The aim of this study was to evaluate the determinants of kidney function and the role of heritable factors in a sample of 249 siblings free from known cardiovascular disease and without antihypertensive drugs belonging to 110 families. Four different measures and estimates of kidney function were considered. Blood pressure was recorded during 24 h by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Heritabi

We have developed a rotatable hemispherical spectrometer with good energy and angular resolution, which can be positioned with the lens axis arbitrarily within a solid angle of 1 pi. The collection angle of the emitted electrons with respect to the polarization axis of the light is set by means of a three-axes goniometer, operating under vacuum. An important requirement for this setup was the poss

We present evidence for mixed molecular and dissociative water adsorption at monolayer coverage on a rutile TiO2(110) surface free from oxygen vacancies using synchrotron radiation photoemission. At monolayer coverage the OH:H2O ratio is close to 0.5 and reducing the coverage by heating yields an increased OH:H2O ratio. At room temperature neither species originating from the monolayer on the defe

The co-assembly of DNA and lipids has broad implications, from the structure of the cell nucleus to gene delivery formulations. To progress in the fundamental understanding of DNA-lipid interactions the self-assembly behavior of a cationic surfactant (dodecyltrimethylammonium, DTA) with DNA as a counterion in mixtures of water and lecithin was investigated. The phase diagram was established and th

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are multipotent cells with immunomodulatory and regenerative properties. During recent years, the interest in using MSC for clinical approaches for various diseases have increased. The lung field is no exception, and several clinical trials using MSC as a cell-based therapy for severe lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, idiopathic pulmonary

Environmental management in the City Tunnel Project was a three-year, sociology of law research project (1999-2003) on how the new Environmental Code was applied to one of the largest infrastructural projects in Sweden: the City Tunnel in Malmö. The aim of this article is, after some years, to reflect on and re-examine what happened during the two extended consultations processes to try to find an

Coastal habitats are heavily subjected to eutrophication and commercial fisheries, and such alterations can affect organism interaction strengths and potentially influence trophic dynamics. A key species inhabiting coastal environments in temperate waters is the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, which utilises coastal areas for food and shelter. We used an experimental mechanistic approach to assay prey

Background: Apoptosis is the primary means for eliminating unwanted cells in multicellular organisms in order to preserve tissue homeostasis and function. It is characterized by distinct changes in the morphology of the dying cell that are orchestrated by a series of discrete biochemical events. Although there is evidence of primitive forms of programmed cell death also in prokaryotes, no informat

Low-intensity laser prepulses (

On the background of geographical and structural barriers for integrated water management discussed by Castensson et al (1990) and Hägerstrand (1993) a case study in Kävlinge river catchment area in southern Scania, Sweden was conducted. The study focused on existing water-related and other forms of co-operation within and between municipalities. Obstacles for effective water management were studi

Sex hormones play a key role in the development of breast cancer. Certain polymorphic variants (SNPs and repeat polymorphisms) in hormone-related genes are associated with sex hormone levels. However, the relationship observed between these genetic variants and breast cancer risk has been inconsistent. We conducted a case-control study nested within two prospective cohorts to assess the relationsh

In this paper, we applied Bayesian multi-layer perceptrons (MLP) using the evidence procedure to predict malignancy of ovarian masses in a large (n = 1,066) multi-centre data set. Automatic relevance determination (ARD) was used to select the most relevant inputs. Fivefold cross-validation (5CV) and repeated 5CV was used to select the optimal combination of input set and number of hidden neurons.

BACKGROUND: The CSF biomarkers tau and Abeta42 can identify patients with AD, even during the preclinical stages. However, previous studies on longitudinal changes of tau and Abeta42 in individual patients with AD and elderly controls report somewhat inconsistent results. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated the levels of tau and Abeta42 at baseline and after 1 year in 100 patients with