Due to inhomogeneous broadening, the absorption lines of rare-earth-ion dopants in crystals are many order of magnitudes wider than the homogeneous linewidths. Several ways have been proposed to use ions with different inhomogeneous shifts as qubit registers, and to perform gate operations between such registers by means of the static dipole coupling between the ions. In this paper we show that in

A previously undescribed human member of the cystatin superfamily called cystatin F has been identified by expressed sequence tag sequencing in human cDNA libraries. A full-length cDNA clone was obtained from a library made from mRNA of CD34-depleted cord blood cells. The sequence of the cDNA contained an open reading frame encoding a putative 19-residue signal peptide and a mature protein of 126

Data are presented on the number of fibers and the proportion of different fiber types within fascicles of whole vastus lateralis muscles from 5 male children, 5 to 15 years of age, and compared with results from 25 male adults, middle aged and old individuals. The results verify a difference in the proportion of fibers with different properties within a fascicle. The proportion of type 2 (fast tw

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether relative qualitative and quantitative differences in protein expression could be related to smoke exposure or smoke-induced airway inflammation. We therefore explored and characterized the protein components found in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid sampled from either lifelong smokers or never-smokers. Methods: BAL fluid samples obtaine

Background/Aim: The aim was to identify subjects with incipient Alzheimer's disease (AD) among patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using brief cognitive tests. Methods: A total of 147 MCI patients were followed for 4-6 years and the incidence of AD was 11.6%/year. At baseline, the cube copying test, clock drawing test, MMSE and measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and cere

1 In an asexually reproducing plant (Potamogeton pectinatus L.) the competitive advantage of a larger propagule over a smaller one was determined by a single parameter (alpha, the competitive asymmetry coefficient), independent of sowing density or average propagule size. Competitive advantage was determined by the relative size difference between propagules instead of their absolute difference. 2

During the last few decades, quality assurance has been a central issue in the societies, both in, for example the industrial area and in healthcare. It is a tool to measure the outcomes of product or service provided. A review of the literature during the last 17 years with respect to quality assurance work in psychiatric occupational therapy indicates that few articles have been published in the

In squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), DNA ploidy as determined by flow cytometry (FCM) has been found to yield prognostic information but only for tumours at oral sites. Cytogenetic findings have indicated complex karyotype to be a correlate of poor clinical outcome. In the present study, 73 SCCHN were investigated with the two techniques. Aneuploid cell populations were identif

An overview is given of Chiral Perturbation Theory and various applications to eta decays. In particular. the main decay eta --> 3pi is discussed at the one-loop level, and estimates of the higher order corrections are given. The importance of p(6) and higher order effects in double Dalitz and eta --> pi(0)gammagamma decays is pointed out. In all these cases the need for new experimental results i

The large-scale geomorphology of the Huang He (Yellow River) headwaters, centered around the Bayan Har Shan (5267 m asl) in the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, is dominated by an uplifted remnant of a low-refief relict plateau with several mountain ranges. We have performed geomorphological mapping using SRTM topographic data and Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery to evaluate landscape cha

The genetic variation of Duddingtonia flagrans, which has become a promising biocontrol agent of animal parasitic nematodes, was investigated in a worldwide collection of 22 isolates. We analysed the sequence variation in four nuclear genes, tubA (beta-tubulin), CMD1 (calmodulin), EF1alpha (translation elongation factor 1alpha), and PII (extracellular serine protease). 1428 aligned base pairs (bp)

The use of beam data for open photon fields when calculating absorbed dose distributions for beams with wedge filters has been studied. The depth doses for beams with wedge filters are changed through beam hardening and the dose maximum can be shifted; both these changes result in errors in the final dose calculations of several per cent if open beam data are used. The errors are larger for 6 MV t

The mechanical behaviour of soft biological tissues is governed by phenomena occurring on different scales of observation. From the computational modelling point of view, a vital aspect consists of the appropriate incorporation of micromechanical effects into macroscopic constitutive equations. In this work, particular emphasis is placed on the simulation of soft fibrous tissues with the orientati

The ability to regulate transgene expression will be crucial for development of gene therapy to the brain. The most commonly used systems are based on a transactivator in combination with a drug, e.g. the tetracycline-regulated system. Here we describe a different method of transgene regulation by the use of the human glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter. We constructed a lentiviral vec

CD40 is a tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) family member of central importance for the adaptive immune system. To elucidate the functional role of the different extracellular domains of CD40, we have created a set of truncated CD40 molecules where domains, or parts of domains, have been removed. These CD40 proteins, which contain a peptide tag in the N-terminal end, have been expressed in a

A single institution series of 81 consecutive, cytogenetically analyzed, diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBL), the majority of which treated with anthracycline-containing combination chemotherapy, were reviewed retrospectively to investigate whether the karyotypic pattern or certain abnormalities correlate with survival. Clonal chromosome changes were found in 79 of the 81 cases. The prognostic i