Objective: to conceptualise mothers’ and fathers’ thoughts and feelings before, during and after the routine ultrasound examination during the second trimester of pregnancy. Design, setting and participants: a grounded theory study. Two to four weeks after their ultrasound examination, 22 Swedish mothers and 22 fathers were interviewed in their homes. Findings: the basic social process was co

Subsolidus phase relations have been determined for the BaO:TiO2:Ta2O5 system by X-ray diffraction analysis of ~100 specimens prepared in air at temperatures near but below the solidus (1275 °C to 1500 °C). For the BaO:Ta2O5 subsystem, the formation of all three polymorphs of BaTa2O6 (orthorhombic, tetragonal, and hexagonal) was confirmed. The present study found no stable phases forming between B

Immune system components differ in their functions and costs, and immune defense profiles are likely to vary among species with differing ecologies. We compared adaptive immune defenses in two closely related species that have contrasting inflammatory immune responses, the widespread and abundant house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the less abundant tree sparrow (Passer montanus). We found that

Results on the global existence of classical solutions for quasilinear parabolic equations in bounded domains with homogeneous Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions are presented. Besides quasilinear parabolic equations, the method is also applicable to some weakly-coupled reaction-diffusion systems and to elliptic equations with nonlinear dynamic boundary conditions.

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a powerful assay used to probe DNA-protein interactions. Traditional methods of implementing this assay are lengthy, Cumbersome and require a large number of cells, making it difficult to study rare cell types Such its certain cancer and stem cells. We have designed a microfluidic device to perform sensitive ChIP analysis on low cell numbers in a rapid, auto

Cartilage and tendon extracellular matrices are composed of collagens, proteoglycans, and a number of noncollagenous proteins. Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a prominent such protein, structurally related to the thrombospondins. We found that native COMP binds to collagen I/II and procollagen I/II and that the interaction is dependent on the divalent cations Zn2+ or Ni2+, whereas Ca

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has been reported to be useful in the differential diagnosis between abscesses and cystic or necrotic tumours. However, experience is still limited and the true sensitivity and specificity remain to be determined. Our purpose is to describe a ring-enhancing metastasis of adenocarcinoma with a DWI pattern similar to that reported for abscesses. The tumour had a diam

Objectives: To assess the interval change of the minimal joint space width (MJS) in radiographs of the tibiofemoral (TF) joint and of the patellofemoral (PF) joint with a 2-year follow-up in middle-aged people with longstanding knee pain with or without radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) and to study the precision of the MJS measurements. Design: In the format of a prospective study of early OA the

The monotremes, the duck-billed platypus and the echidnas, are characterized by a number of unique morphological characteristics, which have led to the common belief that they represent the living survivors of an ancestral stock of mammals. Analysis of new data from the complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes of a second monotreme, the spiny anteater. and another marsupial, the wombat. yielded clear s

LH2 complexes from Rb. sphaeroides were modified genetically so that lycopene, with I I saturated double bonds, replaced the native carotenoids which contain 10 saturated double bonds. Tuning the S, level of the carotenoid in LH2 in this way affected the dynamics of energy transfer within LH2, which were investigated using both steady-state and time-resolved techniques. The S I energy of lycopene

The paper examines a higher-order ordinary differential equation of the form P[u]:= Sigma(j,k=0)(m) D(j)a(jk)D(k)u = gimel u, x is an element of [0, b), where D=i(d/dx), and where the coefficients a(jk), j, k is an element of [0,M], with a = 1, satisfy certain regularity conditions and are chosen so that the matrix (a(jk)) is hermitean. It is also assumed that m > 1. More precisely, it is proved,

Background: The standard 12-lead ECG remains one of the basic investigations for the early detection and assessment of acute coronary syndromes. It is easy to perform, anywhere and anytime, and can be digitally transmitted within minutes to an emergency medical service for remote advice and triage. But the conventional ST-segment deviation criteria are of limited diagnostic accuracy. The purpose o

A new understanding of the concept of health is needed to meet the goal of mental health nursing, which besides reducing disease is to strengthen the patient's health. The aim of the present study was to describe perceptions of the concept of health among nurses working in mental health services. Twelve Swedish nurses working in mental health services were interviewed and data were analysed with a

We consider the diffusive motion of a localised knot along a linear polymer chain. In particular, we derive the mean diffusion time of the knot before it escapes from the chain once it gets close to one of the chain ends. Self-reptation of the entire chain between either end and the knot position, during which the knot is provided with free volume, leads to an L-3 scaling of diffusion time; for su

Objective The aim of this analysis was to delineate perceived associations between androgens and cardiovascular events in perimenopausal women. Design A cross-sectional, population-based study of 6440 perimenopausal women aged 50-59 years, living in Southern Sweden. In all, 461 (7.1%) women were premenopausal (PM), 3328 (51.7%) postmenopausal without hormone therapy (HT) (PMO) and 2651 (41.2%) pos