Cellulose is one of the most abundant polysaccharides in nature and microorganisms have developed a comprehensive system for enzymatic breakdown of this ubiquitous carbon source, a subject of much interest in the biotechnology industry. Rhodothermus marinus produces a hyperthermostable cellulase, with a temperature optimum of more than 90 °C, the structure of which is presented here to 1.8 Å resol

OBJECTIVE: ACAT2 is thought to be responsible for cholesteryl ester production in chylomicron and VLDL assembly. Recently, we identified HNF1alpha as an important regulator of the human ACAT2 promoter. Thus, we hypothesized that MODY3 (HNF1alpha gene mutations) and possibly MODY1 (HNF4alpha, upstream regulator of HNF1alpha, gene mutations) subjects may have lower VLDL esterified cholesterol. METHO

Ammoxidation of 3-picoline to nicotinonitrile was studied on V2O5, V6O13, and V2O4 catalysts in a fixed-bed integral reactor. The activity studies showed that V6O13 was the most active and selective catalyst of the pure oxides, with a maximum yield of 76% nicotinonitrile at 365 °C. The maximum yield on V2O5 catalyst was 34%, and was obtained at a higher temperature, 458 °C. V2O4 was found to be in

Our aim was to compare the urethral pressure response pattern to pelvic floor muscle contractions in 20-27 years old, nulliparous continent women (n=31) to that of continent (n=28) and formerly untreated incontinent (n=59) (53-63 years old) women. These women underwent urethral pressure measurements during rest and repeated pelvic muscle contractions. The response to the contractions was graded 0-

Earlier studies have shown that while free-viewing images people tend to gaze at regions with a high local density of bottom up features such as contrast and edge density. In particular, this tendency seems to be more emphasized during the first few fixations after image onset. In this paper, we present a new method to investigate how gaze locations are chosen by introducing varying image resoluti

The ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus efficiently took up exogenously supplied [C-14]alanine and rapidly converted it to pyruvate, citrate, succinate, fumarate and to CO2, thus providing direct evidence for the utilisation of alanine as a respiratory substrate. [C-14]alanine was further actively metabolised to glutamate, glutamine and aspartate. Exposure to aminooxyacetate completely suppr

CREB3L2 was first identified as the 3'-partner of FUS in a fusion gene that seems to be specific for low grade fibromyxoid sarcoma. In silico analyses suggest that the predicted CREB3L2 protein is a member of the CREB3 family of transcription factors, with its bZIP domain being highly similar to that in CREB3L1, CREB3L3, CREB3L4, CREB3, and Drosophila Bbf-2. In the present study, the authors asses

Ursolic acid (UA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid, with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Sphingomyelin (SM) hydrolysis generates lipid messengers regulating cell survival. Earlier studies showed that UA has anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on HT29 cells, accompanied by a rapid increase in alkaline sphingomyelinase (Alk-SMase) activity. This study examines the effect of orally ad

Nerve fibres displaying immunoreactivity for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) were found in the wall of the portal vein in cats, guinea pigs, rats and mice. In whole-mount preparations a sparse network of VIP fibres was seen in the vessel wall. Electrical field stimulation of the rat portal vein in vitro caused a significant release of VIP. The results suggest that VIP ergic nerve fibres pl

BACKGROUND: The expression of steroid receptors is a common feature of both male and female breast carcinomas and is also one of the most important prognostic factors for patients with this disease. Steroid receptor levels in BRCA1-related breast carcinoma have reportedly been low. Little data on steroid receptor levels have been reported with regard to BRCA2. METHODS: Steroid receptor levels were

The clonal sedge Carex humilis forms rings of densely aggregated ramets in a dry grassland community in Central Europe. We describe the small-scale spatial variation, both in abiotic factors and vegetation, in relation to these rings. Compared to the surrounding vegetation the cover of plants, other than C. humilis, was significantly lower both in the central area of rings and within the rings the

Objective: In Sweden, there has previously been no normalised test material for the evaluation of language development in individual hearing-impaired children, and for the assessment of various methods of auditory habilitation. The purpose of the present study was to compose, apply and evaluate a test for language development in hearing-impaired children, and to establish the first set of referenc

Patient-centred care is the current vogue in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but it is only recently that robust techniques have become available to determine patients' values and preferences. In this international cross-sectional study, patients' concerns and expectations regarding COPD exacerbations were explored using discrete choice modelling. A fractional factorial design was us

The relationship between the radiation absorbed dose and the NMR longitudinal and transversal relaxation rates, R-1 and R-2, respectively, of a ceric sulphate dosimeter was examined. By adding copper sulphate, the R-1 and R-2 dose-responses were found to be linear up to 60 kGy with dose sensitivities of 13 x 10(-6) and 15 x 10(-6) s(-1) Gy-1, respectively. There is thus the potential for a three-d

The strong systematic change in solar zenith angles (SZA) due to annual orbital drift of the NOAA satellites has raised the suspicion of the influence of residual illumination on the calibrated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) derived from the Pathfinder AVHRR Land (PAL) database. The aim of this work is to analyse if trends in AVHRR NDVI from 1982 to 2000 over the Sahel region in Afr

We have previously found that fetal cortex taken from 16- to 18-day-old donors survives grafting to the infarcted cortex 5-7 days after middle cerebral artery occlusion. The present study was undertaken to examine the effect on graft survival of varying the age of the fetal donor tissue and the time between vessel occlusion and graft implantation. First, a cell suspension of neocortical tissue was

A series of Ru-polypyridine dyes has been studied with electron spectroscopy using AlK and synchrotron radiation. Both pure complexes and complexes adsorbed on nanostructured TiO2 (anatase) surfaces have been examined and special emphasis was given to the dye complex cis-bis(4,4-dicarboxy-2,2-bipyridine)-bis-(isothiocyanato)-ruthenium(II) [Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2]. The measurements provide information co