BACKGROUND: Anisakis simplex, a fish parasite, causes allergic urticaria, angioedema and anaphylactic shock through an IgE-mediated hypersensitivity mechanism. Consensus on the dietary recommendations that should be given to allergic patients is lacking. Our objective was to evaluate the usefulness of different types of diets in preventing further reactions in patients allergic to A. simplex. METH

Many pathogenic microorganisms evade host immunity through extensive sequence variability in a protein region targeted by protective antibodies. In spite of the sequence variability, a variable region commonly retains an important ligand-binding function, reflected in the presence of a highly conserved sequence motif. Here, we analyze the limits of sequence divergence in a ligand-binding region by

The pseudo-Thellier technique was applied to recover relative palaeointensity (PT-RPI) estimates from four piston cores retrieved from a Holocene lake sediment sequence in the province of Smaland, central southern Sweden. A time-depth model between 11,000 and 450 cal BP was based on a combination of calibrated radiocarbon ages and the ages of established palaeomagnetic secular variation (PSV) feat

In order for ethanol to be competitive with gasoline, the production cost of ethanol must be lower than it is today. One economically crucial step in the production of ethanol from lignocellulosics is refining, since hydrolysis yields dilute glucose solutions which, after fermentation, result in a dilute ethanol solution, 2-3 wt-% ethanol. A technical-economic investigation of various energy-savin

Yeast xylose metabolism is generally considered to be restricted to respirative conditions because the two-step oxidoreductase reactions from xylose to xylulose impose an anaerobic redox imbalance. We have recently developed, however, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain that is at present the only known yeast capable of anaerobic growth on xylose alone. Using transcriptome analysis of aerobic chemos

Single-flush perfusion with Euro-Collins solution (ECS), after pretreatment with prostaglandin E1 or prostacyclin, is at most centers the standard procedure for preservation of lungs for transplantation. In a previous study, we showed that the high potassium content of ECS causes strong pulmonary vasoconstriction at temperatures higher than 20 degrees C. In the present study, five drugs used as pr

We consider propagation models that describe the spreading of an attribute, called “damage,” through the nodes of a random network. In some systems, the average fraction of nodes that remain undamaged vanishes in the large system limit, a phenomenon we refer to as exhaustive percolation. We derive scaling law exponents and exact results for the distribution of the number of undamaged nodes, valid

Optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy has become a widely used experimental tool for the investigation of the ultrafast far-infrared response of polar systems. In this paper the authors present an analytical method of calculating the propagation of ultrashort terahertz pulses in photoexcited media. The transient terahertz wave form transmitted through the sample is equal to a product of the in

The behavior of microstructurally short inherent cracks within a preoxidized thermal barrier coating system upon thermal shock loading is considered. A thin alumina oxide layer holding residual stresses was induced at the ceramic/metal interface to simulate thermally grown oxide on the bond coat. Undulation of the oxidized bond coat was modeled as a sinusoidal surface. The variations of the stress

Sprouting of mossy fibres from dentate granule cells occurs in several animal models of epilepsy and in epileptic humans. Mossy fibre sprouting might contribute to epileptogenesis but also could be a compensatory, inhibitory response. We analysed mossy fibre sprouting in the supragranular zone of the dentate gyrus using Timm's histochemical method in genetically fast and slow kindling rats. Before

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), atrophic gastritis, dietary and lifestyle factors have been associated with gastric cancer (GC). These factors have been evaluated in a large case-control study nested in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition carried out in 9 countries, including the Mediterranean area. Participants, enrolled in 1992-1998, provided life-style and dietary

The effect on primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of Pseudozyma (formerly Candida) antarctica lipase B (PalB) on exposure to hydrogen peroxide was investigated using nano-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (nano-ESI-MS), liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), circular dichroism (CD), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Treatment with hydrogen peroxide g

MSH2 rearrangements are involved in approximately 10% of hereditary non,polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) families, and in most of the rearrangements, exon I is deleted. We scanned by quantitative multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of short fluorescent fragments (QMPSF) 200 kb of genomic sequences upstream of the MSH2 transcription initiation site in 21 HNPCC families with exon I deletion

Helicobacter pylori is the most important cause of gastritis, peptic ulcers and the development of gastric cancer. The chronic active inflammation is dominated by neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes and plasma cells. Several interleukins (IL-8, IL-10 and IFN-gamma) are involved in the inflammatory process in the gastric mucosa. The aim of this study was to investigate the gastric inflammation in

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We examined features of the metabolic syndrome to see if they modified the risk of chronic diabetic complications in patients with Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. METHODS: A total of 85 randomly selected patients with the metabolic syndrome (WHO definition) were compared with 85 Type II diabetic patients matched for age, sex, duration of diabetes, glycaemic cont