Background - Histological evaluation of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients has been debated ever since the first description of the disease and its role in follow-up has never been fully established. Recent evidence suggests an added benefit in accuracy when evaluating if the patient is in remission. Unfortunately, there are several different histological indices, and it is difficult to compare outcomes ...

The myxomycete Didymium iridis (isolate Panama 2) contains a mobile group I intron named Dir.S956-1 after position 956 in the nuclear small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene. The intron is efficiently spread through homing by the intron-encoded homing endonuclease I-DirI. Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) usually spread with their associated introns as a unit, but infrequently also spread independent of ...

Introduction: Acute lung injury often complicates severe sepsis. In Gram-negative sepsis, bacterial endotoxin activates both coagulation and inflammation. Enhanced lung vascular pressures and permeability, increased extravascular lung water content and deteriorated gas exchange characterize ovine endotoxin-induced lung injury, a frequently used model of acute lung injury. Recombinant human ...

Homeopathy is widely used, and many European physicians practice homeopathy in addition to conventional medicine. Adverse effects in homeopathy are not expected by homeopaths due to the negligible quantities of active substances in a remedy. However, we questioned if homeopathic aggravation, which is described as a temporary worsening of existing symptoms following a correct homeopathic remedy, ...

Introduction: The safety of health care is increasingly prominent concern of the public, applying to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as well as conventional treatment. In 2009, a group of academic and clinical CAM researchers held a workshop to discuss the constraints and priorities of research into CAM safety. This group here report their discussions, and offer collaboration with ...

The atypical MAP kinases ERK3 and ERK4 are activated by phosphorylation of a serine residue lying within the activation loop signature sequence S-E-G. However, the regulation of ERK3 and ERK4 phosphorylation and activity is poorly understood. Here we report that the inducible nuclear dual-specificity MAP kinase phosphatase (MKP) DUSP2, a known regulator of the ERK and p38 MAPKs, is unique amongst ...

Gap junctions consist of arrays of intercellular channels that enable adjacent cells to communicate both electrically and metabolically. Gap junctions have a wide diversity of physiological functions, playing critical roles in both excitable and non-excitable tissues. Gap junction channels are formed by integral membrane proteins called connexins. Inherited or acquired alterations in connexins are ...

To understand the regulation of the pathophysiological processes, such as inflammation, thrombosis and atherosclerosis, it is very important to characterize the interactions between circulating cells and which molecules that contributes to and promote these interactions. As a part of this, the role of eicosanoids in cell-cell interactions in whole blood ex vivo and isolated blood cells are investigated. ...

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the frequently diagnosed type of oral cancers and is a leading cause of cancer associated mortality and morbidity worldwide. Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are activated fibroblasts that are found in association with cancer cells. CAFs are the most abundant stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). In the TME, cell interactions mediated ...

The decision to grant a disability pension is usually the end of a long process of medical examinations, treatment and rehabilitation attempts. This study investigates to what extent the time spent on rehabilitation time prior to disability pension is associated with characteristics of the individual or the local employment and welfare office, measured as municipality variance. A study of 2,533 40 ...