The rd1 mouse is a relevant model for studying the mechanisms of photoreceptor degeneration in retinitis pigmentosa. Treatment with ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in combination with brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is known to rescue photoreceptors in cultured rd1 retinal explants. To shed light on the underlying mechanisms, we studied the effects of 9 days (starting at postnatal day

Purpose: Alkaline sphingomyelinase (alk-SMase) is an enzyme that hydrolyses sphingomyelin in a bile salt-dependent manner in the gastrointestinal tract, and has been proposed as an inhibitor of colon carcinogenesis. Ursolic acid (UA) is a plant-derived pentacyclic triterpenoid that has been shown to have anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on HT29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells, with activa

At moderate Reynolds numbers (10(4) a parts per thousand currency sign Re a parts per thousand currency sign 10(5)), the performance of lifting surfaces is strongly affected by the potential for laminar boundary layer separation and subsequent reattachment and the use of high-quality, low-turbulence wind tunnels is essential in characterising flight at comparatively small scales (where the wing ch

In this paper we analyze the problem of adaptivity for numerical methods for solving ODEs, both IVPs and BVPs, with a view to generating optimal grids for local error control. The grids are generated by introducing an auxiliary independent variable au and finding a grid deformation map, t=Theta(au), that maps an equidistant grid au_j to a non-equidistant grid in the original independent variable,

There is a substantial agreement that in-vehicle speed assistance ( or speed alert) systems can significantly contribute to road traffic safety. An important prerequisite for such systems is the availability of up-to-date and reliable information on static, temporary and dynamic speed limits in the vehicle. A classification of speed limits is presented, the data provision chains for the mentioned

A simple isothermal calorimeter ideal to study hydration of cementitious systems is described together with an ampoule design to allow addition of water and mixing with the ampoule inside the calorimeter. An overview of dynamic corrections is given, and the utilisation of the different dynamic corrections on the calorimeter output is discussed. Correction of data on b-hemihydrate hydration to form

This study describes the range of service provision and explores differences in treatment approaches and therapeutic aims, in the 12 countries participating in the European Union collaborative COST B6 Adolescent Project into the treatment of adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN). Following a number of group meetings, two questionnaires were administered, completed and returned by e-mail. The first ques

Annual and seasonal variation in reproductive timing and performance were studied in a population of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor over 10 years in southern Sweden. The median laying; date of the first egg varied by up to 17 days between years, being generally larger than the variation of laying dates within years. Neither clutch size, brood size in successful nests, fledging suc

The adsorption of monocarboxylates (acetate, benzoate, and cyclohexanecarboxylate) at the water/goethite interface was studied as a function of pH and ionic strength by means of quantitative adsorption measurements and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. ATR-FTIR spectra were obtained of suspensions prepared in both H2O and D2O. In order to identify the

In spectra obtained from foil-excited and laser-produced plasmas, we have identified 70 new lines as belonging to the spectra of fluorine-like scandium and vanadium ions, Sc XIII and V XV The new lines in the wavelength region from 70 to 600 Angstrom represent 2p(4)3s-3p, 3p-3d and 3d-4f transition arrays. The spectra have been interpreted with the aid of theoretical calculations, and the consiste

The objective was to investigate which screening variables in a population study predicted carotid endarterectomy. Among 793 carotid endarterectomies performed at Malmo University Hospital between 1991 and 1998, 85 patients (14 females) were identified that had participated in a population screening between 1974 and 1991. Median time from screening to operation was 16 years (range 6-26 years). Scr

Environmental processes have been modelled for decades. However. the need for integrated assessment and modeling (IAM) has,town as the extent and severity of environmental problems in the 21st Century worsens. The scale of IAM is not restricted to the global level as in climate change models, but includes local and regional models of environmental problems. This paper discusses various definitions

Protein D, a surface-exposed 42-kDa membrane lipoprotein, is well conserved among both type b and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae strains, and it is considered a vaccine against H. influenzae infections. Here, we report the large-scale purification of a nonacylated form of protein D (PDm) from the periplasmic space of Escherichia coli overexpressing PDm. Screening of human sera for levels of an

Respiratory system resistance (R) and elastance (E) are commonly estimated by fitting the linear equation of motion P = EV + R(V) over dot + P-0 (Eq. 1) to measurements of respiratory pressure (P), lung volume (V), and flow (V). However, the respiratory system is unlikely to behave linearly under many circumstances. We determined the importance of respiratory system nonlinearities in two groups of

Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) is a congenital bone marrow failure syndrome characterized by a specific deficiency in erythroid progenitors. Since some patients with DBA develop a reduction in thrombocytes and granulocytes with age, we asked whether multipotent hematopoietic progenitors from DBA patients had normal proliferative capacity in liquid expansion cultures. CD34(+) cells derived from DBA

A segregating second locus, PgiC2, for the enzyme phosphoglucose isomerase (PGIC) is found in the grass sheep's fescue, Festuca ovina. We have earlier reported that a phylogenetic analysis indicates that PgiC2 has been horizontally transferred from the reproductively separated grass genus Poa. Here we extend our analysis to include intron and exon information on 27 PgiC sequences from 18 species r

Three diagnostic tests, Nitur, Urobact, and Uricult, were evaluated in the detection of bacteriuria in 865 pregnant women. As reference method agar culture was performed. Heavy growth (greater than 10(5) CFU/ml) of urinary tract bacteria was considered a true positive result and demonstrated in 58 (6.7%) of the women, 14 of whom had gram-negative rods. The sensitivity of the nitrite test was extre