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- Lindberg, Hanna, et al.
(author)
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Are Farming and Animal Exposure Risk Factors for the Development of Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis? Environmental Risk Factors Revisited : A Case-control Study
- 2021
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In: Journal of Rheumatology. - : The Journal of Rheumatology. - 0315-162X .- 1499-2752. ; 48:6, s. 894-897
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective. To investigate the possible association between animal exposure and risk for granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA).Methods. Patients with GPA at the Department of Rheumatology, Uppsala University Hospital, between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2018, were consecutively included. All patients filled in a questionnaire on possible environmental exposures: occupation, hobbies, and animal contact. As controls we included 128 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 248 population controls collected from the Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (EIRA) study, matched for age, sex, and geographical area of residence. The controls filled out a questionnaire on current and past contact with farming and animals, at the time of the RA patient’s diagnosis.Results. A total of 62 patients with GPA, 128 patients with RA, and 248 population controls were included in the study. GPA was significantly associated with horse exposure, with a 2- to 3-fold increased risk compared with RA (OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.34–7.08) and population controls (OR 2.61, 95% CI 1.29–5.29). Borderline increased risks were found for any animal contact, but no association was found when analyzing contact with cats/dogs only. A significant association was found between GPA and farming compared to the population controls (OR 7.60, 95% CI 3.21–17.93).Conclusion. This study has identified for the first time, to our knowledge, a significant association between exposure to specific animals, namely horses, and the development of GPA. The results also support previous studies reporting an association between farming and GPA, underscoring the possibility of exogenous factors as initiators in the development of GPA.
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| 3. |
- Wells, Daniel J., et al.
(author)
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Observations of phase changes in monoolein during high viscous injection
- 2022
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In: Journal of Synchrotron Radiation. - : International Union Of Crystallography. - 0909-0495 .- 1600-5775. ; 29:3, s. 602-614
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Serial crystallography of membrane proteins often employs high-viscosity injectors (HVIs) to deliver micrometre-sized crystals to the X-ray beam. Typically, the carrier medium is a lipidic cubic phase (LCP) media, which can also be used to nucleate and grow the crystals. However, despite the fact that the LCP is widely used with HVIs, the potential impact of the injection process on the LCP structure has not been reported and hence is not yet well understood. The self-assembled structure of the LCP can be affected by pressure, dehydration and temperature changes, all of which occur during continuous flow injection. These changes to the LCP structure may in turn impact the results of X-ray diffraction measurements from membrane protein crystals. To investigate the influence of HVIs on the structure of the LCP we conducted a study of the phase changes in monoolein/water and monoolein/buffer mixtures during continuous flow injection, at both atmospheric pressure and under vacuum. The reservoir pressure in the HVI was tracked to determine if there is any correlation with the phase behaviour of the LCP. The results indicated that, even though the reservoir pressure underwent (at times) significant variation, this did not appear to correlate with observed phase changes in the sample stream or correspond to shifts in the LCP lattice parameter. During vacuum injection, there was a three-way coexistence of the gyroid cubic phase, diamond cubic phase and lamellar phase. During injection at atmospheric pressure, the coexistence of a cubic phase and lamellar phase in the monoolein/water mixtures was also observed. The degree to which the lamellar phase is formed was found to be strongly dependent on the co-flowing gas conditions used to stabilize the LCP stream. A combination of laboratory-based optical polarization microscopy and simulation studies was used to investigate these observations.
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