Aneurysms of the pancreaticoduodenal artery are rare and may be associated with celiac artery stenosis or occlusion. Twenty-eight patients are reported in the literature. The diagnostic findings and therapeutic alternatives of four additional patients form the basis of this report. One patient with ruptured pancreaticoduodenal aneurysm was successfully treated by transcatheter embolization, and on

OBJECTIVE: Pressure-volume (PV) curves are recorded after induction of complete muscle paralysis, which may limit their clinical use. The feasibility of recording PV curves without paralysis has not been tested. In 19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and no hemodynamic instability we prospectively evaluated whether PV curves can be safely and reliably recorded under deep se

We prove the existence and uniqueness of global weak solutions to a shallow water equation. The weak solution setting is important to model the interaction of solitons for this equation.

OBJECTIVE: The serotonin system has long been of interest in biological models of human personality. The purpose of this positron emission tomography (PET) study was to search for relationships between serotonin 5-HT(1A) receptor density and personality traits. METHOD: Fifteen normal male subjects, ages 20-45 years, were examined with PET and the radioligand [(11)C]WAY100635. Personality traits we

A Holocene palaeomagnetic secular variation master curve (FENNOSTACK) and a relative palaeointensity curve (FENNORPIS) for Fennoscandia are presented. These curves were produced by stacking palaeomagnetic data obtained from six annually laminated (varved) lake sediment sequences and one non-laminated sediment sequence. The six independent varve chronologies were combined to form a timescale, which

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate whether cadmium concentrations in kidney (K-Cd), blood (B-Cd) or urine (U-Cd) could reveal previous occupational cadmium exposure at a metal smelter. METHODS: The study included 90 smelters and 35 controls (B-Cd and U-Cd determination). In a subgroup (N = 33), K-Cd was also determined. RESULTS: B-Cd (median 4.6; range 0.5-53 nmol/L), U-Cd (0. 29; 0.

Surface proteins of Streptococcus pyogenes are important virulence factors. Here we describe a novel collagen-like surface protein, designated SclA (streptococcal collagen-like surface protein). The sclA gene was identified in silico using the Streptococcal Genome Sequencing Project with the recently identified protein GRAB as the probe. SclA has a signal sequence and a cell wall attachment region

Mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) is an autoimmune bullous disease that primarily affects mucous membranes leading to a scarring phenotype. MMP patients produce auto-antibodies (auto-ab) that preferentially recognize two components of the dermoepidermal basement membrane zone (BMZ): bullous pemphigoid (BP)180 and laminin 5 (LN5). Since detection of disease-specific auto-ab may be critical for diagn

The distribution of neutral and charged polymers with different flexibilities between two spheres of varying volume connected by a short and narrow cylinder has been investigated by Monte Carlo simulations. The uncharged chain displayed mostly a single-sphere occupancy due to the high conformational entropy penalty of crossing the cylindrical domain, whereas for the charged polymer a double-sphere

Background: This study explores the long-term experience of involuntary childlessness among 14 Swedish women 20 years after their infertility treatment. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted. Results: The childlessness had had a strong impact on all the women’s lives and was for all a major life theme. The effects were experienced both on a personal level and on interpersonal and social leve

Inter-atrial conduction delay in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) has been reported. However, the area of this conduction delay has not been well identified. The activation time and conduction velocity over the right atrial endocardium were evaluated during sinus rhythm using the CARTO mapping technique in 6 patients with paroxysmal AF (AF group) and 11 patients without history of AF (contro

In the present investigation of Brassica cretica, a wild relative of the cultivated cabbage, B. oleracea, we performed an extensive crossing experiment, involving self-pollinations, random outcrosses within populations and hybridizations between populations or species, to evaluate the relationship between crossing distance and developmental stability, estimated as the absolute difference between t

Gene expression profiling has revealed that circulating neutrophils rest between two major bursts of transcriptional and protein synthetic activities. The first occurs in the bone marrow. This equips the neutrophil with stocks of innate defense armory that are packaged into different granule subsets. The second burst occurs when the neutrophil exits circulation and migrates into tissues to find, c