The invasion of alien species and genotypes is an increasing concern in contemporary ecology. A central question is, what life-history traits enable invasion amidst populations of wild species and conventional cultivars? In order to invade, the initially rare species must perform better than their resident competitors. We conducted a mathematical analysis and simulation of a two-species extension

In the current work, we compared the ability of 17 beta-estradiol (E-2) and the selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), tamoxifen (Tam), raloxifene (Ral) and ospemifene (Osp) to promote the survival of osteoblast-derived cells against etoposide-incluced apoptosis. In order to compare the roles of the two estrogen receptor (ER) isotypes, we created a U2OS human osteosarcoma cell line stably

A good design of a Boolean function used in a stream cipher requires that the function satisfies certain criteria in order to resist different attacks. In this paper we study the tradeoff between two such criteria, the nonlinearity and the resiliency. The results are twofold. Firstly, we establish the maximum nonlinearity for a fixed resiliency in certain cases. Secondly, we present a simple searc

Objective. To analyze the fine specificity of IgG autoantibodies in sera from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients for type II collagen (CII) epitopes that are arthritogenic in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a relevant murine model of RA. Methods. For enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis of conformation-dependent autoantibody binding, recombinant chimeric collagens that harbor the r

The use of an organic solvent can allow to increase the mass transfer, and thereby biodegradation, of hydrophobic gaseous pollutants. The biodegradation of hexane by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain was thus optimized in a two phase partitioning bioreactor (TPPB). Silicone oil was first selected among various organic solvents based on its biocompatibility and resistance to R aeruginosa and its high

Numerous theories have been developed describing the drop break-up in a high-pressure homogenizer (HPH), but they are generally based on quite rudimentary descriptions of the flow fields. As the flow in a real HPH is very extreme, with gaps of 10–100 μm and velocities of hundreds of m/s, it is practically impossible to measure the velocity fields. In this study, a scale model of an HPH made of acr

We have developed a new ReaxFF reactive force field to describe accurately reactions of hydrocarbons with vanadium oxide catalysts. The ReaxFF force field parameters have been fit to a large quantum mechanics (QM) training set containing over 700 structures and energetics related to bond dissociations, angle and dihedral distortions, and reactions between hydrocarbons and vanadium oxide clusters.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to detect cartilage defects and determine the center of these defects in MR imaging of the patellofemoral joint (PFJ) in middle-aged people with chronic knee pain. Design: In the format of a prospective study of early osteoarthritis (OA), this cross-sectional study of the signal knee (the most painful one at inclusion in the study in 1990) in 59 individuals, 30

The ability of many animals to camouflage themselves against a background is a well-known daytime phenomenon. Now it has even been found to occur at night, highlighting the reality of nocturnal visual predation

Atmospheric dispersion represents a relatively overlooked problem in connection with the ultimate quality of ELT images corrected by adaptive optics (AO). The aim of this paper is to evaluate the contribution from atmospheric dispersion to the background level of the point-spread function (PSF). Since proper suppression of this level is important for the prospects for direct exo-planet observation

We have examined and compared the effects of mutating Y41 and H155 in the iron superoxide dismutase (SOD) from the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus (Ss). These two neighboring residues in the active site are known to have crucial functions in structurally related SODs from different sources. The metal analysis indicates a slightly lower iron content after either Y41F or H155Q replacement, without

Background: Animal and epidemiologic data indicate that exposure to persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) may disrupt the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) and the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes. We have assessed whether the POP-biomarkers 2,2'4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-ethene (p,p'-DDE) affect thyrotropin (TSH), thyroid hormo

Measurements of dust coupled to the Jovian magnetosphere have been obtained with the dust detector on board the Galileo spacecraft. We report on data obtained during the first four orbits about Jupiter that had flybys of the Galilean satellites: Ganymede (orbits 1 and 2), Callisto (orbit 3), and Europa (orbit 4). The most prominent features observed are highly time variable dust streams recorded t

Objectives The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for cardiovascular malformation. Methods In a case-referent study prospectively collected data were obtained from original medical records. The study included 277 woman who had infants with a severe cardiac defect, and for each case two referents (medical records study) were included. Data on parental age, maternal reproductive history,

A novel method, free flow acoustophoresis (FFA), capable of continuous separation of mixed particle suspensions into multiple outlet fractions is presented. Acoustic forces are utilized to separate particles based on their size and density. The method is shown to be suitable for both biological and nonbiological suspended particles. The microfluidic separation chips were fabricated using conventio

The expression, distribution, origin, projections, chemical coding and functions of cocaine and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) in the gastro-intestinal tract are reviewed. CART is extensively expressed in the enteric nervous system. Except from being a possible modulator of NO induced intestinal relaxation CART does not seem to play any pivotal role in intestinal motility. Accumulating ev