This study describes the development of a high throughput procedure for the extraction, purification, and quantification of all 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on EPA's priority list, subject to biodegradation assays in a creosote-contaminated soil. We used various combinations of solvents, temperatures, ultrasonication, tumbling, saponification, vacuum centrifugation, adsorption chroma

Structure-property relationships of polymers incorporating Lewis acidic boron in their branched chain architecture were investigated as a function of LiClO4 salt concentration. The polymers were synthesised from boron trioxide, and different poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEGs) and monomethyl ether end-capped PEGs. The PEG-boronate ester polymers based on PEGs having molecular weights equal to, or below,

Psychosocial stress could lead to a wide range of possible physiological reactions, due to both the total burden of stress as well as individual susceptibility. Two useful Swedish registers to investigate early life influences on stress susceptibility are the Swedish Medical Birth Register (MBR) and the Military Service Conscription Register (MSCR). In a previous study we showed a positive relatio

Background: During pathologic conditions such as meningitis and traumatic brain injury the function of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is disturbed. In the present study we examined the cerebral pharmacokinetic pattern of morphine in the intact brain and during experimentally induced meningitis using a pig model. Secondly, the use of intracerebral microdialysis as a potential tool for monitoring dam

A new phantom and evaluation method for experimental evaluation of 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy single volume localization techniques regarding signal contamination (C), defined as the part of the signal originating outside the volume of interest, is presented. The quality assessment method is based on a spherical phantom with an oil/water interface in order to reduce susceptibility effects,

Tubal factor infertility is often diagnosed without any documented history of pelvic inflammatory disease. Chlamydial infection is one of the most common causes of pelvic inflammatory disease and likely also of infertility and ectopic pregnancy. Oral contraceptives may alter the course of chlamydial infections which may mask the clinical expression of the disease. This paper considers a number of

We have developed a technique to image the near-field liquid core within an atomizing spray. To obtain high-fidelity images of the liquid core in such a spray has been very challenging up to this point. In this article, however, we describe the successful use of a time-gated ballistic imaging instrument to obtain high spatial resolution, single-shot images of the liquid core in an atomizing water

Brevican is a brain-specific proteoglycan which is found in specialized extracellular matrix structures called perineuronal nets. Brevican increases the invasiveness of glioma cells in vivo and has been suggested to play a role in central nervous system fiber tract development. To study the role of brevican in the development and function of the brain, we generated mice lacking a functional brevic

The effects of changed substrate pH on translocation and partitioning of C-14-labelled plant assimilates were examined in laboratory microcosms containing mycorrhizal (unidentified fungal isolate 'Pink FMT 87:2') and non-mycorrhizal seedlings of Pinus sylvestris L. and Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. The mycorrhizal plants had intact mycelial systems at different developmental stages, and microcosm

Objective: Although the beneficial effects of estrogen on bone are well known, the roles of estrogen receptors (ERs) in mediating these effects are not fully understood. Methods: To study the effects of long-term ERalpha deficiency, bone phenotype was studied in aged ERalpha knockout (ERKO) mice. In addition, ERKO osteoclasts and osteoblasts were cultured in vitro. Design and results: Histomorphom

Previous research has shown that the disease load experienced during the birth year, measured as the infant mortality rate, had a significant influence on old-age mortality in nineteenth-century rural Sweden. We know that children born in years with very high rates of infant mortality, due to outbreaks of smallpox or whooping cough, and who still survived to adulthood and married, faced a life len

We present the identification of the sex pheromone in the pine sawfly, Gilpinia pallida, including analysis of the female pheromone content, male antennal response and attraction in the field, and synthesis of the most active pheromone component. Several 3,7-dimethyl-2-alkanols were identified from female whole-body extracts, including some compounds with a 2R configuration. This is the first obse

The selectivity of mycobionts and cyanobionts in lichen symbioses were examined. We analyzed symbiotic cyanobionts, collected from different sample sites, and compared them to free-living cyanobacteria Nostoc. Cyanobionts were obtained from lichens assigned to the genera Pseudocyphellaria and Sticta, in particular. Multiple gene loci were screened and direct optimization was used in the phylogenet

Well-preserved topotype material of Holmia inusitata Ahlberg and Bergstrom, in Ahlberg et at., from the Lower Cambrian of Lauselva, southern Norway, allows a redescription of the species. Intraspecific variation of characters, such as the expansion and relative length (sagittal) of the anterior glabellar lobe and the curvature and length of the ocular lobes, is shown. The species is, however, cons

This study reports the outcome of active surveillance in men with PSA screening-detected prostate cancer (PC), and PSA doubling time (PSADT) was evaluated as a predictor of selecting patients to active treatment or surveillance. On December 31, 1994, 10,000 men were randomized to biennial PSA testing. Through to December 2004, a total of 660 men were diagnosed with PC, of whom 270 managed with ini

This paper proposes four simple tests for the null hypothesis of no cointegration in the presence of a level break. The tests are general enough to allow for endogenous regressors, serial correlation and heterogeneous breaks of unknown timing. The limiting distributions of the tests are derived and critical values are provided. We also conduct a small Monte Carlo study to investigate their finite

Two different process configurations, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), were compared, at 8% water-insoluble solids (WIS), regarding ethanol production from steam-pretreated corn stover. The enzymatic loading in these experiments was 10 FPU/g WIS and the yeast concentration in SSF was 1 g/L (dry weight) of a Saccharomyces cerevisia