Patients attending the emergency room with acute asthma, participating in a study comparing salbutamol (albuterol in the United States) via a dry powder inhaler (Turbuhaler) with pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI), were included in this 1-week follow-up study with the aim of assessing whether inhaled budesonide via Turbuhaler may be an alternative to prednisolone tablets after an acute asthma

spruce stands, pure Norway spruce, pure birch and mixed plots of birch and Norway spruce were established in 1984/1985 at four locations in southern and central Sweden. The soil was sampled down to 30cm soil depth in1984 /1986, 1993 and 2001. We report results on soil chemical changes and changes in base cation stores above and below ground. No significant positive effect on soil chemical status o

Nutrient uptake by forest trees is dependent on ectomycorrhizal (EM) mycelia that grow out into the soil from the mycorrhizal root tips. We estimated the production of EM mycelia in root free samples of pure spruce and mixed spruce-oak stands in southern Sweden as mycelia grown into sand-filled mesh bags placed at three different soil depths (0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm). The mesh bags were collected

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is known to induce apoptosis in endothelial cells, and this is believed to contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis. In the present study we made the novel observation that oxLDL-induced death of HMEC-1 cells is accompanied by activation of calpain. The mu-calpain inhibitor PD 151746 decreased oxLDL-induced cytotoxicity, whereas the general caspase

Mitochondria and chloroplasts are energy-transducing organelles of the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. They originated as bacterial symbionts whose host cells acquired respiration from the precursor of the mitochondrion, and oxygenic photosynthesis from the precursor of the chloroplast. The host cells also acquired genetic information from their symbionts, eventually incorporating much of it into t

The early B cell factor (EBF) is a transcription factor shown crucial for the development of B lymphocytes. The protein is expressed from the earliest stages of B cell development until the mature B cell stage, but the control elements responsible for the regulation of the gene are unknown. In this study, we report of the identification of a promoter region flanking the EBF gene. Several transcrip

The difficulties encountered in matching an antenna to its optimal impedance are reduced with an adaptive 0.35-mu m CMOS circuit based on several switched shunt capacitors arranged in capacitor banks and on a few external series inductors. As high-quality inductors are difficult to obtain in CMOS, the inductors are placed either in an low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) substrate or is a lumped

The relation between the so called basis set superposition error and intramolecular vibrational frequencies calculated at the Hartree Fock SCF level of approximation was investigated. A linear conformation of HF dimer was chosen as test system for the investigation. It was found that the direct basis set superposition error for the studied system is rather small. It was further found that the shif

We examined the interaction of GABA and the competitive inhibitor SR95531 at human α1β1γ2S and α1β1 GABAA receptors expressed in Sf9 cells. The efficacy and potency of inhibition depended on the relative timing of the GABA and SR95531 applications. In saturating (10 mm) GABA, the half-inhibitory concentrations of SR95531 (IC50) when coapplied with GABA to α1β1γ2S or α1β1 receptors were 49 and 210

The Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell has been investigated for a long time, and is regarded as a new energy source for various applications, such as portable, stationary and automotive ones. However, due to the shortage of the infrastructure in the society, the high cost, the difficulty of the water/thermal management, etc., practical systems have not reached the general public, yet. Of t

A new method was developed for in situ visualization of changes related to electropermeabilization of plant tissue. Onion epidermis stained with neutral red was subjected to a pulsed electric field (PEF), and serial images were captured by a camera connected to a stercomicroscope. Sample resistance was recorded simultaneously. Above a threshold level of a field strength of 0.35 kV/cm, it was possi

Infertility, defined as the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected regular intercourse, affects up to 15% of all couples of reproductive age. The infertility can originate from female, male or both partners. In up to 50% of the affected couples, a male factor is the cause of infertility. Semen analysis is the cornerstone of male infertility assessment and an abnormal result often trig

The reduction mechanism of the RuO2(110) surface by molecular hydrogen exposure is unraveled to an unprecedented level by a combination of temperature programmed reaction, scanning tunneling microscopy, high-resolution core level shift spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. We demonstrate that even at room temperature hydrogen exposure to the RuO2(110) surface leads to the forma

In this study, we present a simple and easy-to-use extraction method that is based on a hollow-fiber microporous membrane liquid-liquid extraction (HF-MMLLE), as an extraction technique, followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to determine a group of brominated flame retardants (BFRs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), at trace levels in aqueous samples. The hollow-fiber mem

We studied the effect of habitat fragmentation on female reproductive investment in a widespread lacertid lizard (Psammodromus algirus) in a mixed-forest archipelago of deciduous and evergreen oak woods in northern Spain. We captured gravid females in fragments (= 200 ha) and brought them to the laboratory, where they laid their eggs. We incubated the eggs and released the first cohort of juvenile