Objective: To examine whether blood pressure over 24 h differed between postmenopausal women receiving and not receiving hormone replacement therapy. Methods: One group of hormone replacement postmenopausal women (n = 32) and one group of non-hormone replacement (n = 32) postmenopausal women underwent non-invasive 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. They were randomly selected among the 200

Stored-product moths cause large economic damage in food-processing industries and storage facilities. Control of indoor pests is currently dealt with locally, and control strategies seldom include different mills or cooperative industries in joint efforts to reduce infestations. In colder climates where conditions hinder flight dispersal of stored-product moths, we hypothesize that human transpor

Background: Acetyl Coenzyme A carboxylase beta (ACACB) is the rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid oxidation, and continuous fatty acid oxidation in Acacb knock-out mice increases insulin sensitivity. Systematic human studies have not been performed to evaluate whether ACACB variants regulate gene expression and insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues. We sought to determine wheth

Whilst innate B1-B cells are atheroprotective, adaptive B2-B cells are considered pro-atherogenic. Different subsets of B regulatory cells (B-reg) have been described. In experimental arthritis and lupus-like disease, B-reg are contained within the CD21(hi)CD23(hi)CD24(hi) B cell pool The existence and role of B-reg in vascular disease is not known. We sought to investigate the existence, identity

Background: Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is expressed predominantly in adipose tissue, where it plays an important role in catecholamine-stimulated hydrolysis of stored lipids, thus mobilizing fatty acids. HSL exhibits broad substrate specificity and besides acylglycerides it hydrolyzes cholesteryl esters, retinyl esters and lipoidal esters. Despite its role in fatty acid mobilization, HSL null

Background: The natriuretic peptides play an important role in salt homeostasis and blood pressure regulation. It has been suggested that obesity promotes a relative natriuretic peptide deficiency, but this has been a variable finding in prior studies and the cause is unknown. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the association between obesity and natriuretic peptide levels and evaluate the

Background. Nurse managers act under constant pressure to develop strategies in response to professional challenges within a changing and restructured health care system. When such environmental stress is present, they need access to sufficient psychosocial recourses. Aim. The study aimed to investigate whether nurse managers' professional networks, psychosocial work conditions, job support, soci

Objective To describe the views of people, 65 years and over, receiving continuous public care and service, on prioritization and resource allocation in health care, in relation to gender, age, housing, health-related quality of life (QoL) and degree of activities of daily living (ADL) dependency. Background How older people receiving continuous public care and service view prioritization and res

Background: Nursing care provided at night has a different purpose and objective to that provided during the day. A review of the literature does not reveal any scientifically tested research instruments for evaluating and comparing the nurse's assessment of nursing care with the patient's perception at night. Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and test an instrument for eva

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay using primers against the hepatitis C core gene has been described [Okamoto et al. (1992a): Journal of General Virology 73:673-679]. Within the two major HCV genotypes 1 and 2, the Okamoto system identifies two subtypes each (1a, 1b and 2a, 2b, respectively). Typing is achieved by a primary PCR with consensus primers followed by a nested PCR with type

1,5-Anhydro-D-fructose (AF) is a mono-saccharide directly formed from starch and glycogen by the action of alpha-1,4-glucan lyase (EC 4.2.2.13). Our previous study has indicated that AF increases glucose tolerance and insulin secretion in NMRI mice after administration through a gastric gavage in a single dose at 150 mg per mouse. In this study, we used high-fat feeding of C57BL/6J mice to examine

The genetic loci that have been found by genome-wide association studies to modulate risk of coronary heart disease explain only a fraction of its total variance, and gene-gene interactions have been proposed as a potential source of the remaining heritability. Given the potentially large testing burden, we sought to enrich our search space with real interactions by analyzing variants that may be

Empowerment is a concept and a method in social work associated with liberation from oppression. Some paradoxes inherent in the concept and method of empowerment, however, lead to questioning the contradiction between freedom and force that is usually framed by “empowerment”. This dissertation investigates how empowerment is created in a concrete language and an integration project directed toward

Recently, the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) identified as rs1260326, in the glucokinase regulatory protein (GCKR), was associated with hypertriglyceridemia in adults. Because accumulation of triglycerides in hepatocytes represents the hallmark of steatosis, we aimed to investigate whether this variant might be associated with fatty liver (hepatic fat content, HFF%). Moreover, because recent