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Insulin is secreted from the pancreatic β-cells in response to elevated glucose. In intact islets the capacity for insulin release is determined by a complex interplay between different cell types. This has made it difficult to specifically assess the role of β-cell defects to the insulin secretory impairment in type 2 diabetes. Here we describe a new approach, based on optogenetics, that enables
The influence of aerosols, both natural and anthropogenic, remains a major area of uncertainty when predicting the properties and behaviour of clouds and their influence on climate. In an attempt to better understand warm cloud formation in a tropical marine environment, a period of intensive measurements took place in December 2004 in Puerto Rico, using some of the latest developments in online i
Rosiglitazone, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonist, is an insulin sensitizing agent in peripheral tissues. This study investigated islet hormones and hormone-like peptides expression patterns in rosiglitazone treated streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats by using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization methods. Animals were divided into four groups. I. Group: Intact contro
Introduction Basal-phenotype or basal-like breast cancers are characterized by basal epithelium cytokeratin (CK5/14/17) expression, negative estrogen receptor ( ER) status and distinct gene expression signature. We studied the clinical and biological features of the basal-phenotype tumors determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and cDNA microarrays especially within the ER-negative subgroup. Meth
Background: This study explores the long-term experience of involuntary childlessness among 14 Swedish women 20 years after their infertility treatment. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted. Results: The childlessness had had a strong impact on all the women’s lives and was for all a major life theme. The effects were experienced both on a personal level and on interpersonal and social leve
Regional or global modeling studies of dynamic vegetation often represent vegetation by large functional units (plant functional types (PFTs)). For simulation of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) in these models, emission capacities, which give the emission under standardized conditions, are provided as an average value for a PFT. These emission capacities thus hide the known heterogeneit
Recent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data
Previous studies suggest that obesity is related to increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, only a few studies report on measures of central vs. peripheral adiposity. We examined the association between anthropometric measures, including waist and hip circumference and RCC risk among 348,550 men and women free of cancer at baseline from 8 countries of the European Prospective Invest
Aim: To investigate the prevalence of high levels of sperm DNA damage among men from infertile couples with both normal and abnormal standard semen parameters. Methods: A total of 350 men from infertile couples were assessed. Standard semen analysis and sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) were carried out. Results: Ninety-seven men (28% of the whole study group) had a DNA fragmentation index (D
Popular Abstract in Swedish Bakgrund: Diabetes är en sjukdom som karakteriseras av kroniskt förhöjt blodsocker och som obehandlad kan leda till svåra komplikationer i blodkärl, ögon, njurar, nerver m.m. Sjukdomen beror på kroppens oförmåga att producera (typ 1 diabetes) eller svara på effekt av (typ 2 diabetes) hormonet insulin. Det finns ca 150 miljoner personer med diabetes i världen idag, och sType 2 diabetes is characterised by defects in insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion and increased endogenous glucose production. The relative contribution of each of these defects remains controversial. In order to characterise the metabolic defects in various stages of glucose tolerance, the insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion was measured in a large population based study in Finland and
Many studies assume a respiratory quotient (RQ = molar ratio of CO2 produced to O2 consumed) close to 1 when calculating bacterioplankton respiration. However, evidence suggests that RQ depends on the chemical composition of the respired substrate pool that may be altered by photo-chemical production of oxygen-rich substrates, resulting in elevated RQs. Here we conducted a novel study of the impac
The subject of this thesis is the clinical use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in patients with stroke or atrial fibrillation. Subjects were examined with echocardiography and sonography of the carotid artery. A control group of randomly selected volunteers without cerebrovascular disease was compared to patients with ischemic stroke. Cardiac pathology was classified as minor potential e
Specificity and versatility in cyclic AMP (cAMP) signalling are governed by the spatial localisation and temporal dynamics of the signal. Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are important for shaping cAMP signals by hydrolyzing the nucleotide. In pancreatic beta-cells, glucose triggers sub-plasma-membrane cAMP oscillations, which are important for insulin secretion, but the mechanisms underlying the oscilla
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulate hormone secretion from islets of Langerhans, and recently developed therapies for type-2 diabetes target islet GLP-1 receptors. However, the total number of GPCRs expressed by human islets, as well as their function and interactions with drugs, is poorly understood. In this review we have constructed an atlas of all GPCRs expressed by human islets: the
The COX2 rs5277 (306G>C) polymorphism has been associated with inflammation-associated cancers. In breast cancer, tumor COX-2 expression has been associated with increased estrogen levels in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and activated Akt-pathway in ER-negative tumors. Our study investigated the impact of COX2 genotypes on early breast cancer events and treatment response in relation to tumor ER
The background of this study is a project aiming at assessing the quality of teaching and learning in scientific computing in different cultural settings. This, we hope will lead us to constructing standards, which can provide outcomes of comparable quality in scientific computing in different countries and societies. Specifically we want to gain insight which quality benchmarks are suitable for t
Popular Abstract in Swedish Jämte korrosionsangrepp är skador på grund av saltfrostangrepp den vanligaste skadetypen hos betongkonstruktioner som utsätts för miljöer med fukt, salt och frost. Exempel på sådana miljöer är marina miljöer och tösaltade vägmiljöer. Betongens saltfrostbeständighet bestäms till stor del av betongsammansättningen, främst av förhållandet mellan mängden vatten och cement oAbstract This thesis presents the results of an investigation of the influence of ageing on the salt-frost resistance of concrete. The ageing mechanisms investigated were hydration, drying and carbonation. Specimens of ‘micro’-concrete, either with OPC alone as the binder or with silica or slag as part of the binder, were freeze/thaw tested at different ages after casting. Prior to testing, the sp
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with a largely unknown aetiology. The risk of developing RA is partly dependent on genetic factors, which has motivated extensive efforts to identify the disease regulating genes as away to understand disease pathogenesis. However, identifying genes controlling complex diseases such as RA has proven extremely difficult and to date only a fe
