Inter- and intrarater reliability of the Eating and Drinking Ability Classification System in Sweden.

Purpose: To evaluate inter- and intrarater reliability, of the Eating and Drinking Ability Classification System (EDACS) for children and adults with cerebral palsy (CP) in Sweden.

Methods: Four speech and language pathologists rated EDACS from videos of 30 individuals with CP, 3 to 62 years, (mean 21 y, 10 m, SD 18 y, 6 m), six at each level of the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Inter- and intrarater reliability were estimated using Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) with 95% confidence interval.

Eating and drinking ability and nutritional status in adults with cerebral palsy.

Aim: To describe eating and drinking ability in adults with cerebral palsy (CP) relative to sex, age, subtype, and severity of gross motor and hand function and nutritional status.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study based on data of 2035 adults with CP, median age 26 years (range 18-78 years). The Eating and Drinking Ability Classification System (EDACS), Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), and Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) were used in addition to subtype, body weight, height, body mass index (BMI), skin fold thickness, and gastrostomy.

Sublingual administration of atropine eyedrops in children with excessive drooling - a pilot study.

Background: Drooling can be a severe disability and have high impact on daily life. Reversible treatment is preferable.

Aim: To analyse whether sublingual administration of atropine eyedrops is a useful reversible treatment option for severe drooling in children with disabilities.

Brief hyperglycaemia in the early pregnant rat increases fetal weight at term by stimulating placental growth and affecting placental nutrient transport.

In pregnant women with type 1 diabetes, suboptimal glucose control in the first trimester is a strong predictor for giving birth to a large fetus. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are unknown. We hypothesized that transient hyperglycaemia in early pregnancy results in (1) increased placental growth and (2) an up-regulation of placental nutrient transport capacity, which leads to fetal overgrowth at term.

Genetic analysis of susceptibility to endometrial adenocarcinoma in the BDII rat model.

Most cancers are genetically complex and heterogeneous, a serious obstacle to identifying specific genes underlying the disease. If inbred animal models are used, then both the genetic constitution and environmental influences can be carefully controlled. Females of the BDII inbred rat strain are genetically predisposed to endometrial cancer; more than 90% of virgin BDII females will develop endometrial adenocarcinoma (EAC) during their life span.

Evolutionary aspects of the genomic organization of rat chromosome 10.

Using FISH and RH mapping a chromosomal map of rat chromosome 10 (RNO10) was constructed. Our mapping data were complemented by other published data and the final map was compared to maps of mouse and human chromosomes. RNO10 contained segments homologous to mouse chromosomes (MMU) 11, 16 and 17, with evolutionary breakpoints between the three segments situated in the proximal part of RNO10.

Detailed chromosomal and radiation hybrid mapping in the proximal part of rat Chromosome 10 and gene order comparison with mouse and human.

The rat provides valuable and sometimes unique models of human complex diseases. To fully exploit the rat models in biomedical research, it is important to have access to detailed knowledge of the rat genome organization as well as its relation to the human genome. Rat Chromosome 10 (RNO10) harbors several important cancer-related genes.

A neural mechanism improving visual acuity by contrast enhancement, a study of foveal vision.

Analysis of synaptic connections between neurons in the retina (Sjöstrand, 1958, 1974, 1989, 1990, 1998a,b,d) has revealed a pattern of connections between rods, cones and bipolar cells that shapes neural interaction to generate spatial brightness contrast enhancement, explaining the Mach band phenomenon (Mach, 1865). Using the Mach band effect at boundaries between fields of different brightness it was revealed that the phenomenon applies to foveal vision. The contrast enhancing distortion of brightness was confined to zones, the width of which approached visual resolution.