The exploding progress in genomic technology and knowledge now opens the possibility to actually identify the molecular mechanisms in disease. However, inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS), are complex and polygenic and remain a challenge. One possible shortcut could be the use of inbred animals as models for RA and MS for the genetic analysis. These

OBJECTIVE: Previous experiments have shown that addition of fragmented fibronectin can induce cartilage chondrolysis. In this study we investigated the fate of the collagen- and cell-binding molecules Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and chondroadherin. DESIGN: Equine articular cartilage explants were stimulated with the C-terminal and the N-terminal heparin-binding fragments of fibronec

Major practical constraints on neural grafting in Parkinson's disease are the shortage of human donor tissue and the great loss of dopamine neurons during the grafting procedure. The vast majority of implanted embryonic dopamine neurons are believed to die within a few days of transplantation surgery, at least in part through apoptosis. We have previously found that survival of nigral grafts in ro

High-resolution palaeoecological proxies of pollen, macrofossils and diatoms from an isolation lake provide a long-term record of the Holocene landscape history and shoreline displacement on the Biskopsmala Peninsula in central Blekinge, SE Sweden. During the Preboreal/Boreal transition, the peninsula was sparsely vegetated by woodlands, along with lateglacial dwarf shrub/steppe communities. The l

I give a very short introduction to chiral perturbation theory and an overview of the next-to-next-to-leading order three-flavour calculations done. I discuss those relevant for an improvement in the accuracy of the measurement of Vus in more detail. One major conclusion is that all needed p6 low energy constants can be obtained from experiment via the scalar form-factor in Kl3 decays

Most of the Nordic region was ice-covered during the last (Weichselian) glaciation. During the postglacial period, plant and animal species recolonized the region from several directions and the geographic structuring of genetic variation within Nordic species may still contain a historic component that reflects patterns of postglacial immigration. The present investigation of 69 populations of Si

Interleukin-6 (IL6) is a growth and survival factor in human prostate cancer (PCa) cells with aggressive phenotypes and has been implicated in the progression of hormone refractory PCas. In the present study, we characterized the IL6-triggered PI3K/Akt and MAPK/Erk signaling. We identified the A-type cyclin, cyclin A1 as an important downstream target of PI3K/Akt. Treatment of cells with PI3K inhi

Sulfate adsorption is an important process when modeling the dynamics of recovery from acidification. In the dynamic soil chemistry model SAFE sulfate adsorption is modeled by a pH and sulfate concentration dependent isotherm. This isotherm has been parameterized by fitting it to data from batch experiments on soil samples using multiple linear regression. The soil samples were from the B-horizon

The Scandinavian countries - Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland - have developed a particular model of welfare, employment and economic governance. It is based on universal access to tax-financed social services and social insurance, full employment secured by expansive macro-economic policies and active labour market policies, highly organized labour markets, corporatist interest mediation, and

Background: The nephrotoxic potential of anti-glomerular-basement-membrane (GBM) antibodies has been demonstrated in numerous animal experiments. However, it is not known to what extent the properties of circulating anti-GBM antibodies in human disease reflect the severity of the disease and predict the outcome. Methods: Clinical data were collected for 79 Swedish patients for whom a positive resu

A case study of congenital esophageal stenosis is reported. Light microscopic examination revealed extensive disorganization of the inner circular muscle layer, with partial absence of the muscularis mucosae.

Boolean functions are used as nonlinear combining functions in certain stream ciphers. A Boolean function is said to be correlation immune if its output leaks no information about its input values. Balanced correlation immune functions are called resilient functions. Finding methods for easy construction of resilient functions with additional properties is an active research area. Maitra and Pasal

An aqueous two-phase system, consisting of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and dextran, was employed to separate polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-inhibitory substances from bacterial cells. The PCR inhibition of four soft cheeses was examined and three of them were found to be strongly PCR-inhibitory. Extraction of the PCR-inhibitory soft cheeses inoculated with Listeria monocytogenes in an aqueous two

Primary headaches such as migraine are among the most prevalent neurological disorders, affecting up to one-fifth of the adult population. The scientific work in the last decade has unraveled much of the pathophysiological background of migraine, which is now considered to be a neurovascular disorder. It has been discovered that the trigemino-cerebrovascular system plays a key role in migraine hea

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of wood to ethanol has often been claimed to be less sensitive to infection than separate hydrolysis and fermentation. A previous study has shown that this was not the case. In the present study the influence of different parameters in SSF, such as cell concentration, nutrient composition and inclusion of the liquid from pretreatment, on the ethanol y

Hypertension has been associated with increased case-fatality rates among individuals who subsequently suffer from acute coronary events. It is unknown whether inflammation modifies this relationship. This population-based study explored the effects of inflammation and hypertension on incidence of coronary event, and on the fatality of the future events. Blood pressure (BP) and five inflammation-s