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BACKGROUND: While psychosocial theory claims that socioeconomic status (SES), acting through social comparisons, has an important influence on susceptibility to disease, materialistic theory says that socioeconomic position (SEP) and related access to material resources matter more. However, the relative role of SEP versus SES in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk has still not been

We propose a model to consider data dependencies and assess spatial and temporal variability in land use specific floral coverage across landscapes. Data dependence arising from repeated measurements across the flowering season is taken into account using hierarchical Archimedean copulas, where the correlation is assumed to be stronger within seasonal periods than between periods. For each seasona

Higher levels of circulating adiponectin have been related to lower risk of colorectal cancer in several prospective cohort studies, but it remains unclear whether this association may be causal. We aimed to improve causal inference in a Mendelian Randomization meta-analysis using nested case–control studies of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC, 623 cases, 623

In order to understand the ecological effects of climate change it is essential to forecast suitable areas for species in the future. However, species' ability to reach potentially suitable areas is also critical for species survival. These 'range-shift' abilities can be studied using life-history traits related to four range-shift stages: emigration, movement, establishment, and proliferation. He

Atmospheric pollution has implications for the health and diversity of temperate forests covering large parts of central Europe. Long-term elevated anthropogenic deposition of nitrogen (N) is driving forest ecosystems from the limitation by N to other nutrients and is found to affect tree health and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF), which most trees depend on for nutrient uptake. However, the consequen

Purpose: The increase in clinical trials with androgen receptor (AR)-targeting drugs emphasizes the need of clarifying the role of AR expression in different breast cancer subtypes. AR confers good prognosis in estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, but its role in ER-negative (ER−) breast cancer is unclear. The aim of this study was to elaborate on previous findings of a differential pro

This study evaluates the potential of supervised and transfer learning techniques to assist energy system optimization. A surrogate model is developed with the support of a supervised learning technique (by using artificial neural network) in order to bypass computationally intensive Actual Engineering Model (AEM). Eight different neural network architectures are considered in the process of devel

It is of paramount importance that software reliability requirements not only can be formulated, but also enforced and evaluated before accepting a software product for release. This requires sound acceptance criteria for software, which implies that methods for evaluating the software reliability are needed during the testing phase. Thus, theoretical models which are practically applicable are ne

In the last decade, many museums that were established in the 20th century in the United States by immigrants from Scandinavian and Nordic countries have become increasingly concerned with broadening their audiences. In cities such as Seattle and Minneapolis, efforts to do this have varied from offering cocktail hours and culinary conferences in striving to appeal to people who may not identify as

Integrin αβ heterodimer cell surface receptors mediate adhesive interactions that provide traction for cell migration. Here, we test whether the integrin, when engaged to an extracellular ligand and the cytoskeleton, adopts a specific orientation dictated by the direction of actin flow on the surface of migrating cells. We insert GFP into the rigid, ligand-binding head of the integrin, model with

Background: Patients experiencing high levels of pain after surgery remains a considerable clinical problem. Often, no consensus about the best analgesic treatment is present. The majority of clinical trials regarding postoperative pain, generally, target the average analgesic efficacy. In terms to step forward, a focus on the individual patients´ pain levels is needed and an identification of the

In polyandrous species, fathers benefit from attracting greater maternal investment toward their offspring at the expense of the offspring of other males, while mothers should usually allocate resources equally among offspring. This conflict can lead to an evolutionary arms race between the sexes, manifested through antagonistic genes whose expression in offspring depends upon the parent of origin

Background: Certain immunoglobulins (Ig) are proposed to have protective functions in atherosclerosis.Objectives: We tested whether serum levels of IgG and IgM autoantibodies against malondialdehyde low density lipoprotein (MDA-LDL) are associated with clinical coronary heart disease (CHD) and unfavorable plaque characteristics.Methods: NORDIL was a prospective study investigating adverse cardiova

The historical evolution of languages has been more than once influenced by the sheer influence of scholars who re-channeled some linguistic phenomena or simply consecrated aspects of colloquial usage. This happened in the history of Romanian language when the Latinist scholars cleansed the lexicon and parts of morphology of various non-Latin borrowings and derivations whereas they revived or inse

The largest dune fields in Sweden and Norway are small in international comparison but still form distinct parts of this previously glaciated landscape. The dunes formed c.10.5-9 ka ago, shortly after the last deglaciation, when winds close to the ice sheet were strong and vegetation was largely absent [1-4]. Since then they have been more or less stable and today they are covered by forest. Most

Background: The rising prevalence of dementia represents an important public health issue. There is currently no available cure for dementia disorders, only symptom-relieving therapies which can be either pharmacological or non-pharmacological. The number of non-pharmacological interventions for patients with dementia disorders and their caregivers have been increasing in recent years without much

Objectives. BMD in the hand, as evaluated by digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR), has been suggested to be a predictor for joint damage in RA. A predictor for long-term prognosis might also predict increased mortality in RA. The aim of the present study was to evaluate BMD in the hand as a predictor for all-cause mortality. Methods. In 1978, 152 consecutive patients (78% women, mean disease duratio

As sentient and social beings, we live in hope that we can be understood when we try to communicate with each other but we also know that we might be wrong. We strive for better understandings, engaging in an on-going ‘dance’ of collective sense-making. This paper considers how communication among individuals involves co-creation of meaning by exploring narratives – those expressed by a speaker an

Primers for amplification and sequencing of partial glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd) gene were designed for lichenized fungi. The 5' gpd primer is most probably fungal specific, since a BLAST search in GenBank found identical sequences only from ascomycetous taxa, whereas the 3' gpd primer was more universal. Utility of the gpd primers and previously designed beta-tubulin primers was