OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate predictive factors for outcome after lumbar disc herniation surgery in young patients. METHODS: In the national Swedish spine register, the authors identified 180 patients age 20 years or younger, in whom preoperative and 1-year postoperative data were available. The cohort was treated with primary open surgery due to lumbar disc herniation between

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a disease where detection preceding clinical symptoms significantly increases the life expectancy of patients. In this study, a recombinant antibody microarray platform was used to analyze 213 Chinese plasma samples from PDAC patients and normal control (NC) individuals. The cohort was stratified according to disease stage, i.e. resectable disease (stage

This article explores the role of informality among Uzbek construction workers in Russia. We start from a relationship that is based on economic reward and common interests and go on to explore the non-economic components of this relationship. Economically, the workers entrust their supervisor and agree to work for him for a given amount of money. However, this decision is also embedded in a non-e

Bioaugmentation of nitrifiers from a side-stream treatment is an efficient method for boosting the mainstream process at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Although this technology has been known for several years, the number of full-scale applications for it is limited. For a WWTP approaching its critical nitrogen load capacity, the benefits are doubled if the introduced side-stream treatment f

Background: Criminal offending is strongly transmitted across generations. Aims: To clarify the contribution of rearing environment to crossgenerational transmission of crime. Method: Using Swedish national registries, we identified 1176 fullsibling and 3085 half-sibling sets from high-risk families where at least one sibling was adopted and the other raised by the biological parents. Results: Ris

Context: We have previously found that visceral fat is a stronger predictor for cardiovascular risk factors than body mass index (BMI). Objective: This study sought to investigate the prevalence of diabetes in elderly men and women in relation to objectively assessed visceral fat volume. Design and Setting: The cohort consisted of a population-based sample of 705 men and 688 women, all age 70 y at

We test the hypothesis that rich occurrences of diatoms observed at transitions between major peat units representing different vegetation communities in a peat sequence from subarctic northern Sweden reflect responses to acid deposition from the Samalas AD 1257 and Laki AD 1783/1784 eruptions. We observe sudden changes in the mire ecosystem and thereby in the trophic status and biogeochemical cyc

Abstract: This thesis examines the non-dominant and self-subversive aspects of visuality in Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 through the lens of the philosophical discussion on representation, particularly in its post-structuralist context. The present research is grounded in the conviction that 2666 embodies the 20th-century crisis of representation and approaches the novel through an analysis of different

Tissue damage is usually regarded as a necessary price to pay for successful elimination of pathogens by the innate immune defense. Yet, it is possible to distinguish protective from destructive effects of innate immune activation and selectively attenuate molecular nodes that create pathology. Here, we identify acute cystitis as an Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β)-driven, hyper-inflammatory condition o

Limited data are available about the role of the serotonin 2B (5-HT2B) receptor in the function of human islets. This study aimed to test whether the 5-HT2B receptor contributes to glucose, insulin, and glucagon homeostasis in humans, utilizing a hereditary loss-of-function gene mutation in the receptor, which causes a 50% reduction in the production of the receptor protein in heterozygotes. This

Cone-rod degeneration (CRD) belongs to the disease spectrum of retinal degenerations, a group of hereditary disorders characterized by an extreme clinical and genetic heterogeneity. It mainly differentiates from other retinal dystrophies, and in particular from the more frequent disease retinitis pigmentosa, because cone photoreceptors degenerate at a higher rate than rod photoreceptors, causing s

N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic (NT-proBNP) is expressed in the heart and brain, and serum levels are elevated in acute heart and brain diseases. We aimed to assess the possible association between serum levels and neurological outcome and death in comatose patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Of the 939 comatose OHCA patients enrolled and randomized in the Targeted

This article explores the socio-environmental implications of two different value models currently competing for dominance in the digital economy: the neo-feudal cognitive capitalism (NFCC) and the hypothetical case of mature peer production (HMPP). Using a systematisation that considers environmental effects of information and communication technologies as direct, indirect and structural, this ar

Ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics of matter govern rate and selectivity of chemical reactions, as well as phase transitions and efficient switching in functional materials. Since x-rays determine electronic and structural properties with elemental, chemical, orbital and magnetic selectivity, short pulse x-ray sources have become central enablers of ultrafast science. Despite of these st

Allt fler personer reser allt längre sträckor för att ta sig till och från jobbet. En starkt bidragande orsak till detta är en strävan att öka den ekonomiska tillväxten genom att göra arbetskraften tillgänglig över allt större geografiska områden. I Sverige har både pendlingstid och avstånd stadigt ökat under de senaste decennierna och idag tillbringar den genomsnittliga pendlaren mer än en timme Allt fler personer reser allt längre sträckor för att ta sig till och från jobbet. En starkt bidragande orsak till detta är en strävan att öka den ekonomiska tillväxten genom att göra arbetskraften tillgänglig över allt större geografiska områden. I Sverige har både pendlingstid och avstånd stadigt ökat under de senaste decennierna och idag tillbringar den genomsnittliga pendlaren mer än en timme

One important motivation for people behaving prosocially is that they want to avoid negative and obtain positive emotions. In the prosocial behavior literature however, the motivations to avoid negative emotions (e.g., guilt) and to approach positive emotions (e.g., warm glow) are rarely separated, and sometimes even aggregated into a single mood-management construct. The aim of this study was to

Classical sum rules, that connect the dynamic scattering properties at all frequencies to the static polarizability, can be shown to break down when applied to circular polarization. This has previously been explained in terms of a breach of symmetry with respect to positive and negative frequencies. In this paper, we show an alternative explanation where circular polarization is introduced by usi