Repeated dose 28-day oral toxicity study of moniliformin in rats.

Moniliformin is a Fusarium mycotoxin mainly produced by several species infecting grains in different climatic conditions. According to our previous studies, it is acutely toxic to rats, with an LD50 cut-off value of 25mg/kg b.w.

Ecological effects of pharmaceuticals in aquatic systems--impacts through behavioural alterations.

The study of animal behaviour is important for both ecology and ecotoxicology, yet research in these two fields is currently developing independently. Here, we synthesize the available knowledge on drug-induced behavioural alterations in fish, discuss potential ecological consequences and report results from an experiment in which we quantify both uptake and behavioural impact of a psychiatric drug on a predatory fish (Perca fluviatilis) and its invertebrate prey (Coenagrion hastulatum). We show that perch became more active while damselfly behaviour was unaffected, illustrating that behavioural effects of pharmaceuticals can differ between species.

Technical evaluation of a laser-based optical surface scanning system for prospective and retrospective breathing adapted computed tomography.

Background: For breathing adapted radiotherapy, the same motion monitoring system can be used for imaging and triggering of the accelerator.

Purpose: To evaluate a new technique for prospective gated computed tomography (CT) and four-dimensional CT (4DCT) using a laser based surface scanning system (Sentinel(™), C-RAD, Uppsala, Sweden). The system was compared to the AZ-733V respiratory gating system (Anzai Medical, Tokyo, Japan) and the Real-Time Position Management System (RPM(™)) (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA, USA).

Piscivore-prey fish interactions: mechanisms behind diurnal patterns in prey selectivity in brown and clear water.

Environmental change may affect predator-prey interactions in lakes through deterioration of visual conditions affecting foraging success of visually oriented predators. Environmental change in lakes includes an increase in humic matter causing browner water and reduced visibility, affecting the behavioural performance of both piscivores and prey. We studied diurnal patterns of prey selection in piscivorous pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) in both field and laboratory investigations.

DNA translocations through solid-state plasmonic nanopores.

Nanopores enable label-free detection and analysis of single biomolecules. Here, we investigate DNA translocations through a novel type of plasmonic nanopore based on a gold bowtie nanoantenna with a solid-state nanopore at the plasmonic hot spot. Plasmonic excitation of the nanopore is found to influence both the sensor signal (nanopore ionic conductance blockade during DNA translocation) and the process that captures DNA into the nanopore, without affecting the duration time of the translocations.

Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of lung carcinoma reveals one neuroendocrine and four adenocarcinoma epitypes associated with patient outcome.

Purpose: Lung cancer is the worldwide leading cause of death from cancer. DNA methylation in gene promoter regions is a major mechanism of gene expression regulation that may promote tumorigenesis. However, whether clinically relevant subgroups based on DNA methylation patterns exist in lung cancer remains unclear.

Evaluation of germinal center-like structures and B cell clonality in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome with and without lymphoma.

Objective: Germinal center (GC)-like structures have previously been observed in minor salivary glands (MSG) of patients with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS). The aim of our study was to explore the prevalence and features of GC-like structures and B cell clonality in patients with pSS with and without lymphoma.

Methods: Based on a nationwide survey in Norway, we included 21 patients with pSS and with a concomitant lymphoma from whom MSG and/or lymphoma biopsies were available.

Differences in lens optical plasticity in two gadoid fishes meeting in the Arctic.

Arctic and boreal/temperate species are likely to be evolutionary adapted to different light regimes. Currently, the boreal/temperate Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is coexisting with the native polar cod (Boreogadus saida) in the Arctic waters around Svalbard, Norway. Here, we studied light/dark adaptative optical plasticity of their eye lenses by exposing fish to bright light during the polar night.

Proteolytic activity of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) towards protein substrates and effect of peptides stimulating PSA activity.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA or kallikrein-related peptidase-3, KLK3) exerts chymotrypsin-like proteolytic activity. The main biological function of PSA is the liquefaction of the clot formed after ejaculation by cleavage of semenogelins I and II in seminal fluid. PSA also cleaves several other substrates, which may explain its putative functions in prostate cancer and its antiangiogenic activity.

Molecular subtyping of serous ovarian tumors reveals multiple connections to intrinsic breast cancer subtypes.

Objective: Transcriptional profiling of epithelial ovarian cancer has revealed molecular subtypes correlating to biological and clinical features. We aimed to determine gene expression differences between malignant, benign and borderline serous ovarian tumors, and investigate similarities with the well-established intrinsic molecular subtypes of breast cancer.

Methods: Global gene expression profiling using Illumina's HT12 Bead Arrays was applied to 59 fresh-frozen serous ovarian malignant, benign and borderline tumors.

Designing a risk-based surveillance program for Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis in Norwegian dairy herds using multivariate statistical process control analysis.

Surveillance programs for animal diseases are critical to early disease detection and risk estimation and to documenting a population's disease status at a given time. The aim of this study was to describe a risk-based surveillance program for detecting Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in Norwegian dairy cattle.

SSEA-4+ CD34- cells in the adult human heart show the molecular characteristics of a novel cardiomyocyte progenitor population.

Stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA) expression is used to describe the differentiation state of an embryonic stem cell (ESC). In human ESCs, SSEA-3 and SSEA-4 are highly expressed in undifferentiated cells and downregulated upon differentiation. SSEA-4 has also been described as a marker for adult stem cells in various tissues, including human neonatal cardiac tissue.

Long-term resilience of above- and below ground ecosystem components among contrasting ecosystems.

