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Cytokines and hormones are essential mediators in the regulation of antimicrobial peptide and protein (AMP) levels during host defense responses. In this issue, Buchau et al. identify and characterize B-cell leukemia-3 as an important modulator of AMP expression during the innate immune response in keratinocytes as well as in the chronic inflammatory skin disorder atopic dermatitis.
Background. Excessive mortality and morbidity are serious problems after hip fracture in the elderly. Methods. Hip fractures in persons aged 50 years or older were prospectively registered in Japan in 2000. Questionnaires regarding both the first onset and the second 120-day period after hip fracture were obtained from 759 patients, 546 of whom were female and 213 male. Results. Their average age
The frequencies of the hereditary hemochromatosis gene (HFE) mutations C282Y and H63D vary between different populations. There are a limited number of reports regarding the frequency of these mutations in populations of southeastern Europe. Two hundred and sixty-four adult individuals of Greek origin were examined for the C282Y and H63D mutations to determine the allele and genotype frequencies.
Plants have evolved under the influence of UV-B radiation and have acquired systems for monitoring it and investing appropriate resources for protection against it, i.e., filters, quenchers of radicals and reactive oxygen species, and repair systems. An hypothesis for how plants monitor radiation has been presented.
The 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OHFAs) in lipopolysaccharides (LPS) play an important role in determining endotoxin activity, and childhood exposure to endotoxin has recently been associated with reduced risk of atopic diseases. To characterize the 3-OHFAs in house dust (HD), we used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to assay 190 HD samples. Dust from beds, bedroom floors, family rooms, and kitche
Lactobacillus colonisation was examined in 112 Swedish infants. Faecal samples obtained at 1, 2,4 and 8 weeks and at 6, 12 and 18 months of age were cultivated quantitatively on Rogosa agar. Lactobacilli were speciated by PCR and typed to the strain level by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Lactobacilli reached a peak at 6 months when 45% of the infants were colonised. L. rhamnosus and L
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is an attractive concept for radiation treatment of malignant tumours. The patients receive a 10B-carrying compound with selective uptake in tumour cells, after which they are irradiated with epithermal neutrons. Theoretically, the tumour cells are killed by the high-LET particles produces in 10B(n, alpha)7Li reactions inside or close to the cell nucleus, while
The aim of the study was to assess the short-term cardiorespiratory effects of a standard red cell transfusion in very low birth weight (<1500 g) infants undergoing intensive care. A total of 37 infants (birth weight 920+/-230 g, gestational age 27.8+/-2.1 weeks, age at study 6.1+/-3.9 days) with indwelling arterial lines were studied when 10 ml/kg of packed donor red cells were transfused based o
Six methyl cellulose (MC) samples, one with a IDS Of 1.32 and five with a DS between 1.83 and 1.88, were degraded with five different enzymes or enzyme preparations containing endoglucanases. The main goal was to investigate whether enzymes could be used for determination of heterogeneity of the substituent distribution along the cellulose chain. To obtain information about the heterogeneity it wa
Despite substantial advances in pre- and postnatal care, the problem of preterm labour continues to be a significant medical, economic and social burden. Globally, it is estimated that 13 million babies are born preterm each year, but the incidence varies substantially between different countries and population groups. In the United States alone, approximately 11% of pregnancies, i.e. 380,000 case
This paper presents an ongoing study of children with chronic ITP in Sweden that addresses four specific questions: is there a subgroup of children with chronic ITP that have impaired platelet function? Do children in this subgroup have antibodies directed against surface glycoproteins that are crucial for platelet function? Can desmopressin improve the impaired platelet function in this subgroup?
The biliary tract is normally sterile, but bile-tolerant bacteria are frequently isolated from patients with cholecystitis. Since the identification of about 25 Helicobacter species, some of which may grow in bile, studies have addressed the role of these organisms in primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and cholelithiasis. Most of these bacteria show the presence of Helicoba
Musculoskeletal conditions are an increasingly common problem across the globe due to increased longevity and increased exposure to risk factors such as obesity and lack of physical activity. The increase is predicted to be greatest in developing countries, and there is thus an urgent need for the implementation of strategies and policies that will prevent and control these conditions. The ideal i
This article analyses the general ethical milieu in a nursing home for elderly residents and provides a decision-making model for analysing the ethical situations that arise. It considers what it means for the residents to live together and for the staff to be in ethically problematic situations when caring for residents. An interpretative phenomenological approach and Sandman’s ethical model prov
We show that isolated magnetic dipoles centred at the position of manganese impurities in a gallium arsenide lattice lead to spin polarized states in the bandgap of the III-V semiconductor. Spectroscopy simulations with a tungsten tip agree well with experimental data; in this case, no difference can be observed for the two magnetic groundstates. But if the signal is read with a magnetic iron tip,
The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (NBH) decided that a vaccine that protects against cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) should be included in the childhood vaccination directive as a nationwide-programme targeting 12-yearold girls from 2010 as a part of the school-health programme. Currently, vaccination of girls 13-18 years of age is covered by the public insuranc
Biomarker levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may serve as surrogate markers for treatment efficacy in clinical trials of disease-modifying drugs against Alzheimer's disease (AD). A prerequisite, however, is that the marker is sufficiently stable over time in individual patients. Here, we tested the stability of the three established CSF biomarkers for AD, total tau (T-tau), tau phosphorylated at
This paper describes a new method for detection and estimation of backlash in control loops. The detection procedure is based on normal operating data. It is not assumed that the output from the backlash is measured. The procedure is automatic in the sense that no information has to be provided from the user to run the procedure. Since an estimate of the dead band caused by the backlash is provide
Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) are two closely related neuropeptides that are expressed in islets and in islet parasympathetic nerves. Both peptides bind to their common G-protein-coupled receptors, VPAC1 and VPAC2, and PACAP, in addition to the specific receptor PAC1, all three of which are expressed in islets. VIP and PACAP
We examine the propagation of solitary waves in elongated clouds of trapped bosonic atoms as the confinement, the strength of the interatomic interaction, and the atom density are varied. We identify three different physical regimes and develop a general formalism that allows us to interpolate between them. Finally we pay special attention to the transition to the Tonks-Girardeau limit of strongly
