Film extrusion and welding of biodegradable polymer films are important processes that must be considered in the development of compostable packaging materials. Film extrusion of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has proved to be rather difficult because of its brittleness, but the flexibility of PLA can be improved by incorporation of a plasticizer in the material. PLA was plasticized with triacetine (TAc)

A theory of self-induced transparency for a TM-mode propagating in a planar semiconductor waveguide sandwiched between two dielectric media is developed. A transition layer between the waveguide and one of the connected media is described using a model of a two-dimensional sheet of quantum dots. Explicit analytical expressions for the optical soliton in the presence of single-excitonic and biexcit

The Atlantic auk assemblage includes four extant species, razorbill (Alca torda), dovekie (Alle alle), common murre (Uria aalge), and thick-billed murre (U. lomvia), and one recently extinct species, the flightless great auk (Pinguinus impennis). To determine the phylogenetic relationships among the species, a contiguous 4.2-kb region of the mitochondrial genome from the extant species was amplifi

To predict maximal exercise capacity, we have developed the rating of perceived capacity (RPC) scale, based on metabolic equivalents (METs). MET values from 1 to 20 were listed on a progressive scale and linked to physical activities. Test subjects rated their perceived capacity by choosing the most strenuous activity and the corresponding MET value that they could sustain for 30 min. In order to

The classical derivation of a traffic stream model (e.g. speed/concentration relation) from the equilibrium solutions of the Prigogine–Herman kinetic equation invokes the nontrivial assumption that the underlying distribution of desired speeds is nonzero for vanishingly small speeds. In this paper we investigate the situation when this assumption does not hold. It is found that the Prigogine–Herma

An aerosol-cloud modeling framework is described to simulate the activation of ice particles and droplets by biological aerosol particles, such as airborne ice-nucleation active (INA) bacteria. It includes the empirical parameterisation of heterogeneous ice nucleation and a semi-prognostic aerosol component, which have been incorporated into a cloud-system resolving model (CSRM) with double-moment

Abstract The yeast Saccharomyces kluyveri (Lachancea kluyveri), a far relative of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is not a widely studied organism in the laboratory. However, significant contributions to the understanding of nucleic acid precursors degradation in eukaryotes have been made using this model organism. Here we review eukaryotic pyrimidine degradation with emphasis on the contributions made

Background Empirical data about end-of-life decision-making practices are scarce. We aimed to investigate frequency and characteristics of end-of-life decision-making practices in six European countries: Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. Methods In all participating countries, deaths reported to death registries were stratified for cause (apart from in Switzerland)

Purpose: To assess the frequency of embolization into retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filters during catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) and stent placement for acute iliocaval deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Methods: Serial phlebograms from 40 patients (28 women; median age 32 years) consecutively treated with CDT for DVT during a 12-year period were retrospectively evaluated for visible embo

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins control differentiation and development of a variety of organs. We have isolated the complementary DNA (cDNA) of a novel class of bHLH transcription factors. The previously uncharacterized bHLH messenger RNA (mRNA) was identified by RNA fingerprinting by comparing embryonic and adult mRNA. The reading frame sequence predicts a new class of bHLH family. No

Multilevel flow models (MFM) are graphical models of goals and functions of technical systems. MFM was invented by Morten Lind at the Technical University of Denmark and several new algorithms and implementations have been contributed by the group headed by Jan Eric Larsson at Lund Institute of Technology. MFM has several properties which makes for a relatively easy knowledge engineering task, com

The relations between the Schrödinger and wave evolutions are investigated. A generalization of the Lax-Phillips scattering theory for the case of the Schrödinger equation is constructed. An analog of the wave decay operator is obtained. The general ideas are illustrated by an explicitly solvable model of multichannel scattering on the halfaxis. A Lax-Phillips scattering theory is developed for th

Using the Cayley–Hamilton theorem and unique solubility of scalar Volterra convolution equations of the second kind, the inverse problem of determining the four time-dependent susceptibility dyadics of a linear, homogeneous, bi-anisotropic slab from generic scattering data at oblique incidence is shown to be well posed. An explicit formula for the crucial step is given.

In this first part of a research project a phenomenological approach was applied to understanding student nurses' experience of preceptorship. The lived experience of seventeen student nurses learning within a preceptor-preceptee relationship on hospital wards formed the basis of the study. Tape-recorded interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed. The phenomenological hermeneutic analysis

In AIDS vaccine development the pendulum has swung towards a renewed emphasis on the potential role for neutralizing antibodies in a successful global vaccine. It is recognized that vaccine-induced antibody performance, as assessed in the available neutralization assays, may well serve as a "gatekeeper" for HIV-1 subunit vaccine prioritization and advancement. As a result, development of a standar