The literature concerning social capital and health has grown exponentially during the past somewhat more than 10 years. The study by Kouvonen et al. (Am J Epidemiol 2008;167:0000-00) is a longitudinal multilevel analysis of 33,577 public sector employees in Finland. The study shows a significant association between workplace social capital and depression, which is an interesting finding in a very

AIMS: Red cell distribution width (RDW) has been associated with cardiovascular disease, but the relation to heart failure (HF) is unclear. We investigated the association between RDW and incidence of first hospitalization due to HF in a population-based cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: Red cell distribution width was measured in 26 784 subjects (aged 45-73 years, 61% women), without history of myocar

Our aims were to investigate possible associations between hospitalisation for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and socioeconomic and occupational factors. A nationwide database was constructed by linking Swedish census data to the Hospital Discharge Register (1990-2007). Hospital diagnoses of VTE were based on the International Classification of Diseases. Standardised incidence ratios were calculated

PURPOSE: To examine the incidence of and the indications for re-intervention, as well as the changes in aortic morphology, in patients with chronic type B aortic dissection who underwent endovascular intervention for false lumen aneurysms. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 10 patients (8 men; mean age 63 years, range 45-79) who underwent stent-graft repair of aneurysmal false lume

Thyroid hormones influence both normal breast cell differentiation and breast cancer cell proliferation and stimulate the angiogenesis of certain cancer forms. Several cross-sectional studies have measured thyroid hormones / auto antibodies in breast cancer ceases vs. controls, but it is difficult to determine the cause-effect direction in these studies. Only three prospective studies have reporte

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: University-based rehabilitation center. PARTICIPANTS: Tai Chi practitioners (n=24; age+/-SD, 68.5+/-6.6 y) and control subjects (n=20; age, 71.3+/-6.7 y) were recruited. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measures included the following: (1) subjects' intentional weight shifting to 8 different spatial positions within their base of support

Glucose metabolism is subjected to diurnal variation, which might be mediated by alterations in the transcription pattern of clock genes and regulated by hormonal factors, as has been demonstrated for insulin. However, whether also glucagon is involved in the diurnal variation of glucose homeostasis is not known. We therefore examined glucagon secretion after meal ingestion (meal tolerance test) a

The oncogene cyclin D1 is highly expressed in many breast cancers and, despite its proliferation-activating properties, it has been linked to a less malignant phenotype. To clarify this observation, we focused on two key components of malignant behavior, migration and proliferation, and observed that quiescent G0/G1 cells display an increased migratory capacity compared to cycling cells. We also f

The hypotheses were based on conceiving of automatic mimicking as involved in emotio¬nal empathy. Mimicry reactions (EMG) in high- and low-empathy subjects were studied when subjects were exposed to pictures of angry or happy faces. The degree of corre¬sponden¬ce between subjects’ facial EMG reactions and their self-reported feelings was compared. The comparisons were made at different stimulus ex

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia have been reported to induce immunomodulatory effects. We aimed to assess peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) lymphocyte status at the diagnosis and during different TKI therapies and correlate it with treatment responses.

BACKGROUND: /st> Septic shock includes blood vessel dilatation and activation of innate immunity, which in turn causes release of antimicrobial peptides such as LL-37. It has been shown that LL-37 can attract leucocytes via the lipoxin A(4) receptor (ALX, FPRL1). ALX is also present in vascular endothelial cells. To explore possible ways of pharmacological intervention in septic shock, we investig

Finegoldia magna is a member of the normal human bacterial flora on the skin and other non-sterile body surfaces, but this anaerobic coccus is also an important opportunistic pathogen. SufA was the first F. magna proteinase to be isolated and characterized. Many bacterial pathogens interfere with different steps of blood coagulation, and here we describe how purified SufA efficiently and specifica

By combining recent level crossing data with the results from a modified atomic beam experiment by Buck, Rabi, and Senitzky in 1956, a Landégj factor deviating about 0.6% from the LS-value -1.3341 is obtained for the 6p2P3/2 level of Cs133. As this large deviation is difficult to explain, a remeasurement of the hyperfine structure of this level was performed by the zero field optical double resona

I-131 radionuclide therapy studies have not shown a strong relationship between tumor absorbed dose and response, possibly due to inaccuracies in activity quantification and dose estimation. The goal of this work was to establish the accuracy of I-131 activity quantification and absorbed dose estimation when patient-specific, 3-dimensional (3D) methods are used for SPECT reconstruction and for abs

Popular Abstract in Swedish Streptokocker orsakar flera olika infektioner hos människa såsom halsfluss, svinkoppor och sällsynta livshotande sjukdomstillstånd som blodförgiftning, toxiskt chock syndrom, nekrotiserande fasciit, glomerulonefrit, och reumatisk feber. För att orsaka dessa infektioner måste bakterierna undvika immun-försvaret. Komplementsystemet utgör en viktig del av det medfödda immuStreptococcus pyogenes is a common human pathogen, which causes a variety of diseases. A major virulence factor of S. pyogenes is the surface-associated M protein, which mediates resistance to phagocytosis. Several studies indicate that M proteins inhibit complement deposition and thereby phagocytosis. It is often assumed that S. pyogenes lacking M protein activates complement via the alternative

Abstract is not available

Earlier detailed studies of cnidarian planula larvae have revealed a simple nervous system but no eyes or identifiable light sensing structures. Here, we describe the planula of a box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, and report that these larvae have an extremely simple organization with no nervous system at all. Their only advanced feature is the presence of 10-15 pigment-cup ocelli, evenly spac