BACKGROUND:: Early-term birth (gestational age, 37-38 weeks) has been associated with increased infant mortality relative to later-term birth, but mortality beyond infancy has not been studied. We examined the association between early-term birth and mortality through young adulthood. METHODS:: We conducted a national cohort study of 679,981 singleton births in Sweden in 1973-1979, followed up for

Viral vector-mediated gene transfer utilizing adeno-associated viral vectors has recently entered clinical testing as a novel tool for delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain. Clinical trials in Parkinson's disease using adeno-associated viral vector-based gene therapy have shown the safety of the approach. Further efforts in this area will show if gene-based approaches can rival the therapeut

In this longitudinal prospective study, 2 groups of children, 39 preterms and 23 fullterms, were followed up regarding the mother-child relationship at 9 and 19 years of age. Information was obtained from both the children and their mothers. A self-report scale was utilized for the assessment of the conscious attachment model, and percept-genetic tests displaying pictorial mother-child themes were

V/P(SPECT) has the potential to become a first hand tool for diagnosis of pulmonary embolism based on standardized technology and new holistic interpretation criteria. Pretest probability helps clinicians choose the most appropriate objective test for diagnosis or exclusion of PE. Interpretation should also take into account all ventilation and perfusion patterns allowing diagnosis of other cardio

The importance of peptide secondary structure on the interaction between antimicrobial peptides and oppositely charged poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide) microgels of various charge density was investigated for EFKRIVQRIKDFLRNLV (EFK17). Through d-enantiomer (EFK17-d/a; E(dF)KR(dI)VQR(dI)KD(dF)LRNLV) or tryptophan (EFK17-W/a; EWKRWVQRWKDFLRNLV) substitutions, both conformation-dependent and -indepen

OBJECTIVES: Patients with autoimmune (AI) diseases are diagnosed with increased frequencies of some cancers, which may depend on the underlying dysregulation of the immune system or treatment. Data on female cancers are limited. METHODS: We analyzed systematically risk and survival of female cancers of the breast, uterus, ovary and other genital organs in close to 200,000 patients diagnosed wi

Oncoplastic breast surgery is an evolving discipline in the surgical treatment of breast cancer aimed to improve the outcome.

The aim of the present study was to examine parity and age at first childbirth, in relation to the risk of specific breast cancer subgroups. A prospective cohort, The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study, including 17,035 women were followed with linkage to Swedish Cancer Registry until December 31, 2004. A total of 622 incident breast cancers were diagnosed during follow-up and were evaluated regarding in

T follicular helper (Tfh) cells represent a recently defined CD4(+) T cell subset characterized by the expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR5 and an enhanced ability to support B cells to mount antibody responses. Here, we demonstrate that lymph-node-resident CXCR5(+) Tfh cells and gut-homing integrin alpha(4)beta(7)-expressing T helper cells are generated as separate subsets in the gut-draini

In human skin, two main populations of dendritic cells (DC) can be discriminated: dermal DC (DDC) and epidermal Langerhans cells (LC). Although extensively studied, most of the knowledge about DDC and LC phenotype and function is obtained from studying DDC and LC cultured in vitro or DDC and LC migrated from skin explants. These studies have left the exact relationship between steady-state human L

In patients with severe haemophilia, spontaneous bleeding into joints initiates a sequence of events culminating in disabling arthropathy. Early evidence from Sweden suggested that clotting factor prophylaxis improved patient outcomes. Recent randomized, controlled trials comparing prophylaxis with on-demand treatment have definitively shown that prophylaxis reduces bleeding and improves joint out

OBJECTIVE: The tyrosine kinase receptor Axl is expressed in the vasculature and Gas6 is the ligand. The extracellular part of Axl (sAxl) can be found in circulation. The aim of this study was to determine plasma concentrations of Gas6 and sAxl in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) and to evaluate if Gas6 and sAxl can be used as biomarkers. DESIGN AND METHODS: Immunoassays for sAxl and

The second most common cause of chronic renal failure is glomerulonephritis, which is a collective term used for numerous diseases with the common denominator of histological renal inflammation emanating from the glomerular tuft. Whether all forms of glomerulonephritis should be considered as autoimmune disease is debatable, but immune mechanisms are important in all of them. This review focuses o

The frequency of chromosomal aberrations in peripheral blood predicts a probable cancer risk. The individual telomere length and methylation of repetitive elements may be susceptibility factors for chromosomal aberrations. A cohort of healthy Norwegian men (N = 364) recruited during 1980-1999 were analyzed for chromosomal aberrations in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes from peripheral blo

The prediction of transcription factor binding sites in genomic sequences is in principle very useful to identify upstream regulatory factors. However, when applying this concept to genomes of multicellular organisms such as mammals, one has to deal with a large number of false positive predictions since many transcription factor genes are only expressed in specific tissues or cell types. We devel

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this longitudinal study was to test the hypothesis that CSF biomarkers in AD patients also may be forward-looking measures that are associated not only with the degree and profile of cognitive impairment but also with changes in cognition over time. METHODS: Here, we assessed the association of CSF Abeta42, T-tau and P-tau with neuropsychological scores of disease severity,