The group B streptococcus (GBS) is the most important cause of life-threatening bacterial infections in newborn infants. Protective immunity to GBS infection is elicited by several surface proteins, one of which, the beta protein, is known to bind human IgA-Fc. Here, we show that the beta protein also binds human factor H (FH), a negative regulator of complement activation. Absorption experiments

Longitudinal data are presented on a boy between the ages ofthree and eight. At age three he received a diagnosis oflanguage impairment and at age six a diagnosis of high-functioning autism. Results are presented from extensive assessments at four points in time, including interviews with his mother and teachers. The results indicate that the boy s core problem was poor language comprehension, esp

Multinuclear NMR has been used to investigate the structure and mobility of a series of polymer gel electrolytes. The co-polymers used as matrixes in the gels have acrylate backbones and side chains of ethylene oxide, where the length of the side chains has been varied, while the ratio of acrylate to ethylene oxide has been kept constant. The electrolyte is a mixture of lithium perchlorate and two

OBJECTIVE: To investigate gene expressions for neurohypophyseal and ovarian hormones as well as their receptors in the endometrium of women with primary dysmenorrhoea and healthy subjects at ovulation. STUDY DESIGN: A group of eight women with moderate to severe dysmenorrhoea and eight healthy subjects were compared in parallel between 18 and 35 years of age, regularly menstruating, non-overweight

High-resolution correlations, partly with a precision better than 10 ka, are achieved between late Ludfordian sequences on Gotland, Sweden (on Baltica), and a section (COG) through the Coral Gardens Formation along the Broken River, northeastern Australia (on Gondwana), despite these sections having been on different palaeocontinents facing different oceans. The interval is characterised by rapid,

Cellular metabolism of glucose is required for stimulation of insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells, but the precise metabolic coupling factors involved in this process are not known. In an effort to better understand mechanisms of fuel-mediated insulin secretion, we have adapted 13C NMR and isotopomer methods to measure influx of metabolic fuels into the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in i

There are currently strong incentives for increased use of renewable fuels in the transport sector worldwide. However, some bioethanol and biodiesel production routes have limitations with regard to resource efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gases. More efficient biofuel systems are those based on lignocelluloses and novel conversion technologies. A complementary strategy to these is to incre

Recent work on the expression of retinal transcription factors and other molecular cues delivers interesting but partly contradictory information on the early phases of eye evolution.

We used a high-titer recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vector to express WT or mutant human alpha -synuclein in the substantia nigra of adult marmosets. The alpha -synuclein protein was expressed in 90-95% of all nigral dopamine neurons and distributed by anterograde transport throughout their axonal and dendritic projections. The transduced neurons developed severe neuronal pathology, inc

When the wavelength is much larger than the typical scale of the microstructure in a material, it is possible to define effective or homogenized material coefficients. The classical way of determination of the homogenized coefficients consists of solving an elliptic problem in a unit cell. This method and the Floquet-Bloch method, where an eigenvalue problem is solved, are numerically compared wit

This article describes and evaluates algorithms and their hardware architectures for binary morphological erosion and dilation. In particular, a fast stall-free low-complexity architecture is proposed that takes advantage of the morphological duality principle and structuring element (SE) decomposition. The design is intended to be used as a hardware accelerator in real-time embedded processing ap

The oxidation of Pd(111) leads to an incommensurate surface oxide, which was studied by the use of scanning tunneling microscopy, surface x-ray diffraction, high resolution core level spectroscopy, and density functional calculations. A combination of these methods reveals a two-dimensional structure having no resemblance to bulk oxides of Pd. Our study also demonstrates how the atomic arrangement

OBJECTIVE: To describe the long-term influence of meniscectomy on pain, functional limitations, and muscular performance. To assess the effects of radiographic osteoarthritis (OA), gender and age on these outcomes in patients with meniscectomy. DESIGN: 159 subjects (35 women), mean age 53 years, were examined 19 (17-22) years after open meniscectomy. Self-reported symptoms and function were assess

A photochemistry study on nitrous oxide making use of site-selective excitation of terminal nitrogen, central nitrogen, and oxygen 1s-->3pi excitations is presented. The resonant Auger decay which takes place following excitation can lead to dissociation of the N(2)O(+) ion. To elucidate the nuclear dynamics, energy-resolved Auger electrons were detected in coincidence with the ionic dissociation

Purpose: We aimed to investigate associations between serum levels of the advanced glycation endproduct methylglyoxal-derived hydroimidazolone (MG-H1) and retinopathy in a sample of patients with type 1 diabetes. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a Scandinavian ophthalmology outpatient clinic on 61 randomly selected patients with type 1 diabetes. Blood samples and retinal photograph

Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) is involved in the activation of different proteases which participate in the degradation of extracellular matrix, thereby enhancing the invasive capacity of tumour cells. uPA has been shown to be of prognostic importance in breast cancer. We have analysed uPA with a new luminometric immunoassay (LIA), applicable in cytosol samples routinely used for oestrogen

EU negotiations are characterized bythe coexistence of a bargaining and a problem-solving approach. The permanence of EU negotiations discourages tough bargaining behaviour, as does the prevalence of strong consensus norms. On the other hand, evidence exists of very confrontational behaviour that often leads to lowest common denominator solutions. We argue that the mode of negotiation to be found

The Torrabaai-Koigabmond Complex (southern Kaoko Belt, Namibia) consists of three main intrusive rock types including metaluminous hornblende- and titanite-bearing quartz diorites, metaluminous hornblende- and biotite-bearing granodiorites and peraluminous garnet- and muscovite-bearing leucogranites. Uranium-Pb zircon data obtained on the granodiorites and leucogranites indicate concordia upper in