Background: Extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK1/2) is activated by nerve damage and its activation precedes survival and proliferation of Schwann cells. In contrast, activation of caspase 3, a cysteine protease, is considered as a marker for apoptosis in Schwann cells. In the present study, axonal outgrowth, activation of ERK1/2 by phosphorylation (p-ERK 1/2) and immunoreactivity of cleave

A laterally defined InGaAs double quantum dot with an integrated charge readout sensor is realized in an InGaAs/InP heterostructure. The charge states of the double quantum dot are measured with the use of the charge readout sensor in the few-electron regime in which the current is too weak to be observable by direct measurements of electron transport through the double dot. We also measure the le

Based on the volume of fluid (VOF) method, a steady three-dimensional numerical simulation of laminar film condensation of water vapor in a horizontal minitube, with and without non-condensable gas, has been conducted. A user-defined function defining the phase change is interpreted and the interface temperature is correspondingly assumed to be the saturation temperature. An annular flow pattern i

Objective: Many patients, especially women, suffer from severe gastrointestinal pain and dysmotility for several years without being diagnosed. Depletion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in the enteric nervous system (ENS) has been described in some patients. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of GnRH in ENS and antibodies against GnRH in serum, in a dysmotility patient co

The aim is to review a patented method and apparatus for treating tumor diseases (cancer) with a combination of ionizing radiation and pulsed electric fields that might open a new regime of radiation therapy fractionation with a short intensive treatment with high radiation dose fractions combined with pulsed electric fields. Sub-optimal radiation treatment was administered separately or in combin

A blind analysis searching for the decay B-s(0) -> mu(+)mu(-) has been performed using proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. With an integrated luminosity of 2.4 fb(-1) no excess of events over the background expectation is found and an upper limit is set on the branching fraction BR(B-s(0) -> mu(+)mu(-))

Haemodilution and hypothermia induce coagulopathy separately, but their combined effect on coagulation has not been widely studied. Fibrinogen concentrate can correct dilutional coagulopathy and has an additional effect when combined with factor XIII concentrate. However, their effect on dilutional coagulopathy concomitant with hypothermia has not been studied previously. Free oscillation rheometr

How do we defend ourselves against pathogenic microbes and other parasites infecting us? Research on defence against parasites has traditionally focused on resistance-the ability to prevent infection or limit parasite replication. The genetics, physiology, and evolutionary ecology of such traits are now relatively well understood. During the last few years it has been realized that another, concep

BACKGROUND: There was a decrease 1982-2001 in smoking during early pregnancy in Swedish women. We sought to determine whether there was a parallel decrease in socio-economic inequality in smoking. METHODS: Registry data indicating educational level and smoking status at first antenatal visit in all 2,022,469 pregnancies in Sweden 1982-2001 was analysed. Prevalence differences, odds ratios based on

FKBP12 serves a dual role as a peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase and as a modulator of several cell signaling pathways. The macrolide FK506 is a transition-state analog of the catalyzed reaction and displaces FKBP12 from its natural target proteins. We compared the conformational exchange dynamics of the backbone and methyl-bearing side chains of FKBP12 in the free and FK506-bound states using N

Context. The formation and evolution of the Milky Way bulge is still largely an unanswered question. Some of the most essential observations needed for its modelling are the metallicity distribution and the trends of the alpha elements, as measured in stars. While bulge regions beyond R greater than or similar to 50 pc of the centre have been targeted in several surveys, the central part has escap

Background: Surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is still associated with significant cardiovascular morbidity in both pediatric and adult patients but the mechanisms are not fully understood. Abnormalities in coronary flow and function have been suggested to play an important role. Prior studies suggest protective effects on coronary and myocardial function by short intravenous (i.v.) infus

Background Smokers have a substantially increased risk of postoperative complications. Preoperative smoking intervention may be effective in decreasing this incidence, and surgery may constitute a unique opportunity for smoking cessation interventions. Objectives The objectives of this review are to assess the effect of preoperative smoking intervention on smoking cessation at the time of surgery

Prolonged periods of allopatry might result in loss of the ability to discriminate against other formerly sympatric species, and can lead to heterospecific matings and hybridization upon secondary contact. Loss of premating isolation during prolonged allopatry can operate in the opposite direction of reinforcement, but has until now been little explored. We investigated how premating isolation bet

Natural resource management requires approaches to understand and handle sources of uncertainty in future responses of complex systems to human activities. Here we present one such approach, the "biological ensemble modeling approach,'' using the Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua callarias) as an example. The core of the approach is to expose an ensemble of models with different ecological assumpti

The study presents the characterization of dynamic patterns of indoor particulate matter (PM) during various pollution episodes for real-time IAQ management. The variation of PM concentrations was assessed for 20 indoor activities, including cooking related sources, other thermal sources, personal care and household products. The pollution episodes were modelled in full-scale test chamber represen

Seven aliphatic dicarboxylic acids (C3-C9) along with phthalic acid, pinic acid and pinonic acid were determined in 35 aerosol (PM10) samples collected over the year at Vavihill sampling station in south of Sweden. Mixture of dichloromethane and methanol (ratio 1:3) was preferred over water for extraction of samples and extraction was assisted by ultrasonic agitation. Analytes were derivatized usi

For the vast majority of computer systems correct operation is defined as producing the correct result within a time constraint (deadline). We refer to such computer systems as real-time systems (RTSs). RTSs manufactured in recent semiconductor technologies are increasingly susceptible to soft errors, which enforces the use of fault tolerance to detect and recover from eventual errors. However, fa