BACKGROUND: Proteoglycans (PGs) represent a large family of complex molecules. They are found either as integral membrane components or constituents of the extracellular matrix. Their protein backbones are linked to different glycosaminoglycans, such as dermatan-, chondroitin-, keratan- or heparan sulphate. The molecules have specific functions during developmental processes as well as in diseases

PURPOSE: To correlate quantification of collateral flow in aortic coarctation with the morphological visualization of the collateral vessels and to compare different approaches to measurement of collateral flow. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen children with coarctation were examined with T1-weighted spin-echo (T1-W SE) imaging and 3D contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). MR veloc

High blood concentrations of beta-carotene (BC) and alpha-tocopherol (AT) are markers of lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, it is not clear how well they serve as markers of, food consumption in a general population setting, in a country with a traditionally low vegetable consumption, or if they work equally well in smokers and non-smokers. We performed a cross-sectional stu

The recombinant xylose-utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae TMB 3399 was constructed by chromosomal integration of the genes encoding Image-xylose reductase (XR), xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH), and xylulokinase (XK). S. cerevisiae TMB 3399 was subjected to chemical mutagenesis with ethyl methanesulfonate and, after enrichment, 33 mutants were selected for improved growth on Image-xylose and carbon dio

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was blended with five plasticizers in a batchwise mixer and pressed into films. The films were analyzed by means of dynamic mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry to investigate the properties of the blends. Triacetine and tributyl citrate proved to be effective as plasticizers when blended with PLA. The glass transition temperature of PLA decreased linea

Bose-Einstein correlations of identically charged pion pairs were measured by the PHENIX experiment at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at roots(NN)=200 GeV. The Bertsch-Pratt radius parameters were determined as a function of the transverse momentum of the pair and as a function of the centrality of the collision. Using the standard core-halo partial Coulomb fits, and a new parametrization which c

An overview of the current trends within protein expression profiling is given where multidimensional separation of both gel- and liquid-phase techniques linked to mass spectrometry is viewed as a major route in the global proteome mapping. A clear trend in these biochemical developments is the effort to sequence and identify low-abundant protein expressions where assay miniaturization and integra

Although clutch size variation has been a key target for studies of avian life history theory, most empirical work has only focused on the ability of parents to raise their altricial young. In this study, we test the hypothesis that costs incurred during incubation may be an additional factor constraining clutch size in altricial birds. In the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), we manipulated t

In ubiquitous computing, as more and more devices are embedded into the environment, there is a risk that the user loses the understanding of the system. In normal use this is not always a problem, but when breakdowns occur it is crucial that the user understands the system to be able to handle the situation. The concept of palpable computing, introduced by the PalCom project, denotes systems whic

The enzyme 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11BHSD2) converts cortisol to cortisone in the kidney, thereby protecting the mineralocorticoid receptor from the mineralocorticoid actions of cortisol. The syndrome of Apparent Mineralocorticoid Excess (AME), a rare monogenic form of early onset hypertension with autosomal recessive inheritance, is caused by homozygous or compound heterozygo

The crystallization Process in aqueous solutions of the drug bicalutamide and the effect of the polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) have been studied. Results showed that PVP decreased the crystallization Fate significantly in a system with PVP concentrations as low as 0.01% (w/w), without changing the polymorph formed. The crystal habit was altered already at PVP concentrations as low as 0.001% (w

Volatile anesthetics such as halothane efficiently inhibit nonshivering thermogenesis as well as the cellular manifestation of that phenomenon: norepinephrine-induced respiration in brown adipocytes. To identify the molecular site(s) of action of such anesthetics, we have examined the effect of halothane on the sequential intracellular steps from the interaction of norepinephrine with isolated bro

In order to generalize the fractal/facies concept presented by Lu et al. (2002), a new stochastic fractal model for ln(K) (K = hydraulic conductivity) increment probability density functions (PDFs) is presented that produces non-Gaussian behavior at smaller measurement lags and converges to Gaussian behavior at larger lags, a property that is observed in data sets. The model is based on the classi

ObjectiveTo investigate if caesarean section (CS) increases the risk for childhood asthma and gastroenteritis with reference made to children born with vaginal delivery (VD). MethodsRetrospective study of data from linked Swedish medical service registers - Medical Birth Registry (MBR) and Hospital Discharge Registry (HDR). Data were obtained from women without any background/perinatal morbidity

From a cohort of 113 children, followed prospectively from birth during the first three years of life regarding different aspects of acute otitis media (AOM), two study groups were selected for the present investigation: 13 children with recurrent AOM (rAOM, i.e. at least six episodes of AOM during a 12–month period), and 29 children without any AOM episode. The purpose of this study was to analys

We document the impact of blood parasite infections caused by Hepatozoon sp. on water python (Liasis fuscus) life history traits such as growth rates, condition, reproductive output and survival. Individual snakes maintained similar among-year parasite loads. Hepatozoon infections affected python growth rate, i.e. snakes suffering from high infection levels exhibited significantly slower growth co

This chapter presents a case study from a global company developing a new generation of programmable controllers to replace several existing products. The system needs to incorporate support for a large number of I/O systems, network types, and communication protocols. To leverage its global development resources and the competency of different development centers, the company decided to adopt a c

We present a new implementation of the time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy technique for the analysis of carbon nanoparticles directly in a Bunsen-type propane flame. By exploiting femtosecond laser excitation, UV-visible laser-induced fluorescence and time resolution of the experimental set-up, small soot nanoparticles have been identified within the flame. From the measurement of the decay tim