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BACKGROUND: The sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) provides an objective assessment of sperm chromatin integrity, which is essential for normal sperm function. SCSA is valuable as a fertility marker in epidemiological studies and in the clinical situation. Little is known about the impact of testicular and post-testicular function on SCSA parameters. METHODS: Ejaculates from 278 military consc

Human semen coagulum predominantly consists of high molecular mass complexes of the seminal vesicle secreted semenogelin I (SgI) and semenogelin II (SgII). Here we describe a previously unknown variant of the SgI gene that is present at an allele frequency of similar to3% in the Swedish population. It gives rise to a protein with a molecular mass of 43 kDa, SgI(43), which compared with the 50 kDa

Purpose We have recently presented a decision support system for interpreting myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS). In this study, we wanted to evaluate the system in a separate hospital from where it was trained and to compare it with a quantification software package. Methods A completely automated method based on neural networks was trained for the interpretation of MPS regarding myocardial

The microfungal species composition was studied in coniferous forest soils surrounding a brass mill at Gusum in southeast Sweden. Both the Cu and Zn concentrations were ca. 20 000 μg/g dry soil close to the mill. Pb concentration was ca. 1000 μg/g dry soil and the pH about 2 units above the normal of 3.5–4. The microfungal species composition (determined by the dilution plate technique) was strong

Turbulent flow and heat transfer in a square-sectioned U-bend are investigated. Turbulence models with linear and non-linear expressions for the Reynolds stresses are used. The near wall turbulence is treated by the damping functions approach and a two-layer model with Wolfshtein's sub-layer treatment. The inlet conditions have a significant effect on the predictions. The results from the non-line

Using glacial rebound models we have inverted observations of crustal rebound and shoreline locations to estimate the ice thickness for the major glaciations over northern Eurasia and to predict the palaeo-topography from late MIS-6 ( the Late Saalian at c. 140 kyr BP) to MIS-4e ( early Middle Weichselian at c. 64 kyr BP). During the Late Saalian, the ice extended across northern Europe and Russia

Purpose: To evaluate changes in distribution of hepatic arterial blood flow in the liver following insertion of an uncovered stent and subsequently a stent-graft in the trans-jugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) channel. Methods: The experiments were performed in eight healthy pigs under general anesthesia. In a pilot study in one pig, scintigraphic evaluation of arterial perfusion to t

For group-living animals, the maintenance of a position in the social hierarchy may be associated with physiological costs such as increased stress and energy expenditure or suppressed immune functions. In this study, we experimentally manipulated the social status of house sparrows so that each bird experienced two social environments in random sequence: being dominant and subordinate. For 14 mal

The growth of the literature on eating disorders during four decades is described, especially the development of literature on bulimia. The study is based on a database, ED40, that contains more than 14,000 references to articles on ED from 1960 to 1999. The references were imported from Medline(R) and PsycINFO(R). A broad search method included articles on the physiology of hunger and satiety. Th

As pan of the study "The Burden of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Patient Access to Treatment", this paper reviews the impact on access to RA drugs of the approval processes, pricing and funding decisions and times to market (access) in different countries. In addition, an overview of health technology assessments (HTA) and the economic literature related to RA treatments is provided. The time from

The Workshop identified 48 unselected patients with therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia (t-MIDS/t-AML) and inv(16), and 41 patients with t(15; 17) after chemotherapy (CT) and/or radiotherapy (RT) for a malignant or nonmalignant disease. The primary diseases were: breast cancer, 33 patients; lymphomas, 24 patients; various other solid tumors, 30 patients; and nonmalig

Goodpasture disease is a prototype autoimmune disease characterized by the formation of autoantibodies against the heterotrimeric basement membrane collagen type IV, which causes a rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. The pathogenic antibody response is directed to the non-collagenous (NC1) domain of the alpha3 chain of type IV collagen (alpha3(IV)NC1), but not to the homologous region of the a

caiman, Paleosuchus trigonatus, and Cuvier’s dwarf caiman, Paleosuchus palpebrosus, were sequenced and included in a mitogenomic phylogenetic study. The phylogenetic analyses, which included a total of ten crocodylian species, yielded strong support to a basal split between Crocodylidae and Alligatoridae. Osteolaemus fell within the Crocodylidae as the sister group to Crocodylus. Gavialis and Tomi

The UV-photolysis of PAHs was tested in silicone oil and tetradecane. In most cases, the degradation of a pollutant provided within a mixture was lower than when provided alone due to competitive effects. With the exception of anthracene, the larger pollutants (4- and 5-rings) were always degraded first, proving that UV-treatment preferentially acts on large PAHs and thereby provides a good comple

BACKGROUND. In recent studies serum levels of human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2) demonstrated significant differences in pathologically organ-confined versus non-organ-confined prostate cancer (Pca). In this study we investigated whether hK2 adds independent information when considered together with traditionally used parameters to predict organ confined (pT2a/b) PCa. METHODS. Serum levels of hK2,

Phytantriol, 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-1,2,3-hexadecanetriol, is frequiently used as a cosmetic ingredient; however, very little is known about its physical and chemical properti s. Here, we present the phase behavior of phytantriol in water, as determined by X-ray diffraction. At room temperature, the phase sequence upon increasing the water concentration is reversed micellar, lamellar, cubic phase Q