The oxidation of the Pd(100) surface at oxygen pressures in the 10(-6) to 10(3) mbar range and temperatures up to 1000 K has been studied in situ by surface x-ray diffraction (SXRD). The results provide direct structural information on the phases present in the surface region and on the kinetics of the oxide formation. Depending on the (T,p) environmental conditions, we observe either a thin (root

Endo-@b-1,4-d-mannanases (@b-mannanase; EC 3.2.1.78) are endohydrolases that participate in the degradation of hemicellulose, which is closely associated with cellulose in plant cell walls. The @b-mannanase from Trichoderma reesei (Man5A) is composed of an N-terminal catalytic module and a C-terminal carbohydrate-binding module (CBM). In order to study the properties of the CBM, a construct encodi

Integrated models are inherently complex and often obscure to any but those who write them. Their usefulness can be greatly enhanced through well-structured, object-oriented design. A robust and computationally efficient Simulink/C++ library of optics, control, finite-element, and visualization routines for modeling radio telescope performance under various operating conditions is being developed

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that vascular disease contributes to cognitive impairment and dementia. Clarification of the role of vascular risk factors in dementia is important because most are modifiable, in contrast to other risk factors such as age and genetics. METHODS: In 451 patients with mental illness we have investigated three biochemical markers related to vascular disease, t

This article highlights health issues related to prostitution, with special reference to the situation in Europe. Strategies aimed at improving the health care of commercial sex workers, including programs for screening for sexually transmitted infections, are discussed. Problems related to failure to follow-up, particularly of mobile (migratory, international) commercial sex workers, are consider

Software process analysis and improvement relies heavily on empirical research. Empirical research requires measurement, experimentation, and modeling. Moreover, whatever evidence is gained via empirical research is strongly context dependent. Thus, it is hard to combine results and capitalize upon them in order to improve software development processes in evolving development environments. The pr

An alcohol-associated change in the serum transferrin glycoform pattern, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), is used as a biomarker of chronic moderate to heavy alcohol consumption. A current limitation in CDT analysis is the lack of standardization, which hampers clinical and analytical comparison between studies. This situation prompted initiation of a Working Group (WG) on CDT Standardiza

Calreticulin (CRT) is a multifunctional protein mainly localized to the endoplasmic reticulum in eukaryotic cells. Here, we present the first analysis, to our knowledge, of evolutionary diversity and expression profiling among different plant CRT isoforms. Phylogenetic studies and expression analysis show that higher plants contain two distinct groups of CRTs: a CRT1/CRT2 group and a CRT3 group. T

We have used molecular methods to unravel a remarkable diversity of parasite lineages in a long-term population study of great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus that was not foreseen from traditional microscopic examination of blood smears. This diversity includes eight Haemoproteus and 10 Plasmodium lineages of which most probably represent good biological species.Contrary to expectation, t

Bulbils and seeds collected from Allium vineale plants from natural populations were grown under uniform conditions. The bulbil-derived offspring represented the parental generation, whereas the seed-derived offspring represented the sexually produced offspring generation. Molecular markers were used to identify maternal genets. Variation in traits determining the allocation to sexual and asexual

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is an islet neuropeptide with potent insulinotropic action. The current study investigates PACAP expression in normal human and rat pancreatic islets, and whether it is altered in diabetic state. To that end, PACAP immunoreactivity was studied by immunofluorescence methods enhanced by the catalyzed reporter deposition (CARD) technique. Ins

Series of pots containing Scots pine seedlings and a humus-sand mixture were watered twice weekly for 398 d with different nutrient solutions (control treatment with complete plant nutrient solution less nitrogen; glucose addition; nitrogen addition; glucose and nitrogen addition). Analyses were made of organic and nitrogen contents in the substrate, plant weights and nitrogen contents, nitrogen f

Gene transfer offers a substantial promise for the therapy of degenerative ocular diseases. Lentiviral vectors have the ability to efficiently transduce murine photoreceptors during the first days of life, but they are poorly effective on photoreceptors during adulthood. Here, we studied whether a physical barrier was responsible for this impairment. Previous studies have described the capacity of

This review with 60 references describes a unique path to miniaturisation, that is, the use of acoustic levitation in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry applications. Levitation of small volumes of sample by means of a levitation technique can be used as a way to avoid solid walls around the sample, thus circumventing the main problem of miniaturisation, the unfavourable surface-to-volume rati

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Radiotherapy treatment planning algorithms continue to develop and current planning systems typically offer simpler, but faster, algorithms, which may be 2, 2.5 or 3D in modelling scatter, but which do not model electron transport (type a) and more accurate algorithms which aim to be fully 3D, i.e. which model 3D scatter and also model electron transport (type b). A range o

OBJECTIVE: Cardiotocography plus automatic ST analysis of the fetal electrocardiography has been shown recently to reduce both the operative delivery rate for fetal distress and the cord artery metabolic acidosis rate. The purpose of this study was to analyze findings that were related to cases with a complicated/adverse neonatal outcome in the Swedish randomized controlled trial. STUDY DESIGN: Of