Laminin-211 is a major constituent of the skeletal muscle basement membrane, exerting its biological functions by binding to cell surface receptors integrin α7β1 and dystroglycan (the latter is part of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex). The importance of these molecules for normal muscle function is underscored by the fact that their respective deficiency leads to different forms of muscular dy

Despite advances in anti-platelet treatments, there still exists an early increase in both ischemic as well as bleeding events following primary PCI in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Platelet inhibition data of different anti-platelet treatments in the acute phase of a myocardial infarction might offer some insight into these problems. The aim of this study was to evalua

Background: PhiC31 integrase facilitates efficient integration of transgenes into human and mouse genomes and is considered for clinical gene therapy. However recent studies have shown that the enzyme can induce various chromosomal abnormalities in primary human embryonic cells and mammalian cell lines. The mechanisms involved are unknown, but it has been proposed that PhiC31 attachment sites in t

Objective. This study investigated the importance of the therapeutic alliance in a routine psychiatric out-patient unit regarding treatment outcome and the influence of patient factors. Design. The study had a naturalistic and longitudinal design where the treatments the patient received were determined by the normal routines at the unit and were performed by a variety of staff representative of a

Biomolecular motor systems are attractive for future nanotechnological devices because they can replace nanofluidics by directed transport. However, the lack of methods to externally control motor-driven transport along complex paths limits their range of applications. Based on a thermo-responsive polymer, we developed a novel technique to guide microtubules propelled by kinesin-1 motors on a plan

To better utilize existing wireless systems, they can be combined together to interact and thereby provide better balanced capacity. They can further profit from this by getting their ongoing connection moved from the current system to another. The main issues are to make this move without losing the ongoing connection and to make it seamless, i.e., without the user noticing it. This action of mov

Efficient pretreatment is necessary to make the wood-to-ethanol process more feasible. In this study, chips of different sizes were impregnated with SO(2) and steam-pretreated. Dilute-acid pretreatment together with subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in solubilization of between 69% and 73% of the fermentable sugars (glucose and mannose) in the raw material for the combinations of impregnati

Although media-fueled food scares are often described as linked to consumers’ food anxieties, previous studies of food consumption have failed to explore fully how foodscare reports add to consumers’ anxieties. Using a relational theory of risk and a narrative approach, this article highlights how food-scare reports, through various risk accounts, create anxiety-inducing stories where consumers ar

Background: Heparin-binding protein is released by neutrophils during inflammation and disrupts the integrity of the alveolar and capillary endothelial barrier implicated in the development of acute lung injury and systemic organ failure. We sought to investigate whether oral administration of simvastatin to patients with acute lung injury reduces plasma heparin-binding protein levels and improves

This article explores and evaluates three common identifications of the woman in Revelation 12: Mary, mother of Jesus, Israel and the church. This is accomplished through the study of allusions, particularly to the Septuagint, that are embedded in the Greek text. Each verse describing the woman in Revelation 12 has connecting points with one or several texts in the Septuagint and seems to allude t

Vision plays a paramount role in some spider families such as the Salticidae, Lycosidae and Thomisidae, as it is involved in prey hunting, orientation or choice of substrate. In the thomisid Misumena vatia, for which the substrate colour affects the body colour, vision seems to mediate morphological colour changes. However, nothing is known about which component of visual signals from the substrat

Most existing differential phase-contrast computed tomography (DPC-CT) approaches are based on three kinds of scanning geometries, described by parallel-beam, fan-beam and cone-beam. Due to the potential of compact imaging systems with magnified spatial resolution, cone-beam DPC-CT has attracted significant interest. In this paper, we report a reconstruction method based on a back-projection filtr

CO(2)-laser C-fibre evoked cortical potentials (LCEPs) is a potentially useful animal model for studies of pain mechanisms. A potential confounding factor when assessing analgesic effects of systemically administered drugs using LCEP is sedation. This study aims to clarify: 1) the relation between level of anaesthesia and magnitude of LCEP, 2) the effects of a sedative and an analgesic on LCEP and

Background: Pro-inflammatory cytokines can affect intracellular lipid metabolism. A variety of effects have been described for different cell types; hepatocyte lipid turnover pathways are inhibited during inflammation, whereas interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) reduces intracellular cholesterol levels in fibroblasts. Levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1 beta and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (

InAs/GaSb nanowire heterostructures with thin GaInAs inserts were grown by MOVPE and characterized by electrical measurements and transmission electron microscopy. Down-scaling of the insert thickness was limited because of an observed sensitivity of GaSb nanowire growth to the presence of In. By employing growth interrupts in between the InAs and GaInAs growth steps it was possible to reach an in

A new method for calibrating the hadron response of a segmented calorimeter is developed and successfully applied to beam test data. It is based on a principal component analysis of energy deposits in the calorimeter layers, exploiting longitudinal shower development information to improve the measured energy resolution. Corrections for invisible hadronic energy and energy lost in dead material in