Statin drugs have been used for more than two decades to treat hypercholesterolemia and as cardio-preventive drugs, resulting in a marked decrease in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide. Statins halt hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis by inhibiting the rate-limiting enzyme in the mevalonate pathway, hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR). The mevalonate pathway regulates a h

Debates on adaptation in rural Africa rarely consider how responses to climate variability vary by wealth group. This study examines differences across wealth groups based on principal component analysis and cluster analysis triangulated with participatory methods. Results indicate that perceptions of weather variability and extreme events are detected by most households regardless of wealth statu

We developed a novel analytical method for concentration determination of tandem single-chain antibody diphtheria toxin (immunotoxin). The method is based on polymethacrylate monoliths with Protein L ligands as the binding moiety. Different buffers were tested for elution of the Protein L-bound immunotoxin and 4.5 M guanidinium hydrochloride performed best. We optimized the elution conditions and

Obesity is one of the principal human health problems and one of the main treatments against it is the inhibition of pancreatic lipase, the main responsible enzyme of lipid digestion. For that purpose, previous studies have tested several phenolic compounds against lipase, without considering their aggregation behavior in aqueous solutions. Because of this, the present study focuses on understandi

In 2015, the Swedish government initiated a national cancer reform program to standardize cancer care pathways. Primary aims included shortened waiting times among patients with suspected cancer, increased patient satisfaction and reduced regional variation. The implementation phase of the program is now more than half way through and both achievements and challenges have been identified. The ongo

Aim: To study the development of early knee osteoarthritis (OA) in subjects with and without risk factors for knee OA. Methods: We studied 340 subjects from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), aged 45–55 years (51% women), free of radiographic knee OA at baseline (n = 294 with and n = 46 without knee pain and other OA risk factors). At baseline, 24, 48, 72 and 96 months we compared the two groups

Introduction: Obese women have increased leptin levels and longer duration of labor compared with normal-weight women. Leptin has an inhibitory effect on myometrial contractility in vitro. Our purpose was to examine whether maternal leptin levels in active labor were associated with the duration of the active phase of labor. Material and methods: This prospective cohort study included 914 women. M

With increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) attention has been drawn to these children’s physical health. We aimed to identify the prevalence of defined physical problems (epilepsy, migraine, asthma, cancer, diabetes, psoriasis, lactose intolerance, celiac disease, diarrhea, constipation, daytime enuresis, encopresis) in a nationwide population of 9

Membrane-bound water channels known as aquaporins (AQPs) facilitate water transport across biological membranes along osmotic gradients. Since all living cells depend on their ability to maintain water homeostasis, this must be tightly regulated. In eukaryotes, this is achieved by gating, which involves a conformational change of the protein, thereby physically blocking water transport, or by traf

The human genome encodes 13 aquaporin isoforms with characteristic substrate specificity that are expressed at specific locations throughout the body. Of these isoforms, AQPs 1-4 serve important functions in renal water reabsorption. Consequently, specific AQP inhibitors have been proposed as 'aquaretics', a new class of drugs suitable to induce diuresis without concomitant salt wasting. Furthermo

Wilms tumors in patients with constitutional WT1 mutations are examples of Knudson's tumor suppressor paradigm, with somatic inactivation of the second allele occurring through 11p loss of heterozygosity. The time point of this second hit has remained unknown. We analyzed seven Wilms tumors from two patients with constitutional WT1 mutations by whole exome sequencing and genomic array. All tumors

Time-lapse resistivity surveys are used to monitor changes in the subsurface. In some situations, it is expected the resistivity will only decrease (or vice versa) with time. The 4-D ERT inversion technique includes a temporal smoothness constraint to ensure that the resistivity changes in a smooth manner with time. However, it does not directly constrain the direction of the temporal changes in t

Like many jurisdictions that have implemented a general anti-avoidance tax legislation (GAAR), Swedish tax law faces the challenge of accurately defining the conditions for distinguishing abusive situations from others, especially as the notion of ‘abuse of law’ does not exist in Swedish law. Defined as a process in which a taxpayer follows both the wording of the law and its jurisprudential appli

There is growing interest in within-person associations of objectively measured physical and physiological variables with psychological states in daily life. Here we provide a practical guide with SAS code of multilevel modeling for analyzing physical activity data obtained by accelerometer and self-report data from intensive and repeated measures using ecological momentary assessments (EMA). We r

I sitt kapitel analyserar Cécile Brokelind EU:s arbete med att motverka urholkandet av skattebaser i medlemsstaterna. Fenomenet analyseras särskilt i samband med avslöjandet om att multinationella företag, såsom Apple, i princip undsluppit att betala bolagsskatt i Irland. Med utgångspunkt i att den alltmer globaliserade världsekonomin möjliggör för multinationella företag att utnyttja skillnader i

Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) plays a central role in haemostasis, and plasma TAFI concentrations are heritable. Candidate gene studies have identified several variants within the gene encoding TAFI, CPB2, that explain part of the estimated heritability. Here, we describe an exploratory genome-wide association study to identify novel variants within and outside of the CPB2 loc

The interaction between microorganisms that contain thick cell walls, such as the Gram-positive bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, and conductive surfaces can be improved by using redox polymers as mediators. Herein, we report a detailed electrochemical characterization of the communication between E. faecalis cells and a series of osmium redox polymers with different redox potentials. The current g