Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations give atomically detailed information on structure and dynamics in amphiphilic bilayer systems on timescales up to about 1 μs. The reorientational dynamics of the C-H bonds is conventionally verified by measurements of (13)C or (2)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) longitudinal relaxation rates R1, which are more sensitive to motional processes with correlation t

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of invasive bacterial infections, with nasal colonization an important first step for disease. While cigarette smoking is a strong risk factor for invasive pneumococcal disease, underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This is partly due to a lack of clinically relevant animal models investigating nasal pneumococcal colonization in the context of cigarette

The rs738409 C > G single-nucleotide polymorphism in PNPLA3 leads to a missense mutation (I148M) which increases liver fat but does not cause insulin resistance. We hypothesised that patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) due to the PNPLA3 variant ('PNPLA3 NAFLD'aEuro parts per thousand= PNPLA3-148MM) do not have adipose tissue (AT) inflammation in contrast with those with NAFLD d

Drawing from ethnographic data from 48 households in four villages in rural Anhui, this study explores how two practices known for upholding son preference are affected by rural–urban out-migration, with a particular focus on the division of labour in agricultural work and patrilocality. The study deploys the concepts of an intergenerational contract and the “unsubstitutability” of sons and finds

A search is performed for top-quark pairs (t (t) over bar) produced together with a photon (gamma) with transverse energy greater than 20 GeV using a sample of t (t) over bar candidate events in final states with jets, missing transverse momentum, and one isolated electron or muon. The data set used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.59 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-m

Personality changes, psychiatric disturbances and cognitive abnormalities frequently characterise the prodromal phase in Huntington's disease (HD), a devastating monogenic neurodegenerative disorder manifesting with abnormal motor movements and early death. Selective loss of medium-sized spiny striatal neurons has been related to the onset of motor symptoms but it does not completely explain the p

This phase 3, randomized, double-blind study assessed the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide in 205 red blood cell (RBC) transfusion-dependent patients with International Prognostic Scoring System Low-/Intermediate-1-risk del5q31 myelodysplastic syndromes. Patients received lenalidomide 10 mg/day on days 1-21 (n = 69) or 5 mg/day on days 1-28 (n = 69) of 28-day cycles; or placebo (n = 67). Crosso

INTRODUCTION: Endometrial cancer patients with high grade tumours, deep myometrial invasion or advanced stage disease have a poor prognosis. Randomised studies have demonstrated the prevention of loco-regional relapses with radiotherapy (RT) with no effect on overall survival (OS). The possible additive effect of chemotherapy (CT) remains unclear. Two randomised clinical trials (NSGO-EC-9501/EORTC

The study aimed to assess, in multiple populations, the role of HLA alleles on early and late age at onset of type 1 diabetes. Stepwise linear regression models were used to determine which HLA class I and class II risk alleles to include. High-resolution genotyping data for patients from the Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium (T1DGC) collection (n = 2,278) and four independent cohorts from Denma

Solar energy absorbed by plants results in either reflection or absorption. The latter results in photosynthesis, fluorescence, or heat. Measurements of fluorescence changes have been used for monitoring processes associated with photosynthesis. A simple method to follow changes in leaf fluorescence and leaf reflectance associated with nonphotochemical quenching and light acclimation of leaves is

Objective: To investigate changes in levels of serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and urine c-telopeptide of type-2 collagen (CTX-II) as markers for cartilage turnover in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, in response to muscle strength training in combination with treatment with glucosamine, ibuprofen or placebo. Design: A 12-week double blind, placebo controlled, random

The free volume changes of poly[1-(trimethyl-silyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP) treated in supercritical CO2 (scCO(2)) were investigated with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). CO2 is known to plasticize and increase the free volume size of a broad range of polymers. In this work dense PTMSP films were treated with scCO(2) under different pressures and temperatures, resulting in the enlarg

Greywater reuse is becoming an increasingly important factor for potable water saving in many countries. Syria is one of the most water scarce countries in the Middle East. However, greywater reuse is still not common in the country. Regulations and standards for greywater reuse are not available. Recently, however, several stakeholders have started to plan for greywater reuse. The main objective

Rubidium adsorption on the surface of the topological insulator Bi2Se3 is found to induce a strong downward band bending, leading to the appearance of a quantum-confined two-dimensional electron gas state (2DEG) in the conduction band. The 2DEG shows a strong Rashba-type spin orbit splitting, and it has previously been pointed out that this has relevance to nanoscale spintronics devices. The adsor

Background Even if atrial fibrillatory rate (AFR) has been related to clinical outcome in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), its relation with ventricular response has not been deeply studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between AFR and RR series variability in patients with AF. Methods Twenty-minute electrocardiograms in orthogonal leads were processed to extract AF

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the use of visualization and simulation tools in order to involve stakeholders and inform the process in hospital change processes, illustrated by an empirical study from a children's emergency clinic. BACKGROUND: Reorganization and redevelopment of a hospital is a complex activity that involves many stakeholders and demands. Visualization and simulation tools have proven

Slepian models are derived for a stochastic process observed at level crossings of a moving average driven by a gaussian or Laplace noise. In particular, a Slepian model for the noise – the Slepian noise – is developed. For Laplace moving average process a method of sampling from the Slepian noise is also obtained by a Gibbs sampler. This facilitates comparison of behavior at crossing of a level b

A search for the decay of a light Higgs boson (120-140 GeV) to a pair of weakly interacting, long-lived particles in 1.94 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at root s = 7 TeV recorded in 2011 by the ATLAS detector is presented. The search strategy requires that both long-lived particles decay inside the muon spectrometer. No excess of events is observed above the expected background and limits on