The 14-3-3 proteins, once thought of as obscure mammalian brain proteins, are fast becoming recognized as major regulators of plant primary metabolism and of other cellular processes. Their presence as large gene families in plants underscores their essential role in plant physiology. We have examined the Arabidopsis thaliana 14-3-3 gene family, which currently is the largest and most complete 14-

The homogenization of cubically arranged, homogeneous spherical inclusions in a background material is addressed. This is accomplished by the solution of a local problem in the unit cell. An exact series representation of the effective relative permittivity of the heterogeneous material is derived, and the functional behavior for small radii of the spheres is given. The solution is utilizing the tr

The present communication considers possibilities of how to improve surveillance programs for sexually transmitted infections and some conditions not yet included among the 'established' sexually transmitted infections. An extended list of sexually transmitted infection agents is proposed for monitoring and a syndrome-based surveillance program for what and when to screen pregnant women is discuss

Conditioning lesions of peripheral nerves improve axonal regeneration after injury and involve changes in expression of proteins required for axonal growth. Integrin alpha7beta1 expression in motor and sensory neurons increases following nerve lesions and motor axon regeneration is impaired in alpha7 integrin KO mice (J. Neurosci. 20, 1822-1830). To investigate the role of alpha7beta1 integrin in

Aims: Network for Pharmacoepidemiology (NEPI) Antidiabetes Study-Eye is a randomized placebo-controlled Swedish trial investigating if treatment with sulphonylurea, in addition to dietary regulation and increased exercise, delays the development of retinopathy in subjects with impaired fasting glucose (IFG). Methods: Subjects were surveyed in primary care with repeated fasting blood glucose measu

Far from being an extinct phenomenon, piracy still exists in the modern world and is a growing menace to the security and safety of shipping. Using the data on attacks against vessels reported between 1996 and 2005 merged with the data on the total world merchant fleet, this article inquires whether acts of piracy are a truly random occurrence. Results show that both flag of registry and type of v

Background: It is well known that severe mental illness (SMI) with concurrent substance use disorders (SUD) commonly occurs. This comorbidity has distressing social, psychological, psychiatric and somatic consequences. Aim: To gain greater understanding of how individuals with SMI and SUD experience the roles of alcohol and other drugs for their health and in their life situation. Method: Eight in

We investigated the association between occupational factors and risk of bone sarcoma, a rare tumor with a largely unknown aetiology. A multicentric case-control study was conducted in 7 European countries in 1995-97. Ninety-six cases aged 35-69 years with a centrally reviewed diagnosis of bone sarcoma (68 chondrosarcomas and 28 osteosarcomas) were compared to 2,632 population (68%) or colon cance

Streptococcus pyogenes of the M1 serotype is commonly associated with large outbreaks of invasive streptococcal infections and development of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). The pathogenesis behind these infections is believed to involve bacterial superantigens that induce potent inflammatory responses, but the reason why strains of the M1 serotype are over-represented in STSS is still

Our purpose was to assess the role of MRI in evaluating the musculoskeletal system in athletes with chronic pain laterally in the groin of unknown etiology. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pubic ring was performed in 11 young athletes (soccer players) with long-standing groin pain. MR findings were compared with plain films and isotope examination (bone scan Tc 99M). Abnormal MRI findings

The right ventricle (RV) provides sustained low-pressure perfusion of the pulmonary vasculature, but is sensitive to changes in loading conditions and intrinsic contractility. Factors that affect right ventricular preload, afterload or left ventricular function can adversely influence the functioning of the RV, causing ischaemia and right ventricular failure (RVF). As RVF progresses, a pronounced

Objective and design: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the isoflavone genistein on in vivo cell-mediated responses. In addition, we wanted to study the influence of genistein on collagen induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. Methods: Delayed type hypersensitivity reaction (DTH) to oxazolone and the inflammatory response to olive oil were measured in mice treated with genistein. In

Linear-accelerator-based sources will revolutionize ultrafast x-ray science due to their unprecedented brightness and short pulse duration. However, time-resolved studies at the resolution of the x-ray pulse duration are hampered by the inability to precisely synchronize an external laser to the accelerator. At the Sub-Picosecond Pulse Source at the Stanford Linear-Accelerator Center we solved thi

To attract users from a wide range of scientific areas it is important to provide a variety of ways to access the Lunarc resources. Providing good user interfaces for all categories of users is a key factor for a high use of resources. One way of doing this is by providing access to common applications through a web-based portal. Existing grid portals are often geared toward's providing access to

Summary Objective Patients with suspicion of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are difficult to diagnose and they represent a very heterogeneous group. Some require immediate treatment while others, with only minor disorders, may be sent home. Detecting ACS patients using a machine learning approach would be advantageous in many situations. Methods and materials Artificial neural network (ANN) ensem

Background: Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by bystanders prior to the arrival of the rescue team has been shown to be associated with increased survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The aim of this survey was to evaluate the impact on survival of no bystander CPR, lay bystander CPR and professional bystander CPR. Methods: Patients suffering an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in

A feedback neural approach to static communication routing in asymmetric networks is presented, where a mean field formulation of the Bellman-Ford method for the single unicast problem is used as a common platform for developing algorithms for multiple unicast, multicast and multiple multicast problems. The appealing locality and update philosophy of the Bellman-Ford algorithm is inherited. For al

A decreased fermentation rate due to inhibition is a significant problem for economic conversion of acid-pretreated lignocellulose hydrolysates to ethanol, since the inhibition gives rise to a requirement for separate detoxification steps. Together with acetic acid, the sugar degradation products furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural are the inhibiting compounds found at the highest concentrations