Non-employment and low educational level as risk factors for inequitable treatment and mortality in heart failure: a population-based cohort study of register data.

Background: The risk of heart failure is disproportionately high among the socioeconomically disadvantaged. Furthermore, socioeconomically deprived patients are at risk of inequitable access to heart failure treatment and poor outcomes. Non-employment as a risk factor in this respect has not previously been studied at the level of the individual.

Bilateral internal iliac branch device with ipsilateral deployment.

Iliac branch endograft devices offer an elegant solution to preserve perfusion to the internal iliac artery when treating aortoiliac aneurysms; however, they are difficult to perform when bilateral access is not available owing to aortoiliac anatomy or previous endovascular aortic aneurysm repair. We present a technique to perform iliac branch endograft deployment from ipsilateral access in a patient with a prior EVAR endovascular aortic aneurysm repair, obviating the need for a difficult up-and-over access.

Lower socioeconomic status predicts higher mortality and morbidity in patients with heart failure.

Objective: It is not fully understood whether and how socioeconomic status (SES) has a prognostic impact in patients with heart failure (HF). We assessed SES and its association with patient characteristics and outcomes in a contemporary and well-characterised HF cohort.

Methods: Socioeconomic risk factors (SERF) were defined in the Swedish HF Registry based on income (low vs high according to the annual median value), education level (no degree/compulsory school vs university/secondary school) and living arrangement (living alone vs cohabitating).

Effectiveness by gender and age of renin-angiotensin system blockade in heart failure-A national register-based cohort study.

Purpose: Investigate effectiveness by gender and age and equity implications of treatment with renin-angiotensin system blockade (RASb) in heart failure (HF) patients.

Methods: In this population-based register study, we used inpatient data from 2006 to 2010 for patients age 20 years or older with no HF hospitalisation for minimum of 1 year before an index hospitalisation. A wash-out period for RASb of 6 months preceding admission was used.

Defence priming in Arabidopsis - a Meta-Analysis.

Defence priming by organismal and non-organismal stimulants can reduce effects of biotic stress in plants. Thus, it could help efforts to enhance the sustainability of agricultural production by reducing use of agrochemicals in protection of crops from pests and diseases. We have explored effects of applying this approach to both Arabidopsis plants and seeds of various crops in meta-analyses.

Nicotinamide; antioxidative and DNA hypomethylation effects in plant cells.

The effects of nicotinamide (NIC) and its natural plant metabolites nicotinic acid (NIA) and trigonelline (TRIG) were studied with respect to defense in plant cell cultures. NIC and NIA could protect against oxidative stress damage caused by 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH), which generates free radicals. Damage was analyzed as DNA strand breaks in cell cultures of Pisum sativum (garden pea), Daucus carota (carrot), Populus tremula L.

The influence of gender on ICU admittance.

Background: We assume that critically ill patients are admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) based on their illness severity coupled with their co-morbidities. Patient attributes such as religion, nationality, socioeconomic class or gender are not relevant in this setting. We aimed to explore the association of patient gender with admission to the ICU amongst hospital physicians working in Sweden.

Inequity of access to ACE inhibitors in Swedish heart failure patients: a register-based study.

Background: Several international studies suggest inequity in access to evidence-based heart failure (HF) care. Specifically, studies of ACE inhibitors (ACEIs) point to reduced ACEI access related to female sex, old age and socioeconomic position. Thus far, most studies have either been rather small, lacking diagnostic data, or lacking the possibility to account for several individual-based sociodemographic factors.

UV-B exposure of indoor-grown Picea abies seedlings causes an epigenetic effect and selective emission of terpenes.

Terpenoids are involved in various defensive functions in plants, especially conifers. Epigenetic mechanisms, for example DNA methylation, can influence plant defence systems. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of UV-B exposure on the release of terpenoids from spruce seedlings and on needle DNA methylation.

Increased metal tolerance in Salix by nicotinamide and nicotinic acid.

We have earlier shown that nicotinamide (NIC) and nicotinic acid (NiA) can induce defence-related metabolism in plant cells; e.g. increase the level of glutathione.

Cell suspension cultures of Populus tremula x P. tremuloides exhibit a high level of cellulose synthase gene expression that coincides with increased in vitro cellulose synthase activity.

Compared to wood, cell suspension cultures provide convenient model systems to study many different cellular processes in plants. Here we have established cell suspension cultures of Populus tremula L. x P.

Lignin isolated from primary walls of hybrid aspen cell cultures indicates significant differences in lignin structure between primary and secondary cell wall.

Hybrid aspen (Populus tremula x tremuloides) cell cultures were grown for 7, 14 and 21 days. The cell cultures formed primary cell walls but no secondary cell wall according to carbohydrate analysis and microscopic characterization. The primary walls were lignified, increasingly with age, according to Klason lignin analysis.