Hyperuricemia is strongly linked to cardiovascular complications including atherosclerosis and thrombosis. In individuals with hyperuricemia, needle-shaped monosodium urate crystals (nsMSU) frequently form within joints or urine, giving rise to gouty arthritis or renal calculi, respectively. These nsMSU are potent instigators of neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation. Little is known on the

The difficulty of predicting stock returns has recently motivated researchers to start looking for more powerful tests, and the current paper takes a step in this direction. Unlike existing tests, the test proposed here exploits the information contained in the heteroskedasticity of findings, which is expected to lead to higher power, a result that is confirmed by our results. In order to also mai

Background: Central line insertion is a routine procedure in medical practice. Dislodgement of lines into the vascular system is a rare complication. We noticed that paediatric health care providers (PHCP) contact the cardiac or general paediatric surgeon for extraction of dislodged lines more frequently than using the less invasive percutaneous approach. Aim: To study the referral preference of P

In May 2008 the EUCAARI-LONGREX aircraft field campaign was conducted within the EUCAARI intensive observational period. The campaign aimed at studying the distribution and evolution of air mass properties on a continental scale. Airborne aerosol and trace gas measurements were performed aboard the German DLR Falcon 20 and the British FAAM B.4e-146 aircraft. This paper outlines the meteorological

Quantum dots embedded within nanowires represent one of the most promising technologies for applications in quantum photonics. Whereas the top-down fabrication of such structures remains a technological challenge, their bottom-up fabrication through self-assembly is a potentially more powerful strategy. However, present approaches often yield quantum dots with large optical linewidths, making repr

Aerosol particle samples were collected, and the particle size distribution was measured during 1 year at the Zeppelin station (474 m asl) on Svalbard. The chemical constituents, hygroscopicity, and cloud forming properties of the aerosol were analyzed. The aerosol contained mostly sulfate and nitrate during the summer, whereas from September to February the main components were sodium and chlorid

Understanding the relationships between trait diversity, species diversity and ecosystem functioning is essential for sustainable management. For functions comprising two trophic levels, trait matching between interacting partners should also drive functioning. However, the predictive ability of trait diversity and matching is unclear for most functions, particularly for crop pollination, where in

Bioinspired citrate-carbonate-apatite (cAp) nanocrystals doped with divalent transition metal (M) ions, i.e., Mn2+, Co2+, and Ni2+, were prepared by batch thermal decomplexing of Ca2+/M/citrate/phosphate/carbonate solutions at 80 and 37 degrees C, with initial Ca2+/M molar ratios of 9:1 and 5:5, and at different crystallization times ranging from 1 to 96 h. A thorough chemical, crystallographic, a

Background: It has been found that patch testing with 15μl formaldehyde 2.0% aq detects twice more allergies than testing with 1.0%. The clinical relevance of positive patch test reactions is often difficult to determine. Use tests are simple to do and help to evaluate the significance of patch test results. Objectives: To study the clinical relevance of contact allergy to formaldehyde detected by

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are established as a major cause of cervical carcinoma. However, causality inference is dependent on prospective evidence showing that exposure predicts risk for future disease. Such evidence is available for squamous cell carcinoma, but not for cervical adenocarcinoma. We followed a population-based cohort of 994,120 women who participated in cytological screening in

The aftermath of breast cancer treatment, especially the sexual side effects, appears to be a neglected issue in developed society. The purpose of this study was to explore how middle-aged women treated for a breast cancer experienced their sexual identity connected to the community norms and values in the society as a whole. Three focus group interviews were conducted, with a total of 12 women. T

Diagnosis of acute mesenteric ischemia in the early stages is now possible with modern computed tomography (CT), using intravenous contrast enhancement and imaging in the arterial and/or portal venous phase. The availability of CT around the clock means that more patients with acute mesenteric ischemia may be treated with urgent intestinal revascularization.

Clotting systems are required in almost all animals to prevent loss of body fluids after injury. Here, we show that despite the risks associated with its systemic activation, clotting is a hitherto little appreciated branch of the immune system. We compared clotting of human blood and insect hemolymph to study the best-conserved component of clotting systems, namely the Drosophila enzyme transglut

This study uses aggregated municipality data, for the years 2001-2009, to explore whether direct payments to farmers affect agricultural employment in Swedish municipalities. The decoupling reform in 2005 included a new grassland support payment accompanied by management obligations that had unexpectedly high redistributive consequences as it greatly increased common agricultural policy payments t

The timing of annual life-history events affects survival and reproduction of all organisms. A changing environment can perturb phenological adaptations and an important question is if populations can evolve fast enough to track the environmental changes. Yet, little is known about selection and evolutionary potential of traits determining the timing of crucial annual events. Migratory species, wh