Introduction: Clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa support that HIV self-testing (HIVST) can increase testing rates in difficult-to-reach populations. However, trials mostly evaluate oral fluid HIVST only. We describe preferences for oral fluid vs. blood-based HIVST to elucidate prior trial results and inform testing programs. Methods: Participants were recruited from a HIVST randomized controlle

Background: Smoking has shown interactions with bladder cancer (BC) genetic variants, especially N-acetyltransferase-2 (NAT2), a tobacco smoke metabolism gene, on BC risk. The interactions by disease aggressiveness are unknown. Methods: We investigated the interaction between smoking and 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for BC, individually and in a genetic risk score (GRS), on urothelial

Background: Gallstones intervention during pregnancy might be a stressful event for both mother and fetus and stress might affect outcome. The aim of this study was to identify factors that might improve the care of pregnant patients in need of intervention for gallstone disease. Methods: By crossmatching the Swedish Registry of Gallstone Surgery and Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography

The atomic arrangement of the terminating facets on spinel Co3O4 nanocrystals is strongly linked to their catalytic performance. However, the spinel crystal structure offers multiple possible surface terminations depending on the synthesis. Thus, understanding the terminating surface atomic structure is essential in developing high-performance Co3O4 nanocrystals. In this work, we present direct at

Herbaceous aboveground biomass (HAB) is a key indicator of grassland vegetation and indirect estimation tools, such as remote sensing imagery, increase the potential for covering larger areas in a timely and cost-efficient way. Structure from Motion (SfM) is an image analysis process that can create a variety of 3D spatial models as well as 2D orthomosaics from a set of images. Computed from Unman

Aims: Recent studies have suggested potential sex differences in treatment response to pharmacological therapies in heart failure (HF). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing treatment effects between men and women with HF and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) using established guideline-directed medical therapy and other emerging pharmacological treatments. Method

This paper aims to analyze some different solutions that were adopted in control education activities during the pandemic. The authors of this paper are educators in the control education field from different countries on all the continents, who have developed a questionnaire with the idea of collecting data about the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the control education activities. The main objective

Identifiability and sensitivity of thermal boundary coefficients identified alongside thermal material parameters by means of full field measurements during a simple tension test are shown empirically using a simple tension test with self heating as a proof of concept. The identification is started for 10 different initial guesses, all of which converge toward the same optimum. The solution appear

Background and Objectives: Treatment of high-grade osteosarcoma (OS) relies on a combination of systemic chemotherapy and radical surgical excision of the tumor. Little is known on what happens in case of an irrefutably inadequate (intralesional) margin. We aimed to describe the outcome of patients with high-grade OSs of the trunk and the extremities where planned wide resection resulted in an int

Engineering, in general, is a non-diverse profession around the globe. Women are one group of minorities in engineering. Despite the fact that control engineering is heavily based on mathematics, which has a larger number of female students, it has the same proportion of women as other engineering disciplines. To address the issue of low female participation in engineering disciplines both at univ

Objective: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of strategies to prevent spontaneous preterm delivery (PTD) in asymptomatic singleton pregnancies, using prevalence and healthcare cost data from the Swedish healthcare context. Methods: We designed a decision analytic model based on the Swedish CERVIX study to estimate the cost-effectiveness of strategies to prevent spontaneous PTD in asymptomatic wom

The humanitarian sector has formulated a collective strategic intent to localize. This involves delegating responsibilities and transferring capacities and resources to national and local actors. However, progress is slower than expected. Strategy execution is hard, and translating a general strategic intent to the actual way humanitarian organizations operate is not obvious. To suggest remedies f

OBJECTIVES: The primary aim of this study was to describe the ultrasound features of various endometrial and other intracavitary pathologies in women without abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) using the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) terminology. The secondary aim was to compare our findings with published data on women with AUB. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study of

Flooding and wildfires are two common natural hazards in Sweden to which the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) must be prepared to respond to. In light of potential increases in these hazards, the Extreme-Index project aims to develop such a multi-hazard tool for Sweden. In this paper, a modular multi-hazard framework is presented. The first module of the multi-hazard methodology that is developed an

High-throughput sequencing of adaptive immune receptor repertoires (AIRR, i.e., IG and TR) has revolutionized the ability to carry out large-scale experiments to study the adaptive immune response. Since the method was first introduced in 2009, AIRR sequencing (AIRR-Seq) has been applied to survey the immune state of individuals, identify antigen-specific or immune-state-associated signatures of i

The present study experimentally demonstrates a novel design for an internal endwall in a two-pass duct heat exchanger. An array of delta-winglet vortex generator pairs with different aspect ratio, angle of attack, configuration are mounted on the internal endwall in a U duct. Liquid crystal thermalgraphy and static pressure measurements are utilized in this study to evaluate the heat transfer, th

This paper investigated methane/air flame characteristics with hydrogen addition in micro confined combustion space experimentally and computationally. The focus is on the effect of hydrogen addition on the methane/air flame stabilization, the onset of flame with repetitive extinction and ignition (FREI), and the global flame quenching in decreasing continuously combustion space. Furthermore, the

Objective: This study aimed to estimate the association between potential risk factors and common vaginal infections using nationwide primary health care and other national registers. Methods: An open cohort study consisting of 2,357,711 women aged 15 years to 50 years (2001 to 2018) was conducted in Sweden. The outcomes were first event of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and bacterial vaginosis (B

On March 18, 2019, Safar (a pseudonym) was on an airplane heading to Istanbul in search of new adventures. The evening flight from Tashkent to Istanbul on Uzbekistan Airways took just under six hours.

Global political developments, economic growth and trade liberalization since the 1980s have changed the political and economic landscapes of most regions in the world. First, the collapse of the Soviet Union (and the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe) lead to the movement of large segments of populations. For example, the dissolution of the Soviet Union alone left tens of millions o