A number of human-centred methodologies-subjective, objective, and combined-are used for slipperiness measurement. They comprise a variety of approaches from biomechanically-oriented experiments to psychophysical tests and subjective evaluations. The objective of this paper is to review some of the research done in the field, including such topics as awareness and perception of slipperiness, postu

Sera from 62 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected Swedish blood donors were tested by a nested polymerase chain reaction using primers targeting the 5'-noncoding region of the GB virus-C/hepatitis G (GBV-C/HGV) genome and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that detects antibodies to the envelope protein E2 of GBV-C/HGV (anti-E2). Fourteen (22%) and 21 (34%) of the 62 blood donors were found to be GB

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of heparan sulfate (HS) on factors involved in the remodeling of connective tissue observed in patients with fibrotic respiratory disorders such as asthma. A suitable working model is to stimulate human fetal lung fibroblasts in vitro with structurally different forms of HS. Highly sulfated and iduronic acid (IdoUA)-rich HS specifically decrea

The dendritic morphology in neocortical grafts was studied with three-dimensional confocal laser scanning microscopy after microinjection of Lucifer Yellow into individual cells. The grafts had been implanted into infarct cavities in the neocortex of hypertensive rats 46 weeks earlier. The carbocyanine dye method was used to identify afferent (host to transplant) and efferent (transplant to host)

A gas-phase method has been developed for producing size-controlled nanoparticles by thermal cracking of iron pentacarbonyl. The method includes the formation of iron particles from vapor emanating from the cracking of the volatile compound and subsequent compacting of the selected particles. Different temperature steps were involved in the process, and their effects on the particle production wer

The water–hydroxyl radical complex was prepared by irradiating peroxy radicals in hydrogen-doped argon matrices. The low water content of the matrices made it possible to observe the fundamental bands of the complexed water molecule. The experimental results are compared with the results from ab initio calculations. The complex rotates around the O–O axis in the matrix. ©2003 American Institute of

Addition of chemicals during the extraction of cassava starch for enhancing the settling rate, whiteness and compactness of the settled starch is an accepted commercial practice. The effect of addition of selected chemicals such as acids (sulphuric and hydrochloric acids), bleaching and oxidising agents (sodium metabisulphite and sodium hypochlorite) and alum during settling on the thermal and pas

Four -1,4-glucanases (cellulases) of the cellulolytic bacterium Cellulomonas fimi were purified from Escherichia coli cells transformed with recombinant plasmids. Previous analyses using soluble substrates had suggested that CenA and CenC were endoglucanases while CbhA and CbhB resembled the exo-acting cellobiohydrolases produced by cellulolytic fungi. Analysis of molecular size distributions duri

Job rotation has been widely recommended as an administrative control to reduce the risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders. However, evidence of its benefits are hard to find in the literature. The effect of job rotation on predictions for the risk of reporting low back pain was estimated using Low Back Pain Reporting (LBPR) and Time Weighted Average (TWA) approaches. Index scor

We investigated whether exposure of rat brain to microwaves (MWs) of global system for mobile communication (GSM) induces DNA breaks, changes in chromatin conformation and in gene expression. An exposure installation was used based on a test mobile phone employing a GSM signal at 915 MHz, all standard modulations included, output power level in pulses 2 W, specific absorption rate (SAR) 0.4 mW/g.

A strategy for generating potential galectin inhibitors was devised based on derivatization at the C-3′ atom in 3′-amino-N-acetyllactosamine by using structural knowledge of the galectin carbohydrate recognition site. A collection of 12 compounds was prepared by N-acylations or N-sulfonylations. Hydrophobic tagging of the O-3 atom in the N-acetylglucosamine residue with a stearic ester allowed rap

We develop a new elementary move for simulations of polymer chains in torsion angle space. The method is flexible and easy to implement. Tentative updates are drawn from a (conformation-dependent) Gaussian distribution that favors approximately local deformations of the chain. The degree of bias is controlled by a parameter b. The method is tested on a reduced model protein with 54 amino acids and

Pilosella floribunda (Wimm. and Grab.) Arv-Touv. is reported as new to the provinces Skane and Smaland, southernmost Sweden. There is one recent finding in each of these provinces, in both cases as an established alien on roadsides. Hieracium nemorivagum Jord. ex Boreau, has recently been found at several sites in eastern Skane and at one site in each of the provinces Blekinge and Smaland. This sp

The complexation of sulfate ions at the goethite-water interface has been studied by equilibrium measurements at 298.2 +/- 0.5 K and by infrared spectroscopy. A unified set of data from potentiometric titrations and batch adsorption experiments were evaluated according to an extended Constant Capacitance Model. The obtained equilibrium model consists of two outer-sphere complexes: = FeOH2+, SO42-

Detrital zircon U-Pb SIMS data on quartz-rich metasandstone units presumed to belong to the upper part of the Svecofennian stratigraphy in southeastern Finland and east-central Sweden suggest the existence of clastic sedimentary basins between the two main orogenic phases at 1.89-1.86 Ga and 1.83-1.79 Ga, during a period referred to as the intra-orogenic phase (1.86-1.83 Ga). Stratigraphically bel

Sensitization of guinea pigs by intradermal injections of the occupational allergen trimellitic anhydride (TMA) in oily vehicle has been shown to be very reproducible. We studied the effect of intradermal sensitization with ovalbumin (OA) in oily vehicle on immune and airway responses in guinea pigs. We also compared airway responses to trimellitic anhydride or Dermatophagoides farinae (DF; mite)