The sweat bee Megalopta (Hymenoptera: Halictidae), unlike most bees, flies in extremely dim light. And although nocturnal insects are often equipped with superposition eyes, which greatly enhance light capture, Megalopta performs visually guided flight with apposition eyes. We examined how light limits Megalopta's flight behavior by measuring flight times and corresponding light levels and compari

Aims/hypothesis The receptor for AGE (RAGE) is considered to be mainly an intracellular signal-transducer or pro-inflammatory peptide of possible importance for inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Our aim was to study whether the -374 T/A polymorphism in the gene encoding RAGE (AGER) is associated with diabetes type and presence of diabetic complications. Methods The AGER -374 T/A polymorphism w

Growth rates of ectomycorrhizal fungi were measured in pure culture at pH 3-8 on MMN-agar and sterilized peat, with and without nutrients added. Mycorrhizas were synthesized with Pinus sylvestris L. seedlings and the growth rate of the external mycelium was measured in peat at pH 3.8 and 7.3. The fungi were three isolates of Piloderma croceum Erikss. & Hjorts., two isolates of an unidentified

OBJECTIVES: Inhibitors of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)-degrading enzyme, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV), are being explored in the treatment of diabetes. We examined the long-term influence of a selective, orally active inhibitor of DPPIV (NVP DPP728), in normal female C57BL/6J mice and such mice rendered glucose-intolerant and insulin-resistant by feeding a high-fat diet. DESIGN: In mice

Enzymatic degradation of model cellulose films prepared by a spin-coating technique was investigated by ellipsometry. The cellulose films were prior to degradation characterized by ellipsometry, contact angle measurements, ESCA (electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis) and AFM (atomic force microscopy). At enzyme addition to preformed cellulose films an initial adsorption was observed, which w

1 In a 4-year fertilization experiment we studied the effects of increased nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) supply on productivity and potential decay in the acrotelm of Sphagnum-dominated Swedish peatlands at northern (low atmospheric N input: low-N site) and southern (high atmospheric N input: high-N site) sites. 2 During the experimental period, there was a severe summer drought at the high-N sit

Neuronal plasticity in the enteric nervous system (ENS) is probably a key step in intestinal adaptation during growth, maturation and ageing as well as in several pathophysiological situations. Studies on cultured myenteric neurons have revealed an increased vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) expression in neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-expressing neurons. In addition, both VIP and nitric o

Although it is well documented that children undergo a productive vocabulary spurt late in the second year, it is unclear whether this development is accompanied by equally significant advances in receptive word processing. In the present study, we tested an electrophysiological procedure for assessing receptive word learning in young children, and the impact of productive vocabulary size for perf

Most myxoid liposarcomas (MLS) are characterized cytogenetically by a t(12;16)(q13;p11). It is reasonable to assume that this translocation corresponds to the consistent rearrangement of one or two genes in 12q13 and/or 16p11, and that the loci thus affected are important in the normal control of fat cell differentiation and proliferation. We have used Southern blot technique to test whether a gen

Aim: The role of islet nitric oxide (NO) production in insulin releasing mechanisms is unclear. We examined whether the beneficial effects of the imidazoline derivative RX 871024 (RX) on beta-cell function might be related to perturbations of islet NO production. Methods: Experiments were performed with isolated islets or intact mice challenged with glucose or carbachol with or without RX treatmen

Self-incompatibility (SI) in the Brassicaceae plant family is controlled by the SRK and SCR genes situated at the S locus. A large number of S haplotypes have been identified, mainly in cultivated species of the Brassica and Raphanus genera, but recently also in wild Arabidopsis species. Here, we used DNA sequences from the SRK and SCR genes of the wild Brassica species B. cretica, together with p

Aberrant activation of c-Kit is involved in a number of human diseases including cancers and leukemias. Certain receptor tyrosine kinases, such as epidermal growth factor receptor, have been shown to indirectly recruit Cbl through the adapter protein Grb2, leading to receptor ubiquitination and degradation. In order to study the role of Grb2 in c-Kit degradation, a series of mutations of the Grb2

The formation of nanostructures with controlled size and morphology has been the focus of intensive research in recent years(1-10). Such nanostructures are important in the development of nanoscale devices and in the exploitation of the properties of nanomaterials(9). Here we show how tree-like nanostructures ('nanotrees') can be formed in a highly controlled way. The process involves the self-ass

This paper presents an argument for considering issues of class in analyses of communicative planning projects. In these projects, class interests tend to be obscured by the contemporary preoccupation with the class-ambiguous category of “community”. Through a case study of a project of urban redevelopment at King’s Cross in London, we conceptualize and map class interests in an urban redevelopmen

Some pathogens have evolved to produce proteins, called B-cell superantigens, that can interact with human immunoglobulin variable regions, independently of the combining site, and activate B lymphocytes that express the target immunoglobulins. However, the in vivo consequences of these interactions on human B-cell numbers and function are largely unknown. Using transgenic mice expressing fully hu

The local structure of Zn(II) adsorbed at the water-manganite (gamma-MnOOH) interface has been investigated by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. Adsorption experiments were carried out within the pH range 6.17-9.87 and surface coverages of 0.9 to 9.7 mu mol/m(2).Zn(II) coordination was observed to change from six to four as pH was increased. This was indicated by a cha

The quantitative analysis of beam radiation received on a solar concentrator may be understood by evaluating the projected solar height angle or profile angle along the north-south vertical plane. This means that all the sunrays projected along the north-south vertical plane will be intercepted by a collector provided the projection angle lies within the acceptance angle. The Meteonorm method of c