The latent heat flux over snow near Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen, was investigated for the 1999 snowmelt season to assess different methods of modelling the flux. Snow evaporation had hitherto been estimated as the residual of plot water balance calculations and was subject to measurement errors: hence a modelling solution was sought to make use of existing data. Precipitation, snow depth and albedo we

We present a simple, semi--analytical description for the final stagesof mergers of black hole (BH) -- neutron star (NS) systems. Such systemsare of much interest as gravitational wave sources and gamma--ray burstprogenitors. Numerical studies show that in general the neutron star isnot disrupted at the first phase of mass transfer. Instead, what remainsof the neutron star is left on a wider, ecce

We review studies of the implementation of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programmes in developed and developing countries. The review spans the period from establishment of long-term vaccine efficacy follow-up studies, operational research on issues of vaccine preparedness, and relevant predictive modelling studies during the pre-licensure phase to plans of phase IV effectiveness trials,

Cell matrix adhesion is required for cell proliferation and survival. Here we report that mutation by gene targeting of the cytoplasmic tail of beta(1) integrin leads to defective proliferation and survival both in vivo and in vitro. Primary murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from mutant homozygotes display defective cell cycle coupled to impaired activation of the FAK-P13K-Akt and Rac-JN

Climbing fibres projecting to the cerebellar C3 zone (and the related C1 and Y zones) receive spatially well organized tactile and nociceptive inputs from the skin. In the present study, cutaneous tactile and nociceptive input to climbing fibres projecting to the X, B, C2 and D1 zones in lobule V were investigated in pentobarbitone-anaesthetized cats. From the present results and previous studies,

The microbiota is part of the gastrointestinal ecosystem. A more detailed understanding should provide insight into multiple human disease states. This study investigated inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis). Previous analyses have suggested a role of gram-negative bacteria including Escherichia coli. An integrated procedure is presented where gas chromatography-mass

We study the three-dimensional elasticity operator in a semi-infinite circular cylinder subject to free boundary conditions, in the case of zero Poisson ratio. We prove, adapting the method from I. Roitberg, D. G. Vasilʹev and T. Weidl [Quart. J. Mech. Appl. Math. 51 (1998), no. 1, 1--13; MR1610688 (98m:73041)], i.e., by first finding an invariant subspace for the elasticity operator such that the

The breeding system of Arabidopsis suecica was investigated through genetic analysis of microsatellite segregation patterns in Five controlled crosses as well as in 16 single-mother families collected in the wild. Analysis of single and two-locus segregations in the F-2 generation following a cross clearly shows that A. suecica is reproduces sexually. The single-mother families show a high level o

Amelogenin is a dental enamel matrix protein involved in formation of dental enamel. In this study, we have expressed two different recombinant murine amelogenins in Escherichia coli: the untagged rM179, and the histidine tagged rp(H)M180, identical to rM179 except that it carries the additional N-terminal sequence MRGSHHHHHHGS. The effects of the histidine tag on expression levels, and on growth

Embedded microcontrollers are often programmed in plain C and lacksupport for multithreading and real-time scheduling. This can makeit very cumbersome to implement multirate feedback controlapplications. We have developed the TinyRealTime kernel forthe Atmel ATmega8L AVR to show that it is feasible to usehigh-precision, deadline-based scheduling even in a tiny 8-bitprocessor with 1 KB of RAM. The

The creation of 3D scaffolds that mimic the structure of physiological tissue required for normal cell function is a major bioengineering challenge. For corneal stroma reconstruction this necessitates the creation of a stroma-like scaffold consisting of a stack of orthogonally disposed sheets of aligned collagen fibrils. This study demonstrates that such a scaffold can be built up using magnetic a

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the activity of benzydamine, lidocaine, and bupivacaine, three drugs with local anesthetic activity, against Candida albicans and non-albicans strains and to clarify their mechanism of activity. METHODS: The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for 20 Candida strains (18 clinical isolates and two American Type Culture Collection strains). The fungistatic act

We studied the effect of amphiregulin on axonal outgrowth and survival in sensory neurons in organ cultured and dissociated mouse dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Amphiregulin at 20 ng/ml stimulated axonal outgrowth in both preparations. The EGF receptor inhibitor AG1478 inhibited outgrowth at 10 mu M but not at 1 mu M, where it abolished the stimulatory effects of amphiregulin. Fluoro-Jade staining and

Objective: Copy number variation is a common polymorphic phenomenon within the human genome. Although the majority of these events are non-deleterious they can also be highly pathogenic. Herein we characterize five families with parkinsonism that have been identified to harbor multiplication of the chromosomal 4q21 locus containing the a-synuclein gene (SNCA). Methods: A methodological approach us

M1 aminopeptidases comprise a large family of biologically important zinc enzymes. We show that peptide turnover by the M1 prototype, leukotriene A4 hydrolase/aminopeptidase, involves a shift in substrate position associated with exchange of zinc coordinating groups, while maintaining the overall coordination geometry. The transition state is stabilized by residues conserved among M1 members and i