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BACKGROUND: The American Diabetes Association (ADA)/European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)/International Diabetes Federation GDFAFCC Consensus Statement on the worldwide standardization of HbA(1c) states that"...[HbA(1c)] results are to be reported world-wide in IFCC units...and derived NGSP units...,using the IFCC-NGSP master equation." METHODS: We describe statistical methods to e

The use of celestial or geomagnetic orientation cues can lead migratory birds along different migration routes during the migratory journeys, e.g. great circle routes (approximate), geographic or magnetic loxodromes. Orientation cage experiments have indicated that migrating birds are capable of detecting magnetic compass information at high northern latitudes even at very steep angles of inclinat

Tadpole growth and development are easily affected by intraspecific competition in tank experiments, provided treatment density is sufficiently high. Is this a phenomenon also observed in nature? A pond was divided into four tadpole-proof sections. Each year for 8 years, all spawn laid by moorfrogs (Rana arvalis) in this pond was relocated to create relative spawn and tadpole densities of 1:4:1:4.

The objective of this study was to design and experimentally examine a sampling method for high-temperature aerosols from biomass combustion, in which nucleation and condensation from fly ash forming vapors is controlled. The sampling method includes a high-temperature probe in which the hot gas is diluted and then cooled. Laboratory results from sampling a model aerosol with known concentrations

Fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (FDOT) can provide important information in biomedical studies. In this ill-posed problem, suppression of background tissue autofluorescence is of utmost importance. We report a method for autofluorescence-insensitive FDOT using nonlinear upconverting nanoparticles (NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+) in a tissue phantom under excitation intensities well below tissue-damage th

Objectives: Nutrients passing the ileum induce mechanisms regulating pancreatic secretion, but the effect of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) present in the ileum because of either intestinal fermentation or due to the cecoileal reflux is still unclear. This study investigated the effect of ileal SCFAs on pancreatic secretion and plasma levels of peptide YY, cholecystokinin, motilin, and neurotensi

Ferrochelatase catalyzes the terminal step in the heme biosynthetic pathway, i.e., the incorporation of Fe(II) into protoporphyrin IX. Various biochemical and biophysical methods have been used to probe the enzyme for metal binding residues and the location of the active site. However, the location of the metal binding site and the path of the metal into the porphyrin are still disputed. Using sit

This paper presents a new design method for PID controllersbased on optimization of load disturbance rejection with constraintson robustness to model uncertainties. The design also deliversparameters to deal with measurement noise and set point response. Thus, theformulation of the design problem captures four essential aspects ofindustrial control problems, leading to a constrained optimizationpr

Presently there is no neuroprotective pharmacological treatment of proven clinical safety and efficacy available. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the ss-carboline, abecarnil (Abe), which has already passed clinical phase III trials in patients with anxiety disorders, is neuroprotective in in vitro models of cerebral ischemia or excitotoxicity. Abe (100 nM) protected cultured c

A method is suggested which allows truncation of the virtual space in Cholesky decomposition-based multiconfigurational perturbation theory (CD-CASPT2) calculations with systematic improvability of the results. The method is based on a modified version of the frozen natural orbital (FNO) approach used in coupled cluster theory. The idea is to exploit the near-linear dependence among the eigenvecto

The Iberian Slug, Arion lusitanicus Mabille (Stylomatophora: Arionidae), has developed into a destructive pest in Swedish gardens and orchards over the past 10-20 years. Many attempts to eradicate this pest have been made using a variety of different methods. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of two different types of homemade traps made from simple, inexpensive materials

Antithrombin (AT) is a serine protease inhibitor that has thrombin, factors IXa and Xa as target proteases. In addition to active native AT, two other forms have been identified in plasma: the reactive center loop inserted cleaved and latent, uncleaved forms. Both have been shown to be present in normal human blood. Latent AT forms a dimer with native AT in vitro, thus inactivating the native form

Quantitative assessment of regional myocardial function at rest and during stress with Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) plays an important role in daily routine echocardiography. However, reliable visual analysis is largely dependent on image quality and adequate border delineation, which still remains a challenge in a significant number of patients. In this respect, an ultrasound contrast agent (UCA)

Objective. To evaluate trends in and risk factors for mortality among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) over a 40-year period. Methods. A population-based inception cohort was assembled from among all Rochester, Minnesota residents ages greater than or equal to18 years who were first diagnosed with RA (fulfilling the 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA) between January 1, 1

The oxidation and dealkylation of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylsulfide (DMS), and trimethylamine (TMA) by cytochrome P450 has been studied with density functional theory calculations. The results show that the oxidation reactions always occur on the doublet spin surface, whereas dealkylations can take place for both the doublet and quartet spin states. Moreover, DMS is more reactive than DMSO

The effect of the anionic surfactant SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate) on the adsorption behaviors of cationic hydroxyethyl celluloses (Polymer JR-125, JR-400, and JR-30M) and hydrophobically modified cationic cellulose (Quatrisoft LM-200) at silica surfaces in the presence of a 10 mM NaCl solution has been investigated by null ellipsometry. The adsorbed amount of LM-200 is found to be considerably lar

A number of corporate management tools have been developed during the last decades. This has given the impression that industry is in the lead for developing a more environmentally sound and sustainability-adopted future as concerns the production and the products they are working responsible from. This paper includes a short review of some key tools, including cleaner production assessments, life