The mechanical properties of structural timber—particularly in terms of stiffness and strength—are subject to high variability, which also affects the properties of timber products made from structural timber, e.g., glued laminated timber (GLT). In this paper, the influence of the longitudinal stiffness variability of wooden lamellas on the effective stiffness of GLT is investigated. In a first st

The objective is to investigate whether a silicon diode detector designed to measure the radiation levels in medical diagnostics also could be used as a dosemeter for people involved in the handling of a nuclear or radiological accident.

Individuals differ consistently in their behavioural reactions towards novel objects and new situations. Reaction to novelty is one part of a suit of individually consistent behaviours called coping strategies or personalities and is often summarised as bold or shy behaviour. Coping strategies could be particularly important for migrating birds exposed to novel environments on their journeys. We c

Electricity prices are known to spike during peak hours, only to revert to normal levels during off-peak hours. We introduce a generalization of the time varying independent spike model commonly used to model the electricity spot price from daily data to hourly data to cope with this feature. We let the probability of extreme prices depend on several variables, such as consumption, reserve margin

Endosomal entrapment is known to be a major bottleneck to successful cytoplasmic delivery of nucleic acids (NAs) using cationic liposome-NA nanoparticles (NPs). Quantitative measurements of distributions of NPs within early endosomes (EEs) have proven difficult due to the sub-resolution size and short lifetime of wildtype EEs. In this study we used Rab5-GFP, a member of the large family of GTPases

Accurate accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements rely on standards with well-known isotopic ratios. For radiocarbon measurements, a number of standards with different properties are commercially available, of which the IAEA-C6 sucrose standard with a 14C value of 150.61 pMC is the most active. When analyzing biological samples resulting from studies using 14C-labeled substances, the activ

Ecological interactions between microparasite populations in the same host are an important source of selection on pathogen traits such as virulence and drug resistance. In the rodent malaria model Plasmodium chabaudi in laboratory mice, parasites that are more virulent can competitively suppress less virulent parasites in mixed infections. There is evidence that some of this suppression is due to

Introduction: Biomarkers of brain damage and head injury are potentially useful tools in the management of afflicted patients. Particularly S100B has received much attention and has been adapted into clinical guidelines. Alcohol intoxication and higher age (65 years and over) have been used as risk factors for serious complications following head injury. The effect of these factors on S100B levels

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptide (PACAP) is found in human trigeminocervical complex and can trigger migraine. PACAP levels were measured using a sensitive radioimmunoassay. Stimulation of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) in cat elevated PACAP levels in cranial blood. Patients with moderate or severe migraine headache had elevated PACAP in the external jugular vein during headache (

We present a comparative study of xanthorhodopsin, a proton pump with the carotenoid salinixanthin serving as an antenna, and the closely related bacteriorhodopsin. Upon excitation of retinal, xanthorhodopsin exhibits a wavy transient absorption pattern in the region between 470 and 540 nm. We interpret this signal as due to electrochromic effect of the transient electric field of excited retinal

The participation of transnational actors in global policymaking is increasingly seen as a means to democratize global governance. Drawing on alternative theories of democracy and existing empirical evidence, we assess the promises and pitfalls of this vision. We explore how the structuring and operation of international institutions, public-private partnerships, and transnational actors themselve

We present a theoretical investigation of the hyperfine structure of the 5s5d D-3(2)-5s4f F-3(2,3)0 transitions in In II. Earlier work has failed in determining hyperfine constants for the upper levels of these transitions. We show that this is due to strong off-diagonal hyperfine interaction, which not only changes the position of the individual hyperfine lines but also introduces large intensity

Enzymatic pretreatment of algae by means of cellulose degrading enzyme was evaluated through lab-scale and pilot-scale experiments. The degradation efficiency of the enzyme depended on the initial physical quality of the algae. Lab-scale batch anaerobic digestion experiments showed comparatively low methane potential for the pretreated algae at both mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures. Howeve

Various researchers and policy analysts have made empirical studies of innovation systems in order to understand their current structure and trace their dynamics. However, policy makers often experience difficulties in extracting practical guidelines from studies of this kind. In this paper, we operationalize our previous work on a functional approach to analyzing innovation system dynamics into a

Disposable electrodes were fabricated by coating chromium (5 nm) and gold (200 nm) on glass strips (5.0 mm x 25.4 mm) and used in a label-free immunosensor. Human Serum albumin (HSA) and its antigen (anti-HSA) were used as a model system. Electropolymerization of o-phenylenediamine was used for the immobilization of anti-HSA by covalent binding. A linear relationship was obtained in the range from

Introduction: Interatrial frequency gradient is used to guide catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) but reliable tools for its non-invasive estimation are lacking. We present a patient with dissociated left and right atrial rhythms that allows identification of sum face ECG leads that closely reflect left atrial activity. Methods: 12-lead ECG was recorded simultaneously with electrograms f

BACKGROUND: The requirement of essential fatty acids (EFA) for the development of the brain is well documented. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the early neurological development at term and 44weeks gestational age in preterm infants in relation to EFA concentrations in breast milk and in infants' and mothers' plasma phospholipids. METHOD: Fifty-one premature infants and their mothers were consecutively