OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether political mistrust in the Riksdag (the national parliament in Sweden) is an independent characteristic of cannabis smokers, or whether it reflects low confidence in people in general, and therefore low social capital. METHOD: The 2004 public health survey in Skåne is a cross-sectional postal questionnaire study answered by 27,757 respondents aged 18-80 with a 59%

Treatment and management of chronic wounds is a large burden on the health sector and causes substantial suffering for the patients. We believe that 13 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) symbionts isolated from the honey crop of the honeybee are important players in the antimicrobial action of honey, by producing antimicrobial substances and can be used in combination with heather honey as an effective tr

PURPOSE:To evaluate patency and clinical outcome in patients treated with endovascular recanalization and stent placement for chronic iliac vein occlusions. METHODS:During a 14-year period (1994-2008), 59 (38 women; median age 39 years) of 62 patients with chronic occlusion of the iliac vein segment in 66 limbs were successfully treated with endovascular recanalization and stent placement. A prosp

Sequence variation of antigenic proteins allows pathogens to evade antibody attack. The variable protein commonly includes a hypervariable region (HVR), which represents a key target for antibodies and is therefore predicted to be immunodominant. To understand the mechanism(s) of antibody evasion, we analyzed the clinically important HVR-containing M proteins of the human pathogen Streptococcus py

AIM AND METHODS: We assessed gender differences in variables related to B-natriuretic peptide (BNP), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), peak oxygen consumption (peak-VO2), and LV mass (LVM), among patients recently hospitalized for suspected heart failure (HF). RESULTS: Of 930 consecutive patients, 409 accepted follow-up after discharge, 221 of these had definite HF (90 women, mean age 74.

Standard lot-sizing models are often not directly applicable in practice. Different assumptions in lot-sizing models and the extent to which these assumptions are valid in various practical situations are discussed. Practitioners also tend to prefer simple standard methods even for complex problems, which means that adjustment of the lot sizes may be desirable. The ways in which such adjustments c

In this study, we have examined how the lack of vagus activity affects the long-term secretion of total and active ghrelin. We subjected mice to sham-operation, pyloroplasty or vagotomy and pyloroplasty. The study lasted for 2 weeks, during which body weight development and daily food intake was monitored. At the end of the study, the mice were sacrificed, and serum and fundus were collected. Meas

Regional sex-specific rates of a rare disease often show conspicuous fluctuations over conventional strata of age and calendar time. In a cohort study, when such rates are used as references in the calculation of the expected number of cases, the accumulated person-time of the study cohort may somewhat haphazardly contribute to the result. For example, only the person-time observed in the strata w

OBJECTIVE: Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is essential for the pubertal growth spurt and for normal mammary gland development. IGF-1 increases premenopausal breast cancer risk. Oral contraceptives (OCs) decrease IGF-1 in most women. The endogenous estrogens and their metabolites also influence IGF-1 levels. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are involved in estrogen metabolism. We aimed to st

Many solid tumors exhibit characteristic gene fusions, which are reflected by balanced translocations at the cytogenetic level. These changes might be useful diagnostic and prognostic tools. In Wilms tumor (WT, nephroblastoma) no fusions genes or recurrent balanced translocations have been described thus far. To screen for cryptic balanced translocations, we have analyzed 17 renal neoplasms, histo

BACKGROUND:: The differentiation between a giant fibroadenoma and a phyllodes tumor can be a precarious diagnostic task. However, the distinction between the 2 lesions is important to make, especially since the latter can be malignant and consequently the prognoses differ. PROCEDURE:: We used various genetic approaches to study a breast tumor showing features of both entities in a 10-year-old girl

In the 1990s, cultural analyses have become an integrated part of urban theory, and culture is often seen as an important factor in the interpretation of both the structural changes of society and the multiplicity of life forms. But culture is not only used as a means to understand actual changes; equally often it is used as a tool to create changes. Under the headings of culture and space, cultur

OBJECTIVE: Neutrophil infiltration is a key regulator in the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis (AP), although the impact of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in AP remains elusive. The aim of this study was to define the role of TLR2 and TLR4 in leukocyte recruitment and tissue damage in severe AP. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: AP was induced by retrograde infusion of sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic d

Patients with rheumatic disorders have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This excess co-morbidity is not fully explained by traditional risk factors. Disease severity is a major risk factor for CVD in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Shared disease mechanisms in atherosclerosis and rheumatic disorders include immune dysregulation and

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Recent reports have suggested that genotypes at the FTO locus interact with physical activity to modify levels of obesity-related traits. We tested this hypothesis in two non-diabetic population-based cohorts, the first from southern Sweden and the second from the Botnia region of western Finland. METHODS: In total 2,511 Finnish and 15,925 Swedish non-diabetic middle-aged adults w