BACKGROUND. Androgen deprivation is the only effective systemic therapy available for patients with prostatic carcinoma, but is associated with a gradual transition to a hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRCAP) in which ligand-independent activation of the androgen receptor has been implicated. The beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (beta(2)-AR) is a well-known activator of the androgen receptor. METHO

A time domain method building on the concept of wave splitting is used to study direct wave propagation phenomena in weakly nonlinear media. The starting point is the linear wave equation with time-dependent coefficients. This means that the studied nonlinear medium in some sense has to be approximated with a nonstationary medium which changes while the wave passes through. For the nonstationary e

PIP: To determine whether bacterial vaginosis (BV) is associated with use of specific contraceptive methods, 956 women from family planning and youth clinics at 3 Swedish hospitals were enrolled in a cohort study. 131 women had at least 3 of the 4 clinical signs of BV: a homogenous gray vaginal discharge, a vaginal pH of 4.7, a positive amine test, and the presence of "clue" cells. Age at first in

This study compares the effectiveness of teaching the calculation of frontal plane QRS axis with the use of the classical versus the orderly electrocardiographic limb lead display. Eighty-three students from two environments were randomized into two groups and were taught to determine frontal plane axis with one of the methods. The accuracy and time to determine the axis were tested on 10 electroc

Background: The study was designed to determine whether a 1-year hospital-based secondary prevention programme would have any long-term effects on serum lipid levels and the use of lipid-lowering drugs in patients with coronary artery disease 4 years after referral to primary care facilities for follow-up. Design/methods: After acute myocardial infarction or coronary bypass surgery, 241 consecuti

This paper is intended to answer the question: “When is a simple dead-time compensator expected to perform better than a PID?”. The performance criterion used is the integrated absolute error (IAE). It is compared for PI and PID controllers and a simple dead-time compensator (DTC) when a step load disturbance is applied at the plant input. Both stable and integrating processes are considered. For

Dyskinesias are a major complication of long-term l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) treatment in Parkinson's disease, and are believed to result from the intermittent and pulsatile supply of L-DOPA. Daily injections of L-DOPA can prime similar abnormal involuntary movements of the limb, orolingual and axial muscles in rats rendered parkinsonian by destruction of the nigrostriatal dopamine (DA)

The purpose of this study is to investigate how agile development affects collaboration in an organization. Agile processes have received interest from the software development community during the last years as they address changes, such as new customer requirements or re-prioritization of development tasks, which is important to manage in software development. Most of the research published abou

The main source of autoantigens in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is most likely apoptotic material. We have previously shown that sera from SLE patients can induce apoptosis in monocytes and lymphocytes, and here we characterized mechanisms of apoptosis induced by SLE serum. SLE serum seems to induce caspase-dependent classical apoptosis since cells exposed to SLE serum displayed morphology c

Biological characteristics of virus quantitatively rescued from different cell types present in lymph nodes of HIV-1-infected individuals in various stages of their disease were determined, not including patients with AIDS defining illness. Viruses were obtained by cocultivation with donor monocyte-derived macrophages and T-lymphocytes and their biological phenotype compared to viruses obtained fr

Pt/Al2O3 catalysts with platinum contents of 0.1, 1.0 and 3.0 wt% were used for the low temperature combustion of methanol in the absence and the respective presence of a trace amount of ammonia. It is observed that ammonia inhibits the combustion of methanol, which is due to competition between methanol and ammonia for the same sites. For a fixed space velocity and without ammonia in the gas, the

Extensive epithelial cell proliferation underlies the ductal morphogenesis of puberty that generates the mammary tree that will eventually fill the fat pad. This estrogen-dependent process is believed to be essentially dependent on locally produced growth factors that act in a paracrine fashion. EGF-like growth factor ligands, acting through EGF receptors are some of the principal promoters of pub

Neuropepticle Y (NPY) prominently inhibits epileptic seizures in different animal models. The NPY receptors mediating this effect remain controversial partially due to lack of highly selective agonists and antagonists. To circumvent this problem, we used various NPY receptor knockout mice with the same genetic background and explored anti-epileptic action of NPY in vitro and in vivo. In Y2 (Y2-/-)

Subepithelial fibrosis in asthma involves an increase in the thickening of the lamina reticularis and is due to increased deposition of collagen I, III and V, and fibronectin. The cause of the thickening of the reticular layer is not known in detail, however, it is proposed to be caused by bronchial myofibroblasts. The transformation of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts may be contributed by inflammat

Increased levels of the inflammatory mediator leukotriene D-4 (LTD4) are present at sites of inflammatory bowel disease, and such areas also exhibit an increased risk for subsequent cancer development. It is known that LTD4 affects the expression of many proteins that influence survival and proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells. We demonstrate here that after LTD4 exposure, beta-catenin tra

The Protogine Zone is a major tectonic zone situated at the eastern boundary of the Sveconorwegian orogenic belt in southern Sweden. This structure hosts Mesoproterozoic dolerite dykes and plutonic rocks including ultramafic cumulate, syenite, monzonorite and granite. Pb-Pb zircon evaporation ages are reported for seven samples of rocks along the Protogine Zone, including the Vaggeryd syenite plut

Neural progenitors in the adult dentate gyrus continuously produce new functional granule cells. Here we used whole-cell patch-clamp recordings to explore whether a pathological environment influences synaptic properties of new granule cells labeled with a GFP-retroviral vector. Rats were exposed to a physiological stimulus, i.e., running, or a brain insult, i.e., status epilepticus, which gave ri

The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of field matching in patients treated by irradiation of the breast and adjacent lymph nodes. Field matching is performed by the radiographers during each session on a match line drawn on the patient's skin. Field edge positions were assessed in the cranial match plane of tangential breast fields and supraclavicular-axillary fields using an