The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between the plasma concentration of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and pulmonary pressure and hypoxia defined by oxygenation index (OI) in newborn infants with severe persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) on inhaled nitric oxide (NO). In this prospective study, 18 newborn infants having Doppler ultrasound-diagnosed PPHN and treated wit

In the current study, we used bootstrap analyses and the common principal component (CPC) method of Flury (1988) to estimate and compare the G-matrix of Scabiosa columbaria and S. canescens populations. We found three major patterns in the G-matrices: (i) the magnitude of the (co)variances was more variable among characters than among populations, (ii) different populations showed high (co)varianc

The involvement of Helicobacter pylori in the pathogenesis of extragastric diseases continues to be an interesting topic in the field of Helicobacter-related pathology. Although conflicting findings have been reported for most of the disorders, a role of H. pylori seems to be important especially for the development of cardiovascular and hematologic disorders. Previously isolated human and animal

The enantiospecific synthesis of several bicyclic enones starting from enantiomerically pure (+)-(1S,5S)-bicyclo[3.3.1]-nonane-2,6-dione (1) was accomplished. The target enones 7-9 were obtained in high yield and purity by using a catalytic amount of benzeneselenic anhydride. (+)-(1S,5R)-bicy-clo[3.3.1]inonane-2,3,6-trione was obtained from diketone 1 by alpha-hydroxylation involving the use of io

To study the effects of the new vasodilating beta-blocking agent carvedilol on a variety of metabolic, hemodynamic, and ECG parameters of importance for the clinical outcome of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), we infused epinephrine (EPI) in healthy male volunteers on two separate occasions to serum concentrations of the same level reached in AMI. Before the EPI infusions, the volunteers were pr

Insulinlike growth factor. 1 (IGF-1) has growth-promoting effects on myeloma cells in vitro as well as in vivo. In this study, we measured the concentration of IGF-1 and its major binding protein, IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), in serum from 127 patients with multiple myeloma. Serum had been drawn at the time of diagnosis, before treatment With highdose melphalan. IGFBP-3 in myeloma patients (1.

We have examined the variations in gene content and sequence divergence that could be associated with symbiotic adaptations in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus and the closely related species Paxillus filamentosus. Strains with various abilities to form mycorrhizae were analysed by comparative genomic hybridizations using a cDNA microarray containing 1076 putative unique genes of P. i

Objective. To assess the efficacy of low-dose prednisolone on joint damage and disease activity in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. At the start of their initial treatment with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), patients with early (duration

BACKGROUND: The sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) provides an objective assessment of sperm chromatin integrity, which is essential for normal sperm function. SCSA is valuable as a fertility marker in epidemiological studies and in the clinical situation. Little is known about the impact of testicular and post-testicular function on SCSA parameters. METHODS: Ejaculates from 278 military consc

Human semen coagulum predominantly consists of high molecular mass complexes of the seminal vesicle secreted semenogelin I (SgI) and semenogelin II (SgII). Here we describe a previously unknown variant of the SgI gene that is present at an allele frequency of similar to3% in the Swedish population. It gives rise to a protein with a molecular mass of 43 kDa, SgI(43), which compared with the 50 kDa

Purpose We have recently presented a decision support system for interpreting myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS). In this study, we wanted to evaluate the system in a separate hospital from where it was trained and to compare it with a quantification software package. Methods A completely automated method based on neural networks was trained for the interpretation of MPS regarding myocardial

The microfungal species composition was studied in coniferous forest soils surrounding a brass mill at Gusum in southeast Sweden. Both the Cu and Zn concentrations were ca. 20 000 μg/g dry soil close to the mill. Pb concentration was ca. 1000 μg/g dry soil and the pH about 2 units above the normal of 3.5–4. The microfungal species composition (determined by the dilution plate technique) was strong

Turbulent flow and heat transfer in a square-sectioned U-bend are investigated. Turbulence models with linear and non-linear expressions for the Reynolds stresses are used. The near wall turbulence is treated by the damping functions approach and a two-layer model with Wolfshtein's sub-layer treatment. The inlet conditions have a significant effect on the predictions. The results from the non-line

Using glacial rebound models we have inverted observations of crustal rebound and shoreline locations to estimate the ice thickness for the major glaciations over northern Eurasia and to predict the palaeo-topography from late MIS-6 ( the Late Saalian at c. 140 kyr BP) to MIS-4e ( early Middle Weichselian at c. 64 kyr BP). During the Late Saalian, the ice extended across northern Europe and Russia

Purpose: To evaluate changes in distribution of hepatic arterial blood flow in the liver following insertion of an uncovered stent and subsequently a stent-graft in the trans-jugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) channel. Methods: The experiments were performed in eight healthy pigs under general anesthesia. In a pilot study in one pig, scintigraphic evaluation of arterial perfusion to t

For group-living animals, the maintenance of a position in the social hierarchy may be associated with physiological costs such as increased stress and energy expenditure or suppressed immune functions. In this study, we experimentally manipulated the social status of house sparrows so that each bird experienced two social environments in random sequence: being dominant and subordinate. For 14 mal

The growth of the literature on eating disorders during four decades is described, especially the development of literature on bulimia. The study is based on a database, ED40, that contains more than 14,000 references to articles on ED from 1960 to 1999. The references were imported from Medline(R) and PsycINFO(R). A broad search method included articles on the physiology of hunger and satiety. Th