| 1. |
- Kragelund, C, et al.
(författare)
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Scandinavian fellowship for oral pathology and oral medicine : statement on oral pathology and oral medicine in the European dental curriculum
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine. - : Wiley. - 0904-2512 .- 1600-0714. ; 39:10, s. 800-801
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: For many years, dentists have migrated between the Scandinavian countries without an intentionally harmonized dental education. The free movement of the workforce in the European Union has clarified that a certain degree of standardization or harmonization of the European higher education acts, including the dental education, is required. As a result of the Bologna process, the Association for Dental Education in Europe and the thematic network DentEd have generated guidelines in the document 'Profile and Competences for the European Dentist' (PCD). This document is meant to act as the leading source in revisions of dental curricula throughout Europe converging towards a European Dental Curriculum. In order to render the best conditions for future curriculum revisions providing the best quality dentist we feel obliged to analyse and comment the outlines of oral pathology and oral medicine in the PCD.METHODS: The representatives agreed upon definitions of oral pathology and oral medicine, and competences in oral pathology and oral medicine that a contemporary European dentist should master. The competences directly related to oral pathology and oral medicine were identified, within the PCD.RESULTS: The subject representatives suggested eighteen additions and two rewordings of the PCD, which all were substantiated by thorough argumentation.PERSPECTIVES: Hopefully, this contribution will find support in future revisions of the PCD in order to secure the best quality dental education.
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| 2. |
- Nylander, S., et al.
(författare)
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A complementing approach for identifying ethical issues in care robotics - Grounding ethics in practical use
- 2012
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Ingår i: RO-MAN, 2012 IEEE. - : IEEE. - 9781467346054 ; , s. 797-802, s. 797-802
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We use a long-term study of a robotic eating-aid for disabled users to illustrate how empirical use give rise to a set of ethical issues that might be overlooked in ethic discussions based on theoretical extrapolation of the current state-of-the-art in robotics. This approach provides an important complement to the existing robot ethics by revealing new issues as well as providing actionable guidance for current and future robot design. We discuss our material in relation to the literature on robot ethics, specifically the risk of robots performing care taking tasks and thus causing increased isolation for care recipients. Our data identifies a different set of ethical issues such as independence, privacy, and identity where robotics, if carefully designed and developed, can make positive contributions.
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| 3. |
- Ainalem, Marie-Louise, et al.
(författare)
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On the Ability of PAMAM Dendrimers and Dendrimer/DNA Aggregates To Penetrate POPC Model Biomembranes
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 114:21, s. 7229-7244
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers have previously been shown, as cationic condensing agents of DNA, to have high potential for nonviral gene delivery. This study addresses two key issues for gene delivery: the interaction of the biomembrane with (i) the condensing agent (the cationic PAMAM dendrimer) and (ii) the corresponding dendrimer/DNA aggregate. Using in situ null ellipsometry and neutron reflection, parallel experiments were carried out involving dendrimers or generations 2 (G2), 4 (G4), and 6 (G6). The study demonstrates that free dendrimers of all three generations were able to traverse supported palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) bilayers deposited on silica surfaces. The model biomembranes were elevated front the solid surfaces upon dendrimer penetration, which offers a promising new way to generate more realistic model biomembranes where the contact with the supporting surface is reduced and where aqueous cavities are present beneath the bilayer. The largest dendrimer (GO) induced partial bilayer destruction directly upon penetration, whereas the smaller dendrimers (G2 and G4) leave the bilayer intact, so we propose that lower generation dendrimers have greater potential as transfection mediators. In addition to the experimental observations, coarse-grained simulations on the interaction between generation 3 (03) dendrimers and POPC bilayers were performed in the absence and presence of a bilayer-supporting negatively charged surface that emulates the support. The simulations demonstrate that G3 is transported across free-standing POPC bilayers by direct penetration and not by endocytosis. The penetrability was, however, reduced in the presence of a surface, indicating that the membrane transport observed experimentally was not driven solely by the surface. The experimental reflection techniques were also applied to dendrimer/DNA aggregates of charge ratio = 0.5, and while G2/DNA and G4/DNA aggregates interact with POPC bilayers. G6/DNA displays no such interaction. These results indicate that, in contrast to free dendrimer molecules, dendrimer/DNA aggregates of low charge ratios are not able to traverse a membrane by direct penetration.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Bain, C. D., et al.
