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The herbaceous understory forms the richest stratum in temperate broadleaved forests in terms of plant diversity. Understanding the process of understory succession is thus of critical importance for the development of management guidelines for biodiversity restoration in post-agricultural plantation forests. We studied effects of stand age, forest fragmentation, and soil and canopy conditions on

OBJECTIVE - To assess the relative contribution of increased fasting and postload plasma glucose concentrations to the incidence of type 2 diabetes in subjects with a normal 2-h plasma glucose concentration. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - A total of 3,450 subjects with 2-h plasma glucose concentration < 140 mg/dl at baseline were followed up in the San Antonio Heart Study (SAHS) and the Botnia Stud

OBJECTIVEParalleling the rise of pediatric obesity, the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasing among youth. In this study, we asked whether the co-occurrence of risk alleles in or near five genes modulating insulin secretion (TCF7L2 rs7903146, IGF2BP2 rs4402960, CDKAL1 rs7754840, HHEX rs1111875, and HNF1A rs1169288) is associated with a higher risk o

Agricultural intensification has raised the global food production but also caused major concerns about environmental and health effects, including contamination by pesticides. Pesticide applications may induce toxicity not only on the target pest species but especially on non-target species. Hence we need to replace pesticides with management that promote organisms that suppress pest population.

At the end of the summer, drifting filamentous red algae cover shallow bottoms and accumulate in huge cast walls on the open shores of the non-tidal central Baltic Sea. The hypotheses that beach cleaning increases water clarity, decreases the organic content of the sand, and increases the species diversity in the shallow zone closest to the shore, were tested through field investigations and exper

Chicks of obligate brood parasites employ a variety of morphological and behavioral strategies to outcompete nest mates. Elevated competitiveness is favored by natural selection because parasitic chicks are not related to their host parents or nest mates. When chicks of conspecific brood parasites (CBPs) are unrelated to their hosts, they and their parents would also benefit from traits that enhan

Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia have thinner brain cortices compared with healthy control subjects. Neurodevelopment is vulnerable to obstetric complications (OCs) such as hypoxia and birth trauma, factors that are also related to increased risk of developing schizophrenia. With the hypothesis that OCs might explain the thin

High intake of fish has been associated with reduced risk of CHD. The high content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in fish has been suggested to be a protective factor. In addition, fish is the entirely dominating source of methylmercury for the general population, and the concentration of Hg in erythrocytes (Ery-Hg) is often used as an index of fish consumption. Our aim was to study the

GOALS:: To compare the clinical outcomes of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients treated with an implemented new structured pathway (NSP) or according to existing local clinical practices [old clinical pathway (OCP)]. BACKGROUND:: GERD is a major challenge at the primary care level. STUDY:: Primary care centers (n=24) were cluster randomized to handle patients suffering from symptoms su

Genetic variation can modulate gene expression, and thereby phenotypic variation and susceptibility to complex diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here we harnessed the potential of DNA and RNA sequencing in human pancreatic islets from 89 deceased donors to identify genes of potential importance in the pathogenesis of T2D. We present a catalog of genetic variants regulating gene expression (e

Objective: We sought to determine whether the serological response towards lytic cycle antigens of Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is altered in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Method: We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to investigate the prevalence of EBV early antigen diffuse (EBV-EA/D) antibodies in sera from 60 patients with SLE, 40 with scleroderma (SSc), 20 with primary

PURPOSE: Cadmium in urine is positively associated with urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) concentrations, a sensitive marker of oxidative DNA damage. We determined whether kidney concentrations of cadmium, mercury, and lead, which may generate oxidative DNA damage, were associated with urinary 8-oxodG or not. METHODS: 8-OxodG was measured in separate 24 h and overnight urine sa

Introduction: Respiratory allergic disorders like rhinitis and asthma are common conditions that not only affect target organs, but complicate the daily life of affected children and adolescents. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the QoL (Quality of Life) in children with grass pollen allergy in and out of grass pollen season. Methods: We used the Pediatric Allergic Disea

Normal glucose homeostasis is characterized by appropriate insulin secretion and low HbA1c. Gene expression signatures associated with these two phenotypes could be essential for islet function and patho-physiology of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Herein, we employed a novel approach to identify candidate genes involved in T2D by correlating islet microarray gene expression data (78 donors) with insulin

BACKGROUND: Multiple laboratory tests are used to diagnose and manage patients with diabetes mellitus. The quality of the scientific evidence supporting the use of these tests varies substantially. APPROACH: An expert committee compiled evidence-based recommendations for the use of laboratory testing for patients with diabetes. A new system was developed to grade the overall quality of the evidenc