Bannisterite is a modulated 2:1-type phyllosilicate having ten octahedral sites with hydroxyl groups in trans, cis and combined trans-cis configurations. Each octahedral site, depending on its proximity to the layer modulation, is exposed to a different degree of distortion. The electric field gradient at the Fe site and the site distortion are used to propose a model for the site assignment and o

This paper reports the findings of a global survey of practice patterns for the management of patients with haemophilia A. A total of 147 haemophilia treatment centres worldwide responded to the questionnaire, supplying data for 16 115 patients with haemophilia A. From these responses, 38% (range: 25-48%) of patients were under 18 years old. Almost half (47%) of patients were reported to have mild

Primary infection by group A streptococci (GAS) takes place at either the throat or skin of the human host, often leading to pharyngitis or impetigo, respectively. Many GAS strains differ in their preference for throat and skin tissue sites. Previous epidemiological findings show that many of the strains displaying strong tropism for the skin have a high-affinity binding site for plasminogen, loca

Estimating the rate of soil carbon sequestration in degraded semiarid agroecosystems is of great interest due to the beneficial effects on soil properties, soil fertility, and the potential atmospheric CO2 mitigation. One of several applied methodologies, biogeochemical modeling, offers possibilities to distribute estimates of soil organic carbon (SOC) over regions, estimate the effects of changes

Beta-hexosaminidase activity in plasma and urine was measured and compared in insulin dependent diabetics (IDDM) with and without proliferative retinopathy. No difference in the activity of beta-hexosaminidase was found between the two groups indicating that this enzyme is not involved in the development of diabetic microangiopathy.

We report the first two genome-wide screens for linkage disequilibrium between putative multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility genes and genetic markers performed in the genetically homogenous Scandinavian population, using 6000 microsatellite markers and DNA pools of approximately 200 MS cases and 200 controls in each screen. Usable data were achieved from the same 3331 markers in both screens. N

The formation of inhibitory alloantibodies is, in the postinfectious era, the most severe and costly complication of replacement therapy in patients with haemophilia. The complexity of the immune response to the infused factor becomes more and more obvious as knowledge in the area increases. Antibodies develop as a result of a complex multi-factorial interaction between antigen-presenting cells, T

Iceland is facing severe land degradation in many parts of the country. This study aims to increase the understanding of the complex interactions and interconnectivity between the critical factors that help maintain the land degradation processes in sub-arctic environments. A holistic approach in the form of a causal loop diagram (CLD) is applied for diagnosing the influencing factors. To further

This work describes the use of focused, high-intensity light from a Ti: sapphire laser that generates femtosecond pulses to irradiate mixture of CeO2 and Tb4O7 under ambient conditions. The prepared samples were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). XRD and XPS measurement results demonstrated that solid sol

The combined effect of feeding regime and photoperiod on the growth of juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua in land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) was examined using three different commercial diets. Fish of 8-10 g were reared in 1 m³ tanks at an initial density of 10 kg m-³ for 78 d. Three RAS units were used to simultaneously test three feed/photoperiod regimes that might be encount

In an acute liver injury model we compared the effects of different Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains on bacterial translocation, intestinal load of Enterobacteriaceae and the extent of liver injury. This was an experimental study carried out in an university hospital in Sweden. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups: liver injury control and five groups of liver injury with admi

Here we report on the development of a proteomic platform utilizing a piezoelectric flow-through dispensing unit made from silicon microstructures. The use of a novel surface coating, where matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) targets were uniformly precoated with a thin film of matrix/nitrocellulose, made the sample preparation straightforward an

Objective and Background: Pulse wave amplitude (PWA) derived from the digital vascular bed has been used in sleep studies. The nocturnal attenuation of PWA has been shown to reflect sympathetic activation during sleep. We assessed the relationship between nocturnal PWA attenuation and office blood pressure (BP). Methods: Eighty-one subjects (46 men; age 60 7 years: body mass index [BMI] 28.2 +/- 4

The platelet-derived growth factors are implicated in development of fibrotic reactions and disease in several organs. We have overexpressed platelet-derived growth factor-C in the heart using the alpha-myosin heavy chain promoter and created a transgenic mouse that exhibits cardiac fibrosis followed by hypertrophy with sex-dependent phenotypes. The transgenic mice developed several pathological c