The human host defense peptide, LL-37, is an important player in the first line of defense against invading microorganisms. LL-37 and its precursor, hCAP18, have been detected in unstimulated whole saliva but no reports showing hCAP18/LL-37 in isolated, parotid, and/or submandibular/sublingual saliva have been presented. Here, we measured the levels of hCAP18/LL-37 in human parotid and submandibul

Background: The Swedish Program for health surveillance of preschool children includes screening of language and communication abilities. One important language screening is carried out at age 4 years as part of a general screening conducted by health nurses at child health centres. The instruments presently in use for this screening mainly focus on expressive phonology. This may result in both ov

Aim: We evaluated bowel function in healthy children with regard to gender and age. Methods: The study was carried out in 2016 at a tertiary children's hospital. Healthy children aged 3.5 years to 15 years who were admitted to the hospital, siblings to patients or offspring of staff members were included. Validated self-report questionnaires and internally developed questions regarding obstructive

This thesis explores musical composition in the context of contemporary theatre. It suggests methods where compositional thinking – broadly understood – can be used as a dramaturgical device in the creation of theatre performances. Such musicalization of theatre provides new methods for an artistic practice and questions traditional artistic hierarchies and working structures. The investigation de

Genomgång av filmer om Winston Churchill.

Utvecklingen inom gentekniken har gjort det möjligt att inom sjukvårdens ram undersöka många gener samtidigt genom helgenom-/helexomanalyser. Detta har hittills främst utnyttjats för diagnostik av personer, framför allt barn, med misstänkt ärftliga syndrom.Under de senaste tre åren har tekniken utnyttjats för att bygga upp plattformar att användas för kartläggning av recessiva sjukdomsanlag hos frDue to recent advances in molecular genetic testing, massive parallel sequencing has become possible at an affordable cost for health care. Thus, it is now possible to test healthy young persons for carriership of mutations in many genes for severe recessive genetic conditions – extended genetic carrier testing. The introduction of this test in Swedish health care must be accompanied by ethical co

Dynamic isotropy is a condition where eigenfrequencies of a robot are equal, which could be equivalent to the maximization of the lowest eigenfrequency. Accordingly, dynamic isotropy can be considered as an effective criterion to optimize dynamic performance of a robot. In this paper, we firstly present the mathematical conditions in order to obtain dynamic isotropy in hexapods. These conditions a

BACKGROUND: A well-functioning immune defence is crucial for fitness, but our knowledge about the immune system and its complex interactions is still limited. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules are involved in T-cell mediated adaptive immune responses, but MHC is also highly upregulated during the initial innate immune response. The aim of our study was therefore to determine to what

Migration is energetically demanding and physiologically challenging. Migrating birds, for example, need to boost their antioxidant defenses to defeat the pro-oxidants produced during high energetic activity. The enhanced antioxidant defense possibly withdraws limited resources (e.g., energy or micronutrients) from other physiological functions, such as immune defense. Such a trade-off might not o

Accountability to stakeholders has always been pivotal in supporting nonprofit organizations in legitimizing their existence within local communities and building public trust. The development of Web-based accountability tools has offered growing possibilities to communicate and engage in dialogue with stakeholders. However, nonprofit organizations are not yet fully exploiting the potential of the

The development of gluten-free pasta with functional characteristics is an important strategic area for the food industry. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the polyphenols present in blue maize flour (BMF) on the antioxidant properties and starch digestibility of composite gluten-free pasta. Composite pasta was prepared with 25, 50, or 75% BMF in a laboratory-scale proc

Study Objectives: Obesity is often associated with impaired sleep, whereas the impact of body mass index (BMI) at younger age and previous weight gain on sleep problems remains unknown. Methods: The present study utilized data from the Swedish EpiHealth cohort study. A total of 15845 participants (45–75 years) filled out an internet-based questionnaire. BMI was calculated from both measured data a

Background & aims: Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) is the first-line diagnostic procedure for investigating obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB). Different re-bleeding rates following index VCE have been reported among Western and Eastern studies. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search to identify studies examining re-bleeding rates after VCE for OGIB. Meta-analysis assessed

Lignin depolymerisation produces a large variety of low molecular weight phenolic compounds that can be upgraded to value-added chemicals. Detailed analysis of these complex depolymerisation mixtures is, however, hampered by the lack of resolving power of traditional analysis techniques. In this study, a novel online comprehensive two-dimensional reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) × super

Import of the polyamine spermine from the extracellular environment depends on the presence of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans, such as glypican-1. This proteoglycan is internalized by endocytosis, releases its heparan sulfate chains in endosomes by a nitric oxide-, copper- and amyloid precursor protein-dependent mechanism, then penetrates the membrane and is transported to the nucleus

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant primary brain tumor, and available experimental and routine therapies result in limited survival benefits. A vulnerability of GBM cells to catastrophic vacuolization and cell death, a process termed methuosis, induced by Vacquinol-1 (VQ-1) has been described earlier. In the present study, we investigate the efficacy of VQ-1 treatment in tw

We study the adjoint of the double layer potential associated with the Laplacian (the adjoint of the Neumann-Poincaré operator), as a map on the boundary surface Γ of a domain in R3 with conical points. The spectrum of this operator directly reflects the well-posedness of related transmission problems across Γ. In particular, if the domain is understood as an inclusion with complex permittivity ε,

Scalidophoran worms diversified in the Cambrian Fortunian, as indicated by recent reports from this stage, with two described species and two more unnamed forms exclusively from Orsten-type Lagerstätten yielding three-dimensionally phosphatized fossils. Here, we report new material of scalidophoran worms in Orsten-type preservation from the Cambrian Fortunian Xinli section in northern Sichuan Prov