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We report the first successful use of miniature Global Positioning System loggers to track the ocean-going behaviour of a c. 400g seabird, the Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus. During three field seasons, breeding birds were tracked during the incubation and chick rearing periods on their foraging excursions from the large colony on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, UK. Foraging effort was concentrat

Some seabirds we encounter only fleetingly, as they fly by as we walk along the beach, or perhaps meet far out at sea when we take a boat trip. Others though we are more familiar with, such as the ‘seagulls’ that many will not even turn their head to appreciate. Yet, all seabirds have remarkable stories to tell, and we are fortunate now to live at a time where we can follow individual birds as theMost seabirds breed colonially, at which time they make central-place foraging trips. Parents must collect food both for themselves and for egg production/chick-rearing. How should they forage? I followed five species across two sites in Sweden in the Baltic Sea using GPS and time-depth recorder (TDR) devices, giving information on both flight and diving activity. I use a movement ecology approach

Pedestrian merging flows on stairs are defined as the confluence of a flow of pedestrians from a stair and pedestrians from each floor of a multi-storey building. This paper introduces a novel simplified mathematical model for the calculation of evacuation times on stairs which takes into account the impact of merging flows. The model allows calculating the impact of merging ratio (people accessin

This report describes a method developed for the synthesis of computer algorithms for optimal steady state control of dynamic, industrial processes with unknown characteristics -- a procedure involving automated model construction. Also included is a discussion of how the method was applied to the construction of control laws for steady state control of basis weight, moisture content and refining

Two adaptive autopilots for ships are designed, The autopilots are based on velocity scheduling, a self-tuning regulator for steady state course keeping, a high gain turning regulator with variable structure and a Kalman filter.Methods for design of the autopilots are discussed. Results from simulations and full-scale experiments with three different tankers are presented. The autopilots are shown

The β2-integrins on leukocytes can serve as a signaling unit during cell adhesion and locomotion, and to further clarify this important property we investigated the possible mechanisms of β2-integrin-induced activation of PtdIns 3-kinase. It has previously been demonstrated that clustering of β2-integrins activates p21(ras) by a tyrosine kinase-dependent pathway, and here we show that active p21(r

Integrin dependent adhesion and dynamic modulations of the actin network are prerequisites for normal cell locomotion. To investigate whether the actin microfilamentous system does play a role in regulation of β2-integrin-induced signalling, we pretreated granulocytes with staurosporine, a well-known protein kinase inhibitor that has also been shown to disrupt the cytoskeleton of intact cells. Pre

Abstract: Bladder cancer is a heterogenous disease, ranging from minimally invasive, low-grade tumours with lowrecurrence rates and mortality on one end of the spectrum, and muscle invasive, high-grade disease prone torecurrence, progression and death at the other end.The aim of this thesis was to investigate the expression, clinicopathological correlates and prognostic significanceof the candidat

Background and Purpose: Leukocytes have been implicated in the development of ischemia atherosclerotic vascular disease. In a prospective study we investigated whether the plasma concentration of inflammatory mediator, ie, proteases and cytokine, as markers for systemic leukocyte activation, are increased in patient with acute ischemic cerebrovascular diseases. Methods: Using enzyme-linked immunos

Release and cellular contents of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, neutrophilic elastase and secretory leukocyte proteinase inhibitor (SLPI) were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in peripheral blood mono- and polymorphonuclear cells stimulated with preopsonized yeast cells or lipopolysaccharide. Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) was also measured with a bioassay. TNFα producti

Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattningUnder den senaste tiden har det varit ganska populärt att studera smart materia som kan bilda nya strukturer beroende på externa förhållanden. Detta arbete är fokuserat på att studera hur man kan designa sådan ma- teria. Med hjälp av dator simuleringar har vi modellerat partiklar med riktade interaktioner och studerat deras beteenden i bulk.Förhoppningen är att omThere has been an increased interest to design “smart materials” which can self-assemble into complex structures in accordance to external factors such as for example electromagnetic fields. By designing particles with directional interactions one is able to control how particles will interact with each other. By means of both Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics simulations we study the interaction

A 24-kDa protein was purified from human neutrophil extracts and shown to be the newly discovered neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), based on structural and immunochemical data. A specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the determination of NGAL in human plasma and tissue fluids. Normal human plasma contains 72 μg 1-1 of NGAL (range 40-109 μg 1-1) in tw