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The phenomenon of bribery is characterized by its elastic features, both morally and legally. This study sets out to investigate a court case of bribery: how the people involved construct and argue for their particular version. A single case of bribery is chosen in order to clarify the range and potential of various descriptions of the very same event. The material consists of interviews with the
The development of a forest stand in south-eastern Norway during the last 9000 years is investigated by pollen and charcoal analyses. The aims are to identify factors that have influenced current biodiversity, which includes the lichen Usnea longissima, and examine the immigration and establishment of the current dominant tree Picea abies. Fire has been a variable but major disturbance factor at t
The CYP17 gene is involved in steroid hormone metabolism and has been proposed as a low penetrance gene for breast cancer. We aimed to investigate the associations between the CYP17 genotype and breast cancer risk factors, such as age at menarche, menstrual cycle length, oral contraceptive (OC) use, and BRCA mutation status among 258 healthy young women, aged <= 40, from 158 breast cancer high-ris
Cutaneous human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are frequently found in healthy skin and have also been implicated in non-melanoma skin cancer. For genital HPV types, a persistent infection with one of the high-risk types is a prerequisite for the development of cervical cancer. However, there is only limited data on whether infections with cutaneous HPV types persist over time. Serial forehead swab sampl
The aim of this study was to investigate the possible role of STAT4 gene in the genetic predisposition to systemic sclerosis (SSc) susceptibility or clinical phenotype. A total of 1317 SSc patients [896 with limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and 421 with diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc)] and 3113 healthy controls, from an initial case-control set of Spanish Caucasian ancestry and five independent cohorts
The human cathelicidin, hCAP-18, is expressed both in neutrophils and in epithelial cells. hCAP-18 is processed to the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 by proteinase 3 in neutrophils. hCAP-18 is highly expressed in the epididymis with a subsequent high concentration in seminal plasma where the protein is present in its unprocessed and antimicrobially inactive form. We report here that hCAP-18 in semina
Chemiluminescent (CL) enzyme-based flow-through microchip biosensors (mu-biosensors) for detection of glucose and ethanol were developed for the purpose of monitoring real-time production and release of glucose and ethanol from microchip immobilised yeast cells. Part I of this study focuses on the development and optimisation of the mu-biosensors in a microfluidic sequential injection analysis (mu
Introduction Aggrecanase cleavage at the (392)Glu-(393)Ala bond in the interglobular domain (IGD) of aggrecan, releasing N-terminal (393)ARGS fragments, is an early key event in arthritis and joint injuries. Here, we use a quantitative immunoassay of aggrecan ARGS neoepitope fragments in human synovial fluid to determine if this cleavage-site specific method better identifies joint pathology than
Purpose. To examine whether the Sollerman hand function test is reliable in a test-retest situation in patients with chronic stroke. Method. Three independent examiners observed each patient at three experimental sessions; two days in week I (short-term test-retest) and one day in week 4 (long-term test-retest). A total of 24 patients with chronic stroke (mean age; 59.7 years, mean time since stro
Fat reserves influence the orientation of migrating songbirds at ecological barriers, such as expansive water crossings. Upon encountering a body of water, fat migrants usually cross the barrier exhibiting 'forward' migration in a seasonally appropriate direction. In contrast, lean birds often exhibit temporary 'reverse' orientation away from the water, possibly to lead them to suitable habitats f
Objective To compare the genetic regulation of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) with that of pristane-induced arthritis (PIA) in rats. Methods A genome-wide linkage analysis of an (E3 × DA)DA backcross of rats with CIA (n = 364 male rats; the same strain combinations as previously used to determine the genetic control of PIA) was performed. The strongest loci in both CIA and PIA (i.e., Cia12/Pia4
Objective: To investigate differences in different aspects of social participation and social capital among baseline daily smokers that had remained daily smokers, become intermittent smokers, or stopped smoking at one year follow up. Design/setting/participants/measurements: 12 507 individuals, aged 45–69 years, interviewed at baseline between 1992 and 1994 and at a one year follow up were inve
Since the sympathetic nervous system has been shown to exert a trophic influence on vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC), we studied the growth regulating effects of neuropeptide Y (NPY) in cooperation with the sympathetic co-transmitters noradrenaline and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in human vascular SMC. NPY stimulated DNA synthesis in human SMC grown from subcutaneous arteries and veins (diamete
Cartographic generalization aims at simplifying the representation of data to suit the scale and purpose of the map. This paper deals with a method that implements the whole graphic generalization process (roughly defined as the operators simplification, smoothing, exaggeration and displacement) called simultaneous graphic generalization. This method is based on constraints, i.e. requirements that
