| 1. |
- Schael, S, et al.
(författare)
-
Precision electroweak measurements on the Z resonance
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Physics Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-1573 .- 1873-6270. ; 427:5-6, s. 257-454
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the final electroweak measurements performed with data taken at the Z resonance by the experiments operating at the electron-positron colliders SLC and LEP. The data consist of 17 million Z decays accumulated by the ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL experiments at LEP, and 600 thousand Z decays by the SLID experiment using a polarised beam at SLC. The measurements include cross-sections, forward-backward asymmetries and polarised asymmetries. The mass and width of the Z boson, m(Z) and Gamma(Z), and its couplings to fermions, for example the p parameter and the effective electroweak mixing angle for leptons, are precisely measured: m(Z) = 91.1875 +/- 0.0021 GeV, Gamma(Z) = 2.4952 +/- 0.0023 GeV, rho(l) = 1.0050 +/- 0.0010, sin(2)theta(eff)(lept) = 0.23153 +/- 0.00016. The number of light neutrino species is determined to be 2.9840 +/- 0.0082, in agreement with the three observed generations of fundamental fermions. The results are compared to the predictions of the Standard Model (SM). At the Z-pole, electroweak radiative corrections beyond the running of the QED and QCD coupling constants are observed with a significance of five standard deviations, and in agreement with the Standard Model. Of the many Z-pole measurements, the forward-backward asymmetry in b-quark production shows the largest difference with respect to its SM expectation, at the level of 2.8 standard deviations. Through radiative corrections evaluated in the framework of the Standard Model, the Z-pole data are also used to predict the mass of the top quark, m(t) = 173(+10)(+13) GeV, and the mass of the W boson, m(W) = 80.363 +/- 0.032 GeV. These indirect constraints are compared to the direct measurements, providing a stringent test of the SM. Using in addition the direct measurements of m(t) and m(W), the mass of the as yet unobserved SM Higgs boson is predicted with a relative uncertainty of about 50% and found to be less than 285 GeV at 95% confidence level. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Proctor, D.N, et al.
(författare)
-
Longitudinal changes in physical functional performance among the oldest old: insight from a study of Swedish twins
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. ; 18:6, s. 517-530
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The primary purpose was to characterize mean and individual-level patterns of change in physical functional performance over eight years (2 year intervals) in a community dwelling sample of Swedish twins (579 men and women aged 79-96 years at baseline). RESULTS: Mixed linear models revealed linear rates of decline for handgrip strength (grip) and time to complete five chair stands, and accelerating decline for peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) for both sexes. Significant random effects were found for intercept and time for grip and PEFR tests, indicating differences between participants initially and over time. Individual differ-ences in chairstand performance were significant for initial status only. Age at baseline was predictive of initial status in grip, PEFR and chair performance (women only), but not rate of change. Measures of body size at baseline were predictive of individual variation in initial grip (height), PEFR (weight in men, height in women), and chair performance (height), but had less consistent associations with changes in test performance over time. In the deceased sub-sample (85% of participants), having been further from death was related to less steep de-clines in grip, but not PEFR or chair performance. Twins from the same pair were related in initial status (twin level variance ~30-70%), but they were not generally related in rate of change. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that changes in physical functional perform-ance in an elderly, community dwelling population vary across individuals in a test and sex-dependent manner. Constitutional variables (age, sex, body size) are predictive of baseline performance, but explain little variance in change over time. Initial status and rate of change in grip strength had the strongest association with proximity from death, indicating that while PEFR and repeated chair stand time are useful tests to assess function, grip strength appears to be a particularly useful biomarker in the oldest- old.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bunce, R. G. H., et al.
(författare)
-
A standardized procedure for surveillance and monitoring European habitats and provision of spatial data
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Landscape Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0921-2973 .- 1572-9761. ; 23, s. 11-25
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both science and policy require a practical, transmissible, and reproducible procedure for surveillance and monitoring of European habitats, which can produce statistics integrated at the landscape level. Over the last 30 years, landscape ecology has developed rapidly, and many studies now require spatial data on habitats. Without rigorous rules, changes from baseline records cannot be separated reliably from background noise. A procedure is described that satisfies these requirements and can provide consistent data for Europe, to support a range of policy initiatives and scientific projects. The methodology is based on classical plant life forms, used in biogeography since the nineteenth century, and on their statistical correlation with the primary environmental gradient. Further categories can therefore be identified for other continents to assist large scale comparisons and modelling. The model has been validated statistically and the recording procedure tested in the field throughout Europe. A total of 130 General Habitat Categories (GHCs) is defined. These are enhanced by recording environmental, site and management qualifiers to enable flexible database interrogation. The same categories are applied to areal, linear and point features to assist recording and subsequent interpretation at the landscape level. The distribution and change of landscape ecological parameters, such as connectivity and fragmentation, can then be derived and their significance interpreted.
|
|
| 5. |
- Cébe-Suarez, Stéphanie, et al.
