1 Pressurized ventilation, which increases gas exchange between aerial and submerged plant parts, has been found in various emergent macrophyte species. We investigated the potential for this mechanism to affect growth, morphology and biomass allocation in Phragmites australis in glasshouse experiments. 2 Inhibition of pressurized ventilation by perforation of stems above the water surface resulte

Two alternative hypotheses have been proposed to explain how social and genetic mating systems are interrelated in birds. According to the first (male trade-off) hypothesis, social polygyny should increase extrapair fertilizations because when males concentrate on attracting additional social mates, they cannot effectively protect females with whom the); have already paired from being sexually ass

We consider Bose-Einstein-condensed atoms confined in a toroidal trap. Under conditions of one-dimensional behavior, the density distribution of the atoms may be exponentially localized or delocalized, even for very small variations in the trapping potential along the torus. For similar reasons, small irregularities of the trap may also have a very pronounced effect on the density of the cloud. Th

Previous work has shown that amylose (AM) can cross-link hydrophobically modified polymers by inclusion complexation, whereby thermoreversible cold-setting gels are formed. This work investigates, mainly by rheology, the competition effect of seven different anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactants when mixed at room temperature into preformed gels of AM and hydrophobically modified hydroxyethy

This paper describes the development of a prototype product named MAGIC-HAND that has been developed to open bottles, jars and packages that require a twisting action. Its intended users are people with severe disabilities, who are not capable of using the current range of package opening tools. MAGIC-HAND is a kitchen accessory device that fits into standard kitchen furniture. The machine uses no

Objectives: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. A high level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a major CVD risk factor. Guidelines recommend effective cholesterol management and set LDL-C goals, yet deficiencies exist in physician implementation of these recommendations and in patient uptake of the advice. However, little is known of patient pe

The existing Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) calculations at order p6 are reviewed. The principles of ChPT and how they are used are introduced. The main part is a review of the two- and three-flavour full two-loop calculations and their comparison with experiment. We restrict the discussion to the mesonic purely strong and semileptonic sector. The review concludes by mentioning the existing res

We show that operator-valued Bergman inner functions have the so-called expansive multiplier property generalizing a well-known result of Hedenmalm in the scalar case. This analysis leads to norm bounds for input output maps for a related class of discrete time linear systems. The proof uses properties of the biharmonic Green function. (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Optical properties of human whole blood were investigated in vitro at 633 nm using a double integrating sphere set-up, The blood flow was maintained at a constant rate through a flow cell while continuously heating the blood at 0.2-1.1 degrees C/min from approximately 25 to 55 degrees C in a heat exchanger, A small, but rather abrupt decrease in the scattering asymmetry factor (g-factor) of 1.7 +/

Maturation of dendritic cells (DC) serves a deterministic role in the link between innate and adaptive immunity, constituting a checkpoint with regard to whether responses from the lymphocyte compartment shall be raised and what class of response is needed to protect the host against invading pathogens. Since DC have not been shown to possess mechanisms such as gene recombination or somatic mutati

To elucidate which neuropeptide Y receptor subtype is responsible for the neuropeptide Y-induced potentiation of the noradrenaline-evoked contraction in human omental arteries we used antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (Antisense), the new selective neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor antagonist, BIBP3226 {(R)-N2-(diphenylacetyl)-N-[(4-hydroxyphenyl) methyl]-D-arginine-amide} and the reverse transcriptase-poly

The incidence of fracture of the upper end of the humerus by age group and sex was studied for a 32-year period from 1950 to 1982. The following numbers of humeral fractures occurred: 1950-1954, 411 fractures; 1961-1964, 552 fractures; 1971-1973, 639 fractures; and 1981-1982, 523 fractures. There was a progressive increase in the age-related incidence in older persons, especially in women. There w

The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis proposes that testosterone (T)-dependent sexual signals are honest indicators of male health or genetic quality because only high-quality males are able to withstand the obligate effects of T-induced immunosuppression. In birds, the basic assumption that T suppresses immune function is equivocal, and the physiological mechanisms underlying T-induced immunos

BACKGROUND: The proportion of free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is higher in the sera of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia compared with patients with prostate cancer (PCa). We developed an immunoassay that measures intact, free PSA forms (fPSA-I), but does not detect free PSA that has been internally cleaved at Lys145-Lys146 (fPSA-N), and investigated whether this form could discrimin

Post-translational modifications are associated with certain autoimmune diseases. For example, in the initial steps of coeliac disease (CD), transglutaminase type 2 (TG2) catalyzes a post-translational deamidation of specific glutamine residues in dietary gluten, resulting in antibodies against both modified gliadin and against TG2. Anti-TG2 has become a specific biomarker for CD. In rheumatoid ar

The death of a newborn is a complex and tragic situation, the uncertain and stressful nature of which places emotional burdens on the parents. The aim of this study was to examine and illuminate mothers' experiences and perceptions of the care given to them at neonatal clinics while facing the threat and the reality of losing their baby. METHOD: Interviews were performed, in the form of conversati