Molecular techniques were used to investigate the composition and ontogenetic development of the intestinal bacterial community in the marine herbivorous fish Kyphosus sydneyanus from the north eastern coast of New Zealand. Previous work showed that K. sydneyanus maintains an exclusively algivorous diet throughout post-settlement life and passes through an ontogenetic diet shift from a juvenile di

BACKGROUND: The possible excess of congenital malformations in infants born after in vitro fertilization (IVF) has been much discussed in the literature, with controversial conclusions. This population based study is aimed at analyzing the presence of congenital malformations in a large group of infants born after IVF and to compare malformation risk both with that of all infants born and accordin

BACKGROUND: Central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) and oxygen tension (PcvO2), obtained from the superior vena cava, correlate well with mixed venous (pulmonary arterial) oxygen saturation (SvO2) and tension (pvO2) when the hematocrit is normal. The present study was undertaken to assess whether extreme hemodilution affects this relation. METHODS: We compared mixed and central venous blood durin

The classic kinetic model for cellulose hydrolysis is often referred to as pseudo-homogeneous, a term revealing the insight that the process is actually heterogeneous. During the past 10-15 yr, the shortcomings of this model have been demonstrated in various studies and the interest in the heterogeneous aspects has increased. The present work presents a simplistic model in which the intrinsic, het

The strength and range of surface forces in a system consisting of charged polymers with variable intramolecular stiffness confined between two charged planar surfaces have been investigated by Monte Carlo simulations. The negatively charged surfaces are neutralized by polymers carrying charges of opposite sign. Introducing the intermediate intrinsic stiffness of the chains gives rise to a weaker,

The human L3MBTL gene is located in 20q12, a region that is commonly deleted in myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). L3MBTL is highly homologous to the D-lethal(3) malignant brain tumor [D-l(3)mbt] gene, which is a putative tumor-suppressor gene (TSG) identified in Drosophila and which is closely related to the Drosophila sex combs

Individuals (n = 18) in remission from acute leukemia or highly malignant lymphoma were asked to narrate their lived experience of falling ill, of being under treatment, and life following this event. The transcribed texts were analyzed from a phenomenological-hermeneutic perspective, expanded by their medical and social history as related in interviews. The analysis revealed 3 themes: (I) Believe

A procedure for obtaining quantitative wave and morphodynamic data in a laboratory setting using video images has been developed. The steps include image capture, rectification, and data extraction. All the necessary steps were maintained within the MATLAB environment so the process was streamlined and large amounts of data processed. The procedure involves the use of a program to rectify images,

Some cell lines are difficult to grow in confluent monolayers and, therefore, the plaque assay cannot be applied since plaques may be hard to distinguish from other blank areas of the cell monolayers. To avoid this problem a rapid and sensitive immuno dot blot TCID50 method was developed using antibodies against virus antigens to detect infection and virus production. An alternative statistical me

Surface wave characteristics and radiation efficiency are calculated for a patch antenna with a given current distribution and located on top of an inhomogeneous, isotropic substrate. The substrate is infinite in the lateral directions and inhomogeneous with respect to the height coordinate. The surface waves in the substrate are analysed using the propagator technique and residue calculus. The pr

There have been contradictory reports on the shift in the T-cell cytokine expression pattern of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with atopic dermatitis (AD); more specifically the interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma profiles. The aim of this study was to shed further light on this contradiction by measuring the intracellular cytokines IL-4 and IFN-gamma by flow cytometry

nterventional procedures in MRI can be performed preclinically using active or passive catheter-tracking methods. A novel passive nonproton technique is suggested that uses a catheter filled with a hyperpolarized C-13 contrast agent. A prototype three-lumen catheter was built with two closed lumens containing a flowing hyperpolarized C-13 contrast agent. Entire-length C-13 catheter projection visu

Physiological integration between ramets is beneficial when acquiring heterogeneously distributed resources, and is hypothesized to occur when the benefits of resource sharing outweigh the costs. Our aim was to investigate if resource availability affected physiological integration in Carex arenaria and Carex disticha. Ramet systems were grown in high potassium and high water (K+ W+), high K and l

1(2)-Aryl-5-methylsulfonyltetrazoles react with ethylene glycol, di- and triethylene glycols, and tris(2-hydroxyethyl)amine in acetonitrile in the presence of sodium hydroxide to give tetrazole-containing ethers. The products can be used as polydentate ligands for biomimetic studies.

The Moraxella catarrhalis IgD-binding protein (MID) has a unique specificity for human IgD, and the sequence with maximal IgD binding is located within the amino acids MID962-1200. In the present paper, we examined the MID binding site on IgD using a series of recombinant Ig. Full-length IgD, IgD F(ab')(2), and an IgD F(ab') C290R mutant lacking the inter-heavy-chain cysteine 290 were manufactured

Purpose Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been linked to oropharyngeal carcinomas, but its role in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is not clear. A prospective multicenter study based on known tumor-cell percentage of fresh frozen carcinoma biopsies was established to determine the HPV prevalence. Moreover risk factors such as smoking, alcohol abuse, chronic laryngitis and gastroesophageal re