Bacterial infections represent a serious health care problem, and all multicellular organisms have developed defense mechanisms to eliminate pathogens that enter the host via different paths including wounds. Many invertebrates have an open circulatory system, and effective coagulation systems are in place to ensure fast and efficient closure of wounds. It was proposed early on that coagulation sy

Objective To investigate the reproductive and oncologic outcome following robotic radical trachelectomy for early stage cervical cancer. Methods All women with early stage cervical cancer planned for fertility-sparing robotic trachelectomy between December 2007 and April 2015 at two tertiary referral centers in Sweden were identified. Perioperative- and follow-up data was retrieved from prospectiv

Summary: Progress in the evidence-based care of haemophilia A and B worldwide has been historically challenged by the dearth of evaluable outcome data, including but not limited to the safety and effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. These challenges are partially rooted in the inherent difficulty of conducting prospective clinical trials and observational studies with statistically meaningf

Previous Icelandic studies reported that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) region and the 5-lipoxygenase activating protein ALOX5AP were associated with ischaemic stroke, whereas other studies reported ambiguous findings. We examined 932 ischaemic stroke patients from a Swedish population-based stroke register, and 396 control subjects. We assessed possible

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) technique is a dual-channel electrotherapy system designed specifically for the treatment of pharyngeal dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the outcome of NMES versus traditional swallowing therapy (TT) in stroke patients. Three European swallowing centers participated in this randomized trial. Twenty-five patients (16 men

The aim of the present investigation was to elucidate the elastic properties of the myofilaments during tetanic activity in striated muscle. The study was carried out on intact single muscle fibres from the anterior tibialis muscle of Rana temporaria (2.0-2.5 degrees C). The instantaneous stiffness was measured as the change in force that occurred in response to a high-frequency (2-4 kHz) length o

Respiratory chain Complex I or NADH:quinone oxidoreductase catalyzes oxidation of NADH in the mitochondrial matrix or bacterial cytoplasm and reduction of quinone in the membrane, coupled to pumping of 4H+/2e- across the membrane. The same enzyme complex is also capable of the reverse reaction, i.e. @D@mH+-supported NAD+ reduction. The molecular mechanism that couples electron transfer to proton p

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (Il-1ra) and interleukin-1beta (Il-1beta) can be detected in human carotid artery tissue, and whether their presence is related to evidence of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, risk factors for atherosclerosis, and clinical data. SETTING: Departments of Vascular Diseases and Surgical Pathophysiology, University Hospital, Malmö,

Recent progress in the study of surfactant-responsive polymer gels is reviewed. Polymer gels can be designed that drastically swell or shrink in response to small changes in the concentration of an ionic surfactant in an external bath containing the gel. The gel swelling isotherm, where the equilibrium gel volume is measured as a function of the external surfactant concentration, yields useful inf

Mast cells, visualized with toluidine blue staining and the Falck-Hillarp fluorescence technique, were mainly located around large blood vessels in the hilus region of the ovary in adult rats and in immature rats treated with PMSG. Histamine concentration in the rat ovary was significantly reduced after the LH surge in PMSG-treated animals, corresponding to a reduced number of ovarian mast cells.

Background: Severe or fatal complications attributable to gas embolus, major vascular injury, or visceral injury are rare but have been reported after blind access to the abdominal cavity in laparoscopy. The open access technique has been introduced with the aim to reduce these injuries. This report evaluates access-related complications with both blind and open access techniques in a teaching hos

Patients with mild asthma may benefit from increasing their inhaled corticosteroid dose, adding a tong-acting beta(2)-agonist, or both. This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of these options. Patients aged greater than or equal to12 years with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma (n = 1272) were randomised to twice-daily, double-blind treatment with budesonide 100 mug, budesonide 100 mug plus f

The possibility to prepare fused tetrazole- and imidazole derivatives by iodocyclization in moderate to excellent yields is demonstrated. In some examples the cyclizations were not following Baldwin's rules entirely, i.e. exo-selectivity. Nucleophilic substitution of the formed iodides gave different results depending on the hardness of the nucleophile. Thus, elimination of the iodide could be a p

We have investigated spin accumulation in Ni/Au/Ni single-electron transistors assembled by atomic force microscopy. The fabrication technique is unique in that unconventional hybrid devices can be realized with unprecedented control, including real-time tunable tunnel resistances. A grid of Au disks, 30 nm in diameter and 30 nm thick, is prepared on a SiO2 surface by conventional e-beam writing.

In this paper we present a precise and reliable measurement of the 1s(2)2p P-2(3/2) lifetime for Li-like Ni. The measurement was done using the technique of beam-foil spectroscopy employing a beam of 5.9 MeV/u Ni from the UNILAC accelerator at GSI. Special attention was taken concerning satellite blending and foil-ageing problems to justify the reliability of the lifetime value extracted from the

Gaps 10 mm wide in the sciatic nerves of 64 rats were bridged by bioartificial nerve grafts consisting of a silicone tube containing seven longitudinally placed filaments made of non-absorbable, (polyamide [Ethilon]) or absorbable, material (polydioxanone [PDS], polyglactin [Vicryl], and catgut). The purpose was to study the organisation of axonal growth inside the tube along such filaments. After

Mammalian mitochondrial genomes are organized in a conserved and extremely compact manner, encoding molecules that play a vital role in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and carry out a number of other important biological functions. A large-scale screening of the normalized mitochondrial gene expression profiles generated from publicly available mammalian serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE

This study comprises a technical and economic analysis of the production of fuel ethanol by fermentation of a pentose-rich hydrolysate with recombinant Escherichia coli, strain KO11. Hydrolysate from steam-pretreated willow was used as raw material in calculations regarding the fermentation. The calculations were based on a feed capacity of 10 metric tons of dry willow per hour to the pretreatment