Women who smoke have less favourable prognosis following breast-cancer diagnosis. Some studies suggest that this is due to a more advanced stage at diagnosis, on average. Our present aim was to assess whether smoking is associated with other prognostic markers as well, e.g., hormone receptor status, histopathology and tumour differentiation. The evaluation was based on 268 incident cases in a coho

In adipocytes, phosphorylation and activation of PDE3B is a key event in the antilipolytic action of insulin. The role of PDE4, another PDE present in adipocytes, is not yet known. In this work we investigate the role of PDE3B and PDE4 in insulin-induced glucose uptake, GLUT-4 translocation and lipogenesis. Inhibition of PDE3 (OPC3911, milrinone) but not PDE4 (RO 20-1724) lowered insulin-induced g

Objective. To compare participants and non-participants early in the process of an audit on treatment of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) and to analyse any effect of the actual self-registration on the prescription of antibiotics in both groups. Design. All 80 general practitioners (GPs) at 14 health centres were invited to audit their use of antibiotics and 45 agreed to participate. There wer

Pinocytosis induced by Na+ was assayed by phase contrast microscopy in 8–12 days starvedAmoeba proteus. These cultures were inactive with respect to calcium-dependent Na+-induced pinocytosis, but treatment with amino acid methyl and ethyl esters increased their capacity for pinocytosis. Besides promoting pinocytosis these compounds also stimulated calcium-sensitive secretion of lysosomal enzymes f

The mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) has been described as a Survival factor for dopaminergic neurons in vitro, but its expression in mammalian tissues is poorly known. MANF and a homologous Protein, the conserved dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF), form a novel evolutionary conserved family of neurotrophic factors. Here we used in situ hybridization and immunohistochemi

Objective The recovery of bone mineral density (BMD) after surgical cure of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) seems to be multifactorial and not just dependent on declining PTH. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of sex steroids in this context. Design and patients Thirty-six postmenopausal women with PHPT were examined before and 1 year after curative parathyroidectomy. Their

The molecular mechanism whereby the small heat-shock protein ( sHsp) chaperones interact with and prevent aggregation of other proteins is not fully understood. We have characterized the sHsp-substrate protein interaction at normal and increased temperatures utilizing a model substrate protein, citrate synthase ( CS), widely used in chaperone assays, and a dodecameric plant sHsp, Hsp21, by chemica

To monitor emissions of NH3 and N2O during composting and link these to ammonia oxidation rates and the community structure of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB). A laboratory-scale compost reactor treating organic household waste was run for 2 months. NH3 emissions peaked when pH started to increase. Small amounts of N2O and CH4 were also produced. In total, 16% and less than 1% of the initial N wa

In developing countries such as Ethiopia, where chronic gastritis and peptic-ulcer disease are the most common endoscopic findings, it is important to study the association between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastroduodenal diseases. Both invasive and non-invasive diagnostic methods were therefore used to investigate 300, consecutive, adult patients with dyspepsia, from the gastrointestinal

1. Given the allometric scaling of thermoregulatory capacity in birds, and the cold and exposed Arctic environment, it was predicted that Arctic-breeding shorebirds should incur high costs during incubation. Using doubly labelled water (DLW), daily energy expenditure (DEE) during incubation was measured in eight shorebird species weighing between 29 and 142 g at various sites in the Eurasian and C

Selective immunolesioning of the basal forebrain cholinergic system by 192 IgG-saporin, which leads to a dramatic loss of the cholinergic innervation in cortical and hippocampal regions, facilitates the development of hippocampal kindling in rats. The aim of the present study was to explore whether grafted cholinergic neurones are able to reverse the lesion-induced increase of seizure susceptibili

Using beam-foil spectroscopy, we have observed several new lines in the B IV and B V spectra. This experimental work was combined with theoretical calculations using ab initio and semi-empirical techniques. We have also critically evaluated all previous and recent experimental and theoretical data for these spectra. Complete data on wavelengths and energy levels based on this analysis are tabulate

In this study, the application of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of alkylresorcinols (AR) was quantitatively and qualitatively compared to a commonly used ethyl acetate extraction procedure. No difference in total AR content, relative homolog composition or total extract yield was found between the two extraction methods. Ethyl acetate extraction of intact wheat and rye kernels yielded on

The pathway from the deep cerebellar nuclei to the inferior olive, the source of the climbing fibre input to the cerebellum, inhibits olivary transmission. As climbing fibre activity can depress the background firing of the Purkinje cells, it was suggested that nucleo-olivary (N–O) inhibition is a negative feedback mechanism for regulating Purkinje cell excitability. This suggestion was investigat

Long-chain acyl-CoA thioesterases hydrolyze longchain acyl-CoAs to the corresponding free fatty acid and CoASH and may therefore play important roles in regulation of lipid metabolism. We have recently cloned four members of a highly conserved acyl-CoA thioesterase multigene family expressed in cytosol (CTE-I), mitochondria (MTE-I), and peroxisomes (PTE-Ia and -Ib), all of which are regulated via

A nucleophilic substitution reaction between 4-tert-butylbenzyl bromide and potassium iodide has been performed in oil-in-water microemulsions based on various C12Em surfactants, i.e., dodecyl ethoxylate with m number of oxyethylene units. The reaction kinetics was compared with the kinetics of reactions performed in other self-assembly structures based on very similar surfactants and in homogeneo

The most abundant helix type in proteins is the alpha-helix, accounting for about 31% of amino acid secondary structure states, while the 3(10)-helix accounts for about 4%. The pi-helix appears to be extremely rare and is considered to be unstable. Existing secondary structure definition methods find very few within the Protein Data Bank. Using an improved pi-helix definition algorithm to search a