BackgroundOak moss absolute, an extract from the lichen Evernia prunastri, is a valued perfume ingredient but contains extreme allergens. ObjectivesTo compare the elicitation properties of two preparations of oak moss absolute: classic oak moss', the historically used preparation, and new oak moss', with reduced contents of the major allergens atranol and chloroatranol. Patients/materials/methodsT

Background: Ischaemia and local protease activation close to the pancreaticojejunal anastomosis (PJA) are potential mechanisms of postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) formation. To provide information on the pathophysiology of POPF, intraperitoneal microdialysis was used to monitor metabolic changes and protease activation close to the PJA after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Methods: In patient

To study the efficacy and safety of anti-CD52 antibody (alemtuzumab) in the treatment of refractory and relapsing Behçet disease (BD).

In combination with other spectroscopy, microscopy, and scattering techniques, neutron reflectivity is a powerful tool to characterize biological systems. Specular reflection of neutrons provides structural information at the nanometer and subnanometer length scales, probing the composition and organization of layered materials. Currently, analysis of neutron reflectivity data involves several sim

Autoimmunity against pancreatic islet beta cells is strongly associated with proinsulin, insulin, or both. The insulin autoreactivity is particularly pronounced in children with young age at onset of type 1 diabetes. Possible mechanisms for (pro)insulin autoimmunity may involve beta-cell destruction resulting in proinsulin peptide presentation on HLA-DR-DQ Class II molecules in pancreatic draining

Radioactive beams of B-14,B-15 produced by fragmentation of a primary Ar-40 beam were directed onto a Pb target to investigate the neutron breakup within the Coulomb field. The experiment was performed at the LAND/(RB)-B-3 setup. Preliminary results for the Coulomb dissociation cross sections as well as for the astrophysically interesting inverse reactions, B-13,B-14(n,gamma), are presented.

AIM: To investigate if and how the proinflammatory cytokine interferon gamma (IFN gamma) affects ghrelin expression in mice. METHODS: The plasma concentration of ghrelin, and gastric ghrelin and somatostatin expression, were examined in wild-type mice and mice infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylon). Furthermore, ghrelin expression was examined in two achlorhydric mouse models with varying de

Treatment of acute lung injury (ALI) remains an unsolved problem in intensive care medicine. Activation and recruitment of neutrophils are regarded as key mechanisms in the progression of ALI. As pioglitazone holds potent pleiotropic anti-inflammatory effects, we explored its effects during ALI. C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to aerosolised lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) (500 mu g.mL(-1)) and their alveola

ObjectiveTo understand the association between life stress, postpartum depression (PD), maternal perception of her child's risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D) and a mother's anxiety about her child's T1D risk in mothers of genetically at risk children in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study. MethodsA short form of the state component (SAI) of the State-Trait Anxiety Inv

Diamond-Blackfan anemia is a congenital erythroid hypoplasia caused by functional haploinsufficiency of genes encoding ribosomal proteins. Mutations involving the ribosomal protein S19 gene are detected in 25 % of patients. Enforced expression of ribosomal protein S19 improves the overall proliferative capacity, erythroid colony-forming potential and erythroid differentiation of hematopoietic prog

ObjectiveTo quantitatively evaluate the position, size, and shape of the menisci in subjects with radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) compared to subjects without OA, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MethodsWe studied the right knees of 39 Osteoarthritis Initiative participants (24 women and 15 men with a mean age of 59.6 +/- 8.7 years) with medial compartment radiographic tibiofemoral OA

Repeated injury of the airway epithelium caused by hyperpnoea of poorly conditioned air has been proposed as a key factor in the pathogenesis of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) in athletes. In animals, the short-acting beta(2)-agonist terbutaline has been shown to reduce dry airflow-induced bronchoconstriction and the associated shedding of airway epithelial cells. Our aim was to test t

Introduction: The molecular mechanics energies combined with the Poisson-Boltzmann or generalized Born and surface area continuum solvation (MM/PBSA and MM/GBSA) methods are popular approaches to estimate the free energy of the binding of small ligands to biological macromolecules. They are typically based on molecular dynamics simulations of the receptor-ligand complex and are therefore intermedi

To investigate the hospital cost and short-term clinical outcome of traditional minimally invasive versus robot-assisted hysterectomy in women primarily considered unavailable for vaginal surgery.

Novel adjuvants and antigen-delivery systems with immunomodulatory properties that shift the allergenic Th2 response towards a Th1 or regulatory T cell response are desired for allergen-specific immunotherapy. This study demonstrates that 200-nm sized biodegradable poly(gamma-glutamic acid) (gamma-PGA) nanoparticles (NPs) are activators of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). gamma-PGA

Recent advances in biochemistry and drug design have placed proteases as one of the critical target groups for developing novel small-molecule inhibitors. Among all proteases, aspartic proteases have gained significant attention due to their role in HIV/AIDS, malaria, Alzheimer's disease, etc. The binding cleft is covered by one or two β-hairpins (flaps) which need to be opened before a ligand can

Agricultural intensification has resulted in large-scale loss of bee pollinators, but while some species have been negatively affected others seem to endure changed conditions. It has been suggested that certain morphological, ecological and life-history traits make some species more vulnerable to landscape changes. Information on which traits make species vulnerable and why may aid conservation o

We explored signs of retinal dysfunction over time in diabetic subjects before or early in the course of retinopathy. Patients with no, mild, or moderate retinopathy were consecutively recruited and underwent standard automated perimetry, visual acuity measurement, and fundus photography. These examinations and measurements of HbA1c and blood pressure were repeated for up to 5 years from baseline.

We study the problem of estimating the fundamental frequencies of a signal containing multiple harmonically related sinusoidal components using a novel block sparse signal representation. An efficient algorithm for solving the resulting optimization problem is devised exploiting a novel variable step-size alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The resulting algorithm has guaranteed co