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Background: Recent studies on the pathophysiology of heart failure indicate the role of neurohormones and immune and inflammatory processes as potential mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis and clinical course of chronic heart failure (CHF). Aim: To analyse the relationship between concentrations of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), endothelin-1 (ET-1), inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-6) a

In several countries, increased incidence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tongue in young adults has been suspected during the last decades. Some reports indicate a lower survival rate for young patients compared to older patients. In other reports, there has not been any considerable difference in survival when comparing young adults to older patients, whereas some authors have shown bett

An enrichment technique was used to isolate 11 di-, tri-, and tetra microsatellites for the parasitic fly Philornis downsi (Diptera: Muscidae). These loci were polymerase chain reaction amplified in singleplexes or two-plexes for P. downsi. The loci showed low to moderate polymorphism, exhibited between three and four alleles, and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.05 to 0.86. These new markers

Cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) is a neuropeptide expressed in brain regions thought to regulate anxiety levels, depression, addiction and energy homeostasis. Individuals with a CART mutation display increased anxiety and depression. Severe anxiety is a core phenomenon of suicidality. We therefore studied levels of CART in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 98 patients with diffe

Digital elevation models (DEMs) can be captured and analysed by various methods. Elevation capturing with RTK-GPS and airborne laser scanning is presented and evaluated in terms of height accuracy of raw data and interpolated DEMs for study sites in Sweden and Germany. Applications for precision agriculture are based on the connection of land surface and the movement of water in the landscape. Thr

In mature seeds of Brassica napus three major and three minor myrosinase isoenzymes were identified earlier. These myrosinases are known to be encoded by at least two different families of myrosinase genes, denoted MA and MB. In the work described in this paper the presence of different myrosinase isoenzymes in embryos, seedlings, and vegetative mature tissues of B. napus was studied and related t

The expression of genes specifically in B cells is of great interest in both experimental immunology as well as in future clinical gene therapy. We have constructed a novel enhanced B cell-specific promoter (Igk- E) consisting of an immunoglobulin kappa (Igk) minimal promoter combined with an intronic enhancer sequence and a 30 enhancer sequence from Ig genes. The Igk- E promoter was cloned into a

Inhibitors of the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) are of increasing interest to both diabetologists and the pharmaceutical industry alike, as they may become established as the next member of the oral antidiabetic class of therapeutic agents, designed to lower blood glucose and, possibly, prevent the progressive impairment of glucose metabolism in patients with impaired glucose tolerance a

During recent decades the incidence of testicular cancer (TC) has increased rapidly around the world. Associated exogenous etiological factors might therefore be identifiable. We performed a case-control study nested within Finnish, Swedish and Icelandic maternity cohorts exploiting early pregnancy serum samples to evaluate the role of congenital or neonatal infections with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV

Experimental Two-Port data is used to model the acoustical behavior of three fundamentally different types of earplugs. It is shown that simple lumped models suffice to describe the acoustical behavior of the earplugs. Furthermore, it is shown that the measurement setup can advantageously be used to assess the acoustical properties of an arbitrary acoustical partition for a wide frequency range.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the prototype autoimmune disease where genes regulated by type I interferon (IFN) are over-expressed and contribute to the disease pathogenesis. Because signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) plays a key role in the type I IFN receptor signaling, we performed a candidate gene study of a comprehensive set of single nucleotide polymorphism (S

Transfer of collagen type H (CH)-specific monoclonal antibodies induces an acute form of arthritis (collagen type H antibody-induced arthritis, CAIA) in nave mice. Arthritis was induced using a pair of monoclonal antibodies M2139 and CIIC1, binding to J1 and C1(I) epitopes of CH, respectively. Thereafter, lipopolysaccharide injection was used to increase the incidence and severity of the disease.

The effects of mechanical loading on the incorporation of morselized impacted grafts were addressed in this study. Twelve skeletally mature rabbits were surgically treated. Six rabbits received a proximal tibial joint replacement with a tibial tray and a load-bearing 25-mm long stem. The tibia was packed with fresh frozen, morselized, cancellous rabbit bone. No cement was used. In six other rabbit

This article gives an overview of the ethical issues in nutrigenomics; research and personalized nutrition. The principles of research ethics, i.e., autonomy, beneficence, nonmalfeasance, and justice, are challenged by rapidly growing cross-border research activities utilizing existing and upcoming biobanks for studies of the interaction of genes with diet on risk of common diseases. We highlight

A new member of the human cystatin multigene family has been cloned from a genomic library using a cystatin C cDNA probe. The complete nucleotide sequence of a 4.3-kilobase DNA segment, containing a complete gene with structure very similar to those of known Family 2 cystatin genes, was determined. The novel gene, called CST4, is composed of three exons and two introns. It contains the coding info

Hematopoiesis is a highly regulated process resulting in the formation of all blood lineages. Aberrant regulation of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling has been observed in hematopoietic malignancies, suggesting that regulated PI3K signaling is critical for regulation of blood cell production. An ex vivo differentiation system was used to investigate the role of PI3K and its downstream