The role of the newly discovered estrogen receptor GPR30 in islet physiology and pathophysiology is unclear. We examined GPR30 expression in relation to hormone secretion and possible anti-apoptotic effects in isolated mouse islets using the synthetic GPR30 ligand G-1. The mRNA and protein expression of GPR30 was analyzed by qPCR, Western blot and confocal microscopy. Hormone secretion and cAMP co

Background: Smoking prevalence across high-income countries such as the United Kingdom has significantly decreased over the past few decades; this decrease, however, has not occurred uniformly across social strata. The highest concentrations of smokers are currently found in lower-income groups. Lack of access to material resources and differing social norms have been cited as possible causes of t

Experiences of relocation in dementia care from the perspective of six care workers. International Journal of Older People Nursing6, 93-101 doi: 10.1111/j.1748-3743.2010.00246.x Background. Relocation of persons with dementia might be considered when quality of care cannot be sustained due to increasing needs. Relocation has been studied from the aspects of mortality and morbidity. Aim. To explore

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) has been suggested to have both pro- and anti-atherogenic properties. High plasma Gal-3 levels are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular (CV) death. However, it has so far not been investigated if plasma Gal-3 levels can predict the risk for future stroke in patients suffering from carotid atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Gal-3 could

BACKGROUND Relatively few studies published to date have investigated IVF and cancer risk. In this study we compared the occurrence of cancer in women who gave birth after IVF with all other women who gave birth in the study period. METHODS All women who were treated with IVF and gave birth during the years 1982-2006 in Sweden were identified from all IVF clinics, and the occurrence of cancer in t

The history of spinal cord injuries starts with the ancient Egyptian medical papyrus known as the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. The papyrus written about 2500 B.C.by the physician and architect of the Sakkara pyramids Imhotep, describes "crushed vertebra in his neck" as well as symptoms of neurological deterioration. An ailment not to be treated was the massage to the patients at that time. This f

Little is known about the secular trends in age at spermarche among boys, and the association between body mass index (BMI) and male puberty is controversial.

We aimed to investigate the etiology and clinical management of vaginal bleeding in girls aged 0-9 years and to compare our results with previous publications.

Questions concerning the human–nature relationship have received attention both within contemporary Christianity and Buddhism. Since the twentieth century an interesting and fruitful dialogue has been going on between the two religions. This article describes and discusses possible themes for a Buddhist–Christian dialogue on issues of environmental philosophy. The theoretical starting-point is the

The value of the air space in a cavity wall is discussed and examples of the moisture content in the masonry with different thicknesses of the insulation and width of the air space are illustrated as well as examples of how different measures affect the humidity in the inner parts of the insulation when a cavity wall is exposed by sunshine after heavy driving rain.

Mast cell-nerve interactions play a key role in intestinal inflammation and irritable bowel disease. Loss of enteric neurons has been reported in inflammatory conditions but the contribution of mast cells in this event is unknown. To study neuronal survival and plasticity of myenteric neurons in contact with mast cells a co-culture system using myenteric neurons from rat small intestine and perito

The purpose of this study was to illuminate the everyday experience of family members 3 years after a child had been diagnosed as having Type 1 diabetes. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 35 family members in 11 families and analyzed using a content analysis. The results were identified as eight categories describing the family member's everyday experiences: (a) knowledge and tried experi

Rational choice accounts of political participation identify two major solutions to “the paradox of participation” — collective incentives and selective incentives. Prior findings regarding the viability of these solutions are seemingly inconclusive and contradictory. In our view, one important reason for this is that the applicability of these solutions varies across participatory modes. In this

The present study was performed to examine pressure transduction to the thoracic cavity during topical negative pressure (TNP) therapy of a sternotomy wound. Seven pigs underwent median sternotomy. Pressure transduction catheters were placed on the anterior surface of the heart (under the foam), in the pericardium (under the heart), in the left pleura and in the oesophagus at the level of the hear

A first-order system with random parameters and random forcing is studied. The analysis is concentrated on the probability distributions. It is shown that considerable qualitative information can be obtained from Feller's classification of the singular points of the forward and backward Kolmogorov equations. It is found that there is a drastic difference between the cases of uncorrelated and stron

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Long term endurance training is known to increase peak oxygen uptake () and induce morphological changes of the heart such as increased left ventricular mass (LVM). However, the relationship between and the total heart volume (THV), considering both the left and right ventricular dimensions in both males and females, is not completely described. Therefore, the aim of this stu