Seven patients with rheumatoid arthritis and posterior atlanto-axial dislocation are presented. The patients were elderly women who had suffered with the disease a long time. In all cases earlier cervical radiographs were available, excluding any predisposing congenital anomaly. Fracture and arthritic destruction of the dens, of parts of the body of the axis, or of the anterior arch of the atlas p

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

Previously, we found that emergence of the X4 viral phenotype in HIV-1-infected children was related to the presence of X4 in their mothers (C. H. Casper et al., J Infect Dis 2002; 186: 914-921). Here, we investigated the origin of the X4 phenotype in the child, analyzing two mother-child pairs (Ma-Ca, Mb-Cb) where the mothers carried X4 and their children developed X4 after an initial presence of

Negative potassium (K) balances have been reported from grass-dominated organic systems in several European countries, and in these systems delivery of K from soil primary minerals by weathering is probably crucial to sustained productivity. Mass balances and K budgets have been made at eight grass-dominated experimental agricultural systems, one each in Scotland and Sweden and six in Norway. Wher

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

A general, dynamic model describing the drying mechanisms of paper has been developed. The model includes shrinkage and predicts temperature, moisture, and pressure profiles. It has been evaluated against steady-state as well as dynamic measurements on a multicylinder paper dryer. The results revealed critical sections where low web strength and maximum gas pressure occur. Measurements of the oute

When selection on males and females differs, the sexes may diverge in phenotype. Hormones serve as a proximate regulator of sex differences by mediating sex-biased trait expression. To integrate these perspectives, we consider how suites of traits mediated by the same hormone in both sexes might respond to selection. In male birds, plasma testosterone (T) varies seasonally and among species accord

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which parents follow advice from child health nurses about child accident prevention. The study was performed in one of the 10 districts in the city of Malmo, Sweden. Parents to 90, 10-month old children in southern Sweden participated. These parents completed a questionnaire that prompted responses related to parents' background and socio-eco

Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive leukemia is characterized by the BCR/ABL1 fusion protein that affects a wide range of signal transduction pathways. The knowledge about its downstream target genes is, however, still quite limited. To identify novel BCR/ABL1-regulated genes we used global gene expression profiling of several Ph-positive and Ph-negative cell lines treated with imatinib. Followi

Administration of staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) to mice induces profound activation, cytokine production and cytotoxic activity of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, but subsequently activated cells are deleted or become anergic. This study demonstrates that administration of interleukin-2 (IL-2) can prevent sea-induced hyporesponsiveness in CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Repeated injections wi

C4b-binding protein (C4BP) is a plasma glycoprotein involved in regulation of the complement system. C4BP consists of seven alpha-chains and one unique beta-chain, all constructed of repeating complement control protein (CCP) modules. The beta-chain, made up of three CCPs, binds tightly to vitamin K-dependent protein S, a cofactor to anticoagulant activated protein C. When bound to C4BP, protein S

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,

A long-ranged attractive force was recently detected between two mica plates immersed in a quasibinary polymer solution (Freyssingeas et al. Langmuir 1998,14, 5877-5889). The quasi-binary polymer solution was aqueous ethyl(hydroxyethyl)cellulose (EHEC), where the EHEC had a broad polydispersity. The long-ranged attractive force in the EHEC solution could not be attributed to classical mechanisms s

Human aquaporin 5 (HsAQP5)facilitates the transport of water across plasma membranes and has been identified within cells of the stomach, duodenum, pancreas, airways, lungs, salivary glands, sweat glands, eyes, lacrimal glands, and the inner ear. AQP5, like AQP2, is subject to posttranslational regulation by phosphorylation, at which point it is trafficked between intracellular storage compartment

Superimposed electrical stimulation techniques can be used to detect central activation failure (CAF), defined as incomplete central nervous system recruitment, suboptimal activation of motor units, or both. The purpose of this study was to evaluate superimposed electrical stimulation techniques to be used to detect CAF during isometric knee extension. We performed three sets of experiments and co

Testicular development is an androgen-dependent process, and fetal exposure to antiandrogens disrupts male sexual differentiation. A variety of testicular disorders may result from impaired development of fetal Leydig and Sertoli cells. We hypothesized that antiandrogenic exposure during fetal development interferes with desert hedgehog (Dhh) signaling in the testis and results in impaired Leydig