Dietary phytoestrogens may play a role in chronic disease occurrence. The aim of our study was to assess the variability of plasma concentrations in European populations. We included 15 geographical regions in 9 European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, and UK) and a 16th region, Oxford, UK, where participants were recruited from among vegans and

The role of the enteric nervous system in intestinal inflammation is not fully understood and the plethora of cellular activities concurrently ongoing in vivo renders intelligible studies difficult. In order to explore possible effects of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on enteric neurons we utilised cultured myenteric neurons from rat small intestine. Exposure to LPS caused markedly reduced ne

Image and flow cytometry was used to study the nuclear DNA content (ploidy) during the squamous cell carcinogenesis in the esophagus. The present retrospective study comprised 26 surgical specimens of squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) in patients who underwent surgery alone at the Department of Surgery in CHUV Hospital in Lausanne, between January 1992 and December 1999. We analyzed 53 healthy tissue

The cytogenetic evolution patterns in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) after allogeneic ( allo) stem cell transplantation (SCT) are different from the ones observed in non-transplanted patients, a phenomenon suggested to be caused by the conditioning regime. We reviewed 131 CMLs displaying karyotypic evolution after SCT (122 allo, nine autologous (auto)), treated at Lund University Hospital or repor

The Land sensitivity equation is a well-known tool for comparing optical performance between eyes. Despite this, the equation has never been experimentally tested. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first experimental validation of the equation. We have investigated different insect species active at different intensities, and possessing different types of compound eyes, to compare ratios of

Elevated levels of cyclin A1 expression have been implicated in acute myeloid leukemia and in male germ cell tumors. However, a role of cyclin A1 in tumorigenesis of prostate cancer has not been reported. In the present study, expression of cyclin A1 in patients with prostate cancer and a role of cyclin A1 in mediating expression of vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF) were investigated. Cyc

Biglyean and decorin are small chondroitin/dermatan sulphate proteoglycans in the extracellular matrix of connective tissue that belong to the family of structurally related proteoglycans called small leucine-rich repeat proteins. We show for the first time that biglycan and decorin induce morphological and cytoskeletal changes in fibroblasts, resulting in an increase in migration. Biglycan change

Two major events marked 2002 as a milestone year for the sustainable development agenda and in particular for the tourism sector. The declaration by the United Nations of 2002 as ‘International Year of Ecotourism’ (IYE), culminated in the organisation of the World Ecotourism Summit (WES) in May 2002. This was followed in August 2002 by the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD), a global

Background: The first tissues to be deprived of perfusion and oxygenation in a hypovolemic situation and the last ones to be reperfused are the subcutaneous tissue and the gastrointestinal mucosa. We hypothesized that measurements of subcutaneous tissue gases and pH might reflect simultaneous changes in oxygenation of the intestinal mucosa. The aim of this study was to evaluate tissue gases and pH

A novel approach to the control of a GDI engine is presented. Thecontroller consists of a combination of subcontrollers, where torquefeedback is a central part. The subcontrollers are with a fewexceptions designed using simple linear feedback and feedforwardcontrol-design methods, in contrast to traditional table-based enginecontrol. A silent extremum-controller is presented. It is used tominimize

Treatment of [Ru-3(CO)(12)] with thianthrene in refluxing toluene afforded [(mu(4)-S)Ru-4(mu-CO)(2)(CO)(9)(mu(4)-eta(2)-C6H4)] (1), [(mu(5)-S)Ru-6(mu-CO)(2)(CO)(15)(mu-eta(3)-C12H8S)] (2), and [(mu(5)-S)Ru-5(mu-CO)(2)(CO)(11)(mu-eta(3)-C12H8S)(mu(4)-eta(2)-C6H4)] (3) in 18%, 8%, and 16% yields, respectively. Thermolysis of 2 in refluxing heptane gave compounds 1 and 3. A similar thermolysis of 3 i

This paper presents theory and algorithms for validation in system identification of state-space models from finite input-output sequences in a subspace model identification framework. Our formulation includes the problem of rank-deficient residual covariance matrices, a case which is encountered in applications with mixed stochastic-deterministic input-output properties as well as for cases where

Inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy is central to the long-term management of asthma and is extensively used in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While administration via inhalation limits systemic exposure compared with oral or injected corticosteroids and, therefore, the risk of systemic corticosteroid-related adverse effects, concerns over the long-term safety of

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II is of critical importance for the induction of immune responses. Levels of MHC class II in the nervous system are normally low, but expression is up-regulated in many disease conditions. In rat and human, variation in the MHC class II transactivator gene (Uta) is associated with differential expression of MHC class II and susceptibility to autoimmune

The heat transfer in a general bone-cement-prosthesis system was modelled. A quantitative understanding of the heat transfer and the polymerization kinetics in the system is necessary because injury of the bone tissue and the mechanical properties of the cement have been suggested to be effected by the thermal and chemical history of the system. The mathematical model of the heat transfer was base

We present a detailed theoretical study of pressure-broadened Raman line shapes in binary mixtures of nitrogen and carbon monoxide. The semiclassical Robert-Bonamy theory was used to calculate self-broadened Q-branch linewidths of N-2 and CO, and Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential energy surface parameters were fixed by comparing our results with extensive experimental linewidth data. For the case of N-