| 11. |
- Borschel, Christian, et al.
(författare)
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A New Route toward Semiconductor Nanospintronics : Highly Mn-Doped GaAs Nanowires Realized by Ion-Implantation under Dynamic Annealing Conditions
- 2011
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Ingår i: Nano letters (Print). - Washington : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1530-6984 .- 1530-6992. ; 11:9, s. 3935-3940
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on highly Mn-doped GaAs nanowires (NWs) of high crystalline quality fabricated by ion beam implantation, a technique that allows doping concentrations beyond the equilibrium solubility limit. We studied two approaches for the preparation of Mn-doped GaAs NWs: First, ion implantation at room temperature with subsequent annealing resulted in polycrystalline NWs and phase segregation of MnAs and GaAs. The second approach was ion implantation at elevated temperatures. In this case, the single-crystallinity of the GaAs NWs was maintained, and crystalline, highly Mn-doped GaAs NWs were obtained. The electrical resistance of such NWs dropped with increasing temperature (activation energy about 70 meV). Corresponding magnetoresistance measurements showed a decrease at low temperatures, indicating paramagnetism. Our findings suggest possibilities for future applications where dense arrays of GaMnAs nanowires may be used as a new kind of magnetic material system.
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| 12. |
- Bremander, Ann, et al.
(författare)
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Depression and age as predictors of patient-reported outcome in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme for chronic musculoskeletal pain.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Musculoskeletal Care. - : Wiley. - 1557-0681 .- 1478-2189. ; 9:1, s. 8-41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background. The recommended treatment for chronic musculoskeletal pain is multidisciplinary, with a cognitive approach. The aim of this study was to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcome after a multidisciplinary treatment with a cognitive approach. Methods. A total of 131 subjects who participated in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme (2005-2008) were studied at baseline and after six months, using the Short Form Short Form 36-item Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36) as primary outcome (HRQoL), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) and pain as secondary outcomes and possible baseline predictors for HRQoL. Results. Complete data were available for 97 subjects (85 women, mean age [SD] 44.6 [9.7] years). The SF-36 subscales physical function (PF), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social function (SF) and mental health (MH), the visual analogue scale for pain and the HAD improved significantly (p < 0.05) at follow-up compared with baseline. A pre-treatment probable depression (HAD score ≥11) was associated with a favourable outcome of the SF-36 subscales PF (odds ratio [OR] 5.6; p = 0.01), VT (OR 4.3; p = 0.02) and MH (OR 3.6; p = 0.02). A probable anxiety (HAD score ≥11) was associated with a favourable outcome of PF (OR 2.6; p = 0.05). There was an even stronger association for younger subjects (20-45 years), with probable depression scores at baseline and a favourable HRQoL outcome at follow up. Conclusion. This multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme, using a non-pharmacological cognitive approach, seemed to yield a better outcome concerning HRQoL measures in younger subjects with higher depression scores at baseline. This information is important for clinics when tailoring a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme for patients with musculoskeletal chronic pain. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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| 13. |
- Bremander, Ann, 1957-, et al.
(författare)
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Population-based estimates of common comorbidities and cardiovascular disease in ankylosing spondylitis
- 2011
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Ingår i: Arthritis care & research. - Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons. - 2151-464X .- 2151-4658. ; 63:4, s. 550-556
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To study the rate of common comorbidities and cardiovascular disease in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) compared with the general population seeking health care.METHODS: This cohort study included 935 subjects (67% men) ages ≥20 years diagnosed with AS and the adult background population in Southern Sweden. During 2004 to 2007 we recorded the occurrence of physicians' diagnostic codes for a select number of comorbidities commonly associated with AS and cardiovascular disease and risk factors. We obtained standardized morbidity-rate ratios (SMRs) by dividing the observed morbidity rate in AS patients by the expected rate based on the corresponding rate of the disease in the general population of the county seeking health care.RESULTS: The highest SMRs were found for uveitis (34.35, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 28.55-40.98) and inflammatory bowel disease (9.28, 95% CI 7.07-11.97). Also, we found increased SMRs for ischemic heart diseases (2.20, 95% CI 1.77-2.70), hypertension (1.98, 95% CI 1.72-2.28), and diabetes mellitus (1.41, 95% CI 1.10-1.78). Furthermore, the SMRs for psoriasis, osteoporosis, and atrioventricular blocks were also statistically significantly elevated.CONCLUSION: Inflammatory diseases affecting the eye and the digestive system were the most notable comorbidities in AS patients, but the rate for cardiovascular disease was also high. Using comprehensive longitudinal population-based register data is a promising tool to evaluate the excess consultation rate and total burden of rheumatic disease on patients and society. Copyright © 2011 by the American College of Rheumatology.
