Objective. Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a cartilage matrix macromolecule. The protein is detectable in serum and has been investigated as a biomarker of osteoarthritis (OA). An association between COMP and OA has been shown, yet the precise factors governing serum levels of COMP remain unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether genetic factors influence serum levels o

We present a method to include colour-suppressed effects in the Mueller dipole picture. The model consistently includes saturation effects both in the evolution of dipoles and in the interactions of dipoles with a target in a frame-independent way. When implemented in a Monte Carlo simulation together with our previous model of energy-momentum conservation and a simple dipole description of initia

Objectives Cervical cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer among women. Cytological screening and follow-up are potentially effective procedures for preventing the development of – and mortality from – cervical cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the screening history of women diagnosed with cervical cancer with the aim of improving the screening programme. Study design

Replications are commonly considered to be important contributions to investigate the generality of empirical studies. By replicating an original study it may be shown that the results are either valid or invalid in another context, outside the specific environment in which the original study was launched. The results of the replicated study show how much confidence we could possibly have in the o

An extensive set of proxy-data was acquired from eastern and central Denmark in order to study the dynamic behaviour of the southwestern margin of the last Scandinavian Ice Sheet. We examine the last three glacier advances of the Late Weichselian: the Main advance from central Sweden, representing the maximum ice extent at this time (c. 21-20 ka BP), and the two succeeding Baltic advances (c. 18-1

In an accompanying paper (Am. J. Epidemiol. 2002;155:1066-73), the authors describe the design of a large multicenter study being carried out in three West African countries for investigation of the roles of environmental and host-related factors in the development of tuberculosis. In this paper, the authors review some evidence that host genetic factors play a role in susceptibility to tuberculos

Three approaches to trend analysis of water quality time series are discussed: (1) seasonal model, with a test for trend based on ranks of observations, with observations assumed to be m dependent; (2) transfer function noise model, in which covariate series may be included by means of transfer functions, with the remaining noise modeled as a seasonal autoregressive moving average process; and (3)

tRNA is the adaptor in the translation process. The ribosome has three sites for tRNA, the: A-, P-, and E-sites. The tRNAs bridge between the ribosomal subunits with the decoding site and the mRNA on the small or 30S subunit and the peptidyl transfer site on the large or 50S subunit. The possibility that, translation release factors could mimic tRNA has been discussed for a long time, since their

Changes in understory biomass, forest floor carbon (C) stock and vegetation composition were studied in six age-classes of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) and two age-classes of native birch (Betula pubescens) in Iceland. The ground vegetation was less in the larch during the thicket stage and in the old-growth birch compared to a treeless pasture. Understory biomass was strongly related to canopy

Caudate nucleus dopamine (DA) D-2 receptors were studied in patients with vascular dementia (VaD) and in a control group using [H-3]raclopride as a radioligand. There was no significant difference in the number of DA D-2 receptors in the VaD group as compared with controls. The binding affinity was significantly lower in the VaD group. When the VaD group was subdivided into subjects with or withou

In order to systematically and visually understand well-known but qualitative and complex relationships between synoptic fields and heavy rainfall events in Kyushu Islands, southwestern Japan, during the BAIU season, these synoptic fields were classified using the Self-Organizing Map (SOM), which can convert complex non-linear features into simple two-dimensional relationships. It was assumed that

This paper presents a new method of studying mould activity as a function of water activity by measuring the heat produced by the fungal metabolism. During a measurement a small sample (

Objective Surgical abortion in Lithuania is governed by a 1994 ministerial decree that made it legal for any woman 16 or older. This article seeks to determine the key demographic factors in Lithuanian attitudes towards medical abortion, which is currently not legal. Methods A random sample of the adult population was asked if they supported medical abortion. The dependent variable of attitude tow

Treatment of injuries to major nerve trunks in the hand and upper extremity remains a major and challenging reconstructive problem. Such injuries may cause long-lasting disabilities in terms of lost fine sensory and motor functions. Nowadays there is no surgical repair technique that can ensure recovery of tactile discrimination in the hand of an adult patient following nerve repair while very you

A new method for identifying and ranking critical components and sets of components in technical infrastructures is presented. The criticality of a component or a set of components is defined as the vulnerability of the system to failure in a specific component, or set of components. The identification of critical components is increasingly difficult when considering multiple simultaneous failures

We investigated the degree of geographical shifts of transmission areas of vector-borne avian blood parasites (Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon) over ecological and evolutionary timescales. Of 259 different parasite lineages obtained from 5886 screened birds sampled in Europe and Africa, only two lineages were confirmed to have current transmission in resident bird species in both geogra

The pathological constriction of cerebral arteries known as cerebral vasospasm (CVS) is with a delay of 4 to 10 days linked to subarachnoid hemorrhage. Several agents have been suggested as being responsible; amongst these perhaps 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) are the most prominent given their ability to elicit powerful constriction of cerebral arteries. Investigating both 5-

alpha(1)-Microglobulin is a 26-kDa glycoprotein synthesized in the liver, secreted to the blood, and rapidly distributed to the extravascular compartment of all tissues. Recent results show that alpha(1)-microglobulin has heme-binding and heme-degrading properties and it has been suggested that the protein is involved in the defense against oxidation by heme and reactive oxygen species. In the pre

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay using primers against the hepatitis C core gene has been described [Okamoto et al. (1992a): Journal of General Virology 73:673-679]. Within the two major HCV genotypes 1 and 2, the Okamoto system identifies two subtypes each (1a, 1b and 2a, 2b, respectively). Typing is achieved by a primary PCR with consensus primers followed by a nested PCR with type