The tryptophan (W) repressor-binding proteins (WrbA) from Escherichia coli (EcWrbA) and Archaeoglobus fulgidus (AfWrbA) were investigated for possible use in 1,4-dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) dependent amperometric biosensors and biofuel cells. EcWrbA and AfWrbA are oligomeric flavoproteins binding one flavin mononucleotide (FMN) per monomer and belonging to a new family of NAD(P

SELDI-TOF MS is a mass spectrometric technique which has been extensively used for biomarker discovery. In this study, we show that in-source decay is an important source for the generation of additional spectral peaks with this technique, both for pure proteins and proteins in serum samples. Thus, SELDI-TOF MS could be used to gain sequence information from proteins, but the results also question

We prove that any connected 2-compact group is classified by its 2-adic root datum, and in particular the exotic 2-compact group DI(4), constructed by Dwyer-Wilkerson, is the only simple 2-compact group not arising as the 2-completion of a compact connected Lie group. Combined with our earlier work with Møller and Viruel for p odd, this establishes the full classification of p-compact groups, stat

The cyp102A2 and cyp102A3 genes encoding the two Bacillus subtilis homologues (CYP102A2 and CYP102A3) of flavocytochrome P450 BM3 (CYP102A1) from Bacillus megaterium have been cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized spectroscopically and enzymologically. Both enzymes contain heme, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and flavin mononucleotide (FMN) cofactors and bind a vari

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a single-session, interactive computer-based educational program on knowledge, compliance and quality of life in heart failure patients with special emphasis on gender differences. Methods: One hundred and fifty-four patients, mean age 70 years, from five heart failure clinics were randomised to either receiving only standard education (n = 72) or standard edu

Defects in the mitochondrial protein frataxin are responsible for Friedreich ataxia, a neurodegenerative and cardiac disease that affects 1:40,000 children. Here, we present the crystal structures of the iron-free and iron-loaded frataxin trimers, and a single-particle electron microscopy reconstruction of a 24 subunit oligomer. The structures reveal fundamental aspects of the frataxin mechanism.

Type 2 diabetic patients are at increased risk to develop atherosclerotic vascular disease. These patients are often treated with sulphonylurea derivatives, and it has been suggested that this treatment might contribute to the increased atherosclerotic process. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate whether tolbutamide influences lipid metabolism in such a way that the atheroscl

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous contact allergies to epoxy resins based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA-R) or epoxy resins of the bisphenol F-type and the reactive diluent phenyl glycidyl ether (PGE) have been reported. The reason might be cross-reactivity, exposure to an epoxy resin system with PGE as a component, or contamination by PGE in the epoxy resin. AIMS: To study contamination by PGE,

Naive male and female silver Y moths, Autographa gamma (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), were attracted in a flight tunnel assay to potted creeping thistle, Cirsium arvense (Asteraceae), butterfly-orchid, Platanthera bifolia (Orchidaceae), soapwort, Saponaria officinalis (Caryophyllaceae), greater knapweed, Centaurea scabiosa (Asteraceae), red clover, Trifolium pratense (Fabaceae), and catnip, Nepeta faas

Concentrations of lead (Pb) in blood (B-Pb, geometric mean 34.6 micrograms l-1, n = 127) and inorganic arsenic (As) and its metabolites in urine (U-As, mean 5.1 micrograms/g creatinine, n = 35) did not differ between children living in a village close to a glassworks emitting both Pb and As and children living in a reference area. There was no significant effect on B-Pb and U-As related to parents

Objective: Reduced serum adiponectin levels have been found in obesity and type 2 diabetes and variations in the adiponectin gene (APM1) have been associated with type 2 diabetes and features of the metabolic syndrome in different populations. Study Design: Here, we investigated the expression of APM1 in adipose tissue and studied the relationship between variation in APM1 expression, the APM1 G27

In the past, open surgical techniques such as thrombectomy and bypasses were the treatments of choice for acute and chronic venous occlusive disease of the iliocaval vein segments, but the results were often disappointing. With the introduction of endovascular techniques in the 1990s, open techniques were widely replaced by endovascular interventions. Proper preoperative imaging with computed tomo

We have examined the expression and activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase ( iNOS) and the activity of neuronal constitutive NOS ( ncNOS) in isolated rat pancreatic islets, stimulated by a "hyperglycaemic" concentration of glucose, and whether the NOS activities could be modulated by activation of the cyclic AMP/ protein kinase A ( cyclic AMP/PKA) system in relation to the insulin secretory p

Decompression illness (DCI) is an illness affecting divers subjected to reductions in ambient pressure. Besides a mechanical explanation to DCI, an inflammatory mechanism has been suggested. In this study, levels of interleukin (IL)-8, IL-6, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalcin (NGAL) were measured in dive

Although the assembly of a ternary complex between the SNARE proteins syntaxin-1, SNAP25 and VAMP2 is known to be crucial for insulin exocytosis, the mechanisms controlling this key event are poorly understood. We found that pancreatic beta-cells express different isoforms of tomosyn-1, a syntaxin-1-binding protein possessing a SNARE-like motif. Using atomic force microscopy we show that the SNARE

We solve a nonequilibrium statistical-mechanics problem exactly, namely, the single-file dynamics of N hard-core interacting particles (the particles cannot pass each other) of size Delta diffusing in a one-dimensional system of finite length L with reflecting boundaries at the ends. We obtain an exact expression for the conditional probability density function rho T(yT,t vertical bar yT,0) that a