Objective: To investigate whether determination of a set of laboratory markers at baseline provides prognostic information on joint damage in hands and feet in rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: 183 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis included in a prospective study were examined. Radiographic changes in hands and feet at 5 and 10 years after inclusion were evaluated (Larsen). The markers analyse

GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian CNS. GABA in the brain is commonly associated with a fast, point-to-point form of signalling called synaptic transmission (phasic inhibition), but there is growing evidence that GABA participates in another, slower and more diffuse form of signalling often referred to as tonic inhibition. Unresolved questions regarding tonic neuronal in

Serum cystatin C is believed to reflect the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) more closely than serum creatinine in many contexts and a reference interval for serum cystatin C in term pregnancy has been defined to enable its use also in pregnant women. However, serum cystatin C levels were not found to be decreased in term pregnancy, though GFR of low molecular mass substances is known to increase

In 1997, a temporally shifted population of Thaumetopoea pilyocampa (Den. & Schiff.), was recorded for the first time in a restricted area of the oldest National Pine Forest of Portugal-the National Pine Forest of Leiria. This new population larval development takes place during the summer (summer population-SP), while in the normal population it takes place during the winter (winter populatio

This study is on a combined effect of window, the daylighting and the thermal effects, in desert houses. It is comprised of two complementary studies. In the introduction a historical review on the development of use daylight has been carried out in order to place the case study in a historical perspective. The first study is comprehensive and contains two main parts. In the first part a study was

Plasma homocysteine concentrations in a group of 80-year-old persons were related to symptoms and signs. Plasma homocysteine concentrations higher than 15 mumol/l were associated with lower total life satisfaction (P

PURPOSE: To determine the relevance of dilatations of the common femoral artery (CFA), knowledge of the normal CFA diameter is essential. The diameter of the CFA in healthy male and female subjects of different ages was investigated. METHODS: The diameter of the CFA was measured in 122 healthy volunteers (59 male, 63 female; 8 to 81 years of age) with echo-tracking B-mode ultrasound scan. The infl

In an attempt to identify novel susceptibility genes predisposing to early-onset diabetes (EOD), we performed a genome-wide scan using 433 markers in 222 individuals (119 with diabetes) from 29 Scandinavian families with ≥2 members with onset of diabetes ≤45 years. The highest nonparametric linkage (NPL) score, 2.7 (P < 0.01), was observed on chromosome 1p (D1S473/D1S438). Six other regions on chr

This paper explores the incentives in the two cornerstones of the regulatory effort: the legislative decisions on specific regulations and the day-to-day activities of the officials at the Labour Inspectorate. It is argued that there have been and probably will continue to be pro-safety incentives at the legislative level. Until 1992, representatives of employers' and employees' organizations were

BACKGROUND: Extracellular nucleotides play an important role in the regulation of vascular tone and may be involved in cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoidal haemorrhage. This study was designed to characterise the contractile P2 receptors in endothelium-denuded human cerebral and omental arteries. The isometric tension of isolated vessel segments was recorded in vitro. P2 receptor mRNA expressio

Background.. Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity for reasons that are incompletely understood. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of parathyroidectomy on cardiac function especially in patients with mild PHPT Methods. Fifty patients with mild PHPT (serum calcium, 2.55 to 2.95 mmol/L) were randomized to parathyroidectomy eit

Björkgrens avhandling i praktisk teologi undersöker vad församlingsprästen Hartman ville som predikant och hur han förverkligade detta i sina predikningar. Förf. undersöker Hartmans tänkande, vilka strävanden hans predikningar speglar och deras formal-homiletiska stil. Metoden beskrivs som innehållslig textanalys. Bättre än ”drama” hade ”spänning” passat i huvudrubriken. För första gången har otry

Föreliggande program utredning om erforderlig fuktforskning ur byggnadsteknisk synvinkel har utförts i samarbete mellan tre institutioner vid Tekniska Högskolan i Lund, nämligen byggnadskonstruktionslära (professor B. Adamson), byggnadsmateriallära (professor S. G. Bergström) och byggnadsteknik l (professor L. E. Nevander). Som utredningsman och sekreterare har civilingenjör L. Ahlgren, byggnadsma

Popular Abstract in Swedish N-acyletanolaminer (NAE) tillhör en växande grupp av kroppsegna lipider, som påverkar en mängd olika receptorer och jonkanaler. En sådan substans är anandamid, som finns i hjärnan och många andra organ. 1992 visade en grupp forskare att anandamid aktiverar receptorn för ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (cannabinoidreceptorn) i centrala nervsystemet. Anandamid och andra NAE bildaN-acylethanolamines (NAEs) belong to a growing family of endogenous signalling molecules acting on a variety of receptors and ion channels. In 1992, it was reported that the N-acylethanolamine anandamide is present in the brain and activates the central cannabinoid (CB) receptor. Anandamide and other NAEs are considered to be generated on demand following receptor activation or cell stress. The ti

Nine patients with spondylarthropathy (SpA) (6 with ankylosing spondylitis and 3 with psoriatic arthritis) who had not responded properly to conventional DMARD therapy were treated with 3 infusions (at 0, 2 and 6 weeks) of the TNF alpha inhibitor infliximab (3 mg/kg), in combination with methotrexate. To measure the effect of treatment, patients were evaluated before as well as 8 and 12 weeks afte

Programming languages are the main tools used to describe models of the real world and algorithms which manipulate these models. Over time much effort has been devoted to the task of making programming languages more high-level by enhancing their expressiveness, bringing it closer to the way the programmer thinks and reasons. The development of object-oriented programming languages is one importan