A method combining laser-induced fluorescence and principal component analysis to detect and discriminate between algal and fungal growth on insulator materials has been studied. Eight fungal cultures and four insulator materials have been analyzed. Multivariate classifications were utilized to characterize the insulator material, and fungal growth could readily be distinguished from a clean surfa

Conspicuous heritable polymorphisms are useful to address the question if morph frequencies are stable or whether they fluctuate between generations. Ecological geneticists have studied colour polymorphisms in the past, but there are few long-term studies of genetic dynamics across multiple generations. We studied morph-frequency dynamics and female fecundity in the trimorphic blue-tailed damselfl

No difference in attraction was observed in sibling Artic charr Salvelinus alpinus between water scented by dominant or subordinate major histocompability complex (MHC) identical fish observed in a two-choice fluviarium. In a second experiment, MHC identical sibling donors were given different types of food pellets before the preference test. The test fish showed a significant attraction to the si

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of contextual (social capital and neo-materialist) and individual factors on sense of insecurity in the neighbourhood. Methods: The 2000 public health survey in Scania is a cross-sectional study. A total of 13,715 persons answered a postal questionnaire, which is 59% of the random sample. A multilevel logistic regression model, wit

Clinical functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) occasionally fails to detect significant activation, often due to variability in task performance. The present study seeks to test whether a more flexible statistical analysis can better detect activation, by accounting for variance associated with variable compliance to the task over time. Experimental results and simulated data both confirm th

An U-L-rhamnosidase (E.C. 3.2.1.40) from a newly discovered thermophilic bacterium was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 DE3 pRIL cells. The cells were immobilized in Ca2+-alginate beads. The temperature of 50 degrees C used in reactions, appeared to be sufficient for making the mesophilic strain porous enough for the substrate to access the cloned thermostable enzyme. Pretreatment of cells with

Steryl esters and triacylglycerol (TAG) are the main storage lipids in eukaryotic cells. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, these storage lipids accumulate during stationary growth phase within organelles known as lipid bodies. We have used single and multiple gene disruptions to study storage lipid synthesis in yeast. Four genes, ARE1, ARE2, DGA1, and LRO1, were found to contribute to TAG syn

Murine gammadelta T cells participate in innate immune response against infection of the intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. In the present report, we analyzed the mechanism of the gammadelta T cell-mediated response against L. monocytogenes infection. gammadelta T cell-enriched spleen cells of L. monocytogenes-infected mice produced IFN-gamma in vitro in response to L. monocytogenes-i

Background: alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) serves primarily as an inhibitor of the elastin degrading proteases, neutrophil elastase and proteinase 3. There is ample clinical evidence that inherited severe AAT deficiency predisposes to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Augmentation therapy for AAT deficiency has been available for many years, but to date no sufficient data exist to demonstrate its

We show that a dilute harmonically trapped two-component gas of fermionic atoms with a weak repulsive interaction has a pronounced super-shell structure: The shell fillings due to the spherical harmonic trapping potential are modulated by a beat mode. This changes the "magic numbers" occurring between the beat nodes by half a period. The length and amplitude of this beating mode depend on the stre

We report on the phase behavior of poly(9,9-dihexylfluorene) (PF6), poly(9,9-diheptylfluorene) (PF7), poly(9,9-diocylfluorene) (PF8) poly(9,9-dinonylfluorene) (PF9), and poly(9,9-didecylfluorene) (PF10) in methylcyclohexane (MCH). After a heating-cooling cycle, in the 10-50 mg/mL. concentration range. PF6/ MCH. PF7/MCH. PF8/MCH, and PF9/MCH systems were found to be gel-like, while PF10/MCH appears

Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with gastritis, ulcerations, and gastric adenocarcinoma. H. pylori secretes the vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA), a major pathogenicity factor. VacA has immunosuppressive effects, inhibiting interleukin-2 (IL-2) secretion by interference with the T cell receptor/IL-2 signaling pathway at the level of calcineurin, the Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent phosphatase. He

The aim of the present study was to investigate seasonal and spatial patterns of soil oxygen consumption, nitrification, denitrification and fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in a tidal salt marsh of the Lagoon of Venice, Italy. In the salt marsh, intact soil cores including overlying water were collected monthly at high tide from April to October in salt marsh creeks and in areas cover

Purpose: Building on the disablement process model and the concept of person-environment fit (p-e fit), this review article examines 2 critical questions concerning the role of home environments: (a) What is the recent evidence supporting a relationship between home environments and disability-related outcomes? and (b) What is the recent evidence regarding the effects of home modifications on disa

The efficacy and safety of high-dose intravenous polyspecific immunoglobulin G (IVIG) as adjunctive therapy in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) were evaluated in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The trial was prematurely terminated because of slow patient recruitment, and results were obtained from 21 enrolled patients (10 IVIG recipients and 11 placebo r

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Higher NEFA concentrations predict Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus but it is not known whether higher NEFA concentrations are genetically determined or reflect coexisting obesity. To address this question we studied whether common variants in two genes encoding for key regulators of lipolysis, the beta2- and beta3- adrenoceptors (B2AR and B3AR) are associated wit