X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is a heritable immunodeficiency disorder that is caused by a differentiation block leading to almost complete absence of B lymphocytes and plasma cells. The affected protein is a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase, Bruton's agammaglobulinemia tyrosine kinase (Btk). Btk along with Tec, Itk, Bmx and Txk belong to a distinct family of protein kinases. These proteins

The models and theories of occupational therapy and occupational science to a great extent lack empirical support. We need an increased understanding of the construct of occupation and its predicting factors. The objectives of this study were to explore the construct of occupation in an ageing population, and to test the construct's relationships with underlying performance components and environm

For extremely large telescopes, there is strong need for thin deformable mirrors in the 3-4 m class. So far, feasibility of such mirrors has not been demonstrated. Extrapolation from existing techniques suggests that the mirrors could be highly expensive. We give a progress report on a study of an approach for construction of large deformable mirrors with a moderate cost. We have developed low-cos

In the present contribution, a density functional theory (DFT) investigation is described regarding a recently synthesized Fe6S6 complex - see C. Tard, X. Liu, S.K. Ibrahim, M. Bruschi, L. De Gioia, S.C. Davies, X. Yang, L.-S. Wang, G. Sawers, C.J. Pickett, Nature 433 (2005) 610 - that is structurally and functionally related to the [FeFe]-hydrogenases active site (the so-called H-cluster, which i

The treatment of rheumatoid arthritis remains suboptimal; thus there is considerable interest in the development of strategies that mediate tolerance to autoantigens. Using lentiviral gene transfer in vivo, we expressed the immunodominant epitope of collagen type II (CII) on major histocompatibility complex class II molecules (MHC II) in a mouse model of destructive arthritis. A sequence correspon

The evaluation of the translation capacity of cells that produce recombinant proteins can be made by monitoring their ribosomal composition. In a previous use of asymmetrical flow field–flow fractionation (AsFlFFF) for this purpose the overall analysis time was more than 1 h and 40 min, based on a standard protocol for cell harvest, washing, cell disruption, and the final 8-min AsFlFFF determinati

OBJECTIVE - This study evaluated insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity in healthy subjects with normal fasting glucose. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - A total of 148 healthy women (aged 53-70 years) underwent a glucose-dependent arginine stimulation test and a 2-h euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp. In the arginine test, arginine (5 g) was injected intravenously under baseline (fasting) conditio

Four principles are taken as basis for the ethical analysis: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. Health is understood as a limited aspect of wellbeing. Food is understood as an aspect of wellbeing, not only an instrument for health. Modern society is characterized by a tendency to identify wellbeing with external rather than subjective circumstances, to identify wellbeing with heal

The aim of this study was to investigate whether polymorphisms in the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor gene (5'LC-Arg19Cys, Arg16Gly, Gln27Glu) are associated with hypertension in patients with or without type 2 diabetes and with the blood pressure levels in normotensive sib pairs. The association study included 291 hypertensive patients without type 2 diabetes, 124 hypertensive patients with type 2 di

The present work introduces a simple and robust in vitro method for enzymatic characterisation of surface properties of lipid dispersions in aqueous media. The initial lipolysis rate in biorelevant media, using pancreatic lipase and a self-microemulsifying formulation (SMEDDS) containing digestible lipids as substrate, was determined. The impact of incorporating two sparingly water soluble model d

# 1. We investigated the potential drivers of Holocene vegetation changes recorded at four Scandinavian pollen sites, two in Sweden and two in Finland, at a time when they were largely free of anthropogenic influence. # 2. We used the generalized dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS forced with climate anomaly output from an atmospheric general circulation model to simulate tree species dynamics

Throughout the Cold War Sweden pursued a declared policy of nonalignment. Sweden nevertheless established security links with a number of Western powers, first of all Britain and the US. The most extensive links were developed in two areas - military technology and intelligence. Intelligence liaison was of crucial importance for the security of non-aligned Sweden, but also significant for the majo

The aim of this study was to evaluate the understanding of the term central terminal (CT) and to consider the consequences of this level of understanding. A total of 150 questionnaires was distributed during the 30th International Congress of Electrocardiology 2003, Helsinki, Finland; 42 (28%) of the anonymous questionnaires returned were considered adequate for the purpose of this study. The ques

Anti-GBM disease is a rare autoimmune condition characterized by autoantibodies targeting the alpha 3 chain non-collagen 1 domain of type IV collagen (alpha 3(IV)NC1). Recently, we isolated IgG reacting with alpha 3(IV)NC1 from normal healthy human sera. The current study examined the antigen and epitope specificity of these natural autoantibodies (NAA) using recombinant human alpha 1, 3, 5(IV)NC1

The Internet offers a plethora of venues for autobiographical self-representation: webcams, personal websites, blogs. There is much research on self-representation online, whereas very little research has focused on the consumption of online self-representation. This article focuses on the act of reading diary blogs. Who are the actual readers of a specific blog and what values do they place on th

Background : Reduced taste and smell, chewing problems and swallowing dysfunction are common among elderly people and affect perception, food choice and the ability to eat. Objective : To study the preference for texture-modified carrot and meat products in elderly people aiming to meet the needs of people with impaired chewing and/or swallowing. Design : Data were collected using questionnaires

Geological evidence from the Late Cretaceous continental interior of the Vilui Basin, Siberia suggests a far wetter, warmer, and more equable annual climate than General Circulation Models (GCMs) can reproduce. The disparity cannot be bridged by the uncertainties inherent in either the models or the geological climate proxies. This implies the mismatch is genuine and that either 1) we have systema