To evaluate drug adherence, clinical response and predictors thereof for tocilizumab in patients with RA in routine care based on prospectively collected data from the Swedish biologics register, Anti-Rheumatic Therapies in Sweden.

Background. Caries risk assessment is an important tool in clinical decision making. Aim. To evaluate longitudinal changes in caries risk profiles in a group of schoolchildren in relation to caries development. Design. The Cariogram model was used to create caries risk profiles and to identify risk factors in 438 children being 10-11 years at baseline. The assessment was repeated after 2 years and

Background: Stroke in the young has not been thoroughly investigated with most previous studies based on a small number of patients from single centers. Furthermore, recent reports indicate that Fabry disease may be a significant cause for young stroke. The primary aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of Fabry disease in young stroke patients, while the secondary aim was to describe pa

In I-123-IBZM brainSPECT, the main interest is the activity uptake in the striatum relative to the background, and semi-quantitative techniques using regions of interest are typically used for this purpose. Uncertainties in the measured uptakes can however be a problem due to low contrasts and high noise levels. Like SPECT in general, IBZM SPECT should benefit from reconstruction methods that incl

To evaluate the feasibility and incremental value of using an integrated bullseye model for presenting data from cardiac computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in combination with echocardiography evaluation of segmental mechanical delay for guiding optimal left ventricular lead placement in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Background: The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) has been used in various studies to evaluate the educational environment. However, psychometric evaluations of the instrument seem sparse, for all known versions of the instrument. Aim: The aim was to psychometrically evaluate the Swedish version of the DREEM instrument. Method: A total of 503 students (undergraduate medicine), a

Production of propionic acid by fermentation of glycerol as a renewable resource has been suggested as a means for developing an environmentally-friendly route for this commodity chemical. However, in order to quantify the environmental benefits, life cycle assessment of the production, including raw materials, fermentation, upstream and downstream processing is required. The economic viability of

Background. Although schizophrenia is the fifth leading cause of disability-adjusted life years worldwide in people aged 15 to 44 years, the clinical evidence of physical therapy as a complementary treatment remains largely unknown. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to systematically review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of physical therapy for people with sc

Streptococcus pyogenes cause infections ranging from mild pharyngitis to severe streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). The M1 serotype of Streptococcus pyogenes is most frequently associated with STSS. Herein, it was hypothesized that STAT3 signaling might be involved in M1 protein-evoked lung inflammation. The STAT3 inhibitor, S3I-201, was administered to male C57Bl/6 mice before i.v. challen

The purpose of the study was to examine effects of pre-treatment with a Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist (AZD8848) in allergic rhinitis and to evaluate clinical effects of two dosing regimens.

Purpose. The overall purpose was to study whether and how persons with blindness detect warning surfaces with a long white cane in a real pedestrian environment after following a natural guidance surface to the warning surfaces. Of particular interest was the importance of kerb, depth, and structure of the warning surfaces. Method. A concurrently mixed methods approach, with a combination of obser

Nanotechnology gives us materials with enhanced or completely new properties. At the same time, inhalation of manufactured nano-objects has been related to an array of adverse biological effects. We characterized particle emissions, which occurred during maintenance of common metal nanoparticle generators and contrasted the properties of the emitted particles with those originally produced by the

Fuel cells are promising for future energy systems, because they are energy efficient and able to use renewable fuels. A fully coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach based on the finite element method, in two-dimensions, is developed to describe a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Governing equations for, gas-phase species, heat momentum, ion and electron transport are implemented and cou

PURPOSE: To explore oxidative stress and the radical scavenger α(1)-microglobulin (A1M) in the vitreous body of human eyes with primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). METHODS: Levels of carbonyl groups, a marker of oxidative stress, and A1M were measured by ELISA and RIA in 14 vitreous samples derived from patients suffering from RRD, and compared with 14 samples from macula hole (MH

Objective:To examine the relationship between high-risk human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotypes for type 1 diabetes and birth size in combination with prenatal characteristics in different countries.Study Design:Four high-risk HLA genotypes were enrolled in the Environmental determinants of Diabetes in the Young study newborn babies from the general population in Finland, Germany, Sweden and the U

Antimicrobial peptides are important effector molecules of the innate immune system. Here, we describe that peptides derived from the heparin-binding disulfide-constrained loop region of human ß-amyloid precursor protein are antimicrobial. The peptides investigated were linear and cyclic forms of NWCKRGRKQCKTHPH (NWC15) as well as the cyclic form comprising the C-terminal hydrophobic amino acid ex

This article provides 12-month prevalence rates of youth exposure to websites which encourage self-harm or suicide and examines whether such exposure is related to thoughts of self-harm and thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days. Data were collected via telephone from a nationally representative survey of 1560 Internet-using youth, ages 10-17 residing in the United States. One percent (95% CI: 0.