The common human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes is the causative agent of numerous mild and severe clinical conditions. It expresses a number of secreted or cell wall-anchored proteins that modulate the human immune system and facilitate colonization and spread of the pathogen in the human host. During S. pyogenes infections, human plasma leaks into the site of infection as a consequence of infl

The interaction between selenium and molybdenum in reduced alkali silicate melts, resulting in red glasses has been studied. The oxidation state of Mo is Mo(VI) as evidenced by XANES and ESCA results. Selenium is present in a reduced state, as indicated by ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy and XANES. The colour is described by ultraviolet/visible spectra and CIE colour coordinates. The main absorpt

Endothelin, a peptide produced in endothelial cells, was found to be a potent constrictor of human pial arteries through a direct, slow action on the smooth muscle cell, with a pD2 value of 8.54. It was less potent as a constrictor in pial veins (pD2 7.80) and in branches of the middle meningeal artery and superficial temporal artery (pD2 7.61 and 7.77). The major component of the contractile resp

This thesis originates from the problem of reconstructing the three-dimensional shape of objects, when the only available data are two-dimensional images. The solution presented is based on stochastic models for random object shapes and measurements, in combination with practical surface representation and simulation methods. As a means to handle general, unknown object types, stochastic models f

We performed, in a cross-sectional study, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) among 15-16-year-old boys (n 58) and girls (n 44) living in an urban area and among boys (n 82) and girls (n 66) of the same age from a rural area. We measured bone mineral density (BMD) of the total body, the lumbar spine and the hip. In the rural population, we found significantly higher BMD levels in the lumbar spi

At the point of saturation in a high-gain free-electron laser (FEL) the light is fully transversely coherent. The number and evolution of the transverse modes is important for the effective tune-up and subsequent operation of FELs based on the photon beam characterization and in designing multi-module devices that rely on relatively stable saturation distances in each module. In the latter, this i

Aim. Older people's views of prioritization in health care. The applicability of an interview study. Old age has been stated as a criterion for prioritization in health care, although older people are seldom asked for their opinions. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the applicability of a questionnaire as a base for an interview study to explore older people's experiences and views o

Background: Achondroplasia is a skeletal dysplasia with extreme, disproportionate, short stature. Aim: In a 5-y growth hormone (GH) treatment study including 1 y without treatment, we investigated growth and body proportion response in 35 children with achondroplasia. Methods: Patients were randomized to either 0.1 IU/kg (n=18) or 0.2 IU/kg (n=17) per day. GH treatment was interrupted for 12 mo af

Cross sections for the production of two isolated muons up to high di-muon masses are measured in ep collisions at HERA with the H1 detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 71 pb(-1) at a centre of mass energy of roots = 319 GeV. The results are in good agreement with Standard Model predictions, the dominant process being photon-photon interactions. Additional muons o

he behaviour of a continuous-time stochastic process in the neighbourhood of zero-crossings and local maxima is compared with the behaviour of a discrete sampled version of the same process.For regular processes, with finite crossing-rate or finite rate of local extremes, the behaviour of the sampled version approaches that of the continuous one as the sampling interval tends to zero. Especially t

Neutrophil apoptosis occurs both in the bloodstream and in the tissue and is considered essential for the resolution of an inflammatory process. Here, we show that p38–mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) associates to caspase-8 and caspase-3 during neutrophil apoptosis and that p38-MAPK activity, previously shown to be a survival signal in these primary cells, correlates with the levels of cas

n the current study, we address the underlying mechanism for the selective generation of gut-homing T cells in the gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT). We demonstrate that DCs in the GALT are unique in their capacity to establish T cell gut tropism but in vivo only confer this property to T cells in the presence of DC maturational stimuli, including toll-like receptor-dependent and -independent

The class of norm-dependent random matrix ensembles is studied in the presence of an external field. The probability density of the ensemble depends on the trace of the squared random matrices, but is otherwise arbitrary. An exact mapping to superspace is performed. A transformation formula is derived which gives the probability density in superspace as a single integral over the probability densi

In the first of two papers, the atmospheric poly brominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations at a municipal solid waste incineration (MSW) plant with electronic recycling is compared with that at an industrial urban reference site producing asphalt and concrete. In the second paper, atmospheric deposition and washout behaviour is presented (Atmos. Environ. (2004a)). PBDEs (BDE28, -47, -66, -10