(författare)
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Complexes of surfactants with oppositely charged polymers at surfaces and in bulk
- 2010
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Ingår i: Advances in Colloid and Interface Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0001-8686 .- 1873-3727. ; 155:1-2, s. 32-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Addition of surfactants to aqueous solutions of polyelectrolytes carrying an opposite charge causes the spontaneous formation of complexes in the bulk phase in certain concentration ranges. Under some conditions, compact monodisperse multichain complexes are obtained in the bulk. The size of these complexes depends on the mixing procedure and it can be varied in a controlled way from nanometers up to micrometers. The complexes exhibit microstructures analoguous to those of the precipitates formed at higher concentrations. In other cases, however, the bulk complexes are large, soft and polydisperse. In most cases, the dispersions are only kinetically stable and exhibit pronounced non-equilibrium features. Association at air-water interfaces readily occurs, even at very small concentrations. When the surfactant concentration is small, the surface complexes are usually made of a surfactant monolayer to which the polymer binds and adsorbs in a flat-like configuration. However, under some conditions, thicker layers can be found, with bulk complexes sticking to the surface. The association at solid-water interfaces is more complex and depends on the specific interactions between surfactants, polymers and the surface. However, the behaviour can be understood if distinctions between hydrophilic surfaces and hydrophobic surfaces are made. Note that the behaviour at air-water interfaces is closer to that of hydrophobic than that of hydrophilic solid surfaces. The relation between bulk and surface complexation will be discussed in this review. The emphasis will be given to the results obtained by the teams of the EC-funded Marie Curie RTN "SOCON".
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| 6. |
- Black, Camilla F, et al.
(författare)
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Linear dsDNA Partitions Spontaneously into the Inverse Hexagonal Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Phases of Phospholipids.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-5126 .- 0002-7863. ; 132:28, s. 9728-9732
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recently, we reported that DNA associated with inverse hexagonal (H(II)) lyotropic liquid crystal phases of the lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) was actively transcribed by T7 RNA polymerase. (1) Our findings suggested that key components of the transcription process, probably the T7 RNA polymerase and the DNA, remained associated with the monolithic H(II) phase throughout transcription. Here, we investigate the partitioning of DNA between an H(II) lyotropic liquid crystal phase and an isotropic supernatant phase in order to develop insights into the localization of DNA in liquid crystalline environments. Our results show that linear double stranded DNA (dsDNA) molecules partition spontaneously into monolithic preformed H(II) liquid crystal phases of DOPE. We propose that this process is driven by the increase in entropy due to the release of counterions from the DNA when it inserts into the aqueous pores of the H(II) phase.
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| 7. |
- Cedernaes, Jonathan, et al.
(författare)
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Comprehensive analysis of localization of 78 solute carrier genes throughout the subsections of the rat gastrointestinal tract
- 2011
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Ingår i: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications - BBRC. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-291X .- 1090-2104. ; 411:4, s. 702-707
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Solute carriers (SLCs), the second largest super-family of membrane proteins in the human genome, transport amino acids, sugars, fatty acids, inorganic ions, essential metals and drugs over membranes. To date no study has provided a comprehensive analysis of SLC localization along the entire GI tract. The aim of the present study was to provide a comprehensive, segment-specific description of the localization of SLC genes along the rat Cl tract by employing bioinformatics and molecular biology methods. The Unigene database was screened for rat SLC entries in the intestinal tissue. Using qPCR we measured expression of the annotated genes in the Cl tract divided into the following segments: the esophagus, the corpus and the antrum of the stomach, the proximal and distal parts of the duodenum, ileum, jejunum and colon, and the cecum. Our Unigene-derived gene pool was expanded with data from in-house tissue panels and a literature search. We found 44 out of 78 (56%) of gut SLC transcripts to be expressed in all Cl tract segments, whereas the majority of remaining SLCs were detected in more than five segments. SLCs are predominantly expressed in gut regions with absorptive functions although expression was also found in segments unrelated to absorption. The proximal jejunum had the highest number of differentially expressed SLCs. In conclusion, SLCs are a crucial molecular component of the Cl tract, with many of them expressed along the entire GI tract. This work presents the first overall road map of localization of transporter genes in the Cl tract.
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| 8. |
- Clauzel, Maryline, et al.
(författare)
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Surface Deposition and Phase Behavior of Oppositely Charged Polyion-Surfactant Ion Complexes. Delivery of Silicone Oil Emulsions to Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Surfaces.
