In order for an agent to achieve its objectives, make sound decisions, communicate and collaborate with others effectively it must have high quality representations. Representations can encapsulate objects, situations, experiences, decisions and behavior just to name a few. Our interest is in designing high quality representations, therefore it makes sense to ask of any representation; what does i

The temporal behavior of the laser-induced incandescence (LII) signal is often used for soot-particle sizing, which is possible because the cooling behavior of a laser-heated particle is dependent on the particle size. The heat- and mass-transfer model describing the temporal LII-signal behavior has in this work been extended to include the influence of the primary particle-size distribution and t

Intracellular cyclic AMP, determined in part by cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs), regulates proliferation and immune functions in lymphoid cells. Total PDE, PDE3, and PDE4 activities were measured in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC-PHA), normal natural killer (NK) cells, Jurkat and Kit225-K6 leukemic T-cells, T-cell lines transformed with huma

The objective of this study was to analyze the accumulated effects of leaching in two test roads were municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash and aggregate from a railway embankment, respectively, were used as subbase aggregates. Solid samples from the subbase and the subgrade were collected in trenches, which were excavated perpendicular to the road extension. The samples were analyz

In this study we present the results from realistic N-body modelling of massive star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds. We have computed eight simulations with N similar to 10(5) particles; six of these were evolved for at least a Hubble time. The aim of this modelling is to examine in detail the possibility of large-scale core expansion in massive star clusters, and search for a viable dynamical

Background: Chronic L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) leads to debilitating involuntary movements, termed L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. Striatofugal medium spiny neurons (MSN) lose their dendritic spines and cortico-striatal glutamatergic synapses in PD and in experimental models of DA depletion. This loss of connectivity is triggered by a dysregulation of in

The aims of this study were to investigate possible age-related changes in the disposition of factor IX procoagulant activity (FIX:C) after administration of recombinant factor IX (rFIX) and to translate the pharmacokinetic findings into suggestions for dosing of rFIX during prophylactic treatment of haemophilia B. Pharmacokinetic data were available from a previous study on 56 patients, aged 4-56

Introduction We have previously reported that tumour-specific expression of the rate-limiting enzyme, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutharyl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoAR), in the mevalonate pathway is associated with more favourable tumour parameters in breast cancer. In the present study, we examined the prognostic value of HMG-CoAR expression in a large cohort of primary breast cancer patients with long-

OBJECTIVE: To examine the correlation between prostate volume, patient age and total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) with the percentage-free PSA (f/tPSA) in a population-based cohort of men with no prostate cancer and with a tPSA of < 10.0 ng/mL. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Men who in 1988-1989, after randomized selection in the general population, participated in a population-based screening study fo

We conducted a multicentre, cross- sectional study of 1042 haemophilia subjects across Europe to compare various health outcomes associated with on-demand vs. prophylactic factor-substitution therapy. Demographic, medical history, and healthcare resource utilization data were analysed along with the number of bleeding events over the past 6 months. Treatment-cost data were also examined to provide

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) constitute a very appealing avenue to parallel sensors of a multitude of small target molecules due to their stability, relative ease of preparation, and their ability to recognize targets for which natural capture molecules do not exist. The authors present here a way of arraying MIP structures with micrometer dimensions, using nanofountain pen, and demonstra

Barnase folds cooperatively via an intermediate, followed by a rate-limiting transition state. We have probed possible movements of the intermediate and transition state on the energy landscape with changing temperature, from the temperature dependence of -values. These measure interaction energies at the level of individual residues. The results suggest that single destabilizing mutations can red

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a phospholipid inflammatory mediator which is synthesized by a variety of cells, including monocytes, endothelial cells, mast cells and neutrophils. PAF acts via a recently cloned PAF receptor, present on monocytes and endothelial cells, but not on non-activated lymphocytes. IL-4 is mainly produced by T lymphocytes, and belongs to the Th2 subset of T helper cell

Human cystatins C and D share almost identical primary structures of two out of the three segments proposed to be of importance for enzyme interactions but have markedly different profiles for inhibition of the target cysteine peptidases, cathepsins B, H, L, and S. To investigate if the N-terminal binding regions of the inhibitors are responsible for the different inhibition profiles, and thereby

Alternative oxidase (AOX) functions in stress resistance by preventing accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), but little is known about in vivo partitioning of electron flow between AOX and the cytochrome pathway. We investigated the relationships between AOX expression and in vivo activity in Nicotiana sylvestris and the complex I–deficient CMSII mutant in response to a cell death elicito

Visual observations of Perseid meteors carried out in 1953-83 at the Onsala Space Observatory are analyzed to study the fine structure of the Perseid meteor stream maximum. Observed hourly rates are corrected for weather conditions and to a zenithal value. The Perseid activity curve is studied (1) for all observed Perseids, (2) for Perseids of app. magnitude 2.0 or brighter. The activity curve for