To identify patients at risk for progressive joint damage there is a need for early diagnostic tools to detect molecular events leading to cartilage destruction. Isolation and characterization of distinct cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) fragments derived from cartilage and released into synovial fluid will allow discrimination between different pathological conditions and monitoring of

A framework for accurately modeling fatigue crack growth in ductile crystalline solids is necessarily multiscale The creation of new free surface occurs at the atomistic scale, where the material's cohesive strength is controlled by the local chemistry On the other hand, significant dissipation during fatigue crack growth takes place at a size scale that can be modeled appropriately by conventiona

The increasing demand for human egg cells has led to reproductive tourism and a transnational egg trade. The activity flourishes due to poverty and criminality, as well as medical needs (infertility) and cultural needs (the dream of parenthood). Other factors are fundamental concepts, such as the view of the body as an object of utility and value. This article aims to go behind the normative discu

Characterizing the sizes and interactions of macromolecules under native conditions is a challenging problem in many areas of molecular sciences, which fundamentally arises from the polydisperse nature of biomolecular mixtures. Here, we describe a microfluidic platform for diffusional sizing based on monitoring micron-scale mass transport simultaneously in space and time. We show that the global a

Abstract In 55 women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, simultaneous capillary and venous plasma glucose concentrations were measured at 0, 30 and 120 min during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The aims of the study were to examine the relationship between capillary and venous glucose measurements, and to establish equations for the conversion of capillary and venous glucose c

We study the radiation of a highly energetic partonic antenna in a colored state traversing a dense QCD medium. Resumming multiple scatterings of all involved constituents with the medium we derive the general gluon spectrum which encompasses both longitudinal color coherence between scattering centers in the medium, responsible for the well known Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect, and transv

New Phytologist (2010) Summary *Obligate mutualisms involving actively pollinating seed predators are among the most remarkable insect-plant relationships known, yet almost nothing is known about the chemistry of pollinator attraction in these systems. The extreme species specificity observed in these mutualisms may be maintained by specific chemical compounds through 'private channels'. Here, we

The local enhancement of few-cycle laser pulses by plasmonic nanostructures opens up for spatiotemporal control of optical interactions on a nanometer and few-femtosecond scale. However, spatially resolved characterization of few-cycle plasmon dynamics poses a major challenge due to the extreme length and time scales involved. In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate local variations in the d

The Amazon Basin provides an excellent environment for studying the sources, transformations, and properties of natural aerosol particles and the resulting links between biological processes and climate. With this framework in mind, the Amazonian Aerosol Characterization Experiment (AMAZE-08), carried out from 7 February to 14 March 2008 during the wet season in the central Amazon Basin, sought to

Biomass can be converted into liquid and gaseous biofuels with good efficiency. In this study, the conversion of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), a biomass source that can be cultivated with a high biomass yield per hectare, was used. Steam pretreatment of dry and ensiled hemp was investigated prior to ethanol production. The pretreatment efficiency was evaluated in terms of sugar recovery an

The ellipsocephalid trilobite Strenuaeva spinosa occurs widely in Scandinavia in the lower part of the Ornamentaspis? linnarssoni Zone (Cambrian Series 2). Its first appearance is a readily recognisable, widespread biohorizon in Scandinavia. During ontogeny, intergenal spines are lost and the librigenae develop from a generative zone in the genal region. The palpebro-ocular ridges are distinct and

Metamorphic belts in Precambrian shields expose deep interiors of orogens and are often challenging to interpret in tectonic terms. The Eastern Segment of the 1.1-0.9 Ga Sveconorwegian orogen is a metamorphic belt, which was metamorphosed at high-pressure granulite and upper amphibolite facies at 35-40 km depth and shows highly complex fold patterns. We use detailed structural analysis in combinat

This paper addresses the problem of representing the impact of different emergency exit signs during the evacuation of a tunnel when using two different evacuation models (i.e. FDS+Evac and buildingEXODUS). Both models allow the user to represent the impact of smoke upon the evacuee. The models are calibrated (1) considering the nature of the models themselves, (2) by deriving assumptions from pre

BACKGROUND: Lu-177-(DOTAO,Tyr3) octreotate is a new treatment modality for disseminated neuroendocrine tumors. According to a consensus protocol, the calculated maximally tolerated absorbed dose to the kidney should not exceed 27 Gy. In commonly used dosimetry methods, planar imaging is used for determination of the residence time, whereas the kidney mass is determined from a computed tomography (

During sporulation of Streptomyces coelicolor, the cytokinetic protein FtsZ is assembled into dozens of regularly spaced Z rings, which orchestrate the division of aerial hyphae into spores. We have previously found that a missense allele of ftsZ, ftsZ17(Spo), primarily affects sporulation septation rather than formation of cross-walls in vegetative mycelium. To clarify what aspect of FtsZ functio

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease in which the type I interferon pathway has a crucial role. We have previously shown that three genes in this pathway, IRF5, TYK2 and STAT4, are strongly associated with risk for SLE. Here, we investigated 78 genes involved in the type I interferon pathway to identify additional SLE susceptibility loci. First, we genotyped 896 sing

Abstract Dog bites to the hand and forearm are common. Although bites are usually minor, aggressive dogs may cause extensive bites developing to a public health problem. In a database review of dog bites to the hand applied to Emergency Department or to the Department of Hand Surgery in Malmö, Sweden 2008-2009, we found 81 cases [42 men and 39 women; median age 45 (range 2-88) years]. Three of 81

Neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) in subventricular zone (SVZ) produce new striatal neurons during several months after stroke, which may contribute to recovery. Intracerebral grafts of NSPCs can exert beneficial effects after stroke through neuronal replacement, trophic actions, neuroprotection, and modulation of inflammation. Here we have explored whether human fetal striatum-derived NSPC-gra