Emission source functions are extracted from correlation functions constructed from charged pions produced at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at s(NN)=200 GeV. The source parameters extracted from these functions at low k(T) give first indications of a long tail for the pion emission source. The source extension cannot be explained solely by simple kinematic considerations. The possible role of a

Aim: To investigate the prevalence of high levels of sperm DNA damage among men from infertile couples with both normal and abnormal standard semen parameters. Methods: A total of 350 men from infertile couples were assessed. Standard semen analysis and sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) were carried out. Results: Ninety-seven men (28% of the whole study group) had a DNA fragmentation index (D

Multiple cardiac rhabdomyomas are frequently associated with tuberous sclerosis. However, very few cardiac malformations have been described with tuberous sclerosis. We report an unusual case of tuberous sclerosis with cerebral and renal lesions associated with dextrotransposition of the great arteries, pulmonary atresia, patent ductus arteriosus, multiple ventricular septal defects, and parachute

In order to evaluate three common human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA tests for key performance indices in population-based cervical screening, we sampled 12,527 women aged 3238 years who attended invitational, population-based screening and followed them for 4 years with comprehensive registry linkages. Three different HPV DNA tests (GP5+/6+general primer PCR (using either AmpliTaq or AmpliTaq Gold DN

The progeny of spontaneous interspecific hybrid sporophytes of Sphagnum were used to analyse the inheritance of cytoplasmic DNA. The analysis showed that only the female parent donated chloroplasts and mitochondria in Sphagnum hybrids. Thus, this is the first study demonstrating maternal cytoplasmic inheritance in a nonvascular land plant. This finding has important implications for phylogenetic r

Entanglement dynamics in representative examples of Markov open quantum systems with qualitatively different dynamics are studied. Rings of qubits with thermal or dephasing local environment are used to study the qualitative properties of the entanglement dynamics depending on the interqubit interaction, type of environment and the initial state. It is demonstrated that the effect of the local env

Using scanning electron microscopy guidance, atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy investigations inside openings formed during the decomposition of a thick SiO2 film on a Si(111) surface have been performed. We report, for the first time, the presence of Ni atoms inside self-formed openings. The SiO2 decomposition as a function of annealing temperature and time was studied. By compari

The adsorption of water on the anatase TiO2(001)-(4 x 1) surface is studied using synchrotron radiation-excited core level photoelectron spectroscopy. The coverage-dependent adsorption of water at low temperature is monitored and compared to the sequence obtained after heating of a water multilayer. Two adsorption phases of submonolayer coverage can be defined: Phase 1 consists only of dissociated

Ghrelin is produced by gastric A-like cells and released in response to food deprivation. Interestingly, psychological stress also raises circulating ghrelin levels. This study compared plasma ghrelin levels in Sprague-Dawley (SPD) rats and high-anxiety Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats. The two strains were also compared with respect to plasma gastrin, a gastric hormone with a pre- and postprandial release

Purpose We tested whether total prostate-specific antigen velocity (tPSAv) improves accuracy of a model using PSA level to predict long-term risk of prostate cancer diagnosis. Methods During 1974 to 1986 in a preventive medicine study in Sweden, 5,722 men aged

The influence of choice of constitutive relation on the prediction of crack-opening stress for fatigue cracks using the finite-element method is investigated and compared with experimental results. Two different experimentally obtained stress–strain relations for IN718 at 550 °C were used for fitting material parameters to the linear kinematic and the Bodner–Partom viscoplastic constitutive models

Basidiomycete fruitbodies growing in coniferous forests along a complex heavy metal pollution gradient in north Sweden were identified and counted over a 4 yr period. The dominant metals in the humus layer were As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Pb occurred at the highest levels in a range of 80 to 8500 g g–1 dry wt. Both the number of fruitbodies and the number of fruiting species decreased strongly with in

Degraded electron beams, as used for intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) or similar complicated dosimetric situations, have different characteristics compared to conventional electron therapy beams. If international dosimetry protocols are applied in a direct manner to such degraded beams, uncertainties will be introduced in the absorbed dose determination. The Monte Carlo method has been used

This paper presents a first study of the decay constants of the charged, or flavor-off-diagonal, pseudoscalar mesons to two loops for three flavors of sea quarks, in Partially Quenched Chiral Perturbation Theory (PQChPT). Explicit analytical expressions up to order p6 in the momentum expansion are given. The calculations have been performed within the supersymmetric formulation of PQChPT. We also

The purpose of this study was to develop new prediction equations for flow/volume spirometry parameters in asymptomatic, never-smoking adults in Norway, and to assess any differences of these parameters when applying the new and most commonly used equation sets. Flow/volume spirometry was measured according to the American Thoracic Society criteria in 2,792 subjects aged > or = 20 yrs, randomly se

In many gel applications the swelling and shrinking kinetics are very important, e.g. in controlled/slow release, where the kinetics determine the rate of out-diffusion of the active component, and in gel extraction where the gel is swollen and shrunk several times. In this study swelling kinetics of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel (NiPAAm gel) was determined by monitoring the swelling process usi