A total of 86 adult bluethroats (Luscinia svecica) from nine different localities, covering the full length of the Fennoscandian mountain range, were screened for blood parasites of the three genera Haemoproteus, Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon using a recently developed polymerase chain reaction method. The overall occurrence of infection was 59.3%. Prevalence of Leucocytozoon spp. (47.7%), Plasmodi

Threshold stress, σth, for reorientation of hydrides in cold worked and stress-relieved (CWSR) Zr–2.5Nb pressure tube material was determined in the temperature range of 523–673 K. Using tapered gage tensile specimen, mean value of σth was experimentally determined by two methods, half thickness method and area compensation method. The difference between local values of σth measured across the thi

Data from the Swedish Knee Arthroplasty Registry were analyzed to compare bi- and tricompartmental knee arthroplasties carried out in patients operated on for arthrosis in 1990-1996. Of the 16,607 primary arthroplasties that were carried out there were 5,139 with patellar replacement in the primary procedure and 10,928 without. By April 1998, 280 revisions were performed, 250 of these cases were a

The driving force behind oncoproteomics is to identify protein signatures that are associated with a particular malignancy. Here, we have used a recombinant scFv antibody microarray in an attempt to classify sera derived from pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients versus healthy subjects. Based on analysis of nonfractionated, directly labeled, whole human serum proteomes we have identified a protein s

Background: Myofibroblasts, proposed as being derived from circulating fibrocytes, are considered to be important cells in thickening of the basement membrane in patients with asthma. We have studied the correlation of tissue fibrocyte levels to basement membrane thickness and the presence of fibrocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in steroid-naive patients with mild asthma and controls.

AIMS: Electrical remodelling with shortening of the atrial refractory period and increased fibrillatory rate occurs after onset of atrial fibrillation and can be attenuated by pre-treatment with intravenous verapamil. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether already established fibrillatory-induced shortening of atrial fibrillatory cycle length could be reversed with oral verapamil.

The present state of the art concerning astrophysical lasers (APL) and nonlinear optical effects under astrophysical conditions is reviewed. The operational conditions of an APL (amplification under non-LTE conditions) and astrophysical predecessors of the laboratory lasers are considered in the introduction of the review. The rareness of observed APL action in the visible range in comparison with

Persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) have been suggested to have negative effects on a number of hormonal systems. Several studies performed retrospectively have reported a possible association between POP exposure and fertility, measured as time to pregnancy (TTP). However, these studies lack biomarkers of exposure at the time when the women tried to conceive. It has previously been found

After their local extinction in 1954, White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) were reintroduced to Sweden in 1989. The founder Population for the reintroduced birds originated in North Africa, rather than from the closest breeding population in northeastern Europe (defined here as native). A number of wild storks have immigrated spontaneously, and a few others of native origin have been acquired for captiv

Aims/hypothesis: We compared five surrogate insulin sensitivity ( IS) methods against the euglycaemic - hyperinsulinaemic clamp. These methods were the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) and four methods based on the OGTT (OGIS, MCRest, ISIcomp, SIORAL). Methods: We compared these IS methods against the clamp (0.28 nmol center dot min(-1) center dot m(-2) insulin infusion) M value in 147 women (

An experimental investigation of low- and medium-mass ion acceleration from resistively heated thin foil targets, irradiated by picosecond laser pulses at intensities up to 5 × 10^20 Wcm−2, is reported. It is found that the spectral distributions of ions, up to multi-MeV/nucleon energies, accelerated from the rear surface of the target are broadly consistent with previously reported measurements m

This paper uses 4080 observations from the Swedish Maritime Administration (1996-2001) to test how vessel's characteristics influence the length of time between two port state control inspections (PSC) along with the number of deficiencies detected during PSC. It also investigates whether a ship that has undergone PSC inspection at a certain time exhibits a reduction in the total number of deficie

The strain distribution in heterostructured wurtzite InAs/InP nanowires is measured by a peak finding technique using high resolution transmission electron microscopy images. We find that nanowires with a diameter of about 20 nm show a 10 nm strained area over the InAs/InP interface and the rest of the wire has a relaxed lattice structure. The lattice parameters and elastic properties for the wurt

The incorporation of drugs into Gelucires has been reported to increase the dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs, often leading to improved drug bioavailability. In pharmaceutical applications, it is important to know how the excipient interacts with the drug, and how the mixture behaves during manufacturing, storage as well as during administration. The uptake of water by an amphiphilic excip

In this paper, we investigate the effects of cross-sectional disturbance correlation in a homogeneous panel data unit root test. As reported by other authors, the unit root test has incorrect size in the presence of cross-sectional correlation. We suggest that a previously known estimator can be used to reduce the size distortions. We supply response surface estimates for critical values and study

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two prevalent neurodegenerative disorders for which the causes are unknown, except in rare familial cases. Several changes in neuropeptide levels as measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) have been observed in these illnesses. Somatostatin (SOM) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are consistently decreased in AD and FTD. Neuropeptide Y (N

Active duplicate PgiC genes in sheep's fescue, Festuca ovina, are associated with a PCR marker of specific length (about 370 bp, of which 231 are in an intron). Using this marker, the frequency of plants with duplicate genes is estimated to be about 10% in a population from southern Sweden. The close molecular similarity between the electrophoretically different duplicated genes is in accordance w

Background A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled phase II study was done to assess the efficacy of a prophylactic quadrivalent vaccine targeting the human papillomavirus (HPV) types associated with 70% of cervical cancers (types 16 and 18) and with 90% of genital warts (types 6 and 11). Methods 277 young women (mean age 20.2 years [SD 1.7]) were randomly assigned to quadrivalent HPV (20 μ g

Apolipoprotein M (apoM) is a 188 amino acid, 25 kDa protein belonging to the lipocalin protein superfamily. Although predominantly associated with high density lipoprotein, apoM is found in all major lipoprotein classes. To facilitate clinical studies of apoM, we have developed a sandwich ELISA for the measurement of apoM in human plasma. This method has been used to investigate normal apoM variat