Detection of genotype-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) capsid antibody in serum suggests past HPV infection. Also, these antibodies appear to correlate with vaccine-induced protection against infection, at least in animal models. However, each laboratory defines a reactive result differently and there is no agreed definition of what level of response indicates sero-reactivity. Standardization o

In this paper we describe how we can do camera resectioning from a box with unknown dimensions, i.e. determine the camera model, assuming that image pixels are square. This assumption is equivalent to assuming that the camera as an aspect ratio of one and zero skew, and holds for most - if not all - digital cameras. Our proposed method works by first deriving 9 linear constraints on the projective

Inflammation caused by the accumulation of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) in the arterial wall is a key factor in the development of atherosclerosis. Accumulating evidence suggests that adaptive immune responses to oxLDL are of major importance in regulating the inflammatory response, and that humoral immunity largely has a protective effect in this process. This concept is supported by

Three fermented, ropy, non-dairy, oat-based products were evaluated for their effect on serum lipids, faecal cholesterol and faecal short chain fatty. acids in germfree and conventional rats. Three different exopolysaccharide (EPS) producing lactic acid bacteria strains were used to ferment the non-dairy oat-base (Adavena(R) G40) (Ceba Foods AB, Lund; Sweden). Two commercial non-dairy products bas

The present study was designed to describe the pattern of long-term formal support received by people with mental disorders, and to investigate the relationship between the medical, psychological and social characteristics of the participants and types of formal support. This study is based on a cohort (n = 192) of people born in 1902 and 1903 in a community in Southern Sweden. The research partic

Background: The usual onset of Crohn's disease (CD) is between 15 and 30 years of age, thus affecting people during their most economically productive period in life. Methods: This study intended to estimate societal costs and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Swedish patients in different stages of CD. Cross-sectional data on disease activity (measured with the Harvey-Bradshaw Index [HBI]

This report makes recommendations for standardized techniques of data gathering and collection regarding: 1) skin involvement 2) joint and tendon involvement, and 3) involvement of the skeletal muscles. The recommendations in this report derive from a critical review of the available literature and group discussion. Committee recommendations are considered appropriate for descriptive clinical inve

Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), tamoxifen (Tam) and toremifene (Tor), are widely used in the treatment of breast cancer. In addition, they have been demonstrated to prevent estrogen deficiency-induced bone loss in postmenopausal women. These effects are thought to be caused by the interaction of the SERMs with the estrogen receptor, although SERMs have also been shown to conduct no

Expression of B-type receptors for platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in frozen sections of blood vessels from tissues affected by abnormal vascular cell proliferation was investigated by immunohistochemical techniques and compared with expression of these receptors in blood vessels of normal tissues. Receptors were not expressed, or expressed at low levels, in vessels of normal tissues. In con

Telomerase is expressed in more than 90% of human cancers. Telomere maintenance by this enzyme is believed to safeguard genomic integrity in neoplastic cells. Nevertheless, many telomerase-expressing tumours exhibit chromosomal instability triggered by short, dysfunctional telomeres, implying that active telomerase is not sufficient for preserving a functional telosomic nucleoprotein complex in ca

PURPOSE: Emergency resections for colonic obstruction are accompanied with increased risk of anastomotic dehiscence. Elevated local degradation of submucosal collagens by matrix metalloproteinases may predispose to anastomotic leakage. This study was designed to study the effect of colon obstruction and surgical trauma on matrix metalloproteinase activities and correlate these results to collagen

We present compelling evidence of the continued existence of the large-billed reed warbler Acrocephalus orinus, hitherto known only from the unique type specimen collected in NW India 139 years ago. Morphological and genetic analyses of an unusual Acrocephalus warbler mist-netted south-west of Bangkok, Thailand, on 27 March 2006, confirmed its identity as A. orinus, and revealed that it was hetero

Currently, most clinical range-modulated proton beams are assumed to have a fixed overall relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of 1.1. However, it is well known that the RBE increases with depth in the spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) and becomes about 10% higher than mid-SOBP RBE at 2 mm from the distal edge (Paganetti 2003 Technol. Cancer Res. Treat. 2 413-26) and can reach values of 1.3-1.4 in v

Although pre-treatment of membranes is often used to ensure the reliability of experimental data, it also has the potential to improve many aspects of membrane performance. This study investigates the influence of chemical pre-treatment and wetting on membrane flux and retention. The results show that chemical pre-treatment, with either a phosphate buffer or alkaline cleaning agents, enhances the

The force between two planar charged surfaces in the presence of polyampholytes (PAs) is investigated as a function of the surface separation. The model system contains PA molecules with zero net charge adsorbing onto the charged surfaces from a dilute surrounding solution without salt. We compare the results obtained on three levels of approximation: (i) polyampholytes moving in the mean field du