| 1. |
- Algren, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Panel cointegration of Chinese A and B shares
- 2009
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Ingår i: Applied Financial Economics. - : Routledge. - 0960-3107 .- 1466-4305. ; 19:23, s. 1859-1871
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study information flows in China's stock markets. By using panel data methods we test for a unit root in the price premium of domestic investors’ A shares over foreign investors’ B shares, as well as cointegration between the A- and B-share prices on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. We find that the A-share premia are nonstationary, and that the A- and B-share prices are not cointegrated up till January 2001. After February 2001, when domestic investors were allowed to trade B shares, the A-share premia become stationary and the A- and B-share prices cointegrated. One interesting result from the panel data analysis is that most firms’ A and B shares are cointegrated, but not all firms. Cointegration is more likely for firms with a small A-share premium, low ratio of nontradeable shares, high growth rate and large B-share market capitalization relative to the A-share market capitalization. Our findings suggest that the relaxation of the investment restrictions decreased the segmentation between the A- and B-share markets in China.
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| 2. |
- Axelsson, Malin, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Personality, adherence, asthma control and health-related quality of life in young adult asthmatics
- 2009
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Ingår i: Respiratory Medicine. - : Elsevier. - 0954-6111 .- 1532-3064. ; 103:7, s. 1033-1040
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundStriving for improved adherence and asthma control is of vital concern in today's asthma management. Several influential factors have been identified, but the importance of personality traits has been insufficiently explored. The aim was first to determine whether personality traits in young adult asthmatics are related to asthma control and health-related quality of life (HRQL), and second to examine the influences of personality traits on adherence to regular asthma medication treatment.MethodsYoung adult asthmatics, 22 years of age (n = 268) completed questionnaires. Statistical analyses were performed.ResultsThe personality traits Negative Affectivity and Impulsivity correlated negatively with asthma control, whereas in women Hedonic Capacity correlated positively with asthma control. Negative Affectivity, Impulsivity, Hedonic Capacity, Alexithymia and asthma control predicted the mental dimension of HRQL. Asthma control and physical activity predicted the physical dimension of HRQL. Among respondents with regular asthma medication (n = 109), Impulsivity correlated negatively with adherence. In men, Antagonism and Alexithymia were associated with low adherence. Additionally, Alexithymia, Hedonic Capacity and Negative Affectivity showed non-linear relationships with adherence, meaning that initially increased scores on these personality traits scales were associated with increased adherence but higher scores did not increase adherence. Respondents who were prescribed a single inhaler combining ICS and LABA reported higher adherence than those with monotherapies.ConclusionThese data suggest that personality can influence how asthma patients adhere to asthma medication treatment, and report their control and HRQL. Tools determining personality traits may be useful in the future in individualizing management of asthma patients.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Barrenäs, Fredrik, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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Network properties of complex human disease genes identified through genome-wide association studies.
- 2009
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Ingår i: PloS one. - San Francisco, CA San Francisco, CA, United StatesUnited States : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 4:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Previous studies of network properties of human disease genes have mainly focused on monogenic diseases or cancers and have suffered from discovery bias. Here we investigated the network properties of complex disease genes identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAs), thereby eliminating discovery bias. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We derived a network of complex diseases (n = 54) and complex disease genes (n = 349) to explore the shared genetic architecture of complex diseases. We evaluated the centrality measures of complex disease genes in comparison with essential and monogenic disease genes in the human interactome. The complex disease network showed that diseases belonging to the same disease class do not always share common disease genes. A possible explanation could be that the variants with higher minor allele frequency and larger effect size identified using GWAs constitute disjoint parts of the allelic spectra of similar complex diseases. The complex disease gene network showed high modularity with the size of the largest component being smaller than expected from a randomized null-model. This is consistent with limited sharing of genes between diseases. Complex disease genes are less central than the essential and monogenic disease genes in the human interactome. Genes associated with the same disease, compared to genes associated with different diseases, more often tend to share a protein-protein interaction and a Gene Ontology Biological Process. CONCLUSIONS: This indicates that network neighbors of known disease genes form an important class of candidates for identifying novel genes for the same disease.
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| 5. |
- Baumann, Pia, et al.
