Ca2+ sensitization of smooth muscle contraction involves the small GTPase RhoA, inhibition of myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP) and enhanced myosin regulatory light chain (LC20) phosphorylation. A potential effector of RhoA is Rho-associated kinase (ROK). The role of ROK in Ca2+ sensitization was investigated in guinea-pig ileum. Contraction of permeabilized muscle strips induced by GTPgammaS

The synthesis of two rigid polycyclic secondary diamines, bis-(2,3:6,7-iminodimethylene)anthraceneand bis-(2,3:6,7-iminodimethylene)-9,10-dicarboxyethenoanthracene,by means of Diels-Alder reaction between 1,2,4,5-tetra(dibromo?methyl)benzeneand maleimides followed by imide reduction, is described. Furthermore,these two cyclic secondary diamines undergo acylation with N-protectedamino acids, thus p

Differences in the incidence of hip fractures have been reported between urban and rural areas. In this population-based study the characteristics of fracture patterns between the city of Malmo and the nearby rural district of Sjobo were compared. A total of 782 individuals in Malmo and 486 in Sjobo were invited to participate. Fracture history for all invited was registered. The odds ratio for fr

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of exacerbations on mild to moderate asthmatic patients' preference-based, health-related, quality of life scores and also to describe the effect of these exacerbations on daily life. In a survey, 100 mild to moderate asthmatic patients in the United Kingdom were asked to rate three different health marker states on a scale between 0 (death) and

We present a logic which we call Hybrid Duration Calculus (HDC). HDC is obtained by adding the following hybrid logical machinery to the Restricted Duration Calculus (RDC): nominals, satisfaction operators, down-arrow binder, and the global modality. RDC is known to be decidable, and in this paper we show that decidability is retained when adding the hybrid logical machinery. Decidability of HDC i

beta-Alanine synthase catalyzes the last step in the reductive degradation pathway for uracil and thymine, which represents the main clearance route for the widely used anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil. Crystals of the recombinant enzyme from Drosophila melanogaster, which is closely related to the human enzyme, were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. They diffracted to 3.3 angstr

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, critical for B-cell development and function. Mutations that inactivate this kinase were found in families with X-linked agammaglobulinaemia (XLA). In this study the Btk gene was analyzed in 13 registered Greek patients with XLA phenotype originated from 12 unrelated families, in order to provide a definite diagnosis of the XLA. The

Real world systems are normally considered as hierarchically organized, for example, we see those as hierarchies of systems including subsystems. Examples on this can be seen in organizations where people act in environments and carry within themselves their own internal subsystem of thinking processes. Another example relates to robotics where robots may be seen as hierarchical constructions, bot

The high-spin structure of Er-157 has been greatly expanded using the Gammasphere spectrometer to investigate the Cd-114(Ca-48,5n) reaction at 215 MeV. Many new transitions have been placed in a greatly augmented level scheme up to spin 40h with many collective rotational sequences established. With increasing angular momentum, this nucleus undergoes a Coriolis-induced shape transition from a defo

The distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) types in cervical cancers is essential for design and evaluation of HPV type-specific vaccines. To follow up on a previous report that HPV types 35 and 58 were the dominant HPV types in cervical neoplasia in Mozambique, the HPV types in a consecutive case series of 74 invasive cervical cancers in Mozambique were determined. The most common worldwide m

The phylogeny of two lichens, Cetraria obtusata from the Alps and Coelopogon epiphorellus occurring in the southern hemisphere is studied. A DNA-matrix based on ITS 1 and ITS 2 sequences of the rDNA is compared with a data set composed of morphology and secondary chemistry characters in phylogeny analyses using PAUP 4.0. The two data sets were entirely congruent. Neither Cetraria obtusata nor Coel

CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study suggest that the pancreas and parotid glands both respond with hypoplasia during absence of food in the digestive tract and with hyperplasia following pancreatico-biliary diversion (PBD). Factors other than cholecystokinin (CCK) are, however, involved in the effects on the parotid glands, since infusion of CCK-8S and devazepide was without influence. B

There is an increasing interest in new strategies for replacing animal tests in research. The use of cell cultures and integrated electrodes is seen as a promising alternative that could potentially solve this problem. In this work, we present a L-glutamate sensor based on a bienzyme redox hydrogel, capable of detecting the release of this excitatory neurotransmitter from adherently growing cells