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Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and is presumed to be central to the altered responsiveness to recurrent infection in these patients. We examined the effects of smoke priming underlying the exacerbated response to viral infection in mice. Lack of interleukin-33 (IL-33) signaling conferred complete protection during exacerbation and prevented enhan
Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) is a plasma protein which is elevated in obesity and type 2 diabetes. We aimed to investigate whether RBP4 represents a mechanism underlying the associations between low birth weight (LBW), high-fat diet, and insulin resistance. Forty-six young, lean men with low (n = 20) or normal (n = 26) birth weight underwent a 5-day high-fat high-calorie (HFHC) dietary interve
Objective: Odontoblasts are thought to be involved in innate immunity but their precise role in this process is not fully understood. Here, we assess effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA), produced by Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively, on matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and cathelin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP) expres
Objective: The aim was to create pathological changes in mice relevant to human smoke exposure that can be used to further understand the mechanisms and pathology of smoke-induced inflammatory disease. Methods: Mice were exposed to tobacco smoke or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to generate an inflammatory infiltrate within the lungs. Results: Tobacco smoke exposure over a 4 day period led to neutrophil
In the light of migration’s popularity as a subject of public and academic interest, this thesis aspires to explore the ways in which contemporary articulation of migration in two politically contrasting settings occurs. Comparative approach not only allows to obtain a more holistic perspective on migration perceived through the prism of regularity but also to identify similarities across the case
This Master's thesis work was carried out at Lund University’s Faculty of Engineering in conjunction with Sydvatten AB, Southern Sweden's drinking water provider and their research division Sweden Water Research. The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the runoff response in the Kävlinge River Basin and study the increased runoff that is expected to occur due to climate ch
Anthropogenic elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (eCO2) increases carbon (C) availability to plants. Whether ecosystems store or release this additional C depends on the balance between net primary production (NPP) and soil respiration, where eCO2-stimulated NPP can be constrained by the provisioning of nutrients by microbial decomposers. Ecosystems gradually become more phosphorus (P)-limited as
Breast cancer patients with c-erbB-2-positive tumours seem to benefit from anthracycline-based adjuvant chemotherapy. The predictive value of c-erbB-2 for taxane sensitivity is not yet clear. The purpose of this study was to assess whether c-erbB-2 expression is associated with clinical sensitivity to docetaxel (T) or sequential methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil (MF). A total of 283 patients with me
The differential operator -(d2/dx2)-(y/x), γ∈R, in one dimension is studied using distribution theory. It is proven that there exists a unique self-adjoint operator corresponding to the differential expression understood in the principle-value sense. Point interactions determined by the singular operator -(d2/dx2)-(y/x)+αδ(x) are studied
Stimulation of rat adipocytes with insulin and isoproterenol results in serine phosphorylation and activation of the adipocyte cGMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase (cGI PDE), events believed to be important in the antilipolytic action of insulin (Degerman, E., Smith, C.J., Tornqvist, H., Vasta, V., Manganiello, V.C., and Belfrage, P. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87,533-537). Here we demonstrat
Objective: Norepinephrine (NE) is elevated in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia (PE). Specific uptake of NE by the NE transporter (NET) plays a central role as regulator of NE levels. Expression of NET is reduced in placentas from PE pregnancies. To study adverse fetal effects of reduced NET expression on the placental buffering capacity, the NET was pharmacologically blocked by a specific u
We show that intranigral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection, which provokes specific degeneration of DA neurons, induced caspase-3 activation in the rat ventral mesencephalon, which was mostly associated with glial cells. In contrast, nigral DA neurons exhibited AIF nuclear translocation in response to LPS. A significant decrease of the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in nigral tissue after LPS injection was obse
Popular science summaryMycorrhizal associations Mycorrhizal fungi are organisms that live in association with plant roots and provide plants with water and nutrients in exchange for the sugars obtained during photosynthesis. In forested ecosystems mycorrhizal fungi are crucial for tree nutrition and trees rely heavily on these associations to take up key elements like nitrogen and phosphorus. As rHigh levels of nitrogen (N) deposition might result in a transition from N to phosphorus (P) limitation in high latitude forests. Thiscould have fundamental consequences for forest production, nutrient acquisition and nutrient leaching.I studied a Norway spruce forest in a region of high N deposition in southwest Sweden and added N, P or N+P to force thesystem to N or P limitation. I studied tree
Background/purpose: The objective of this study was to explore the impact of systemic lupuserythematosus and belimumab given in addition to standard of care therapy on 13-valentconjugated pneumococcal vaccine (PCV13) response. Methods: Forty-seven systemic lupuserythematosus patients and 21 healthy controls were immunized with a single dose of13-valent conjugated pneumococcal vaccine. Forty system
