Should boxing be banned? Do the ever-so-obvious risks outweigh everyone's freedom to choose whether to expose oneself to these risks by taking up the sport? On an official level, the RCN in the UK has taken its stand--it does not! So has also the British Medical Association (BMA)--it does! With few exceptions, the responding nurses from Europe, America, and Australia in this month's column seem to

Background. Integrity is a complex and important concept in ethical reasoning and in nursing care. Integrity is part of being a human being, a wholeness, and in this sense it also refers to health. Preserving patients' integrity is an important aspect of nursing care, as a number of situations arise in which they can feel threatened or violated. Integrity can also refer to acting according to gene

Disturbance of ecosystems is a major factor in regional carbon budgets, and it is believed to be partly responsible for the large inter-annual variability of the terrestrial part of the carbon balance. Forest fires have so far been considered as the most important disturbance but also other forms of disturbance such as insect outbreaks or wind-throw might contribute significantly to the largely un

Background/Aim: The association between alcohol consumption and pancreatic cancer is not clear. This study investigates different prediagnostic measurements of alcohol consumption, a laboratory marker (gamma-glutamyltransferase; gamma-GT), and a score measuring alcohol addiction (Mm-MAST), in relation to the risk of pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, the study investigated whether smoking and alcohol

The complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes of five marsupial species have been sequenced. The species represent all three South American orders (Didelphimorphia, Paucituberculata, and Microbiotheria). Phylogenetic analysis of this data set indicates that Didelphimorphia is a basal marsupial lineage followed by Paucituberculata. The South American microbiotherid Dromiciops gliroides (monito del monte)

A phylogenetic hypothesis based on nuclear ITS sequence data is presented for the family Physciaceae, based on various representatives of foliose and fruticose groups and a number of species selected from the crustose genera Rinodina and Buellia s.l. The analysis supports the monophyly of the Physcia- and the Buellia-groups. This is in agreement with existing morphological evidence, particularly a

In areas where tectonics and weathering have hydrogeological significance, electrical methods can assist in mapping the subsurface. In this work, resistivity imaging was used to map fractures, faults and quartz veins emplaced in strongly weathered volcanic rocks. The aim was to map geological units related to the formation of groundwater systems in the Rio Artiguas basin, Nicaragua. Eight 2D resis

The annexin A5 gene (Anxa5) was recently found to be expressed in the developing and adult vascular system as well as the skeletal system. In this paper, the expression of an Anxa5-lacZ fusion gene was used to define the onset of expression in the vasculature and to characterize these Anxa5-lacZ-expressing vasculature-associated cells. After blastocyst implantation, Anxa5-lacZ-positive cells were

In Sweden the main exposure route for persistent organochlorine pollutants (POP) is through consumption of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea (off the eastern coast). The present study aimed to investigate whether intrauterine exposure for POP may have negative impact on children's weight and height at 4 and 7 years of age, respectively. The study included 174 fishermen's wives from the Swedish east c

The effects of the pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin on a natural freshwater community were studied in small in situ enclosures over an 11-day period. The experiment was conducted in a eutrophic lake using a regression design that included three untreated controls and a gradient of six unreplicated cypermethrin concentrations, ranging from 0.01 to 6.1 mug/l. This paper is the first in a series o

Aims: Rhinitis symptoms frequently occur in bakery-workers. Yet, little is known about the pathophysiology of this condition. The objective of the present study was to examine nasal indices of inflammation in relation to occupational dust exposure, occupational rhinitis according to defined criteria, rhinitis symptoms associated to the workplace, and occupational sensitization in bakery-workers. M

Low copy repeats (LCRs) are stretches of duplicated DNA that are more than 1 kb in size and share a sequence similarity that exceeds 90%. Non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR) between highly similar LCRs has been implicated in numerous genomic disorders. This study aimed at defining the impact of LCRs on the generation of balanced and unbalanced chromosomal rearrangements in mentally retarde

Background : Our aims were to evaluate the response to salvage treatment in relation to initial treatment and to evaluate prognostic factors at the time of relapse in an unselected population of relapsing patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). Patients and methods: In total, 124 patients younger than 60 yr of age with initial diagnosis of HL in Sweden relapsed between 1985 and 1995. Results : Fift

The complexity of Ca2+ cell signaling is dependent on a plethoria of Ca2+-binding proteins that respond to signals in different ranges of Ca2+ concentrations. Since the function of these proteins is directly coupled to their Ca2+-binding properties, there is a need for accurately determined equilibrium Ca2+-binding constants. In this work we outline the experimental techniques available to determi

Study objective: To analyse the association between perceived discrimination and refraining from seeking required medical treatment and the contribution of socioeconomic disadvantage. Design and setting: Data from the Swedish National Survey of Public Health 2004 were used for analysis. Respondents were asked whether they had refrained from seeking required medical treatment during the past 3 mont

The frequency of visibly phage-infected bacterial cells (FVIB) and the average number of phages per cell [i.e. burst size (BS)] were determined in Antarctic and Arctic ultra-oligotrophic freshwater environments. Water samples were collected from two Antarctic freshwater lakes and cryoconite holes from a glacier in the Arctic. Data from this bipolar study show the highest FVIB (average 26.1%, range

The vascularization of neural grafts in ischemic brain was studied in spontaneously hypertensive rats grafted with a suspension of fetal neocortical tissue into the infarcted area five to six days after ligation of the middle cerebral artery. The brain vasculature was examined by scanning electron microscopy of corrosion vascular casts and the cortical microvasculature was stereologically quantifi