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OBJECTIVE : To evaluate the efficacy and safety of therapy for patients with histologically mild hepatitis C virus (HCV) liver disease. DESIGN : A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled trial of interferon alpha-2b with or without ribavirin. SETTING : Regional and university hospitals. PARTICIPANTS : One hundred and sixteen treatment naive patients with mild chronic HCV infection. Mild HCV i

Background: Retinoids are vital for embryonic development; both excesses and deficiencies of vitamin A are known to give similar patterns of birth defects. Concentrations of retinol in newborns and in pregnant women have been investigated, but concentrations of the biologically active metabolite all-trans retinoic acid and its isomer 13-cis retinoic acid have not. Objective: We measured serum conc

Resistance to the HER-2 targeting drug trastuzumab can be observed clinically, but the lack of suitable experimental models hampers studies of resistance mechanisms. We characterized a HER-2–positive carcinoma cell line (JIMT-1) derived from a 62-year-old breast cancer patient which was clinically resistant to trastuzumab. Multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed a complex hyperdiplo

The objective was to study ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate variability between day and night in patients with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus with different degrees of diabetic nephropathy, and to evaluate the influence of autonomic neuropathy and type of antihypertensive treatment. Twenty type 1 diabetic patients with diabetic nephropathy and antihypertensive treatment were

Achilles tendinopathy is common and treatment with eccentric exercises seems promising. We designed a prospective randomized clinical trial to test the hypothesis that eccentric calf muscle exercises reduce pain and improve function in patients with Achilles tendinopathy. Forty-four patients were recruited from primary care (mean age: 45 years; 23 women; 65% active in sports) and randomized to thr

OBJECTIVE: To investigate markers of endothelial activation in muscle biopsies from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with and without extra-articular manifestations (ExRA). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Nine consecutive ExRA patients were compared with nine RA controls without ExRA, matched for age, sex and duration of RA. Muscle biopsies were obtained from the lateral vastus or anterior tibial muscle.

The Siberian Jay (Perisoreus infaustus) lives in resident, territorial family groups outside the breeding season, but does not breed cooperatively. Thereby it offers an opportunity to study the evolution of territorial group living, without confounding effects of reproductive cooperation. During a long-term study in Finland 1974-2000, we observed Siberian Jay group composition in autumn. Using mic

OBJECTIVE: to study the proximal fixation of different aortic stent grafts in comparison to a hand-sewn anastomosis. DESIGN: experimental study. MATERIAL: the infrarenal aorta of 16 human cadavers were exposed, left in situ and transected 3 cm above the aortic bifurcation to mimic an infrarenal aortic neck. Stent grafts were deployed through a sheath 5 cm into the aorta. Ancure, Talent, Vanguard,

In this study healthy never-smoking subjects (n = 18) were recruited from a population study. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), blood lymphocytes and bronchial biopsies, analysed both in the epithelium and lamina propria, were stained for T and B lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells and different subpopulations of T lymphocytes. In BAL, significantly higher proportions of T lymphocytes (CD3), T lymp

This study aimed to compare the duration of protection against exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) after inhalation of formoterol (Oxis) Turbuhaler with that of terbutaline Turbuhaler and placebo Turbuhaler in asthmatic patients treated regularly with formoterol Turbuhaler 9 microg b.i.d. and inhaled steroids. The study. performed at three centres (Goteborg and Lund, Sweden, and Trondheim,

Aims: Recently, drug-eluting balloons have received a guideline class IIa recommendation in the treatment of in-stent restenosis after bare metal stent implantation. It is not known if different balloons perform equally. Using a large real world registry, restenosis frequency was reported for two drug-eluting balloons. Methods and results: From April 2009 until September 2011, 1,129 patients w

Osteoporosis is common in the elderly, and it is associated with lifetime exposure to endogenous hormones and vitamin D intake, both of which are associated with cancer development. The association of osteoporosis with subsequent cancer has not been established, and hence we examined here the overall and site-specific cancer risks among Swedish individuals after hospitalization for osteoporosis. P

Raised plasma levels of the soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) have been associated with increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Whether suPAR is associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) is largely unknown. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between suPAR and incidence of VTE in a cohort study. suPAR was measured in 5,203 subjects

The polyamines are essential for a variety of functions in the mammalian cell. Although their specific effects have not been fully elucidated, it is clear that the cellular polyamines have to be kept within certain levels for normal cell function. Polyamine homoeostasis in mammalian cells is achieved by a complex network of regulatory mechanisms affecting synthesis and degradation, as well as memb

Pelvic fractures may occur together with hip fractures as a result of low energy trauma. It is unclear whether they do require special attention. There are conflicting results in the literature about the prevalence of both concomitant hip and pelvic fractures as well as exclusive pelvic fractures. It has been reported that hip fractures and obturator ring fractures are mutually exclusive. To retro

The objective of this study is to investigate whether vestibular rehabilitation can improve balance, reduce self-perceived handicap because of dizziness and, if possible, reduce falls among dizzy patients in primary healthcare. The study also finds out which of the balance measures and measure of self-perceived handicap, if any, predicted the risk of falls. The design of this study is an intervent

BACKGROUND: Although inflammation has been associated with different cardiovascular diseases, the relationships with future heart failure (HF) are unclear. This population-based study explored whether elevated plasma levels of inflammatory proteins are associated with incidence of HF. METHODS: Five inflammation-sensitive plasma proteins (ISPs, fibrinogen, ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin, orosomucoid, a