Understanding cell-fate decisions in stem cell populations is a major goal of modern biology. Stem and progenitor cell populations are often heterogeneous, which may reflect stem cell subsets that express subtly different properties, including different propensities for lineage selection upon differentiation, yet remain able to interconvert. We discuss these properties with examples both from the

Aim:The aim was to analyse any associations between socio-demographic and psychosocial factors and different features of the metabolic syndrome in a geographically well-defined population of middle-aged women. Methods:A population of 10 766 Caucasian women aged 50-59 years was investigated regarding biological and socio-demographic conditions, physical activity, dietary habits, aspects of quality

Various types of graph statistics for Bernoulli graphs are represented as numerators of incomplete U-statistics. Asymptotic normality of these statistics is proved for Bernoulli graphs in which the edge probability is constant. In addition it is shown that subgraph counts asymptotically are linear functions of the number of edges in the graph.

The role of cytokines in regulation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) remains poorly understood. Herein we demonstrate that thrombopoietin (THPO) and its receptor, MPL, are critically involved in postnatal steady-state HSC maintenance, reflected in a 150-fold reduction of HSCs in adult Thpo(-/-) mice. Further, whereas THPO and MPL proved not required for fetal HSC expansion, HSC expansion posttra

The relative size and relaxation of the invisible pool of bound spins (T1b) underlying magnetization transfer (MT) was quantified in eight subjects in vivo at 1.5 T from progressive saturation experiments using repetitive MT pulses. The evolution of the binary spin–bath was sampled by increasing the repetition period from 8 to 200 ms. Single-shot echo-planar images at TE=50ms were evaluated in the

Background. Knowledge pertaining to the relationship between migration status and psychosocial job characteristics and long-term illness is not readily available in the international literature. The aim of this study is to analyse the cross-sectional associations between high psychological job demands and low decision latitude (high job strain), work-related social support and long-term illness am

Case study is a suitable research methodology for software engineering research since it studies contemporary phenomena in its natural context. However, the understanding of what constitutes a case study varies, and hence the quality of the resulting studies. This paper aims at providing an introduction to case study methodology and guidelines for researchers conducting case studies and readers st

Odor memory has been argued to exhibit unique characteristics in relation to memory for other types of stimuli such as visually presented words. Two experiments investigated episodic recognition performance as well as memory awareness for odors and words across manipulations of orienting task and retention interval. Orienting task mattered little to odor recognition. However, in contradiction with

Besides gamma rays from Cs-137 emanating from the Chernobyl accident, gamma rays from natural radionuclides are a dominant source of radiation exposure to the public. Since people spend much more time indoors than outdoors the radiation dose obtained inside dwellings contributes greatly to individual and collective doses. Dose rate measurements were made at 20 locations within the city of Goteborg

Oak moss absolute is a long-known, popular natural extract widely used in perfumes. It is reported as the cause of allergic reactions in a significant number of those with perfume allergy. Oak moss absolute has been the target of recent research to identify its allergenic components. Recently, chloroatranol, a hitherto unknown fragrance allergen, was identified in oak moss absolute. The objective

Dimeric norspermidine and spermidine derivatives are strong competitive inhibitors of polyamine transport. A xylyl tether was used for the dimerization of various triamines and spermine via a secondary amino group, and of putrescine via an ether or an amino group. Dimerization of putrescine moieties potentiates their ability to compete against spermidine transport to a much greater extent than for

We have characterized 2 distinct mechanisms through which infectious agents may promote platelet adhesion and thrombus formation in flowing blood, thus contributing to the progression of disease. In one case, the process initiates when the integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3) mediates platelet arrest onto immobilized bacterial constituents that have bound plasma fibrinogen. If blood contains antibodies agai

The ability of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) to influence epithelial interleukin (IL)-8 responses to the intestinal bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum 299v was analyzed in the human HT-29 colonic epithelial cell line. In the absence of TNF-alpha, IL-8 mRNA expression was not detectable by Northern blot analysis in HT-29 cells alone or in HT-29 cells co-culture

Detecting and estimating long-range dependence are important in the analysis of many environmental time series. This article proposes a periodogram roughness (PR) estimator and describes its uses for testing and estimating the dependence structure. Asymptotic critical values are generated for performing the test, and special attention is given to investigating the properties of the PR regarding si

Mercury and selenium in whole blood and serum of 245 17-year old Swedish adolescents were analysed. The relationships between these elements' concentrations and the consumption of fish as well as the number of dental amalgam fillings were studied. The geometric means (GM) of the mercury concentrations were 1.1 mug/L in blood and 0.43 mug/L in serum. The mean selenium concentration in blood was 110

This paper presents selected findings from the project 'Privatisation of public housing in Hanoi, the impacts on housing quality and social equality' which was financed by the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). The project analyses the consequences of privatisation on the housing conditions of those tenants and owners who live in privatised and partly privatised multi family apart