Rapid transition from glow discharge to thermal arc has been a common problem in generating stable high-power non-thermal plasmas especially at ambient conditions. A sustained diffusive gliding arc discharge was generated in a large volume in atmospheric pressure air, driven by an alternating current (AC) power source. The plasma column extended beyond the water-cooled stainless steel electrodes a

The aim of this study was to assess the utility of He-3 MRI to noninvasively probe the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) maneuvers on alveolar recruitment and atelectasis buildup in mechanically ventilated animals. Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 13) were anesthetized, intubated, and ventilated in the supine position (He-4-to-O-2 ratio: 4:1; tidal volume: 10 ml/kg, 60 breaths/min, and in

Breast density and mammographic tumor features of breast cancer may carry prognostic information. The potential benefit of using the combined information obtained from breast density, mammographic tumor features, and pathological tumor characteristics has not been extensively studied.

In this work hollow fibre liquid phase microextraction combined with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry was applied for the determination of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) ketoprofen, naproxen, diclofenac and ibuprofen as well as eight of their known human metabolites in wastewater samples. Extraction time and addition of tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) to the liquid memb

ObjectiveThe focus of this study was on the impact of spousal loss on the development of chronic pain thereafter. More specifically, the aim was to investigate the effect of experiencing low preparedness before a wife's death and the widower's chronic pain 4-5 years after loss. MethodsIn a population-based study in the years 2004-2005, anonymous questionnaires were sent out to 907 men in Sweden wh

The lengths of orthologous protein families in Eukarya are almost double the lengths found in Bacteria and Archaea. Here we examine protein structures in 745 genomes and show that protein length differences between superkingdoms arise as much shorter prokaryotic nondomain linker sequences. Eukaryotic, bacterial, and archaeal linkers are 250, 86, and 73 aa residues in length, respectively, whereas

Prophylactic vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) based on Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) induce type-specific neutralizing antibodies against a small number of hypervariable residues positioned in surface-exposed loops of the major capsid protein L1. To investigate the importance of these residues for neutralization, cross-neutralization, L2 incorporation and genome encapsidation, ten surface

An increased risk for diabetes mellitus (DM) adds significantly to the burden of late complications in childhood cancer survivors. Complications of DM may be prevented by using appropriate screening. It is, therefore, important to better characterise the reported increased risk for DM in a large population-based setting.

Background Extensive efforts to develop hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) based gene therapy have been hampered by low gene marking. Major emphasis has so far been directed at improving gene transfer efficiency, but low gene marking in transplanted recipients might equally well reflect compromised repopulating activity of transduced cells, competing for reconstitution with endogenous and unmanipulated

Reliable performance evaluation of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can be done by simulating the plant behavior over a wide range of influent disturbances, including series of rain events with different intensity and duration, seasonal temperature variations, holiday effects, etc. Such simulation-based WWTP performance evaluations are in practice limited by the long simulation time of the mech

Theoretical predictions of the electron affinity of Ca vary from 0 to 130 meV. Not all calculation, have included the same effects. In this paper, the different approaches are reviewed, the effect of assumptions estimated whenever possible, and some new ab initio results reported that estimate the effect of core polarization on electron affinity for both Ca and Sc. For the latter our predicted ele

Background/Objective The Organic Brain Syndrome (OBS) Scale was developed to determine elderly patients' disturbances of awareness and orientation as to time, place and own identity, and assessment of various emotional and behavioural symptoms appearing in delirium, dementia and other organic mental diseases. The aim of the study was to examine the OBS Scale, using the eight criteria and guideline

The present paper reviews the metabolic basis of different methods for fermentative glycerol production. The most important microbial production organism is the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae but other yeast species, as well as molds, algae, and bacteria are of potential interest for glycerol production. A large variety of methods have been applied to increase the fermentative glycerol yield. The

The present study evaluated nicotine plasma levels achieved following 1 day's regular use of four commonly used brands of Swedish portion snus and 2-mg Nicorette chewing gum. The study also estimated the amount of sodium chloride extracted from each snus sachet to identify potential risks for exacerbation of heart failure and hypertension with the use of Swedish snus. Extracted dose of nicotine, a

Three xylose isomerase enzymes (XI) [Eur. J. Biochem. 269 (2002) 157], encoded by mutated xylA genes from Thermus thermophilus, were produced at two different levels in Saccharomyces cerevisiae; xylA genes were chromosomally integrated and expressed from multicopy plasmids, respectively. An extra copy of the endogenous xylulokinase gene (XKS1) was chromosomally integrated and the aldose reductase