Solar energy absorbed by plants results in either reflection or absorption. The latter results in photosynthesis, fluorescence, or heat. Measurements of fluorescence changes have been used for monitoring processes associated with photosynthesis. A simple method to follow changes in leaf fluorescence and leaf reflectance associated with nonphotochemical quenching and light acclimation of leaves is

Patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) have in ongoing risk of sudden incapacitation that might cause harm to others while driving a car. Driving restrictions vary across different countries in Europe. The most recent recommendations for driving of ICD patients in Europe were published in 1997 and focused mainly oil patients implanted for secondary prevention. In recent year

The 10q26 locus in the second intron of FGFR2 is the locus most strongly associated with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer in genome-wide association studies. We conducted fine-scale mapping in case-control studies genotyped with a custom chip (iCOGS), comprising 41 studies (n = 89,050) of European ancestry, 9 Asian ancestry studies (n = 13,983), and 2 African ancestry studies (n = 2,028) f

Polytypism in III-V semiconductor nanowires is a topic that has received considerable attention in recent years. Achieving a pure nanowire crystal phase requires well-controlled and advanced parameter tuning for most III-V materials. Additionally, the new and unusual phases sometimes observed may present unique material properties if they can be controllably fabricated. With the prospect of using

Background: We have developed a rapid method, based on lamellar body counts (LBC) on gastric aspirate, for identifying newborns who will develop respiratory distress syndrome with a need for surfactant supplementation. Objective: We set out to test whether it was possible to improve the outcome when used in a clinical trial. Methods: We randomly assigned 380 infants born at 24-29 weeks' gestation

Establishing the introduction pathways of alien species is a fundamental task in invasion biology. The common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis, has been widely introduced outside of its native range in both Europe and North America, primarily through escaped pets or deliberate release of animals from captive or wild populations. Here, we use Bayesian clustering, approximate Bayesian computation (ABC)

Background: De novo lymphatic vessel formation has recently been observed in lungs of patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the distribution of lymphatic vessel changes among the anatomical compartments of diseased lungs is unknown. Furthermore, information regarding the nature of lymphatic vessel alterations across different stages of COPD is missing. This

Phthalates which are widely used, are ubiquitous in the environment and in some human tissues. It is generally accepted that phthalates exert their toxic action by inhibiting Leydig cell synthesis of testosterone, but in vitro studies have also shown anti-androgenic effects at the receptor level. Some cross-sectional studies have shown inverse associations between urinary levels of phthalates and

BEAN is a newly proposed lightweight stream cipher adopting Fibonacci FCSRs. It is designed for very constrained environments and aims at providing a balance between security, efficiency and cost. A weakness in BEAN was first found by Ågren and Hell in 2011, resulting in a key recovery attack slightly better than brute force. In this paper, we present new correlations between state and keystream w

We assessed DNA methylation and copy number status of 27,000 CpGs in 149 urothelial carcinomas and integrated the findings with gene expression and mutation data. Methylation was associated with gene expression for 1,332 CpGs, of which 26% showed positive correlation with expression, i.e., high methylation and high gene expression levels. These positively correlated CpGs were part of specific tran

Objective: To investigate changes in levels of serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and urine c-telopeptide of type-2 collagen (CTX-II) as markers for cartilage turnover in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, in response to muscle strength training in combination with treatment with glucosamine, ibuprofen or placebo. Design: A 12-week double blind, placebo controlled, random

The free volume changes of poly[1-(trimethyl-silyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP) treated in supercritical CO2 (scCO(2)) were investigated with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). CO2 is known to plasticize and increase the free volume size of a broad range of polymers. In this work dense PTMSP films were treated with scCO(2) under different pressures and temperatures, resulting in the enlarg

There are no agreed measures of stroke care quality that enable the standardized comparison of stroke care between countries. We aimed to develop a set of measures of quality of acute stroke care involving stroke quality registers in Western Europe.

Unsuccessful cytogenetics (UC) in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients treated on different SWOG trials was recently reported to be associated with increased age and dismal outcome. In order to ascertain whether this holds true also in unselected AML patients, we retrieved all cytogenetic reports in cases from the population-based Swedish AML Registry. Between 1997 and 2006, 1737 patients below

Greywater reuse is becoming an increasingly important factor for potable water saving in many countries. Syria is one of the most water scarce countries in the Middle East. However, greywater reuse is still not common in the country. Regulations and standards for greywater reuse are not available. Recently, however, several stakeholders have started to plan for greywater reuse. The main objective

Hairdressers have an increased risk for developing airway symptoms, for example, asthma and rhinitis. Persulfates, which are oxidizing agents in bleaching powder, are considered important causal agents for these symptoms. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The aim was therefore to measure proteomic changes in nasal lavage fluid from persulfate-challenged subjects to identify proteins

OBJECTIVES: To investigate how sociodemographic and clinical factors are associated with psychosocial functioning and disability at admission to a musculoskeletal pain rehabilitation program and at 1-year follow-up. DESIGN: A cohort pre-post study. SETTING: A University hospital specialized pain rehabilitation unit. PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred nine participants with musculoskeletal pain (neck d

Objective: The objective was to assess the long-term safety profile of dual-release hydrocortisone (DR-HC) in patients with adrenal insufficiency. Design: Randomized, open-label, crossover trial of DR-HC or thrice-daily hydrocortisone for 3 months each (stage 1) followed by two consecutive, prospective, open-label studies of DR-HC for 6 months (stage 2) and 18 months (stage 3) at five university c

Inflammatory diseases and inflammatory markers secreted by the liver, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and ceruloplasmin, have been associated with incident atrial fibrillation (AF). Genetic studies have not supported a causal relationship between CRP and AF, but the relationship between ceruloplasmin and AF has not been studied. The purpose of this Mendelian randomization study was to explore w