Cathepsin B is suggested to be involved in amyloid-beta (A beta) processing and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Studies of cathepsin B levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have not been previously performed. We examined cathepsin B levels in plasma and CSF samples in persons with AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and healthy controls in order to test the hypothesis that cathepsin B levels c

The S100 alarmins A8, A9, and A8/A9, secreted by activated neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages, are involved in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases. S100A8/A9 has previously been linked to atherogenesis and cardiovascular (CV) disease. We investigated whether S100A8, A9, and A8/A9 correlate with carotid artery disease and CV risk in apparently healthy individuals.

An experimental study was conducted to investigate pressure drop and heat transfer in a U-bend section with various configurations of guide vanes and two kinds of rib shapes on the outer wall. Ten guide vane types were tested. Results highlight that the use of special guide vanes can reduce the pressure drop penalty up to a maximum of 31%. However, guide vanes are usually associated with heat tran

A search for the weak production of charginos and neutralinos decaying to a final state with three leptons (electrons or muons) and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis uses 2.06 fb(-1) of root s = 7 TeV proton-proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with standard model expectations in two sign

Objective Although Parkinson's disease is a common disorder in the elderly, there have been very few studies of the role of the pharmaceutical care services in detecting and reducing problems associated with drug treatment in community settings. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the type and frequency of drug-related problems identified in patients with Parkinson's disease by comm

A new third polymorph of copper(II) decanoate has been found by two methods: from the crystallization of the saltacid solution and from a specific thermal treatment of the polymorph obtained in n-heptane. The new polymorph, whose crystal structure has been solved for the first time, is the most stable from the thermodynamic point of view. It presents a bilayer structure, but with two different typ

Bacteria that enter the bloodstream will encounter components of the cellular and soluble immune response. Platelets contribute to this response and have emerged as an important target for bacterial pathogens. Bacteria produce diverse extracellular proteins and toxins that have been reported to modulate platelet function. These interactions can result in complete or incomplete platelet activation

Adenosine and uridine triphosphate (ATP and UTP) can act as extracellular signalling molecules, playing important roles in vascular biology and disease. ATP and UTP acting via the P2Y2-receptor have, for example, been shown to regulate endothelial dilatation, inflammation and angiogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of regulatory, short, non-coding RNAs, have been shown to be important regulators

The MAX IV synchrotron radiation facility is currently being constructed in Lund, Sweden. The accelerator park consists of a 3 GeV linac injector and 2 storage rings operated at 1.5 and 3 GeV respectively. The linac injector will also be used for the generation of short Xray pulses. Close to 30 straight sections will be available for IDs at the rings. The three machines mentioned above are describ

Evidence shows that in some contexts immigrants have better health than natives in spite of coming from poorer socioeconomic contexts and of facing socioeconomic disadvantages in the host country. However, this is a country or origin- and outcome-specific phenomenon. This study compares different health outcomes derived from birthweight and gestational age among different migrant groups residing i

Epigenetic information includes heritable signals that modulate gene expression but are not encoded in the primary nucleotide sequence. We have studied natural epigenetic variation in three allotetraploid sibling orchid species (Dactylorhiza majalis s.str, D. traunsteineri s.l., and D. ebudensis) that differ radically in geography/ecology. The epigenetic variation released by genome doubling has b

Blood pressure is a heritable trait(1) influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (>= 140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or >= 90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure)(2). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events(3). This genome-wide association study o

A fully divergence-free method is proposed for generation of inhomogeneous/anisotropic turbulence with large spatial variation. The method is based on the method of Smirnov et al., which is known to violate the divergence-free constraint when spatial variation of turbulence is present. In the proposed method a vector potential field is introduced; by taking the vector curl of the potential field o

We report a comprehensive experimental-theoretical study of the temperature-and concentration-dependent swelling behavior of weakly cross-linked PNiPAm ionic microgel particles in the deionized fluid phase. The particles swell reversibly when the dispersion is cooled from the collapsed state to lower temperatures. While the collapsed state shows no dependence on the microgel number density, the sw

To determine the association between vision-related quality of life (VRQOL) and levels of visual function loss in the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial (EMGT).

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a disease of complement dysregulation, characterized by hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and acute renal failure. Mutations in complement inhibitors are major risk factors for development of aHUS. The three aHUS patients reported in this study had several previously identified alterations in complement inhibitors; e.g. risk haplotypes in CD46 and fact

Cervical ripening is necessary for successful delivery. Since cytokines are believed to be involved in this process, the aim of this study was to investigate possible changes in the mRNA and protein expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin (IL)-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-12, IL-18) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, IL-13)in the human cervix during pregnancy, term and preterm l

Properties of a series of acetylene-linked perylene bisimide (PBI) macrocycles with different ring size composed of three to six PBI dyes were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy in a condensed phase. it was demonstrated that the structures of PBI cyclic arrays (CNs, N = 3, 4,5, and 6) become distorted with increasing the ring size through mo

We examined the spatial and temporal (hourly) variation of aqueous concentrations of mercury in a gold miner's river to determine factors that control transport, retention, and export of mercury. The mercury flux was estimated to account for episodic inputs of mercury through mining tailings, variations in flow rate, and the partitioning of mercury between dissolved and particulate phases. Water s