ATP-dependent priming of the secretory granules precedes Ca(2+)-regulated neuroendocrine secretion, but the exact nature of this reaction is not fully established in all secretory cell types. We have further investigated this reaction in the insulin-secreting pancreatic B-cell and demonstrate that granular acidification driven by a V-type H(+)-ATPase in the granular membrane is a decisive step in

Background The relationship between selenium and cancer involves many different aspects. These include the forms of selenium present in the diet and in the body, their functions and mechanisms of action, and methods employed in assessing an individual's selenium nutritional status-both in general, and in epidemiological studies of the risk of cancer in relation to diet, as well as in connection wi

The effects of sustained (up to 9 months) striatal overexpression of glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) on lesioned nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons was studied using a recombinant lentiviral (rLV) vector to deliver GDNF into the striatum 4 weeks prior to the creation of an intrastriatal 6-hydroxydopamine lesion. The results of the amphetamine-induced rotation suggested an initi

Consider the Sobolev embedding operator from the space of functions in W-1,W-p(I) with average zero into L-p, where I is a finite interval and p > 1. This operator plays an important role in recent work. The operator norm and its approximation numbers in closed form are calculated. The closed form of the norm and approximation numbers of several similar Sobolev embedding operators on a finite inte

The underlying reasons for gender differences in smoking behavior, and thus for the recent trends, are not well understood. Using a sample of 8592 Swedish adolescents aged 15-18, this paper contributes to the literature by exploring gender differences in smoking risk perceptions and in the responses to the latter. The results show significant gender differences in the perception of smoking mortali

While researchers have explored the relationship between customer orientation and innovativeness with business performance in different organisations, such studies in small-sized service retailers are scarce. This study investigates potential influences of these two variables on small-sized service retailer performance. Data for this study were collected through personal interviews from 174 Swiss

Green, nonsulfur-like bacteria (GNSLB) and cyanobacteria form major components of microbial mats in both sulfidic and non-sulfidic hot springs and have been mainly studied in hot springs of Yellowstone National Park (YNP). These organisms synthesize specific lipid biomarkers Such as wax esters and long chain polyunsaturated alkenes (GNSLB) and heptadecane (cyanobacteria). We analyzed the lipid dis

Polyploid formation is a major mode of sympatric speciation in flowering plants. Unlike other speciation processes, polyploidization is often assumed to confer instant reproductive isolation. Shared polymorphism across ploidy levels has therefore often been attributed to multiple polyploid origins, whereas the alternative hypothesis of introgressive hybridization has rarely been rigorously tested.

In this paper a method for obtaining affine structure from an image sequence taken by a translating camera with constant intrinsic parameters is presented. A general geometric constraint, expressed using the camera matrices, is derived and this constraint is used in a least squares solution of the problem. The first step is to obtain a projective reconstruction, in the form of a sequence of camera

Aromatic amino acids play an important role in ultraviolet (UV)-induced photochemical reactions in proteins. In this work, we aim at gaining insight into the photochemical reactions induced by near-UV light excitation of aromatic residues that lead to breakage of disulfide bridges in our model enzyme, Fusarium solani pisi cutinase, a lipolytic enzyme. With this purpose, we acquired transient absor

Excited states in the N = Z+1 nucleus Y-79 Were identified using the reaction Si-28(Fe-54, p2n)Y-79 at a 200 MeV beam energy and an experimental set up consisting of an array of Ge detectors and the Recoil Mass Spectrometer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. With the help of additional gamma-gamma coincidence data obtained with Gammasphere, these gamma-rays were found to form a strongly-coupled rot

The structure and stability of the lamellar liquid crystal formed by the surfactant sodium bis-2ethylhexyl sulfosuccinate (AOT) in water is perturbed by small amounts of the substituted acrylamides N-isopropyl, N,N-diethyl, N-acryloylmorpholine, and N,N-dimethyl methacrylamide, as revealed by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), deuterium NMR, and microscopy. These molecules are water soluble and

Aberrations in the GI/S transition of the cell cycle have been observed in many malignancies and seem to be critical in the transformation process. Few studies have delineated the presence of GI/S regulatory defects and their clinical relevance in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Therefore, we have examined the protein contents of cyclin D 1, D3, E, and p27 in 218 RCCs, using tissue microarray and immu

Background and purpose Vascular dementia (VaD) has occasionally been associated with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), but the prevalence and significance of this counterintuitive relationship are poorly known. Therefore, we investigated the presence and characteristics of CAA in brains of VaD cases. Methods We examined temporal and parietal regions of the cerebral cortex of 26 consecutive VaD ca

The Five Aspects Meal Model (FAMM) is a structured approach towards explaining what makes up an entire meal experience. One aspect in particular, the management control system, has a clear potential of being developed to increase the practical impact of the model. Scholars suggest that the management control system aspect works backstage, where matters of computer work, handling statistics, market

An assessment of nutrient sustainability has been done for stands of European beech, Sycamore maple, European oak, Norway spruce, Larch, Grandis fir and Douglas fir at Bjornstorp Estate in southern Sweden. To estimate the nutrient sustainability, mass balance was calculated with respect to Ca, Mg, K, N and P. The release from mineral weathering was calculated using the PROFILE model. The leaching