Många menar nu att vi har varit blinda för sanningen om invandring och integrationens problem. Men det finns förstås inte en enkel sanning kring detta komplexa problem. Så låt oss slippa även framtida enögdhet, skriver Jerker Karlsson, doktorand i etik vid Lunds Universitet.

As genetic factors can hardly explain the changes taking place during short time spans, environmental and lifestyle-related factors have been suggested as the causes of time-related deterioration of male reproductive function. However, considering the strong heterogeneity of male fecundity between and within populations, genetic variants might be important determinants of the individual susceptibi

Blood parasite prevalence in two related warbler species (Acrocephalus arundinaceus and A. scirpaceus) was studied at three Bulgarian sites that differed mainly in altitude and weather. The prevalence of Haemoproteus, the most common parasite genus, was significantly lower at the highest altitude site (730 in above sea level, asl). Such a pattern was not found in ectoparasite-transmitted Hepatozoo

Objective: Following the Ross operation, pulmonary autografts tend to dilate over time. This study researches the fate of the pulmonary autograft - at 4.5 years following the modified Ross operation - with special reference to the impact of the modification on (a) pulmonary autograft dilatation, (b) the neo-aortic root geometry, (c) neo-aortic valve function and (d) the coronary artery reserve. Me

PURPOSE: Identification of risk factors of poor oncological outcome in rectal cancer surgery is of utmost importance. This study examines the impact of incidental perforation on the oncological outcome. METHODS: Using the Swedish Rectal Cancer Registry, patients were selected who received major abdominal surgery for rectal cancer between 1995 and 1997 with registered incidental perforation. A cont

Atrial fibrillatory rate (AFR) can predict outcome of interventions for atrial fibrillation (AF); however, AFR behavior at AF onset in humans is poorly described. We studied AFR during spontaneous AF episodes in patients with lone paroxysmal AF who received implantable loop recorders and had AF episodes of 1 hour or more recorded (n=4). Mean AFR per minute was assessed from continuous implantable

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays are increasingly being used in clinical routine for genetic analysis of pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemias (BCP ALL). Because constitutional DNA is not readily available as a control at the time of diagnosis, it is important to be able to distinguish between acquired and constitutional aberrations in a diagnostic setting. In the pre

Retinoic acid-inducible gene 1-like receptors (RLRs) are a novel family of pattern recognition receptors that include retinoic acid-inducible gene 1 (RIG-1), melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA-5), and laboratory of genomics and physiology 2 (LGP-2). The knowledge of RLRs and their function in the human airway is limited. This study explores the role of RLRs in the upper respiratory tr

POU5F1 has two alternatively spliced transcripts: a long (variant 1, NM_002701) and a short (variant 2, NM_203289) transcript. Only variant 1 is a key regulator of pluripotency. Hence, it is important to be able to distinguish this transcript from variant 2 and from the many pseudogenes present in the genome. Previous studies on the expression of POU5F1 were, however, usually carried out without c

The prevailing view that eukaryotic cells are restrained from intercellular exchange of genetic information has been challenged by recent reports on nanotubes, exosomes, apoptotic bodies, and nucleic acid-binding peptides that provide novel pathways for cell-cell communication, with implications in health and disease.

The kallikrein, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), is one of the world's most frequently used disease biomarkers. After almost two decades of research and clinical experience, the diagnostic and monitoring limitations of PSA are beginning to be understood. Most physicians are aware of PSA's low specificity for cancer among older men with benign prostatic conditions; fewer are aware of recent data, w

The muscles of the pharynx are controlled by networks of neurons under the control of specific regions in the brain stem, which have been fairly well studied. However, the transmission between these neurons and the pharyngeal muscles, at the motor end plates, is less well understood. Therefore, an in vitro model for the study of neuromuscular transmission in the pharyngeal muscle of the mouse was

Breast cancer is a very heterogeneous disease and some patients are cured by the surgical removal of the primary tumour whilst other patients suffer from metastasis and spreading of the disease, despite adjuvant therapy. A number of prognostic and treatment predictive factors have been identified such as tumour size, oestrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptor status, human epidermal growth fac

It has often been recognized that a discrepancy exists during the clinical consultation between the chronological age of a patient on the one hand with the signs and symptoms of biological age that can be recorded on the other hand. In cardiovascular medicine this is obvious when a heavy smoker presents with features of early biological aging, for example skin appearance and impaired lung function

The moral philosophy of Levinas offers a stark prospectus of impossibility for corporate ethics. It differs from most traditional ethical theories in that, for Levinas, the ethical develops in a personal meeting of one with the Other, rather than residing in some internal deliberation of the moral subject. Levinasian ethics emphasises an infinite personal responsibility arising for each of us in t

PURPOSE: To measure the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of hyperpolarized (HP) (3)He gas using diffusion weighted MRI in healthy volunteers and patients with emphysema and examine the reproducibility and volume dependency. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of eight healthy volunteers and 16 patients with emphysema were examined after inhalation of HP (3)He gas mixed with nitrogen (N(2)) during b

We investigated causal effect of completed growth, measured by adult height, on coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and cardiovascular traits, using instrumental variable (IV) Mendelian randomization meta-analysis.