| 1. |
- Abuzeid, Nadir, et al.
(författare)
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Antimycobacterial activity of selected medicinal plants traditionally used in Sudan to treat infectious diseases
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Ethnopharmacology. - : Elsevier. - 0378-8741 .- 1872-7573. ; 157, s. 134-139
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ethnopharmacological relevance: The emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis underscores the need for continuous development of new and efficient methods to determine the susceptibility of isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the search for novel antimycobacterial agents. Natural products constitute an important source of new drugs, and design and implementation of antimycobacterial susceptibility testing methods are necessary to evaluate the different extracts and compounds. In this study we have explored the antimycobacterial properties of 50 ethanolic extracts from different parts of 46 selected medicinal plants traditionally used in Sudan to treat infectious diseases. Materials and methods: Plants were harvested and ethanolic extracts were prepared. For selected extracts, fractionation with hydrophilic and hydrophobic solvents was undertaken. A luminometry-based assay was used for determination of mycobacterial growth in broth cultures and inside primary human macrophages in the presence or absence of plant extracts and fractions of extracts. Cytotoxicity was also assessed for active fractions of plant extracts. Results: Of the tested extracts, three exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on an avirulent strain of Mycobacterium tubercluosis (H37Ra) at the initial screening doses (125 and 6.25 mu g/ml). These were bark and leaf extracts of Khaya senegalensis and the leaf extract of Rosmarinus officinalis L. Further fractions of these plant extracts were prepared with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, ethanol and water, and the activity of these extracts was retained in hydrophobic fractions. Cytotoxicity assays revealed that the chloroform fraction of Khaya senegalensis bark was non-toxic to human monocyte-derived macrophages and other cell types at the concentrations used and hence, further analysis, including assessment of IC50 and intracellular activity was done with this fraction. Conclusion: These results encourage further investigations to identify the active compound(s) within the chloroform fraction of Khaya senegalensis bark. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Alexius, Annika, et al.
(författare)
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The interbank market risk premium, central bank interventions, and measures of market liquidity
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of International Money and Finance. - : Elsevier BV. - 0261-5606 .- 1873-0639. ; 48, s. 202-217
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When the interbank market risk premium soared during the financial crisis, it created a wedge between interest rates actually paid by private agents and the rapidly falling policy rates. Many central banks attempted to improve the situation by supplying liquidity to the domestic interbank market. This paper studies the Swedish interbank market risk premium using a unique data set on traded volume between banks and between banks and the Riksbank. We find that the main determinants of the Swedish interbank premium are international variables, such as US and EURO area risk premia. International exchange rate volatility and the EURO/USD deviations from CIP also matters, while standard measures of domestic market liquidity and domestic credit risk have insignificant effects. Nonlinear smooth transition (STR) models show that U.S. financial variables are more important in times of a rising U.S. risk premium. Our measure of actual turnover in the interbank market is associated with a significant reduction of the interbank market risk premium, as are credit provisions by the central bank.
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| 3. |
- Berndt, Sonja I., et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 45:5, s. 501-U69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Approaches exploiting trait distribution extremes may be used to identify loci associated with common traits, but it is unknown whether these loci are generalizable to the broader population. In a genome-wide search for loci associated with the upper versus the lower 5th percentiles of body mass index, height and waist-to-hip ratio, as well as clinical classes of obesity, including up to 263,407 individuals of European ancestry, we identified 4 new loci (IGFBP4, H6PD, RSRC1 and PPP2R2A) influencing height detected in the distribution tails and 7 new loci (HNF4G, RPTOR, GNAT2, MRPS33P4, ADCY9, HS6ST3 and ZZZ3) for clinical classes of obesity. Further, we find a large overlap in genetic structure and the distribution of variants between traits based on extremes and the general population and little etiological heterogeneity between obesity subgroups.
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| 4. |
- Bzhalava, Davit, et al.
(författare)
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Unbiased Approach for Virus Detection in Skin Lesions
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 8:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To assess presence of virus DNA in skin lesions, swab samples from 82 squamous cell carcinomas of the skin (SCCs), 60 actinic keratoses (AKs), paraffin-embedded biopsies from 28 SCCs and 72 kerathoacanthomas (KAs) and fresh-frozen biopsies from 92 KAs, 85 SCCs and 92 AKs were analyzed by high throughput sequencing (HTS) using 454 or Ion Torrent technology. We found total of 4,284 viral reads, out of which 4,168 were Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-related, belonging to 15 known (HPV8, HPV12, HPV20, HPV36, HPV38, HPV45, HPV57, HPV59, HPV104, HPV105, HPV107, HPV109, HPV124, HPV138, HPV147), four previously described putative (HPV 915 F 06 007 FD1, FA73, FA101, SE42) and two putatively new HPV types (SE46, SE47). SE42 was cloned, sequenced, designated as HPV155 and found to have 76% similarity to the most closely related known HPV type. In conclusion, an unbiased approach for viral DNA detection in skin tumors has found that, although some new putative HPVs were found, known HPV types constituted most of the viral DNA.
