The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) produces global estimates of the real situation of access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, and sanitation and hygiene in households, educational institutes and health care facilities; however it is lacking data on schools in Kazakhstan. Thus, the aim of this research was to assess access to WASH
Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of venous thromboembolism (VTE) following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in a nationwide cohort. Patients and Methods All ACL reconstructions, primary and revision, that were recorded in the Swedish Knee Ligament Register (SKLR) between 2006 and 2013 were linked with data from the Swedish Nation
Background and purpose: To determine the prevalence of vertebral hemangiomas (VHs), establish a new classification of VHs based on their MRI-signal pattern, and study their natural history. Methods: MRI of 1000 consecutive patients who underwent at least two MRI with an interval of at least 3 years. Growth rate and change of MRI-signal pattern during the follow-up period were the parameters includ
Hybridization can result in novel allelic combinations which can impact the hybrid phenotype through changes in gene expression. While misexpression in F1 hybrids is well documented, how gene expression evolves in stabilized hybrid taxa remains an open question. As gene expression evolves in a stabilizing manner, break-up of co-evolved cis- and trans-regulatory elements could lead to transgressive
Background: Regenerex® is a porous titanium construct with a 3D interconnecting pore structure and biomechanical characteristics close to that of normal trabecular bone. This study aimed to compare the Regenerex (VR) to the non-interconnecting pore structure Porous Plasma Spray (VP) on tibial implants for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) at 5 years. Methods: We enrolled and randomized 61 patients (me
Economic growth is usually considered the main driver of convergence – the attainment by developing countries of income levels similar to those of industrialised nations. Although it has been recognised that achieving economic growth is not the same as sustaining it, analyses of the role of economic shrinking in the catching-up process, and how to build resilience to shrinking, are in short supply
The connection between branch and trunk in a tree must be strong enough to transfer all loads acting on the branch, and it is well known that such branch-stem connections are indeed very strong. In this paper, X-ray computer tomography is employed to investigate the local fibre orientation in the close surrounding of a knot in a Norway spruce specimen to better understand the origins of the mechan
Since the advent of Gaia astrometry, it is possible to identify massive accreted systems within the Galaxy through their unique dynamical signatures. One such system, Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE), appears to be an early 'building block' given its virial mass >1010M⊙ at infall (z ~ 1-3). In order to separate the progenitor population from the background stars, we investigate its chemical properti