(författare)
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Outcome in a prospective phase II trial of medically inoperable stage I non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. - 1527-7755 .- 0732-183X. ; 27:20, s. 3290-6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: The impact of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) on 3-year progression-free survival of medically inoperable patients with stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was analyzed in a prospective phase II study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with T1NOMO (70%) and T2N0M0 (30%) were included between August 2003 and September 2005 at seven different centers in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark and observed up to 36 months. SBRT was delivered with 15 Gy times three at the 67% isodose of the planning target volume. RESULTS: Progression-free survival at 3 years was 52%. Overall- and cancer-specific survival at 1, 2, and 3 years was 86%, 65%, 60%, and 93%, 88%, 88%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in survival between patients with T1 or T2 tumors. At a median follow-up of 35 months (range, 4 to 47 months), 27 patients (47%) were deceased, seven as a result of lung cancer and 20 as a result of concurrent disease. Kaplan-Meier estimated local control at 3 years was 92%. Local relapse was observed in four patients (7%). Regional relapse was observed in three patients (5%). Nine patients (16%) developed distant metastases. The estimated risk of all failure (local, regional, or distant metastases) was increased in patients with T2 (41%) compared with those with T1 (18%) tumors (P = .027). CONCLUSION: With a 3-year local tumor control rate higher than 90% with limited toxicity, SBRT emerges as state-of-the-art treatment for medically inoperable stage I NSCLC and may even challenge surgery in operable instances.
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| 6. |
- Benson, Mikael, 1954, et al.
(författare)
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A haplotype in the inducible T-cell tyrosine kinase is a risk factor for seasonal allergic rhinitis.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Allergy. - : Wiley. - 1398-9995 .- 0105-4538. ; 64:9, s. 1286-91
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Identification of disease-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) may be facilitated by focusing on genes in a disease-associated pathway. OBJECTIVE: To search for SNPs in genes that belong to the T-cell receptor (TCR) pathway and that change in expression in allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from patients with SAR. METHODS: CD4+ cells from patients with SAR were analysed with gene expression microarrays. Allele, genotype and haplotype frequencies were compared in 251 patients and 386 healthy controls. RESULTS: Gene expression microarray analysis of allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from patients with SAR showed that 25 of 38 TCR pathway genes were differentially expressed. A total of 62 SNPs were analysed in eight of the 25 genes; ICOS, IL4, IL5, IL13, CSF2, CTLA4, the inducible T-cell tyrosine kinase (ITK) and CD3D. Significant chi-squared values were identified for several markers in the ITK kinase gene region. A total of five SNPs were nominally significant at the 5% level. Haplotype analysis of the five significant SNPs showed increased frequency of a haplotype that covered most of the coding part of ITK. The functional relevance of ITK was supported by analysis of an independent material, which showed increased expression of ITK in allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from patients, but not from controls. CONCLUSION: Analysis of SNPs in TCR pathway genes revealed that a haplotype that covers a major part of the coding sequence of ITK is a risk factor for SAR.
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| 7. |
- Bian, Li, et al.
(författare)
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Dichloroacetate alleviates development of collagen II-induced arthritis in female DBA/1 mice
- 2009
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Ingår i: ARTHRITIS RESEARCH and THERAPY. - : BioMed Central. - 1478-6354 .- 1478-6362. ; 11:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction Dichloroacetate (DCA) has been in clinical use for the treatment of lactacidosis and inherited mitochondrial disorders. It has potent anti-tumor effects both in vivo and in vitro, facilitating apoptosis and inhibiting proliferation. The proapoptotic and anti-proliferative properties of DCA prompted us to investigate the effects of this compound in arthritis. Methods In the present study, we used DCA to treat murine collagen type II (CII)-induced arthritis (CIA), an experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis. DBA/1 mice were treated with DCA given in drinking water. Results Mice treated with DCA displayed much slower onset of CIA and significantly lower severity (P less than 0.0001) and much lower frequency (36% in DCA group vs. 86% in control group) of arthritis. Also, cartilage and joint destruction was significantly decreased following DCA treatment (P = 0.005). Moreover, DCA prevented arthritis-induced cortical bone mineral loss. This clinical picture was also reflected by lower levels of anti-CII antibodies in DCA-treated versus control mice, indicating that DCA affected the humoral response. In contrast, DCA had no effect on T cell-or granulocyte-mediated responses. The beneficial effect of DCA was present in female DBA/1 mice only. This was due in part to the effect of estrogen, since ovariectomized mice did not benefit from DCA treatment to the same extent as sham-operated controls (day 30, 38.7% of ovarectomized mice had arthritis vs. only 3.4% in sham-operated group). Conclusion Our results indicate that DCA delays the onset and alleviates the progression of CIA in an estrogen-dependent manner.
