In Hungary an unusually high rate of parasitism on the great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus by the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus has been maintained for at least the last one hundred years. We evaluated parasitism rate, antiparasite defence and genetic differentiation among Hungarian great reed warblers at three sites located 40-130 km from each other, where hosts suffered from a high (41-

Here we unravel the structural features of human IgM and IgA that govern their interaction with the human Fc alpha/mu receptor (hFc alpha/mu R). Ligand polymerization status was crucial for the interaction, because hFc alpha/mu R binding did not occur with monomeric Ab of either class. hFc alpha/mu R bound IgM with an affinity in the nanomolar range, whereas the affinity for dimeric IgA (dIgA) was

Purpose: To evaluate long-term patency and clinical efficacy of subintimal angioplasty (SAP) of occluded infrainguinal arteries 3 years post procedure. Methods: One hundred eighty-one patients (92 men; median age 79 years) underwent attempted SAP in 193 limbs with occluded infrainguinal arteries during the period 1999 to 2001. Nearly half (83, 46%) of the patients had diabetes. Most (172, 95%) had

We discuss four variants of the graph colouring problem, and present algorithms for solving them. The problems are k-COLOURABILITY, MAX IND k-COL, MAX VAL k-COL, and, finally, MAX k-COL, which is the unweighted case of the MAX k-CUT problem. The algorithms are based on the idea of partitioning the domain of the problems into disjoint subsets, and then considering all possible instances were the va

Purpose: To determine whether retrograde perfusion of cooled blood into one internal jugular vein (IJV) in the pig can selectively reduce the brain temperature without affecting the core body temperature (CBT). Methods: In 7 domestic pigs, the left IJV was catheterized on one side and a catheter placed with the tip immediately below the rete mirabile. Thermistors were placed in both brain hemisphe

In 1996, two searchable databases covering insect pathogens were posted on the World Wide Web: the Ecological Database of the World's Insect Pathogens (EDWIP) and the Viral Diseases of Insects in the Literature database (VIDIL). In this paper, we describe the format and contents of EDWIP and VIDIL on the World Wide Web. EDWIP contains over 9400 pathogen-host association records, 677 negative test

The potential of mean force between two spherical and like-charged macroions in a salt-free aqueous solution has been determined using an extended primitive model and canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The systems considered covered the range from a purely repulsive to a purely attractive potential of mean force as the electrostatic coupling was increased. The macroions were modeled as spherical d

Three-dimensional compaction simulations of geometries with circular and quadratic cross-sections are reported using dilatant viscoplastic material models representing a ductile steel powder. The simulations are compared with experiments using in situ measurements of the wall-tractions within the die. Two different porous viscoplastic material models have been used: the combined Fleck-Kuhn-MeMeeki

The Ordovician jawed polychaete annelid Rhytiprion magnus has hitherto been recorded in erratic boulders of probable East Baltic provenance and in drill cores from Poland and North Estonia. In this study the stratigraphical range and geographical distribution are extended as R. magnus is recorded from the Silurian of Gotland (Sweden) and Indiana (U.S.A.). Hence, R. magnus is now known from the Mid

The increasing demand for high fluxes of X-rays to perform crystallography and material physics at MAX-lab is met with the MAX wiggler. The MAX-wiggler is a cold bore superconducting wiggler with 47 3.5 T poles and a period length of 61 mm and it has been constructed in-house at MAX-lab. The MAX-wiggler has now been installed and commissioned on the 1.5 GeV MAX-II storage ring at MAX-lab. This pap

The effects of carbon dioxide, sodium chloride, and sodium nitrite on type B botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT/B) gene (cntB) expression in nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum were investigated in a tryptone-peptone-yeast extract (TPY) medium. Various concentrations of these selected food preservatives were studied by using a complete factorial design in order to quantitatively study interaction effects

Decision-making in the European Union is subject to the risk of negotiation failure, because of governments' incentives to conceal their true preferences. This article argues that the EU Presidency possesses a set of informational and procedural resources that can help unlock incompatible negotiating positions and secure efficient agreements, while simultaneously allowing the government in office

Mutations in the BRAF oncogene occur in the majority of melanomas, leading to the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and the transcription of downstream effectors. As BRAF and its effectors could be good melanoma therapy targets, defining the repertoire of genes that are differentially regulated because of BRAF mutational activation is an important objective. Towards this g

Visually striking nanoflowers composed of ZnS:Mn2+ nanoparticles are prepared and characterized. The configurations of these fractal structures are very sensitive to both the pH values of the particle solutions from which they are precipitated and the substrates on which they are deposited. At pH 2.2, the fractal structures resemble trees without leaves; at pH 7.7, they are tree-like with four arm

Pheromone-based mating disruption of the almond moth (Ephestia cautella) (Walk.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was carried out in a chocolate factory in Sweden. Population monitoring was conducted with pheromone-baited traps and water traps. Pheromone traps showed a 94% catch reduction, and monitoring with water traps showed a significant decrease in total catch (5.0 and 1.6 individuals per trap per we

In the decade since their discovery, the two major breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, have been shown conclusively to be involved in a significant fraction of families segregating breast and ovarian cancer. However, it has become equally clear that a large proportion of families segregating breast cancer alone are not caused by mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Unfortunately, despite i

We have used magnetic relaxation dispersion to study bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) self-association as a function of pH, salt type and concentration, and temperature. The magnetic relaxation dispersion method sensitively detects stable oligomers without being affected by other interactions. We find that BPTI decamers form cooperatively under a wide range of solution conditions with no