Allergic contact dermatitis is recognized as a public health problem and some major allergens have been subject to intervention aiming at lowering skin exposure. There is an obvious interest in evaluating the effect of such interventions. Population studies are difficult to perform and epidemiological studies based on clinical data from testing patients with contact dermatitis are common surrogate

We studied the effects of 5 mA bilateral or unilateral, bipolar or monopolar, galvanic stimulation on the horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex (hVOR) in six normal subjects during 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 Hz yaw rotations and in two subjects during high-acceleration, low-amplitude yaw head rotations (head impulses). Bipolar galvanic stimulation induced horizontal nystagmus in all subjects and an a

This study analyses the associations between sense of coherence and health and between stress and health in adolescents. In addition, this study tests whether a high sense of coherence could modify the health effects of stress. The study was a Danish cross-sectional analysis of 3258 adolescents from school classes in a national representative sample. The child, the main teacher and the school doct

Activated Lactococcus lactis beta-phosphoglucomutase (beta PGM) catalyzes the conversion of beta-D-glucose 1-phosphate (beta G1P) derived from maltose to beta-D-glucose 6-phosphate (G6P). Activation requires Mg2+ binding and phosphorylation of the active site residue Asp8. Initial velocity techniques were used to define the steady-state kinetic constants k(cat) = 177 +/- 9 s(-1), K-m = 49 +/- 4 mu

We report a kindred in which two siblings suffered spontaneous venous thromboses in the second decade of life. Further investigation showed reduced coagulation factor V (FV) activity and activated protein C resistance (APCR) ratio but no other thrombophilic abnormalities. The reduction in APCR ratio persisted in a modified APCR assay in which FV activity was normalized between test and control pla

Dendritic cells (DCs) protect the respiratory epithelium via induction of innate immune responses and priming of naive T cells during the initiation of adaptive immunity. Streptococcus pneumoniae, a commonly carried asymptomatic member of the human nasopharyngeal microflora, can cause invasive and inflammatory diseases and the cholesterol-dependent cytotoxin pneumolysin is a major pneumococcal vir

BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a widely used and efficient treatment modality in psychiatry, although the basis for its therapeutic effect is still unknown. Past research has shown seizure activity to be a regulator of neurogenesis in the adult brain. This study examines the effect of a single and multiple electroconvulsive seizures on neurogenesis in the rat dentate gyrus. METHODS

Objective Bile reflux is thought to be responsible for reflux gastritis and stump carcinoma occurring after partial gastrectomy for peptic ulcer. Gastritis and gastric carcinoma are also correlated with Helicobacter pylori. The aim of this study was to investigate whether diversion of enteric reflux and the presence of H. pylori infection alter long-term histological developments in the gastric re

Background. Subjects with absolute central visual field loss use. eccentric fixation and magnifying devices to utilize their residual vision. This preliminary study investigated the importance of an accurate eccentric correction of off-axis refractive errors to optimize the residual visual function for these subjects. Methods. Photorefraction using the PowerRefractor instrument was used to evaluat

It is assumed that the Id helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins act by associating with ubiquitously expressed basic HLH (bHLH) transcription factors, such as E47 and E2-2, which prevents these factors from forming functional hetero- or homodimeric DNA binding complexes. Several tissue-specific bHLH proteins, including HASH-1, dHAND, and HES-1, are important for development of the nervous system. Neurob

The Stress Barometer, which includes stress symptoms, stress types, relationship stress and time stress, was developed as an easy-to-use instrument which provides a visual representation of the stress an individual is experiencing. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability, validity and usefulness of the Stress Barometer. Reliability was tested using a test-retest procedure on 23 pai

Polymer density functional theory is used to test the accuracy of the Derjaguin approximation in describing the interaction between two spherical colloidal particles immersed in a polymer solution. The density functional equations are solved numerically in a cylindrical geometry and thus a rigorous comparison is afforded, within the density functional framework. The density functional theory provi

The ubiquitin-proteasome system targets numerous cellular proteins for degradation. In addition, modifications by ubiquitin-like proteins as well as proteins containing ubiquitin-interacting and -associated motifs modulate many others. This tightly controlled process involves multiple specific and general enzymes of the system as well as many modifying and ancillary proteins. Thus, it is not surpr

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of prostate cancer has been demonstrated to be a safe treatment option capable of inducing tissue necrosis and decrease in prostate specific antigen (PSA). Research groups report on large variations in treatment response, possibly due to biological variations in tissue composition and shortterm response to the therapeutic irradiation. Within our group,

During most of an annual cycle, we studied the temporal variation of total mercury (Hg-T) and methyl mercury (MeHg) in unfiltered and filtered (0.45 mu) peat water from a minerotrophic peat bog in southeastern Sweden. MeHg in bulk water ([MeHgT]) and total Hg in filtered water in discharge water from the peat bog ([Hg-D]) were an order of magnitude higher than in upland runoff water entering the p