Pregnancies following in-vitro fertilization (IVF) are known to be at increased risk of a number of pregnancy- and delivery-related complications when compared with non-IVF pregnancies. Most of these complications seem to be due to underlying fertility problems. Ovarian stimulation carries a marked risk for two serious conditions - ovarian torsion and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome - both of wh

Background and aims The vasopressin analogue desmopressin has demonstrated efficacy in decreasing bleeding time by increasing the circulating levels of coagulation factor VIII and von Willebrand factor, but also by direct effects on platelets. Previous studies have demonstrated contrasting results regarding the effect of desmopressin on platelets in vitro. The aim of this study was to investigate

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system. Motor symptoms are the focus of pharmacotherapy, yet non-motor features of the disease (e.g. fatigue, mood disturbances, sleep disturbances and symptoms of anxiety) are both common and disabling for the patient. The pathophysiological mechanisms behind the non-motor symptoms in PD are yet t

Increased epithelial cell expression of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme is a characteristic event of both inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer. We here report the novel findings that collagen I-induced de novo synthesis of COX-2 in intestinal epithelial cells is inhibited by pertussis toxin (PTX) and by an inhibitory peptide selective for the heterotrimeric G alpha(i3)-protein. These fi

A new collaborative program, the FERRUM project. aims at extending and improving the database of oscillator strengths for the astrophysical important Fe II spectrum. In this paper we report on the experimental method applied for measurements of radiative lifetimes of Fe II levels at intermediate excitation (5-10 eV) that can be populated ba laser excitation from metastable states. The technique in

BACKGROUND: In settings with low background prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) infection, interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA) could be useful for diagnosing active TB. This study aims to evaluate the performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) in the investigation for suspected active TB, with particular attention to patients originating in high-incidence countries. Furthermore, factors associated

Let $\Omega$ be a domain in the complex plane, $\phi$ an analytic map that maps $\Omega$ into itself, and $X$ an $F$-space of analytic functions in $\Omega$ that possesses certain mild regularity properties. (Some examples considered in the paper are Hardy spaces, Bergman spaces, and the space of all analytic functions in $\Omega$.) If composition with $\phi$ defines a compact operator on $X$ that

PURPOSE: HAMLET is a protein-lipid complex that kills different types of cancer cells. Recently we observed a rapid reduction in human bladder cancer size after intravesical HAMLET treatment. In this study we evaluated the therapeutic effect of HAMLET in the mouse MB49 bladder carcinoma model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bladder tumors were established by intravesical injection of MB49 cells into poly