(författare)
-
Orf virus VEGF-E NZ2 promotes paracellular NRP-1/VEGFR-2 coreceptor assembly via the peptide RPPR
- 2008
-
Ingår i: The FASEB Journal. - : Wiley. - 0892-6638 .- 1530-6860. ; 22:8, s. 3078-3086
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) interact with the receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) VEGFR-1, -2, and -3; neuropilins (NRPs); and heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans. VEGF RTKs signal to downstream targets upon ligand-induced tyrosine phosphorylation, while NRPs and HS act as coreceptors that lack enzymatic activity yet modulate signal output by VEGF RTKs. VEGFs exist in various isoforms with distinct receptor specificity and biological activity. Here, a series of mammalian VEGF-A splice variants and orf virus VEGF-Es, as well as chimeric and mutant VEGF variants, were characterized to determine the motifs required for binding to NRP-1 in the absence (VEGF-E) or presence (VEGF-A(165)) of an HS-binding sequence. We identified the carboxyterminal peptides RPPR and DKPRR as the NRP-1 binding motifs of VEGF-E and VEGF-A, respectively. RPPR had significantly higher affinity for NRP-1 than DKPRR. VEGFs containing an RPPR motif promoted HS-independent coreceptor complex assembly between VEGFR-2 and NRP-1, independent of whether these receptors were expressed on the same or separate cells grown in cocultures. Functional studies showed that stable coreceptor assembly by VEGF correlated with its ability to promote vessel formation in an embryoid body angiogenesis assay.
|
|
| 6. |
- Eriksson, Johannes, et al.
(författare)
-
Probing growth defects inside nanowires
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Book of abstracts: Intl Conf on Nanosci and Technol, Basel, Switzerland (2006).
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
- Hansson, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Monitoring of kindreds with hereditary predisposition for cutaneous melanoma and dysplastic nevus syndrome: results of a Swedish preventive program
- 2007
-
Ingår i: J Clin Oncol. ; 25:19, s. 2819-2824
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: To evaluate a program initiated in 1987 by the Swedish Melanoma Study Group aiming to provide preventive surveillance to kindreds with hereditary cutaneous melanoma and dysplastic nevus syndrome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Overall, 2,080 individuals belonging to 280 melanoma families were followed for 14 years between 1987 and 2001 at 12 participating centers. Data were registered in a central database. RESULTS: Among 1,912 skin lesions excised during follow-up, 41 melanomas were removed in 32 individuals. Of these, 15 (37%) were in situ melanomas and 26 (63%) invasive melanomas. The median tumor thickness of invasive melanomas was 0.5 mm. Ulceration was absent in 24 of 26 invasive melanomas (92%) and 12 (46%) lacked vertical growth phase. Compared with melanomas in the general Swedish population, the melanomas identified in these kindreds during follow-up had better prognostic characteristics. All melanomas except one were diagnosed in families with two or more first-degree relatives with melanoma. Diagnosis of melanoma occurred in three of eight kindreds with germline CDKN2A mutations, supporting that families with such mutations are at increased risk for melanoma development. Of the 32 individuals who developed melanoma during follow-up, 21 (66%) had had at least one previously diagnosed melanoma. CONCLUSION: This study shows that a coordinated program aimed at detecting and offering skin surveillance in kindreds with hereditary cutaneous melanoma results in a low incidence of melanomas during the follow-up period and that the tumors that do arise have favorable prognostic characteristics.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
- Johansson, Boo, et al.
(författare)
-
Cognitive abilities in late life, proximity to death and distance from birth
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Cognitive abilities in late life, proximity to death and distance from birth. Paper presented at the 18th Nordic Congress in Gerontology, Jyväskylä, Finland..
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intra-individual change and continuity in cognitive abilities were examined as a conditional function of distance from birth (chronological age) and death in two Swedish population-based samples drawn from the H70 (70+; age-homogenous design) and the OCTO Twin (80+; age-heterogeneous design) studies. Examined cognitive domains included mental speed, memory, fluid, and crystallized abilities Three alternative time-based modelling approaches were used to fit the data a) an age-related approach b) a time-to–death-related approach, and c) a dual time structure component ap-proach including both age- and death-related time components. The death-related time structure accounts better for the data and age-related changes were largely attenuated when accounting for death-related changes, but death-related changes were relatively unaffected by the age-related sources of variance. The results emphasize that the reliance on age as a basic time structure in cognitive aging re-search can be doubtful and the importance of identifying diseases, co-morbidity and other health-related factors that account for cognitive decline in later life. Future studies need to identify and evaluate more specifically the time-related processes that increase the likelihood of death and produce decline in brain and cognitive functioning in later life.
|
|
