Activated fibroblasts are suggested to be involved in the deposition of extracellular matrix in the formation of peribronchial fibrosis in asthma. We report the novel finding of activated elongated fibroblasts accompanied by elevated numbers of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from 5 out of 12 patients with mild asthma (= 42%), whereas no fibroblasts were observed in the control subject

Coordinated transcription factor networks have emerged as the master regulatory mechanisms of stem cell pluripotency and differentiation. Many stem cell-specific transcription factors, including the pluripotency transcription factors, OCT4, NANOG, and SOX2 function in combinatorial complexes to regulate the expression of loci, which are involved in embryonic stem (ES) cell pluripotency and cellula

Introduction: Different sources of variations, such as electrogoniometer characteristics and procedures, may affect the accuracy and precision of movement measurements during gait. Objective: To quantify the variations and compare the effects produced by different sources of variation in electrogoniometric gait recordings: the sensors, procedures (trials) and the knee joint. Methods: Knee flexion/

This paper presents a simple argument against definitions of the death of a human being in terms of death, or the cessation of functioning, of its brain: a human being is alive, and is capable of dying, before it acquires a brain. Although a more accurate definition is sketched, it is stressed that it should not be taken for granted that it is ethically urgent to work out such a definition. What m

Defective assembly of alpha 3 alpha 4 alpha 5(IV) collagen in the glomerular basement membrane causes Alport syndrome, a hereditary glomerulonephritis progressing to end-stage kidney failure. Assembly of collagen IV chains into heterotrimeric molecules and networks is driven by their noncollagenous (NC1) domains, but the sites encoding the specificity of these interactions are not known. To identi

A decision support system (DSS) is developed and applied to assess the susceptibility of water supply systems to droughts, and to aid decision-makers in determining optimal supply strategies. The DSS integrates three fundamental modules for water resources management: (1) a real time rainfall-runoff forecasting model enhanced by Kalman filtering; (2) a water demand forecast model; and (3) a reserv

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to compare management algorithms that base treatment with loop electrosurgical excision procedure on human papillomavirus and/or repeat Papanicolaou test smear results. STUDY DESIGN: A randomized trial that referred 674 women with either atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions cytology results, detected

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours (MPNSTs) are a malignancy occurring with increased frequency in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). In contrast to the well-known spectrum of germline NF1 mutations, the information on somatic mutations in MPNSTs is limited. In this study, we screened NF1, KRAS, and BRAF in 47 MPNSTs from patients with (n = 25) and without (n = 22) NF1. In additi

Inherited breast cancer is a heterogenous group of diseases. We examined this heterogeneity in a prospective series of inherited breast and ovarian cancers, previously demonstrated to include 84% of inherited cancers. Ninety-two tumours (65 breast and 27 ovarian) in 82 patients from 70 kindreds were prospectively diagnosed. Fifteen of the breast cancers were in situ, 50 were infiltrating. 40 (49%)

We study the ground state of the Pauli Hamiltonian with a magnetic field in R2d,d>1. We consider the case where a scalar potential W is present and the magnetic field B is given by B=2i ∂̄∂W. The main result is that there are no zero modes if the magnetic field decays faster than quadratically at infinity. If the magnetic field decays quadratically then zero modes may appear, and we give a lower b

Authentication codes that permit arbitration are codes that unconditionally protect against deceptions from the outsiders and additionally also protect against some forms of deceptions from the insiders. Simmons introduced this authentication model and he also showed a way of constructing such codes, called the Cartesian product construction. We present a general way of constructing such codes and

Waardenburg-Shah syndrome (Waardenburg syndrome type IV-WS4) is an auditory-pigmentary disorder that combines clinical features of pigmentary abnormalities of the skin, hair and irides, sensorineural hearing loss, and Hirschsprung disease (HSCR). Mutations in the endothelin-B receptor (EDNRB) gene on 13q22 have been found to cause this syndrome. Mutations in both alleles cause the full phenotype,

The aim was to describe what parents and staff think about child health care, to identify agreements and disagreements. A qualitative study was made with semi-structured interviews based on a phenomenographic approach. Sixty parents, 14 nurses and six doctors from southern Sweden were interviewed. Parents and staff emphasized two tasks as being of particular importance: support and check-ups. Ther

Purpose of review: The purpose of this review is to present an update on the evidence-based effects of exercise in systemic lupus erythematosus and in primary Sjögren's syndrome. Recent findings: Physical capacity is reduced in both systemic lupus erythematosus and primary Sjögren's syndrome and fatigue is a dominating and disabling symptom in both conditions. The documentation on the effect of e