Dermatan sulfate is a highly sulfated polysaccharide and has a variety of biological functions in development and disease. Iduronic acid domains in dermatan sulfate, which are formed by the action of two DS-epimerases, have a key role in mediating these functions. We have identified the catalytic site and three putative catalytic residues in DS-epimerase 1, His205, Tyr261 and His450, by tertiary s

The prevalence of obesity is increasing in Iran. Previous studies showed mixed results in relation to association between socioeconomic status and obesity in the country. The current study aimed to examine educational inequalities among adults in Tehran in 2011.

Apelin, a recently discovered peptide with wide tissue distribution, regulates feeding behavior, improves glucose utilization, and inhibits insulin secretion. We examined whether apelin is expressed in human islets, as well as in normal and type 2 diabetic (T2D) animal islets. Further, we studied islet apelin regulation and the effect of apelin on insulin secretion. Apelin expression and regulatio

Previous observational studies on the association between brachial blood pressure (BP) and cognition have reported conflicting results. Central BP has been hypothesized to be more strongly related to cognition than brachial BP. The aim of this study was to assess the association between brachial as well as central BP and cognitive function, both cross-sectionally and with brachial BP measured 17 y

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), vanilloid 2 (TRPV2) and melastatin 8 (TRPM8) are thermosensitive cation channels expressed on primary sensory neurons. In contrast to TRPV1, which is present on nociceptive primary afferents and keratinocytes in human skin, less is known about the distribution of TRPV2 and TRPM8 in this tissue. Immunohistochemistry of human forearm skin identified

Magnetic resonance imaging was used to compare subcortical volumes of seven suicide attempters with those of six healthy controls. Suicide attempters had 10% smaller right caudate nucleus and 19% bilaterally smaller globus pallidus. In suicide attempters, volumes of the globus pallidus correlated negatively with previously reported measures of solidity (non-impulsive temperament) and serotonin tra

The aim was to describe, from the newly registered nurses' perspective, specific events when using their pedagogical knowledge in their everyday clinical practice. The design was qualitative and the critical incident technique was used. Data was collected via interviews with ten newly registered nurses who graduated from the same University program 10 months earlier and are now employed at a unive

Altered DNA methylation is often seen in malignant cells, potentially contributing to carcinogenesis by suppressing gene expression. We hypothesized that heritable methylation potential might be a risk factor for breast cancer and evaluated possible association with breast cancer for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) either involving CpG sequences in extended 5'- regulatory regions of candida

BACKGROUND: Studies investigating the importance of social network, empowerment and experiences of stigma on subjective quality of life among persons with mental illness are rare. AIM: This study aimed to investigate beliefs of devaluation/discrimination, actual rejection experiences, empowerment, social network and the relationship of these factors to subjective quality of life among subjects wit

This study reports the Swedish construct validation of two translated attachment style scales. The factor structure of the attachment construct was investigated via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of attachment scores from 515 students of a Swedish university. Results supported the expected two-factor solution, but found a three-factor solution to be a viable alternative. In addition,

BACKGROUND: Malignant hyperthermia (MH), linked to the ryanodine receptor 1 gene (RYR1) on chromosome 19, is a potentially lethal pharmacogenetic disorder which may lead to a disturbance of intracellular calcium homeostasis when susceptible individuals are exposed to halogenated anaesthetics, suxamethonium, or both. Central core disease (CCD) is a rare dominantly inherited congenital myopathy alle

A system arising in the modeling of oil-recovery processes is analyzed. It consists of a hyperbolic conservation law governing the saturation and an elliptic equation for the pressure. By an operator splitting approach, an approximate solution is constructed. For this approximation appropriate a-priori bounds are derived. Applying the Arzela-Ascoli theorem, local existence and uniqueness of a clas

To establish the association between prior knee pain consultations and early diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis (OA) by weighted cumulative exposure (WCE) models.

This study, carried out in a work rehabilitation unit in Sweden, investigated how clients perceived their work experiences after a one-year follow up. A semi-structured interview was administered to 14 former clients and a content analysis was applied. Seven categories were derived from the results: 'Expectations of the rehabilitation process'; 'Social relationships'; 'Client influences on the reh

Anaerobic bacteria dominate the human normal microbiota but strikingly little is known about these commensals. Finegoldia magna is a Gram-positive anaerobe found in the skin and at other non-sterile body surfaces, but it is also an opportunistic pathogen. This study describes a novel protein designated FAF (F. magnaAdhesion Factor) and expressed by more than ninety percent of F. magna isolates. Th

OBJECTIVE: The visual system is vital during critical activities such as driving. Studying how alcohol compromises the visual system physiologically is therefore important for safety reasons. The objective of the study was to investigate alcohol-related impairments in visual tasks performed under controlled breath alcohol concentrations (BAC) to determine dose-dependent effects. METHODS: Alcohol's

PURPOSE: To investigate the transport of Gd-DTPA(2-) in different layers of femoral knee cartilage in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: T(1) measurements (1.5 Tesla) were performed in femoral knee cartilage of 23 healthy volunteers. The weight-bearing central cartilage was analyzed before contrast and at eight time points after an intravenous injection of Gd-DTPA(2-) : 12-60 min (4 volunteers) and 1-4