Studies of sphingolipids have become one of the most rapidly advancing fields in the last two decades. These highly diverse lipids have been known to have multiple physiological functions and clinical implications in several diseases, including tumorigenesis, inflammation, atherosclerosis and neural degenerative diseases. Unlike other organs, sphingolipids in the intestinal tract are present not o

The increasing population diversity in Europe demands clarification of possible ethnic influences on the growth and health of immigrant children and their psychosocial adaptation to the host countries. This article assesses recent data on immigrant children in Europe in comparison to European natives by means of a systematic review of the literature on growth patterns and data on children's health

Objective. To evaluate barriers to adherence to hypertension guidelines among publicly employed general practitioners (GPs). Design. Questionnaire-based survey distributed to GPs in 24 randomly selected primary care centres in the Region of Skåne in southern Sweden. Subjects. A total of 109 GPs received a self-administered questionnaire and 90 of them responded. Main outcome measures. Use of risk

Abstract is not available

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine if innate immune signalling influences the vascular repair process in response to mechanical injury of arteries in mice. Methods and Results: A non-obstructive collar was introduced around the carotid artery of MyD88-deficient mice and neointima formation was compared to that observed in MyD88-competent mice. MyD88-deficient mice are characterized by imp

A feasibility study on noninvasive, real-time monitoring of gases in lungs of preterm infants is reported, where a laser-spectroscopic technique using diode lasers tuned to oxygen and water vapor absorption lines was employed on realistic tissue phantoms. Our work suggests that the technique could provide a new possibility for surveillance of the lung function of preterm infants, in particular the

Background Medical adherence is important in the treatment of depression. Primary medical adherence, i.e. patients collecting their newly prescribed medications from pharmacies, is very different depending on the drug prescribed Objective To assess the rate of primary medical adherence in patients prescribed antidepressants and to identify characteristics that make patients less likely to pick up

Aim To investigate public health nurses' perceptions and experiences of mental health and of the prevention of mental ill health among women postpartum, within paediatric healthcare services.

Group A streptococci (GAS, Streptococcus pyogenes) are exclusive human pathogens that have been extensively studied for many decades. The spectrum of diseases caused by these bacteria ranges from uncomplicated and superficial to severe and invasive infections. In order to give rise to these complications, GAS have evolved a number of surface-bound and secreted virulence factors, of which the M pro

Though proliferation has repeatedly shown a prognostic role in sarcomas, it has not reached clinical application. We performed a comprehensive evaluation of the prognostic role of 5 proliferation measures in a large series of soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities and the trunk wall. One hundred ninety-six primary soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities and the trunk wall were subjected to DNA fl

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS) is a distinctive fibroblastic neoplasm that is characterized by alternating collagenous and myxoid areas, deceptively bland spindle cell morphology, a whorling architecture, and a t(7;16) translocation involving FUS and CREB3L2. Owing to variable morphology and a lack of discriminatory markers, LGFMS can be difficult to distinguish from benign mesenchymal tumo

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are maintained in hypoxic niches in endosteal regions of bones. Here we demonstrate that Cripto and its receptor GRP78 are important regulators of HSCs in the niche. Flow cytometry analyses revealed two distinct subpopulations of CD34(-)KSL cells based on the expression of GRP78, and these populations showed different reconstitution potential in transplantation assa

A real time visualisation method, to be used in mobile gamma-spectrometric search operations using standard detector systems is presented. The new method, called deviation display, uses a modified waterfall display to present relative changes in spectral data over energy and time. Using unshielded (137)Cs and (241)Am point sources and different natural background environments, the behaviour of the

BACKGROUND:: Platelets not only control thrombosis and haemostasis but may also regulate inflammatory processes. Acute pancreatitis (AP) is characterized by changes in both coagulation and proinflammatory activities. The role of platelets in AP is not yet known. METHODS:: AP was induced in C57BL/6 mice by repeated caerulein administration (50 µg/kg intraperitoneally). Mice received a platelet-depl

AIMS: Cancer syndromes manifest at many sites albeit with variable penetrance. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified susceptibility loci shared by many types of cancer. Yet, a population level search for shared susceptibility between discordant cancers has been hampered because of lacking population sizes. METHODS: Over 1.1million patients in the nation-wide Swedish Family-Cancer D

Toll-interleukin-1 (Toll-IL-1) receptor signaling may play a key role in the development of airway hyperreactivity (AHR) and chronic airway inflammatory diseases such as asthma. Previously, we have demonstrated that pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), induce AHR. However, the underlying intracellular signaling mechanisms that lead t

The immunoglobulin D (IgD)-binding protein MID/Hag of the human respiratory pathogen Moraxella catarrhalis is an outer membrane protein of approximately 200kDa belonging to the autotransporter family. MID also functions as an adhesin and hemagglutinin. In the present paper, the ultrastructure of MID was mapped. Using a series of Escherichia coli transformants, the last 210 aa of the C-terminal reg