We investigated the class II B genes in a free-ranging population of the ring-necked pheasant Phasianus colchicus by a combination of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and DNA sequencing. Special attention was paid to the variation in the second exon, which encodes the peptide-binding beta(i)-domain. The population was introduced, but it still exhibi

Recent advances in the understanding of the epidemiology of osteoporosis suggest that certain parts of the current European guidelines for the registration of drugs in osteoporosis might be no longer substantiated. The object of this review is to provide the European regulatory authorities with an evidence-based working document providing suggestions for the revision of the "Note for guidance for

In late modernity, the media is one of the most important social institutions in influencing people's knowledge, perceptions and actions. The media supply citizens with health-related messages and contribute thereby to their health development. The abundant flow of health-related messages, however, makes it difficult for the individual to separate good and reliable information from information of

1. The mechanisms by which cooling inhibits insulin secretion were investigated by capacitance measurements of exocytosis in single mouse pancreatic B-cells maintained in short-term tissue culture. 2. A reduction of the bath temperature from 34 to 24 degrees C produced a gradual inhibition of exocytosis. Inhibition of exocytosis was use dependent rather than time dependent. The steady-state inhibi

Despite the benefits of currently available preventative and therapeutic interventions, atherosclerotic vascular disease continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in much of the Western World. This emphasize,,, the need for additional preventive and therapeutic interventions exploiting new targets to compliment and augment the results of LDL lowering and other current strategies. On

We evaluated the durability of autologous chondrocyte transplantation grafts in 61 patients treated for isolated cartilage defects on the femoral condyle or the patella and followed up for a mean of 7.4 years (range, 5 to 11). Durability was determined by comparing the clinical status at the long-term follow-up with that found 2 years after the transplantation. After 2 years, 50 of the 61 patients

We report on large-scale ab initio multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock calculations for important multiplets including the UV 0.01 multiplet, 2s(2)2p(2)P(J-)2s2p(24)P(J'), in O IV. The resulting transition probabilities should be accurate to +/- 5%-10% for intersystem lines and 1% or better for permitted lines. We present new calculations of line emission coefficients using these transition probabilit

Most previous soft shadow algorithms have either suffered from aliasing, been too slow, or could only use a limited set of shadow casters and/or receivers. Therefore, we present a strengthened soft shadow volume algorithm that deals with these problems. Our critical improvements include robust penumbra wedge construction, geometry-based visibility computation, and also simplified computation throu

BACKGROUND: Oxygen free radicals (OFRs), platelet activating factor (PAF), cell adhesion molecules, and transmigration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes through the gut barrier are probably all essential in the development of gut barrier dysfunction following intestinal ischemia and reperfusion (I/R). Pretreatment and early treatment of I/R with the OFRs-scavenger (NAC), the PAF inhibitor lexipafant

Smooth muscle is a slow and economical muscle with a large variability in contractile properties. This review describes results regarding the relation between expression of myosin isoforms and the contraction of smooth muscle. The focus of the review is on studies of the organised contractile system in the smooth muscle tissue. The role of the myosin heavy chain variants formed by alternative spli

Linear time-invariant models are widely used in the control community. They often serve as approximations of nonlinear systems. For control purposes linear approximations are often good enough since feedback control systems are inherently robust to model errors. In this thesis some of the possibilities for linear time-varying modeling are studied. In the thesis it is shown that the balanced trunca

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PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of intraocular pressure (IOP)-reducing treatment on the development of disc hemorrhages in patients with glaucoma. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of patients in the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial, followed up to 11 years (median = 8 years). PARTICIPANTS: Patients with newly detected glaucoma randomized to argon laser trabeculoplasty plus betaxolol (n = 129) or no i

Results from extensive lidar measurements on atmospheric atomic mercury in Italian geothermal fields are reported. A mobile differential absorption lidar system operating on the 254-nm mercury resonance line with a measuring range of about 1 km was used in mineralized as well as nonmineralized areas. Measurements were performed at geothermal power stations and in an unexploited field with natural