The receptor for advanced glycation end products ( RAGE) is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily being expressed as a cell surface molecule and binding a variety of ligands. One of these ligands is high-mobility group box chromosomal protein 1, a potent proinflammatory cytokine, expression of which is increased in synovial tissue and in synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. T

1. Recent changes in European agricultural policy have led to measures to reverse the loss of species-rich grasslands through the creation of new areas on ex-arable land. Ex-arable soils are often characterized by high inorganic nitrogen (N) levels, which lead to the rapid establishment of annual and fast-growing perennial species during the initial phase of habitat creation. The addition of carbo

Background. Topical negative pressure (TNP) therapy has been adopted as a first-line treatment for wound healing. One of the mechanisms by which TNP improves healing is by stimulating blood flow to the wound edge. Among patients with ischemic heart disease, it is of great importance to improve the microvascular blood flow in the myocardium during episodes of ischemia to protect the myocardium from

OBJECTIVE: In Sweden, a country with high standards of obstetric care, the high rate of perinatal mortality among children of immigrant women from the Horn of Africa raises the question of whether there is an association between female circumcision and perinatal death. METHODS: To investigate this, we examined a cohort of 63 perinatal deaths of infants born in Sweden over the period 1990–96 to cir

Bird flight occurs over a range of Reynolds numbers (Re; 104Re105, where Re is a measure of the relative importance of inertia and viscosity) that includes regimes where standard aerofoil performance is difficult to predict, compute or measure, with large performance jumps in response to small changes in geometry or environmental conditions. A comparison of measurements of fixed wing performance a

Several strains of group G streptococci (GGS) form aggregates when grown in vitro. Aggregating strains interact with fibrinogen, and this study reports the isolation of a novel self-associating and fibrinogen-binding protein of GGS, denoted protein FOG. Sequencing of the fog gene revealed structural similarity with M proteins of both GGS and group A streptococci (GAS). Analogous to GAS, GGS were f

The toxicity of different phenols to the soil bacterial community was studied in the laboratory using the leucine incorporation technique. The effects of environmental factors such as pH, temperature and binding strength to soil particles were also assessed in order to deduce confounding effects due to the chemical and physical conditions in the soil from which the bacterial community was extracte

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis with prostate cancer has been reported to increase the risk of subsequent tumours. However, specific data on individuals with a parental history are not available so far. METHODS: On the basis of the nationwide Swedish Family-Cancer Database including 18,207 primary invasive prostate cancers, standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were used to estimate the relative risks of sub

Background: Dendritic cells (DCs) are central in allergy as regulators of the Th1/Th2 balance. We have recently demonstrated a unique transcriptional profile of DCs in patients with ongoing allergy compared with healthy subjects and shown that crosstalk between DCs and memory T cells affects the transcriptional profile of T cells. However, the transcriptional profile of DCs educated by T cells in

Nutrient availability is of major importance for plant productivity. When estimating long-term sustainability from a nutrient perspective it is therefore interesting to focus on long-term changes in the soil nutrient pools when comparing different forest types. Here, we have highlighted some factors of importance for long term nutrient sustainability (e.g., several forest rotations) and pointed ou

Stereoselectivity has been known to play a role in drug action for 100 years or more. Nevertheless, chiral drugs have been developed and used as racemates, neglecting the fact that they comprise mixtures of two or more compounds which may have quite different pharmacological properties. A very limited access to pure enantiomers in the past has been responsible for this unsatisfactory state of affa

he voluminous tax competition literature suggests that increased economic integration leads to reduced tax rates and suboptimal levels of government spending as countries compete for mobile factors of production. Integration may influence not only the size of the government but also the structure of public spending. Comprehensive studies analyzing the effect of integration on the overall structure

A novel type of limited double-moment scheme for bulk microphysics is presented here for cloud-systemresolving models (CSRMs). It predicts the average size of cloud droplets and crystals, which is important for representing the radiative impact of clouds on the climate system. In this new scheme, there are interactive components for ice nuclei (IN) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). For cloud ic

A theoretical analysis of the microdialysis ethanol technique in skeletal muscle is presented, and a model governing the transport of ethanol from the microdialysis probe to the capillaries in the muscle tissue is proposed. The model is derived under the assumption of a steady-state situation, and an analytical solution is found for the outflow-to-inflow ratio of ethanol in the perfusate. Theoreti