Taking a social psychological approach to metacognitive judgments, this study analyzed the difference in realism (validity) in confidence and frequency judgments (i.e., estimates of overall accuracy) between one's own and another person's answers to general knowledge questions. Experiment 1 showed that when judging their own answers, compared with another's answers, the participants exhibited high

Background Previous trials of corticosteroid or antiviral treatments for Bell's palsy have been underpowered or have had insufficient follow-up. The aim of this study was to compare the short-term and long-term effects of prednisolone and valaciclovir in the recovery of the affected facial nerve in a large number of patients. Methods In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentr

A defect in proprioception has been found in selected patient groups that have an anterior cruciate ligament deficient knee at different times after the original injury. The time of development and the extent of such defects were studied longitudinally on 16 consecutive patients. During the first year after a primary knee injury, which included a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament,

Prevention of obesity should have the highest priority and be started as early in life as possible in high-risk families. This article covers the most promising areas of today's research aimed at finding better ways of treating obesity in the future and an overview of the treatment choices available today. The cause of obesity is genetic in approximately 40-50 percent of adults and probably to a h

Microsphere-based constitutive models are a helpful tool in the modelling of materials with a microstructure composed of contributing elements directionally arranged. This is the case, for instance, for fibred soft tissues. In these models, the macroscopic mechanical behaviour is obtained from the integration of the micro-structural contribution of each component (e.g. each fibre) over the surface

Emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels contribute to the greenhouse effect around the globe. It is therefore of great interest to reduce the use of fossil fuels and revert to some form of biofuel. Lignin, extracted from kraft black liquor, has the potential to become a significant contributor to the biofuel market. A modern pulp mill has an energy surplus that can amount to 7 GJ per tonne o

Shoot uptake of mineral nutrients (Ca, Cu, Fe, K, mg, Mn, P, S, Zn) by Agrostis stolonifera L. was compared with Festuca ovina L. under wet and dry cycles. Such conditions are typical for A. stolonifera sites, whereas F. ovina is growing mostly on consistently drier and better-drained soils. Plants were grown in a glasshouse, at controlled temperature and light conditions, using two moisture regim

Complex scaling of the Schrodinger equation on the halfaxis with a nontrivial boundary condition at the origin is investigated. A self-adjoint dilation of the corresponding dissipative operator is constructed. The relations between the scattering problems for the operator and it's dilation are clarified

1. With the aim to assess the combined and separate effects of waterfowl and fish on submerged vegetation and macroinvertebrates, we performed a replicated selective exclosure study in a shallow, eutrophic lake in southern Sweden. Our results are presented together with a literature review of the effects of fish and waterfowl on macroinvertebrates and submerged vegetation. 2. Based on our experime

We identify three semiclassical parameters in the QCD Dirac operator. Mutual coupling of the different types of degrees of freedom (translational, colour and spin) depends on how the semiclassical limit is taken. We discuss various semiclassical limits and their potential to describe spectrum and spectral statistics of the QCD Dirac operator close to zero virtuality. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rig

Nitric oxide (NO) is a multifunctional signalling molecule, acting as a vasodilator, neurotransmitter, and modulator of inflammatory processes. It also participates in killing parasites, virus-infected cells, and tumor cells by formation of peroxynitrite, one of the most important initiators of the free radical damage. Uncontrolled production of NO can lead to nitrosative stress, causing damages t

This is the first attempt to budget average current annual carbon (C) and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) exchanges and transfers in a subarctic landscape, the Lake Torneträsk catchment in northern Sweden. This is a heterogeneous area consisting of almost 4000 km2 of mixed heath, birch and pine forest, and mires, lakes and alpine ecosystems. The magnitudes of atmospheric exchange of carbon in the

Thirteen isidiate taxa in the Teloschistales are briefly discussed, i.e. Letrouitia corallina (Müll. Arg.) Hafellner, L. leprolyta (Nyl.) Hafellner, Caloplaca bassiae (Ach.) Zahlbr., C. granulosa (Müll. Arg.) Jatta, C. herbidella (Hue) H. Magn., C. isidiigera Vězda, C. isidiosa (Vainio) Zahlbr., C. littorea Tavares, C. namibensis Kärnef., C. ochraceofulva (Müll. Arg.) Jatta, C. verruculifera (Vain

Anthropogenic N deposition may change soil conditions in forest ecosystems as demonstrated in many studies of coniferous forests, whereas results from deciduous forests are relatively scarce. Therefore the influence of N deposition on several variables was studied in situ in 45 oak-dominated deciduous forests along a N deposition gradient in southern Sweden, where the deposition ranged from 10 to

BACKGROUND: Recently, it has been shown that infusion of the CCK-A receptor antagonist devazepide induced proliferation of hepatocytes and bile duct epithelium in the rat liver. The aim of this study was to further evaluate the influence of devazepide and sulfated cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8S) on the intact rat liver and rat liver after resection. METHODS: In the first experiment, either saline or de

The ultimate goal in the treatment of high-responding inhibitors in congenital haemophilia is to induce immune tolerance (IT). Since the advent of highly purified factor VIII products, especially recombinant ones, the issue has been raised of whether the type of product has an impact on treatment success. It is clear that IT induction is possible to achieve with both recombinant products and human

We demonstrate that the a. chain of human C4b binding protein (C4BP) binds directly to CD40 on human B cells at a site that differs from that used by CD40 ligand. C4BP induces proliferation, upregulation of CD54 and CD86 expression, and IL4-dependent IgE isotype switching in normal B cells but not in B cells from patients with CD40 or IKKgamma/NEMO deficiencies. Furthermore, C4BP colocalized with