Background Several studies among dermatological patients have shown a link between various chronic dermatological diseases and mental morbidity. Objectives To explore the association between self-reported skin morbidity and psychosocial factors in the general population. Methods This population-based cross-sectional study is part of the Oslo Health Study conducted during 2000–2001. All individua

Sand steppe is a rare vegetation type on sandy soils in southeastern Sweden with Koeleria glauca and Dianthus arenarius as the most characteristic plant species. The sand steppe areas ill eastern Skane were surveyed during 2004 and 2005. The vegetation composition was monitored and related to die pH and lime content Many sand steppes are close to acidification as indicated by low lime content ill

Aqueous extract of Clinopodium vulgare L. showed strong antitumour activity when tested in vitro on A2058 (human metastatic melanoma), HEp-2 (epidermoid carcinoma, larynx, human) and L5178Y (mouse lymphoma) cell lines-6 h after treatment disintegration of the nuclei and cell lysis started. Applied at a concentration of 80 microg/ml it reduced the cell survival to 1.0, 5.6 and 6.6%, respectively. T

A microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method has been developed for determination of zearalenone in wheat and corn by LC-MS with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization interface (APCI). Matrix effects were minimized by use of matrix-matched standard curves for quantification of the analyte. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of the method was 30 ng g(-1) in wheat and 20 ng g(-1) in corn. The r

The effect of various processing methods on physico-chemical properties of sword bean starch was studied. Seed grits and flour were cooked with and without soaking, wet-autoclaved, and roasted. The changes in starch associated with these processing methods were studied by observing changes in granular structure, water solubility index, water absorption index, molecular size distribution and the de

Recent experimental evidence indicates that neurotrophic factors play a role in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. The objective of this study was to explore whether signaling through one of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family receptors, GFRα2, influences the severity of kindling-evoked, rapidly recurring seizures and the subsequent development of permanent hyperexcitability. We a

Arctic foxes are evaluated as seed dispersal vectors for Greenlandic plant species through a feeding experiment with subsequent scat analysis and germination test. Seeds of 22 common species with different morphology were tested. Passage time ranged between 4 and 48 hours. No significant differences was detected in passage time for seeds with different morphology. Cerastium alpinum and Stellaria l

The aim of the study was to characterize the relationship between the pharmacolkinetics of methotrexate in serum and concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid, and to analyse the association to risk of a central nervous system relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. In this retrospective study, 353 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treated with high-dose methotrexate acco

Double-stranded (ds) DNA from salmon testes has been incorporated into PVA hydrogels obtained by a technique of repeated freezing and thawing. The cryogels obtained are free of potential toxic species like chemical cross-linkers, and consequently, they can be used in pharmaceutical or medical applications. These cryogels show a good mechanical resistance and a white and opaque appearance caused by

In this study, mould growth on wood was investigated by image analysis. The studied parameters were drying and heat-treatment temperatures (20-210°C), original and resawn surface and different wood species (spruce and larch). Small specimens—some of which were inoculated with a spore suspension—were stored under humid conditions and photographed once a week. Mould growth was assessed by image anal

Human ECV304 cells respond reproducibly by tube formation to complex basement membrane matrices. Laminins are major glycoproteins of basement membranes. We therefore studied the ability of ECV304 cells to attach to defined laminin isoforms and to fibronectin, and identified the involved laminin receptors. The cells bound poorly to fibronectin, to some extent to laminin-1, whereas laminin-2/4 and -

Motivation: Homology search finds similar segments between two biological sequences, such as DNA or protein sequences. The introduction of optimal spaced seeds in PatternHunter has increased both the sensitivity and the speed of homology search, and it has been adopted by many alignment programs such as BLAST. With the further improvement provided by multiple spaced seeds in PatternHunterll, Smith

It has recently been shown that the immunosuppressant cyclosporin A (CsA) dramatically ameliorates the selective neuronal necrosis which results from 10 min of forebrain ischemia in rats. Since CsA is a virtually specific blocker of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pore which is assembled under adverse conditions, such as mitochondrial calcium accumulation and oxidative stress, the

BACKGROUND: Questions have been asked about whether the process of obtaining informed consent from parents to clinical trials on neonates leads to valid consent. We undertook a study in nine European countries to assess this issue and to seek any practical improvements. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of 200 babies who had been asked for consent to neonatal trials a

Tissue-based diagnostics and research is incessantly evolving with the development of new molecular tools. It has long been realized that immunohistochemistry can add an important new level of information on top of morphology and that protein expression patterns in a cancer may yield crucial diagnostic and prognostic information. We have generated an immunohistochemistry-based map of protein expre