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Objective: Resistin is a secreted factor that is elevated in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and believed to drive joint inflammation in vivo. This study was undertaken to determine if resistin is present in the joint following joint injury and to elucidate the role of resistin in cartilage degradation. Methods: The level of resistin was measured in paired synovial fluid (SF) and serum samples from pati

Helicobacter pylori can transform, in vivo as well as in vitro, from dividing spiral-shaped forms into nonculturable coccoids, with intermediate forms called U forms. The importance of nonculturable coccoid forms of H. pylori in disease transmission and antibiotic treatment failures is unclear. Metabolic activities of actively growing as well as nonculturable H. pylori were investigated by compari

The enzyme 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11BHSD2) converts cortisol to cortisone in the kidney, thereby protecting the mineralocorticoid receptor from the mineralocorticoid actions of cortisol. The syndrome of Apparent Mineralocorticoid Excess (AME), a rare monogenic form of early onset hypertension with autosomal recessive inheritance, is caused by homozygous or compound heterozygo

Soil microorganisms, the central drivers of terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems, are being confronted with increasing temperatures as parts of the continent experience considerable warming. Here we determined short-term temperature dependencies of Antarctic soil bacterial community growth rates, using the leucine incorporation technique, in order to predict future changes in temperature sensitivity o

BACKGROUND: In peritoneal dialysis, approximately 40% of the total osmotic ultrafiltration (UF) induced by glucose can be predicted to be due to "free" water transport across aquaporin-1 (APQ-1). Theoretically, it would be possible to assess the fraction of free water transport in the early phase of a hypertonic dwell, when UF rate is high and the relative contribution of Na+ diffusion is low. La

This thesis describes two different measurement methods applied to ultrasound. The first method, Ultrasound doppler vector tomography, uses ultrasound to measure blood flow and the second method, Light diffraction tomography, measures the pressure field in an ultrasound beam with laser light. Both methods depend on tomography algorithms for reconstruction of the measured region. A prime motive fo

The aim of this dissertation is to examine the institutional changes which occurred in Chile under the military regime from 1973-1981, and how these changes can be related to subsequent economic development in the country. The empirical material comprises of an investigation of the new economic policy in the agricultural sector, the political process behind this policy and the social and economic

Background. Umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry is a routine method for fetal surveillance in high-risk pregnancy. Uterine artery Doppler seems to give comparable information, but it can be difficult to interpret as there are two arteries, which might show notching and/or increased pulsatility index (PI) as signs of increased vascular impedance. Combining the information on vascular resistance on

This thesis describes functional studies of the human protein alpha-1-microglobulin (A1M), with the aim of exploring its usefulness as a therapeutic agent in diseases where oxidative stress is a prominent feature. A1M is a 26 kDa plasma and tissue protein with reductase activity and radical- and heme-binding antioxidative functions. The research focus in this thesis has been to study the in vivo p

To explore the correlation between, and the variation in, various measures of exposure to potential risk factors for work-related upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (UE-WMSDs), physical workload was measured in 43 types of work (713 individuals), using inclinometry for the head and upper arms, and electromyography (EMG) for the trapezius muscles. Many exposure measures were highly correlate

Recent studies on young men from the general population have demonstrated geographic and ethnic differences in semen quality. The aim of this study was to investigate whether reported ethnic differences in semen quality might be associated with the maternally derived CAG and GGN polymorphisms in the androgen receptor gene or paternal ethnicity. In total 114 military conscripts from Latvia were inc

Viruses can be described as biological objects composed mainly of two parts: a stiff protein shell called a capsid, and a core inside the capsid containing the nucleic acid and liquid. In many double-stranded DNA bacterial viruses (aka phage), the volume ratio between the liquid and the encapsidated DNA is approximately 1:1. Due to the dominant DNA hydration force, water strongly mediates the inte

Popular Abstract in Swedish Artros är den vanligaste ledsjukdomen i världen, och orsakar ledvärk och stelhet. Artros leder till försvagning av brosket och sedermera förlust av allt större mängder belastat ledbrosk. För närvarande är vanlig röntgen den gyllene standarden för att diagnostisera knäartros. Dock är sjukdomsförloppet ofta väldigt långt framskridet när broskförändringar börjar synas på rOsteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder worldwide, causing joint pain and stiffness. The current gold standard for diagnosing knee OA is radiography. However, the disease has often progressed well beyond the point of no return once radiographic cartilage changes become visible. Identifying changes in cartilage at an early stage of OA would allow curative or prophylactic treatment to

The small size of the billions of migrating songbirds commuting between temperate breeding sites and the tropics has long prevented the study of the largest part of their annual cycle outside the breeding grounds. Using light-level loggers (geolocators), we recorded the entire annual migratory cycle of the red-backed shrike Lanius collurio, a trans-equatorial Eurasian-African passerine migrant. We

Gangliosides (G) are sialic acid-containing cell surface glycosphingolipids capable of forming lactones, i.e. inner esters. Some gangliosides are tumor-associated antigens, and they may serve as immunogens in their lactone form, where the latter is comparatively more abundant on the surface of malignant cells. Due to improved hydrolytic stability, lactam (inner amide) analogues of gangliosides sho

Popular Abstract in Swedish 1: Tomas Åkerud, doktorand vid Lunds Universitet, har utvecklat en metod för att mäta hur snabbt läkemedelsmolekyler och fettsyror (de naturliga bindarna) tar sig in i och lämnar bindingsfickan i ett protein som är viktigt för fettsyrametabolismen i människa. Proteinet, adipocyt-fettsyrabindande protein (A-FABP), har som funktion att transportera fettsyror, som inte är Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) has been used to determine the kinetics of ligand binding to the adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP), as well as the oligomerisation and inter- and intramolecular dynamics of the low molecular weight-protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) in solution. NMR spectroscopy is sensitive to dynamic processes on timescales ranging from picoseconds t

Natural product chemistry is a main research area in Cameroon, as well as for the division of Bioorganic Chemistry at Lund Institute of Technology. A review of the results obtained recently with Cameroonian medicinal plants shows that a large number of compounds, many with complex structures, have been isolated and characterised, and the work presented in this thesis is part of this effort. Based