BACKGROUND: Concerns remain about the human reproductive toxicity of the widespread per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during early stages of development. OBJECTIVES: We examined associations between maternal plasma PFAS levels during early pregnancy and male offspring reproductive function in adulthood. METHODS: The study included 864 young men (age range:18.9-21.2 y) from the Fetal Progr

Knowledge about stroke and its management is growing rapidly and stroke systems of care must adapt to deliver evidence-based care. Quality improvement initiatives are essential for translating knowledge from clinical trials and recommendations in guidelines into routine clinical practice. This review focuses on issues central to the measurement of the quality of stroke care, including selection an

The structural and morphological properties of gadolinium oxide (Gd 2O 3) grown at high temperatures with molecular beam epitaxy on Si(001) were investigated for different stages of growth. The Gd 2O 3 layers were grown at 850 °C with different oxygen partial pressures and substrate miscuts. RHEED and XRD investigations indicate an initial formation of silicide and a subsequent transformation into

Microgravity-induced bone loss is a major concern for space travelers. Ground-based microgravity simulators are crucial to study the effect of microgravity exposure on biological systems and to address the limitations posed by restricted access to real space. In this work, for the first time, we adopt a multidisciplinary approach to characterize the morphological, biochemical, and molecular change

The thermal stability of monoclinic Gd2O3 grown on Si(001) as well as changes of the interfacial layer formed during the growth are investigated during rapid thermal annealing in nitrogen atmosphere between 600 °C and 1000 °C using x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The monoclinic Gd2O3 layer was grown at 400 °C and oxygen partial pressure of 5 × 10−7 mbar. The Gd2O3 lay

Examples of Fell algebras with compact spectrum and trivial Dixmier-Douady invariant are constructed to illustrate differences with the case of continuous-trace C∗-algebras. At the level of the spectrum, this translates to only assuming the spectrum is locally Hausdorff (rather than Hausdorff). The existence of (full) projections is the fundamental question considered. The class of Fell algebras s

Background: Children in families who are refugees might experience more adversities than their peers. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well known risk factors for poorer adulthood health and adjustment. The risk of ACEs for children with a parent who is a refugee affected by trauma is unknown. We aimed to estimate the hazard of individual and cumulative ACEs using a unique sample of childr

The structural and dielectric properties of gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) grown on Si(001) depending on the epitaxial growth conditions were investigated. Gd2O3 layers were grown at temperatures between 250 °C and 400 °C with an oxygen partial pressure between 2 x 10-7 mbar and 5 x10-7 mbar. The crystal structure of the Gd2O3 turns out to be monoclinic with rotational domains as revealed by x-ray diffr

INTRODUCTION: Knee injury history and increased joint load, respectively, are major risk factors for the development of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Lower extremity muscle function, such as knee muscle strength, influence joint load and may be important for the onset of knee OA. However, the role of muscle function as a possible modifiable protective mechanism for the development of OA after anterior

Slaughter transportation of pigs can be considered a high-risk occupation, but has received very little scientific attention. We investigated the effect of a training intervention on transport drivers’ physical workload, in terms of postures and movements, and time efficiency during loading of finishing pigs for slaughter transport. The training targeted pig handling and ergonomic working principl

The influence of growth conditions on the layer orientation, domain structure and crystal structure of gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) on silicon (001) has been investigated. Gd2O3 was grown at low (250°C) and high (850°C) temperatures with different oxygen partial pressure as well as a temperature ramp up during growth. At low temperature, the cubic bixbyite type of crystal structure with space group Ia

Lignin, the most abundant aromatic biopolymer on Earth, is often considered a biorefinery by-product, despite its potential to be valorized into high-added-value chemicals and fuels. In this work, an integrated superstructure-based optimization model was set up and optimized using mixed-integer non-linear programming for the conversion of technical lignin to three main biobased products: aromatic

BACKGROUND: In Southeast-Asia, where many conditions associated with dissemination of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) in the community are met, data from the community are scarce but show high ESBL-E carriage prevalence. Maternal ESBL-E colonization is considered a risk factor for neonatal colonization, which is the first step towards developing neonatal sepsis. Despite this, ESBL-E carri

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a serine protease belonging to the human glandular kallikrein gene family [1–3]. The expression of PSA is mainly androgen dependent, and the detection of very high expression levels is restricted to the prostate tissue, but extraprostatic production at much lower levels has been demonstrated in several other tissues such as normal and malignant breast epithelium,

A radial flow cell (RFC, inlet tube radius 0.95 mm and gaps of 1–4.2 mm) was used to investigate the removal of two thin (80–230 µm thick) model soil layers from glass and 304 stainless steel substrates by the flow of water at 20 °C. Under the flow conditions employed (Reynolds numbers 200–1400), inertial effects give rise to recirculation zones and regions of high shear stress on the bottom, soil

Objectives: The introduction of time-dependent reperfusion therapies in acute ischemic stroke has increased the need for early identification. We explore the safety and feasibility of STROKE ALARM which detects sudden arm paresis, the most frequent symptom in stroke. Materials and methods: Consecutive patients admitted with a stroke or TIA at Skåne University Hospital were screened according to in

Introduction: Cycling as a means of transport or recreational activity is increasing in popularity in Ireland. However, increasing numbers of cyclists may lead to an increased number of bicycle collisions and fatalities. The Road Safety Authority is the statutory body for road safety in Ireland but uses police data alone to collate cycling collision statistics. This may lead to an underestimation

Trusting behaviour is a cornerstone of cooperation and, hence, economic performance, not least in poorer communities where economic transactions often rely on informal agreements. But trusting behaviour is potentially costly since the counterpart may decide to defect. In this study, we investigate whether food scarcity influences the level of trusting behaviour in rural Tanzania by leveraging quas

BACKGROUND: Exclusive breastfeeding is the optimal infant nutrition, providing infants immunoprotection against many diseases including SARS-CoV-2 infection. Restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic may have negatively affected breastfeeding practices in maternity care facilities. The aims of the study were to examine exclusive breastfeeding rates at discharge over time and to identify factors as