The human pathogen Haemophilus influenzae causes mainly respiratory tract infections such as acute otitis media in children and exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We recently revealed the crystal structure of H. influenzeae protein E (PE), a multifunctional adhesin that is involved in direct interactions with lung epithelial cells and host proteins. Based upon th

BACKGROUND: Mortality in previously incarcerated individuals is known to be elevated, with high proportions of drug-related deaths. However, there is less documentation of whether specific substance use patterns and other clinical characteristics predict increased mortality in the group. METHODS: This is a follow-up study of mortality and causes of death in ex-prisoners with substance use problems

The calcium-sensitizing Rho A/Rho kinase pathway has been suggested to play a role in the control of nongenital vascular smooth muscle. Rho-associated kinases (ROKs) cause calcium-independent modulation of smooth muscle contraction, and have been demonstrated in the bladder, prostate, and corpus cavernosum. Until now, it is not known whether ROKs and related proteins play a role in the control of

Tissue transglutaminase autoantibodies (tTGAs) represent the first evidence of celiac disease (CD) development. Associations of HLA-DR3-DQA1*05:01-DQB1*02:01 (i.e., DR3-DQ2) and, to a lesser extent, DR4-DQA1*03:01-DQB1*03:02 (i.e., DR4-DQ8) with the risk of CD differ by country, consistent with additional genetic heterogeneity that further refines risk. Therefore, we examined human leukocyte antig

Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium are important nosocomial pathogens that form biofilms on implanted materials. We compare the antibiotic sensitivity of bacteria in new (established during 24hours) and mature (established during 120hours) enterococcal biofilms. Mature biofilms contained more bacteria and were much more tolerant to antibiotics, including rifampicin-containing combinati

Objective To assess the accuracy of the Wells rule for excluding deep vein thrombosis and whether this accuracy applies to different subgroups of patients. Design Meta-analysis of individual patient data. Data sources Authors of 13 studies (n=10 002) provided their datasets, and these individual patient data were merged into one dataset. Eligibility criteria Studies were eligible if they enrolled

For each noninteger complex number lambda, the Hilbert matrix H-lambda = (1/n+m+lambda)(n,m >= 0) defines a bounded linear operator on the Hardy spaces H-p, 1 < p < a, and on the Korenblum spaces , A(-tau), tau > 0. In this work, we determine the point spectrum with multiplicities of the Hilbert matrix acting on these spaces. This extends to complex lambda results by Hill and Rosenblum for real la

Modification of the resonance fluorescence spectrum of a two-level atom driven by a monochromatic field in the close proximity of a plasmonic nanostructure (metal sphere) is studied in detail. It is shown that one can control this spectrum by varying several key parameters: (i) the radius of the nanosphere, (ii) polarization of the incident radiation, and (iii) the atom's location around the nanos

Avian malaria (Plasmodium spp.) and other blood parasitic infections of birds constitute increasingly popular model systems in ecological and evolutionary host-parasite studies. Field studies of these parasites commonly use two traits in hypothesis testing: infection status (or prevalence at the population level) and parasitaemia, yet the causes of variation in these traits remain poorly understoo

Hybridization between populations or species can have pronounced fitness consequences. Yet little is known about how hybridization affects gene regulation. Three main models have been put forward to explain gene expression patterns in hybrids: additive, dominance or parental effects. Here we use high throughput RNA-sequencing to examine the extent to which hybrid gene expression follows prediction

BACKGROUND: The need for completion axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in breast cancer patients with micrometastases in the sentinel nodes (SNs) is controversial. The aim of this retrospective observational study is to determine if the method of detection of early breast cancer is predictive for additional positive nodes in patients with micrometastases in the SNs. METHODS: Between 2001 and 20

This paper presents the VLSI design of an energy-efficient, high-throughput soft-input soft-output signal detector for iterative multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receiver. The detector is evolved from our previously developed imbalanced fixed complexity sphere decoder and adopts several new algorithm-level techniques to exploit the available a priori information of transmitted bits. More spec

The aims of the study were to define the frequency, outcome and reasons for prenatal diagnosis (PND) in Sweden during a 30-year period in order to study trends and changes. The study population, from the Swedish nationwide registry of PND of haemophilia, consisted of 54 women, compromising >95% of all, who underwent PND (n = 90) of haemophilia during 1977-2013. PND was performed by amniocentesis (

The polycondensation of polyesters from C-12 monomers at 95 degrees C in aqueous o/w emulsions, stabilized by acidic surfactants, has been studied in detail with a range of methods during the course of the reaction, resulting in a better understanding of the underlying reaction mechanisms. Comparisons of different surfactants, and effects of added NaCl, demonstrate that the reaction site is locate

Abstract in UndeterminedPhysicochemical properties of cereal beta-glucans, associated with beneficial health effects, are related to their solution behavior and possibly to their propensity to form aggregates. Such properties are often analyzed with methods that may influence the aggregates per se. In this paper, the effect of processing on solution behavior of pure barley b-glucan was studied usi

We used cathodoluminescence imaging to determine diffusion lengths in III-V semiconductor nanowires, grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition seeded by gold nanoparticles. Intensity profiles were recorded either from the interface between the substrate and homogeneous nanowires, or from segments in nanowires containing axial heterostructures to determine the diffusion length. We determined

Predictive models used in decision making, such as QSARs in chemical regulation or drug discovery, call for evaluated approaches to quantitatively assess associated uncertainty in predictions. Uncertainty in less reliable predictions may be captured by locally varying predictive errors. In the current study, model-based bootstrapping was combined with analogy reasoning to generate predictive distr

Cellulose nanofibrils were produced from P. radiata kraft pulp fibers. The nanofibrillation was facilitated by applying 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxyl-mediated oxidation as pretreatment. The oxidized nanofibrils were cross-linked with polyethyleneimine and poly N-isopropylacrylamide-co-allylamine-co-methylenebisacrylamide particles and were frozen to form cryo-structured gels. Samples of th