Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is normally present in low levels in the circulation, but it is elevated in parallel with the degree of congestion in heart failure subjects (CHF). BNP has natriuretic effects and is a potent vasodilator. It is suggested that BNP could be a therapeutic alternative in CHF. However, we postulated that the high levels of circulating BNP in CHF may downregulate the resp

This research programme focuses on Democracy and Public Administration, with an emphasis on making democratic institutions better fit to handle contested issues through the use of insights from Peace and Conflict Studies. We are interested in public administration’s role in addressing and (possibly) resolving contested issues and conflicts, in order to increase equality, strengthen processes of in

The mechanisms behind target vs. host cell recognition of the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 remain ill-defined. Here, we have investigated the membrane disruption capacity of LL-37 using large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) composed of varying mixtures of POPC, POPG and cholesterol to mimic target and host membranes respectively. We show that LL-37 is unable to induce leakage of entrapped calcein

This paper reviews the 25-plus year history of significant developments of the GENESIS shoreline response model. Topics discussed are line sources and sinks of sand, representation of shore-normal structures including natural sand bypassing, wave transmission by and shoreline response to shore-parallel structures, seawalls, migrating longshore sand waves, seasonal variation by cross-shore sand tra

This paper investigates the relationship between the body and leadership through a case study of a transgender leader. The study shows that the leader's body, presumed gender, and gendered appearance are salient markers that employees use to make sense of leaders and leadership, and that this gendered nature of leadership shows the deep roots of gender dichotomies and the heterosexual matrix that

Background. Histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) has been established as an alternative to University-of-Wisconsin solution (UWS) for abdominal organ preservation, but data about HTK efficiency to preserve pancreata during prolonged cold ischemia time (CIT) are conflicting. In human islet transplantation, HTK provided similar isolation outcomes after short CIT. The present study aimed to inves

This study investigates the role of below-cloud evaporation and evapotranspiration for the short-term variability of stable isotopes in near-surface water vapor and precipitation associated with central European cold fronts. To this end, a combination of observations with high temporal resolution and numerical sensitivity experiments with the isotope-enabled regional weather prediction model COSMO

Objective To compare the health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) of children with screening-detected coeliac disease (CD), before they learned of their diagnosis, with that of children without CD and in those previously diagnosed with CD. Methods In a cross-sectional CD screening study ('ETICS': Exploring the Iceberg of Coeliacs in Sweden), of 10,041 Swedish 12-year-olds invited, 7567 (75%) consent

An obstetrical paradox is that maternal smoking is protective for the development of preeclampsia. However, there are no prior studies investigating the risk of preeclampsia in women who were exposed to tobacco smoking during their own fetal period. We aimed to study the subsequent risk of preeclampsia in women who were exposed to tobacco smoke in utero, using a national population-based register.

There is now broad consensus that aviation is a significant contributor to global warming, and various mechanisms are currently discussed to reduce the sectors’ emissions of greenhouse gases. The European Union is likely to include aviation in its emission trading system by 2011, but globally no such system is discussed. One question is thus of whether voluntary carbon offsetting schemes can make

We conducted a randomized phase III trial to compare the efficacy and safety of two purine analogs, cladribine and fludarabine, with high-dose chlorambucil, in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Between 1997 and 2004, 223 patients with CLL were randomly assigned to cladribine, fludarabine or chlorambucil, for six cycles of therapy with frequent health-related qu

Postnatal gut maturation in neonatal mammals, either at natural weaning or after precocious inducement, is coinciding with enhanced enzymes production by exocrine pancreas. Since the involvement of enzymes in gut functional maturation was overlooked, the present study aimed to investigate the role of enzymes in gut functional maturation using neonatal rats.

The complement system is fundamental to both innate and adaptive immunity and can be initiated via the classical, lectin or alternative pathways. Cleavage of C4 by MASP-2, the initiating protease of the lectin pathway, is a crucial event in the activation of this pathway, preceding the eventual formation of the C3 convertase (C4bC2a) complex on the pathogen surface. Interactions required for the c

Characterized tissue with pathological grading and blood samples as well as other biofluids forms the basis for all biobanks as a resource in modern life science. Biobanks are accessed to measure biological components that can be used to monitor the status of health and disease in individual samples and population groups. The biomarker diagnostics area, predicting drug efficacy, stratification of

Rapporten sammanfattar en studie om äldres mobilitet i en skånsk landsbygdskommun. Kommunen karakteriseras av en hög andel äldre, boendes i utkanten av en expansiv region, samt ett betydande inslag av personer som i senare medelåldern väljer att bosätta sig permanent i sina fritidshus. Fokusgruppsdiskussioner visar på skillnader och likheter i hur man ser på sina resmöjligheter både idag och i mor

The few-picosecond (ps) decay of terahertz (THz) photoconductivity typically observed for conjugated polymer:fullerene blends (at excitation fluencies ∼10(15) photons/cm(2) per pulse) is shown to be a result of charge pair annihilation for two polymer:PCBM blends. At a factor of 100 lower excitation density, the THz decay is in the hundreds of ps time scale, implying that very high carrier mobilit