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| 5. |
- Claesson, Lisbeth, 1955, et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of visual acuity charts identifying visual impairment among older people outside the eye clinic
- 2013
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Ingår i: Disability and Rehabilitation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0963-8288 .- 1464-5165. ; 35:16, s. 1394-1400
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Evaluate the construct validity and describe sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of two short charts of visual acuity (VA) and examine whether these can identify and detect signs of visual impairment among older people. Method: The study included 43 persons, >65 years, with age related eye disease, living in their own homes. An ophthalmologist assessed the individuals' VA at an eye clinic with the 5 m KM chart. A research assistant assessed individuals' VA by the 1 m KM chart and the Visual Acuity Screening Test in their home environment. Results: All persons with a VA level of <0.5 were correctly identified by both instruments. The instruments have good positive and negative predictive values for the 1 m KM chart (73% and 100%) and for the Visual Acuity Screening Test (69% and 100%). The construct validity between the instruments was good, but the assessment at the eye clinic assessed the participants as having higher VA level. Conclusions: Both instruments have good construct validity, considering they were carried out in poorer lighting conditions and a good predictive value for screening out VA levels <0.5. The 1 m KM chart showed the best agreement with the 5 m KM chart.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Eklund, Johan, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Inherited Corporate Control and Returns on Investment
- 2013
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Ingår i: Small Business Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0921-898X .- 1573-0913. ; 41:2, s. 419-431
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper contributes to the literature on management in family firms by investigating how succession in family firms affects returns on investment. The identities of the chief executive officer (CEO) and the chairman of the board (COB) were used to establish whether the management of the firm can be characterized as founder, descendant, or external management. A unique, unbalanced panel data set on listed Swedish firms covering the period from 1990 to 2005 was used in the analysis. The results show that founder management has a positive effect on the returns on investment in family firms, whereas descendant management has a negative impact. An external CEO as a successor in family firms leads to more efficient investment policies with increased firm value as a result. That is, when studying corporate governance in family firms it is important to account for what type of management the firm has. Further studies are required to understand the relationship between ownership, control, management, and firm performance.
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| 8. |
- Eklund, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Discovery of the Ternary Nanolaminated Compound Nb2GeC by a Systematic Theoretical-Experimental Approach
- 2012
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - : American Physical Society. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 109:3, s. 035502-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since the advent of theoretical materials science some 60 years ago, there has been a drive to predict and design new materials in silicio. Mathematical optimization procedures to determine phase stability can be generally applicable to complex ternary or higher-order materials systems where the phase diagrams of the binary constituents are sufficiently known. Here, we employ a simplex-optimization procedure to predict new compounds in the ternary Nb-Ge-C system. Our theoretical results show that the hypothetical Nb2GeC is stable, and excludes all reasonably conceivable competing hypothetical phases. We verify the existence of the Nb2GeC phase by thin film synthesis using magnetron sputtering. This hexagonal nanolaminated phase has a and c lattice parameters of similar to 3.24 angstrom and 12.82 angstrom.
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| 9. |
- Eriksson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Nanocolumnar Epitaxial Ti1-xSixN (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.18) Thin Films Grown by Dual Reactive Magnetron Sputtering on MgO (001), (011), and (111) Substrates
- 2012
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ti1-xSixNy thin films and multilayers have been grown on single-crystal TiN-templated MgO (001), (011), and (111) substrates kept at 550 °C. Elemental Ti and Si targets were used in UVH reactive dual magnetron sputtering in a mixed Ar/N2 discharge. Composition analysis by time-of-flight energy elastic recoil detection analysis show that the films are close to stoichiometric (0.95 ≤ y ≤ 1.00) with respect to TiN over the wide range of Si concentrations 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.22. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with scanning TEM and energy dispersive Xray analysis show that all films grow epitaxially for x ≤ 0.18 and that as much as every fifth Ti atom can be replaced by Si (~10 at.%) in Ti1-xSixN(001). For the (011) and (111)-oriented films, however, only 1-2 at.% Si substitutes for Ti. Instead, Si segregates to form crystalline-to-amorphous SiNz (z ≈ 1) tissue phases, which promote the formation of epitaxial TiN nanocolumns. The nanocolumns have preferred {110} interfaces and {200} top facets and grow several hundreds of nm in length.
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| 10. |
- Eriksson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Si incorporation in Ti1-xSixN films grown on TiN(001) and (001)-faceted TiN(111) columns
- 2014
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Ingår i: Surface & Coatings Technology. - : Elsevier. - 0257-8972 .- 1879-3347. ; 257, s. 121-128
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thin films consisting of TiN nanocrystallites encapsulated in a fully percolated SiNy tissue phase are archetypes for hard and superhard nanocomposites. Here, we investigate metastable SiNy solid solubility in TiN and probe the effects of surface segregation during the growth of TiSiN films onto substrates that are either flat TiN(001)/MgO(001) epitaxial buffer layers or TiN(001) facets of length 1-5 nm terminating epitaxial TiN(111) nanocolumns, separated by voids, deposited on epitaxial TiN(111)/MgO(111) buffer layers. Using reactive magnetron sputter deposition, the TiSiN layers were grown at 550 degrees C and the TiN buffer layers at 900 degrees C On TiN(001), the films are NaCl-structure single-phase metastable Ti1-xSixN(001) with N/(Ti + Si) = 1 and 0 less than= x less than= 0.19. These alloys remain single-crystalline to critical thicknesses h(c) ranging from 100 +/- 30 nm with x = 0.13 to 40 +/- 10 nm with x = 0.19. At thicknesses h greater than h(c), the epitaxial growth front breaks down locally to form V-shaped polycrystalline columns with an underdense feather-like nanostructure. In contrast, the voided epitaxial TiN(111) columnar surfaces, as well as the TiN(001) facets, act as sinks for SiNy. For Ti1-xSixN layers with global average composition values less than x greater than = 0.16, the local x value in the middle of Ti1-xSixN columns increases from 0.08 for columns with radius r similar or equal to 2 nm to x = 0.14 with r similar or equal to 4 nm. The average out-of-plane lattice parameter of epitaxial nanocolumns encapsulated in SiNy decreases monotonically with increasing Si fraction less than x greater than, indicating the formation of metastable (Ti,Si)N solid solutions under growth conditions similar to those of superhard nanocomposites for which the faceted surfaces of nanograins also provide sinks for SiNy.
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