One of the five largest mass extinctions of the past 600 million years occurred at the boundary of the Triassic and Jurassic periods, 201.6 million years ago. The loss of marine biodiversity at the time has been linked to extreme greenhouse warming, triggered by the release of carbon dioxide from flood basalt volcanism in the central Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, the biotic turnover in terrestrial

A method for the determination of electron density using a narrow beam attenuation geometry is described. The method does not require that the elemental composition of the phantom materials is known. The Hounsfield numbers for the phantom materials used were determined using five different CT scanners. A relationship between Hounsfield number and electron density can thus be established, which is

Background: Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMS) like Tamoxifen and Raloxifen are used for menopausal symptoms, prevention of cardio-vascular diseases, osteoporosis and mammary carcinoma. Tamoxifen acts as an estrogen inhibitor on the mammary gland, but stimulates postmenopausal uterine mucosa in about 25% of cases while decreasing the risk of osteoporosis. Materials, Methods and Results

Five parkinsonian patients who had received implants of human embryonic mesencephalic tissue unilaterally in the striatum 10-56 months earlier were grafted with tissue from four to eight donors into the putamen (four patients) or the putamen plus the caudate nucleus (one patient) on the other side, and were followed for 18-24 months. After 12-18 months, PET showed a mean 85% increase in 6-L-[18F]f

To study the composition of wild strawberries grown at high altitude, total antioxidant capacity, total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, and individual phenolic compounds were measured in wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca) collected between 2,650 and 3,300 m above sea level in Bolivia. Total antioxidant capacity, as assessed by the ferric-reducing antioxidant power and 2,2¢-azinobis( 3-ethylb

The development of a model for any energy system is required for proper design, operation or its monitoring. Models based on accurate mathematical expressions for physical processes are mostly useful to understand the actual operation of the plant. However, for large systems like combined heat and power (CHP) plants, such models are usually complex in nature. The estimation of output parameters us

OBJECTIVE In childhood onset GH deficiency (GHD) a reduction in left ventricular mass (LV-mass) and impairment of systolic function as well an impairment in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) has been shown. The aim of the present study was to assess if a low GH dose resulted in an improvement in morphological and functional parameters of these organs. DESIGN AND PATIENTS Eleven patients with childh

BACKGROUND: Diclofenac is widely used for postoperative analgesia but the perioperative safety of this drug is controversial because of its effect on platelet aggregation, which might increase blood loss. In a prospective investigator-blinded study the effects of diclofenac and paracetamol on pain and blood loss were compared in patients undergoing tonsillectomy. METHOD: Ninety patients were rando

This paper focuses on system-level design methods for low energy consumption in architectures employing variable-voltage processors. Two lowenergy design flows are introduced. The first, Speed-up and Stretch, is based on the performance vs. low-energy design trade-off. The second, Eye-on-Energy, is based on energy sensitive scheduling and assignment techniques. Both of the approaches presented in

The oxygen evolving complex (OEC) of photosystem II (PSII) gives rise to manganese-derived electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signals in the S0 and S2 oxidation states. These signals exhibit different microwave power saturation behavior between 4 and 10 K. Below 8 K, the S0 state EPR signal is a faster relaxer than the S2 multiline signal, but above 8 K, the S0 signal is the slower relaxer of t

The relative importance for algae of fish excretion and fish predation on zooplankton was studied in experimental pools. Even- (zoo- and phytoplankton) and odd-link systems (planktivorous fish, zoo- and phytoplankton) were established, in which the standing stock of primary producers was expected to follow the predictions from food chain theory sensu Oksanen. Two intermediate treatments (fish pred

Objective: To evaluate efficacy and cost-effectiveness of budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort*) maintenance (one dose once or twice daily) plus additional doses as needed (Symbicort Maintenance And Reliever Therapy, SMART) compared with a higher fixed dose of budesonide/ formoterol with formoterol as needed in patients with persistent asthma. Study design and methods: 6-month, open, randomised study

Here, we describe the preparation, structure, and properties of cryogel sponges, which represent a new type of macroporous biomaterial for tissue engineering. Cryogels were produced through freeze-thawing techniques, either from agarose alone or from agarose with grafted gelatin. The aim of this study was to evaluate agarose cryogel sponges as scaffolds for Culturing both isolated pancreatic islet

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a neoplasm composed of myofibroblastic spindle cells and infiltrating inflammatory cells. Cytogenetic analyses have revealed that a subgroup of IMT, in particular among children and young adults, harbors clonal chromosomal rearrangements involving chromosome band 2p23. Further, molecular genetic studies have shown that these rearrangements target the ALK

We have investigated the formation of supported bilayers by coadsorption of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) with the nonionic surfactant P-D-dodecyl maltoside. The adsorption of mixed phospholipid-surfactant micelles on hydrophilic silica surfaces at 25 degrees C was followed as a function of bulk concentration by neutron reflection. Using chain-deuterated d(25)-beta-D-dodecyl maltoside and

We propose a setup which allows us to couple the electron spin degree of freedom to the mechanical motions of a nanomechanical system not involving any of the ferromagnetic components. The proposed method employs the strain-induced spin-orbit interaction of electrons in narrow gap semiconductors. We have shown how this method can be used for detection and manipulation of the spin flow through a su

Vision is useful for the autonomous navigation of vehicles. In this paper the case of a vehicle equipped with multiple cameras with non-overlapping views is considered. The geometry and algebra of such a moving platform of cameras axe considered. In particular we formulate and solve structure and motion problems for a few novel cases. There are two interesting minimal cases; three points in two pl

Electropolymerization of a new phenothiazine derivative (bis-phenothiazin-3-yl methane; BPhM) on glassy carbon (GC) electrode generates a conducting film of poly-BPhM. in stable contact with the electrode surface. The heterogeneous electron-transfer process corresponding to the modified electrode is characterized by a high rate constant (50.4 s(-1), pH 7). The CC/poly-BPhM electrode shows excellen