The Scandinavian ACL registries 2004–2007: baseline epidemiology

Background and purpose No prospective surveillance systems have been available for monitoring the outcome of cruciate ligament surgery in Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden). In the present paper we describe the Scandinavian ACL registries including their main function, similarities, and preliminary baseline results

Silver-spoon upbringing improves early-life fitness but promotes reproductive ageing in a wild bird

Early-life conditions can have long-lasting effects and organisms that experience a poor start in life are often expected to age at a faster rate. Alternatively, individuals raised in high-quality environments can overinvest in early-reproduction resulting in rapid ageing. Here we use a long-term experimental manipulation of early-life conditions in a natural population of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), to show that females raised in a low-competition environment (artificially reduced broods) have higher early-life reproduction but lower late-life reproduction than females raised in high-competition environment (artificially increased broods). Reproductive success of high-competition females peaked in late-life, when low-competition females were already in steep reproductive decline and suffered from a higher mortality rate. Our results demonstrate that ‘silver-spoon’ natal conditions increase female early-life performance at the cost of faster reproductive ageing and increased late-life mortality. These findings demonstrate experimentally that natal environment shapes individual variation in reproductive and actuarial ageing in nature

Thoracic and abdominal aortic dimension in 70-year-old men and women – A population-based whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study

ObjectiveThe aim of this population-based study was to determine the optimal dividing-line between normal aorta and aneurysm for different aortic segments in 70-year-old men and women by means of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging.MethodsTwo hundred thirty-one subjects (116 men), randomly recruited from a population-based cohort study, were included. The smallest outer diameter (dia) was measured on the axial survey scan on six predefined aortic segments: (1) ascending aorta, (2) descending aorta, (3) supraceliac aorta, (4) suprarenal aorta, (5) largest infrarenal abdominal aorta, and (6) aortic bifurcation. Relative aortic dia were calculated by dividing a given aortic dia by the suprarenal aortic dia. The dividing-line between normal aorta and aneurysm at different aortic segments was estimated by taking the mean dia +2 SD and/or mean ratio of the aortic segment to the suprarenal aorta +2 SD.ResultsThe mean dia of the six segments were 4.0 cm (SD 0.4), 3.2 cm (0.3), 3.0 cm (0.3), 2.8 cm (0.3), 2.4 cm (0.5), and 2.3 cm (0.3) in men. The corresponding dia in women were 3.4 cm (0.4), 2.8 cm (0.3), 2.7 cm (0.3), 2.7 cm (0.3), 2.2 cm (0.3), and 2.0 cm (0.2). The mean ratio to the suprarenal aorta was 1.4 (SD 0.2) for the ascending aorta, 1.2 (0.1) for the descending aorta, and 0.9 (0.2) for the infrarenal aorta in men. The corresponding ratios in women were 1.3 (0.2), 1.0 (0.1), and 0.8 (0.1).ConclusionFor men the suggested dividing-line (dia and ratio) between normal aorta and aneurysm for the ascending aorta is 4.7 cm dia and 1.8 ratio, for the descending aorta 3.7 cm dia and 1.5 ratio, and for the infrarenal aorta is 3.0 cm dia and 1.1 ratio. The corresponding dividing-lines for women are 4.2 cm dia and 1.7 ratio, 3.3 cm dia and 1.3 ratio, and 2.7 cm dia and 1.0 ratio

Utom rimligt tvivel-speciellt om muntliga utsagor

Ett av de stora problemen som domstolarna ställs inför i sin dömande verksamhet är hur man ska kunna värdera sanningshalten i en vittnesutsaga. I de fall där stödbevisning i form av rättsmedicinska utlåtanden eller annan teknisk bevisning saknas kan man bara falla tillbaka på trovärdigheten hos utsagepersonen och tillförlitligheten av dennes utsaga. Detta är en bedömning som aldrig kan bli lika säker som t.ex. bedömningen av om ett fingeravtryck har avsatts av en viss person eller ej. Man kan rimligen inte nå en hundraprocentig övertygelse om att en person talar sanning. Kravet på bevisningens styrka kan därför inte sättas till ställt utom allt tvivel. Beviskravet i svensk rätt vad gäller brottmål är att rättens övertygelse om den tilltalades skuld ska vara ställd utom rimligt tvivel. Då lagreglering saknas om beviskravet har detta fastställts i praxis. Detta i sin tur innebär att det är i domstolarna som man har fastställt vad som krävs för att beviskravet ska anses uppfyllt. Till ledning för domstolarna har Högsta Domstolen ställt upp ett antal kriterier som används som stöd för bedömningen av utsagepersonens trovärdighet och utsagans tillförlitlighet. De av Högsta Domstolen uppställda kriterierna som används vid bedömningen presenteras och kommenteras här separat. En överskådlig bild ges av de förekommande bevisvärderingsmetoderna i svensk rätt samt en kortare presentation av relevanta straffprocessliga principer. I uppsatsen undersöks uppfattningen i doktrinen om vad beviskravet innebär i mål där den huvudsakliga bevisningen består av en målsägandeutsaga. Genom analys av ett antal rättsfall med både friande och fällande domar ges en bild av skillnaderna mellan mål där beviskravet har ansetts uppfyllt och de mål där så inte har varit fallet. Svårigheterna med ämnet är framförallt att det inte redovisas speciellt utförligt i vare sig doktrin eller praxis vad som kan betecknas som beviskravets nedre gräns. Det framgår av uppsatsen att det oftast, i doktrinen, handlar om generella uttalanden som är svåra att omvandla till ledning för det praktiska arbetet. Omvänt är det så att de uttalanden man finner i praxis är svåra att omformulera till ett abstrakt uttryck för innebörden av beviskravets nedre gräns. Det som främst kan konstateras i uppsatsen är att en målsägandeutsaga måste hålla en viss kvalitet för att kunna läggas till grund för en fällande dom samt att alternativa förklaringar till händelseförloppet som kan bedömas lika troliga har kunnat uteslutas

