Extrapair fertilizations (EPFs) have been found in most socially monogamous passerine species. EPFs are generally beneficial for males because they increase the number of sired offspring. The benefit accrued by females, however, is less obvious. Maternal benefits may involve fertility insurance, increased genetic variability of the offspring, and improved offspring quality via compatible genes or

We show how to resum neutral propagators to all orders in partially quenched chiral perturbation theory. We calculate the relevant quantities to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). Using these results we show how to extend the proposal by Sharpe and Shoresh for determining the parameters relevant for the eta mass from partially quenched lattice QCD calculations to NNLO.

Cytokines play an important role in the regulation of homeostasis and inflammation. A de-regulated cytokine function can subsequently promote chronic inflammation. This is supported by clinical evidence showing the beneficial effect of inhibiting TNF-alpha through injection of antibodies and soluble receptor in disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. Systemic anti-TNF-alpha the

The aim of this work is to study the possibility of using the ESTRO mini-phantom for transmission measurements of primary kerma in water at a point free in air. We discuss in-air measurements in general, with special attention given to in-air equivalent measurements using a water equivalent mini-phantom. The study includes four different photon energies (4, 6, 10 and 18 MV), where scoring of dose

Increased concentration of activated protein C (APC) has been observed in patients with thromboembolic disorders, but whether the level of APC in patients with bleeding disorders is decreased remains unknown. Seventy patients with haemophilia A or B with mild, moderate or severe form were studied. Detailed information on bleeding, arthropathy and factor consumption was collected during a 10-year p

In road roughness literature different stochastic models of parallel road tracks are suggested. A new method is proposed to evaluate their accuracy, by comparison of measured parallel tracks and synthetic parallel tracks, realized from a stochastic model. A model is judged accurate if synthetic and measured roads induce a similar amount of fatigue damage to a vehicle. A lack-of-fit measure is assi

This paper presents the coupled cluster/molecular mechanics (CC/MM) and self-consistent field/molecular mechanics (SCF/MM) approaches for wavefunctions, energies and response properties. Two physically different theories are derived, the mean-field and the direct-field interaction approaches, together with expressions for the optimization condition of both variational and non-variational wavefunct

We report the results of experimental and theoretical investigations of the two-color, two-photon ionization of Ar atoms, using femtosecond pulses of infrared laser radiation in combination with its extreme-ultraviolet harmonics. It is shown that the intensities of the photoelectron lines resulting from the absorption of photons from both fields strongly depend both on the respective phases of the

Background: Although research has found that temperament and social support are associated with depression, these relationships have not been explored in conjunction with one another as they relate to depression using a genetically informative design. This study investigated how the association among the three constructs is mediated. Methods: The sample in this study consisted of 326 pairs of adul

Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), which has been reported to be present in 10-30% of patients with cirrhotic ascites, may easily be overlooked. An important aim of our study was to determine whether there are any clinical signs which, in clinical practice, may predict or exclude SBP. Methods: We studied 133 patients with cirrhotic ascites from medical units at nine Swedish unive

Hematopoietic cells have secretory lysosomes that degranulate at the inflammatory site upon stimulation. We asked whether one could target exogenous proteins with a therapeutic potential to secretory lysosomes in hematopoietic cells. For this purpose, we expressed a soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor form (sTNFR1) in hematopoietic cell lines. In order to accomplish targeting to secretory

BACKGROUND: In this study we aimed to evaluate the role of a SNP in intron I of the ERCC4 gene (rs744154), previously reported to be associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer in the general population, as a breast cancer risk modifier in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. METHODS: We have genotyped rs744154 in 9408 BRCA1 and 5632 BRCA2 mutation carriers from the Consortium of Investigators o

The increased schizophrenia risks for residents of cities with high levels of competition and for members of disadvantaged groups (for example migrants from low- and middle-income countries, people with low IQ, hearing impairments or a history of abuse) suggest that social factors are important for aetiology, Dopaminergic dysfunctioning is a key mechanism in pathogenesis. This editorial is a selec

We have studied the pH effect on the S0 and S2 multiline electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signals from the water-oxidizing complex of photosystem II. Around pH 6, the maximum signal intensities were detected. On both the acidic and alkaline sides of pH 6, the intensities of the EPR signals decreased. Two pKs were determined for the S0 multiline signal; pK1 = 4.2 ± 0.2 and pK2 = 8.0 ± 0.1, and

It is essential to label roads, landmarks, and other important features on maps for mobile applications to help users to understand their location and the environment. This paper aims to examine real-time map labelling methods suitable for the small screen on mobile devices. A slider method with a continuous search space was proposed to sequentially label both line and point features. The method s

The genomic response following brain ischemia is very complex and involves activation of both protective and detrimental signaling pathways. Immediate early genes (IEGs) represent the first wave of gene expression following ischemia and are induced in extensive regions of the ischemic brain including cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Neuritin and Activity-r