Vascular endothelial growth factor B controls endothelial fatty acid uptake.

The vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are major angiogenic regulators and are involved in several aspects of endothelial cell physiology. However, the detailed role of VEGF-B in blood vessel function has remained unclear. Here we show that VEGF-B has an unexpected role in endothelial targeting of lipids to peripheral tissues.

VEGF receptor 2/-3 heterodimers detected in situ by proximity ligation on angiogenic sprouts.

The vascular endothelial growth factors VEGFA and VEGFC are crucial regulators of vascular development. They exert their effects by dimerization and activation of the cognate receptors VEGFR2 and VEGFR3. Here, we have used in situ proximity ligation to detect receptor complexes in intact endothelial cells.

Occupational justice-bridging theory and practice.

The evolving theory of occupational justice links the concept to social justice and to concerns for a justice of difference: a justice that recognizes occupational rights to inclusive participation in everyday occupations for all persons in society, regardless of age, ability, gender, social class, or other differences. The purpose of this descriptive paper is to inspire and empower health professionals to build a theoretical bridge to practice with an occupational justice lens. Using illustrations from a study of leisure and the use of everyday technology in the lives of very old people in Northern Sweden, the authors argue that an occupational justice lens may inspire and empower health professionals to engage in critical dialogue on occupational justice; use global thinking about occupation, health, justice, and the environment; and combine population and individualized approaches.

Helicobacter species DNA in liver and gastric tissues in children and adolescents with chronic liver disease.

Objective: Enterohepatic Helicobacter species (EHS) have previously been found in adults with hepatobiliary diseases. Here, we report the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori and EHS in liver and gastric tissue in children and adolescents with chronic liver disease (CLD).

Material And Methods: Seventy-seven consecutive children and adolescents with CLD with or without ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease (UC/CD) were investigated.

Parathyroid Hormone's Acute Effect on Vasodilatory Function.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) seems to affect the risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate PTH's acute effect on endothelial vasodilatory function in forearm resistance vessels. Ten healthy subjects underwent forearm venous occlusion plethysmography.

Membrane insertion of marginally hydrophobic transmembrane helices depends on sequence context.

In mammalian cells, most integral membrane proteins are initially inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane by the so-called Sec61 translocon. However, recent predictions suggest that many transmembrane helices (TMHs) in multispanning membrane proteins are not sufficiently hydrophobic to be recognized as such by the translocon. In this study, we have screened 16 marginally hydrophobic TMHs from membrane proteins of known three-dimensional structure.

Danish health care providers' perception of breastfeeding difficulty experienced by women who are obese, have large breasts, or both.

Maternal obesity is associated with short duration of breastfeeding, and many obese women also have large breasts. To determine if health professionals who support lactating women can distinguish between these maternal characteristics as obstacles to breastfeeding, the authors conducted a mail survey of 242 Danish health professionals. They thought that initiating was more difficult (P < .

Protection, promotion and support of breast-feeding in Europe: progress from 2002 to 2007.

Objective: To assess progress in the protection, promotion and support of breast-feeding in Europe.

Design: Data for 2002 and 2007 were gathered with the same questionnaire. Of thirty countries, twenty-nine returned data for 2002, twenty-four for 2007.

Immunoblot analysis as an alternative method to diagnose enterohepatic Helicobacter infections.

Introduction: Enterohepatic Helicobacter species have been associated with chronic infections of the hepatobiliary tract and lower bowel in naturally and experimentally infected mice, Helicobacter-infected animals should thus not be used in studies of diseases associated with chronic inflammation. Helicobacter species induce inflammation and modulate host immune responses, thus emphasizing the need to diagnose these infections in laboratory animals.

Materials And Methods: An immunoblot assay was developed to analyze antibodies to enterohepatic Helicobacter species in naturally colonized laboratory mouse colonies.

From natural products to achiral drug prototypes: potent thrombin inhibitors based on P2/P3 dihydropyrid-2-one core motifs.

A series of dihydropyrid-2-ones was synthesized and tested for inhibitory activity against serine protease enzymes. Moderate to low nanomolar inhibitory activities were obtained against thrombin and excellent selectivity against trypsin was observed.

Insertion of short transmembrane helices by the Sec61 translocon.

The insertion efficiency of transmembrane (TM) helices by the Sec61 translocon depends on helix amino acid composition, the positions of the amino acids within the helix, and helix length. We have used an in vitro expression system to examine systematically the insertion efficiency of short polyleucine segments (L(n), n = 4 ..

Impact of temporomandibular disorder pain in adolescents: differences by age and gender.

Aims: To evaluate the impact of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain by age and gender in adolescents, with assessments of this impact specifically on school absence, medication consumption, perceived need for treatment, jaw function limitation, depressive symptoms scores and somatic complaints, and graded chronic pain scale.

Methods: In a population-based sample, a mailed questionnaire was sent to 350 patients with self-reported TMD pain (group 1) and 350 healthy age- and sex-matched individuals (group 2) aged 12 to 19 years 2 to 4 weeks after their annual dental examination. The groups were divided into younger (age 12 to 15) and older (age 16 to 19) groups.

Membrane-integration characteristics of two ABC transporters, CFTR and P-glycoprotein.

