Persistent organohalogen pollutants (POPs) have been suggested to be involved in changing the proportion of ejaculated Y-bearing sperm. The androgen receptor (AR), aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR) may modulate the effect of POPs with regard to previously observed sperm Y : X ratio changes. The objective of this study was to investigate whether sperm Y

For the older individual, leisure activities are a resource that helps to maintain health and engagement with lire. This article investigates change over 10 years ill the level of participation of older people in leisure activities in Sweden, and the factors associated with these changes. The data are from nationally representative samples of the Swedish population aged 77 or more years in 1992 an

Given the strong etiologic link between high-risk HPV infection and cervical cancer high-risk HPV testing is now being considered as an alternative for cytology-based cervical cancer screening. Many test systems have been developed that can detect the broad spectrum of hrHPV types in one assay. However, for screening purposes the detection of high-risk HPV is not inherently useful unless it is inf

We have investigated the role of B cells in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) using B cell-deficient mice muMT) and mice bearing the X-linked immunodeficiency (xid). The mice were immunized with MOG(1-125 )in complete Freund's adjuvant but without use of pertussis toxin. B cell-deficient muMT mice on different genetic backgrounds (C57

The impact on tablet friability caused by the loss-on-drying of the granulation, the granule-size distribution, the lubricant concentration, the compression force, and the pre-compression was scrutinized in a factorially designed experiment. A reduction of friability was obtained by reducing the deviation of the granulation loss-on-drying from approximately 4.6%; by decreasing the lubricant concen

Objective S100B is viewed as the most promising biomarker for brain damage. It has been proposed that this marker is useful in a Neurointensive Care Unit (NICU) as a monitoring parameter. This study aims to examine the clinical usefulness of daily serum S100B measurements in this setting. Design Prospective consecutive inclusion of patients. Patients A total of 79 patients with confirmed or suspec

Severe soft tissue infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis and severe cellulitis, caused by group A streptococcus (GAS) are rapidly progressing life-threatening infections characterized by massive bacterial load in the tissue even late after onset of infection. Antimicrobial peptides are important components of the innate host defence and cathelicidins have been shown to protect against murine n

The 5-year relative survival from breast cancer in Denmark is 10 percentage points lower than in Sweden. This difference has been demonstrated previously as being caused partly by more involved lymph nodes and larger tumours in Denmark. Sweden has had nationwide mammography-screening coverage since 1991, whereas this is still in its infancy in Denmark. In the search for an explanation for the rema

Both subjects with a low likelihood for coronary artery disease (CAD) and patients with normal findings on coronary angiography have been used as reference populations in non-invasive stress testing, including myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. Both of these criteria of normality--low likelihood of CAD and normal coronary angiography--have been criticised, and consensus on this issue is lacking. T

We identified the gene encoding chondroitin-glucuronate C5-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.19 [EC] ) that converts D-glucuronic acid to L-iduronic acid residues in dermatan sulfate biosynthesis. The enzyme was solubilized from bovine spleen, and an ~43,000-fold purified preparation containing a major 89-kDa candidate component was subjected to mass spectrometry analysis of tryptic peptides. SART2 (squamous ce

Evolutionary conflict between the sexes is predicted to lead to sexual arms races in which male adaptations for acquiring mates (" offense" traits) are met by female counteradaptations - for example, to reduce mating rate (" defense" traits). Such coevolutionary chases may be perpetual. However, we show here that the coevolutionary process may also lead to a stable state in which multiple offense-

Passerines maintain low levels of fat in winter even though larger fat reserves would provide better insurance against starvation. This is believed to be a result of predation risk and/or metabolic expenditure increasing with the amount of fat carried. Recent empirical studies indicate that the effect of increased mass on predation risk is small, but the effect on metabolic expenditure is large. U

The long-term outcome of thoracic and lumbar fractures in late adolescence is sparsely described and it is unclear whether a fractured vertebral body in these years, as in young children, can be resituated in height. The purpose of this study was to in late adolescence determine the incidence, the long-term outcome and the modelling capacity in fractures of the thoracic and lumbar region. The inci

Uptake of arsenic, molybdenum, uranium and vanadium by species of natural vegetation (Agrostis capillaris, Betula pendula, Calluna vulgaris, and Deschampsia flexuosa) on two contrasting, highly acid soils (pH of soil solution 4.2-4.3), differing in natural abundance of these elements, was compared. the soil developed from alum shale was rich in these elements, the soil from a gneiss moraine was po

To describe the Avodart after Radical Therapy for prostate cancer Study (ARTS), investigating the use of dutasteride (a dual 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor that suppresses intraprostatic dihydrotestosterone, reduces tumour volume and improves other markers of tumour regression in prostate cancer) to prevent or delay disease progression in patients with biochemical recurrence after therapy with curati

We describe the design and implementation of a robotic solution to automate the acquisition of gel images. The soft- and hardware aspects are outlined together with the various safety aspects that need to be addressed.

We present a review of some of the current major challenges in stellar cluster research, including young clusters, globular clusters, and galactic nuclei. Topics considered include: primordial mass segregation and runaway mergers, expulsion of gas from clusters, the production of stellar exotica seen in some clusters (e.g., blue stragglers and extreme horizontal-branch stars), binary populations w