AIMS: Cellular communication network factor 2 (CCN2) is a matricellular protein implicated in fibrotic diseases, with ongoing clinical trials evaluating anti-CCN2-based therapies. By uncovering CCN2 as abundantly expressed in non-diseased artery tissue, this study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that CCN2 plays a pivotal role in maintaining smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotype and protection aga

Background: High body mass index (BMI) has been shown to have an association with chronic widespread pain (CWP), both in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in other pain conditions such as fibromyalgia. Research on the adipose tissue and it’s adipokines, for example the well described leptin, is emerging. The objective of this study was to determine if there is an association between leptin levels in b

Background: Home mechanical ventilation (HMV), noninvasive ventilation and invasive ventilation outside a hospital setting, is a key treatment to improve outcomes in chronic hypoventilation. Research Question: What are the temporal trends observed over 27 years in Sweden regarding the incidence, prevalence, diagnostic spectrum, and patient characteristics associated with HMV? Study Design and Meth

Background: With a trend toward de-escalation of axillary surgery in breast cancer, prediction models incorporating imaging modalities can help reassess the need for surgical axillary staging. Although mammography is routinely performed for breast cancer imaging, its potential in nodal staging remains underutilized. This study aims to employ advancements in deep learning (DL) to comprehensively ev

This article introduces a mode of thought called dystopian optimism in response to the question of how critical marketing can be made more optimistic. Dystopian optimism counters both the utopian-optimistic belief that the climate crisis can be solved from within the current growth-capitalist system, and the dystopian pessimism of terminal marketing. We propose degrowth as a means to revitalise cr

G-quadruplexes (G4s) have long been implicated in the regulation of chromatin packaging and gene expression. These processes require or are accelerated by the separation of related proteins into liquid condensates on DNA/RNA matrices. While cytoplasmic G4s are acknowledged scaffolds of potentially pathogenic condensates, the possible contribution of G4s to phase transitions in the nucleus has only

The retinal pigment epithelium is a monolayer of pigmented, hexagonal cells connected by tight junctions. These cells compose part of the outer blood-retina barrier, protect the eye from excessive light, have important secretory functions, and support the function of photoreceptors, ensuring the coordination of a variety of regulatory mechanisms. It is the degeneration of the pigment epithelium th

The pluripotency of newly developed human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is usually characterized by physiological parameters; i.e., by their ability to maintain the undifferentiated state and to differentiate into derivatives of the 3 germ layers. Nevertheless, a molecular comparison of physiologically normal iPSCs to the "gold standard" of pluripotency, embryonic stem cells (ESCs), often

In this work it is shown by deletion analysis that an intercistronic region (ICR) approximately 80 nucleotides in length is necessary for interaction with recombinant E. coli S7 protein (r6hEcoS7). A model is proposed for the interaction of S7 with two ICR sites-region of hairpin bifurcations and Shine-Dalgarno sequence of cistron S7. A de novo RNA binding site for heterologous S7 protein of Therm

In E. coli cells ribosomal small subunit biogenesis is regulated by RNA-protein interactions involving protein S7. S7 initiates the subunit assembly interacting with 16S rRNA. During shift-down of rRNA synthesis level, free S7 inhibits self-translation by interacting with 96 nucleotides long specific region of streptomycin (str) mRNA between cistrons S12 and S7 (intercistron). Many bacteria do not

Background: Previous research has indicated that long working hours are connected to a variety of health conditions, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, this association which has been observed in more population is limited. Our research is designed to evaluate the association between working hours, working type, and NAFLD.Methods: The study comprised adults with complete

The Red Sea crisis and the recent attacks on commercial ships have drawn significant attention worldwide, underscoring the need to understand how such geopolitical conflicts can disrupt global supply chains and economic stability. This paper thoroughly examines the complex impacts of the crisis on India's electronics and photonics sector, recognizing the sector's crucial importance as a fundamenta

This thesis describes the work done on two open access microcavities that aims at detecting single rare-earth ions for quantum information applications. The initial microcavity faced mechanical instability due to its geometry, which limited robust design possibilities due to the 25 mm diameter space of the helium bath cryostat. A Purcell enhancement of 2.2 was realized for nanoparticles at 2.1 K,

This article examines the role of Swedish municipalities and municipally-owned energy utilities (MEUs) in advancing energy democracy through local renewable energy projects. Energy democracy emphasizes citizen participation and local control in energy governance. However, traditional representative democracy and municipal involvement remain central in Sweden, where trust in institutions and high t

Serial dependence (SD) is said to occur when the judgment of a current stimulus is drawn toward a no longer relevant stimulus from the recent past. Working memory (WM) contributes to the ability to discriminate between irrelevant and relevant sensory impressions. How WM contributes to SD in facial identity remains to be fully understood. In the present study, we used a WM task with varying load in

Mångfalden av våtmarker, vattendrag, sjöar och grundvatten samverkar i ett större perspektiv inom ett avrinningsområde. Funktioner som är sammankopplade och beroende av varandra. En holistisk förståelse av våtmarker utgår från att vi tar hänsyn till alla delar. En funktion forskarna i denna rapport benämner hydrodiversitet. Forskarna har undersökt hur stor nyttan är ur ett hydrologiskt och ekonomiThis report presents our research project EcoDiver, funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The project was conducted as a collaboration between Lund University and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).The main thesis has been hydrodiversity, where the diversity of hydrological units, such as wetlands, lakes, rivers and groundwater, within a catchment area interact and affect the