Selection on traits conferring reduced predation may be opposed by selection on other traits associated with reproduction. Here, we examined the hypothesis that traits associated with reproduction in Gammarus pulex are driven by predation. We studied G. pulex originating from ponds with two different kinds of predator regimes: (1) ponds with fish-often large, non-gap-limited predators and (2) pond

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plants of two commercial cultivars were transformed with sense and antisense constructs of a chitinase class II gene in order to develop a transformation system for this gene in barley. Transformation of embryos with the two antisense constructs resulted in ten regenerated plants, while no plants could be obtained using the sense construct. The presence of the inserted

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) fate decisions between self-renewal and commitment toward differentiation are tightly regulated in vivo. Recent developments in HSC culture and improvements of human HSC assays have facilitated studies of these processes in vitro. Through such studies stimulatory cytokines critically involved in HSC maintenance in vivo have been demonstrated to also promote HSC self-r

The bit-search generator (BSG) was proposed in 2004 and can be seen as a variant of the shrinking and self-shrinking generators. It has the advantage that it works at rate 1/3 using only one LFSR and some selection logic. We present various attacks on the BSG based on the fact that the output sequence can be uniquely defined by the differential of the input sequence. By knowing only a small part o

Neuroblastoma is an embryonal tumour of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system (SNS). One of the master regulator genes for peripheral SNS differentiation, the homeobox transcription factor PHOX2B, is mutated in familiar and sporadic neuroblastomas. Here we report that inducible expression of PHOX2B in the neuroblastoma cell line SJNB-8 down-regulates MSX1, a homeobox gene important for embryon

The continuing growth of female life expectancy has resulted in a marked increase of women in years beyond the menopause. Women can nowadays expect to live one-third of their lives in a potential hormonal deficiency state. Women over 50 comprise 17% of the total population of any country in the modern western world. Any decision regarding their health issues will have a great impact on our limited

Highly glazed buildings are designed by architects to be airy, light and transparent with more access to daylight. Their energy efficiency, however, has become questioned. Therefore, energy simulations of single skin office buildings in Sweden were carried out, using a dynamic energy simulation tool. In order to study the impact of glass on the energy use during the occupation stage, office buildi

Background Organic acid anhydrides are low molecular weight industrial chemicals, able to cause rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma associated with specific IgE against hapten-carrier protein conjugate. Only a proportion of exposed workers develop IgE-associated allergy to acid anhydrides. Objective We determined whether genetic susceptibility, in particular, HLA Class II alleles may be a risk factor.

A phytochemical investigation of the stem bark of Strychnos scheffleri resulted in the isolation of a new strychnos alkaloid N-a-deacetylmalagashine (1) together with the known derivative malagashine (2). Elucidation of the structures was based mainly on ID and 2D NMR and MS studies and by comparison with related compounds.

A better understanding of skeletal muscle lipid metabolism is needed to identify the molecular mechanisms relating intramuscular triglyceride (IMTG) to muscle metabolism and insulin sensitivity. An increasing number of proteins have been reported to be associated with intracellular triglyceride (TG), among them the PAT family members: perilipin, ADRP ( for adipocyte differentiation-related protein

The aim of this study was to describe in quantitative terms the effects of ETA and ETB receptor blockade on vascular tone (resistance) in large-bore arterial resistance vessels (> 25 microns), small arterioles (< 25 microns), and veins in the cat gastrocnemius muscle in vivo. In the muscle vascular bed, the combined ETA and ETB receptor antagonist PD145065 (1 mg/kg/min, intra-arterially) abolished

The aim of the present study was to validate a Swedish translation of the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) questionnaire in patients with gallstone disease. Sensitivity to change, internal consistency, and test-retest stability were tested in 187 consecutive patients who underwent planned cholecystectomy. Construct validity was assessed by comparing the GIQLI score with the bodily pa

Hamburgers and chicken fillets were cooked in convection ovens, deep-fried or contact fried and analysed for mutagenic activity using the Ames test. For the three different convection ovens, the cooking parameters studied included the presence of steam, air velocity, air temperature and holding time. For deep-frying and contact frying, the cooking parameters included cooking temperature and cookin

Parametric studies and corresponding results are presented using a theological model based on the limiting shear stress and possible occurrence of slip planes. The model is applied to elastohydrodynamically lubricated line contacts with smooth surfaces and isothermal conditions. A few investigations are carried out where different parameters are varied. The first study investigates the influence o

Which strategy-proof nonbossy mechanisms exist in a model with a finite number of indivisible goods (houses, jobs, positions) and a perfectly divisible good (money)? The main finding is that only a finite number of distributions of the divisible good is consistent with strategy-proofness and nonbossiness. Under various additional assumptions - neutrality, individual rationality, object efficiency,

Positive real cones in the space $H^infty$ appear naturally in many optimization problems of control theory and signal processing. Although such problems can be solved by finite-dimensional approximations (e.g., Ritz projection), all such approximations are conservative, providing one-sided bounds for the optimal value. In order to obtain both upper and lower bounds of the optimal value, a dual pr

The degree to which Carolus Linnaeus managed to describe the vascular plant species diversity of his native country, and the proportion of his taxonomic decisions concerning the rank and generic classification of these same species that are considered correct by present-day taxonomists, is analyzed by comparing the most recent checklist of the Swedish flora, excluding later immigrants, with the wo

Evidence suggests the transcription factor GATA-2 is a critical regulator of murine hematopoietic stem cells. Here, we explore the relation between GATA-2 and cell proliferation and show that inducing GATA-2 increases quiescence (G(0) residency) of murine and human hematopoietic cells. In human cord blood, quiescent fractions (CD34(+)CD38(-)Hoechst(lo)Pyronin Y-lo) express more GATA-2 than cycling