While several studies have explored how short-term ecological responses to disturbance vary among ecosystems, experimental studies of how contrasting ecosystems recover from disturbance in the longer term are few. We performed a simple long-term experiment on each of 30 contrasting forested islands in northern Sweden that vary in size; as size decreases, time since fire increases, soil fertility and ecosystem productivity declines, and plant species diversity increases. We predicted that resilience of understory plant community properties would be greatest on the larger, more productive islands, and that this would be paralleled by greater resilience of soil biotic and abiotic properties.

Somatoform dissociation among Swedish adolescents and young adults: the psychometric properties of the Swedish versions of the SDQ-20 and SDQ-5.

Background: Somatoform dissociation is supposed to be a vital aspect of the general concept of dissociation. The Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire-20 (SDQ-20) and the brief version SDQ-5 are self-report instruments constructed to identify somatic dissociation.

Aim: In the present study, the psychometric qualities of the Swedish version of the SDQ-20 and its brief version, the SDQ-5, were examined among adolescents and young adults.

The risk of uterine rupture is not increased with single- compared with double-layer closure: a Swedish cohort study.

Objective: To compare single- with double-layer closure of the uterus for the risk of uterine rupture in women attempting vaginal birth after one prior caesarean delivery.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: Sweden.

Discovery-based protein expression profiling identifies distinct subgroups and pathways in leiomyosarcomas.

Unlabelled: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are malignant tumors of mesenchymal origin. A substantial portion of these tumors exhibits complex karyotypes and lack characterized chromosomal aberrations. Owing to such properties, both histopathologic and molecular classification of these tumors has been a significant challenge.

Estimation of the probability of freedom from bovine virus diarrhoea virus in Norway using scenario tree modelling.

Disease caused by Bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is notifiable in Norway. An eradication programme started in 1992. The number of herds with restrictions decreased from 2950 in 1994 to zero at the end of 2006.

Key roles for MYC, KIT and RET signaling in secondary angiosarcomas.

Background: Angiosarcomas may develop as primary tumours of unknown cause or as secondary tumours, most commonly following radiotherapy to the involved field. The different causative agents may be linked to alternate tumorigenesis, which led us to investigate the genetic profiles of morphologically indistinguishable primary and secondary angiosarcomas.

Methods: Whole-genome (18k) c-DNA-mediated annealing, selection, extension and ligation analysis was used to genetically profile 26 primary and 29 secondary angiosarcomas.

Neonatal encephalopathy and the association to asphyxia in labor.

Objective: In cases with moderate and severe neonatal encephalopathy, we aimed to determine the proportion that was attributable to asphyxia during labor and to investigate the association between cardiotocographic (CTG) patterns and neonatal outcome.

Study Design: In a study population of 71,189 births from 2 Swedish university hospitals, 80 cases of neonatal encephalopathy were identified. Cases were categorized by admission CTG patterns (normal or abnormal) and by the presence of asphyxia (cord pH, <7.

Impact of changes to reimbursement of fixed combinations of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β₂ -agonists in obstructive lung diseases: a population-based, observational study.

Background: In 2010, the Icelandic government introduced a new cost-saving policy that limited reimbursement of fixed inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting β₂ -agonist (ICS/LABA) combinations.

Methods: This population-based, retrospective, observational study assessed the effects of this policy change by linking specialist/primary care medical records with data from the Icelandic Pharmaceutical Database. The policy change took effect on 1 January 2010 (index date); data for the year preceding and following this date were analysed in 8241 patients with controlled/partly controlled asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who had been dispensed an ICS/LABA during 2009.

Distinct gene expression profiles in ovarian cancer linked to Lynch syndrome.

Ovarian cancer linked to Lynch syndrome represents a rare subset that typically presents at young age as early-stage tumors with an overrepresentation of endometrioid and clear cell histologies. We investigated the molecular profiles of Lynch syndrome-associated and sporadic ovarian cancer with the aim to identify key discriminators and central tumorigenic mechanisms in hereditary ovarian cancer. Global gene expression profiling using whole-genome c-DNA-mediated Annealing, Selection, extension, and Ligation was applied to 48 histopathologically matched Lynch syndrome-associated and sporadic ovarian cancers.

On the formation of 7-ketocholesterol from 7-dehydrocholesterol in patients with CTX and SLO.

A new mechanism for formation of 7-ketocholesterol was recently described involving cytochrome P-450 (CYP)7A1-catalyzed conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol into 7-ketocholesterol with cholesterol-7,8-epoxide as a side product. Some patients with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) and all patients with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLO) have markedly increased levels of 7-dehydrocholesterol in plasma and tissues. In addition, the former patients have markedly upregulated CYP7A1.

Ecotoxicological evaluation of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanocapsules containing triazine herbicides.

The triazine class of herbicides includes the compounds ametryn, atrazine, and simazine, which are used to control weeds in plantations of crops such as maize, sorghum, and sugar cane. Despite their acceptance in agriculture, these herbicides can be dangerous to the environment, depending on their toxicity, the degree of contamination, and the duration of exposure. Controlled release systems are increasingly used to mitigate problems of toxicity and minimize environmental impacts, and can also increase herbicide efficiency.

The implementation of a dual dispatch system in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is associated with improved short and long term survival.

Aims: To determine the impact of a dual dispatch system, using fire fighters as first responders, in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) on short (30 days) and long term (three years) survival, and, to investigate the potential differences regarding in-hospital factors and interventions between the patient groups, such as the use of therapeutic hypothermia and cardiac catheterization.

Methods And Results: OHCAs from 2004 (historical controls) and 2006-2009 (intervention period) were included. During the intervention period, fire fighters equipped with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) were dispatched in suspected OHCA.

Self-reported physical activity and lung function two months after cardiac surgery--a prospective cohort study.

Background: Physical activity has well-established positive health-related effects. Sedentary behaviour has been associated with postoperative complications and mortality after cardiac surgery. Patients undergoing cardiac surgery often suffer from impaired lung function postoperatively.