Proteins SpoIIQ and SpoIIIAH interact through two membranes to connect the forespore and the mother cell during endospore development in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. SpoIIIAH consists of a transmembrane segment and an extracellular domain with similarity to YscJ proteins. YscJ proteins form large multimeric rings that are the structural scaffolds for the assembly of type III secretion systems

Background. Self-care for common colds is frequent, yet little is known about the spectrum, regional differences, and potential risks of self-care practices in patients from various European regions. Methods/Design. We describe the study protocol for a cross-sectional survey in 27 primary care centers from 14 European countries. At all sites, 120 consecutive adult patients, who visit their general

Abstract in UndeterminedWe characterized the composition and mechanical properties of cortical bone during maturation and growth and in adult life in the rabbit. We hypothesized that the collagen network develops earlier than the mineralized matrix. Growth was monitored, and the rabbits were euthanized at birth (newborn), and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 18 months of age. The collagen network was assessed b

A decreased ability to degrade neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) is seen in a subgroup of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and correlates with the presence of autoantibodies. Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) can develop secondary to SLE or as a primary disease. In the current study we investigated the ability of sera from patients with APS to degrade NETs. The presence of antibo

Epidemiological studies have shown low-grade inflammation measured by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) to be associated with fracture risk in women. However, it is still unclear whether hs-CRP is also associated with fracture risk in men. We therefore measured serum levels of hs-CRP in 2910 men, mean age 75 years, included in the prospective population-based MrOS Sweden cohort. Study p

We have investigated the gas composition-dependent faceting of a Rh(553) surface during catalytic CO oxidation under semirealistic reaction conditions using surface X-ray diffraction. We find that under stoichiometric CO and O-2 conditions, the Rh(553) surface maintains its surface orientation without facet formation. In oxygen excess, the CO oxidation reaction becomes mass-transfer limited by the

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In failed total ankle replacements (TARs), fusion is often the procedure of preference; the outcome after exchanging prosthetic components is debated. We analyzed prosthetic survival, self-reported function, and patient satisfaction after component exchange. Patients and methods We identified patients in the Swedish Ankle Registry who underwent exchange of a tibial and/or t

Using a simple model of strong-field ionization of atoms that generalizes the well-known 3-step model from 1D to 3D, we show that the experimental photoelectron angular distributions resulting from laser ionization of xenon and argon display prominent structures that correspond to electrons that pass by their parent ion more than once before strongly scattering. The shape of these structures can b

We hypothesize that because fast-growing young companies must raise money in private capital markets that contain significant financing frictions, the CEOs of such firms will be compensated for successful fundraising. Using a sample of 1585 private venture-backed U.S. firms, we find that the cash pay of entrepreneur-CEOs is increasing in both the quantity and quality of financing secured and is mo

Mutations in TPM2, encoding beta-tropomyosin, have recently been found to cause a range of muscle disorders. We review the clinical and morphological expression of the previously reported mutations illustrating the heterogeneity of beta-tropomyosin-associated diseases and describe an additional case with a novel mutation. The manifestations of mutations in TPM2 include non-specific congenital myop

The emission of W and Z gauge bosons off quarks is included in a traditional QCD + QED shower. The unitarity of the shower algorithm links the real radiation of the weak gauge bosons to the negative weak virtual corrections. The shower evolution process leads to a competition between QCD, QED and weak radiation, and allows for W and Z boson production inside jets. Various effects on LHC physics ar

Introduction Many studies deal with taxonomic diversity (TD) or estimation of functional traits of ectomycorrhizal communities. However, to our knowledge, none of them has ever tried to calculate the functional diversity (FD) of those communities, which is of critical importance for the diversity and reliability of nutrient supply to the tree. Objectives Here, we propose to evaluate the functional

A 53-year-old woman presented with a spontaneous splenic rupture. The splenic rupture was considered a complication of a primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection as well as multiple pulmonary embolisms. CMV infections are common but are most often asymptomatic, and to our knowledge only 15 cases complicated with splenic rupture have been published.

Long-term use of unfavorable postures, congenital deformations and degenerative processes associated with aging or disease may generate an increased thoracic curvature resulting in pain and disability. We wanted to examine whether a slouched postural alignment with increased thoracic kyphosis changes the shoulder kinematics and muscle activity in upper trapezius (UT), lower trapezius (LT) and serr

Fast algorithms for unequally spaced discrete Laplace transforms are presented. The algorithms are approximate up to a prescribed choice of computational precision, and they employ modified versions of algorithms for unequally spaced fast Fourier transforms using Gaussians. Various configurations of sums with equally and unequally spaced points can be dealt with. In contrast to previously presente