Objective. This study was undertaken to investigate the previously reported association of the STAT4 polymorphism rs7574865 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 3 different European populations from Spain, Sweden, and The Netherlands, comprising a total of 2,072 patients and 2,474 controls. Methods. Three different cohorts were included in the study: 923 RA patients and 1,296 healthy controls from Sp

Background., Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a common cause of sudden death in children. In this study, we aimed to identify clinical measures for stratification of this risk in childhood. Patients and methods: By means of a retrospective cohort study from six regional centres of paediatric cardiology, we identified 128 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy presenting below 19 years of age, wit

Molecularly imprinted microspheres were prepared as antibody binding mimics and used in scintillation proximity assay of a beta-adrenergic antagonist, (S)-propranolol. By using small polymer beads, we were able to place an organic scintillator and an "antenna" component in close proximity to the imprinted binding sites. When the radioactive template bound to the polymer, radiation energy was effec

The aim of the study was to quantify the workload on the upper extremity for fundamental work tasks during machine milking. Eleven milkers working in a loose-housing system with a milking parlour participated in the study. Muscle activity for the biceps and the forearm flexors, as well as positions and movements of the wrists were simultaneously measured by electromyography and electrogoniometry w

Autofluorescence is a nuisance in the field of fluorescence imaging and tomography of exogenous molecular markers in tissue, degrading the quality of the collected data. In this letter, we report autofluorescence insensitive imaging using highly efficient upconverting nanocrystals (NaYF4: Yb3+ /Tm3+) in a tissue phantom illuminated with near- infrared radiation of 85 mW/cm(2). It was found that im

This article proceeds from the argument that various forces of globalization have resulted in increased dislocation and uncertainty for many people in the world. Religion and nationalism, compared to most other identity constructions, are viewed as particularly relevant organizing principles at a time when modern society is making increasing demands on individuals. In comparison to much constructi

Aim The intention with this study was first to investigate and describe the broad-scale geographical patterns of species richness of breeding shorebirds (Charadriiformes; families: Charadriidae, Scolopacidae and Haematopodidae) throughout the arctic tundra biome. Secondly, after compensating for the positive relationship between net primary productivity (NPP) and species richness, the relative imp

The isotopic analysis of particles containing sub-pg to pg levels of uranium, released from nuclear material handling, has been proven as an efficient tool for international safeguard purposes. Precise and accurate measurement of both enrichment and the minor isotopes is, however, a challenging analytical task due to the low levels of material. One of the mainstay techniques for particle measureme

We report new occurrences of ca. 1460 Ma magmatism in western Lithuania, where large volumes of granitoid melts were intruded into host supracrustal and charnockitoid rocks, and formed the Zemaiciu Naumiestis pluton. Numerous granitoids of that age have previously been described from southern Sweden and from the Danish island of Bornholm, but none have been reported from the eastern side of the Ba

Despite declining incidence rates, gastric cancer (GC) is a major cause of death worldwide. E-Cadherin is an adhesion molecule that is thought to be involved in GC. Germline mutations in the E-Cadherin gene (CDH1) have been identified in hereditary diffuse GC. Also, a promoter polymorphism at position 160 C/A has been suggested to lead to transcriptional down regulation and has been shown to affec

Background Genetic engineering of the major birch pollen allergen (Bet v 1) has led to the generation of recombinant Bet v 1 derivatives with markedly reduced IgE-binding capacity, but with retained T cell activating ability. Objective To compare the mucosal reactivity to rBet v 1 derivatives with rBet v 1 wild-type as basis for new therapeutic strategies for birch pollen allergy based on mucosal

A crucial assumption in models of ecological speciation is that reproductive barriers evolve as a consequence of ecological divergence of populations, rather than geographical separation. To test the prediction that barriers between populations might evolve in the face of gene flow, we studied reproductive barriers between populations of two Swedish ecotypes of the marine snail Littorina saxatilis

We present a blow-up criterion for the periodic Camassa-Holm equation. The condition obtained for blow-up uses two of the conservation laws associated with the equation and improves upon some recent results.

Background: Erectile dysfunction is associated with, and may be the first sign of coronary artery disease. We aimed to assess whether men with erectile dysfunction but without cardiovascular disease have reduced coronary flow reserve, as a sign of early coronary atherosclerosis. Methods: We investigated 12 men aged 68-73 years with erectile dysfunction, and 12 age-matched controls. Erectile functi

The ethanol production cost in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation-based bioethanol process is influenced by the requirements for yeast production and for enzymes. The main objective of this study was to evaluate-technically and economically-the influence of these two factors on the production cost. Abase case with 5 g/L of baker's yeast and an initial concentration of water-insoluble

Citrate synthase (CS) is often used in chaperone assays since this thermosensitive enzyme aggregates at moderately increased temperatures. Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) are molecular chaperones specialized in preventing the aggregation of other proteins, termed substrate proteins, under conditions of transient heat stress. To investigate the mechanism whereby sHsps bind to and stabilize a subs

The articulating surfaces of 6 ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene cups were exposed to curing polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone-cement and examined with scanning electron microscopy and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). Three of the cups were exposed to blood and bone-cement, and the rest were exposed to bone-cement only. After removal of the bone-ceme

Abstract: The composition of the major storage protein, hordein, in wild barley species has been studied by using gel electrophoresis, Coomassie staining, and immunoblot assays. We have shown earlier that it is possible to obtain cross-reaction outside the cultivated barley, with monoclonal antibodies raised against hordeins from the barley cultivar Bomi. These antibodies have now been used to inv