Background: The beneficial effects of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitors are in part mediated through the inhibition of the degradation of the vasodilator bradykinin. The bradykinin effect is counteracted by cyclooxygenase-inhibitors. Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) do not affect bradykinin. Aims: To test the hypothesis that renal counteraction from a cyclooxygenase-inhibitor, dic

Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha, beta delta and gamma are nuclear receptors activated by fatty acid metabolites. An anti-inflammatory role for these receptors in airway inflammation has been suggested. Methods: Nasal biopsies were obtained from 10 healthy volunteers and 10 patients with symptomatic allergic rhinitis. Nasal polyps were obtained from 22 patients,

A variety of studies have shown that Na+ reabsorption across epithelial cells depends on the protease-antiprotease balance. Herein, we investigate the mechanisms by which alpha(1)-antitrypsin (A1AT), a major anti-serine protease in human plasma and lung epithelial fluid and lacking a Kunitz domain, regulates amiloride-sensitive epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) function in vitro and in vivo. A1AT (0.0

Leukotrienes are inflammatory mediators that bind to seven transmembrane, G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Here we examine residues from transmembrane helices 3 and 5 of the leukotriene B-4 (LTB4) receptor BLT1 to elucidate how these residues are involved in ligand binding. We have selected these residues on the basis of (1) amino acid sequence analysis, (2) receptor binding and activation stu

In reviews regarding the management of patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders and motility disturbances within the gut nutritional aspects and dietary advice is often put forward as being of great importance. However, there are relatively few high-quality, interventional studies in the literature supporting an important role for general dietary advice to improve symptoms in these pati

Human plasma samples from 50 wives of fishermen have been analyzed with respect to PCBs. The non-ortho-substituted PCB congeners CB-126 and CB-169 were determined by mass spectrometry in negative ion chemical ionization mode, which demonstrated a limit of detection of 30 fg. The recoveries of the internal standards used for determination of ortho-substituted CBs were approximately 95%. Two methods

Forensic DNA analysis of samples obtained from sexual assault evidence relies on separation of male and female components of the recovered genetic material. The conventional separation method used by crime laboratories, differential extraction (DE), is one of the most time-consuming sample preparation steps, requires extensive sample handling, is difficult to automate, and often results in ineffic

The objective of present work was to determine and compare the components of bioaerosol in several sectors of plant processing industries. The Study was conducted in 10 Facilities engaged in herb and grain processing, flax threshing, grain storing, baking, and cereals production. The air samples were taken on glass fibre litters with an AS-50 sampler. We determined the concentrations of airborne m

We review the potential of isothermal calorimetry as an analytical tool to provide an integrated view of the effect of different processing steps on the quality and shelf life of minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Variations in processing operations involved in product development in the food industry are studied through a factory scenario to show the versatility of the technique in monito

Using density matrix theory, the linear and ultrafast nonlinear optical properties of a recently developed terahertz quantum cascade laser are investigated. All relevant excitation regimes, from coherent Rabi flopping up to the scattering dominated stationary response, are covered by the theory. It is shown that the coherence transfer between different periods is important to describe optical effe

Background: The role of inflammation as part of the explanation of socioeconomic differences in carotid atherosclerosis has not been specifically investigated. Methods and Results: The associations between socioeconomic position (SEP), C-reactive protein (CRP), and preclinical carotid atherosclerosis were investigated in a general population sample of 3921 middle-aged Swedish men and women. Common

Recent claims of cultivable ancient bacteria within sealed environments highlight our limited understanding of the mechanisms behind long-term cell survival. It remains unclear how dormancy, a favored explanation for extended cellular persistence, can cope with spontaneous genomic decay over geological timescales. There has been no direct evidence in ancient microbes for the most likely mechanism,

Papillary secretion is a common symptom in the breast clinic with many different underlying causes like intraductal papilloma, mammary duct ectasia, infected cysts and abscesses, breast cancer/carcinoma in situ (CIS) and rarely pituitary adenoma. The association with cancer/CIS is one of the two main concerns of the patient and must always be ruled out. The second item is that spontaneous and ongo

To automate the acquisition of images from fluorescently stained gels, the power of the excitation laser(s) must be optimized for each sample to prevent spot saturation (or to allow unimportant spots to saturate) yet still retaining sensitivity. In this work, we describe the implementation and effectiveness of a pre-scan function in a robotic solution for the automation of 2D gel scanning.

At the age of 33 and mother of seven children (the husband a shawowy figure), Mrs Grönvall started a small but soon renowed hand book bindery in the town of Malmö in Southern Sweden in 1893. Mostly self-taught herself, through the years she housed and trained several apprentices and journeyman of wich some opened binderies of their own. At the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Malmö 1907 she was award

While the N400 component in adults is sensitive to both semantic incongruity and semantic relatedness between stimulus items, the N400 in toddlers has only been shown as an incongruity effect so far. The present event-related potential (ERP) study aimed to investigate whether the N400 in toddlers also indexes semantic relatedness between single words. To address this issue, we developed a unimodal