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OBJECTIVES: The intestinal brush border enzymes alkaline sphingomyelinase (alk-SMase) and neutral ceramidase (CDase) digest milk sphingomyelin in suckling neonates. In addition, alk-SMase, CDase, and acid sphingomyelinase (acid-SMase) have been implicated in sphingolipid signaling, which exhibits abnormalities in cystic fibrosis (CF). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the expression of

The smooth muscle cells in the vascular wall are constantly exposed to distending forces from the intraluminal pressure. A rise in blood pressure triggers growth of the vessel wall, which is characterized primarily by hypertrophy of smooth muscle cells with maintained differentiation in a contractile phenotype. Growth factor stimulation of dissociated smooth muscle cells, on the other hand, causes

RATIONALE: Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) is of central interest in the study of tuberculosis. A number of single-gene mutations have been identified in the IFN-gamma signaling pathway that predispose to severe mycobacterial disease, but the relevance of polymorphism within these genes to the common phenotype of tuberculosis remains unclear. METHODS: A total of 1,301 individuals were included in a l

Periodically forced oscillators are among the simplest dynamical systems capable to display chaos. They can be described by the variables position and velocity, together with the phase of the force. Their phase-space corresponds therefore to R-2 x S-1. The organization of the periodic orbits can be displayed with braids having only positive crossings. Topological characterization of dynamical syst

Copolymerization of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) and N-tert-butylacryl-amide has been carried out in methanol at 60degreesC using AIBN as initiator. Both IR and H-1 NMR spectroscopy indicated that monomer conversions exceeding 95% were reached in the copolymerizations. Copolymers containing more or equal to approximate to 15 mol-% AMPS were soluble in water and had an amphip

Background: As a part of a set of reforms launched in 1995, 10 pilot case management services were established in Sweden, which have been subject to an evaluation with regard to outcome and changes in use of services. The present study was designed to provide information about client outcomes over a 6-year follow-up period. Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate changes during the follow-up

According to the leading hypothesis on testicular cancer (TC) etiology exposure to a specific pattern of steroid hormones in utero, in particular, to high levels of estrogens and low levels of androgens is the major determinant of TC risk in the offspring. We performed a case-referent study nested within Finnish, Swedish and Icelandic maternity cohorts exploiting early pregnancy serum samples to e

The objective was to evaluate a screening procedure for detecting high-yield candidates for an OGTT, in a population of middle-aged Swedish women. A two-step screening procedure was performed in 6917 subjects. Women with a positive screening outcome, i.e. increased non-fasting capillary blood glucose, serum triglycerides, BMI, WHR, blood pressure or a family history of diabetes, pharmacological tr

Niemann-Pick disease type C (NP-C) is a lysosomal storage disease in which impaired intracellular lipid trafficking leads to excess storage of cholesterol and glycosphingolipids in the brain and other tissues. it is characterized clinically by a variety of progressive, disabling neurological symptoms including clumsiness, limb and gait ataxia, dysarthria, dysphagia and cognitive deterioration (dem

The MoviText method has been developed and tested on individuals with absolute central scotomas as a pre-optical reading training method. The ZoomText computer screen magnification software with its DocReader feature has been used in reading training to show the effect of moving the text during reading. The user reads with his or her selected eccentric angleviewing in order to acquire the new ecce

Cartilage matrix protein (CMP) is a trimeric protein present in many types of cartilage extracellular matrix. It has recently been purified under native conditions that allowed the proposal of a structural model (Hauser, N., and Paulsson, M. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 25747-25753). To examine the functional properties of CMP we studied its interaction with aggrecan within cartilage extracellular m

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a risk factor for developing clinical asthma. Moreover, AR is often associated with bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR). The aim of this study was to compare the degree of involvement of the peripheral airways during metacholine (MCh) challenge test in asthmatics and patients with AR with or without BHR by using the impulse oscillometry (IOS) technique. Fifty-three patie