Graft copolymers with ionic backbones and hydrophobic fluorinated side chains have been prepared by using lithiated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) as a macroinitiator for anionic polymerization of 4-fluorostyrene. After grafting of the poly(4-fluorostyrene) (PFS) side chains, the PPO backbone was selectively sulfonated using trimethylsilylchlorosulfonate under mild and controlled con

Background Olaparib, a novel, orally active poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, induced synthetic lethality in BRCA-deficient cells. A maximum tolerated dose and initial signal of efficacy in BRCA-deficient ovarian cancers have been reported. We therefore assessed the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of olaparib alone in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations and advanced breast cancer. M

In this work, three different methods were used to determine the phase behavior of alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) in supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2). Rough values for the total solubility of AKD in SC-CO2 were obtained. The solubility ranges from 1 to 14 mg AKD/g CO2 at temperatures from 40 to 80 degrees C and pressures from 10 to 30 MPa. A significant increase in solubility was observed in the re

Objectives: To determine whether alpha-synuclein dinucleotide repeat (REP1) genotypes are associated with survival in Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods: Investigators from the Genetic Epidemiology of Parkinson's Disease Consortium provided REP1 genotypes and baseline and follow-up clinical data for cases. The primary outcome was time to death. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used t

A process industrial site may consist of several production areas, some producing intermediate products for further refinement in other areas, and some producing end products. The areas may share the same utilities, such as steam and cooling water, which means that the areas could be connected both by the flow of products through the site and by the use of the same utilities. Management of utility

Recently, imbalance in the vasopressin (AVP) system, measured as elevated levels of copeptin (the c-terminal part of the AVP pro-hormone) in plasma, was linked to development of abdominal obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM). Here, we aim to investigate if genetic variation of the human AVP receptor 1b gene (AVPR1B) is associated with measures of obesity and DM.

The dating and explanation of the agricultural revolution in Europe remains an elusive research task. When and why did a low-productive pre-industrial agricultural sector turn into a fast-growing, more productive one? Unique data from Sweden, consisting of more than 80,000 observations of farm production output for the period 1700–1860, is used to calculate and explain decisive changes in pre-indu

We consider a semimartingale X which is reflected at an upper barrier T and a lower barrier S, where S and T are also semimartingales such that T is bounded away from S. First, we present an explicit construction of the reflected process. Then we derive a relationship in terms of stochastic integrals linking the reflected process and the local times at the respective bathers to X, S, and T. This r

Human impact on wildfires, a major earth system component, remains poorly understood. While local studies have found more fires close to settlements and roads, assimilated charcoal records and analyses of regional fire patterns from remote-sensing observations point to a decline in fire frequency with increasing human population. Here, we present a global analysis using three multi-year satellite-

Purpose Young adults (18–24 years) frequently report poorer health care access and experience than older adults. We aimed to investigate how differences between young and older adults vary across 11 high-income countries. Methods A total of 20,045 participants from 11 high-income countries (i.e., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United

Recently, a hexanucleotide (GGGGCC) repeat expansion in the first intron of C9ORF72 was reported as the cause of chromosome 9p21-linked frontotemporal dementia-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FTD-ALS). We here report the prevalence of the expansion in a hospital-based cohort and associated clinical features indicating a wider clinical spectrum of C9ORF72 disease than previously described. We studie

Secrecy is a theme in Genesis 22, in Derrida's reading of the story, in which God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. It is about keeping a secret, not secret as in hiding, but rather the secret of an exclusive relationship. This is embarrassing as it is excluding. Accepting this unique relationship by keeping the secret, Abraham demonstrates his willingness to enter into a relationship based on

A genetic variant within the CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 region (rs1051730), previously associated with smoking quantity, was recently shown to interact with smoking on obesity predisposition. We attempted to replicate this finding in the Gene-Lifestyle Interactions and Complex Traits Involved in Elevated Disease Risk (GLACIER) Study, a prospective cohort study of adults from northern Sweden (n = 16,426)

OBJECTIVES: Low back pain (LBP) affects most people at some stage in life. However, the burden on the health care system is unclear. We studied: 1) the one-year consultation prevalence 2) the rate of first-time consultation for LBP and related the frequency to other musculoskeletal conditions and 3) the health care utilization of LBP patients compared to the general population. METHODS: Using th

We have investigated multiphoton multiple ionization dynamics of xenon atoms using a new x-ray free-electron laser facility, SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser (SACLA) in Japan, and identified that Xen+ with n up to 26 is produced at a photon energy of 5.5 keV. The observed high charge states (n >= 24) are produced via five-photon absorption, evidencing the occurrence of multiphoton abs

Objective Based on the concept of value creation the aim was to analyse a sample of patients’ unstructured responses, and to show what the patients perceived to be healthcare values. Method Using content analysis the patients’ responses to three questions underwent a categorization involving the identification, coding, and emerging of themes. Results This is good: The result was; fellow feel

Gene expression profiling has been used extensively to characterize cancer, identify novel subtypes, and improve patient stratification. However, it has largely failed to identify transcriptional programs that differ between cancer and corresponding normal cells and has not been efficient in identifying expression changes fundamental to disease etiology. Here we present a method that facilitates t

There is currently a high demand for spatial data usage within web applications. From a technical viewpoint, web services and geoportals aim to fulfil user requirements; however, the current cartographic methods do not satisfy the needs of the end users. The problem is more challenging when the final map contains data from various sources that have various cartographic characteristics; therefore,