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| 8. |
- Bishop, Kevin, et al.
(författare)
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Nature as the "Natural" Goal for Water Management : A Conversation
- 2009
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Netherlands. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; Volume 38:Issue 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The goals for water-quality and ecosystem integrity are often defined relative to "natural" reference conditions in many water-management systems, including the European Union Water Framework Directive. This paper examines the difficulties created for water management by using "natural" as the goal. These difficulties are articulated from different perspectives in an informal (fictional) conversation that takes place after a workshop on reference conditions in water-resources management. The difficulties include defining the natural state and modeling how a system might be progressed toward the natural, as well as the feasibility and desirability of restoring a natural state. The paper also considers the appropriateness for developing countries to adopt the use of natural as the goal for water management. We conclude that failure to critically examine the complexities of having "natural" as the goal will compromise the ability to manage the issues that arise in real basins by not making the ambiguities associated with this "natural" goal explicit. This is unfortunate both for the western world that has embraced this model of "natural as the goal" and for the developing world in so far as they are encouraged to adopt this model.
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| 9. |
- Björck, Lena, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Smoking in relation to ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction: findings from the Register of Information and Knowledge about Swedish Heart Intensive Care Admissions.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Heart (British Cardiac Society). - : BMJ. - 1468-201X .- 1355-6037. ; 95:12, s. 1006-11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: In the past few decades, clinical presentation in AMI has been reported to be changing, with milder cases and less ST-elevation myocardial infarction, the most serious form of AMI. The better outcome may be due to improved medical and interventional management, as well as more sensitive methods for detecting AMI. However, changes in risk factors have also been documented, especially lower tobacco-smoking rates. Therefore, the relation between smoking and ST-elevation AMI in a large observational cohort was analysed. METHODS: Data were derived from 93 416 consecutive patients aged 25 to 84 years and admitted to hospital between 1996 and 2004 with a first AMI. RESULTS: Tobacco smoking was more prevalent in younger patients (ie, <65 years). More than 50% of younger patients presenting with STEMI were smokers at the time of hospitalisation. After multiple adjustments, smoking was found to be an independent determinant for presenting with STEMI compared with non-STEMI. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) associated with smoking was 2.01 (99% CI 1.75 to 2.30) in younger women and 1.33 (99% CI 1.22 to 1.43) in younger men, with a significant interaction between smoking and gender. In older women and men (> or =65 years), the corresponding ORs were 1.33 (99% CI 1.20 to 1.48) and 1.14 (99% CI 1.04 to 1.25), respectively. CONCLUSION: Tobacco smoking is a major determinant for presenting with STEMI compared with non-STEMI, particularly among younger patients and among women. These results indicate that smoking is one of the major risk factors for presenting with more severe AMIs.
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| 10. |
- Björnsdotter, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Somatotopic organization of gentle touch processing in the posterior insular cortex.
- 2009
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Ingår i: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. - Washington, DC, United States : Society for Neuroscience. - 1529-2401 .- 0270-6474. ; 29:29, s. 9314-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A network of thin (C and A delta) afferents relays various signals related to the physiological condition of the body, including sensations of gentle touch, pain, and temperature changes. Such afferents project to the insular cortex, where a somatotopic organization of responses to noxious and cooling stimuli was recently observed. To explore the possibility of a corresponding body-map topography in relation to gentle touch mediated through C tactile (CT) fibers, we applied soft brush stimuli to the right forearm and thigh of a patient (GL) lacking A beta afferents, and six healthy subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). For improved fMRI analysis, we used a highly sensitive multivariate voxel clustering approach. A somatotopic organization of the left (contralateral) posterior insular cortex was consistently demonstrated in all subjects, including GL, with forearm projecting anterior to thigh stimulation. Also, despite denying any sense of touch in daily life, GL correctly localized 97% of the stimuli to the forearm or thigh in a forced-choice paradigm. The consistency in activation patterns across GL and the healthy subjects suggests that the identified organization reflects the central projection of CT fibers. Moreover, substantial similarities of the presently observed insular activation with that described for noxious and cooling stimuli solidify the hypothesized sensory-affective role of the CT system in the maintenance of physical well-being as part of a thin-afferent homeostatic network.
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