Activity and stability characteristics of an alkaline active cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) enzyme from the alkaliphilic Bacillus agaradhaerens LS-3C strain are reported. The enzyme displays unusually high amylolytic activity in relation to the cyclization activity. Disproportionation activity of the CGTase was optimal with maltose as the acceptor substrate. The product of cyclization r

This article proposes an agenda for political participation research aimed at providing empirical answers to questions derived from normative political theory. Based on a threefold distinction between responsive, participatory and deliberative models of democracy, the article first distinguishes three conceptions of political participation: as influencing attempts, as direct decision making, and a

The effects of high optical depth phenomena, such as superradiance, are investigated in potential quantum memory materials. The results may have relevance for several schemes, including controlled reversible inhomogeneous broadening, atomic frequency combs, and quantum memories based on electromagnetically induced transparency, which are based on using ensembles as storage media. It is shown that

The quality of the working environment affects the health status of a population. In the absence of government intervention this quality would be determined by market forces, but the market outcome is generally not accepted. Instead public policy attempts to carefully monitor the level of occupational hazards, which are invariably subject to regulation in industrialized countries. However, this st

Biphasic insulin secretion is required for proper insulin action and is observed not only in vivo, but also in isolated pancreatic islets and even single beta-cells. Late events in the granule life cycle are thought to underlie this temporal pattern. In the last few years, we have therefore combined live cell imaging and electrophysiology to study insulin secretion at the level of individual granu

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a connective tissue disease where inflammatory activity affects several organ systems. An increased risk of cardiovascular disease has been identified in these patients, even after correction for traditional risk factors. The aim of the present study was to evaluate arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics in women with SLE in comparison to controls. Arteri

High prolactin levels have been associated with increased breast cancer risk. Prolactin is essential for breast-feeding. Prolactin is lowered primarily by the first full-term pregnancy and not by subsequent pregnancies. The protection from breast cancer conferred by a long breast-feeding duration (>1 year) seems to be much greater for women with BRCA1 mutations (45%) than for women in the general

Ad hoc networks, being able to organize themselves without user intervention, can easily provide their users with mobility, multimedia support and group communication. However, they have to combine quality of service (QoS) and multicast routing strategies. This article defines the resource management and admission control components of the ad hoc QoS multicast (AQM) routing protocol, which achieve

Objective. To describe ultrasound characteristics of adnexal malignancies, i.e., borderline ovarian tumors, primary invasive ovarian epithelial cancer stage 1, primary invasive ovarian epithelial cancer stages 2–4, rare types of malignancy, and metastatic tumors. Methods. In a prospective international study involving nine European ultrasound centers, 1066 women with a pelvic mass judged to be

Large-scale protein conformational motions on nanosecond – microsecond time scales are important for many biological processes, but remain largely unexplored because of methodological limitations. NMR relaxation methods can access these time scales if protein tumbling is prevented, but the isotropy required for high-resolution solution NMR is then lost. However, if the immobilized protein molecule

Productions of tone 4 & tone 3 (mai/mai 'sell'/'buy') in comparable sentences suggests that although the two tones are realized in different ways by different speakers in different speech acts, some features are constant. Tone 3 is connected with a low pitch level throughout the second half of the vowel & tone 4 with a gradual fall over the main part of the vocalic segment. These observati

We present an experimental observation of the electronic Doppler effect in resonant Auger spectra upon core excitation slightly above the carbon K edge of the CO molecule. Thus the electronic Doppler effect has been identified in above-threshold excitation, and in a transition of Pi symmetry. Ab initio calculations of the potential energy curves of the relevant states of CO and the wave packet tec

The continuing growth of female life expectancy has resulted in a marked increase of women in years beyond the menopause. Women can nowadays expect to live one-third of their lives in a potential hormonal deficiency state. Women over 50 comprise 17% of the total population of any country in the modern western world. Any decision regarding their health issues will have a great impact on our limited

By interviewing 22 psychiatric nurses, the present study aimed to reveal the meaning and significance of systematic clinical group supervision and supervised individually planned nursing care, using latent content analysis. The interpreted meaning was 'confronting the complexity of ongoing life in daily nursing care' and the interpreted significance was 'strengthening the foundation for nursing ca

Background When this study was initiated, no previous studies comparing methotrexate and ciclosporin for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis had been performed. Objectives To compare the effectiveness, quality of life and side-effects of methotrexate and ciclosporin treatments in a context reflecting normal clinical practice. Methods Eighty-four patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis

Complete and partial genome sequence information is underway in several parasitic and symbiotic fungi that infect humans, other animals and plants. Comparative analyses of these sequences will provide new insights into the genomic plasticity and evolution of parasitism and mutualism in fungi.