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| 14. |
- Broberg, Pernilla, et al.
(författare)
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What explains variation in voluntary disclosure? : A study of the annual reports of corporations listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Management and Governance. - New York, NY : Springer-Verlag New York. - 1385-3457 .- 1572-963X. ; 14:4, s. 351-377
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The demand for information and transparency from listed corporations has recently increased. In spite of an increased demand for mandatory disclosures from regulators, corporations choose to voluntarily disclose additional information in order to satisfy demands from the capital market. However, the extent and content of information in those voluntary disclosures vary across corporations. The aim of this study is to explain the variation in the content of information in voluntary disclosures by listed corporations. The analyses are based on data collected from 431 annual reports from corporations listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the years 2002 and 2005. The findings support explanations from agency theory and positive accounting theory that size and the debt ratio are positively correlated with the content of information in voluntary disclosures. Corporations with a high share of management ownership disclosed less information than corporations with a low share of management ownership. The study also shows that variations in voluntary disclosures can be explained by factors derived from institutional theory and ’international capital market pressures’. The results indicate that foreign ownership and international listing to some extent have a positive effect on the content of information in voluntary disclosures. Industry was another factor that had a significant influence on voluntary disclosures. One important finding is that regulation to some extent can stimulate voluntary disclosures; our results did not indicate an ’unintended chilling effect’ due to too much regulation. In general, the corporations disclosed more voluntary information after the introduction of IFRS. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Bäcklund, A., et al.
(författare)
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Cystatin C influences the autoimmune but not inflammatory response to cartilage type II collagen leading to chronic arthritis development
- 2011
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Ingår i: Arthritis Research & Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1478-6354 .- 1478-6362. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) is a mouse model for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and is induced after immunization with type II collagen (CII). CIA, like RA, is an autoimmune disease leading to destruction of cartilage and joints, and both the priming and inflammatory phases have been suggested to be dependent on proteases. In particular, the cysteine proteases have been proposed to be detrimental to the arthritic process and even immunomodulatory. A natural inhibitor of cysteine proteases is cystatin C. METHODS: Cystatin C-deficient, sufficient and heterozygous mice were tested for onset, incidence and severity of CIA. The effect of cystatin C-deficiency was further dissected by testing the inflammatory effector phase of CIA; that is, collagen antibody-induced arthritis model and priming phase, that is, T cell response both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, in order to determine the importance of T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs), these cell populations were separated and in vitro T cell responses determined in a mixed co-culture system. Finally, flow cytometry was used in order to further characterize cell populations in cystatin C-deficient mice. RESULTS: Here, we show that mice lacking cystatin C, develop arthritis at a higher incidence and an earlier onset than wild-type controls. Interestingly, when the inflammatory phase of CIA was examined independently from immune priming then cystatin C-deficiency did not enhance the arthritis profile. However, in line with the enhanced CIA, there was an increased T cell and B cell response as delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction and anti-CII antibody titers were elevated in the cystatin C-deficient mice after immunization. In addition, the ex vivo naive APCs from cystatin C-deficient mice had a greater capacity to stimulate T cells. Interestingly, dendritic cells had a more activated phenotype in naive cystatin C-deficient mice. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of cystatin C enhances CIA and primarily affects in vivo priming of the immune system. Although the mechanism of this is still unknown, we show evidence for a more activated APC compartment, which would elevate the autoimmune response towards CII, thus resulting in an enhanced development of chronic arthritis.
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| 17. |
- Cao, D., et al.
(författare)
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Pathogenic autoreactive B cells are not negatively selected toward matrix protein collagen II
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Immunology. - : The American Association of Immunologists. - 0022-1767 .- 1550-6606. ; 187:9, s. 4451-4458
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have addressed the importance of B cell tolerance to collagen type II, a matrix protein, which is a target in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its mouse models. We generated a germline-encoded anti-collagen type II (CII) IgH replacement anti-C1 B cell mouse strain (ACB) to investigate how B cell tolerance to CII, a matrix protein, is subverted and to further understand pathogenesis of RA. Phenotypic analysis revealed that CII-specific B cells were surprisingly neither deleted nor anergized. Instead, they were readily detected in all lymphoid organs. Spontaneously produced autoantibodies could bind directly to cartilage surface without detectable pathology. However, exaggerated arthritis was seen after injection of anti-CII Abs specific for other epitopes. In addition, Abs from CII-specific hybridomas generated from ACB mice induced arthritis. Interestingly, IgH/L chain sequence data in B cell hybridomas revealed a lack of somatic mutations in autoreactive B cells. The ACB model provides the first possibility, to our knowledge, to study B cell tolerance to a matrix protein, and the observations made in the study could not be predicted from previous models. B cell-reactive epitopes on CII are largely shared between human RA and rodent CII-induced arthritis; this study, therefore, has important implications for further understanding of pathological processes in autoimmune diseases like RA.
