| 1. |
- Danesh, John, et al.
(author)
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Plasma fibrinogen level and the risk of major cardiovascular diseases and nonvascular mortality: an individual participant meta-analysis
- 2005
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In: JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. - : American Medical Association (AMA). - 1538-3598 .- 0098-7484. ; 294:14, s. 1799-1809
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- CONTEXT: Plasma fibrinogen levels may be associated with the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationships of fibrinogen levels with risk of major vascular and with risk of nonvascular outcomes based on individual participant data. DATA SOURCES: Relevant studies were identified by computer-assisted searches, hand searches of reference lists, and personal communication with relevant investigators. STUDY SELECTION: All identified prospective studies were included with information available on baseline fibrinogen levels and details of subsequent major vascular morbidity and/or cause-specific mortality during at least 1 year of follow-up. Studies were excluded if they recruited participants on the basis of having had a previous history of cardiovascular disease; participants with known preexisting CHD or stroke were excluded. DATA EXTRACTION: Individual records were provided on each of 154,211 participants in 31 prospective studies. During 1.38 million person-years of follow-up, there were 6944 first nonfatal myocardial infarctions or stroke events and 13,210 deaths. Cause-specific mortality was generally available. Analyses involved proportional hazards modeling with adjustment for confounding by known cardiovascular risk factors and for regression dilution bias. DATA SYNTHESIS: Within each age group considered (40-59, 60-69, and > or =70 years), there was an approximately log-linear association with usual fibrinogen level for the risk of any CHD, any stroke, other vascular (eg, non-CHD, nonstroke) mortality, and nonvascular mortality. There was no evidence of a threshold within the range of usual fibrinogen level studied at any age. The age- and sex- adjusted hazard ratio per 1-g/L increase in usual fibrinogen level for CHD was 2.42 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.24-2.60); stroke, 2.06 (95% CI, 1.83-2.33); other vascular mortality, 2.76 (95% CI, 2.28-3.35); and nonvascular mortality, 2.03 (95% CI, 1.90-2.18). The hazard ratios for CHD and stroke were reduced to about 1.8 after further adjustment for measured values of several established vascular risk factors. In a subset of 7011 participants with available C-reactive protein values, the findings for CHD were essentially unchanged following additional adjustment for C-reactive protein. The associations of fibrinogen level with CHD or stroke did not differ substantially according to sex, smoking, blood pressure, blood lipid levels, or several features of study design. CONCLUSIONS: In this large individual participant meta-analysis, moderately strong associations were found between usual plasma fibrinogen level and the risks of CHD, stroke, other vascular mortality, and nonvascular mortality in a wide range of circumstances in healthy middle-aged adults. Assessment of any causal relevance of elevated fibrinogen levels to disease requires additional research.
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| 2. |
- Hertz, Hans M., et al.
(author)
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Laboratory x-ray micro imaging : Sources, optics, systems and applications
- 2009
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In: Journal of Physics, Conference Series. - : IOP Publishing. - 1742-6588 .- 1742-6596. ; 186
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We summarize the recent progress in laboratory-scale soft and hard x-ray micro imaging in Stockholm. Our soft x-ray work is based on liquid-jet laser-plasma sources which are combined with diffractive and multilayer optics to form laboratory x-ray microscopes. In the hard x-ray regime the imaging is based on a liquid-metal-jet electron-impact source which provides the necessary coherence to allow phase-contrast imaging with high fidelity.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Atroshi, I, et al.
(author)
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The SF-6D health utility index in carpal tunnel syndrome.
- 2007
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In: Journal of Hand Surgery (British Volume). - : SAGE Publications. - 0266-7681 .- 1753-1934 .- 2043-6289. ; 32:2, s. 198-202
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cost effectiveness is an important factor to consider when choosing between various hand surgical interventions. Health utility measures can be used to determine cost effectiveness. The SF-6D is a health utility index derived from 11 items of the SF-36 quality of life questionnaire; values range from 0.296 to 1.0 (“perfect” health). We evaluated the validity of the SF-6D in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) who completed the SF-36 and the CTS symptom severity and functional status questionnaire before and 3 months after carpal tunnel release. Complete responses to the SF-6D items were available for 100 patients at baseline and 95 patients at baseline and follow-up. The mean SF-6D health utility index was 0.69 (SD 0.13) before surgery and 0.77 (SD 0.13) after surgery (moderate effect size). The SF-6D could discriminate between patient groups differing in self-rated global health and in whether, or not, they had a minimal clinically important improvement in CTS symptom severity after surgery. The SF-6D appears to be a valid measure of health utilities in patients with CTS and can be used in cost effectiveness studies.
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| 5. |
- Evander, Mikael, et al.
(author)
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Acoustic Differential Extraction - ultrasonic DNA-extraction from sexual assault evidence
- 2007
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In: International Congress on Ultrasonics. ; 1, s. 151-151
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Isolation of the male and female DNA is one of the most important steps in obtaining the DNA profile of the perpetrator in sexual assault cases. The sample is obtained by taking a vaginal swab containing both epithelial cells from the female and sperm cells from the male from the victim. The purity of the extracted male fraction decides whether or not a single-source DNA profile of the suspect will be obtained or not. The existing techniques are have poor separation efficiency, time-consuming, labour-intensive and are neither easily automated nor integrated with further analysis steps. A novel method of DNA extraction based on ultrasonic trapping, Acoustic Differential Extraction, has been developed. A microfluidic device using laminar flow valving and miniature PZT transducers retains the sperm cells while mobilizing the female fraction into a separate outlet. The device was evaluated using a mock sexual assault sample and the separated fractions were analyzed using quantitative PCR and STR-profiling. A 16-fold enrichment of the male fraction, making an originally hard-to-detect-male DNA profile readily profiled, has been demonstrated. The STR-profiling of the male and female fractions showed a male fraction purity of up to 99 % making it possible to obtain a single-source DNA-profile of the suspect. The microfluidic format of the device makes it possible to downscale the sample time from 4-8 hours to 10 minutes. It is also possible to integrate this method with further downstream analysis steps necessarey for the full forensic DNA analysis.
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| 7. |
- Moguchaya, T. N., et al.
(author)
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Data fitting by wavelet shrinkage using GM-waves
- 2005
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In: Mathematical Methods for Curves and Surfaces. - Brentwood, Tenn. : Nashboro Press, Ltd.. - 097284824X ; , s. 263-274
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We present a new wavelet software system, GM-Waves, and illustrate some of its features in the context of the study of methods for wavelet shrinkage and their application to curve and surface fitting, smoothing and denoising by wavelets.
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| 8. |
- Tuohimaa, Tomi, et al.
(author)
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A microfocus x-ray source based on a nonmetal liquid-jet anode
- 2008
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In: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 92:23, s. 233509-1-233509-3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We demonstrate stable operation of a nonmetallic anode in an electron-impact x-ray source. A high-brightness electron beam is focused on a similar to 70 m/s speed, similar to 10 mu m diameter methanol jet producing stable x-ray emission with peak spectral brightness at similar to 5.4 x 10(5) photons/(s x mu m(2) x sr x 0.1% BW). The jet is fully evaporated in the interaction point. The shape of a simulated spectrum using Monte Carlo methods shows good agreement with experimental data, and the theoretical brightness values give an upper limit for the achievable x-ray emission from jets with very high velocities. Using this anode concept, all compounds and elements found in liquid form are potentially usable for x-ray generation.
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