Aims/hypothesis: The study evaluated whether glucagon secretion is regulated by changes in insulin sensitivity under normal conditions. Materials and methods: A total of 155 healthy women with NGT (aged 53-70 years) underwent a glucose-dependent arginine-stimulation test for evaluation of glucagon secretion. Arginine (5 g) was injected i.v. under fasting conditions (plasma glucose 4.8 +/- 0.1 mmol

Purpose of review To discuss the rationale for various treatment strategies in rheumatoid arthritis with extra-articular manifestations, and to review advances in understanding the impact of extra-articular rheumatoid arthritis and its management. Recent findings Recent epidemiologic studies of extra-articular rheumatoid arthritis manifestations have emphasized their major role as predictors of pr

Molecular variation is often used to infer the demographic history of species, but sometimes the complexity of species history can make such inference difficult. The willow warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus, shows substantially less geographical variation than the chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita, both in morphology and in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) divergence. We therefore predicted that the willo

We analysed the relative importance of individual versus institutional factors in explaining variations in the utilisation of physician services among the 50+ in ten European countries. The importance of the latter was investigated, distinguishing between organisational (explicit) and cultural (implicit) institutional factors, by analysing the influence of supply side factors, such as physician de

We discuss the human impact of the forests of north-western Europe, especially changes in disturbance regimes and changes in the density of important features for biodiversity preservation. In southern Sweden, human impacts have decreased densities of old (>150 years) living trees and large (DBH>40 cm) dead trees to less than 1% of their original densities. In the same fashion, forest fires have d

We assess the accuracy of a density functional theory for athermal polymer solutions, consisting of solvent particles with a smaller radius than that of the monomers. The monomer and solvent density profiles in a slit bound by hard, flat, and inert surfaces are compared with those obtained by a Metropolis Monte Carlo simulation. At the relatively high density at which the comparison is performed,

The prognosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) improves by early revascularization. However the presence of left bundle branch block (LBBB) in the electrocardiogram (ECG) increases the difficulty in recognizing an AMI and different ECG criteria for the diagnosis of AMI have proved to be of limited value. The purpose of this study was to detect AMI in ECGs with LBBB using artificial neural netw

The aims of the paper are to; i)evaluate the rate and direction of present changes in lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) soil pools of Swedish forests; ii) discuss processes of importance for leaching of Pb and Cd in Swedish forest soils. The presently ongoing changes of Pb and Cd pools of Swedish forest soils are evaluated by compilation of data from the literature and unpublished sources. It is conclude

In the wake of the geo-political development in recent years, the question of sacrifice has come to the fore in the contemporary philosophical discussion. Does sacrifice merely sharpen conflicts between cultures, or should it be seen as an inevitable part of their foundation? This article addresses the question from the perspective of the biblical view of sacrifice, expressed paradigmat- ically in

The eyes of visually prominent animals such as vertebrates, cephalopods, and arthropods generally subserve a multitude of visual tasks. Naturally, early stages in the evolution of these complex visual organs must have been simpler, and subserved a smaller number of visual tasks. Hence, eye evolution is driven by a consecutive accumulation of visual tasks. Each task adds to the requirements on eye

Nuclear DNA is a well characterized target for many low molecular metal-based drugs, with cisplatin and related antineoplastic compounds as typical examples. Much less is known concerning to what extent targeting of RNA may influence the activity spectrum of these types of drugs. In a preliminary communication by us (Papsai et al., Dalton Trans., 2006, 3515) we were able to show that the folded, t

This paper describes a new approach for the development of an inhibitor of the contractile responses of neuropeptide Y in human blood vessels by the use of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide complementary to human neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor mRNA. One micromolar of an antisense 18-base oligodeoxynucleotide (hY1-AS), corresponding to the human Y1 receptor NH2-terminus, was incubated with segments of

The effect of induction of protein production was studied in bioreactor cultures of T. reesei strain Rut-C30 and its transformant expressing endoglucanase I core domain (EGI, Cel7B) fused with a hydrophobic peptide tag. The tag was previously designed for efficient purification of the fusion protein in aqueous two-phase separation. The fungi were first grown on glucose-containing minimal medium af

Colonial and filamentous cyanobacteria frequently have bacteria associated with their extracellular mucus zone or more tightly attached to their cells surface. The toxin-producing cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena is an important component of the Baltic Sea plankton community, and its filaments are likely to provide a microenvironment suitable for the development of a particular bacteria flora. I

We investigate the feasibility of using diode laser gas spectroscopy for sinusitis diagnostics. We simulate light propagation using the Monte Carlo concept, as implemented by the Advanced Systems Analysis Program (ASAP (TM)) software. Simulations and experimental data are compared for a model based on two scattering bodies representing human tissue, with an air gap in-between representing the sinu

Monogalactosyldiacylglycerols (MGDG), digalactosyldiacylglycerols (DGDG) and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerols (SQDG) are major lipids in vegetable food. Their digestion and absorption are unknown. This study examines the hydrolysis of galactolipids in vitro with human duodenal contents, pancreatic juice, and purified human pancreatic lipases. Galactolipids were incubated with human duodenal contents