Males and females differ in both parasite load and the strength of immune responses and these effects have been verified in humans and other vertebrates. Sex hormones act as important modulators of immune responses; the male sex hormone testosterone is generally immunosuppressive while the female sex hormone estrogen tends to be immunoenhancing. Different sets of T-helper cells (Th) have important

Increasing oil prices and growing environmental concerns in recent years have driven the development of renewable biofuels. Until now, most of the bioethanol production concepts are based on sugar and starch crops as feedstock, while research on second generation of bioethanol concepts is investigating the use of cellulosic biomass such as straw, wood, etc. as feedstock. The first part of the pape

The focus of this paper is on the design of pervaporation units for wastewater treatment taking into account technical, economic, and environmental aspects. Two different sized industrial wastewater streams of water-chloroform, and of water-methyl-isobutylketone (MIBK) are considered. Based on a wastewater stream of 1,500 kg/d, a semi-batch process combining pervaporation with a decanter recycle l

In hydrophobic pervaporation, the evaluation and prediction of coupling effects in multicomponent systems is one of the key requirements to improve its applicability in the biotechnology and food industry. The focus of this study is first on binary aqueous systems with methanol, ethanol, acetone, 1-propanol, 2-propanol 1,3-dioxane, and 1,4-dioxane, and then on ternary aqueous systems with 1-propan

I argue that Mumford and Anjum’s recent theory of simultaneous causation among powerful meso-level objects is problematic in several respects: it is based on a false dichotomy, it is incompatible with standard meso-level physics, it is explanatory deficient, and it threatens to render the powers metaphysics incoherent. Powers theorists are advised, therefore, to adopt a purely sequential conceptio

This paper situates political assassinations by Western states in the global south in a wider discussion concerning decolonization and the progressivist narrative of international law. The paper looks at three generations of such assassinations, focusing on the international legal environments in which they took place and setting the parameters for both legitimation and opposition: the mid-twentieThis paper situates political assassinations by Western states in the global south in a wider discussion concerning decolonization and the progressivist narrative of international law. The paper looks at three generations of such assassinations, focusing on the international legal environments in which they took place and setting the parameters for both legitimation and opposition: the mid-twentie

Assortative mating is of interest because of its role in speciation and the maintenance of species boundaries. However, we know little about how within-species assortment is related to interspecific sexual isolation. Most previous studies of assortative mating have focused on a single trait in males and females, rather than utilizing multivariate trait information. Here, we investigate how intrasp

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. BACKGROUND: The association between muscle function and lack of knee confidence in people with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury has not been well investigated. Such knowledge would help in the design of training programs for this population. OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between self-reported knee confidence and muscle function in patients with ACL in

This study reports results from a questionnaire study on nurses' attitudes to and experiences with alternative medicine, especially related to cancer patients' use of alternative medicine. Sixty nurses from a department of oncology and haematology participated in the study. The response rate was 62%. The nurses primarily perceived the use of alternative medicine as an individual choice which the n

Due to the increasing number of infotainment and safety functions in vehicles, the need for reliable communication link is becoming very critical. A key consideration in providing a reliable link is the antenna performance, which is conventionally evaluated by its efficiency and ability to provide the required coverage upon integration in vehicles. However, modern vehicles are equipped with many e

Current paper presents the results of investigating of multifunctional Ti-Si-N coatings. Ti-Si-N coatings have been deposited using CAVD method with the aim of studying their chemical, physical, structural and mechanical properties. Coatings of Ti-Si-N were modified by high-intensity ion implantation using copper ions with dose D = 2 × 1017 ions/cm2 and energy E = 60 keV. The results demonstrated

The impedance bandwidth of a small antenna is a critical design parameter. In the present paper, we present stored energies which can be used as a tool to predict the largest possible bandwidth for antenna designs within a given region. These predictions are given in terms of the best possible Q-factor that can be attained within the region. The here presented energies are valid for structures tha

We study the Schrödinger operator with a constant magnetic field in the exterior of a compact domain in Euclidean space. Functions in the domain of the operator are subject to a boundary condition of the third type (a magnetic Robin condition). In addition to the Landau levels, we obtain that the spectrum of this operator consists of clusters of eigenvalues around the Landau levels and that they d

Macroporous cryogels containing mixtures of two key components of the dermal extracellular matrix, fibrinogen and collagen-derived gelatin, were evaluated for use as dermal tissue regeneration scaffolds. The infiltration of human dermal fibroblasts into these matrices was quantitatively assessed in vitro using a combination of cell culture and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The extent of cell

In the renowned and epoch-making working-class novels from the Swedish 1930s, claims for social and economic justice reflect a local struggle with distinctly national and cosmopolitan significance. Generally, these novels can be described as having local characters and settings, national narrative perspectives, and cosmopolitan plots, but a closer look reveals a much more varied picture. There is,