Fungus-growing (attine) ants and their fungal symbionts passed through several evolutionary transitions during their 50 million year old evolutionary history. The basal attine lineages often shifted between two main cultivar clades, whereas the derived higher-attine lineages maintained an association with a monophyletic clade of specialized symbionts. In conjunction with the transition to speciali

The aims of this study were to investigate (1) perceived stress as felt by the nursing staff working in psychiatric inpatient care, (2) possible differences between nurses and nurse assistants, and (3) associations among individual characteristics, the ward atmosphere, the psychosocial work environment, and perceived stress. Ninety-three members of the nursing staff completed three instruments-one

Since 1967 annual pollen deposition has been monitored in the semi-natural mixed deciduous woodland Draved Forest by the Geological Survey of Denmark. In this paper, we analyse the variability in pollen accumulation rates for the eight most common deciduous trees, and their relationships to monthly temperature and precipitation. High summer temperatures in the year before flowering have a positive

We consider a random synaptic pruning in an initially highly interconnected network. It is proved that a random network can maintain a self-sustained activity level for some parameters. For such a set of parameters a pruning is constructed so that in the resulting network each neuron/node has almost equal numbers of in- and out-connections. It is also shown that the set of parameters which admits

In a previous publication [ P. A. T. Olsson, J. Appl. Phys. 108, 034318 (2010) ], molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to study the resonant properties of gold nanowires. It has been documented in the aforementioned publication that the eigenfrequencies of the fundamental mode follows the continuum mechanically predicted behavior when Bernoulli–Euler beam theory is used, whereas

Here we report the annotated genome sequence of Moraxella catarrhalis strain RH4, a seroresistant-lineage strain isolated from the blood of an infected patient. This genome sequence will allow us to gain further insight into the genetic diversity of clinical M. catarrhalis isolates and will facilitate study of M. catarrhalis pathogenesis.

We present here surface water vapor isotopic measurements conducted from June to August 2010 at the NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Drilling Project) camp, NW Greenland (77.45 degrees N, 51.05 degrees W, 2484 m a.s.l.). Measurements were conducted at 9 different heights from 0.1m to 13.5m above the snow surface using two different types of cavity-enhanced near-infrared absorption spectroscopy analyze

In this paper we address identity issues in relation to senior employees in the UK investment banking sector. Drawing on in-depth material, the study demonstrates their marginal concerns about identity issues or engagement in what is typically viewed as identity work. Instead they had what we refer to as an identity minimalism orientation and met potential challenges to identity with what we conce

During the process of biomass gasification tars are formed which exit the gasifier in vapor phase. Tar condensation creates problems like fouling and plugging of after-treatment, conversion and end-use equipment. Gasification tars consist mainly of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). Former research has shown the possibilities and difficulties of tar conversion by partial combustion. Basic st

We study the C*-algebra of an affine map on a compact abelian group and give necessary and sufficient conditions for strong transitivity when the group is a torus. The structure of the C*-algebra is completely determined for all strongly transitive affine maps on a torus of dimension one, two or three.

Abstract in UndeterminedWe develop a discretization and computational procedures for approximation of the action of Fourier integral operators the canonical relations of which are graphs. Such operators appear, for instance, in the formulation of imaging and inverse scattering of seismic reflection data. Our discretization and algorithms are based on a multiscale low-rank expansion of the action o

Aromatic side chains are prevalent in protein binding sites, perform functional roles in enzymatic catalysis, and form an integral part of the hydrophobic core of proteins. Thus, it is of great interest to probe the conformational dynamics of aromatic side chains and its response to biologically relevant events. Indeed, measurements of (13)C relaxation rates in aromatic moieties have a long histor

It is well established that atherosclerosis is caused by an inflammatory process in the arterial intima. However, it is only in recent years that it has become clear that this inflammation is modulated by immune responses against plaque antigens. These antigens are primarily believed to be modified self-antigens such as oxidized LDL. The immune system is challenged to determine whether these antig

Serine proteases of the S1 family have maintained a common structure over an evolutionary span of more than one billion years, and evolved a variety of substrate specificities and diverse biological roles, involving digestion and degradation, blood clotting, fibrinolysis and epithelial homeostasis. We here show that a wide range of C-terminal peptide sequences of serine proteases, particularly fro

During recent years, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibition has been included in the clinical management of type 2 diabetes, both as monotherapy and as add-on to several other therapies. DPP-4 inhibition prevents the inactivation of the incretin hormones, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). This results in stimulation of insulin secretion and

Patients with incidentally detected adrenal adenomas may have subclinical hypercortisolism. We hypothesized that impaired renal function could lead to increased cortisol levels in these patients.