CD3(+) CD56(+) natural killer T (NKT)-like cells are a subset of T cells characterized by expression of NK receptors and potent antitumour activity. It has also been suggested that they have a role in autoimmune disease, and levels of NKT-like cells are elevated in patients with coronary disease.

Height is a classic complex trait with common variants in a growing list of genes known to contribute to the phenotype. Using a genecentric genotyping array targeted toward cardiovascular-related loci, comprising 49,320 SNPs across approximately 2000 loci, we evaluated the association of common and uncommon SNPs with adult height in 114,223 individuals from 47 studies and six ethnicities. A total

The heat transferred to the turbine blade is substantially increased as the turbine inlet temperature is increased. Improved cooling methods are therefore needed for the turbine blades to ensure a long durability and safe operation. The blade tip region is exposed to very hot gas flow, and suffers high local thermal loads due to the external tip leakage flow. A common way to cool the tip is to des

We have investigated the gas composition-dependent faceting of a Rh(553) surface during catalytic CO oxidation under semirealistic reaction conditions using surface X-ray diffraction. We find that under stoichiometric CO and O-2 conditions, the Rh(553) surface maintains its surface orientation without facet formation. In oxygen excess, the CO oxidation reaction becomes mass-transfer limited by the

Existing methods of primary stroke prevention are not sufficiently effective. Based on the recently developed Stroke Riskometer app, a new mass-elevated risk stroke/cardiovascular disease prevention' approach as an addition to the currently adopted absolute risk stroke/cardiovascular disease prevention approach is being advocated. We believe this approach is far more appealing to the individuals c

Objective Recent scientific findings have reinvigorated interest in examining the role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory central nervous system neurotransmitter, in chronic pain conditions. Decreased inhibitory neurotransmission is a proposed mechanism in the pathophysiology of chronic pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia (FM). The purpose of this study was to test the hypothe

Genome-wide association (GWA) studies represent a powerful strategy for identifying susceptibility genes for complex diseases in human populations but results must be confirmed and replicated. Because of the close homology between mouse and human genomes, the mouse can be used to add evidence to genes suggested by human studies. We used the mouse quantitative trait loci (QTL) map to interpret resu

Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a hormone with regulatory effects on mineral metabolism and arterial calcification. We aimed to study the association between FGF23 and risk of incident subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in a nested case-control study.

Macroscopic properties of pasta, such as the texture, are formed during cooking by a complex interplay of water and heat with the structuring agents starch and gluten. The impact of the starch-to-gluten ratio on microstructure and water distribution in pasta was analyzed by a multi-scale approach combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and light microscopy. The cooking process and thus the wate

This note provides a generalization of a recent result by Jarvenpaa, Jarvenpaa, Koivusalo, Li, and Suomala (to appear) on the dimension of limsup-sets of random coverings of tori. The result in this note is stronger in the sense that it provides also a large intersection property of the limsup-sets, the assumptions are weaker, and it implies the result of Jarvenpaa, Jarvenpaa, Koivusalo, Li, and S

A dynamic model of a chemical CO2 absorption process with aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) is presented, validated against experimental data. Based on the validated model, a reduced-order model is developed, suitable for an online optimization control strategy. The objective of the optimization is to enable fast adap- tations to changes in operating conditions of the power plant, while minimizing th

The media landscape and its societal significance is in rapid transition; likewise basic features of democracy are changing. In this article we pursue these two strands in order to sketch the background to a need for a new research agenda, as well as to arrive at proposals regarding the directions that such research can take. In regard to democracy our emphasis is on the dimension of participation

Long-term use of unfavorable postures, congenital deformations and degenerative processes associated with aging or disease may generate an increased thoracic curvature resulting in pain and disability. We wanted to examine whether a slouched postural alignment with increased thoracic kyphosis changes the shoulder kinematics and muscle activity in upper trapezius (UT), lower trapezius (LT) and serr

Objective To assess the impact of medication reconciliation interventions on medication error rates when elderly patients are discharged from hospital to community care or nursing homes.Setting Elderly patients (>65 years) living in nursing homes or in their own homes with care provided by the community nursing system. Method All medical records containing information on drug treatment were collec

New extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) light sources such as high-order-harmonic generation (HHG) and free-electron lasers (FELs), combined with laser-induced alignment techniques, enable novel methods for making molecular movies based on measuring molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions. Experiments are presented where CO2 molecules were impulsively aligned using a near-infrared laser and ioni

The ultimate goal of neutrino oscillation physics is the search for leptonic CP violation, which will require neutrino beams that are much more intense and pure than those used in present experiments. Beta beams are an attractive innovative possibility in this direction. Neutrinos are generated by the beta decays of radioactive nuclei and are accelerated at very high energies. The resulting neutri

Birck MM, Pesonen E, Odermarsky M, Hansen AK, Persson K, Frikke-Schmidt H, Heegaard PM, Liuba P. Infection-induced coronary dysfunction and systemic inflammation in piglets are dampened in hypercholesterolemic milieu. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 300: H1595-H1601, 2011. First published February 25, 2011; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.01253.2010.-The synergism of infection with conventional cardiovascula

In many countries, practice-oriented programs have been recast as university programs, fueling debate on the purpose of higher education. We highlight two ways of talking about the challenges for higher education we think are already familiar to readers. We label them ‘political-worry discourse’ and ‘academic-worry discourse’. We argue for a third position that gives due recognition to the turn in

MOD17A2 provides operational gross primary production (GPP) data globally at 1 km spatial resolution and 8-day temporal resolution. MOD17A2 estimates GPP according to the light use efficiency (LUE) concept assuming a fixed maximum rate of carbon assimilation per unit photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the vegetation (epsilon(max)). Minimum temperature and vapor pressure deficit derive

Mounting evidence indicates that grouping of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) into distinct subsets with stereotyped BCRs is functionally and prognostically relevant. However, several issues need revisiting, including the criteria for identification of BCR stereotypy and its actual frequency as well as the identification of "CLL-biased" features in BCR Ig stereotypes. To this end, we examined 75