OBJECTIVE:: Women using estrogen plus progestogen therapy sometimes report difficult to describe symptoms, eg, changes in libido, mood, and memory, that may be related to decreased androgens. To evaluate the prevalence of such symptoms and relate these symptoms to androgen levels in women using estrogen plus progestogen therapy, data from the Women's Health in the Lund Area Study were analyzed. DE

AIMS: Extracellular ATP modulates pulsatile release of insulin, glucagon and somatostatin by activating P2Y(1) receptors. The present study examines if adenosine via A(1) receptors (A(1)R) interferes with pulsatile islet hormone release. MAIN METHODS: Pancreas was perfused in mice expressing or lacking the A(1) receptor and the hormones measured with radioimmunoassay. Cytoplasmic Ca(2+) was record

Purpose: To investigate the epidemiology of aniridia in the populations of Sweden and Norway. Methods: A thorough search for aniridia patients has been performed in Sweden and Norway. All participants had a clinical ophthalmological examination documented through photography. Blood samples were taken for mutation analysis and pedigrees were established. Results: A total of 181 patients with anirid

The anaerobic bacterium Finegoldia magna is part of the human commensal microbiota, but is also an important opportunistic pathogen. This bacterium expresses a subtilisin-like serine-proteinase, SufA, which partially degrade the antibacterial chemokine MIG/CXCL9. Here, we show that MIG/CXCL9 is produced by human keratinocytes in response to inflammatory stimuli. In contrast to the virulent human p

The αE integrin chain CD103 identifies a subset of migratory dendritic cells (DCs) in the gut, lung, and skin. To gain further understanding of the function of CD103(+) DCs in regulating adaptive immunity in vivo, we coupled ovalbumin (OVA) to the CD103 antibody M290 (M290.OVA). Intraperitoneal injection of M290.OVA induced OVA-specific CD8(+) and CD4(+) T-cell proliferation in lymph nodes (LNs) o

Background: Stroke is one of the major causes of disability in the adult population and represents a heavy social and economic burden. Currently available therapeutic tools to support the recovery of impaired brain functions are quite limited. Animal studies have demonstrated that neuronal replacement and partial reconstruction of neural circuitry or modulation of the recovery process is possible

In this paper we introduce a new way of constructingA 2-codes, i.e., authentication codes that protect against deceptions from an opponent and additionally also protect against deceptions from the transmitter and the receiver. The construction uses codes for the rank metric, a well-known field in coding theory. The construction gives improved performance compared with previous work and it also giv

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to describe the view of age-related prioritisation in health care among physicians and healthcare politicians and to compare their views regarding gender and age. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Swedish physicians (n=390) and politicians (n=310), mean age 52 years, answered an electronic questionnaire concerning age-related priority setting in healthcare. The questio

OBJECTIVE: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) has been established as a biomarker for heart failure. The objective was to evaluate BNP measured on arrival in the intensive care unit (ICU) as a predictor for heart failure defined as need for inotropic support or IABP beyond 24 hours postoperatively after aortic valve replacement. DESIGN: A prospective, observational study. SETTING: A cardiothoracic s

The authors examine the effect of the core hole on several spectroscopies used to explore the conduction band of simple metals. They show that the static effect on the valence electrons is very strong and discuss under what circumstances this effect may be seen experimentally. In KLV Auger spectra a core hole is present in both initial and final states. Thus, there will be almost no dynamical effe

BACKGROUND: An artificial neural network (ANNs) is a non-linear pattern recognition technique that is rapidly gaining in popularity in medical decision-making. This study investigated the use of ANNs for diagnostic and prognostic purposes in pancreatic disease, especially acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. METHODS: PubMed was searched for articles on the use of ANNs in pancreatic diseases u

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The signaling mechanisms that regulate trypsinogen activation and inflammation in acute pancreatitis (AP) are unclear. We explored the involvement of the calcium- and calcineurin-dependent transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) in development of AP in mice. METHODS: We measured levels of myeloperoxidase and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (CXCL

This paper focuses on leakage reduction at architecture and arithmetic level. A methodology for considerable reduction of the static power consumption is shown. Simulations are done in a typical 130 nm CMOS technology. Based on the simulation results, the static power consumption is estimated and compared for different filter architectures. Substantial power reductions are shown in both FIR-filter

Lack of reliable historical basin-scale evapotranspiration (ET) estimates is a bottleneck for water balance analyses and model evaluation on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). This study looks at four large basins on the TP to develop a general approach suitable for large river basins to estimate historical monthly ET. Five existing global ET products are evaluated against monthly ET estimated by the water

In this study the mRNA and protein levels of the key enzymes involved in eicosanoid biosynthesis and the cysteinyl leukotriene receptors (CysLT(1)R and CysLT(2)R) have been analysed in non-transformed intestinal epithelial and colon cancer cell lines. Our results revealed that tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and leukotriene D(4) (LTD(4)), which are inflammatory mediators implicated in ca

Polymorphic genes involved in the conserved molecular signalling of circadian and circannual clocks may play important roles in governing the timing of breeding and dispersal and thereby affect fitness in vertebrates. However, relatively few studies have explored associations between phenological candidate genes and behaviour, and these are somewhat biased towards particular taxonomic groups such

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: PPARGC1A and PPARGC1B encode transcriptional coactivators that regulate numerous type 2 diabetes-related metabolic processes. Common genetic variation across PPARGC1A/B was characterised by genotyping tagging variants. We then tested associations of these variants with diabetes incidence or change in quantifiable metabolic traits directly or via interactions (with metformin treatm