OBJECTIVE: Smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotypic modulation, an important component of atherosclerosis progression, is critically regulated by the matrix, with normal components of the healthy SMC matrix limiting modulation and atherosclerosis-associated transitional matrix proteins promoting phenotypic modulation. We sought to determine how collagen IV (which comprises the healthy artery wall) and

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Aggrecanase cleavage at the 392Glu-393Ala bond in the interglobular domain (IGD) of aggrecan, releasing N-terminal 393ARGS fragments, is an early key event in arthritis and joint injuries. We determined whether synovial fluid (SF) levels of ARGS-aggrecan distinguish subjects with progressive radiographic knee osteoarthritis (ROA) from those with stable or no ROA. METHODS: W

Paralysis of the orbicularis oculi muscle in patients with a facial nerve injury causes functional and cosmetic disabilities including inability to close the eyelid. This complication is often treated by implanting a gold weight in the upper eyelid, which, however, is not without side effects. Four patients are described who, after lid loading with a gold implant, acquired an inflammatory reaction

The aim was to perform a bibliometric study, and compare the quantity of publications on schizophrenia with the total medical literature in Medline during 57 years, 1950-2006. The annual additions of literature to Medline are continually increasing and form the Medline growth curve. Comparisons of the number of publications on schizophrenia, or any other disease, to this curve, may be used to esti

Background Increased cancer risk after psoriasis has been observed in previous studies, whereas little is known about the prognosis in cancer patients with previously diagnosed psoriasis. Objectives We aimed at examining the cancer-specific and overall mortality among psoriatic cancer patients compared with the reference population. Methods The population-based Swedish registers were used to ident

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Preeclampsia is a major obstetric problem of unknown etiology. The fact that removal of the placenta is the only cure for preeclampsia, has led to the well-established hypothesis, that the placenta is central in the etiology. Gene profiling and proteomics studies have suggested oxidative stress caused by reperfusion and free oxygen radicals as a potential pathophysiological

The influence of demographic characteristics on the perceived needs of parents in a sample of staff and parents of admitted children in a paediatric hospital in Sweden were examined as part of a project in Sweden, England, Indonesia and Australia. Over 100 parents and 100 staff responded and responses compared, including perceived importance of each of the 51 needs. Few needs were influenced by de

Background Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often complain of fatigue. Aim To investigate the prevalence and characteristics of fatigue among IBD out-patients in Scandinavia and to provide normative values for fatigue in IBD patients. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 425 IBD patients from six out-patient centres in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Fatigue was measured usin

It has been reported that 10-50% of patients with pruritus but no skin rash have an underlying systemic disease and up to 70% a psychiatric one. The aim of this retrospective study was to review the records of a large number of patients with chronic pruritus for concomitant diseases and treatment options. Medical records of 139 patients (52 males, 87 females) with chronic pruritus who visited the

Natural radiative lifetimes of 10 levels of singly ionized ytterbium have been measured with time-resolved laser spectroscopy. Free Yb+ ions were produced in a laser-induced plasma. A stimulated Brillouin scattering technique has been used to produce laser pulses as short as 1 ns for the excitation of short-lived Yb+ states. Pseudo-relativistic Hartree-Fock calculations, taking into account the co

The membrane lipid-anchored glypicans (heparan sulfate proteoglycans) are present in both vertebrates and invertebrates and serve as important modulators of growth factors and morphogens during development. Their core proteins are similar and consist of a large N-terminal domain comprising 14 evolutionary conserved cysteines and a C-terminal stalk carrying the heparan sulfate side-chains and the l