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The role of VEGF in the pathogenesis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has been clearly established. However, little is known about temporal changes in circulating VEGF concentrations in the preterm infant. The objective was to determine the longitudinal serum concentrations of VEGF in relation to ROP.
Embryogenesis of the retina is a complex event orchestrated by a multitude of physical and biochemical signals. To study the impact of intrinsic developmental cues, the retinal tissue can be isolated in culture which also enables modulation of normal development for other purposes, i.e. transplantation of specific neuronal cell types. In the present experiment, cell type development of immature po
Moraxella catarrhalis is a human-restricted commensal that over the last two decades has developed into an emerging respiratory tract pathogen. The bacterial species is equipped with various adhesins to facilitate its colonization. Successful evasion of the human immune system is a prerequisite for Moraxella infection. This strategy involves induction of an excessive proinflammatory response, inte
OBJECTIVES: The soluble epoxide hydrolase (gene name EPHX2) is responsible for metabolism of 8,9 11,12 and 14,15-epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, vasodilator and anti-inflammatory substances. There are several functional polymorphisms in the EPHX2 gene: two of them, the K55R and R287Q, showing an altered metabolic activity in vitro, were associated with coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke in prev
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Intronic variation in the TCF7L2 gene exhibits the strongest association to type 2 diabetes observed to date, but the mechanism whereby this genetic variation translates into altered biological function is largely unknown. A possible explanation is a genotype-dependent difference in the complex splicing pattern; however, this has not previously been characterised in pancreatic or
The main purpose was to compare breast cancer visibility in one-view breast tomosynthesis (BT) to cancer visibility in one- or two-view digital mammography (DM). Thirty-six patients were selected on the basis of subtle signs of breast cancer on DM. One-view BT was performed with the same compression angle as the DM image in which the finding was least/not visible. On BT, 25 projections images were
Abstract Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate an instrument for measuring the impact of chronic pain on daily life. Methods: The study comprised 384 respondents (aged between 18-102 years) who reported chronic pain. The instrument "Pain Impact Inventory" (PII) was evaluated in terms of face, content, construct and criterion validity, as well as two reliabi
1. Oestrogen reduces vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation in mouse vascular injury models. Data on the antiproliferative effect of oestrogen in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) are less conclusive than those obtained in whole animal studies. 2. In the present study, we investigated the hypothesis that oestrogen-induced attenuation of VSMC proliferation is facilitated by the presen
OBJECTIVES:: To study prevalence and incidence of HIV-1 and HIV-2 between 1990 and 2007 and to examine impact of the civil war in 1998-1999. We also wanted to investigate possible interaction between HIV-1 and HIV-2. DESIGN:: Open prospective cohort study of 4592 police officers in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. METHODS:: Analysis of HIV-1 and HIV-2 prevalence and incidence divided in 2-3 years time
Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, 6 weeks post radiotherapy (RT), adequately selects patients in whom a neck node dissection can be omitted. Primary endpoints were isolated neck recurrences and overall survival (OS). Methods: 105 patients, mainly with oropharyngeal human papilloma virus (HPV) positive tumors, with a positive PET sca
C-peptide in the classification of diabetes in children and adolescents. Aim: To report C-peptide results in newly diagnosed patients and the relation to clinical diagnosis of diabetes. Methods: A nation-wide cohort, the Better Diabetes Diagnosis study was used to determine serum C-peptide at diagnosis in 2734 children and adolescents. Clinical data were collected at diagnosis and follow-up. C-pep
In this study we retrieved the spatial distribution of mid-afternoon clouds under various synoptic regimes across the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands for the warm/convective-season, from May to October. Accurate daily cloud masks were derived by applying a daytime over land multispectral convective cloud detection algorithm spanning 15 years (1997–2011) of Advanced Very High Resolution
The purpose of this study was to investigate by direct measurement the cross-sectional relationship between accelerometer-measured physical activity and peak oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O(2peak): ml . min(-1) . kg(-1)), in a population-based cohort of young children, since such data are scarce. The study included 468 children (246 boys, 222 girls) aged 6.7 +/- 0.4 years, recruited from a population-based
BACKGROUND: Several strategies have been used to reach non-attending women in organized cervical-cancer-screening programs, with varying success. Self-sampling (SS) for HPV is effective for increasing coverage in screening programs, but requires expensive commercial sampling kits. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate if vaginal SS, without commercial preservatives was adequate for HPV testing. ST
The purpose of the study was to investigate the long-term associations between smoking habits, environmental tobacco smoke exposure (ETS), carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) progression rate, and rate of lumen diameter reduction in the carotid artery during a 16-year follow-up. Another objective was to investigate if an effect of smoking on progression rate could be explained by increased low gr
Background and Objective: Estrogen modulates inflammatory responses, but the mechanisms involved have not yet been identified. Periodontal ligament (PDL) cells produce chemokines (a group of chemoattractant molecules that recruit leukocytes) and it has been suggested that estrogen modulates periodontal inflammation by regulating the expression of chemokines by PDL cells. Therefore, the objectives
The remarkable advancements in basic stem cell research with implications for several central nervous system disorders have so far not been translated into clinically effective therapies. Here I discuss some of the underlying problems and how they could be overcome.
OBJECTIVE:: Emerging evidence suggests that women with vasomotor menopausal symptoms (VMS) may have an adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profile. We investigated whether VMS are related to an increased risk of future coronary heart disease (CHD) and whether possible associations can be explained by CVD risk factors. METHODS:: Data used were from a Dutch and Swedish population-based sample
