To provide a basis for the interpretation of past climatic conditions from Quaternary leaf records, leaf carbon isotope (delta C-13) results are presented for 12 northern European dwarf-shrub, shrub and tree species growing across a network of 18 sites in northern Scandinavia. The role of micro-habitat (hummock/hollow) on carbon isotope trends is explored in addition to a comparison of the carbon

Using a simple hydrophobic/polar protein model, we perform a Monte Carlo study of the thermodynamics and kinetics of binding to a target structure for two closely related sequences, one of which has a unique folded state while the other is unstructured. We obtain significant differences in their binding behavior. The stable sequence has rigid docking as its preferred binding mode, while the unstru

Experimental stroke increases cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and in the dentate gyrus subgranular zone (SGZ) in the adult mammalian brain. This study examined the effects of postischemic voluntary exercise (running wheel) and environmental enrichment on the SVZ and SGZ 1 week after focal cortical ischemia in adult spontaneously hypertensive rats. Immunohistoch

Commercial aircrafts need a high degree of fire protection for passenger safety. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), may be used for this purpose. Because PBDEs readily absorb to dust particles, aircraft crew and passengers may receive significant PBDEs exposure via inhalation. The aims of this work were to assess whether PBDEs could be found in ai

Nuclear spin relaxation is a powerful method for studying molecular dynamics at atomic resolution. Recent methods development in biomolecular NMR spectroscopy has enabled detailed investigations of molecular dynamics that are critical for biological function, with prominent examples addressing allostery, enzyme catalysis, and protein folding. Dynamic processes with similar correlation times are of

Preferences of six collembolans for eight species of microfungi grown in soil have been investigated. Collembolans (Folsomia fimetaria, Isotoma anglicana, Isotama notabilis, Heteromurus nitidus, Protaphorura armata, Pseudosinella alba) and microfungi where chosen for the experiment on the basis of their abundance and vertical distribution in an organically grown field where all organisms and soil

Plasmodium falciparum invades erythrocytes through multiple ligand-receptor interactions, with redundancies in each pathway. One such alternate pathway is the trypsin-resistant pathway that enables P. falciparum to invade trypsin-treated erythrocytes. Previous studies have shown that this trypsin-resistant pathway is dependent on glycophorin B, as P. falciparum strains invade trypsin-digested glyc

We use randomness to exploit the potential sparsity of the Boolean matrix product in order to speed up the computation of the product. Our new fast output-sensitive algorithm for Boolean matrix product and its witnesses is randomized and provides the Boolean product and its witnesses almost certainly. Its worst-case time performance is expressed in terms of the input size and the number of non-zer

In this investigation, we have collected family-structured data from a partly self-compatible, outcrossing population of Brassica cretica to estimate and compare the effects of one-generation selfing on different types of characters. Inbreeding not only depressed characters that should be positively correlated with fitness irrespective of habitat, e.g. germinability, leaf number and inflorescence

Differential measurements of elliptic flow (v(2)) for Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV are used to test and validate predictions from perfect fluid hydrodynamics for scaling of v(2) with eccentricity, system size, and transverse kinetic energy (KET). For KET equivalent to m(T)-m up to similar to 1 GeV the scaling is compatible with hydrodynamic expansion of a thermalized fluid. For

The performance of an explicit algebraic stress model with a cubic equation for closure constants is assessed in predicting the turbulent flow dynamics of ducts relevant for heat exchangers. The use of a cubic equation allows elimination of any damping functions in the tensor representation for the Reynolds stresses and thereby improves prediction of turbulent stresses theoretically. The methodolo

Humans are colour-blind at night, and it has been assumed that this is true of all animals. But colour vision is as useful for discriminating objects1 at night as it is during the day. Here we show, through behavioural experiments, that the nocturnal hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor uses colour vision to discriminate coloured stimuli at intensities corresponding to dim starlight (0.0001 cd m-2). It can

Objective: To define the importance of leukocyte recruitment in endotoxin-induced gut permeability. Materials and methods: 31 male C57BL/6 mice were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Ileal permeability was measured in Ussing chambers and leukocyte-endothelium interactions studied with intravital fluorescence microscopy after 18 h. Results: LPS caused a clear-cut increase in leukocyte accum

Cryogels are gel matrices that are formed in moderately frozen solutions of monomeric or polymeric precursors. Cryogels typically have interconnected macropores (or supermacropores), allowing unhindered diffusion of solutes of practically any size, as well as mass transport of nano- and even microparticles. The unique structure of cryogels, in combination with their osmotic, chemical and mechanica

The C-terminal G3 domains of lecticans mediate crosslinking to diverse extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins during ECM assembly, through their C-type lectin (CLD) subdomains. The structure of the rat aggrecan CLD in a Ca(2+)-dependent complex with fibronectin type III repeats 3-5 of rat tenascin-R provides detailed support for such crosslinking. The CLD loops bind Ca2+ like other CLDs, but no carbo

The World Health Organization considers an aetiological classification of diabetes to be essential. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether HLA-DQB1 genotypes facilitate the classification of diabetes as compared with assessment of islet antibodies by investigating young adult diabetic patients. Blood samples were available at diagnosis for 1,872 (90%) of the 2,077 young adult patients (aged

Calbindin D28k (calbindin) is a member of the calmodulin superfamily of Ca2+ -binding proteins. An intracellular target of calbindin was discovered using bacteriophage display. Human recombinant calbindin was immobilized on magnetic beads and used in affinity purification of phage-displayed peptides from a random 12-mer peptide library. One sequence, SYSSIAKYPSHS, was strongly selected both in the

We develop a density-functional theory for polydisperse polymer fluids satisfying the Schulz-Flory distribution. The resulting equations are remarkably simple and quickly solved, the computational effort scaling with the polydispersity index, rather than the average molecular weight. Equilibrium, or "living", polymers enter naturally as very polydisperse samples. We illustrate the importance of po

A model of human eye for experiments in vision research has been developed using PLZT ceramics. This ``artificial eye{''} allows to simulate light scattering caused by cataract in the eye lens. Light scattering of a composite eye lens of the model depends on the electric field applied to a transparent electrooptic PLZT ceramics plate that is attached directly to the lens. The image degradation in