Evidence-based medicine is a corner stone in treatment decision making and large randomised, clinical trials are usually designed in order-to provide highly significant results. This study was conducted in order to find out to what extend a "real life" patient population with obstructive lung disease could fit into criteria commonly used in clinical research trials. As a secondary aim of the study

Caloplaca sqtthfca Khodosovtsev & Sschting is described from Ukrainian Artemisia - Festuca steppes near the Black Sea. It grows on twigs of small shrubs of Halocnemum strobilaceum and Limonium sp.on salty soils, and is characterued by greenish grey areoles or squamules with punctiform to confluent soralia and zeorine apothecia with a conspicuous white pruina.

The objective of the CELLION project is radiation research at low doses. The main cell responses to low dose irradiation are bystander effects, genomic instability and adaptive responses. In order to study these effects it is convenient to make the cells addressable in space and time through locking the cell position. A new alternative dish has been developed for irradiation procedures at the Lund

Popular Abstract in Swedish Under de senaste åren har nödvändigheten att ta hänsyn till utsatta grupper i den svenska befolkningen och deras varierande behov lyfts fram i rapporter och utredningar om utformningen av vård och rehabilitering av äldre. En sådan utsatt grupp är äldre teckenspråkliga döva. Svårigheten att kommunicera, i kombination med åldersrelaterade sjukdomar, funktionsbegränsningarVery little is known about the consequences of aging and the wellbeing of deaf sign language users. This thesis contributes to filling this knowledge gap. The overarching aim was to gain further understanding and to increase the knowledge about quality of life, in terms of subjective wellbeing and health, activity and social contacts, among older deaf sign language users. After having established

Popular Abstract in Swedish Att klara sig trots allt: Den sociala och produktiva dynamiken hos småbönderna i de halvtorra områdena i Iringa i norra Tanzania. Det är inte lätt att överleva som småbonde i de halvtorra områdena i Iringa och på liknande platser i Afrika. Man kontrollerar knappast sin egen livssituation. Regnen är opålitliga, priser, marknadsföring och politiska ingrepp är oförutsägbaWhile much of semi-arid Africa is still sparsely populated with unused land, there are everywhere pockets of high and increasing population density in attractive locations. Small-scale farmers can respond to beginning land-scarcity in a number of ways. Through migration, through diversification of livelihoods, or through changes in their farming system. Which solution is chosen, depends not only o

The polyamine synthesis enzyme spermidine synthase (SPDS) has been cloned from the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Biochemical characterisation of the recombinantly expressed protein revealed a high degree of similarity to other eukaryotic SPDS with the exception of a low affinity towards the substrate decarboxylated S-adenosylmethionine (K-m = 110 mu M) and a less pronounced feedback inhib

We have studied the reaction mechanism for the insertion of Mg2+ and Fe2+ into a porphyrin ring with density functional calculations with large basis set and including solvation, zero-point and thermal effects. We have followed the reaction from the outer-sphere complex, in which the metal is coordinated with six water molecules and the porphyrin is doubly protonated, until the metal ion is insert

The bismuth spectrum emitted from a hollow cathode discharge has been recorded with a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS). Accurate wavelengths have been determined for 104 lines, and several new energy levels have been found, while the accuracy of previously known level energies have been improved. The hyperfine structure of all observed lines has been analyzed, yielding hyperfine constants A an

Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is an esterase and lipase, which are essential for spermatogenesis. Two HSL mRNAs are expressed in human testis. A long form is encoded by a testis-specific exon and nine exons common to testis and adipocyte HSL. Here we show that the short-form 3.3-kb mRNA possesses a unique 5' end that is transcribed from a novel testis-specific exon. The corresponding protein is s

The current Spark Ignited (SI) engine equipped with three-way catalyst offers low emissions, but has low efficiency at part load, which results in unnecessarily high CO2 emissions. The Compression Ignited (CI) engines have higher efficiency and hence lower CO2 emissions, but suffer from higher Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions, and no three-way catalyst can be used. Large

We calculate the leading Weyl term of the counting function for a monocrystalline quartz sphere. In contrast to other studies of counting functions, the anisotropy of quartz is a crucial element in our investigation. Hence we do not obtain a simple analytical form, but we carry out a numerical evaluation. To this end we employ the Radon transform representation of the Green's function. We compare

Vietnam's increased integration into the global market economy entails rapid and dynamic changes that foster new ways of acting, interacting and rendering the world meaningful. This article addresses the ways in which an ongoing process of transformation in contemporary Vietnam is epitomised by the ambivalence and ambiguity with which female sexuality is imbued. Female sexuality is ideally restric

Nationellt kompetenscentrum för rörelseorganens sjukdomar (NKO) är ett resurscentrum för kvalitetsregister inom rörelseorganens sjukdomar. En förutsättning för en mer rättvis vård är att indikationerna för behandling betraktas likartat över hela landet. Evidensbaserade indikationer för behandling av rörelseorganens sjukdomar har utarbetats. Klargörande av aktuell indikationssättning för höft- och Well-functioning data registration systems require high competence both in the technical systems used for handling data and in the statistical methodology used for analysis. Consequently, The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and The National Board of Health and Welfare started the Swedish National Competence Centre for Musculoskeletal disorders, with the purpose for this instit

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The treatment of acquired aplastic anemia (AA) is based on allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and immunosuppressive therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of children and adults with AA treated in the last decade, and to determine whether results have improved in two sequential time periods,1991-1996 and 1997-2002. DESIGN AND METHODS: Two-thou