- 2011
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 3, s. 2451-2462
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The adsorption from mixed polyelectrolyte-surfactant solutions at hydrophobized silica surfaces was investigated by in situ null-ellipsometry, and compared to similar measurements for hydrophilic silica surfaces. Three synthetic cationic copolymers of varying hydrophobicity and one cationic hydroxyethyl cellulose were compared in mixtures with the anionic surfactant sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) in the absence or presence of a dilute silicone oil emulsion. The adsorption behavior was mapped while stepwise increasing the concentration of SDS to a polyelectrolyte solution of constant concentration. The effect on the deposition of dilution of the bulk solution in contact with the surface was also investigated by gradual replacement of the bulk solution with 1 mM aqueous NaCl. An adsorbed layer remained after complete exchange of the polyelectrolyte/surfactant solution for aqueous NaCl. In most cases, there was a codeposition of silicone oil droplets, if such droplets were present in the formulation before dilution. The overall features of the deposition were similar at hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces, but there were also notable differences. SDS molecules adsorbed selectively at the hydrophobized silica surface, but not at the hydrophilic silica, which influenced the coadsorption of the cationic polymers. The largest amount of deposited material after dilution was found for hydrophilic silica and for the least-hydrophobic cationic polymers. For the least-hydrophobic polyions, no significant codeposition of silicone oil was detected at hydrophobized silica after dilution if the initial SDS concentration was high.
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| 9. |
- Gillams, Richard J., et al.
(författare)
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Formation of Inverse Topology Lyotropic Phases in Dioleoylphosphatidylcholine/Oleic Acid and Dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine/Oleic Acid Binary Mixtures
- 2014
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Ingår i: Langmuir. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0743-7463 .- 1520-5827. ; 30:12, s. 3337-3344
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The addition of saturated fatty acids (FA) to phosphatidylcholine lipids (PC) that have saturated acyl chains has been shown to promote the formation of lyotropic liquidcrystalline phases with negative mean curvature. PC/FA mixtures may exhibit inverse bicontinuous cubic phases (Im3m, Pn3m) or inverse topology hexagonal phases (HII), depending on the length of the acyl chains/fatty acid. Here we report a detailed study of the phase behavior of binary mixtures of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC)/oleic acid (OA) and dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE)/oleic acid at limiting hydration, constructed using small-angle X-ray diffraction (SAXD) data. The phase diagrams of both systems show a succession of phases with increasing negative mean curvature with increasing OA content. At high OA concentrations, we have observed the occurrence of an inverse micellar Fd3m phase in both systems. Hitherto, this phase had not been reported for phosphatidylethanolamine/fatty acid mixtures, and as such it highlights an additional route through which fatty acids may increase the propensity of bilayer lipid membranes to curve. We also propose a method that uses the temperature dependence of the lattice parameters of the HII phases to estimate the spontaneous radii of curvature (R0) of the binary mixtures and of the component lipids. Using this method, we calculated the R0 values of the complexes comprising one phospholipid molecule and two fatty acid molecules, which have been postulated to drive the formation of inverse phases in PL/FA mixtures. These are −1.8 nm (±0.4 nm) for DOPC(OA)2 and −1.1 nm (±0.1 nm) for DOPE(OA)2. R0 values estimated in this way allow the quantification of the contribution that different lipid species make to membrane curvature elastic properties and hence of their effect on the function of membrane-bound proteins.
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| 10. |
- Holt, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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Mineralisation of soft and hard tissues and the stability of biofluids.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Structural Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-8657 .- 1047-8477. ; 185:3, s. 383-396
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evidence is provided from studies on natural and artificial biofluids that the sequestration of amorphous calcium phosphate by peptides or proteins to form nanocluster complexes is of general importance in the control of physiological calcification. A naturally occurring mixture of osteopontin peptides was shown, by light and neutron scattering, to form calcium phosphate nanoclusters with a core-shell structure. In blood serum and stimulated saliva, an invariant calcium phosphate ion activity product was found which corresponds closely in form and magnitude to the ion activity product observed in solutions of these osteopontin nanoclusters. This suggests that types of nanocluster complexes are present in these biofluids as well as in milk. Precipitation of amorphous calcium phosphate from artificial blood serum, urine and saliva was determined as a function of pH and the concentration of osteopontin or casein phosphopeptides. The position of the boundary between stability and precipitation was found to agree quantitatively with the theory of nanocluster formation. Artificial biofluids were prepared that closely matched their natural counterparts in calcium and phosphate concentrations, pH, saturation, ionic strength and osmolality. Such fluids, stabilised by a low concentration of sequestering phosphopeptides, were found to be highly stable and may have a number of beneficial applications in medicine.
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