In this study, corn stover with a dry matter content of 20% was impregnated with SO2 and then steam pretreated for various times at various temperatures. The pretreatment was evaluated by enzymatic hydrolysis of the solid material and analysis of the sugar content in the liquid. The maximum overall yield of glucose, 89% of the theoretical based on the glucan in the raw material, was achieved when

Objective. To examine, in an inception cohort of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, the association between neuropsychiatric (NP) events and anti-ribosomal P (anti-P), antiphospholipid (lupus anticoagulant [LAC], anticardiolipin), anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I, and anti-NR2 glutamate receptor antibodies. Methods. NP events were identified using the American College of Rheumatology case defi

Tawny owls Strix aluco generally roost in cryptic locations during the day. To test the hypothesis that this cryptic behaviour is an effort to avoid mobbers or avian predators, we measured diurnal behaviour and cause-specific mortality of radio-tagged birds. Non-breeding adults (assumed to be well fed individuals, optimising their own survival) roosted in less exposed locations than adults with yo

Clonal strains of the dinoflagellate Gymnodinium nolleri Ellegaard and Moestrup were intercrossed to determine if cyst-related traits are genetically regulated and to clarify unknown aspects in the sexuality of this species. The objectives were to determine whether the parental identity influenced the physiological and morphological aspects of the cyst offspring, and to describe and compare nuclea

UV/TiO2/H2O2, UV/TiO2 and UV/H2O2 were compared as pre-treatment processes for the detoxification of mixtures of 4-chlorophenol (4CP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP), 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) prior to their biological treatment. When each chlorophenol was initially supplied at 50mg l(-1),UV/TiO2/H2O2 treatment supported the highest pollutant removal, COD removal, and dechl

The mechanism underlying ethanol-induced apoptosis in liver cells is not clear. Sphingomyelin (SM) metabolism is a novel signal transduction pathway that has an impact on apoptosis in many cell types. We investigated whether the SM pathway is involved in ethanol-induced apoptosis in the liver. Hep G2 cells were treated with ethanol followed by assaying apoptosis, sphingomyelinase (SMase) activity,

Currently, it is thought that inhalational anesthetics cause anesthesia by binding to ligand-gated ion channels. This is being investigated using four-alpha-helix bundles, small water-soluble analogues of the transmembrane domains of the "natural" receptor proteins. The study presented here specifically investigates how multiple alanine-to-valine substitutions (which each decrease the volume of th

Breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are tumour suppressor genes the alleles of which have to be inactivated before tumour development occurs. Hereditary breast cancers linked to germ-line mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes almost invariably show allelic imbalance (Al) at the respective loci. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are believed to take part in a common pathway in maintenance of genomic inte

Mozambique is rich in wild fruit trees, most of which produce fleshy fruits commonly consumed in rural communities, especially during dry seasons. However, information on their content of macronutrients is scarce. Five wild fruit species (Adansonia digitata, Landolphia kirkii, Sclerocarya birrea, Salacia kraussii, and Vangueria infausta) from different districts in Mozambique were selected for the

Physical activity is regarded as an important component of a healthy lifestyle. Several social and environmental factors have systematically emerged as barriers to low leisure time physical activity (LTPA), for example, lack of money, low social support due to lack of supportive family or friends, and living in high crime rate areas. Low LTPA has been found to be strongly associated with low socio

Overall migration speed is likely to be a trait under selection pressure in animals migrating annually between habitats for reproduction and survival. A general expression was used for migration speed (V-migr), accounting for energy accumulation and transport, and derive how V-migr scales with body mass for three types of migratory locomotion: running, swimming and flying (powered and soaring flig

In this study the effect of different times of exposure to ethanol (1-7 days, 100 mM) on bradykinin and GTP(S)-stimulated activation of phospholipase C in NG 108-15 cells and on the binding of [3H]bradykinin to its receptors was investigated. Ethanol attenuated both agonist and GTP-analogue-induced hydrolysis of phosphoinositides for a period of up to 4 days of treatment, while exerting no effect

Previous studies on the occurrence of catecholamines and serotonin in pancreatic islets using various histochemical and chemical methods have given widely different results. We therefore performed a comparative analysis of these amines in whole pancreas and islet tissue from hamster, guinea pig, rat, and mouse by the use of high performance liquid chromatography. Whole pancreas of guinea pig, hams

OBJECTIVE: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease often clustered in families. We investigated the association between MHC haplotypes and SLE in multicase Caucasian families. METHODS: Ten consecutive families with 2 or more patients with SLE, in total 27 patients among 66 individuals, were studied. MHC haplotypes were determined by typing for HLA-A, B, C, DR, and DQ

We study the nature of the [Ti II] and [Ni II] emission from the so-called strontium filament found in the ejecta of eta Carinae. To this purpose, we employ multilevel models of the Ti II and Ni II systems, which are used to investigate the physical condition of the filament and the excitation mechanisms of the observed lines. For the Ti II ion, for which no atomic data were previously available,

Objective: To compare two models of learning the pelvic examination (PE) for medical students, with professional patients (PP) or with clinical patients (CP), by measuring perceived distress and learning outcome in terms of skills. Methods: Prospective longitudinal study. Assessments of self-perceived distress on four occasions at the prospect of performing a PE. Evaluation of the learning session

The association of cytochrome c oxidase negative fibres (COX-negative) and ragged-red fibres (RR-fibres) with work related trapezius myalgia has been proposed. Hitherto studies have been small or without control groups. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalences of RR-fibres and COX-negative fibres in female cleaners with (n=25) and without (n=23) trapezius myalgia and in clin