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Occupational skin diseases are among the most frequent work-related diseases in industrialized countries. Good occupational skin disease statistics exist in few countries. Questionnaire studies are needed to get more data on the epidemiology of occupational skin diseases. The Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire Group has developed a new questionnaire tool - Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnair
This article stresses the significance of recognising interdependencies between factors determining disaster risk in any attempts to integrate disaster risk reduction in international development cooperation. It bases its arguments on the case studies of four past projects in Sri Lanka and Tajikistan, which are scrutinised using a theoretical framework based on systems approaches. It appears that
Fuel ethanol can be produced from softwood through hydrolysis in an enzymatic process. Prior to enzymatic hydrolysis of the softwood, pretreatment is necessary. In this study, two-step steam pretreatment employing dilute H2SO4 impregnation in the first step and SO2 impregnation in the second step, to improve the overall sugar and ethanol yield, was investigated. The first pretreatment step was per
Transverse momentum spectra of electrons from Au+Au collisions at roots(NN) = 130 GeV have been measured at midrapidity by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The spectra show an excess above the background from photon conversions and light hadron decays. The electron signal is consistent with that expected from semileptonic decays of charm. The yield of the electron sign
Mycorrhizal symbiosis involves reciprocal transfer of carbon and nutrients between shoots on the one hand and roots colonized by symbolic fungi on the other. Mycorrhizas may improve the mineral nutrient acquisition rates, but simultaneously increase the belowground demand for carbon. Mycorrhizal plants will have a selective advantage over non-mycorrhizal ones if they are more cost-efficient in ter
Hematopoietic cells contain secretory lysosomes that degranulate at sites of inflammation. We envisage that secretory granules can act as vehicles for targeting inflammatory sites, including malignancies, and thereafter, locally release therapeutically active agents to these sites. Exogenous proteins, such as the soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (sTNFR1), have been shown previously to be t
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether current smoking, ex-smoking, or amount of current smoking among postmenopausal women was associated with plasma levels of testosterone, and rostenedione, and DHEAs. About 65,000 women in Sweden have participated in two population-based prospective cohort studies where blood samples were collected at baseline, and information on life-style, re
There are accelerating trends for the implementation of electronic commerce(e-commerce) as an extra marketing channel for selling products globally via the access of the Internet. This is expected to in¯uence the shape of future cities and the conservation of natural resources. This paper critically reviews the current research work to date regarding the environmental implications of e-commerce. T
At first, it may seem as if the sustainable transition would force us to make a cynical trade-off between (a) the immediate needs of the global poor and (b) the future needs of the global rich. Crucial objectives, such as climate stability, are commonly held to be unattainable if the rest of the world would come to enjoy present Western living standards. Challenging this pessimistic analysis, this
To determine which chemokine receptors might be involved in T lymphocyte localization to the intestinal mucosa, we examined receptor expression on human intestinal lamina propria lymphocytes (LPL), intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) and CD45RO+beta7hi gut homing peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). Virtually all LPL and IEL expressed CXCR3 and CCR5, receptors that have been associated with Th1(Tc1)/
We compare Forward Error Correction (FEC) and frame AC-Cumulation (ACC) to see which of the two schemes most effectively reduce frame loss rate for an aggregate of VoIP flows, sharing a network bottleneck. We model this bottleneck by a M/M/1/K queue and we analytically show that given certain assumptions, FEC is the best choice for low initial load at the bottleneck. Then, as the initial load incr
The paper compares two lexical items, Icelandic ma@?ur and Swedish man, for the construction of a detached, general discourse stance (Berman, Ragnarsdottir and Stromqvist, 2002). Both forms mean 'man', but they can also be used in a generic sense. In that usage, Icelandic ma@?ur is associated with several semantic, pragmatic, and stylistic constraints, whereas Swedish man is more freely applicable
OBJECTIVE: In acute respiratory distress syndrome, the relationships between changes in the elastic behavior of the respiratory system and biological markers of extra-cellular matrix or surfactant turn-over could give some insights into its pathophysiological determinants. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS: In 17 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, we assessed the relationship between chord c
Time-resolved and spatially resolved measurements of the diffuse reflectance from biological tissue are two well-established techniques for extracting the reduced scattering and absorption coefficients. We have performed a comparison study of the performance of a spatially resolved and a time-resolved instrument at wavelengths 660 and 785 nm and also of an integrating-sphere setup at 550-800 nm. T
Background and Study Aims: Sedation and monitoring practice during colonoscopy varies between centers and over time. Knowledge of current practice is needed to ensure quality of care and help focus future research. The objective of this study was to examine sedation and monitoring practice in endoscopy centers internationally. Patients and Methods: This observational study included consecutive pat
This paper examines current perceptions within international aid agencies regarding the existing and potential roles of housing and urban development planning as a tool for reducing urban disaster risk in developing countries. It is mainly based on interviews with more than 50 professionals from international agencies and a review of documents on planning and risk reduction. The paper analyses t
A new particulate magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agent was prepared by controlled precipitation of iron oxide in an aqueous starch solution. The potential of the magnetic starch microspheres (MSM) as a hepatosplenic contrast enhancer was studied by MR spectroscopy and MR imaging. Intravascular administration of MSM to rodents showed an effective blood clearance and a tissue-specific localization
