Sand steppe is a rare vegetation type on sandy soils in southeastern Sweden with Koeleria glauca and Dianthus arenarius as the most characteristic plant species. The sand steppe areas ill eastern Skane were surveyed during 2004 and 2005. The vegetation composition was monitored and related to die pH and lime content Many sand steppes are close to acidification as indicated by low lime content ill

Density functional theory is used to study polymer solutions between surfaces in equilibrium with a bulk solution. We investigate the effect on the surface interaction free energy of having star polymers with different numbers of arms. In addition, we consider the role played by the strength of the adsorption potential and the concentration of the polymer molecules. The interaction free energy is

The aim of this review was to examine studies on nursing in hypertension care to find out the nurse's role and skills. Articles were searched during the period 1966-1997. About 650 abstracts were read, and 148 were selected for examination. Forty-two articles were judged to be relevant for the study. The role of the nurse in programs was described as that of a team member, an educator in nonpharma

The Younger Dryas interval during the Last Glacial Termination was an abrupt return to glacial-like conditions punctuating the transition to a warmer, interglacial climate. Despite recent advances in the layer counting of ice-core records of the termination, the timing and length of the Younger Dryas remain controversial. Also, a steep rise in the concentration of atmospheric radiocarbon at the on

Public health policies in most European countries are concerned with how to keep older people living independently with a qualitatively good life in the community as long as possible. However, knowledge about what may characterise those seemingly 'healthy' older people is sparse. The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics of a sample of people (75+) reporting various degrees of Qu

Soft tissue trauma is associated with platelet aggregation and sequestration in the lungs. This is believed to be an early step in the later development of adult respiratory distress syndrome. In the present experiment using a new method for in vivo dynamic studies of platelet sequestration, we wanted to evaluate the effect of soft tissue trauma on pulmonary platelet trapping in pigs and the influ

The aim of the study was to characterize the relationship between the pharmacolkinetics of methotrexate in serum and concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid, and to analyse the association to risk of a central nervous system relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. In this retrospective study, 353 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treated with high-dose methotrexate acco

Variable time-step methods, with general step-size control objectives, are developed within the framework of variational integrators. This is accomplished by introducing discrete transformations similar to Poincares time transformation. While gaining from adaptive time-steps, the resulting integrators preserve the structural advantages of variational integrators, i.e., they are symplectic and mome

Five protected analogues of beta-D-galctosyl-(5R)-5-hydroxy-L-lysine were prepared, in which the galactosyl moiety was modified by monodeoxygenation or inversion of stereochemistry at C-4. The building blocks were used in the solid-phase synthesis of a set of glycopeptides related to the peptide fragment CII256-273 from type II collagen. Evaluation of the glycopeptides revealed that T-cell hybrido

A new design of robust matrices for cell immobilization is described. Macroporous gels (MGs) with immobilized microbial cells were prepared at subzero temperatures and were formed inside a plastic core (so-called, protective housing). Due to the protective housing the macroporous gel particles with immobilized cells can be used in well-stirred bioreactors. High retained activity of yeast (77-92%)

Imaging of technical and biological objects using hard X-rays from a laser-produced plasma source is demonstrated. Magnification radiography and single-shot imaging of biological samples are feasible with the source, which utilised focused radiation from a short-pulse terawatt laser. Differential imaging with element specificity and a new projection geometry for X-ray radiography are proposed.

Background. Primary care doctors see patients from diverse cultural backgrounds and communication plays an important role in diagnosis and treatment. Communication problems can arise when patient and doctor do not share the same cultural background. Objective. The aim of this study was to examine how consultations with immigrant patients are understood by GPs and how GPs manage these consultation

Aqueous extract of Clinopodium vulgare L. showed strong antitumour activity when tested in vitro on A2058 (human metastatic melanoma), HEp-2 (epidermoid carcinoma, larynx, human) and L5178Y (mouse lymphoma) cell lines-6 h after treatment disintegration of the nuclei and cell lysis started. Applied at a concentration of 80 microg/ml it reduced the cell survival to 1.0, 5.6 and 6.6%, respectively. T

BACKGROUND: Questions have been asked about whether the process of obtaining informed consent from parents to clinical trials on neonates leads to valid consent. We undertook a study in nine European countries to assess this issue and to seek any practical improvements. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of 200 babies who had been asked for consent to neonatal trials a

Tissue-based diagnostics and research is incessantly evolving with the development of new molecular tools. It has long been realized that immunohistochemistry can add an important new level of information on top of morphology and that protein expression patterns in a cancer may yield crucial diagnostic and prognostic information. We have generated an immunohistochemistry-based map of protein expre

The detrusor smooth muscle is the main muscle component of the urinary bladder wall. Its ability to contract over a large length interval and to relax determines the bladder function during filling and micturition. These processes are regulated by several external nervous and hormonal control systems, and the detrusor contains multiple receptors and signaling pathways. Functional changes of the de

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are a group of hematopoietic stem cell disorders characterized by ineffective hernatopoiesis and peripheral blood cytopenias. Lenalidomide has dramatic therapeutic effects in patients with low-risk MDS and a chromosome 5q31 deletion, resulting in complete cytogenetic remission in >60% of patients. The molecular basis of this remarkable drug response is unknown. To