Sökresultat

Introduction and presentation to the six essays that encompasses the issue at hand.

Autoantibodies to glutamate decarboxylase 65 (GAD65Ab) are commonly believed to be a major characteristic for type 1 diabetes (T1D). We investigated the presence of GAD65Ab in healthy individuals (n = 238) and first-degree relatives (FDRs) of T1D patients (n = 27) who tested negative for GAD65Ab in conventional RIAs. Sera were applied to affinity columns coated with GAD65-specific mAbs to absorb a

New diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis integrating magnetic resonance image assessment with clinical and other paraclinical methods were introduced in 2001. The "McDonald Criteria" have been extensively assessed and used since 2001. New evidence and consensus now strengthen the role of these criteria in the multiple sclerosis diagnostic workup to demonstrate dissemination of lesions in tim

Asporin, a novel member of the leucine-rich repeat family of proteins, was partially purified from human articular cartilage and meniscus. Cloning of human and mouse asporin cDNAs revealed that the protein is closely related to decorin and biglycan. It contains a putative propeptide, 4 amino-terminal cysteines, 10 leucine-rich repeats, and 2 C-terminal cysteines. In contrast to decorin and biglyca

The uncertainties and sources of variation in projected impacts of climate change on agriculture and terrestrial ecosystems depend not only on the emission scenarios and climate models used for projecting future climates, but also on the impact models used, and the local soil and climatic conditions of the managed or unmanaged ecosystems under study. We addressed these uncertainties by applying di

In this article we develop an approach to deformations of the Witt and Virasoro algebras based on sigma-derivations. We show that sigma-twisted Jacobi type identity holds for generators of such deformations. For the sigma-twisted generalization of Lie algebras modeled by this construction, we develop a theory of central extensions. We show that our approach can be used to construct new deformation

Currently in Europe as well as in the United States, an increasing proportion of very old people remain living in their homes despite declines in physical and mental health. Together with the fact that the population of very old people is rapidly increasing (Mathers, Sadana, Salamon, Murray, Lopez, 2001; United Nations Development Programme, 2001), this poses new challenges to societal planning an

With the use of electrogoniometers wrist positions and movements were measured in 13 milkers while working in a modern rotary milking system. The rotary system put considerable demands on the wrists and hands regarding both velocities and repetitiveness. Values were found close to those described in other repetitive industrial work with high risk of wrist and hand disorders. For the right hand the

Background When this study was initiated, no previous studies comparing methotrexate and ciclosporin for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis had been performed. Objectives To compare the effectiveness, quality of life and side-effects of methotrexate and ciclosporin treatments in a context reflecting normal clinical practice. Methods Eighty-four patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis

We examine whether it is a psychosocial or an economic need for employment that affects mental health among the unemployed. The relevance of both aspects are examined, concentrating on two measures of each dimension. Two perspectives of work involvement - the degree of connection to working life and the perceived employment commitment and two perspectives on financial situation economic security a

The performance of an explicit algebraic stress model with a cubic equation for closure constants is assessed in predicting the turbulent flow dynamics of ducts relevant for heat exchangers. The use of a cubic equation allows elimination of any damping functions in the tensor representation for the Reynolds stresses and thereby improves prediction of turbulent stresses theoretically. The methodolo

Humans are colour-blind at night, and it has been assumed that this is true of all animals. But colour vision is as useful for discriminating objects1 at night as it is during the day. Here we show, through behavioural experiments, that the nocturnal hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor uses colour vision to discriminate coloured stimuli at intensities corresponding to dim starlight (0.0001 cd m-2). It can

Objective: To define the importance of leukocyte recruitment in endotoxin-induced gut permeability. Materials and methods: 31 male C57BL/6 mice were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Ileal permeability was measured in Ussing chambers and leukocyte-endothelium interactions studied with intravital fluorescence microscopy after 18 h. Results: LPS caused a clear-cut increase in leukocyte accum

Cryogels are gel matrices that are formed in moderately frozen solutions of monomeric or polymeric precursors. Cryogels typically have interconnected macropores (or supermacropores), allowing unhindered diffusion of solutes of practically any size, as well as mass transport of nano- and even microparticles. The unique structure of cryogels, in combination with their osmotic, chemical and mechanica

The C-terminal G3 domains of lecticans mediate crosslinking to diverse extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins during ECM assembly, through their C-type lectin (CLD) subdomains. The structure of the rat aggrecan CLD in a Ca(2+)-dependent complex with fibronectin type III repeats 3-5 of rat tenascin-R provides detailed support for such crosslinking. The CLD loops bind Ca2+ like other CLDs, but no carbo

The World Health Organization considers an aetiological classification of diabetes to be essential. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether HLA-DQB1 genotypes facilitate the classification of diabetes as compared with assessment of islet antibodies by investigating young adult diabetic patients. Blood samples were available at diagnosis for 1,872 (90%) of the 2,077 young adult patients (aged

Calbindin D28k (calbindin) is a member of the calmodulin superfamily of Ca2+ -binding proteins. An intracellular target of calbindin was discovered using bacteriophage display. Human recombinant calbindin was immobilized on magnetic beads and used in affinity purification of phage-displayed peptides from a random 12-mer peptide library. One sequence, SYSSIAKYPSHS, was strongly selected both in the

We develop a density-functional theory for polydisperse polymer fluids satisfying the Schulz-Flory distribution. The resulting equations are remarkably simple and quickly solved, the computational effort scaling with the polydispersity index, rather than the average molecular weight. Equilibrium, or "living", polymers enter naturally as very polydisperse samples. We illustrate the importance of po

A model of human eye for experiments in vision research has been developed using PLZT ceramics. This ``artificial eye{''} allows to simulate light scattering caused by cataract in the eye lens. Light scattering of a composite eye lens of the model depends on the electric field applied to a transparent electrooptic PLZT ceramics plate that is attached directly to the lens. The image degradation in

Murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) which specifically react, in immunoblot and immunolocalization experiments, with the human desmosomal cadherins, desmocollins Dsc1 (mAb Dsc1-U100) and Dsc3 (mAb Dsc3-U114), have allowed to study systematically the synthesis of these proteins in tissues and cultured cells. Application of these mAbs in immunofluorescence microscopy on human skin has shown the pres