Serum hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotrophin at 14-17 weeks of gestation does not predict preeclampsia.

Introduction: Low first-trimester serum concentrations of hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG-h) predict later preeclampsia. We studied whether serum hCG-h at 14-17 weeks of pregnancy also predicts preeclampsia alone or combined with placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble vascular endothelial growth factor 1 (sVEGFR-1).

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study comprising 55 women with subsequent preeclampsia, 21 with gestational hypertension, 30 with a small-for-gestational-age infant, and 83 controls.

The Accu-Chek Mobile blood glucose monitoring system used under controlled conditions meets ISO 15197 standards in the hands of diabetes patients.

Background: Self-monitoring of blood glucose is a cornerstone of diabetes management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the analytical quality and the ease of use of the Accu-Chek Mobile, a new glucose monitoring system designed for capillary blood testing by diabetic patients.

Materials And Methods: The performance of the Accu-Chek Mobile was evaluated both in the hands of a scientist and of diabetes patients.

Azafullerene C59N-phthalocyanine dyad: synthesis, characterisation and photoinduced electron transfer.

The synthesis of a new azafullerene C(59)N-phthalocyanine (Pc) dyad is described. The key step for the synthesis of the C(59)N-Pc dyad was the formation of the C(59)N-based carboxylic acid, which was smoothly condensed with hydroxy-modified Pc. The structure of the C(59)N-Pc dyad was verified by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, UV/Vis spectroscopy and MS measurements.

First trimester biochemistry at different maternal ages.

Background: The performance of first trimester biochemical screening was compared at different pregnancy weeks and maternal ages during 2002-2008 in a screened population of 76,949 women.

Methods: The detection rates, as well as the median multiples of a median (MOMs) of free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (free β-hCG) and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), were compared between completed gestational weeks 8-13 and between different maternal ages separated into 5-year groupings.

Results: The number of singleton Down syndrome pregnancies was 221.

False-negative results in routine combined first-trimester screening for down syndrome in Finland.

We analyzed the frequency and possible causes of false-negative (Fn) screening results in first-trimester combined Down syndrome screening in Finland. During the study period (May 1, 2002, to December 31, 2008), 76,949 voluntary women with singleton pregnancies participated in screening. Maternal age at screening, week of gestation, levels of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (fβ-hCG), and nuchal translucency (NT) measurement were compared and statistically analyzed between true-positive (Tp) and Fn cases.

Screening and outcome of chromosomal abnormalities other than trisomy 21 in Northern Finland.

Objective: To examine the performance of first-trimester combined screening after adding the specific algorithms for trisomies 18 and 13 in the Down syndrome screening program for chromosomal abnormalities other than trisomy 21 and to determine the outcomes of such pregnancies.

Design: A retrospective study.

Setting: Oulu University Hospital, Finland.

Decreased PAPP-A is associated with preeclampsia, premature delivery and small for gestational age infants but not with placental abruption.

Objective: To investigate links between first trimester Down's syndrome screening markers and adverse pregnancy outcomes; preeclampsia (PE), small for gestational age (SGA), preterm delivery (PD) and placental abruption (PA) in spontaneous, chromosomally normal pregnancies.

Study Design: Cohort study in a university hospital. Data during pregnancy were routinely collected from a total study population of 2844 pregnant women between 2005 and 2007.

More invasive procedures are done to detect each case of Down's syndrome in younger women.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of first-trimester combined screening in 5-year periods according to maternal age in a low-risk population.

Design: A prospective study.

Setting: Multicenter study in Finland.

Synthesis and characterization of monoisomeric 1,8,15,22-substituted (A3B and A2B2) phthalocyanines and phthalocyanine-fullerene dyads.

Synthesis and characterization of three phthalocyanine-fullerene (Pc-C(60)) dyads, corresponding monoisomeric phthalocyanines (Pc), and building blocks, phthalonitriles, are described. Six novel bisaryl phthalonitriles were prepared by the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction from trifluoromethanesulfonic acid 2,3-dicyanophenyl ester and various oxaborolanes. Two phthalonitriles were selected for the synthesis of A(3)B- and A(2)B(2)-type phthalocyanines.

Independence and inverted dependence on temperature of rates of photoinduced electron transfer in double-linked phthalocyanine-fullerene dyads.

Photoinduced electron transfer reactions of phthalalocyanine-fullerene dyads, in which donor and acceptor moieties are covalently linked to each other, with one or two malonic linkers, were studied. In the dyads with two linkers, phthalocyanine and fullerene have mutual orientations, face-to-face or face-to-tail, which differ from each other and influence photoinduced electron transfer processes. Quantitative spectroscopic and time-resolved spectroscopic measurements were done in polar and non-polar solvents at room temperature and at several reduced temperatures.

Increased time-to-pregnancy and first trimester Down's syndrome screening.

Background: Time-to-pregnancy (TTP) is a clinical tool used to measure uterine receptivity and a couples' fertility in spontaneously conceived pregnancies. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of TTP on first trimester Down's syndrome (DS) markers in spontaneous, chromosomally normal pregnancies and to compare the results to those in IVF pregnancies.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted amongst patients attending a university hospital in Finland.

Effect of a new marker, ADAM12, on Down risk figures in first trimester screening.

Objective: To investigate whether incorporating the measurement of ADAM12 in the risk calculation program LifeCycle, can improve Down screening in the first trimester.

Methods: In a retrospective case control study, maternal serum ADAM12 concentrations were measured and compared in Down syndrome cases (n = 53) and in controls (n = 226) obtained from first trimester (9-12 weeks) screening samples in Oulu and Kuopio University Hospitals. Median concentration ( microg/l), observed and regressed (weight corrected) MoMs of ADAM12 were calculated.

A modular "toolbox" approach to flexible branched multimacrocyclic hosts as precursors for multiply interlocked architectures.

Tetralactam macrocycles can be functionalized by a variety of cross-coupling reactions. A modular "toolbox" strategy is presented that allows 1) several tetralactam macrocycles to be covalently connected with each other or with a central spacer, 2) the macrocycles to be substituted with or connected to different chromophores, and 3) metal-coordination sites to be attached to the macrocycles. With this approach a series of different oligo-macrocyclic hosts was obtained with great structural diversity and enormous potential for further functionalization.