To what extent do corresponding transmembrane helices in related integral membrane proteins have different membrane-insertion characteristics? Here, we compare, side-by-side, the membrane insertion characteristics of the 12 transmembrane helices in the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Our results show that 10 of the 12 CFTR transmembrane segments can insert independently into the ER membrane. In contrast, only three of the P-gp transmembrane segments are independently stable in the membrane, while the majority depend on the presence of neighboring loops and/or transmembrane segments for efficient insertion.

Declining levels of PCB, HCB and p,p'-DDE in adipose tissue from food producing bovines and swine in Sweden 1991-2004.

The official control programme for organochlorine (OC) contaminants in food producing animals in Sweden was used to study temporal and spatial trends of the polychlorinated biphenyl CB 153, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and p,p'-DDE in adipose tissue from bovines and swine 1991-2004. Our results show that efforts to decrease OC contamination of animal feed and the environment have had a positive impact on the contamination of the animal production. OC concentrations declined significantly in almost all studied regions of Sweden.

Postoperative mortality in parathyroid surgery in Sweden during five decades: improved outcome despite older patients.

Objective: Primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is a common endocrine disorder. In Europe, pHPT has been associated with premature death in cardiovascular disorders. Our question was whether the risk of postoperative death has been affected by the increased proportion of elderly patients referred for parathyroid surgery.

Biochemical effects of consumption of eggs containing omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Today, eggs with an increased content of -3 fatty acids are available but there are few publications on the effects of consumption of such eggs on the lipoproteins and acute phase markers in humans. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of consumption of standard eggs and -3 enriched eggs on lipoproteins, glucose and inflammation markers. Nineteen healthy volunteers consumed one extra egg per day of either standard eggs or omega-3 enriched eggs in a double-blind, cross-over study.

Molecular code for protein insertion in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane is similar for N(in)-C(out) and N(out)-C(in) transmembrane helices.

Transmembrane alpha-helices in integral membrane proteins can have two orientations in the membrane: N(in)-C(out) or N(out)-C(in). Previous studies of model N(out)-C(in) transmembrane segment have led to a detailed, quantitative picture of the "molecular code" that relates amino acid sequence to membrane insertion efficiency in vivo [Hessa T, et al. (2007) Molecular code for transmembrane helix recognition by the Sec61 translocon.

Permanent atrial fibrillation in patients without structural heart disease is not associated with signs of infection by Chlamydia pneumoniae and Helicobacter pylori.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the role of Chlamydia pneumoniae and Helicobacter pylori infections in patients with idiopathic permanent atrial fibrillation.

Methods And Results: Sera from 72 patients with permanent atrial fibrillation without structural heart disease (mean age 69.6 years, 23 women) were analysed for IgG antibodies against Chlamydia pneumoniae and Helicobacter pylori and compared in a I:I age- and sex-matched case:control manner with those pooled from a healthy reference population of 72 individuals from the same geographical area.

NPY and its involvement in axon guidance, neurogenesis, and feeding.

Objectives: The role of neuropeptides in nervous system function is still in many cases undefined. In the present study we examined a possible role of the 36-amino acid neuropeptide Y (NPY) with regard to three functions: axon guidance and attraction/repulsion, adult neurogenesis, and control of food intake.

Methods: Growth cones from embryonic dorsal root ganglion neurons were studied in culture during asymmetrical gradient application of NPY.

Cross-reactivity between immune responses to Helicobacter bilis and Helicobacter pylori in a population in Thailand at high risk of developing cholangiocarcinoma.

Helicobacter bilis DNA has been detected in human tissue and is a candidate for etiologic investigations on the causes of hepatic and biliary tract diseases, but reliable serologic tests need to be developed in order to pursue such investigations. The scope of this study was to assess the specificity of two assays for H. bilis immune response allowing for H.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm and the impact of infectious burden.

Objectives: Little is known about the biological processes causing aortic aneurysm rupture. Chronic Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection has been suggested as a possible contributing factor to the development and expansion of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The importance of infection in AAA may be related to the previous pathogen burden, that is, the number of significant titres of antibodies against infectious pathogens rather than to single infectious agents.

Contribution of positively charged flanking residues to the insertion of transmembrane helices into the endoplasmic reticulum.

Positively charged residues located near the cytoplasmic end of hydrophobic segments in membrane proteins promote membrane insertion and formation of transmembrane alpha-helices. A quantitative understanding of this effect has been lacking, however. Here, using an in vitro transcription-translation system to study the insertion of model hydrophobic segments into dog pancreatic rough microsomes, we show that a single Lys or Arg residue typically contributes approximately -0.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm and cytomegalovirus infection.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Abdominal aortic aneurysm is regarded traditionally as a consequence of atherosclerosis. Several microorganisms have been suggested as possible contributing factors for the development of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Design, synthesis, and thrombin-inhibitory activity of pyridin-2-ones as P2/P3 core motifs.

Guided by available X-ray crystal structure data on the serine protease thrombin, a series of pyridin-2-one derivatives were designed and synthesized having diverse functionality at the P(1) and P(3) sites. Potent in vitro activity against thrombin, with excellent selectivity over trypsin was found for selected analogues.