The dynamic properties of the actin cytoskeleton in smooth muscle cells play an important role in a number of cardiovascular disease states. The state of actin does not only mediate mechanical stability and contractile function but can also regulate gene expression via myocardin related transcription factors (MRTFs). These transcriptional co-activators regulate genes encoding contractile and cytos

Magnetkameran är en fantastisk medicinsk bildutrustning som kan producera detaljerade bilder av insidan av kroppen. Förutom bilder av vävnaden och dess struktur så kan magnetkameran också användas till att mäta olika egenskaper hos vävnaden. Om en vävnadsegenskap mäts i varje bildpixel så kan den resulterande bilden (parameterkartan) visas och användas för medicinsk bedömning, vilket kallas för kvThe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner is a remarkable medical imaging device, capable of producing detailed images of the inside of the body. In addition to imaging internal tissue structures, the scanner can also be used to measure various properties of the tissue. If a tissue property is measured in every image pixel, the resulting property image (the parameter map) can be displayed and u

Males and females differ in both parasite load and the strength of immune responses and these effects have been verified in humans and other vertebrates. Sex hormones act as important modulators of immune responses; the male sex hormone testosterone is generally immunosuppressive while the female sex hormone estrogen tends to be immunoenhancing. Different sets of T-helper cells (Th) have important

Bacterial growth after freezing/thawing was studied in two soils with a history of annual freezing/thawing events. Soil samples were frozen for 1 week at −3 °C or −18 °C, thawed at +4 °C, and respiration and bacterial growth (estimated using leucine incorporation) were compared with reference soils kept at +4 °C. There were no major differences between soils. A respiration pulse, peaking within 9

Despite the efforts to reduce its water consumption, the food industry still requires large amounts of water. Membrane processes have established themselves in the food industry at the beginning of the water loop for preparation of the intake water and at the end water loop for recovery and final treatment of the water. The focus of this paper is on two application studies related to water recover

Increasing oil prices and growing environmental concerns in recent years have driven the development of renewable biofuels. Until now, most of the bioethanol production concepts are based on sugar and starch crops as feedstock, while research on second generation of bioethanol concepts is investigating the use of cellulosic biomass such as straw, wood, etc. as feedstock. The first part of the pape

The ultrafiltration (UF) with diafiltration is the state-of-the-art process in the bulk pharmaceutical industry to separate solutions containing high and low molecular weight solutes. By applying UF with diafiltration, a feed stream can be separated into a concentrate with a high concentration of high molecular weight solutes and a permeate, which is nearly 100% free of high molecular weight solut

The focus of this paper is on the design of pervaporation units for wastewater treatment taking into account technical, economic, and environmental aspects. Two different sized industrial wastewater streams of water-chloroform, and of water-methyl-isobutylketone (MIBK) are considered. Based on a wastewater stream of 1,500 kg/d, a semi-batch process combining pervaporation with a decanter recycle l

The use of diafiltration is now the state-of-the-art in the food and beverage, biotech and pharmaceutical industry. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the most common process modes of diafiltration, batch and continuous, are discussed. Further, the new concept of counter-current diafiltration, which leads to a significant reduction of diafiltration liquid consumption, is introduced

In hydrophobic pervaporation, the evaluation and prediction of coupling effects in multicomponent systems is one of the key requirements to improve its applicability in the biotechnology and food industry. The focus of this study is first on binary aqueous systems with methanol, ethanol, acetone, 1-propanol, 2-propanol 1,3-dioxane, and 1,4-dioxane, and then on ternary aqueous systems with 1-propan

The different processes used for producing carrageenan, which is a sulfated polysaccharide consisting of complex mixture of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, are discussed. The sources of carrageenan are several genera and species of red algae. The traditional production process involves extraction with water and mechanical devices to remove most extraneous products. A new generation of s

Background: Porous metal augments have been used successfully for management of large acetabular defects during revision hip arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively review and compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes of porous metal augments in cemented and uncemented acetabular revisions, all performed at the same institution. Methods: Using our institutional clinical

Hydrophobic pervaporation is rarely considered in the biotech industry despite several potential advantages and some applications. This is related to fact that the majority of studies have been with binary feed systems, while real feed mixtures are often multi-component and might contain impermeable components, such as salts and sugars. In order to successfully optimise hydrophobic pervaporation,

Ultrafiltration with diafiltration is a state-of-the-art process used to separate solutions containing high and low molecular weight solutes. The focus of this paper is on the different concepts of ultrafiltration with diafiltration - batch, continuous and counter-current - and the potential realization of diafiltration on an industrial scale in pharmaceutical biotechnology. Two case studies will

Taste is the most important criteria in evaluating the quality of wine and beer. Alfa Laval's Frank Lipnizki, Carl-Erik Nielsen, Robert Betcke and Jose Caprio highlight the potential that membrane processes offer in maintaining and improving taste during production.

Membrane technology is a relative new technology in the pulp and paper industry with interesting applications in the water loop, the by-product loop and the chemical loop. The technology was pioneered in the pulp and paper industry by DDS Filtration, now Alfa Laval Nakskov in the 1970'ies and this article reviews the opportunities to use membrane technology in the different loops investigated over

Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a disease of increasing importance and represents a growing burden on global healthcare and human health. In T2D, loss of effectiveness of insulin signaling in peripheral tissues cannot be compensated for by adequate insulin secretion, leading to hyperglycemia and resultant complications. In recent years, inflammation has been identified as a central component of T2D, both