Previous studies have shown that THP-1 cells produced an SDS-stable and reduction-sensitive complex between proMMP-9 and a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) core protein. The complex could be reconstituted in vitro using purified serglycin (SG) and proMMP-9 and contained no inter-disulfide bridges. It was suggested that the complex involved both the FnII module and HPX domain of proMMP-9. The ...

<i>Objective</i>: In addition to its skeletal effects, vitamin D may also be important for health in general. It is uncertain what level of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), marker of vitamin D status, is sufficient for these effects. With decreasing serum 25(OH)D levels there is an increase in serum PTH. The point at which this occurs has been considered as a threshold for vitamin D sufficiency. ...

<i>Background</i> - It is still uncertain whether coronary bifurcations with lesions involving a large side branch (SB) should be treated by stenting the main vessel and provisional stenting of the SB (simple) or by routine two-stent techniques (complex). We aimed to compare clinical outcome after treatment of lesions in large bifurcations by simple or complex stent implantation.<p> <p><i>Methods</i> ...

<i>BAKGRUNN</i> - Formålet med denne studien var å undersøke om behandlingstilbudet innen ryggkirurgi i Helse Nord er i henhold til den vedtatte funksjonsfordelingen mellom sykehusene i regionen, og om det er geografisk variasjon i tilbudet. Vi undersøkte derfor behandlingsrater i Norge og Helse Nord, samt egendekning i Helse Nord, og vurderte aktiviteten i regionen.<p> <p><i>MATERIALE OG METODE</i> ...

Distantly related lineages of the enigmatic giant rosette plants of tropical alpine environments provide classical examples of convergent adaptation. For the giant senecios (Dendrosenecio), the endemic landmarks of the East African sky islands, it has also been suggested that parallel adaptation has been important for within-lineage differentiation. To test this hypothesis and to address potential ...

The main arteries that supply blood to the brain originate from the Circle of Willis (CoW). The CoW exhibits considerable anatomical variations which may have clinical importance, but the variability is insufficiently characterised in the general population. We assessed the anatomical variability of CoW variants in a community-dwelling sample (N = 1,864, 874 men, mean age = 65.4, range 40–87 years), ...

Antibiotic resistance is rising and we urgently need to gain a better quantitative understanding of how antibiotics act, which in turn would also speed up the development of new antibiotics. Here, we describe a computational model (COMBAT-COmputational Model of Bacterial Antibiotic Target-binding) that can quantitatively predict antibiotic dose-response relationships. Our goal is dual: We address a ...

Elevundersøkelser viser at elever i stor grad opplever prestasjonspress i skolen. Fokuset på å oppnå gode karakterer – for å komme inn på høyere utdanning, for å tilfredsstille foreldre, venner eller seg selv, kan medføre psykisk uhelse, frafall i VGS og i verste fall samfunnsfaglig utenforskap. Forskningen min prøver ut to tiltak som kan redusere elevenes opplevelse av prestasjonspress i skolen: ...

In A Woman in the Polar Night (Eine Frau erlebt die Polarnacht, 1938), Christiane Ritter, a well-to-do Austrian housewife, describes her experience as the first central European woman to overwinter on Svalbard (1934–35). Ritter’s prose is extraordinary in its lyrical simplicity, and in German editions the text is interspersed with her paintings of the scenes that at first were so alien and changing, ...

In this article that opens and introduces the special issue Conceptualizing the North, we present our theoretical rationale behind the conceptualization(s) of the north presented both in our article and in the issue as a whole, as well as our approach to the co-creative peer review. Through new material feminist understanding of the north, we acknowledge our kin both past and present, and unfold a ...