Thin electron beam defined hydrogen silsesquioxane spacers for vertical nanowire transistors

A method to fabricate inorganic vertical spacer layers with well-controlled thickness down to 40 nm using electron beam exposure is demonstrated. These spacers are suitable in vertical nanowire transistor configuration. As spacer material, the authors use hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), a material with low permittivity and high durability. They show that the resulting HSQ thickness can be controlled by electron dose used and it also depend on the initial thickness of the HSQ layer. To achieve good reproducibility, the authors found it necessary to fully submerge the nanowires beneath the HSQ layer initially and that the thickness of HSQ before exposure needs to be determined. Finally, they introduce these steps in an existing transistor process and demonstrate vertical nanowire transistors with high performance. (C) 2014 American Vacuum Society

Unipolar and bipolar operation of InAs/InSb nanowire heterostructure field-effect transistors

We present temperature dependent electrical measurements on n-type InAs/InSb nanowireheterostructurefield-effect transistors. The barrier height of the heterostructure junction is determined to be 220 meV, indicating a broken bandgap alignment. A clear asymmetry is observed when applying a bias to either the InAs or the InSb side of the junction. Impact ionization and band-to-band tunneling is more pronounced when the large voltage drop occurs in the narrow bandgapInSb segment. For small negative gate-voltages, the InSb segment can be tuned toward p-type conduction, which induces a strong band-to-band tunneling across the heterostructucture junction.This work was carried out within the Nanometer Structure Consortium at Lund University and was supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR), the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF), and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation

Circulating Levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Carotid Atherosclerosis in the Elderly

Background and objective: Increased circulating levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been associated with myocardial infarction. Because myocardial infarction is an atherosclerotic disease, we investigated, in a cross-sectional study, whether POP levels are related to atherosclerosis

Financial Stability and Monetary Policy: The Effects of Macroprudential Policy Instruments on the Goals of Monetary Policy and a Discussion of the Interaction of Instruments

Throughout modern history many different approaches to financial regulation have been tried. However, as the recent financial crisis of 2007 demonstrated, the existing rules and regulations were not enough to prevent a financial crash. The crisis spurred new thinking and one outcome was the idea of a broader use of time-varying macroprudential policy. The experience of many of these new policies is limited. However, since many of the proposed policy measures affects the credit market, it is not unlikely that some of the measures may slow down economic growth. Of the same reason, the question of whether these new policy measures have an effect on the efficiency of monetary policy has been posed. This thesis is an extensive review of much of the literature concerning macropruden- tial policy with a special consideration to the literature concerning its interaction with monetary policy. Using a discussion between Lars Svensson and Michael Wood- ford as a backdrop, two different proposals onto how to best address systemic risk is discussed. Their discussion serves as a basis for an analysis of many of the issues addressed in the literature. Until more empirical results about the effects of macroprudential policy is presented, it is difficult to make clear suggestions about how best to coordinate macroprudential and monetary policy. The term "macroprudential" must be concretized and more empirical results on the extent to which macroprudential instruments affects the efficiency of monetary policy is needed. If these results were to indicate that macro- prudential policy does interact with monetary policy, some form of coordination of policy may be appropriate

RF and DC Analysis of Stressed InGaAs MOSFETs

A complete reliability study of the DC and RF characteristics for InGaAs nMOSFETs with aluminium oxide/ hafnium oxide dielectric is presented. The main stress variation at high frequencies is related to a threshold voltage shift, whereas no decrease is found in the maximum of the cut-off frequency and RF-transconductance. Constant gate stress leads to a charge build up causing a threshold voltage shift. Furthermore, electron trapping at the drain side degrades the performance after hot carrier stress. The maximum DC-transconductance is reduced following constant gate bias stress, by an increase in charge trapping at border defects. These border defects at the channel/high-k interface are filled by cold carrier trapping when the transistor is turned on, whereas they do not respond at high frequencies

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the apolipoprotein B and low density lipoprotein receptor genes affect response to antihypertensive treatment

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia has been associated with hypertension. The present study explored if polymorphisms in genes encoding proteins in lipid metabolism could be used as predictors for the individual response to antihypertensive treatment. METHODS: Ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in genes related to lipid metabolism were analysed by a microarray based minisequencing system in DNA samples from ninety-seven hypertensive subjects randomised to treatment with either 150 mg of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker irbesartan or 50 mg of the β(1)-adrenergic receptor blocker atenolol for twelve weeks. RESULTS: The reduction in blood pressure was similar in both treatment groups. The SNP C711T in the apolipoprotein B gene was associated with the blood pressure response to irbesartan with an average reduction of 19 mmHg in the individuals carrying the C-allele, but not to atenolol. The C16730T polymorphism in the low density lipoprotein receptor gene predicted the change in systolic blood pressure in the atenolol group with an average reduction of 14 mmHg in the individuals carrying the C-allele. CONCLUSIONS: Polymorphisms in genes encoding proteins in the lipid metabolism are associated with the response to antihypertensive treatment in a drug specific pattern. These results highlight the potential use of pharmacogenetics as a guide for individualised antihypertensive treatment, and also the role of lipids in blood pressure control