Mouse models of asthma are now being used extensively in drug research. However, the successful unravelling of combinatorial interplays of cells and molecules in the murine airways may not be matched by equally successful demonstrations of an asthma-like pathophysiology. Here, Carl Persson, Jonas Erjefalt, Magnus Korsgren and Frank Sundler discuss the fact that major features of asthma may still n

The objectives of this study were to report our experience with the laparoscopic video-assisted gastrostomy technique in infants operated during their first year of life. A total of 53 infants (35 males, 18 females) aged 6 +/- 3 months, varying from 3 weeks to 11 months, underwent video-assisted gastrostomy. They were prospectively followed up. Included are infants with neurological dysfunction, c

Malignant hyperthermia (MH), a potentially lethal disorder of skeletal muscle calcium homeostasis, manifests only on exposure to certain anaesthetic drugs. The mode of inheritance appears to be autosomal dominant with both locus and allelic heterogeneity having been reported. Association analysis of eight MH candidate loci in UK families has indicated that several genes influence susceptibility in

Biological processes often involve the surfaces of proteins, where the structural and dynamic properties of the aqueous solvent are modified. Information about the dynamics of protein hydration can be obtained by measuring the magnetic relaxation dispersion (MRD) of the water 2 H and 17 0 nuclei or by recording the nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) between water and protein protons. Here, we use the

Enol MEM ethers 4 and 15 and the corresponding enol acetates were hydrogenated over Pd/C with very high (>99%) diastereoselectivity to saturated -lactones. A stereochemical generalization can be formulated thus: trans-5,6-disubstituted 1-oxa-3-cyclohexen-2-ones (e.g. 14 and 15) are hydrogenated over Pd with high selectivity from the side trans to the C(6)-substituent. A mechanistic rationalization

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to construct a new clinical tool for establishing levels of indications for cataract surgery, and to validate this tool. Methods: Teams from nine eye clinics reached an agreement about the need to develop a clinical tool for setting levels of indications for cataract surgery and about the items that should be included in the tool. The tool was to be called 'N

Phase separation temperatures and viscosities of dilute and semidilute aqueous mixtures of hydrophobically modified graft and block copolymers have been studied. The graft copolymer was hydrophobically modified ethyl(hydroxyethyl)cellulose (HM-EHEC), and the block copolymers were hydrophobically modified poly(ethylene glycol) (HM-PEG) with diblock (DB) or triblock (TB) structures, i.e., modified a

Growth hormone (GH) has insulin-antagonistic effects, and GH secretion is augmented during fasting and hypoglycemia. In the present study, 10 patients aged 21 to 28 years with childhood-onset GH deficiency (GHD) were studied during a 24-hour fast and a hypoglycemic glucose clamp before and after 9 months of GH replacement. During the 24-hour fast, blood glucose, serum insulin, and serum free fatty

A prominent increase in atmospheric CO, at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, ca. 55 Ma, led to the warmest Earth of the Cenozoic for similar to 100 k.y. High-resolution studies of continental flood-plain sediment records across this boundary can provide crucial information on how the hydrological cycle responds to rapidly changing CO2. Here we show from continental records across the Paleocene-Eocene

The aim was to gain knowledge of young people's physical status and physical activity, and to further the understanding of the role of school physical education in a salutogenic public health perspective. Two studies were performed in southern Sweden. Study 1 was performed in 1996 among 301 adolescents aged 16-19 in upper secondary school. It comprised three parts: a questionnaire, seven physical

In this study, cancer patients' characteristics associated with death in nursing homes were explored. The study sample included 395 cancer patients who had participated in a trial of palliative care, 260 ( 66%) patients died in hospital, 80 (20%) at home and 55 (14%) in nursing homes. Health-related quality of life was prospectively recorded using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Death in nursing

The Swedish Knee Arthroplasty Register has data on 4,381 primary operations performed 1985-1995 for rheumatoid arthritis. Of these, 192 were performed with unicompartmental prostheses and 4143 with tricompartmental. 77% were women and the mean age was 66 years. There were 126 first, 20 second, and 1 third revision in tricompartmental arthroplasties, mainly for loosening, infection and patellar pro

Abstract (1/2-em) In order to enhance the productivity of lactic acid and reduce the end-product inhibition of fermentation, the partitioning and growth of four different strains of lactic acid bacteria in three different aqueous two-phase systems were studied. Polyethyleneglycol/ dextran, polyethyleneglycol/hydroxypropyl starch polymer (HPS), and a random copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene

Previous studies have shown that when bovine mitochondrial elongation factor Ts (EF-Ts) is expressed in Escherichia coli, it forms a tightly associated complex with E. coli elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu). In contrast to earlier experiments, purification of free mitochondrial EF-Ts was accomplished under nondenaturing conditions since only about 60% of the expressed EF-Ts copurified with E. coli EF-T