Channels were activated, in ripped-off patches from rat-cultured hippocampal neurons, by propofol alone, propofol plus 0.5 muM GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) or GABA alone. The propofol-activated currents were chloride-selective, showed outward-rectification and were enhanced by 1 muM diazepam. The maximum propofol-activated channel conductance increased with propofol concentration from less than

Humans are able to attentively discriminate number from 6 months of age. However, the age of the emergence of this ability at the pre-attentive stage of processing remains unclear. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in newborn human infants aged from 3 to 5 days. At 500-ms intervals, the infants were passively exposed to 200-ms sequences of four tones. Each tone could be either 1000 or

Although heat shock proteins (Hsp's) are present in the sera of healthy individuals and at elevated levels in subjects with early cardiovascular disease, their physiologic role in and value for predicting the development and/or progression of atherosclerosis have not been evaluated. Serum was obtained from 218 subjects with established hypertension (diastolic pressure > 95 mm Hg) before their enro

We describe how the elastomeric properties of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) can be utilised to achieve tuneable particle separation in Deterministic Lateral Displacement devices via strain controlled alteration of inter-obstacle distances, a development that opens up new avenues toward more effective separation of particles in microfluidics devices.

The formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) was studied during frying of beefburgers with different fat contents (6.7%, 16.1% and 39%). Beefburgers were fried from the frozen state for 60, 90, 120 s, and until the centre temperature had reached 72 °C (approximately 150 s) in a double-sided pan fryer. The beefburgers were analysed for HCAs with solid-phase extraction and LC/MS detection, and 2-amin

Reductions in reproductive performance with age have been predicted to result from a general deterioration of performance, i.e. senescence. Variation among species in the onset and rate of this deterioration depends on the age-independent extrinsic mortality rate. If few individuals reach a specific age, the strength of selection for mechanisms that retard senescence will be reduced. The aim of th

Chelatases catalyze the insertion of a specific metal ion into porphyrins, a key step in the synthesis of metalated tetrapyrroles that are essential for many cellular processes. Despite apparent common structural features among chelatases, no general reaction mechanism accounting for metal ion specificity has been established. We propose that chelatase-induced distortion of the porphyrin substrate

This paper describes the implementation of a simulation benchmark for studying the influence of control strategy implementations on combined nitrogen and phosphorus removal processes in a biological wastewater treatment plant. The presented simulation benchmark plant and its performance criteria are to a large extent based on the already existing nitrogen removal simulation benchmark. The paper il

Neuropeptide Y (NPY), noradrenaline (NA) and adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) are important co-transmitters in the sympathetic nervous system, which has a central role in cardiovascular control. In order to evaluate if hypertension is associated with alterations in vascular responses to sympathetic co-transmitters we studied the effects of intra-arterial infusion of NPY, NA and ATP on forearm blood

The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of neighbourhood on individual social capital (measured as social participation). The study population consisted of 14,390 individuals aged 45-73 that participated in the Malmö diet and cancer study in 1992-1994, residing in 90 neighbourhoods of Malmö, Sweden (population 250,000). A multilevel logistic regression model, with individuals at the first

The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-spin relaxation time (T2) is related to the radiation-dependent concentration of polymer formed in polymer gel dosimeters manufactured from monomers in an aqueous gelatin matrix. Changes in T2 with time post-irradiation have been reported in the literature but their nature is not fully understood. We investigated those changes with time after irradiation u

Mucosal pathogens use diverse and highly specific molecular mechanisms to activate mucosal inflammation. It may even be argued that their virulence depends on the inflammatory response that they induce. Some bacteria target epithelial cells and trigger them to produce inflammatory mediators but others cross the mucosa and activate macrophages or dendritic cells. Although systemic release of inflam

One of the major histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is redundant senile plaques mainly composed of beta-amyloid (Abeta) aggregates. Alternative cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), occurring in both normal and AD subjects, results in the generation and secretion of soluble APP (sAPP) and Abeta. We examined the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for alpha- and beta-secretase

We present a theory of very long waves propagating on the surface of water. The waves evolve slowly, both on the scale e (weak nonlinearity), and on the scale, a, of the depth variation. In our model, dispersion does not affect the evolution of the wave even over the large distances that tsunamis may travel. We allow a distribution of vorticity, in addition to variable depth. Our solution is not v

How can we reconcile the conception of language as a conventional-normative semiotic system with a perception/action-based account of its structure and meaning? And why should linguistic meaning - as opposed to linguistic expression - be so closely related to motor activity and its neural underpinnings, as suggested by recent findings? A conceptual framework and evolutionary scenario building on t