University of Gothenburg

About: University of Gothenburg is a education organization based out in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 23855 authors who have published 65241 publications receiving 2606327 citations. The organization is also known as: Göteborg University & Gothenburg University.

Once-daily bronchodilators for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: indacaterol versus tiotropium.

Abstract: Rationale: Indacaterol is the first once-daily, long-acting inhaled β2-agonist bronchodilator studied in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Objectives: To demonstrate greater efficacy of indacaterol versus placebo on FEV1 at 24 hours post dose (trough) after 12 weeks, to compare efficacy with placebo and tiotropium, and to evaluate safety and tolerability over 26 weeks.Measurements: Patients with moderate-to-severe COPD were randomized to double-blind indacaterol 150 or 300 μg or placebo, or open-label tiotropium 18 μg, all once daily, for 26 weeks. The primary efficacy outcome was trough FEV1 at 12 weeks. Additional analyses (not adjusted for multiplicity) included transition dyspnea index (TDI), health status (St George's Respiratory Questionnaire [SGRQ]), and exacerbations. Serum potassium, blood glucose, and QTc interval were measured.Results: A total of 1,683 patients (age, 63.3 yr; post-bronchodilator FEV1, 56% predicted; FEV1/FVC, 0.53) were randomized to the four treatment ...

Exploration of deep intraterrestrial microbial life: current perspectives

Abstract: Intraterrestrial life has been found at depths of several thousand metres in deep sub-sea floor sediments and in the basement crust beneath the sediments. It has also been found at up to 2800-m depth in continental sedimentary rocks, 5300-m depth in igneous rock aquifers and in fluid inclusions in ancient salt deposits from salt mines. The biomass of these intraterrestrial organisms may be equal to the total weight of all marine and terrestrial plants. The intraterrestrial microbes generally seem to be active at very low but significant rates and several investigations indicate chemolithoautotrophs to form a chemosynthetic base. Hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide gases are continuously generated in the interior of our planet and probably constitute sustainable sources of carbon and energy for deep intraterrestrial biosphere ecosystems. Several prospective research areas are foreseen to focus on the importance of microbial communities for metabolic processes such as anaerobic utilisation of hydrocarbons and anaerobic methane oxidation.

Plasma Osteocalcin Is Inversely Related to Fat Mass and Plasma Glucose in Elderly Swedish Men

Abstract: The osteoblast-derived protein osteocalcin has recently been shown to affect adiposity and glucose homeostasis in mice, suggesting that the skeleton influences energy metabolism through an endocrine mechanism. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between plasma osteocalcin and parameters reflecting fat mass and glucose homeostasis in humans. Fasting levels of plasma osteocalcin, plasma glucose, serum insulin, and lipids were analyzed in elderly men (75.3 +/- 3.2 yr of age) in the Gothenburg part (all subjects, n = 1010; nondiabetic, n = 857; diabetic, n = 153) of the MrOS Sweden study. Fat mass and lean mass were analyzed using DXA. Diabetic subjects had lower plasma osteocalcin (-21.7%, p < 0.001) than nondiabetic subjects. For both all subjects and nondiabetic subjects, plasma osteocalcin was clearly inversely related to body mass index (BMI), fat mass, and plasma glucose (p < 0.001), whereas it was not associated with height or lean mass. Plasma osteocalcin explained a substantial part (6.3%) of the variance in plasma glucose, whereas it associated moderately with serum insulin. Multiple linear regression models adjusting for serum insulin and fat mass showed that plasma osteocalcin was an independent negative predictor of plasma glucose (p < 0.001). We herein, for the first time in humans, show that plasma osteocalcin is inversely related to fat mass and plasma glucose. Although one should be cautious with mechanistic interpretations of cross-sectional association studies, our human data support recently published experimental studies, showing endocrine functions of osteoblast-derived osteocalcin on glucose and fat homeostasis.

Distributed biological computation with multicellular engineered networks

Abstract: Ongoing efforts within synthetic and systems biology have been directed towards the building of artificial computational devices using engineered biological units as basic building blocks. Such efforts, inspired in the standard design of electronic circuits, are limited by the difficulties arising from wiring the basic computational units (logic gates) through the appropriate connections, each one to be implemented by a different molecule. Here, we show that there is a logically different form of implementing complex Boolean logic computations that reduces wiring constraints thanks to a redundant distribution of the desired output among engineered cells. A practical implementation is presented using a library of engineered yeast cells, which can be combined in multiple ways. Each construct defines a logic function and combining cells and their connections allow building more complex synthetic devices. As a proof of principle, we have implemented many logic functions by using just a few engineered cells. Of note, small modifications and combination of those cells allowed for implementing more complex circuits such as a multiplexer or a 1-bit adder with carry, showing the great potential for re-utilization of small parts of the circuit. Our results support the approach of using cellular consortia as an efficient way of engineering complex tasks not easily solvable using single-cell implementations.