Through ethnographic accounts, the method of heat treatment of silica materials to improve the flaking qualities is shown to have been known almost worldwide. Some mesolithic and neolithic flint artifacts from southern Sweden were examined in order to determine if they too were heat treated. From several methods proving or indicating thermal alteration of flint, analysis using scanning electron mi

Isothermal titration calorimetry was used to study the interaction between hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB, and three starch polysaccharides, amylose from potato, amylopectin from potato and amylopectin from barley. The enthalpy change for consecutive additions of CTAB to starch polysaccharide solutions were measured at 27degreesC. The starch-CTAB interaction enthalpies, DeltaH(f), were c

Objective: To determine whether genetic amniocentesis performed in the second trimester of pregnancy is associated with the risk of preterm delivery. Study design: Case–control study performed in several departments of obstetrics and gynaecology of nine European countries. Three thousand and ninety-one preterm births and 5298 controls randomly selected from singleton births born at term during 199

In an improved procedure, the complex {2,6-bis[(diphenylphosphino)methyl]benzene}chloropalladium(II) (1) was synthesised as its THF adduct and the structure was determined by X-ray crystallography. The catalytic properties of the derivative {2,6-bis[(diphenylphosphino)methyl]benzene} (trifluoroacetato)palladium(II) (2) was investigated in the Stille reaction. Complex 2 proves to be an excellent ca

Early growth and differentiation of the pancreatic endoderm is regulated by soluble factors from the pancreatic mesenchyme. Previously, we demonstrated that N-cadherin-deficient mice lack a dorsal pancreas, due to a critical role of N-cadherin in dorsal pancreatic mesenchymal cell survival. Here, we show that restoring cardiac and circulatory function in N-cadherin null mice by cardiac-specific ex

Sympathetic neuronal differentiation is associated with favorable prognosis of neuroblastoma (NB), the most common extra-cranial solid tumor of early childhood. Differentiation agents have proved useful in clinical protocols of NB treatment, but using them as a sole treatment is not sufficient to induce tumor elimination in patients. Therefore, complementary approaches, such as immunotherapy, are

A field study on the temperature, salt content, and density regime in three shallow ice-covered Karelian lakes is presented. The measurements show that the heat content increases during the whole ice-covered period. At ice formation a weak stable stratification existed in the lakes, with average temperatures about 1 degrees C. Thereafter, the stability of the stratification gradually increased, ma

This study presents a framework to evaluate factors influencing implementation of urban plans. An integrated Delphi-AHP method is utilized to identify important factors and their quantitative importance causing failure of urban plan implementation. Delphi method has been used to survey major factors and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method has been utilized to define their significance, in a

A fundamental understanding of protein stability and the mechanism of denaturant action must ultimately rest on detailed knowledge about the structure, solvation, and energetics of the denatured state. Here, we use 17O and 2H magnetic relaxation dispersion (MRD) to study urea-induced denaturation of intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP). MRD is among the few methods that can provide molec

Six methyl celluloses (MCs), one with a degree of substitution (DS) of 1.32 and five with DS between 1.83 and 1.88, were thoroughly investigated. Monomer composition and methyl distribution in the polymer chain were analyzed after total or partial random hydrolysis and appropriate derivatization with gas chromatography ( GC) and mass spectrometry (MS), respectively, and used as reference data. The

This paper presents a method for frequency estimation in a power system by demodulation of two complex signals. In power system analysis, the αβ-transform is used to convert three phase quantities to a complex quantity where the real part is the in-phase component and the imaginary part is the quadrature component. This complex signal is demodulated with a known complex phasor rotating in opposite

Since the discovery of neuropeptide Y which is co-stored and co-operate with noradrenaline (NA) in sympathetic nerve fibers, several scientific groups have searched for structures with neuropeptide Y antagonistic properties. Research has mainly focused on various peptide fragments which originate from or are related to the neuropeptide Y sequence. Some non-peptide antagonists have been proposed bu

Background. Only a minority of the potential candidates for lung donation are considered suitable, using current evaluation methods. A new method for ex vivo evaluation, with the potential for reconditioning of marginal and nonacceptable lungs, has been developed. This is a report of the ex vivo evaluation of six donor lungs deemed nonacceptable (arterial oxygen pressure less than 40 kPa) by the S

Objective: We sought to investigate the cost of living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and evaluate the influence of both demographics and specific disease characteristics on these costs. Methods: We used a population-based questionnaire to survey 895 patients living in the city of Malmo, Sweden, during 2002. Data were obtained on direct resource consumption, investments, informal care and work cap

We simulate interactions between charged flat surfaces in the presence of block polymers, where the end blocks carry a charge opposite to the surfaces. Using a recently developed simulation technique, we allow full equilibrium, i.e. the chemical potential of the polyelectrolyte is retained as the separation is changed. In general, the block polyions will adsorb strongly enough to overcharge the su

Background. The effect of dexamethasone (Dex) on postnatal bone formation processes is known to decrease the synthesis of collagen and bone matrix, but the effect of alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) is to induce positive effects on growth and skeletal development during postnatal life. However, the effects of Dex and AKG treatment on the prenatal processes of skeletal development have not been investigat

Extensive fluorescence multispectral imaging of the cathedral and baptistery of Parma, Italy, is reported and discussed. In particular, the first fluorescence imaging data from protection-treated stony materials were recorded. Fluorescence spectra were taken with a mobile lidar system scanning the monument surfaces with a frequency-tripled Nd:YAG laser beam from a distance of about 80 m. For each

The present study is aimed at investigating whether eco-tourists are more ecologically oriented than nature tourists and city tourists. In questionnaire surveys, in line with the hypotheses, the ecotourists expressed more general environmental beliefs than the nature tourists, who, in turn, had more pro-environmental beliefs than the city tourists. Similar results were found in the attitudes the t

Background and aims: Since approximately 30% of patients with Dukes' stage B colorectal cancer will experience disease recurrence within five years of primary treatment, current staging of patients with early colorectal cancer apparently fails to adequately predict patient outcome. It has previously been shown that the preoperative plasma concentration of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator re