Regional vegetation-climate modelling studies have typically focused on boreal or temperate ecosystems in North America and Europe, almost completely overlooking tropical ecosystems. We present the first results of simulated regional vegetation-climate dynamics in Middle America as simulated by the model, LPJ-GUESS. The Kappa statistic indicated poor agreement, with a Kappa value of 0.301. When we

The modern medical treatment of HIV with antiretroviral therapy (ART) has drastically reduced the morbidity and mortality in patients infected with this virus. ART has also been shown to reduce the transmission risk from individual patients as well as the spread of the infection at the population level. This position statement from the Public Health Agency of Sweden and the Swedish Reference Group

The moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) wastewater treatment process is usually designed based on the assumption that all activity in the process occurs in the biofilm on the MBBR carriers, although there is always some active biomass in the bulk liquid due to biofilm sloughing and, sometimes, free-growing bacteria. In this study the removal of organic matter is evaluated in laboratory-scale MBBR re

Background-Subendothelial deposited low-density lipoprotein particles are a known inflammatory factor in atherosclerosis. However, the causal components derived from low-density lipoprotein are still poorly defined. Apolipoprotein B100 (ApoB100) is the unexchangeable protein component of low-density lipoprotein, and the progression of atherosclerosis is associated with immune responses to ApoB100-

The activity of the potent but highly toxic antifungal drug Amphotericin B (AmB), used intravenously to treat systemic fungal and parasitic infections, is widely accepted to result from its specific interaction with the fungal sterol ergosterol. While the effect of sterols on AmB activity has been intensely investigated, the role of membrane phospholipid composition has largely been ignored, and s

Proceeding from previously published studies of the provenance of southern Scandinavian flint based on visual classification and chemical sourcing, this paper presents a comprehensive study of flint provenancing.Existing knowledge of the appearance and geological origin of flint types is discussed and reappraised, and newchemical analyses of flint from 25 localities are presented. The results show

Popular Abstract in English Improving irrigation practices and optimal exploitation of available water resources are vital issues facing water scarcity and similar problems in arid and semiarid countries (e.g., Egypt and Tunisia). In these countries, the use of saline and low quality irrigation water (i.e., brackish irrigation water) is often associated by soil salinization risk and soil degradatiModern irrigation techniques are becoming increasingly important in water-scarce countries especially in arid and semiarid regions. Higher crop production and better water use efficiency are usually achieved by drip irrigation as compared to other irrigation methods. Furthermore, by using drip irrigation simultaneously with brackish irrigation water, some of the water stress due to shortage of fre

Interferon (IFN) signaling has been suggested to play an important role in colorectal carcinogenesis. Our study aimed to examine potentially functional genetic variants in interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), IRF5, IRF7, type I and type II IFN and their receptor genes with respect to colorectal cancer (CRC) risk and clinical outcome. Altogether 74 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were cove

Familial clustering of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is well established, but the familial risk of COPD has not been determined among adoptees. The aim was to determine whether the familial transmission of COPD is related to disease in biological and/or adoptive parents.

Observational data shows that postterm pregnancy (≥42 gestational weeks, GW) and late term pregnancy (≥41 GW), as compared to term pregnancy, is associated with an increased risk for adverse outcome for the mother and infant. Standard care in many countries is induction of labour at 42 GW. There is insufficient scientific support that induction of labour at 41 GW, as compared with expectant manage

As a post-LOSC legal development, the precautionary principle is nowhere enunciated in the Law of the Sea Convention. Nevertheless, in the thirty years since the LOSC's adoption, the significance of the precautionary principle for marine environmental protection in general and marine resource conservation in particular has been recognised. The language of precaution, the precautionary principle an

Insulin secretion is coupled with changes in beta-cell metabolism. To define this process, 195 putative metabolites, mitochondrial respiration, NADP(+), NADPH and insulin secretion were measured within 15 mm of stimulation of clonal INS-1 832/13 beta-cells with glucose. Rapid responses in the major metabolic pathways of glucose occurred, involving several previously suggested metabolic coupling fa

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson has been performed in the H -> WW -> lvjj channel using 4.7 fb(-1) of pp collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Higgs boson candidates produced in association with zero, one or two jets are included in the analysis to maximize the acceptance for both gluon fusion and weak

Context. Knowledge of the abundance distribution of star forming regions and young clusters is critical to investigate a variety of issues, from triggered star formation and chemical enrichment by nearby supernova explosions to the ability to form planetary systems. In spite of this, detailed abundance studies are currently available for relatively few regions. Aims. In this context, we present th