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Surface–atmosphere energy exchange is strongly ecosystem-specific. At the same time, as the energy balance constitutes responses of an ecosystem to environmental stressors including precipitation, humidity and solar radiation, it results in feedbacks of potential importance for the regional climate. Northern peatlands represent a diverse class of ecosystems that cover nearly 6 × 106 km2 in the Bor
The paper describes full-scale fire-fighting tests performed in an underground mine. A total of six different methods to fight a full scale fire in a mine tunnel were tested. The methods involved different fire-fighting equipment but were comparable regarding fundamental conditions such as length of response-route, fire-fighting set-up, and smoke and fire size. The aim was to compare different equ
Tendon function and homeostasis rely on external loading. This study investigates the biological mechanisms behind tendon biomechanical function and how the mechanical performance is affected by reduced daily loading. The Achilles tendons of 16 weeks old female Sprague Dawley rats (n = 40) were unloaded for 5 weeks by inducing muscle paralysis with botulinum toxin injections in the right gastrocne
Base-catalysed depolymerisation of lignin using sodium hydroxide has been shown to be an effective approach towards exploiting industrial (technical) lignins within the pulp and paper industry. In the present work, a pine kraft lignin (Indulin AT) which is precipitated from black liquor of linerboard-grade pulp was depolymerised via base catalysis to produce low-molecular-mass aromatics without an
Softwood bark contains a large amounts of extractives—i.e., soluble lipophilic (such as resin acids) and hydrophilic components (phenolic compounds, stilbenes). The effects of the partial removal of water-soluble extractives before acid-catalyzed steam pretreatment on enzymatic digestibility were assessed for two softwood barks—Norway spruce and Scots pine. A simple hot water extraction step remov
The ability of the total extract from Physalis angulata; three fractions after partitioning with n-hexane, ethyl acetate (TBE), and water; and four withanolides (compounds 1 – 4) to phosphorylate 5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) in HepG2 cells was evaluated. The TBE fraction (50 μg/mL) activated p-ACC and p-AMPK expression most strongly. C
With the increasing global awareness about the impacts of climate change on the built environments, the need for improving the climate resilience of buildings is being more acknowledged. Despite the high number of relevant studies, there is a lack of frameworks to assess the resiliency of buildings and urban areas. This study presents a multi-objective framework to optimize the form of buildings a
Body acceleration due to heartbeat-induced reaction forces can be measured as mobile phone accelerometer (m-ACC) signals. Our aim was to test the feasibility of using m-ACC to detect changes induced by stress by ultra-short heart rate variability (USV) indices (standard deviation of normal-to-normal interval-SDNN and root mean square of successive differences-RMSSD). Sixteen healthy volunteers wer
Study region: Rukarara River Watershed (RRW), Rwanda. Study focus: DOC leaching has important environmental consequences for both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This paper measures leached dissolved organic carbon (LDOC) and the factors controlling its variation in the RRW, a mixed agriculture and forest watershed in Rwanda. The study describes the relationship of LDOC with land use/land cove
Climate change is a major global threat to biodiversity with widespread impacts on ecological communities. Evidence for beneficial impacts on populations is perceived to be stronger and more plentiful than that for negative impacts, but few studies have investigated this apparent disparity, or how ecological factors affect population responses to climatic change. We examined the strength of the re
Earlier studies have implied a change in dietary habits of the Swedish population towards a low carbohydrate, high fat diet. Questions have been raised about the development in recent years and potential health effects. We have investigated the dietary intake of Swedish female students enrolled in a university nutrition course between 2002 and 2017. The students carried out self-reporting of all f
BACKGROUND: Cost-effective processing of lignocellulosic biomass into sugar derived products, such as biofuels or biochemicals, needs to be performed at high water insoluble solid (WIS) loading. However, the difficult rheology of such materials presents significant challenges. The aim of this study was to investigate if a Cel5A endoglucanase can be used to reduce the viscosity of two types of pret
The structural organization of the gene for the human cysteine-proteinase inhibitor cystatin C was studied. Restriction-endonuclease digests of human genomic DNA hybridized with human cystatin C cDNA and genomic probes produced patterns consistent with a single cystatin C gene and, also, the presence of six closely related sequences in the human genome. A 30 kb restriction map covering the genomic
The authors evaluated physiologic, psychologic and metabolic effects of a nine-week in-hospital training program on 14 men with severe disabling angina pectoris. The exercise program consisted of intensive interval training on an ergometer bicycle for two 30 min sessions daily. The physical performance increased by about 40% (p less than 0.001). Plasma insulin levels were reduced and glucose toler
The concentration of soluble HLA class I (sHLA-I) was measured by ELISA in serum samples from 30 well-characterised SLE patients at high and low disease activity states and from 100 healthy controls. HLA-A allotypes in the patients were analysed by a PCR-based typing technique. A higher level of sHLA-I was found in SLE patient sera both at high and low disease activity than in controls (P< 0.001).
Because of the high temperature applied in the steam pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials, different types of inhibiting degradation products of saccharides and lignin, such as acetic acid and furfural, are formed. The main objective of the present study was to examine the effect of acetic acid and furfural on the cellulase production of a filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei RUT C30, which
A pulse of respiration is induced by rewetting dry soil. Here we study the microbial responses underlying this pulse of respiration when rewetting soil dried for 4-days or 1-year. In the 4-days dried soil, respiration increased to a maximum rate immediately upon rewetting after which it decreased exponentially. In the 1-year dried soil, respiration also increased immediately, but then remained hig
BACKGROUND: Seed galactomannans are preferred hydrocolloids since they are comparatively cheap, non-toxic, eco-friendly and non-polluting during production and application. Galactomannans from seeds of three species of Gleditsia, namely G. sinensis, G. microphylla and G. melanacantha, were characterized in terms of structural and thermal properties. RESULTS: Gleditsia polysaccharides were characte
We have investigated the structure of a microbial community in semi-natural sandy grassland in southeast Sweden. The sand is rich in lime, but in most places the soil is decalcified in the upper layers, and therefore this site shows a large variation in pH within short distances. We collected samples at three different soil depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm) and found the pH to range from 5 t
