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The hottest developments in the fields of cancer research, neuroscience, genomics and proteomics, anti-virals and more, with a pick of the key research papers in these areas.

OBJECTIVES: Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R), was recently identified in the stomach. Ghrelin is produced in a population of endocrine cells in the gastric mucosa, but expression in intestine, hypothalamus and testis has also been reported. Recent data indicate that ghrelin affects insulin secretion and plays a direct role in metabolic regulation an

The dissolution and surface complexation of a non-stoichiometric hydroxyapatite (Ca-8.4(HPO4)(1.6)(PO4)(4.4)(OH)(0.4)), (HAP) was studied in the pH range 3.5-10.5, at 25 degrees C in 0.1 M Na(Cl). The results from well-equilibrated batch experiments, potentiometric titrations, and zeta-potential measurements were combined with information provided by Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform

The Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita is represented in Sweden by two different subspecies; the northern well-established abietinus and the southern recently established collybita which has expanded its range northward during the past two decades. At present, an area approximately 500 km wide separates the two subspecies. In order to document differences between the northern and southern populatio

Exogenous soluble human alpha 3 noncollagenous (NC1) domain of collagen IV inhibits angiogenesis and tumor growth. These biological functions are attributed to the binding of alpha 3NC1 to integrin alpha v beta 3. However, in some tumor cells that express integrin alpha v beta 3, the alpha 3NC1 domain does not inhibit proliferation, suggesting that integrin alpha v beta 3 expression is not suffici

The freeze-drying tolerance of Pseudomonas chlororaphis, an antifungal bacterium used as biocontrol agent was investigated. P. chlororaphis is freeze-drying sensitive and the viability drops more than 3 log units in the absence of protective freeze-drying medium. Of the freeze-drying media tested, lactose, sucrose, trehalose, glutamate, sucrose with glutamate, skimmed milk, and skimmed milk with t

Background: Whether correction of anemia in patients with stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease improves cardiovascular outcomes is not established. Methods: We randomly assigned 603 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 15.0 to 35.0 ml per minute per 1.73 m(sup 2) of body-surface area and mild-to-moderate anemia (hemoglobin level, 11.0 to 12.5 g per deciliter) to a target h

We studied correlation between crown conditions and tree-ring widths in 260 trees of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) growing on 33 sites in southern Sweden. The tree-ring increment over 1998-2002 was highest in trees with healthy crowns, intermediate in trees with moderately declined crowns, and lowest in trees with heavily declining crowns. The time period with significant correlation between

Purpose: Although there is a need to enhance the therapeutic efficiency in cancer by combining immunotherapeutic procedures with other therapy, combination with chemotherapy is complicated due to immunosuppressive effects of most chemotherapeutic drugs. The purpose of this investigation was to study whether combining tumor cell immunization with the vascular targeting drug combretastatin A4 phosph

Malignant melanoma is an aggressive, heterogeneous disease where new biomarkers for diagnosis and clinical outcome are needed. We searched for chromosomal aberrations that characterize its pathogenesis using 47 different melanoma cell lines and tiling-resolution bacterial artificial chromosome-arrays for comparative genomic hybridization. Major melanoma genes, including BRAF, NRAS, CDKN2A, TP53, C

Although a number of cytokines have been demonstrated to be critical regulators of development of multiple blood cell lineages, it remains disputed to what degree they act through instructive or permissive mechanisms. Signaling through the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) receptor and the hematopoietin IL-7 receptor alpha (IL-7Ralpha) have been demonstrated to be of critical importance for sustai

Social workers in child welfare often feel that they have to take unfair criticism from the mass media. This article analyses their views of media coverage, the effect on the general public, the local politicians and their own self-image. The method used is focus group interviews.

Orientation experiments were performed with first-year snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) during their autumn migration in a natural near-vertical geomagnetic field approximately 400 km away from the magnetic north pole. Migratory orientation of snow buntings was recorded using two different techniques: orientation cage tests and freeflight release experiments. Experiments were performed under

Mucosal hyperplasia is a characteristic component of otitis media. The present study investigated the participation of signaling via the Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) mitogen-activated protein kinase in middle ear mucosal hyperplasia in animal models of bacterial otitis media. Otitis media was induced by the inoculation of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae into the middle ear cavity. Wester

Mast cells are strategically localized along the microvasculature in tissues in close contact with the external environment, such as the skin, lung and intestines. By releasing a multi-faceted spectrum of proinflammatory mediators, such as cytokines and chemokines, mast cells have the capacity to coordinate trafficking of leukocytes. Mast cells play a pathophysiological role in numerous inflammato

A series of triclinic Fe1−xAlxVO4 phases with 0 <= x <= 1 were prepared and used in the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde. The activity measurements revealed that both the activity and especially the selectivity to formaldehyde increased with time of operation for at least 16 h, indicating restructuring of the catalysts. Characterisation of the catalysts with XRD, XANES, and electron microscop

Gene expression profiling is a powerful technique for classifying hematologic malignancies. Its clinical use is, however, currently hindered by the need to collect large sets of expression profiles at each diagnostic facility. To overcome this limitation, we introduced cross-platform classification, allowing classifier construction using pre-existing microarray datasets. As proof-of-principle, we