The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) mediates the toxicity of several environmental contaminants, e.g. 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, and other halogenated hydrocarbons in vertebrates. This receptor initiates the transcription of several biotransformation enzymes, which in turn are responsible for causing severe harm to biological tissue. Here we describe the isolation and complete characteri

Ultrafast accelerator-based sources combined with synchronized femtosecond lasers are currently being developed. The method described here is intended as a jitter monitor at such facilities. We report on the possibility of extracting a time-offset signal between two different synchronized ultrashort light pulses. The method is based on sum-frequency generation in a nonlinear crystal. Aiming at ext

Popular Abstract in Swedish Att leverera ett läkemedel till hjärnan är svårt då blod-hjärnbarriären effektivt stoppar de flesta kemiska substanser eller kräver att läkemedlet ges i höga systemiska doser. Om läkemedlet passerar blod-hjärnbärriaren påverkar det i så fall alla strukturer och celltyper. Detta är problematiskt i hjärnan då det här finns avgränsade strukturer med olika funktion, ibland Gene therapy in the brain is a promising treatment strategy that in the future may be used for several brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and lysosomal storage diseases. By introducing a new gene, rather than providing a classical pharmacological drug, gene therapy offers the opportunity to treat neurological disorders by a single intervention. However, gene therap

Twenty-nine laboratories in 12 countries participated in a study to assess the performance of various human papillomavirus (HPV) detection assays through the use of a recombinant HPV DNA standard reagent panel. The panel was designed by a group of HPV experts, and samples were prepared and distributed by the World Health Organization International Laboratory for Standards and Biologicals in The Ne

Using PCR with degenerate primers and screening of a human B-cell lymphoblast cDNA library, a full-length cDNA encoding a 375-amino-acid protein was isolated. It contains seven regions of hydrophobic amino acids probably representing membrane-spanning domains of a novel heptahelix receptor, tentatively named CMKRL2. It shows nearly 30% overall identity with the high-affinity IL8 receptor and simil

Background Measuring health-related quality of life (QoL) after surgery is essential for decision making by patients, surgeons, and payers. The aim of this consensus conference was twofold. First, it was to determine for which diseases endoscopic surgery results in better postoperative QoL than open surgery. Second, it was to recommend QoL instruments for clinical research. Methods An expert panel

This study investigates what makes parents of hospitalized children feel secure and factors influencing their level of participation. It also studies, whether the degree to which parents participate affects their child's pain and sleep during hospitalization. Questionnaires were distributed to a series of parents whose children were discharged from two paediatric surgical wards and one paediatric

In this study the authors assessed the possible relationship between high dietary exposure to persistent organohalogens (OHS) through fatty fish from the Baltic Sea and hormone levels in adult men. Blood samples were drawn from 110 men who consumed varying amounts of fish (i.e., 0-32 meals per month) for analysis of plasma levels of 18 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, 5 hydroxy-PCBs, 1,1,

Using a general 3-D finite-volume code, the development of buoyancy force driven secondary flow and its effects on developing laminar flow and heat transfer have been numerically simulated for a horizontal fuel cell duct with a rectangular cross section. The constant thermal-properties assumption except for linear density variation with temperature in the body force term is applied, and a constant

The perforated patch whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique was applied to superficial cells in intact mouse pancreatic islets. Three types of electrical activity were observed corresponding to alpha-, beta- and delta-cells. The delta-cells were electrically active in the presence of glucose but lacked the oscillatory pattern seen in the beta-cells. By contrast, the alpha-cells were

Fetal antigen 1 (FA1) is a circulating glycoprotein containing six epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeats. FA1's larger membrane-bound precursor is defined by the cDNAs referred to as either human delta-like (dlk) or human adrenal specific cDNA, pG2. In rodents FA1 has also been studied under the names of preadipocyte factor 1 (Pref-1), and zona glomerulosa-specific factor (ZOG). FA1 is abunda

Bülow B, Ahrén B (Lund University, Lund, Sweden) on behalf of the Swedish Research Council Study Group of Endocrine Abdominal Tumours. Adrenal incidentaloma - experience of a standardized diagnostic programme in the Swedish prospective study. J Intern Med 2002; 252: 239-246. OBJECTIVE: To report the 5-year experience of a diagnostic programme for adrenal incidentaloma with special emphasis to diag

The hepatic extraction ratio or propionate and the net hepatic flux of methylmalonate (MMA) were investigated in six Suffolk lambs (32.7 +/- 1.7 kg BW) implanted with catheters in a mesenteric artery and in the portal, hepatic, and ruminal veins and a cannula in the rumen. The lambs were fed a pelleted barley-based diet (1.1 kg DM per day) and subjected to three intravenous infusion protocols sepa