Masting by Betula-species; applying the resource budget model to north European data sets.

Masting, the intermittent production of large crops of flowers by a plant population, is a common feature among trees in boreal and temperate forests. The pollen of many broadleaved trees causes allergic diseases, which are major causes of increasing health-care costs in industrialised countries. As the prevalence and severity of allergic diseases are connected with the concentrations of airborne pollen, an universal model predicting the intensity of the coming flowering would be a valuable tool for pollen information services, and ultimately for allergic people and allergologists.

[Adolescents' view on the use of condoms].

Seven out of ten of the adolescents included in the study had experienced unsafe sex with a new partner. Afterwards, 48% worried about STD and 31% worried about pregnancy. Teenagers calculate the risk of contracting STD from the looks and the reputation of a new partner.

Point prevalence of psychiatric disorders during the second trimester of pregnancy: a population-based study.

Objective: This study was undertaken to determine the point prevalence of psychiatric disorders during the second trimester of pregnancy in a population-based sample of pregnant women.

Study Design: Participants were 1795 consecutive pregnant women attending routine ultrasound screening at two obstetric clinics in Northern Sweden during 1 year. The Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) was used for evaluating.

An optimized technique for separation of human decidual leukocytes for cellular and molecular analyses.

Problem: Human decidua contains a significant number of leukocytes, phenotypically and functionally different from peripheral blood. In vitro studies of decidual leukocytes require constant improvement of cell isolation technique in order to obtain highly purified viable and functionally active cells.

Method Of Study: Optimized isolation procedure of decidual leukocytes, based on non-enzymatic cell dispersion, Percoll gradient centrifugation and purification step involving immunomagnetic beads is compared with a similar procedure with Lymphoprep gradient.