This review examines evidence that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) depends on autoimmunity to articular collagen, and mechanisms whereby autoantibodies to type II collagen contribute to disease development. Three major autoantigenic reactants have been identified in RA; the corresponding autoantibodies are rheumatoid factor (RF), antibodies to citrullinated peptide antigens (ACPA), citrullinated peptide

Objective: To assess the cross-sectional association between meniscal status and joint effusion on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in knees without radiographic osteoarthritis (OA). Design: Knees without OA (Kellgren/Lawrence grade 0) from the Framingham and MOST studies were examined by MRI. Meniscal status was assessed with a score of 0-4 in the anterior horn/body/posterior horn of the medial/l

Interpretation of Transient ElectroMagnetic (TEM) data and wire-line logs has led to the delineation of an intricate pattern of buried tunnel valleys, along with new evidence of glaciotectonically dislocated layers in recessional moraines in the central part of Vendsyssel, Denmark. The TEM data have been compared with recent results of stratigraphical investigations based on lithological and biost

A previous study has shown that Swedish children with language impairment have prosodic problems at different levels oflanguage. The aim ofthis study is to investigate prosodic problems at the discourse level in two ofthe children to see whether they are related to pragmatic problems. Prosodic and pragmatic abilities were assessed by perceptual and acoustic evaluations. The children's communicatio

Twenty-one males underwent an interview, clinical investigation, and measurement of urine flow and residual volume 15-25 years after surgery. Although surgical techniques have been improved during recent decades, the results of hypospadias repair made 20 years ago are nethertheless acceptable and most patients regard the outcome as satisfactory.

Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (HNSCC) evolve from diploid epithelial cells of the mucosa. At the time of diagnosis about two thirds of clinically diagnosed HNSCC are non-diploid according to flow-cytometric (FCM) analysis, indicating that during tumour progression there must be an acquisition and accumulation of chromosomal aberrations. At diagnosis one third to one half of HNSCC h

The VDR is a prime candidate gene for osteoporosis. Here, we studied three common VDR haplotypes in relation to bone phenotypes in 5014 participants of the global MrOS Study. We also studied the relative expression of the haplotypes in human bone cells. One haplotype was associated with increased fracture risk and differently expressed in primary human bone cells. Introduction: Vitamin D plays an

Ectomycorrhizae are formed by mutualistic interactions between fungi and the roots of woody plants. During symbiosis the two organisms exchange carbon and nutrients in a specific tissue that is formed at the contact between a compatible fungus and plant. There is considerable variation in the degree of host specificity among species and strains of ectomycorrhizal fungi. In this study, we have for

In 1997, the World Health Organization recommended establishing an international registry of alpha(1)-antitrypsin deficiency. The objective of the present article is to describe the Organisation of an international network of registries, the Alpha One International Registry (AIR), and the processes of enrolling and entering data. By the end of 2005, the registry included individuals from 21 countr

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) inhibits proliferation and promotes the migration of primordial germ cells (PGCs) towards explants of gonadal ridges in vitro. However, its effects in vivo are still unclear. Here, we analyzed the behavior of PGCs in embryos lacking TGF beta signaling via the type I receptor ALK5. TGF beta in vivo was neither a chemoattractant for PGCs, nor did it affect

Background - Circulating adiponectin is a marker for insulin sensitivity, derived from fat cells. It is largely unknown if adiponectin is also an independent marker for early atherosclerosis. Methods and Results - Plasma adiponectin levels were measured in 373 men and 514 women of middle-age by a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay. The subjects were sampled stratified for degree of insulin sen

Surface samples from Vancouver Island, Canada, were used to assess the relationship between discrete seasonal temperate rainforest (STR) plant communities and their corresponding pollen signatures. Pollen from ten sediment cores was further used to evaluate the postglacial development of these communities. Principal components analysis (PCA) of the surface data revealed the distinctiveness of the

During the past two years, significant advances have been made in the development of NMR methods for studying biomolecular dynamics on the microsecond to millisecond timescale. Applications of these methods to biologically relevant systems have provided compelling evidence that, in many cases, conformational dynamics on these timescales govern the rates of biomolecular recognition and catalysis.

Cut-off levels for serum retinol levels of 20 micrograms/dl for marginal and 10 micrograms/dl for definite deficiency have been advocated and extensively used in population studies. However, the blood serum levels of retinol of the newborn are known to be very low and although the age dependency of the retinol binding protein has been described, the normal levels of serum retinol at different ages