A number of studies have shown activation of the immune system throughout various stages of atherosclerosis. Recent observations have suggested that activation of immune responses may promote atherosclerosis on one hand by inducing and perpetuating arterial inflammation, whereas on the other hand, selective activation of certain immune functions may inhibit atherosclerosis and arterial inflammatio

Objectives: In severe hay fever, some patients are strongly affected despite the use of first-line therapy and are therefore treated with an intramuscular injection of systemic corticosteroid (i.m. SCS) in some countries. The aim of this paper was to explore the efficacy and side effects of a single i.m. SCS injection in hay fever in adults. Data sources: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library. Method

The dioecious weed Silene latifolia Poiret is thought to have spread northwards through Europe from separate southern source populations and shows a pronounced east–west pattern of differentiation in seed morphology. We used crossing experiments to investigate whether patterns of interfertility in S. latifolia are consistent with a scenario of ongoing speciation (reflected by outbreeding depressio

Carbonyl 13C relaxation experiments to study protein backbone dynamics have recently been developed. However, the effect of three-bond 13C-13C couplings on transverse relaxation measurements appears not to have been considered, and the potential to detect and quantify motions on the millisecond to microsecond time scale has not been fully explored. The present paper addresses these two issues. Sim

The aim of this article is to explain norm change regarding gender and development in the EU. I trace the policy process from initiation to implementation to clarify how new norms were introduced and spread. The article combines a constructivist approach to norm diffusion with a negotiation perspective. Constructivist accounts underline the role of norm entrepreneurs and how they persuade others t

Species evolutionary relationships have traditionally been defined by sequence similarities of phylogenetic marker molecules, recently followed by whole-genome phylogenies based on gene order, average ortholog similarity or gene content. Here, we introduce genome conservation—a novel metric of evolutionary distances between species that simultaneously takes into account, both gene content and sequ

The aim of this review is to examine recent advances in experimental and clinical research relevant to the pathogenesis of diarrhea-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome with special reference to histopathologic findings, virulence factors of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, the host response, and the prothrombotic state. Despite significant advances during the past decade, the exact mechani

This study investigates the influence on the realism of confidence judgments of four different factors, the individual, the knowledge domain (crystallized and fluid intelligence), gender and cognitive style (Need-for-Cognition, NfC). Seventy-nine high-school students answered questions on word knowledge (WORD) and logical/spatial ability (DTK), both tests were administered on three occasions with

Photon quality correction factors (kQγ) for ionization chamber photon dosimetry in an epithermal neutron beam were determined according to a modified absorbed dose to water formalism which was extended to mixed radiation fields. We have studied two commercially available ionization chambers in the epithermal neutron beam optimized for BNCT at the facility at Studsvik, Sweden. One of the chambers i

RNA repair has now been demonstrated to be a genuine biological process and appears to be present in all three domains of life. In this article, we consider what this might mean for the transition from an early RNA-dominated world to modem cells possessing genetically encoded proteins and DNA. There are significant gaps in our understanding of how the modem protein-DNA world could have evolved fro

The role of fibroblasts in inflammatory processes and their cross-talk with T cells is increasingly being recognized. Our aim was to explore the capacity of dermal fibroblasts to produce inflammatory chemokines potentially involved in fibrosis occurring in response to contact with polarized human T cells. Our findings indicate that the program of chemokine production by fibroblasts is differential

Lipoproteins consist of lipids solubilized by apolipoproteins. The lipid-binding structural motifs of apolipoproteins include amphipathic alpha-helixes and beta-sheets. Plasma apolipoprotein (apo) M lacks an external amphipathic motif but, nevertheless, is exclusively associated with lipoproteins ( mainly high density lipoprotein). Uniquely, however, apoM is secreted to plasma without cleavage of

FUS (TLS) was first identified as the 5'-part of a fusion gene with CHOP (GADD153, DDIT3) in myxoid liposarcomas with t(12; 16)(q13; p11). Homologies were found with the EWS oncogene, which is rearranged in Ewing sarcomas and other neoplasias. The genomic structure of FUS shows extensive similarities with that of EWS, but the exon/intron structures differ in the 5' parts, and overall FUS is smalle

Introduction: Ximelagatran is a novel, oral direct thrombin inhibitor that is currently being investigated for the prophylaxis and treatment of thromboembolic events. This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and clinical effects of melagatran, the active form of ximelagatran, in patients with both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Materials and methods: In