Sexual dimorphism in placental morphology and function has increasingly been acknowledged. The differences in adaptation to the intrauterine environment and in perinatal/neonatal outcomes between the sexes has been well described. Doppler-derived hemodynamic parameters of the feto-placental and utero-placental circulations are commonly used to monitor fetal wellbeing in clinical practice, but whether ...

The main goal of this work was to describe the prevalence of adventitious lung sounds (wheezes and crackles) in a general population. We obtained lung sound recordings from 4033 participants in the 7th survey of the Tromsø. We observed a crude prevalence of adventitious lung sounds in 28% of the participants; 18 % had wheezes, 13% had crackles. Age, female sex, self-reported asthma, and current ...

<i>Background</i> - We screened the sparse literature on how health warnings on snus products affect risk perception and use intentions, and contributed with two experimental studies on the topic.<p> <p><i> Methods</i> - First, we examined previous studies on health warnings on smokeless tobacco in a systematic review, studied the manipulations in exposure studies, and systematized the outcome ...

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), encompassing both deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is a major public health concern due to substantial morbidity and mortality. Around half of all VTE cases are hospital-related. Importantly, VTE also has life-long implications, as a large proportion of VTE-patients suffer either a recurrent event or chronic complications. The first aim of the thesis was to ...

Within the literature, different playing positions present different external load profiles in match-play and are associated with the individual variation in activity profiles. In contrast to detailed information regarding matches, few studies have focused on the training practices in football. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to assess the levels of specificity that different playing-positions ...

Individuals in industrialized countries spend a substantial part of life in the non-fasting, postprandial state, which is also associated with increased oxidation and inflammation. Furthermore, a high body mass index (BMI) is the third cause of mortality in the world. In this PhD thesis, obese (BMI>30) individuals with and without metabolic disease (n=50) was included, in addition to a normal ...

The brain as a drug target site remains a pharmaceutical challenge in spite of numerous efforts to enhance drug delivery to the brain. Nasal drug administration has gained interest among researchers, especially in the last decade, as it provides direct drug access into the brain. However, the nasal mucus and the surrounding environment often limit the use of nose as the administration site. Drug ...

Detecting signs of disorder from listening to spoken words is a core method in psychiatry. Traditionally the interpretation of speech depends on inherently subjective processes. By contrast, digital technology can be leveraged to detect and analyze what words are spoken, timestamp when they are uttered and quantify the manner in which they are expressed. With the use of mobile communication technology, ...

<p>The tumor microenvironment is a dynamic, constantly evolving interplay between tumor cells, immune cells, endothelial and other stromal cells, and the extracellular matrix. Inflammation is an essential part of the immune system’s response against malignant growth but also a powerful pro-tumorigenic factor as cancer cells can hijack inflammatory mediators to support tumor growth. Neuroblastoma is ...

<p>The gamma-amino-butyric-acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS) and exerts its physiological role by binding to the ionotropic GABA_A and GABA_C receptors and the metabotropic GABA_B receptor (GABA_B-R). The GABA_B-R is an obligate heterodimer that belongs to class C of guanine-binding proteins ...