There is growing evidence that immune functions are linked to the regulation of body fat. Our studies of knockout mice indicate that both endogenous interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1 can suppress mature-onset obesity. We now investigated whether four common polymorphisms of the IL6 and IL1 systems are associated with the fat mass measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in elderly men (n = 3

The interaction between composite colloidal particles composed of a spherical core and grafted AB-diblock polyampholytes (diblock copolymers with oppositely charged blocks) are investigated by using a coarse-grained model solved with Monte Carlo simulations. The B block is end-grafted onto the core of the colloid and its linear charge density is varied, whereas the linear charge density of the A b

We compute Poisson kernels for integer weight parameter standard weighted biharmonic operators in the unit disc with Dirichlet boundary conditions. The computations performed extend the supply of explicit examples of such kernels and suggest similar formulas for these Poisson kernels to hold true in more generality. Computations have been carried out using the open source computer algebra package

Conidia of Penicillium chrysogenum and Penicillium frequentans and sporangiospores of Rhizopus rhizopodiformis, Rhizomucor pusillus, and Mucor racemosus were subjected to partition in aqueous polymer two-phase systems. The partition behavior differed drastically between the conidia of the two Penicillium species and the sporangiospores of the three species of phycomycetes. This difference in parti

Transfer of embryos at the blastocyst stage has been associated with exceptionally high implantation rates. There are, however, only a few prospective randomized studies comparing day 3 versus day 5 embryo transfer. Furthermore, the number of embryos replaced in the day 3 group transfer is often higher than the number of blastocysts replaced, thereby affecting implantation rates. A total of 118 pa

In order for ethanol to be competitive with gasoline, the production cost of ethanol must be lower than it is today. One economically crucial step in the production of ethanol from lignocellulosics is refining, since hydrolysis yields dilute glucose solutions which, after fermentation, result in a dilute ethanol solution, 2-3 wt-% ethanol. A technical-economic investigation of various energy-savin

During co-incubation of human inter-alpha-inhibitor (IalphaI) and human tumor necrosis factor-stimulated gene 6 protein (TSG-6) SDS-stable interactions are formed between the two proteins. We have analyzed the products of this reaction and characterized the mechanism of complex formation. Following the incubation seven new bands not previously identified were apparent in SDS-PAGE. Three of these b

We review here the potential benefits of metabolic changes in carrots upon cold stress, a process known as cold acclimation, for the enhancement of quality upon freezing. The damaging action of a previous blanching operation is discussed and the alternative of using mild blanching treatments to minimise tissue damage is reviewed. Blanching treatments, aimed at inactivating enzymes near the surface

A seasonal forecasting technique to produce probabilistic and deterministic streamflow forecasts for 23 basins in Norway and northern Sweden is developed in this work. Large scale circulation and moisture fields, forecasted by the ECHAM4.5 model 4 months in advance, are used to forecast spring flows. The technique includes model output statistics (MOS) based on a non-linear Neural Network (NN) app

The hydrolytic specificity of the recombinant 20S proteasom from the deep-sea thermophile Methanococcus jannaschii was evaluated toward oxidized insulin B-chain across a range of temperatures (35degrees, 55degrees. 75degrees, and 90degreesC) and hydrostatic pressures (1, 250, 500, and 1,000 atm). Of the four temperatures considered, the same maximum overall hydrolysis rate was observed at both 55d

Moraxella catarrhalis immunoglobulin D (IgD)-binding protein (MID) is an outer membrane protein with specific affinity for soluble and cell-bound human IgD. Here, we demonstrate that mutated M. catarrhalis strains devoid of MID show a 75% decreased activation of human B cells as compared with wild-type bacteria. In contrast to MID-expressing Moraxella, the MID-deficient Moraxella mutants did not b

We studied the effect of kindling, a model of temporal lobe epilepsy, on the frequency-dependent information transfer from the entorhinal cortex to the hippocampus in vitro. In control rats repetitive synaptic activation of layer III projection cells resulted in a frequency dependent depression of the synaptic transfer of action potentials to the hippocampus. One-to-two-days after kindling this ef

The effects of an endurance flight on the haematocrit, the percentage of packed red blood cells per blood volume, were examined within the framework of six possible factors explaining possible changes in the haematocrit. Two approaches were adopted: (1) the haematocrit was studied in four species of passerine birds which landed on an Italian island after having crossed the Mediterranean Sea on the