Objective To examine trends in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as an underlying cause of death (UCD) in 31 countries across the globe during 1987-2011. Methods Data on mortality and population were collected from the World Health Organization mortality database and the United Nations. Age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) were calculated by means of direct standardization. We applied joinpoint regress

The family of galectin proteins involved in adhesion, growth regulation, immunity, and inflammatory events are important targets for development of small molecule antagonists. Here, N-sulfonyl amidine galactopyranoside derivatives obtained via a multicomponent reaction between galactose alkyne derivatives, sulfonyl azides, and amines were evaluated as antagonists of galectin-1,-2,-3,-4N (N-termina

Energy-intensive processing industries like the concrete industry form the base of the economy and account for a large part of global greenhouse gas emissions. Sectoral transformation to cleaner basic materials is therefore crucial, and institutional pressure to do so is increasing. However, socio-technical studies have not sufficiently addressed these sectors. This paper therefore sets out to ana

'If you read only one book on the English language-read this one. English - One Tongue, Many Voices covers all aspects of the English language: its global spread, international and local varieties, history from obscurity to primacy, usage and uses, standards and creoles, style and change in progress, politics and controversy. The scope of the book is vast, its depth impressive, and its balance adm

Background: Protein kinase C o (PKCo) is known to be an important regulator of apoptosis, having mainly pro-but also anti-Apoptotic effects depending on context. In a previous study, we found that PKCo interacts with the pro-Apoptotic protein Smac. Smac facilitates apoptosis by suppressing inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs). We previously established that the PKCo-Smac complex dissociates duri

Optical imaging with microarcsecond resolution will reveal details across and outside stellar surfaces but requires kilometer-scale interferometers, challenging to realize either on the ground or in space. Intensity interferometry, electronically connecting independent telescopes, has a noise budget that relates to the electronic time resolution, circumventing issues of atmospheric turbulence. Ext

This thesis contains four independent research papers, which investigate the causal relations between several aspects of health and economic outcomes at different stages of the life course. The first paper investigates the causal effects of maternal deprivation and maltreatment during various periods of childhood on adolescent health and human capital. Using hospital data and information onninth y

Sexual conflict and its evolutionary consequences are understudied in plants, but the theory of sexual conflict may help explain how selection generates and maintains variability. Here, we investigated selection on pollen and pistil traits when pollen arrives sequentially to partially receptive pistils in relation to pollen competition and a sexual conflict over timing of stigma receptivity in the

The TIMESAT software package has been developed to enable monitoring of dynamic land surface processes using remotely sensed data. The monitoring capability is based on processing of time-series for each image pixel using either of three smoothing methods included in TIMESAT: asymmetric Gaussian fits, doublelogistic fits, and Savitzky-Golay filtering. The methods have different properties and are

There is (or should be) an archived specimen, a reference copy if you like, for all living and fossil species that have been described scientifically. These physical specimens, so-called name-bearing type specimens, are housed at museums or academic institutes around the world for researchers to study and perhaps compare with their own material. But what about our own species, Homo sapiens?.

Enhanced production of hadrons with s-quark content has been observed in pp collisions at LHC, and earlier in collisions of heavy nuclei. We review the string hadronisation formalism and corrections from rope hadronisation and colour reconnection. Both are corrections which take place in such dense environments, and both improve existing descriptions of data. Since such corrections are very sensit

The contribution of Rafael Capurro to the clarification of the uses of the concept of information has a conceptual as well a historical dimension; in this last sense, there are few philosophers of information that can follow the history of the concept of information in the works of the Classics with the accuracy and erudition of Capurro We find that his contribution embraces the following fields:

The most efficient way of building up energy in an oscillating system is to do it in phase with a resonant frequency of the system. If the resonant frequency changes for any reason this is difficult to obtain with a static frequency generator. It is of course possible to sweep over a frequency interval to find the maximum repeatedly, but a frequency sweep takes time and it is performed at discrete

The purpose of this article is to attempt to establish the ideological positions of the most important representatives of the mediation in Sweden of the works of Mexican writer Octavio Paz. First, the basic outlines of this mediation will be drawn to establish the most important actors by focusing on translators who are also authors of paratexts in books by Paz that have been edited by Swedish edi

To demonstrate and support sustainability of large-scale infrastructure projects, life cycle assessment (LCA) has become a common tool used in the evaluation of environmental impact. However, LCA includes a number of phases, which are all associated with uncertainties. Decisions made without regard to these uncertainties may be suboptimal and/or misleading. The current paper discusses some importa

Uneven exposure to e.g. solar radiation can cause temperature differences between various structural parts of a bridge, which leads to tensile stresses if the parts cannot move freely. In this study, thermal simulations and stress calculations on a model of a portal frame bridge are performed with the aim of evaluating the temperature difference between the bridge parts. Factorial design is used i

There is an increasing need for reliable methods to assess load-carrying capacity and remaining service life of existing infrastructure. Several previous research projects have resulted in a verified, simple 1D model for assessment of anchorage in corroded reinforced concrete structures. Previous verification has involved both experiments and detailed 3D NLFE analyses. To further develop the 1D mo