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Background: Oral administration of health-promoting bacteria is increasingly used in clinical practise. These bacteria have anti-inflammatory characteristics and modulate the immune system without major reported side effects. The mechanisms of action are not yet fully defined. Our aim was to study systemic effects of probiotics by measurements of leukocytes as well as local effects on rectal mucos

The bioactivity, biological fate and cytotoxicity of nanomaterials when they come into contact with living organisms are determined by their interaction with biomacromolecules and biological barriers. In this context, the role of symmetry/shape anisotropy of both the nanomaterials and biological interfaces in their mutual interaction, is a relatively unaddressed issue. Here, we study the interacti

Polycystic ovaries (PCO) contain antral follicles that arrest growing around 3–11 mm in diameter, perturbing the dominant follicle’s selection and the subsequent ovulatory process. Proteomic alterations of PCO follicular fluid (FF) (i.e., microenvironment in which the oocyte develops until ovulation) have been studied from large follicles in connection with oocyte pickup during ovarian stimulation

Thermoresponsive microgels are a popular model system to study phase transitions in soft matter, because temperature directly controls their volume fraction. Ionic microgels are additionally pH-responsive and possess a rich phase diagram. Although effective interaction potentials between microgel particles have been proposed, these have never been fully tested, leading to a gap in our understandin

STUDY QUESTION: Is it possible to identify by mass spectrometry a wider range of proteins and key proteins involved in folliculogenesis and oocyte growth and development by studying follicular fluid (FF) from human small antral follicles (hSAF)?SUMMARY ANSWER: The largest number of proteins currently reported in human FF was identified in this study analysing hSAF where several proteins showed a s

Exposure to air pollution is associated with adverse health effects in humans, with special concern for exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The physicochemical properties of aerosols impact the health effects. Considering that we spend approximately 90% of our time indoors, it is important to gain increased understanding of indoor aerosol concentrations and properties. The overall aim of

Enzymes have come into use for many new applications outside their natural biological environment, taking advantage of their high efficiency and selectivity as biocatalysts. Such new application often requires encapsulation to preserve the structure and activity of the enzyme, but also to regulate and control the activity. Here, we will discuss two types of encapsulation, soft matrices consisting

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to experimentally investigate the effects of changes in both quantity and quality of use of social networking sites (SNS) on measures of anxiety, depression, stress, self-esteem, loneliness, problematic social media use, and present focused awareness. Method: Participants were randomly assigned to three different conditions: reducing SNS time to 30 minut

The actor’s practice and bodily training during the twentieth century are specifically related not only to different bodily techniques, but also to language, modern society, and the concept of freedom. Nationalism, anti-intellectualism, bodily and vitalistic purism, and a sceptical distance from the modern project at the beginning of the twentieth century serve as a starting point for a discussion

Background: The contribution of kinesiophobia (fear of movement) to the pain experience among older adults has been poorly evaluated. The aim of this study was to study prevalence at baseline, development over a 12-month period and cognitive-affective variables of kinesiophobia in a population-based sample of older adults with chronic pain. Methods: The study included 433 older adults (+65 years)

A comparison between three different types of particle sizing instruments (fast mobility particle sizer, FMPS; electrical low pressure impactor, ELPI; and scanning mobility particle sizer, SMPS) and one condensation particle counter (CPC) was made to compare instrument response in terms of size distributions and number concentration. Spherical oil droplets in 39 different sizes, with geometric mea

The effects of combustion phase and fuel on smoke particle emissions from a wood stove operated with three different wood fuels and from a corn stove were investigated. A single-particle mass spectrometer (aerosol time of flight mass spectrometer (ATOFMS)) was used for time-and size-resolved chemical signatures and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) was used for online mobility size distrib

Objective: Radiographic damage is an important outcome in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The disease course varies considerably, and there is a need for simple and reliable prognostic markers. The aim of the study was to determine the utility of early signs of extra-articular disease, manifested as rheumatoid nodules (RN), in predicting radiographic outcome. Methods: In a cohort (n = 1589) of consecut

Background: The aim of this longitudinal study was to analyze whether mean Body Mass Index (BMI), assessed at four occasions, changed within different age groups and birth cohorts over time, i.e., between 1980/81 and 2004/05, after adjustment for possible confounders. Methods: A sample of 2728 men and 2770 women aged 16-71 years at study start were randomly drawn from the Swedish Total Population

Biodiesel has recently reemerged as a common fuel. However, emissions from biodiesel combustion have been studied in much less detail than those from traditional petroleum-based diesel. In this experiment, emissions from the combustion of different fuel blends (BOO, B02, B20, B99, where the number after B indicates the percentage, by volume, of biodiesel in the fuel) in a VW TDi engine were analyz

Background: Leptin resistance is considered a primary risk factor for obesity. It has been hypothesized that dietary cereal grain protein could cause leptin resistance by preventing leptin from binding to its receptor. Non-degraded dietary wheat protein has been found in human serum at a mean level of 41 ng/mL. Here, we report our findings from testing whether enzymatically digested gluten from wh

BACKGROUND: TNF-α inhibitors are potent anti-inflammatory drugs that have revolutionized the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) is a non-invasive method to study cartilage quality, in particular the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content. PURPOSE: To evaluate knee cartilage quality before and after treatment with a TNF-α inhibitor (infliximab) i

NLRs are recently discovered PRRs detecting substructures of peptidoglycans and triggering innate immunity. NLRs are expressed in several cell types, but the presence in human B lymphocytes is still unknown. This study aimed to investigate expression and function of NLRs in human B lymphocytes. B cells were isolated and analyzed for mRNA and protein expression. The functional responsiveness of NOD