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Eighteen out of 18 rheumatoid patients (at one centre of a two-centre 30 patient study previously reported) with a mean age of 56 years, and 72/72 operated joints were randomized to Avanta/Sutter or Swanson MCP prostheses and followed for 5 years. Both ulnar deviation and extension lag were improved already at 6 weeks and remained improved at 5 years. The Avanta prosthesis had a better range of mo

Dysfunctional adipocytes and insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells are hallmarks of human Type 2 diabetes and play important roles in the onset and progression of the disease. However, the precise mechanisms involved are complex and only partially understood. Here we present a new and unique method to perform single-cell and cell-cell communication studies in Type 2 diabetes-related research. Th

Objective. Antileukoproteinase (ALP) is a physiologic inhibitor of granulocytic serine proteases. The present study was undertaken to investigate its therapeutic benefit in an antibody-transfer model of erosive polyarthritis and to elucidate its potential to interfere with immune complex-dependent inflammatory pathways. Methods. Arthritis development was induced in male (BALB/c x B10.Q)F-1 mice by

Objectives This study examined the validity of a common belief in epidemiology with respect to work-related musculoskeletal disorders, that individual mechanical job exposure is better estimated from tasks performed in the job than from the mean exposure of the occupational group. Methods Whole-day recordings of upper trapezius electromyography were obtained from 24 cleaners and 23 office workers.

It is generally agreed that the cohesion of cement paste occurs through the formation of a network of nanoparticles of a calcium-silicate-hydrate ("C-S-H"). However, the mechanism by which these particles develop this cohesion has not been established. Here we propose a dielectric continuum model which includes all ionic interactions within a dispersion of C-S-H particles. It takes into account al

BACKGROUND: Decreased plasma levels of plasma-neuropeptide Y (NPY) and plasma-corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), and increased levels of plasma delta-sleep inducing peptide (DSIP) in suicide attempters with mood disorders have previously been observed. This study was performed in order to further understand the clinical relevance of these findings. METHODS: Examination of correlates between te

Hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) is generally regarded as first choice for pharmacological prevention of osteoporosis in women. We reviewed recent studies of HRT regimens and selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), including controlled trials of at least one-year duration published since 1995 until February 2000 providing data on bone mineral density (BMD) or fractures. Natural and synt

Optimal migration theory predicts that birds minimizing the overall time of migration should adjust stopover duration with respect to the rate of fuel accumulation. Recent theoretical developments also take into account the wind situation and predict that there is a time window (a set of days) during which birds should depart when assisted by winds but will not do so if there are head winds. There

In this paper, start-up of a plate reactor with an exothermic reaction is considered. Dynamic optimization is used to obtain start-up trajectories, while a feedback control system is designed for on-line control. The problem is challenging, since the process model is highly nonlinear, and subject to uncertainty. Limited bandwidth of the feedback control system requires that the optimization gives

We present a practical algorithm for sampling the product of environment map lighting and surface reflectance. Our method builds on wavelet-based importance sampling, but has a number of important advantages over previous methods. Most importantly, we avoid using precomputed reflectance functions by sampling the BRDF on-the-fly. Hence, all types of materials can be handled, including anisotropic and

This work describes the development of a heavy-metal biosensor based on either recombinant 6His-Tag glutathione S-transferase (GST-(His)(6)) or glutathione S-transferase Theta 2-2 (GST-theta 2-2), and a capacitive transducer. The dynamic range of the pure bovine liver GST-Theta 2-2 biosensor was 1 fM to 1mM for Zn2+, and 10pM to 1mM for Cd2+. The GST-(His) 6 biosensor was able to detect Zn2+ and C

Expression microarray analysis identified CITED1 among a group of genes specifically upregulated in the pubertal mouse mammary gland. At puberty, CITED1 localizes to the luminal epithelial cell population of the mammary ducts and the body cells of the terminal end buds. Generation of CITED1 gene knockout mice showed that homozygous null mutants exhibit retarded mammary ductal growth at puberty and

Purpose - Considering the importance of supply chain integration (SCI) in literature and the increasing outsourcing of logistics, this paper aims to study the role of logistics service providers (LSPs) in supporting SCI and clients' performance.

Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on a two-step approach: a literature review on supply chain integration (SCI

Cellular replacement therapy has emerged as a novel strategy for the treatment of heart failure. The aim of our study was to determine the fate of injected mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and whole bone marrow (BM) cells in the infarcted heart. MSCs were purified from BM of transgenic mice and characterized using flow cytometry and in vitro differentiation assays. Myocardial infarctions were generat

Background: The tuberculin skin test is used for tracing of tuberculosis transmission and identifying individuals in need of prophylactic treatment. Methods: Using a case-control study design, we recruited 220 smear-positive tuberculosis cases and 223 randomly selected healthy community controls in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, during 1999-2000. Tuberculin skin tests were performed on family members of c

We use femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy to study chlorophyll (Chl)-Chl energy transfer in the peridinin-chlorophyll protein (PCP) reconstituted with mixtures of either chlorophyll b (Chlb) and Chld or Chla and bacteriochlorophyll a (BChla). Analysis of absorption and transient absorption spectra demonstrated that reconstitution with chlorophyll mixtures produces a significant fraction

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease exhibit complex features of cell death reflecting both the primary lesion as well as surrounding interconnected events. Because Bcl-2 family members are intimately involved in cell death processes, the present Study used dopaminergic cultures from control, Bcl-2-overexpressing, or Bax-deficient genetically modified animals to determine the in