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Background: The geographical distribution of multiple sclerosis (MS) means that prevalence rates increase with latitude north or south of the equator. Temporally, a tendency for increased incidences of MS has been observed over the past two decades.Objectives: Since epidemiological studies of MS in areas close to the Arctic Circle are rare, we evaluated the incidence and prevalence of MS in Northern Ostrobothnia by means of a retrospective cohort study covering the period 1992—2007.Methods: Patients with a definite clinical diagnosis of MS based on the Poser criteria and the early McDonald criteria of 2001 were identified in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia (population 386,972) and the incidence was calculated at 1-year time intervals, both overall and by gender.Results: The overall prevalence was 103/100,000 (95% CI, 93—113), with a female/male ratio of 2.17. The mean overall incidence was 6.3/100,000 (95% CI, 5.2—7.2). The incidence shows a tendency to increase over the 16-year period due to a pronounced rise in the female incidence.Conclusions: Our results show a high prevalence of MS in Northern Ostrobothnia and a disproportional increase in the female MS incidence. These recent epidemiological features may be associated with environmental risk factors such as a vitamin D deficit, low life-long UV radiation and the high-latitude geographical location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME), hydrodistillation and dynamic headspace combined with GC and GC-MS were applied and compared for the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from coniferous wood. The SPME conditions (type of fibre, size of wood sample, temperature and exposure time) were optimised, and more than 100 VOCs and semi-volatile compounds extracted and identified from the sapwood and heartwood of Norway spruce ( Picea abies). The total number of mono- and sesquiterpenes eluted and identified was similar for the SPME and hydrodistillation methods, but more semi-volatile compounds were released by hydrodistillation. By applying dynamic headspace at room temperature, it was possible to analyse only the most volatile compounds. The qualitative composition of VOCs was similar in spruce sapwood and heartwood, although Z- β-ocimene occurred only in sapwood while fenchol was present only in heartwood. SPME sampling coupled with GC, applied here to the analysis of VOCs released from stemwood of firs for the first time, is a convenient, sensitive, fast, solvent-free and simple method for the determination of wood volatiles. The technique requires much smaller sample amounts compared with hydrodistillation, and the total amount of VOCs extracted and identified is higher than that obtained by hydrodistillation or dynamic headspace. The relative ratios of the main mono- and sesquiterpenes and -terpenoids were similar using the SPME-GC and hydrodistillation methods. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the metabolism of hydroxymatairesinol (HMR) in vivo after oral administration to rats and the estrogenicity and antiestrogenicity of the compound. Transcriptional responses of human alpha and beta type estrogen receptors to mammalian ligans; Antitumor activity in dimethylbenzanthracene-induced mammary tumors.

Intrathecal antibody synthesis against 17 common viruses and Mycoplasma pneumoniae lipid antigen was measured in 30 multiple sclerosis patients and 30 patients with other neurological diseases. Antibody synthesis was found against all of the antigens in at least a few of the MS patients. The highest number of patients had intrathecal synthesis of antibodies to measles, rubella and paramyxo type viruses and the lowest frequency was against M. pneumoniae, herpes simplex virus, adenovirus and cytomegalovirus antigens. Simultaneous antibody synthesis occurred against 1-11 different antigens in these patients. When the summation of different antibody specificities synthesized intrathecally was compared to the CSF-IgG Index, which measures the intrathecal immunoglobulin G synthesis, a fairly close correlation was found. The control patients had occasional antibody synthesis but generally only against one single virus antigen. The intrathecal antibody synthesis against viruses did not correlate to the disability of the MS patients. The intrathecal antibody synthesis was not different in younger and older patients or patients with shorter or longer disease duration, suggesting that events leading to intrathecal antibody synthesis may occur relatively early in life in these patients. When presence of Dw2 antigen was compared to different specificities of intrathecally synthesized immunoglobulins, only measles virus antibody synthesis showed correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in vitro ³H-thymidine incorporation of peripheral blood (PB) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytes from 11 mumps meningitis patients was studied after stimulation with non-specific mitogens and microbial antigens. Although corresponding viral antibodies were always found in the CSF of seropositive patients by a sensitive radioimmunoassay, their intrathecal synthesis was directed mainly against mumps virus. Most of the patients had PB lymphocytes that reacted on stimulation with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or pokeweed mitogen (PWM), but a smaller number of them had reactive CSF cells. Only four patients showed stronger responses to PHA in the CSF than in PB. Most patients had mumps-reactive lymphocytes in PB but only two of them in the CSF. In contrast, these patients more often had increased CSF cell reactivity when tested with purified protein derivative, measles, and herpes simplex virus antigens. The results could not be explained by a damaged blood-brain barrier alone but may reflect the immunological status of the brain compartment in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]