Background Pulmonary vein (PV) potentials are invariably recordable at the PV ostia in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and delayed conduction around the PV ostia may play a role in the initiation and maintenance of AF. Aims To investigate the presence and extent of PV potentials in patients with and without AF. Methods and results Circumferential catheter recordings at the PV ostia were obt

The ImmunoDeficiency Resource (IDR), freely available at http://www.uta.fi/imt/bioinfo/idr/, is a comprehensive knowledge base on immunodeficiencies. It is designed for different user groups such as researchers, physicians and nurses as well as patients and their families and the general public. Information on immunodeficiencies is stored as fact files, which are disease- and gene-based informatio

Any confined air volume holding radon ((222)Rn) gas bears a memory of past radon concentrations due to (210)Pb (T(1/2) = 22 y) and its progenies entrapped in all solid objects in the volume. The efforts of quantifying past radon exposures by means of the left-behind long-lived radon progenies started in 1987 with this author's unsuccessful trials of removing (214)Po from radon exposed glass object

Morbidity and mortality resulting from acute and subsequently chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) pose a serious challenge to wider applicability of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is a widely used drug in combination with a calcineurin inhibitor and often cyclosporine (CsA), in preventing GVHD. The use of MMF for acute GVHD (aGVHD) prophylaxis appears

The physiological mechanisms that regulate reactive hyperemia are not fully understood. We postulated that the endothelial P2Y(1) receptor that release vasodilatory factors in response to ADP might play a vital role in the regulation of coronary flow. Intracoronary flow was measured with a Doppler flow-wire in a porcine model. 2-MeSADP (10(-5) M), ATP (10(-4) M) or UTP (10(-4) M) alone or as co-in

The purpose of this study was to characterize the outcome of attempted endovascular intervention in patients with acute embolic or thrombotic superior mesenteric artery (SMA) occlusion. The records of 21 patients during a 3-year period between 2005 and 2008 were retrieved from the in-hospital registry. The first group included 10 patients (6 women and 4 men; median age 78 years) with acute embolic

OBJECTIVE: To explore the long-term benefits of shortened constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) in the subacute phase poststroke. DESIGN: A 1-year follow-up after shortened CIMT (3h training/d for 2 wk) where the participants had been randomized to a mitt group or a nonmitt group. SETTING: A university hospital rehabilitation department. PARTICIPANTS: Poststroke patients (N=20, 15 men, 5 wome

The Nordic physical societies have arranged joint biannual meetings since 2009, bringing together researchers from all areas of physics (www.fysik. lu.se/english/npd2013). In June, 328 physicists and teachers from Norway, Den- mark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia and Sweden (and a few from elsewhere, e.g. the UK) met at Lund University, Sweden.

Near infrared diffuse optical spectroscopy and diffuse optical imaging are promising methods that eventually may enhance or replace existing technologies for breast cancer screening and diagnosis. These techniques are based on highly sensitive, quantitative measurements of optical and functional contrast between healthy and diseased tissue. In this study, we examine whether changes in breast physi

This final chapter reviews the main conclusions reached by the Special Issue articles in the areas of EUNAM (EU and North African Migrants: Health and Health Systems) activities, covering well-being, health status, disease panorama and use of health services of immigrants to the EU. The reviewed chapters show that immigrants are a vulnerable population experiencing, in some aspects, discrimination

The anaphylatoxin C3a and its inactivated derivative C3adesArg, generated during complement activation, exert direct antimicrobial effects, mediated via its C-terminal region [Nordahl et al. (2004) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101, 16879-16884]. During evolution, this region of C3a displays subtle changes in net charge, while preserving a moderate but variable amphipathicity [Pasupuleti et al. (2

Aim: A multipotential stem cell, possibly located in the submucosal gland ducts, has been suggested as the origin of metaplastic mucosa in the oesophagus. The topographic distribution of these glands and their excretory ducts (SMG) within the columnar lined oesophagus (CLO) is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of SMG in relation to the type of overlying epithel

Liposuction for late-stage lymphoedema remains a controversial technique. While it is clear that conservative therapies such as combined decongestive therapy (CDT) and controlled compression therapy (CCT) should be tried in the first instance, options for the treatment of late-stage lymphoedema that is not responding to treatment is not so clear. Liposuction has been used for many years to treat l

A novel breath-alcohol analyzer based on the standardization of the breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) to the alveolar-air water vapour concentration has been developed and evaluated. The present study compares results with this particular breath analyzer with arterial blood alcohol concentrations (ABAC), the most relevant quantitative measure of brain alcohol exposure. The precision of analysis

A shorted pin circular axe-shaped antenna is analyzed for compact and dual band applications. Removing two symmetric arc-shaped areas from a simple circular patch lengthens the current path thus reduces the antenna size. Embedding and adjusting a shorting pin further shifts the resonance to a lower frequency and excites another high order mode. The frequency ratio varies between 1.639 ∼ 2.616. The

Fifteen anorectic (A) and 13 bulimic (B) patients aged 20-49 years, all seriously ill, and 21 controls were studied, using a half-structured interview, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, the tachistoscopic Identity Test (IT), and two other percept-genetic tests. The differences between A and B were not particularly pronounced, A patients being on the whole more sensitive and self-directed, and B pa

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Gastric and enteric Helicobacter species have been associated with the pathogenesis of some extragastric diseases. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the presence of DNA of Helicobacter species in samples of the cancer and the surrounding tumour-free liver tissues of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, n=12) and cholangiocarcinoma (CC, n=13). The patients were fr

Three years of adjuvant imatinib therapy are recommended for patients with GI stromal tumor (GIST) with high-risk features, according to survival findings in the Scandinavian Sarcoma Group XVIII/AIO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internistische Onkologie) trial. To investigate whether the survival benefits have persisted, we performed the second planned analysis of the trial.

Thermodynamic formulation of elastoplastic or viscoplastic models using the internal variable approach currently does not include models using the plastic work as a hardening variable. This means that many realistic material models do not fit into the current thermodynamic framework. An approach to extend the thermodynamic framework to include models where plastic work is used as a hardening varia