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| 18. |
- Conache, Gabriela, et al.
(författare)
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Bias-controlled friction of InAs nanowires on a silicon nitride layer studied by atomic force microscopy
- 2010
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Ingår i: Physical Review B Condensed Matter. - College Park, Md. : American Physical Society. - 0163-1829 .- 1095-3795. ; 82:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By studying how nanowires lying on a surface bend when pushed by an atomic force microscopy tip we are able to measure the friction between them and the substrate. Here, we show how the friction between InAs nanowires and an insulating silicon nitride layer varies when a dc voltage is applied to the tip during manipulation. The bias charges the capacitor formed by the wire and the grounded silicon back contact. Electrostatic forces increase the contact pressure and allow us to tune the friction between the wire and the silicon nitride surface. Using nanowires of about 40-70 nm diameter and a few microns in length we have applied biases in the range +12 to -12 V. A monotonic increase of the sliding friction with voltage was observed. This increase in friction with the normal force implies that the mesoscopic nanowire-surface system behaves like a macroscopic contact, despite the nanometer size of the contact in the direction of motion. The demonstrated bias-controlled friction has potential applications in MEMS/NEMS devices.
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| 19. |
- Conache, Gabriela, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative friction measurements of InAs nanowires on three substrates
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Physics. - College Park, MD : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0021-8979 .- 1089-7550. ; 108:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have investigated friction between InAs nanowires and three different substrates: SiO2, fluorosilanized SiO2, and Si3N4. The nanowires were pushed laterally with the tip of an atomic force microscope and the friction force per unit length for both static and sliding friction was deduced from the equilibrium shape of the bent wires. On all three substrates, thick wires showed a difference between sliding and static friction of up to three orders of magnitude. Furthermore, all substrates display a transition to stick-slip motion for nanowires with a diameter of less than about 40 nm. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic substrates display similar friction behavior suggesting that a condensed water layer does not strongly influence our results. The patterns and trends in the friction data are similar for all three substrates, which indicates that they are more fundamental in character and not specific to a single substrate. ©2010 American Institute of Physics.
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| 20. |
- Condelius, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Hospital and outpatient clinic utilization among older people in the 3-5 years following the initiation of continuing care : a longitudinal cohort study
- 2011
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Ingår i: BMC Health Services Research. - London, UK : BioMed Central. - 1472-6963. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Few studies have investigated the subsequent rate of hospital and outpatient clinic utilization in those who receive continuing care and have documented frequent usage over one year. Such knowledge may be helpful in identifying those who would benefit from preventive interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the subsequent rate of hospital and outpatient clinic utilization among older people with 0, 1, 2, 3 or more hospital stays in the first year following the initiation of continuing care. A further aim was to compare these groups regarding demographic data, health complaints, functional and cognitive ability, informal care and mortality.Methods: A total of 1079 people, aged 65 years or older, who received a decision regarding the initiation of continuing care during the years 2001, 2002 or 2003 were investigated. Four groups were created based on whether they had 0, 1, 2 or ≥ 3 hospital stays in the first year following the initiation of continuing care and were investigated regarding the rate of hospital and outpatient clinic utilization in the subsequent 3-5 years.Results: Fifty seven percent of the sample had no hospital stay during the first year following the initiation of continuing care, 20% had 1 stay, 10% had 2 stays and 13% had three or more hospital stays (range: 3-13). Those with ≥ 3 hospital stays in the first year continued to have the significantly highest rate of hospital and outpatient care utilization in the subsequent years. This group accounted for 57% of hospital stays in the first year, 27% in the second year and 18% in the third year. In this group the risk of having ≥ 3 hospital stays in the second year was 27% and 12% in the third year.Conclusions: There is a clear need for interventions targeted on prevention of frequent hospital and outpatient clinic utilization among those who are high users of hospital care in the first year after the initiation of continuing care. Perhaps an increased availability of medically skilled staff in the day to day care of these people in the municipalities could prevent frequent hospital and outpatient clinic utilization, especially hospital readmissions. © 2011 Condelius et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
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