The aim of this study was to evaluate a new approach to inhibit complement activation triggered by biomaterial surfaces in contact with blood. In order to inhibit complement activation initiated by the classical pathway (CP), we used streptococcal M protein-derived peptides that specifically bind human C4BP, an inhibitor of the CP. The peptides were used to coat polystyrene microtiter wells which

We have studied a phosphate rock plant which produces dicalcium phosphate (DCP), used as a source of calcium and phosphorus for domestic animals. A by-product in the manufacturing process is calcium chloride which is used in the oil industry, the food industry and as road-salt. The objectives of our study were to describe the fluxes of radionuclides from the U-238 decay series and to estimate the

Background: Evidence points to a link between systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and an increased risk of lung cancer. Our objective was to provide a brief report of the lung cancer cases from an SLE cohort, with respect to demographics, histology, and exposures to smoking and immunosuppressive medications. Methods: Data were obtained from a multi-site international cohort study of over 9500 SLE p

We investigated the organochlorine accumulation (p,p′-DDE and ∑PCB) and stable isotope ratios (N and C) in a migrating salmon (Salmo salar) population in the Baltic Sea. ∂15N in the entire population ranged from 11.7 to 13.7‰ and ∂13C ranged from −22.0 to −19.6‰. In the entire population, ∂15N were weakly related to p,p′-DDE and ∑PCB concentrations (r2=0.20 and 0.14, respectively). However, lipid

Human blood coagulation Factor V(FV) is a plasma protein with little procoagulant activity. Limited proteolysis at Arg(709), Arg(1018), and Arg(1545) by thrombin or Factor Xa (FXa) results in the generation of activated FV, which serves as a cofactor of FXa in prothrombin activation. Both thrombin exosites I and II have been reported to be involved in FV activation, but the relative importance of

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to be an important relaxant of contractile activity in various muscles including the human uterine arteries. It has been suggested that NO plays a role in modulation of vascular action of arginin vasopressin (AVP), a strong vasoconstrictor of the human uterine arteries. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to investigate an involvement of endogenous NO in regulatio

Aim: The purpose of the study was to assess the association between seropositivity to various infectious agents and stable coronary artery disease (CAD), controlling simultaneously for a variety of potential confounders. We also investigated whether the choice of a larger reference group might affect the results, and whether or not seropositivity to multiple agents was associated with a systemic i

The water activity dependence of lipase kinetics in organic media was evaluated using lipases from Rhizopus oryzae and Candida rugosa immobilised on polypropene EP-100. The conversion studied was the transesterification of ethyl decanoate to hexyl decanoate with hydrolysis to decanoic acid as competing reaction. The reactions were carried out at controlled water activity in diisopropyl ether. Subs

The judgment of the Court of First Instance in Microsoft represents a major success for the European Commission in its fight against abuses of a dominant position. The Court upholds the Commission's findings that Microsoft abused its dominant position by refusing to supply interoperability information that is indispensable for competitors to be able to viably compete in the work group server opera

Objective. The present study investigates the cross-sectional relationship between tobacco smoking and body fatness. Methods. This cross-sectional study consisted of 469,543 men and women who participated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study between 1992 and 2000 providing anthropometric measurements and information on smoking. Adjusted multilevel mixed-

Objectives: To apply the normalized resistance interpretation (NRI) method to Etest MIC results which have higher precision than conventional log(2) dilution MIC tests due to the inclusion of intermediate values. If successful, NRI might provide an objective tool for the definition of epidemiological MIC cut-off values. Methods: MICs of tigecycline and other antimicrobial agents were determined fo

BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been implicated in the genetic regulation of bone mineral density (BMD). However, the clinical impact of these variants remains unclear.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relation between VDR polymorphisms, BMD, and fractures.DESIGN: Prospective multicenter large-scale association study.SETTING: The Genetic Markers for Osteoporosis consor

The clinical significance and the effects of pharmacological treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) were evaluated by measurement of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). CSF-AChE of AD patients was lower, not significantly, compared with controls. However, CSF-AChE was significantly increased after treatment of AD patients with AChE inhibitors (donepezil and g

Of main concern in agent based computing is the conception that software agents can attain socially responsible behavior. This idea has its origin in the need for agents to interact with one another in a cooperating manner. Such interplay between several agents can be seen as a combinatorial play where the rules are fixed and the actors are supposed to closely analyze the play in order to behave r

Abstract in UndeterminedBearing in mind the potential and importance of enzymatic processes it is somewhat surprising that we are not yet able to fully exploit the possibilities that such processes offer. The main reason is that we do not know the mechanism on the molecular scale in terms of the interaction between the enzyme and the substrate or rather the assembly of substrate molecules (see Fig

The organization of conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) interacting with biomolecules sets conditions for the biodetection of biological processes and identity, through the use of optical emission from the CPE. Herein, a well-defined CPE and its binding to DNA is studied. By using dynamic light scattering and circular dichroism spectroscopy, it is shown that the CPE forms a multimolecule ensemble i

Progesterone receptor (PR) was investigated immunohistochemically in the lower urinary tract of the male and female mouse. Estrogen receptor (ER)-subtype-deficient mice (ERKO, BERKO) were used to determine the possible regulation of PR expression in an ER-subtype-specific manner. PR was found to be co-expressed with ERgreek small letter alpha in cell nuclei of urothelium, lamina propria fibroblas