BACKGROUND: The Kidd blood group antigens Jk(a) and Jk(b) are encoded by the red blood cell (RBC) urea transporter gene. Homozygosity for silent JK alleles results in the rare Jk(a-b-) phenotype. To date, seven JK(null) alleles have been identified, and of these, two are more frequent in the Polynesians and Finns. This study reports the identification of other JK(null) alleles in Jk(a-b-) individu

ABSTRACT Teaching and learning are frequently treated as processes that are separate from each other, while teachers and learners are considered as disembodied entities with a neutral position towards the content which is negotiated. In collective biography writing (CBW), a very different approach is taken. Writing, reading and learning are seen as an integrated whole, where teachers and educators

Objectives: To estimate the rate of malignancy in adnexal lesions described as unilocular cysts at transvaginal ultrasound examination, to investigate if there are differences in clinical and ultrasound characteristics between benign and malignant unilocular cysts. Methods: 3511 patients with an adnexal mass underwent transvaginal ultrasound examination between 1999 and 2007. The sonologists used

The recently developed Exchange Metal Cluster Source (EXMEC) is described. The source is designed for electron-spectroscopic studies of neutral metal clusters. Preliminary results on the rubidium and tin clusters using synchrotron radiation excited photoelectron spectroscopy show the capability for cluster production in the size regime of few tens to few hundred of atoms per cluster. A wide range

Superantigens (SAgs) are toxins capable of inducing a massive immune response, leading to severe disease. They are secreted by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes, which produce the staphylococcal enterotoxins and streptococcal pyogenic exotoxins, respectively. Our immune system has evolved to protect us against foreign threats, such as bacteria and viruses. By engulfing

Cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) is a fascinating extracellular fungal enzyme that consists of two domains, one carrying a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and the other a cytochrome-type heme b group as cofactors. The two domains are interconnected by a linker and electrons can shuttle from the FAD to the heme group by intramolecular electron transfer. Electron transfer between CDH and an electrod

A parametrized model in addition to the control and state-space variables depends on time-independent design parameters, which essentially define a family of models. The goal of parametrized model reduction is to approximate this family of models. In this paper, a reduction method for linear time-invariant (LTI) parametrized models is presented, which constitutes the development of a recently prop

The broadband capacity of the twisted-pair lines strongly varies within the copper access network. It is therefore important to assess the ability of a digital subscriber line (DSL) to support the DSL services prior to deployment. This task is handled by the line qualification procedures, where the identification of the line topology is an important part. This paper presents a new method, denoted

For flying animals aerodynamic theory predicts that mechanical power required to fly scales as P proportional, variant m (7/6) in a series of isometric birds, and that the flight metabolic scope (P/BMR; BMR is basal metabolic rate) scales as P (scope) proportional, variant m (5/12). I tested these predictions by using phylogenetic independent contrasts from a set of 20 bird species, where flight m

Partially premixed combustion (PPC) has the potential of high efficiency and simultaneous low soot and NOx emissions. Running the engine in PPC mode with high octane number fuels has the advantage of a longer premix period of fuel and air which reduces soot emissions, even at higher loads. The problem is the ignitability at low load and idle operating conditions. The objective of this study is in

Semiconductor nanowire arrays offer significant potential for biosensing applications with optical read-out due to their high surface area and due to the unique optical properties of one-dimensional materials. A challenge for optical read-out of analyte-binding to the nanowires is the need to efficiently collect and detect light from a three-dimensional volume. Here we show that light from fluorop

Microbial activity in soil is usually limited by the availability of carbon (C). Adding an easily available C source, like glucose, has therefore been a common approach to study alleviation of resource limitations. Most such studies have relied on respiration to study microbial dynamics, with few following the explicit growth response. We determined the response in bacterial and fungal growth, as

This Letter reports a measurement of the muon charge asymmetry from W bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The asymmetry is measured in the W -> mu nu decay mode as a function of the muon pseudorapidity using a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 31 pb(-1). The results are compared to predict

Synucleinopathies, characterized by intracellular aggregation of α-synuclein protein, share a number of features in pathology and disease progression. However, the vulnerable cell population differs significantly between the disorders, despite being caused by the same protein. While the vulnerability of dopamine cells in the substantia nigra to α-synuclein over-expression, and its link to Parkinso

Aims: Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) contributes to mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, the most severe form of acute lung injury (ALI). Absence of activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) confers susceptibility to ALI/VILI. To identify cell-specific ATF3-dependent mechanisms of susceptibility to ALI/VILI, we generated ATF3 chimera by adoptive bone marrow (BM) tr