The BRCA1 gene is thought to exert its main function early in life. We, therefore, studied the effects of BRCA1 mutations on birth weight and birth length. This was carried out by comparing 33 women with and without mutations. Birth weight and length were obtained from a self-administered questionnaire. BRCA1 mutations carriers had a significantly lower birth weight (P = 0.0041) compared with non-

Background. The Lundby Study is a longitudinal cohort study on a geographically defined population consisting of 3563 subjects. Information about episodes of different disorders was collected during field investigations in 1947, 1957, 1972 and in 1997. Interviews were carried out about current health and past episodes since the last investigation; for all subjects information was also collected fr

BACKGROUND: In a postal questionnaire study, the prevalence of asthma in southern Sweden has been found to be 5.5%. However, the register prevalence of asthma obtained from the medical records in the same municipality and age groups was found to be only 2.1%. OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to investigate whether the low register prevalence of asthma was caused by an underdiagnosis of asthm

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor through which organochlorine contaminants including 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), and some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons induce toxicity and altered gene expression. Atlantic salmon has multiple AHR genes, of which two belong to the AHR1 clade and four belong to the AHR2 clade. The four AHR2 forms (alph

The currently used 8% fragrance mix (FM I) does not identify all patients with a positive history of adverse reactions to fragrances. A new FM II with 6 frequently used chemicals was evaluated in 1701 consecutive patients patch tested in 6 dermatological centres in Europe. FM II was tested in 3 concentrations - 28% FM II contained 5% hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (Lyral((R))), 2% ci

The main objectives of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) are to harmonise breakpoints for antimicrobial agents in Europe, and to act as the breakpoint committee for the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) during the registration of new antimicrobial agents. Detailed EUCAST procedures for harmonising and setting breakpoints for antimicrobial agents are available o

Soil communities in landscapes that are rapidly changing due to a range of anthropogenic processes can be regarded as highly transient systems where interactions between competing species or trophic levels may be seriously disrupted. In disturbed communities dispersal in space and time has a role in ensuring continuity of community function. Stable communities, in undisturbed systems, are more dep

The free volume sizes and interstitial mesopore sizes in poly(l-trimethylsilyl-l-propyne) (PTMSP)/silica nanocomposites and the correlation between nitrogen permeability and cavity sizes were studied with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) at filler concentrations between 0 and 50 wt %. A bimodal free volume distribution was observed for PTMSP, and the size of the larger free volum

The effects of forest fire smoke on sky polarization and animal orientation are practically unknown. Using full-sky imaging polarimetry, we therefore measured the celestial polarization pattern under a smoky sky in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the forest fire season in August 2005. It is quantitatively documented here that the celestial polarization, a sky attribute that is necessary for orientation

Single-shot thermometry with dual-broadband rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy that employs amplified spontaneous emission from a broadband modeless dye laser has been examined. Evaluation of single-shot spectra of air, N-2, and O-2 showed an improved temperature precision at room temperature compared with the precision obtained with a conventional dye laser. A comparison was also

Collagens are extended trimeric proteins composed of the repetitive sequence glycine-X-Y. A (c) under bar ollagen- related (S) under bar tructural (m) under bar otif (CSM) containing glycine-X-Y repeats is also found in numerous proteins often referred to as collagen-like proteins. Little is known about CSMs in bacteria and viruses, but the occurrence of such motifs has recently been demonstrated.

The classical Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium describes excess osmotic pressure associated with confined colloidal charges embedded in an electrolyte solution. In this work, we extend this approach to describe the influence of multivalent ion binding on the equilibrium force acting on a charged rod translocating between two compartments, thereby mimicking ionic effects on force balance during in vitro DN

Recent investigations show that the pollen accumulation rate (PAR) of the common tree taxa is directly related to the biomass and, by inference, to the population size of the taxa around the study site. Fossil PAR records preserved in lakes provide therefore a potential proxy for quantitative biomass and population reconstructions. We use the high-resolution PAR records obtained from two accuratel

Genome-wide association studies of breast cancer have identified multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with increased breast cancer risks in the general population. In a previous study, we demonstrated that the minor alleles at three of these SNPs, in FGFR2, TNRC9 and MAP3K1, also confer increased risks of breast cancer for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers. Three addi

The prevailing view of software development as the production of program systems is abandoned in favor of software development as theory building. This suggests that software development properly should be regarded as a deductive activity following the same methodology as is used in all deductive sciences. Programming is merely the description process in the activity of building theories about thi

In 2001, an increase of HIV-1 diagnoses among intravenous drug users (IVDU) was reported in Sweden. In nearby countries, Finland, Russia and the Baltic states, recent outbreaks had been described. Since there was a concern that these outbreaks would carry over to Sweden a study was initiated to determine the factors leading to the Swedish increase of HIV-1 diagnosed IVDUs. HIV-1 env V3 sequences w