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Industrial biotechnology has been defined as the use and application of biotechnology for the sustainable processing and production of chemicals, materials and fuels. It makes use of biocatalysts such as microbial communities, whole-cell microorganisms or purified enzymes. Although biocatalysts are considered advantageous, since they operate under mild conditions regarding temperature and pH and e

Exaggerated acidosis due to preischemic hyperglycemia shortens the maturation time for cell death and turns selective neuronal damage into pannecrosis. Some issues concerning the mechanisms are yet to be clarified. The present study was designed to define critical thresholds of plasma glucose, to investigate the influence of preischemic hyperglycemia on ion transients, to evaluate the role of calc

This licentiate thesis in industrial design concerns the challenge and opportunity to meet the demographic changes and the future senior market. The aim is to explore how various user-centered design methods can be combined, modified and practiced to create conditions for the design of totally new or improved products. Design is understood as a process to develop solutions with the starting point

Background & Aims Obesity, commonly assessed based on body mass index (BMI), is associated with an increased risk for severe liver disease. It is not known if other measures of body composition are better determinants of risk for severe liver disease, and/or if these differ between women and men. We investigated the body composition measures that best predict the development of severe liver di

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus and hypertension are risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which is the most common cause of death in the world. People with intellectual disability (ID) have been reported to have high rates of both these disorders. The aim of this study was to describe and compare prevalence ratios of diabetes mellitus and hypertension between older adults with ID and their age p

Background: Colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) offers direct mucosal visualisation without sedation or gas insufflation required in conventional colonoscopy (CC). However, evidence for the role of CCE as an adjunct or alternative to CC remains equivocal. In this observational cohort study, we report our experience of using CCE to investigate patients with suspected colon pathology at a tertiary referra

Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) are designed for the study of past, present and future vegetation patterns together with associated biogeochemical cycles and climate feedbacks. However, most DGVMs do not yet have detailed representations of permafrost and non-permafrost peatlands, which are an important store of carbon, particularly at high latitudes. We demonstrate a new implementation o

Background: When discontinuation in COPD randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is unevenly distributed between treatments (differential dropout), the capacity to demonstrate treatment effects may be reduced. We investigated the impact of the time of differential dropout on exacerbation outcomes in RCTs, in relation to study duration and COPD severity. Methods: A post hoc analysis of 2,345 patients f

Background: Cutaneous melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer, with an increasing incidence and mortality rate. Currently, staging of patients with primary melanoma is performed using histological biomarkers such as tumor thickness and ulceration. As disruption of the epigenomic landscape is recognized as a widespread feature inherent in tumor development and progression, we aimed to identify novel

OBJECTIVE: Eleven genetic loci have reached genome-wide significance in a recent meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in Parkinson disease (PD) based on populations of Caucasian descent. The extent to which these genetic effects are consistent across different populations is unknown.METHODS: Investigators from the Genetic Epidemiology of Parkinson's Disease Consortium were invited to p

BACKGROUND: Phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI, EC 5.3.1.9) is an essential metabolic enzyme in all eukaryotes. An earlier study of the PgiC1 gene, which encodes cytosolic PGI in the grass Festuca ovina L., revealed a marked difference in the levels of nucleotide polymorphism between the 5' and 3' portions of the gene.METHODS: In the present study, we characterized the sequence polymorphism in F. ovina

This paper presents results from a project on the experiences of Palestinian refugee youth in Lebanon, taking part in NGO programs for facilitating university education. To what extent may such informal educational projects be instrumental in circumventing and counteracting social exclusion? And how do such initiatives interrelate with constructions of senses of “Palestinianess” among their young

Social interactions are rarely random. In some instances, animals exhibit homophily or heterophily, the tendency to interact with similar or dissimilar conspecifics, respectively. Genetic homophily and heterophily influence the evolutionary dynamics of populations, because they potentially affect sexual and social selection. Here, we investigate the link between social interactions and allele freq

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD)-linked β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulates in multivesicular bodies (MVBs) with the onset of AD pathogenesis. Alterations in endosomes are among the earliest changes associated with AD but the mechanism(s) that cause endosome enlargement and the effects of MVB dysfunction on Aβ accumulation and tau pathology are incompletely understood.METHODS: MVB size and Aβ fibrils i